I can’t lie, I’ve always liked following Bradley and his antics, they seem so stupid yet so entertaining at the same time. Like I said before I will always be grateful for his run with the A’s, and how he WAS pretty much their entire offense and got them ALCS in 2006. Anyways, his recent comments are just another sign that he is overly emotional, and caught up in his own little version of Alice and Wonderland. Everything he’s fried for in the media, he brought on himself. He’s the anti-Tiger, and plain doesn’t think about what he’s saying before he talks. In his most recent comments that has caused a mini uproar in the baseball world he compared himself to bad boys of different industries saying,
“If I was a musician I’d be Kanye West. If I was a basketball player, I’d be Ron Artest. In baseball, they have me, Milton Bradley.I’m that guy. You need people like me, so you can point your finger and go, ‘There goes the bad guy..”
Looks like it would be fun to shop with Milton...
I’d lean more towards the Artest comparison, because he is flat out crazy. He pretty much called out all of Chicago when he was leaving, which I’m sure hit hard with Dyslexic. He almost sounded like he wanted to fight all of Chicago on his way out.
Anyways, Kayne was the best uhhh, Kayne of all time. Rodman was probably the best Artest of the NBA. If he had jumped in the crowd in LA and started punching that fan that threw a water bottle at him he’d be comparable to Artest. Scarface was the best Cocaine dealer of all time, so Al Pacino should be the only one that can quote Scarface. I don’t think he has enough on his record yet to live up to those comparisons. Sure he’s hated, but he’s going to have to take it to the next level somehow to earn the title he dubbed himself. Maybe if he grows a pair of red horns, and appears on the cover of SI this year he could be comparable to Kanye.
Well, this is the second post I’ve taken from Anthony over at Drippet, which you should check out if you happen to have a few spare moments. I felt the need to share this one with our readers though. No need for an intro or analysis, just sit back and enjoy this instant classic.
After intense negotiations the Doin Work team was lucky enough to land the highly sought after free agent writer know around the blogging community as, Sports Guy By! Fortunately for us, he’s heavily into the Bay Area sports world as much as we are. He’s also a contributor for the fantasy website www.hotboxsports.com, so if you happen to read any previews for the Suns, Lakers, or Warriors, he most likely wrote it!
He offers up a slightly different sense of humor and opinion than the rest of us, but that is far from a bad thing! Hell, he might even be the alpha dog of the site before it’s all said and done. There is no doubt in the management’s mind that he will blend in seamlessly with the crew already assembled.
Immediate fan reactions were positive, since most had no idea they could lock up such a quality writer with their obviously very low to non-existent payroll according to Forbes. The growing feeling is that he could single handedly bring Doin Work to the next level! For those that are unfamiliar with his work just check out his blog.
My outlook heading into the sweet 16; Two brackets gone miserably wrong, and one with plenty of hope. I never expect to win in the pick’ems, so I usually just root more for entertaining action. In the midst of all these games I realized I hadn’t done a preview for the Vegas lines in awhile, and what better time than during the always entertaining March Madness. Anyways, here’s how I see the eight games playing out.
Cornell (+10) Over Kentucky
Kentucky has cruised through the tourney so far beating both teams they played to a pulp by 29 and 30 points. They have the most “NBA” talent of any team left, and have shown why they are a #1 seed. They destroyed a sixteen seed, and a slumping nine seed. Their reward is to play the Cinderella Cornell squad who has one less tourney win (6) than Kentucky has championships (7). I could see Cornell covering the spread if they keep raining threes like they have, but their main concern will be to not let Kentucky run wild. This is much easier said than done. If their zone somehow slows the cats down, then we could see this Cinderella make some noise. I can’t believe some of the “experts” are picking them to win. I wouldn’t go that far, but maybe a single digit win for Kentucky.
Said it before and I'll say it again, Evan Turner's game reminds me of Brandon Roy's.
Ohio State (-4.5) Over Tennessee
I’ve been repping the Buckeyes pretty hard since I have them winning it all in my one bracket of hope. I probably just jinxed them, but watching Evan Turner nearly put up a triple double in their last game has me thinking there’s a chance he could single handedly get them to the final four. The Buckeyes will need to avoid making the silly turnovers like they did against Georgia Tech which was the sole reason the game even close. The Vols don’t boast a high powered offense, so it’ll be interesting to see if they can create some easy hoops with Ohio States’ mistake prone lapses during games. If this game is close, it will be because Turner was held in check, and that should be priority number one for the Vols.
West Virginia (-3.5) Over Washington
Although I’ll be rooting for an upset in this game, it’s pretty tough banking on that to happen. West Virginia is a MUCH more physical team than the Huskies first two opponents. I think the physical play will give their shooters a rough time. If Washington has any chance they will need Isiah Thomas and Quincy Pondexter to play flawlessly. West Virginia is somewhat offensively challenged, but there’s good news for the Mountaineers, the Huskies are ranked 295th in free throws conceded. I see the Mountaineers being too much for the Huskies to handle.
