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February 25, 2011

On Second Thought, The Jazz Got The Better Of The Deron Williams Trade

By mceezy

When I first saw the news, I said “wow, the Jazz just did the unthinkable and traded their star-player without getting a new star player in return.” It doesn’t always work out for the team who acquires the star, but it never works out for the team who gives him up. Unfortunately, due to the increasingly complex financial aspect of the league, it’s becoming more and more common. Gone are the days of good player for good player trades. Now it’s just an unhappy superstar with a bruised ego for an expiring contract, a failed young project worth giving a fresh start, and a draft pick. The Jazz and Nets stuck pretty close to the script in their deal centered around Deron Williams. I still think this was essentially Utah needing to get rid of a cancerous superstar, but they managed to come away with a pretty impressive haul.

What makes it appear underwhelming is that the primary component is Devin Harris, which doesn’t exactly jump out at anybody. But this is a guy who was an all-star just two years ago with the Nets when he put up 21 pts and 7 ast for the season. Injuries have been a problem, limiting Harris to under 70 games in each of the last four seasons. I’d be willing to bet, though, that he’ll find a way to stay healthy for a while now that he gets to run the point with Paul Millsap and Al Jefferson flashing in and out of the lane. It could go either way, but the upside of Devin Harris on this Jazz team is pretty amazing.

Add to that they’ve added Derrick Favors, who hasn’t exactly been getting a lot of rookie of the year hype, averaging 6 pts and 5 reb in 20 minutes a night. But honestly, when was the last time a 3rd overall pick was traded halfway into his rookie season? He’s not exactly the “failed young project” I mentioned earlier. Favors is a kid who played one year of college ball and was drafted purely on physical potential. I don’t think he was really supposed to be NBA ready. There’s still no question that he’ll be a solid player in the league – it’s just not going to happen right away. The opportunity is there for him in Utah though. Fans in Salt Lake are growing bored of Andrei Kirilenko and are quietly rooting for him to get replaced. With Millsap and Jefferson looking poised to anchor the frontcourt for years to come, Favors could be just what coach Tyrone Corbin needs to round out a giant front line. And if Corbin was able to average double figures in his first season with the Jazz back in 92-93, surely he can get Favors to.

BUT WAIT, THERE’S MORE….. the Jazz ALSO get a first round pick this year AND a first round pick year. This year’s draft class isn’t exactly the greatest – the Clippers hate it, in fact. But Utah will likely be looking at a top ten pick this year. Then in 2012 they’ll get the Warriors’ first round pick, and I still have no idea why. It’s somewhat protected, but since the W’s are rarely in the top six, I’m sure the Jazz will get it. That’s two more chances in the next two years that they’ll have to draft their next Deron Williams, minus the driving out your legendary longest-tenured coach in all of professional sports. Just getting rid of that is a win for Utah.

6 Comments   |  tags: , , , , , | posted in Sports

February 16, 2011

Raider Re-Up on Seymour; President Honors Russell

By mceezy

The Oakland Raiders today re-signed DT Richard Seymour to solidify the return of their solid defensive tackle tandem that features him and Tommy Kelly. The deal is reportedly for 2 years, $30 million. Late last season, Seymour went as far as to say he saw himself retiring as a Raider – quite the 180 from the guy who seemed hesitant to report to Oakland after being traded 2 seasons ago. Nonetheless, Seymour emerged as a leader in the clubhouse and a force to reckon with on the field. Though I had plenty of doubts when he was first acquired, it was apparent, last season especially, that the improvement shown by the Raiders all stemmed from the dominance of the front four. It’s a lot of money, but if he produces at the same level as last year, I’m on board with this deal.

In other news…… Another thing I’m on board with is Bill Russell being awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom today. Most know him for winning 11 titles with the Boston Celtics, along with back to back NCAA titles at USF. Most forget about all the work he put in off the basketball court in the civil rights arena.

Below is the official White House transcript of Obama’s remarks about Russell:

When Bill Russell was in junior high, he was cut from his basketball team. (Laughter.) He got better after that. (Laughter.) He led the University of San Francisco to two championships. In 13 seasons with the Boston Celtics, he won 11 championships — a record unmatched in any sport. Won two while also serving as the team’s coach. And so happens, he also was the first African American ever to hold such a position as a coach in a Major League sports team of any sort. More than any athlete of his era, Bill Russell came to define the word “winner.”

