ESPN: Stupidity at its highest

Recently, I found a video of ESPN's Ric Bucher's Power Ranking of the NBA's Top 7 players where he has Kobe at number 1. Obviously, Kobe is a marketing machine and a cash cow for their awful and sagging ratings which is why he is there. However, the biggest surprise and insult to the intelligence of fans like myself was how Bucher left Kevin Durant off of the list altogether and put his sidekick Russell Westbrook!!! Westbrook? Are you kidding me? One of the BIGGEST shotjackers in the league!!! Kevin Durant is the BIGGEST reason why Oklahoma City is having their tremendous success, because the team becomes better when they revolve their system around him. Westbrook was ranked no. 7, while KD was left off of the list completely. Bucher's lame excuse was "Well, we know that Kevin Durant is a scorer and he has lead the league in scoring, but Westbrook can do more at his position." If that was the case, then why is it that Durant's only competition at Small Forward is LeBron. Westbrook is a terrific playmaker and can slash like a two-guard, but at the end of the day, it is about winning games, and who gives you the best chance to win. For the Thunder, Kevin Durant is the obvious answer. I can name at least 5 point guards who I could take over Westbrook:

1. Derrick Rose
2. Chris Paul
3. Rajon Rondo
4. Derron Williams
5. Stephen Curry
6. Russell Westbrook

Top 2 Small Forwards:
1. Kevin Durant
2. LeBron James

As I remember, Westbrook was THE reason as to why they lost to the Dallas Mavericks in the Western Conference Finals, because of his missed shots and turnovers that ultimately cost the Thunder their first trip to the Finals against Miami. Westbrook threw so many bricks, he could have built a new stadium by himself. This ranking was a complete insult, and I had to address it right away. Here is the side by side comparison and you tell me who you would build your team around if you were OKC:

Kevin Durant:
PPG: 26.5
RPG: 6.9
APG: 3.3
BPG: 1.2
SPG: 1.1
FG%: 50%
3-PT%: 36%
FT%: 84%
MPG: 36.1

Durant's Efficiency Rating (EFF) is +24.93
Westbrook's Efficency Rating is +18.87

Russell Westbrook:
PPG: 20.5
RPG: 5.0
APG: 5.5
BPG: 0.1
SPG: 1.7
FG%: 45%
3-PT%: 28%
FT%: 80%
MPG: 33.3

You cannot look at me with a serious face and say you would take Russell over KD. That is like saying Bob Cousy was a better player and more valuable than Bill Russell, or saying Clyde Drexler was better than Hakeem, Kobe over Shaq, Parker over Duncan, etc. Cousy, Kobe, Parker and Drexler got their rings BECAUSE of those guys. You could even throw in Magic if you want to, but he carried more weight on his team. Their roles were to be the sidekick and make sure their franchise centerpiece got the ball. That is Westbrook's primary role. He is the POINT GUARD!!! As the PG, you are suppose to make plays and make your team better!! The more he shoots, the more he kills his team!! In '73 when Tiny Archibald led the league in SCORING, his team won only 44 games!! He KILLED his team, because of that!! The more Westbrook has the ball the lower OKC's chances are of winning!! OKC is a great team with a huge upside with rings in the future, and the only way that they can go forward is to feed KD the ball. Durant's points are down because they are getting James Harden & co. more involved, but he needs to be the key centerpiece!! The man is having an MVP level season again, and he is even closer despite a drop in points while making others better. Kobe is on the downside, Wade & LeBron are inconsistent, Nowitzki has slipped, which leaves even more room for Durantula to win the award. You could trade Westbrook for D-Rose, CP3 or Rondo and the stock would not drop one bit. If you want to agree or not, that is fine by me. With that said, KD gets MY vote for MVP!!!

