Yes, life is tough for a second tier NBA player. No, seriously, it is. With very few teams having cap space available (and those that do being weaker teams), players like Corey “I Don’t Think You’re Ready For” Maggette face a tough decision - take the money and run on a bad team, or take a pay cut and roll the dice with a winner and the future free agent market.
More on this quagmire for slightly-above-mid-level NBA Free Agents here!
Hey there, so this is column number one for me (which I must admit, is a bit rushed).
This coming Saturday is the actual conclusion for the most recent season of The Ultimate Fighter. Due to the aforementioned rushing of this article, let’s just jump right into the main event.Upon first hearing about the fight I immediately jumped the conclusion that Rampage would murderize Forrest. This was based entirely on the fact that the man seems to be in his prime with Juanito Ibarra by his side. More after the jump!
I’m not sure if this is going to be a regular feature or not yet, but I’m leaning towards yes. “Don’t Hate The Player…” is my answer to Stu’s Gary Roberts Wednesdays. Consider it GRW, but for good players, or players people actually care enough about to feel one way or the other about. “Don’t Hate The Player…,” named after former five-time (five-time, five-time, five-time, five-time!) WCW Champion Booker T’s old catch phrase, “Don’t hate the player, hate the game!” is a segment where I shine a little light on a good player that maybe wouldn’t otherwise get that light.
Now…I know you would have all guessed, after reading that introduction, that Eric Hinske would be the inaugural feature of the almost-named Eric Hinske Thursdays. You would be wrong. Hinske, while appropriate as both a name sake and a Hall of Fame member, is not the first player I honor with DHTP.
The “intro” for these things is always the hardest part. I pretty much know what the content is going to be and I even have a catchy little ending already picked out, but how do I ease you, the reader, into this little diddy? How do I rationalize what I’m about to present?
Do I use a cheesy anecdote that may or may not be true? Maybe a joke of sorts? Or maybe that “Youtube” that the kids are always talking about…let’s go with that last one.
Hmmm, nice video, but what’s the sports connection?
You see, celebrities-like Jessica Alba and Cameron Diaz- like to spend time doing things outside. Some times these things are sports – the above video also features champion surfer Kelly Slater, albeit briefly. These celebrities also occasionally appear in movies that loosely feature sports in their plotlines – a bit like this piece, I guess. Without further ado, attractive female celebrities and movies that have at least one sports related connection. Maybe the title needs some work, oh well…on with the show More after the jump!
On Monday, it was Lebanon who fell, 89-67, to Canada in Men’s Basketball. On Tuesday, it was New Zealand falling 90-63. This Friday and Saturday, it will surely be both teams again. Canada stands a good chance of walking away from the three-team Jack Donohue International Classic with the title, in fact. Yes, these are just exhibition games, tune-ups for something much more important, but Team Canada Basketball has reason to be optimistic nonetheless.
After this four-set of exhibition games concludes on Saturday, they’ll head to Germany for exhibition games on July 9 and 11. These, too, are tune-ups for something greater.
In Greece, from July 15 to July 20, Team Canada Men’s Basketball has the chance to qualify for the Olympic Games. It is a goal that eluded this country in 2004, after a 7th place finish in 2000, and one that the FIBA World Rankings don’t feel Canada deserves. Canada is ranked 17th of the 213 ranked countries, and with only 12 teams qualifying for the Olympic tournament, Canada should rightfully be an odd team out.
But that ranking is indicative of an old program, an old coach, an old attitude. Nobody will ever talk negatively about the job Jay Triano did at the helm, but the coaching change to Leo Rautins signalled a new direction for the Canada Basketball program as a whole. Now, with a qualifying tournament at their feet and an Olympic berth in their grasp, it is up to these 12 men to give Canada’s national basketball program new hope. More after the jump!