And yet, whenever someone looks up at all 6 feet 9 inches of Bill Russell — I just did — (laughter) — I always feel small next to him — and asks, “Are you a basketball player?” — surprisingly, he gets this more than you think, this question — (laughter) — he says, “No.” He says, “That’s what I do, that’s not what I am. I’m not a basketball player. I am a man who plays basketball.”

Bill Russell, the man, is someone who stood up for the rights and dignity of all men. He marched with King; he stood by Ali. When a restaurant refused to serve the black Celtics, he refused to play in the scheduled game. He endured insults and vandalism, but he kept on focusing on making the teammates who he loved better players, and made possible the success of so many who would follow. And I hope that one day, in the streets of Boston, children will look up at a statue built not only to Bill Russell the player, but Bill Russell the man.

3 Comments   |  tags: , , , | posted in Sports

February 14, 2011

Doin Discounts: Sacramento Kings

By mceezy

ALL UPPER LEVEL SEATS ONLY $19.50!!

ALL LOWER LEVEL SEATS ONLY $39.50

SPECIAL OFFER CODE: kings

 

o   Upper level tickets available at up to 72% special savings.

o   Lower level tickets available at up to 76% special savings.

o   First Kings home game after All-Star break.

o   Tyreke and DeMarcus returning from 2011 Rookie Challenge.

o   Retro Night – team’s first game in retro 1951 Rochester Royals championship uniforms

o   See the high flying, Rookie of the Year Candidate – Blake Griffin.

 

Click here to purchase! (Pay & Print your tickets from home!)

https://oss.ticketmaster.com/html/go.htmI?l=EN&t=sackings&o=11856757&g=2401

5 Comments   |  tags: , | posted in Discounts, Sports

February 13, 2011

Great NBA Playoff Moments

By mceezy

I’m watching the Warriors vs. Their Old Mascot on ESPN and it hit me that both of these teams represent the two biggest playoff upsets in Western Conference Playoff history: The Warriors over the Mavs and the franchise formerly known as Seattle lost a 5 game series to the #8 seeded Nuggets. Immediately it took me back to that 1994 series. I was a huge fan of that Denver squad, led by Dikembe Mutombo, LaPhonso Ellis, and Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf. My favorite under the radar player was speedster Robert Pack, the ex-USC player and back up point guard. I went to youtube to find a video recap, and found a pretty good one, but I got bored. I didn’t need a 5 minute recap…. there’s only about 5 seconds I need to see. The only part I need to see is when Mutombo grabs that last rebound and lets time expire, at which point he falls to ground clutching the ball with both hands, and smiling like the happiest grandpa on the planet. And this is when he was just 28, allegedly. He almost looks out of this world, and perhaps he is, given his debated age, but I’ve still seen few human moments in my life that compare to him since this display. The Nuggets went on to take the Jazz to seven games in the second round.

4 Comments   |  tags: , , | posted in Sports

February 12, 2011

FREE CARL LANDRY!!

By mceezy

….And I don’t mean trade him, I mean play him. Coach Paul Westphal has played Landry just 9 and 19 minutes in each of the last two games. They’ve both been losses. I know that doesn’t say much since 37 of the 49 games the Kings have played have been losses, but here’s a more significant trend for you….

Since January started, the Kings are 5-1 when Carl Landry plays more than 30 minutes. When he doesn’t, they’re 1-13.

I’m all for giving rookie Demarcus Cousins the minutes, and Samuel Dalembert’s been playing some solid basketball this year, but Landry should be on the floor more. It’s not like he can’t play with those guys. Jason Thompson should be the odd man out – which he is often. Whatever the case, it’s clear the organization doesn’t see Landry as a part of their future, which is unfortunate, so they may as well trade him to someone who will utilize him. This is a guy who was putting up 16 pts a night for a .500 ballclub in Houston, making him a favorite for the 6th Man of the Year award for the first half of last season. Now he’s not good enough to play for the worst team outside of Cuyahoga County, Ohio.