The Rise & Fall of the WWE & World Heavyweight Title

For years, the cornerstones of the WWE (WWF) and NWA/WCW have always been their heavyweight titles. These titles were the proud flagship titles that were proudly worn by the likes of Hulk Hogan, Bret Hart, Ric Flair, Steve Austin, The Rock, and others. Each of these men wore the title with dignity and respect, both for themselves and the company that they represented as the top guy in the business. As I listened to a recent podcast, I could not help but remember and reminisce about how great the World Title once was, which is what drove me to write about it. The World Title signified that you were the very best in the company and in the business and that you had no peers. That title meant that you were a bullseye for every up and coming star and that you had to constantly fight to keep your spot. The men that I just mentioned wore the title with respect and worked extremely hard for their spot and to carry the torch as long as they could, while performing at a very high level night in and night out. A true world champion was one who had great talent and skill inside the ring and professionalism and maturity outside of it. When you have that title around your waist, you are suppose to put on classic and memorable matches while helping to bring out the very best of yourself but your opponent as well. Longtime fans such as myself tuned in every night to see who the champ was going to face and how he was going to overcome, because the World Title was always a proud title with the highest form of prestige and value in the business, far above every other title. The main event match for the World Title in both WWF and WCW was what I always looked forward to because each promotion had a great champion that I had fun watching. Growing up, I was a huge WWF fan, because of Bret Hart who was at the time the WWF Champion.

The Winged Eagle Belt was perfect for a guy like him. When I started watching wrestling, Bret was the Champion, and he captured my imagination like no other because of how great he was as the champ. It was only a coincidence that one of the first guys that I had seen was the world champion and an awesome one at that. The Hitman was a ring general, using his scientific technique, submission wrestling, wrestling IQ, quickness and heart (no pun intended) to win. His matches with HBK, Flair, Austin, Undertaker, Owen, Bulldog, etc. were brilliant. Bret was a guy that I could watch without ever getting bored, because of how fast-paced he was with his technical prowess. Bret's reigns as champion in his prime ('93-'97) were classic. That is what I called a true champion. The Excellence of Execution for me was the torchbearer for the '90s from a World Champion standpoint, until Stone Cold/The Rock took over in the Attitude Era and carried the company to new heights as they traded the belt back and forth.

The Nature Boy Ric Flair was without question for me, the torchbearer of the '80s as the NWA Heavyweight Champion, because of his terrific persona, in-ring ability, promos, and feuds with Harley Race, Dusty, Sting, Steamboat, etc. As I was listening to this very intense discussion about the World Title (The Big Gold belt specifically), I could not help but agree that this title was the worker's title, and Flair was the face of that championship. As you can see that during wrestling's golden era, Hogan and Macho Man were the mainstream champs for the WWF in New York, while Flair was NWA Champ wrestling in different territories and around the world. The business was at its apex during this period, because of the drama that Hogan created during his feuds and matches with the likes of Savage, Piper, Andre, etc. Both titles were held with very high prestige, where you did not have to worry about any celebrities wearing them. Mr. T was Hulk's buddy, so no one had to worry. Buyrates were awesome, and the characters were believable with stellar matches overall.

Today, the title has taken a HUGE downgrade!!! The prestige has dropped tremendously, with the boring and monotonous title reign of John "Cyborg" Cena, who has ZERO technique in the ring, overbooked, awful matches, forced delivery as a super hero character and worst of all, his five moves of doom, including his 5-year old knuckle shuffle. When you look at the great WWF Champions, from the mainstream champions such as Hulk Hogan, Macho Man, Stone Cold, The Rock and Warrior to the worker champs such as Bret Hart, Cena has brought in the WORST PPV Buyrates of any champion. Ratings have taken a huge nosedive, and fan support from longtime fans has fallen off, because of how repetitive his delivery is and how un-entertaining he is. That piece of garbage spinner belt has dropped the title's value dramatically, like never before. Cena has officially monopolized the main event picture, because even though CM Punk has the title, the belt is customized for Cena to keep. Even when Edge won and had it customized with the Rated R logo, you knew that it was going back to Power Ranger Cena. Stone Cold had the customized "Smoking Skull" Belt, but it was only for a short period of time, especially compared to how long the spinner belt has been around, which is going on 7 years so far. Bobby Heenan once said that comparing Hogan's WWF Title to Ric Flair's World Title was like comparing "Ice Cream to Horse Manure". Well now, the Ice Cream (World Heavyweight Title) has now become vomit, and the WWE Title has REALLY become horse manure. I really cannot take it seriously when you put the belt on a Real World reject like The Miz. I still cannot take him seriously because of that, when you look at the guys who have worn it long before him. How the mighty have fallen. Both belts stink.