Tiger, I promise you that you’ll never meet another person as mentally tough as you your entire life. And he hasn’t, and he never will. - Earl Woods
From the start of the U.S. Open coverage on Thursday through to then end on Monday afternoon, this Nike ad narrated by the late Earl Woods seemed to appear in almost every commercial break. As the week went on, the words of Earl Woods become increasingly appropriate and inspirational.
Those of us fortunate enough to watch Tiger hole by hole earlier this month at Torrey Pines are well aware that we witnessed one of the most surreal and inspirational performances in sports history. With a badly torn ACL and a double stress fracture is his left leg, every full swing Tiger made was followed by a sharp jolt of pain that he knew very well was coming. Yet he somehow put this thought behind him swing after swing and continued to execute. In typical Tiger fashion, he simply did what he had to do to win. I’m not sure how Nike managed to pick such a perfect ad for the week but Tiger certainly proved his dad right. He will never meet anyone as mentally tough as him. More after the jump!
Duke basketball is, in a word, detestable. In some more words, it’s a heinous violation of everything I like about college basketball. Coach K brings in a bunch of McDonald’s All-Americans, but instead of setting them loose on the NCAA like my boy Roy Williams at UNC, he turns them into a defensive machine. Had Josh McRoberts attended a high-tempo basketball power like North Carolina, Louisville, or even Memphis, he might have become one of my favorite college hoops players ever. Instead, he went to Duke. The rest is history.
I was reminded of McRoberts while watching this year’s NBA Draft. The deal sending Jerryd Bayless to Portland from the Pacers had already gone down when the electrifying Ric Bucher broke in with a special report. Someone had been added to the Bayless deal! My mind was full of possibilities. Was David Harrison headed to the Blazers, or was Stevey Blake going to add some little-needed whiteness to Indiana? No, the great Josh McRoberts was heading to his home state of Indiana. Woah. How did a former potential number one overall pick become a throw-in for a team trading down on draft day? More after the jump!
NBA Free Agent Season has officially begun…kind of. July 1 marks the first day that teams can open negotiations with free agents, but no deal can be made official until July 9. Luckily, this gives us fans a little more than a week to salivate over rumors and endless possibilities…or, to try and figure out the salary cap situation surrounding free agency. Today, I aim to give you a primer for the NBA Free Agent period, beginning now with a look at the salary cap rules surrounding the signing of free agents.
In general, the NBA’s salary cap is a soft cap, meaning that there are ways for teams to cross the threshold. This can be done via exceptions, minimums, trades, and owning player rights, all of which will be explained shortly. Keep in mind that any actual cap figures I use are rough estimates, since the league won’t announce the official cap for 2008-09 until the number crunching has ceased on July 9. The cap is usually set at 51% of the league’s Basketball Related Income, and it has increased at a fairly steady rate for the past few seasons, so I’m anticipating a salary cap of $59M with a luxury tax level of $71M, though these may be slightly higher than the announced levels. So, without further ado… More after the jump!
If the following paragraphs don’t cement my position as a “cool dude” and potential “heartthrob,” I don’t know what will. The following will be a look into my soul; finally, an answer to the timeless question, what makes me tick?
So without further ado, Alex, what makes you tick?
Puzzles. No, not any of those wonky Sudoku puzzles or even puzzles of the crossword variety. I’m talking about good old fashion jigsaw puzzles.
I honestly don’t remember when I first started puzzling, however I imagine it was sometime around 1986 and likely involved farm animals – kinky, I know. In my early days, puzzles were an educational vehicle; they taught me geography and allowed me to admire art. In recent years, puzzles have become a hobby, a nice activity to enjoy on a cold winter day or a challenge to tackle during a summer blackout.
In recent years I’ve completed a puzzle of Norman Rockwell’s “Pride of Parenthood” painting, a Simpsons collage, and an Impossible – a puzzle with no border, a repeating image and 10 extra pieces. I know what you’re thinking, “this guy is super cool!”Exactly. More after the jump!