 

4 Comments   |  tags: , , | posted in Sports

February 11, 2011

Wow, I Didn’t Think I’d Care About That

By mceezy

I won’t lie, I only got through the first minute of the video Chappy posted earlier. I wasn’t going to say anything, and it wasn’t that boring, I just don’t care about the Cavs. OR SO I THOUGHT. Tonight, when ESPN decided to pull a pretty unprecedented move and cut away from the Lakers-Knicks – it was a blowout, I know, but still… they rarely do that – but I found myself pretty happy for Cleveland. I really didn’t care one way or the other whether the streak kept going or it stopped. You never want to wish the piling on of more losing to an already worn down beaten team. But at the same time, it’s history. But nonetheless, the Cavs pulled it out tonight against the Clippers and I found myself feeling pretty good for the guys who’ve stuck it out over there. They’ve had a few legitimate injuries, like Anderson Varejao, but for the most part, no one’s really sandbagging and sitting out games. I think I speak for all of Doin Work when I say Antawn Jamison deserves a lot of respect for this season. Between his Golden State Warrior roots and Cali4Dre’s fantasy obsession (honestly, I think he’s had him like 8 of the last 10 years), none of us have ever had a bad thing to say about the guy. ….except for flaws in his game maybe. Here’s the Antawn Jamison Fun Fact of the Night: He’s played all 82 games in the season FIVE TIMES. This year he’s played 51 of 54, more than respectable. He’s better than this, and a lot of guys of his stature probably would’ve feigned injury or sulked their way to a trade, but he’s kept his head down and kept grinding. Hopefully a contender will snatch him up and reward him with some relevant basketball again.

1 Comment   |  tags: | posted in Sports

February 10, 2011

What No One Else Will Say About Jerry Sloan

By mceezy

Call Jerry Sloan the anti-Favre. It’s never been a will-he-or-won’t-he situation with Coach in Utah. The man’s been at the helm of the Jazz for the majority of the time they’ve been there, literally. I knew the clock was ticking, but I never expected Sloan to step down midseason. The more I learned what the reasons were, the more I felt upset for him. Word quickly spread that he’s had a tumultuous relationship with Deron Williams that came to a head the other night, leading Sloan to proclaim that he’s “done.” I would’ve thought Phil Johnson would be the natural successor, but he quit too. I know Deron Williams is the best player and all, but if you’re the Jazz ownership, how can you let him drive out your coach of 23 years? Larry Miller wouldn’t have stood for this. But you won’t really hear many sour grapes over this – from Sloan or from anybody. Because that’s how his coaching career went. He didn’t make a big deal out of his himself, and neither did the media. There’s no shortage of ridiculous numbers detailing Sloan’s unparalleled tenure, so I won’t regurgitate too many of those, but the guy had ONE losing season in his entire career. He also took the Jazz to the NBA Finals twice. The knock on him, of course, will always be that he never won a championship, but c’mon, can we honestly say he ever had championship caliber talent? They were pretty much at that level in 97-98, but they ran into Jordan and the Bulls. You know what else Jerry Sloan never won? A Coach of the Year award. Frank Layden won it in 1984 when he had Adrian Dantley and Darrell Griffith combining for 50 points a night en route to a 45-37 record. Sloan topped that record 18 times. Sure he had Stockton and Malone, but didn’t anybody wonder why they stayed in Utah their whole careers? Yet somehow, in Williams’ 6th season, he’s decided he’d rather play for Tyrone Corbin. This really just feels like the beginning of the demise of the Utah Jazz, unfortunately. But you won’t see or read much about it. The world ignored Jerry Sloan for 23 years, so don’t expect anything to change (other than the Jazz’s fortunes). Next weekend I’ll be making my annual trip out to Utah, which is like my second home, and I’m pretty confident it’ll be the first time I’ve ever been there when Jerry Sloan was not the coach. It’s gonna be a weird vibe…….