The Big Gold Belt has even been modified to where the plate has been made even more round, with the WWE logo on it. Vince always finds a way to tamper with things that were great and put a stain on them. Cena-mania has polluted the WWE and squandered the prestige of the richest prizes in the sport, and WWE needs to clean up the toxic waste that John Cena has created very fast, and start from square one by disposing of the spinner belt and bring back the Winged Eagle, as well as re-modify the WHC and make the front plate smaller and find other guys to push to make it a more valuable title. Watching these great belts go to waste makes me cringe and cry inside.

Let There Be Basketball!!!

Finally, after 130+ days, the cloud has been lifted and now we shall have basketball this season. The season starts off with a bang because not only does it start on Christmas Day, but we will have a three-headed monster of a double-header (Celtics-Knicks, Lakers-Bulls, Heat-Mavericks). We will have 66 games this season, but that is fine because at least it is more than the 50 games that we had back in 1999. This kickoff to the 2011-2012 season is terrific, because of the three marquee playoff level games which caused TV Ratings and Revenue to skyrocket as well as light a new fire in the league with the storylines from LeBron and Bosh joining Wade in Miami, to Amare and Carmelo joining forces in NY, the Mavs winning the title to the emergence of Derrick Rose in Chicago. These are what make the games compelling and exciting, especially for a hardcore hoops fan and basketball purist like myself. The increase of stars in the point guard pool has been very refreshing with the rise of D-Rose, Russell Westbrook, CP3, Derron Williams, Steph Curry and others. The rise of talent is always what keeps the league strong, which is what has sparked an interest in me that has not been this strong since the '90s. Now, compared to that time, it is a downgrade, like comparing CM Punk to The Rock, Macho Man Randy Savage, or Shawn Michaels. The quality, atmosphere, marquee names, and team success do not match up to that time, but it is great for today, although players like Kobe, LeBron, Wade and Dirk are moving up the all-time ranks at a fast rate, which I am very proud to see. The League always has to have players in their prime mixed with younger, rising stars to pass the torch to when their time is done. Although Kobe, Duncan, KG and Jason Kidd do not know when to quit and want to hold on for one last shot of glory, the torch has already been passed to Wade, LeBron, Chris Paul and Dwight Howard to pass on to Rose, Durant, Westbrook and others. The latest MVP race has been strong with Derrick Rose, LeBron, Durant and Wade which is yet another sign of things to come in the near future. Until then, let there be Basketball!!!

Cowboys-Jets Running Diary

Tonight, we remember and honor the victims of September 11, 2001, as the NFL season just happens to kickoff on this day. Appropriately, the New York Jets and Dallas Cowboys will be playing in New York. What a terrific story around this game, as I know the game itself will be a blockbuster.


8:05 (E.T.)- National Anthem/Kickoff

8:39- Dez Bryant catches a 3 yard TD pass from Tony Romo. Cowboys 7, Jets 0. Great way to start the season off. (9 plays for 74 yards)

8:49- Dallas has possession again after Jets go 3 and out, Romo hands off to Felix Jones
8:50- 2nd Down, Romo drops back to pass. As line breaks down, Romo slips through to throw an incomplete.
8:52- Tony Romo throws great pass to Dez Bryant to convert for a 1st Down
9:05- Now, back from a quick dinner break. Jets have the ball on 3rd & 4. Sanchez connects with Santonio Holmes for a Jets 1st Down after Mike Jenkins gets some of the wind knocked out of him.

9:08- Following a commercial break, Jenkins is back on the field covering Plaxico and causing another 4th Down. Cowboys with the ball in their own goal line, Romo hands to Jones, 2nd Down. Tony gets sacked again, 3rd down.

9:15- DeMarcus Ware does a great job pressuring Mark Sanchez for incompletion. Al Michaels and Cris Colinsworth discuss the difference between Mark Sanchez and Tony Romo. Commercial Break- Still, Cowboys 7, Jets 0. Dez Bryant is a very solid & promising player.
9:20- Back from break. Dallas at own 10 yard line. Romo rolls out to Witten for 1st down.
Jets are pressuring Tony Romo to move more. Romo passes again to Witten, but this time short of the first.
9:25- Dallas' Defense is doing a great job pressuring Mark Sanchez. Another 3 & Out. Rob Ryan has the D playing with its head on straight

9:30- Dallas picks up another 1st down after Romo passes to Jason Witten. Cowboys are picking the pace back up after starting the quarter slow. Romo throws a laser to Miles Austin in the slot for another first. Tony Romo is being very efficient. (11/14, 150 yds, 1 TD)

9:35- 2nd quarter- Cowboys 10, Jets 0. Cromartie catches kickoff, and is stopped in tracks. Sanchez rolls out to Holmes for 1st down.