9 Comments   |  tags: , | posted in Sports

February 9, 2011

Sick Day Special

By mceezy

Much like when you watch a baseball game, there’s the possibility that you may witness something extremely rare. Well, the same can be said for Doin Work. Today was a very rare occasion, as yours truly actually stayed home from work. I’m like Brett Favre in the office. Though as bored as I was throughout the day, it gave me some time to catch up on some news. Here’s what I was thinking about……

Might we see Ellison in front of more purple backgrounds soon?

Larry Ellison Can’t Manage To Buy an NBA Team – Well documented was Ellison’s late bid to buy the Golden State Warriors last year. What I didn’t know was that he also tried to buy the Sonics when they were getting ready to leave Seattle. Now I’ve come to find out he supposedly offered $350 million to buy the Hornets, but was rejected, only to see George Shinn sell the team to the league for $300 million. Obviously the dollar amounts can be argued, but the fact remains that Ellison has tried to purchase at least three franchises now, to no avail. So now he is reportedly turning his attention to the Kings, with the intention of moving them to Anaheim. What I don’t understand is why he is widely rumored to want to move the Kings to LA, but his preference for the Hornets would be to move them to San Jose. Not sure why the different destinations for the different teams. Maybe next he can take a shot at buying the Raptors and moving them to Winnipeg.

Athletics Need To Get Michael Young – I know there aren’t many rumors linking the A’s to Young, especially since Young’s no-trade clause only includes 8 teams, of which Oakland, not surprisingly, is not included. If I know Billy Beane, though, the A’s front office is making a serious play for the third baseman turned DH. It’s been no secret that the A’s have been trying to replace Kevin Kouzmanoff at third. For a while they were rumored to be trying to work out a Kouz for Chone Figgins deal, but that seems dead. The Mariners aren’t that stupid. Therefore it’s looking like Young is our best option. They’ll just have to come up with a deal enticing enough to convince the Rangers it’s the best for the team, while at the same time, enticing Young to waive his no-trade clause to come to Oakland. Most experts are seeing the A’s as the most improved team in the AL West, and the most likely to challenge Texas for the division title. I’m sure he’d rather be in Anaheim, but wouldn’t he love to stick it to his old team in the green and gold? Maybe not.

Big East Is Stacked – They’re now the laughing stock of college football’s BCS automatic bid conferences, but they’ve emerged as the premier college basketball conference. The title had traditionally been held by the ACC and/or the Big Ten, but the Big East is dominating now. By my count, they’ve got 8 ranked teams, and are looking poised to send 11 teams to the NCAA tournament. Though they are arguably the best conference from top to bottom, the Duke-North Carolina game is still the biggest one on the day’s docket.

Alex and Cameron don't look so hot after a bag of popcorn and a few drinks.

A-Corn Is Ridiculous – I was as amused as anyone when Fox cut away to Camerom Diaz feeding Alex Rodriguez popcorn in a suite, but I didn’t expect people to still be talking about on Wednesday. True, it was an embarrassing shot, but word is A-Rod went on a tirade, demanding that they don’t show him again. It’s like Mike Greenberg said today, A-Rod is the ONLY guy this could happen to. Anyone else would brush it off and have fun with it, but A-Rod is continuing to amaze by making himself even less likable than he already was. To top it off, I caught some TMZ today, where they showed Rodriguez shopping for clothes while Cameron walked around bored, texting. To make matters worse, A-Corn was caught numerous times checking out his own ass in the mirror. To top it all off, the cameras caught him picking a pretty decent sized booger out of his nose. Apparently, A-Rod is just as tragic off the field.

7 Comments   |  tags: , , , , , , , , , | posted in Sports

February 3, 2011

Some Mike Iuzzolino Highlights

By mceezy

You may have seen this one coming. After Chappy brought up NBA Jam the other day, I can’t stop looking back fondly at all those dynamite duos from the original arcade game. Remember when everyone would fight over who got to be the Lakers, so they could run the floor with Vlade and James Worthy? If you were unlucky, you’d likely settle for the second best team, the Milwaukee Bucks with Brad Lohaus and Blue Edwards. The Seattle SuperSonics were pretty unstoppable, because what says fast break action more than Benoit Benjamin? Ultimately, you were always okay as long as you didn’t pick a team with one of those pint-size players like Tim Hardaway or Isiah Thomas. It was cool for Kings’ Spud Webb to be tiny, since he was, but can’t Mark Price at least look like a man and not a boy?