9:41- 2:00 minutes left in 2nd quarter. Sanchez throws deep in blitz. D. Ware with his 2nd sack. Ware is playing a well-rounded game, switching from LB to Linemen. Sanchez barely avoids a sack to throw screen to Tomlinson, who comes up big for a 1st & Goal.

9:43- 2nd & Goal, Jets score TD from Sanchez to TE Keller after botch'd play from Derrick Mason. New York Jets finally get on the scoreboard, 10-7. Now fans are chanting: J-E-T-S, JETS, JETS, JETS!!!

9:50- End of First Half. This first half has been great. Our Defense has been very solid. DeMarcus Ware has been all over the field. Tony Romo has had a strong 1st half, with great connections to his 3-headed monster receiving corps. (Dez Bryant, Miles Austin, Jason Witten).

10:03- Start of 3rd Quarter. Cowboys D stops Shaun Green. Penalty on Cowboys Defensive Line. Come on Dallas, NO MORE!!! Old Man Mason comes short of the 1st. Alan Ball squashes 300 year old Mason for 3rd & out.

10:10- Pass to Kevin Ogletree for 1st Down. Cowboys pull out a great trick play. WR Reverse from Felix Jones to Ogletree. Keep it movin' Dallas!!

10:13- Touchdown from Tony Romo to Miles Austin! After review of the play, it stands. Cowboys 17, Jets 7. We are lighting up the Jets' secondary like a Christmas tree.

10:21- Justin Keller has been coming up big in place of Plaxico & Mason. DeMarcus strikes again!!

10:54- We are up 24-10, and have given the Jets a pounding, from the passing game to the pass defense. Now, the Jets have caught a break with Plaxico Burress catching his first TD in 2 years since his release. Cowboys 24, Jets 17. Antonio Cromartie has been getting thrashed and exposed all night by Dez Bryant and Miles Austin for big plays & TDs.

11:00- Romo pass to Witten for 1st & goal. We later go 3 and out.

11:14- New York has stormed back with a 26 yard Touchdown pass from Mark Sanchez to Plaxico Burress. The score is now tied, 24-24. Still 5:00 minutes to go.

11:30- Romo throws a ridiculous interception to Darrell Revis, as if Revis is wearing a silver helmet with a star on it. Once again, we have shot ourselves in the foot when the game is right in our hands.

Now, former Cowboys kicker Nick Folk has hit the game winning Field Goal.
Final score: Jets 27, Cowboys 24.

This meltdown has become repetitive and is unacceptable for this franchise. What else must we do?

Let There Be Football!!!