Speaking of men among boys, anyone who put a quarter into an NBA Jam machine earned themself a date with Mike Iuzzolino. Since the Mavs were arguably the worst team in basketball, the video game Mavs were no different. They were the first team you played, and Derek Harper must have pissed off some teammates since it looked like none of his digital cohorts wanted to play with him. Nonetheless, Mike Iuzzolino was happy to take on the challenge. Apparently Mike will take on any challenge. Check out this highlight reel I found. Not only can he excel on the basketball court while looking extremely mediocre, Iuzzolino also – unless I’m missing something in translation – has tons of skills in the editing room, converted an old run-down prison into a three star hotel, and runs a successful tire conglomerate that puts lots of names on their receipts….

2 Comments   |  tags: , | posted in Sports, video games

February 3, 2011

The Death Of Free Sports

By mceezy

Tonight we lost a valuable commodity… ATDHE.net fell victim to the “ICE”. For the last few months we’ve been able to enjoy out-of-market games at no cost on the web, but it was too good to be true – like everything else on the web. No more Warriors games in LA and Sacramento for us.  We invite you to share your favorite ATDHE memories in the comments section….

5 Comments   |  tags: | posted in Sports, TV

January 30, 2011

Is It Fall Yet?

By mceezy

Now that we’re fast approaching the most boring time of year in sports, I found myself especially missing college football this weekend. With the exception of the Super Bowl next weekend, (yes, it’s a pretty big exception) there’s not much exciting going on for the next few weekends for the sports fan. I watch more than my share of NBA and college basketball, but they’re just not the weekend event that football is. The season may be a long ways away, but these two links got me pretty excited for the 2011 season….

Fbschedules – I could waste a day checking out every team’s schedule for the upcoming season. Especially with all the teams changing conferences. Boise State in particular – even though the dates have yet to be worked out, they host TCU in a Mountain West matchup… can’t wait for that game every year.

MaxPreps Top 20 Recruiting Classes – To know what games are gonna be big, you’ve got to know what teams are gonna be good. Since you can’t see them on the field yet, you’ve got to go with the experts’ rankings. And since it’s 2011, you can check out the players’ credentials for yourself.

9 Comments   |  tags: , , | posted in Sports

January 25, 2011

Sanchez’s Dirty Handoff

By mceezy

The Jets played a pretty forgettable game on Sunday. Mark Sanchez was no exception. His most notable play in the first half was coughing up the ball which led to a fumble recovery return for a touchdown that put the game away just 28 minutes in. To his credit, he led a pretty solid comeback attempt but ultimately came up short. Perhaps THIS was his best play of the game though…..

6 Comments   |  tags: | posted in Sports

January 23, 2011

USF, Gonzaga Pass On The Escalator

By mceezy

One’s going up, while the other’s going down. I’ll try not to be my usual pessimistic self and talk about how the Gonzaga hoops dynasty is ending before our eyes. For one thing, I just that very thing last weekend with the Patriots. Also, Yahoo’s got that very post on their front page. I will mention that Gonzaga has won the West Coast Conference every year since I first stepped foot on the USF campus. The last time they didn’t win the conference, I didn’t even know the WCC existed. From Casey Calvary to Blake Stepp, Dan Dickau to Adam Morrison, Ronny Turiaf to Jeremy Pargo, the Zags haven’t been anything less than the best for the last ten years. They even became the poster child for mid-major Cinderellas for the entire decade. They were essentially the Boise State of basketball. This year, they entered conference play with an impressive, though not breathtaking, 13-5 record. Gonzaga is know for its “play anyone, anywhere” mentality, so it wasn’t much cause for concern since their losses came against San Diego State, Kansas State, Illinois, Washington State, and Notre Dame. However, this weekend was pretty much the beginning of the end for the Zags. They lost back to back games in the Bay Area at Santa Clara Thursday night, and then Saturday night on the Hilltop in San Francisco.

here’s a highlight reel that would have you believe USF won 96-3…..

Enough about Gonzaga, the real news here is the apparent resurgence of the University of San Francisco’s basketball program. With this weekend’s 96-91 overtime win over the Zags, USF has moved into sole possession of 2nd place in the WCC, donning a 4-1 record for the first time since 1982. You won’t see them in the Top 25 rankings anytime soon though. They were 6-9 at the conclusion of their nonconference schedule. Besides hanging tough against undefeated San Diego State in Las Vegas (62-56), the Dons had looked pretty listless in losses to San Jose State, Montana State, Loyola-Illinois, CSU Bakersfield, Louisville, Washington, IUPUI, and Colorado State. It did make for the 11th toughest schedule in the nation, and needless to say that ranking  is going up now that WCC play is underway. With a win Thursday night in Los Angeles against Loyola Marymount, and a Gonzaga win over St. Mary’s in Spokane, the Dons could find themselves sitting in first place, tied with the rival Gaels from across the Bay. Regardless of whether or not that happens, I’m definitely not predicting a conference championship for USF here. What I’m saying is they look well on their way to challenging for it again. Not only is their only one senior on the roster – center Moustapha Diarra is solid, but hardly a key cog – arguably their three best players are two sophomores and a freshman.

It’s always fun to see a hated dynasty fall, but down the road, it’s also fun to see them come back. It was great watching the Lakers, Cowboys, or Yankees fall from the top spot, but sports are just that much more fun when teams like that are good. It’s clear most people have long-forgotten the 1950s when Bill Russell and KC Jones were leading USF to back to back NCAA Championships. College basketball sure would be a lot more fun for me if they were good again. Something tells me we’ve still got a St. Mary’s dynasty to endure first though.

5 Comments   |  tags: , , | posted in Sports

January 20, 2011

Seriously, What Is This Move Called?

By mceezy

We’ve all seen it. Any time someone in any sport does anything good, he and his teammates resort to this move. I don’t know what it’s called, do you? I’d like to call an official Doin Work “Name That Move” poll. I’ve nailed this playing shuffleboard, but we need a name for it. Help us out…..

7 Comments   |  tags: , , , , , , , , , | posted in Sports

January 17, 2011

Is The Patriots Dynasty Dead?

By mceezy

Despite continued regular season success, the New England Patriots have now lost their last three postseason games. Yesterday’s loss to the Jets has prompted me to officially declare the Patriots’ dynasty dead. Players had come and gone, but the team remained pretty successful. With the exception of Tom Brady, everyone else has been pretty dispensable. They’ve won regardless of who was in what position. Corey Dillon, Kevin Faulk, Laurence Maroney, BenJarvus Green-Ellis, it really didn’t matter. Yesterday, though, when the starting lineups were announced, I was literally thinking, who are some of these guys? It’s almost as if Bill Belichik got bored with a level playing field and wanted to make it more difficult. It’s like when you win the Super Bowl on Madden so you start the next season on All-Madden difficulty instead. I’ll even go so far as to say he deliberately picked up Danny Woodhead just to show the Jets that he could make him a great player, while they weren’t even using him. Sure, he looked pretty good all year, but it didn’t help them win in the postseason. I expect a major retooling offseason for the Patriots.

I’m not so sure that upgrading the roster is going to help at this point though. The Pats have lost their swagger. Like Jets’ linebacker Bart Scott said, the media fell for the Patriots’ act, believing that they were just confident, but not cocky. Anyone who doesn’t have a mancrush on Belichik or Brady can see right through that. Rex Ryan outcoached Belichik though, and Brady through a key pick early on that pretty much changed the tone of the game. So maybe they’ll reload their roster for next year. I’m almost positive they’ll need to add a legit receiver or two. Deion Branch is not the answer, no matter how much he cries about classless Jets players. Sure, the “act like you’ve been there before” line comes into play, but the Jets haven’t been there. Patriots players have been telling them how much better they are for years now (and allegedly Branch was saying as much during the game yesterday), so when they finally got over the hump, of course they went batshit crazy. Fingers to the New England fans? I’m all for it. Yesterday will most likely go down in history as the day the Patriots dynasty died. I’ve long said that in order to be the best, you have to know you’re the best. I just don’t think they know they’re the best anymore.

9 Comments   |  tags: , , , , , | posted in Sports