Finally, the cloud of the NFL Lockout has been lifted. As a result, preseason and training camps are fully underway. Along with that, there have been some MAJOR transactions, from free agent signings to retirements. Teams like the New England Patriots and the Minnesota Vikings have made the most noise in the free agent market with the Pats signing lightning rods such as Chad Johnson (aka Ochocinco) and Albert Haynesworth, while the Vikings signed Donovan McNabb (Albert & Donovan from the Redskins). The Patriots' signings of Haynesworth and Johnson gave me mixed reactions. One of excitement like "Wow! This is great! New England is going to be an even bigger powerhouse offensively with Brady throwing to Chad & Deion Branch!". Another reaction was a head scratcher like "Wow! What is Belichick going to do with these guys? Is he trying to be Jimmy Johnson with two of the biggest headcases outside of Randy Moss and T.O.?" Either way, New England has left me saying "Wow!", and I think that this was their goal through this whole time. I think that I am going to go with the first reaction, because Coach Belichick, as much as I have not liked his past methods of winning (tuck rule, spygate), I like how he is taking this Jimmy Johnson kind of approach and signing two players who are viewed as renegades by the NFL and molding them into his system and style of play, much like how Dallas signed Charles Haley and later Primetime in the early to mid '90s. Fast forward 16+ years later, and it is the same deal. Now the Patriots look more like the Dallas Cowboys and the Oakland Raiders than your daddy's Patriots from the Drew Bledsoe 1994 days!!lol. I am a guy who likes to see chemistry when there are at least 2 or more stars on one team (49ers- Rice-Montana of the '80s Rice-Young of the '90s, Smith-Aikman-Irvin of the '90s Cowboys). Now Tom Brady has a cool new weapon at his already stacked arsenal next to his biggest gun, Deion Branch. I am looking forward to this WR combo of Chad Johnson/Deion Branch to torch defenses throughout the season, especially when you have the best QB in the league (Tom Brady) throwing the ball. These guys have a major chip on their shoulder after that embarrassing loss to the Jets in the playoffs. I am just waiting for the regular season and playoffs themselves to go undeway before anyone makes hasty comparisons to the Montan-Rice-Taylor trio in San Fran during the '80s. Now, to the Minnesota Vikings. When I learned that Donovan McNabb signed to the Vikings, I was not surprised, but happy, because this is where I had been telling people that Donovan would and should go. I knew that McNabb would eventually join Minnesota, and now that Brett Favre's corpse is no longer taking up space, Donovan can freely operate. I firmly believe that this is the proper place for DNabb to thrive in, because of the weapons that he has to throw to (Sydney Rice, Percy Harvin, Bernard Berrian) along with the league's best running back (Adrian Peterson), who will help open up the field for him to do his damage. Donovan's career has come full circle to that of another Philadelphia Eagles legend, Randall Cunningham. Both he and Randall were huge star QBs for the Eagles for 11 years. (Cunningham- 1985-1995, McNabb- 1999-2009) However, Cunningham took one full year out of football (1996), while Donovan floundered for one year with the Washington Redskins (2010). He might has well left for a year himself. In 1997, when Cunningham returned, he was fully rejuvenated, both attitude wise and performance wise, as he signed with the Minnesota Vikings. The following year in Minnesota would be Cunningham's best since his prime in Philly, where he became the starting QB for an injured Brad Johnson and had a phenomenal season leading the league's most powerful offense with rookie sensation WR and future hall of famer Randy Moss and star WR and should-be hall of famer, Cris Carter. That year, Randall had his best season since 1988, (completing 259-425 passes, 60.9 completion percentage, 3,704 yards, career high 34 TDs, career high 106.0 QB rating) while leading the Vikes to a 15-1 record and coming a game of going to the Super Bowl (which they would have won by the way). With this move to the Twin Cities, McNabb is following in his predecessor's footsteps by reviving his career in the land of 1,000 lakes and adding to his legacy. As I have said before, I knew that he was going to sign with Minnesota. The Vikes also have an edge heading into the season, because the same way the Pats are looking to rebound from that humiliating playoff loss, they are cleaning up the mess that Brett Favre has left behind. Meanwhile, down in the Lone Star State, my Cowboys have been doing the opposite by cleaning house because of the salary cap. Dallas has released 8 players because of the lockout, which included WR Roy Williams and RB Marion Barber (both have signed with Chicago since then). This offseason has been filled with great surprises and excitement and is only a sign of things to come this year. Let's get ready for football!!!!

Miami Meltdown

Lately, The Miami Heat have been in a serous funk after losing four games in a row. First, the Heat blew a 24 point lead to lose to the Orlando Magic at home, then lose to the New York Knicks will newly acquired stars Carmelo Anthony and Chauncey Billups. On Friday, the Heat were murdered by the San Antonio Spurs (125-95), and the icing was put on the cake as the Derrick Rose and the Chicago Bulls came to town and ripped their hearts out, 87-86. After the game, Miami's big 3 of LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Christina, I mean Chris Bosh, were all crying. Now, they have become an even bigger punchline for other players, reporters and fans all across the country. There are even headlines that read "It's Crying Time". This is pure irony coming from a team that had the audacity to have a live press conference celebrating their free agent pickups of James and Bosh to makeup the 3 Muskateers, or as I call them "The 3 Stooges". They were celebrating prematurely as if they had won the championship, even though they had not even gone through training camp yet. Everything about that press conference, to the interview itself was classless, distasteful and downright immature coming from the entire Heat organization, from the players to even Pat Riley himself. I have all of the respect in the world for Riley, but he was the one that was responsible for luring in James and Bosh, and he never said a word during this entire fiasco, so part of the blame is on him. During the interview, the reporters talked to LeBron about how he was coming to bring a championship and egged him on by saying that he might bring one home and LeBron goes on to say not just one, but 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and even over 7. I believe that as a player, you do not blow your horn that way, because I believe that is mainly for the fans to do. However, you as a player are supposed to perform at a high enough level to back up what the fans are saying. I expect a fan to run their mouth off about how many championships they want their team to win, but not a player. Players should be more professional and respecful in their response, and I believe that everyone was completely caught up in the moment. Big Mistake!! Now, I believe that it has come back to bite them even harder, because they are crying just as bad as they were celebrating, because during the summer, they walked around as if THEY were the champions, but if my memory serves me correctly, the Champions were a team in Los Angeles wearing Purple and Gold with a guy named Kobe Bryant, who now has FIVE RINGS!!! I repeat FIVE!!! Which means that his entire hand is covered! Which also means, that he has more than all three of those guys have combined. Wade has 1 ring, while LeBron and Chris Bosh each have zero! Even Kobe was not as out of control about his win as these goons were. After the loss to Chicago, Chris Bosh justified the reason why I call him such names as "Christina" and "Bosh Spice". The guy reminds me of the kid in school that wants to desperately fit in, so instead of being himself and not kissing up to anyone and being true to himself, he follows the crowd of "popular" kids, the guys who like to ride motorcycles, go out with the best girls, and who are stars in varsity football or basketball. LeBron and D-Wade are those same "popular" kids. Bosh does everything he can to prove that he is "tough" but he just does not have it in him. It is like trying to imagine Will Smith playing Tony Montana, it does not work. Kevin Durant saw right through him as well. The other night, Bosh shot 1-for-8, which is horrific. He has been eaten alive on the boards by more established rebounders, and he is a world class defensive liability. LeBrick James has infected Dwyane Wade with the un-clutch virus, because each of them has missed major shots to tie or to win the game. LeBron has thrown up so many bricks, that he could have single handedly built the Dallas Cowboys New Stadium, which is one reason why I call him "LeBrick". His three point shooting is horrendous and if the fate of the world was on the line, he would be one of my last options for the earth saving shot. He has even said himself that he does not have that killer instinct. His crying also further solidified the name "Queen James". As Tom Hanks said "There is no crying in baseball!". Well I say "There is no crying in basketball!". 

Los Angeles Lakers: Best in the West

Last night, the Los Angeles Lakers came into San Antonio and authoritatively bulldozed the San Antonio Spurs 99-83. Kobe Bryant had another regular day at the office dropping 26 points along with Pau Gasol's 21, but the big equalizer in this equation was a healthy Andrew Bynum, who transformed into Sabretooth, tore the Spurs to shreds with 17 rebounds despite 4 points. I know the last part was a stretch, but when Bynum is at perfect health, the Lakers are the most dangerous frontcourt in the league with their 3 giants (Gasol, Odom, Bynum) who are a headache for anyone. Now the Lakers have won seven straight games since the All-Star Break, which is what I have been claiming even before the season started. I have constantly stated that the Lakers will turn up the heat after the All-Star break, so this is no surprise to me at all. On the other hand, San Antonio surprised me, in a very tricky way, because not only is this the team with the best record in the league (51-12) with a 22-game winning streak, but the same team that butchered The Miami Heat (125-95). However, the same Lakers who had extended losing streaks without Bynum slaughtered these same Spurs 34-13 in the first quarter and decimated them in blocked shots (4-0). Los Angeles looked nearly flawless in first half scoring opportunities by converting 10-12, and wiping the paint with the Spurs with 12 of 21 chances inside. This game was nothing but a torture as the Lakers' largest lead was by 32, when San Antonio's best lead was by only 2 points. Ironically, Ron Artest was the peacemaker during the game when Kobe and Manu Ginobili got into an argument that would have given Kobe another technical which would have led to a suspension. This was another classic shootout in the old West, but the Lakers came into town with the biggest guns and wiped the Spurs out. Just when everyone wanted to count the champs out because of their lackluster play previously, now they are showing everyone why they are truly the best in the Wild West.