The Sacramento Kings blasted this press release today. I don’t think it will have much impact on the team per se, but during a time where the future of the franchise is up in the air, you certainly don’t want to see many more changes. The Maloofs will take over his duties, so don’t expect a whole lot to change – for the time being…..
John Thomas Resigns as President of the Sacramento Kings
SACRAMENTO, CALIF., Mar. 23, 2010 – John Thomas, President of the Sacramento Kings, is resigning effective April 2, 2010, Maloof Sports & Entertainment announced today.
Thomas is leaving for personal family reasons.
“We want to thank John for everything he has done for us since we came to Sacramento. He’s been an important leader on our team,” said Joe and Gavin Maloof, owners of the Kings.
“Ten years is longer than most NBA Presidents get to serve. I want to thank the Maloof family and my extended Kings family of co-workers and fans for the privilege. I’m very excited about the future,” said Thomas.
Thomas has 20 years of major league sports executive experience in basketball, baseball and hockey. He began his role with Maloof Sports & Entertainment in 1999. Prior to joining the Kings, he was an executive with the Houston Rockets and Comets.
Thomas has been an active member of the Sacramento community, serving on the Boards of Directors of the Sacramento Convention & Visitors Bureau and the Sacramento Metro Chamber, as well as Valley Vision’s Leadership Council and the NBA’s Team Advisory Committee (TAC).
About Maloof Sports and Entertainment:
Maloof Sports & Entertainment includes the Sacramento Kings (NBA) and ARCO Arena. Led by Joe and Gavin Maloof, and owned by the Maloof family with long-term, local partners, the organization is committed to the community in Sacramento and to making a positive, meaningful difference in the lives of families in need in the Sacramento region. Maloof Sports & Entertainment has donated more than $17 million to charities in 10 years of Maloof family ownership. For more information about Maloof Sports & Entertainment, please visit kings.com, arcoarena.com or call 916-928-0000.
Yesterday the Twins decided to avoid having the elephant in the locker room all season long, and locked up their free agent to be and Minnesoootan God, Joe Mauer. He signed there with a no trade clause for the next 8 years for the generous hometown discount of $184 million. Locking up far and away the best catcher in the game doesn’t seem like a bad idea. It’s been highly debated if it’s worth using that much of the franchises total salary on one player. At first I thought it was pretty bold maneuver tying up all that money in one player, but after looking at it further there were some other factors that left me feeling like this was a good move for the Twins.
Getting this deal done well before he was a free agent most likely did get them a discount, believe it or not. If they had held off on the contract talks until the off season, they may have had to pony up an A-Rod type salary ($275 million) to keep him in a Twins uniform, and it would’ve been a distraction all year long. The Twins shifted from their normal MO of letting star players go via free agency, and signing one of their home grown talent must coincide with the grand opening of their new stadium, which looks pretty cool I must admit. It’s been reported that Minnesota’s payroll could hit the $100 million mark as soon as next season pushing them out of the small market team division. If they get five solid seasons out of Mauer behind the plate, and throw him on first base for those last few. He could be winning multiple batting titles. If it pans out that way, the Twins would sign the contract twice over. He could also be the next Eric Chavez, but I hope not for his sake. Will he stay healthy? Who knows, I’m not Nostradamus. My question to the league is, when are the A’s going to get their new stadium built? We were so close, and it fell off the table. We really want to sign some players to ridiculous contracts too!
Finally Dubs fans have something to roar about at Roaracle!
I’ve waited my whole adult life for this moment, and the possibility of my favorite team being sold to an owner that cares about the team could truly happen has made this a great Monday! The words “great” and “Monday” aren’t in the same sentence very often, unless your watching an ESPN MNF commercial, but today is special. It was reported just hours ago that owner, Chris Cohan, has hired Galatioto Sports Partners to assist him with the SALE OF THE WARRIORS! A team that is in the fifth largest market in the NBA is hoping the bidding will go over the $400 million mark. Personally, I think that’s a little high, because the Bobcats just went for $275 million, but I’m far from qualified to tell you what a teams’ value is. I’d think it would make it more difficult to get what the price he wants since there is the pending lockout looming large over every possible future franchise owner. Apparently there are more buyers in the running than the only previously reported one, Larry Ellison. We know that Ellison will be in the mix in the bidding war, since he previously had said he was interested over the past year plus, but also had said you can’t buy what’s not for sale. Now that they are, so let’s hope he can assume ownership of the team.
Despite owning one of the worst records in the league, the Warriors draw the 13th best attendance in the NBA. This is just one more reason this is great news for the best fans in the league that pack Roaracle on a nightly basis. We now actually have something to cheer for. Their first order of business when the team gets it’s new owner should be to rehire Chris Mullin. We need him back in the front office making smart personnel decisions. He was the main catalyst to getting together that very exciting 2007 team that upset the Mavs. Yesterday, there was no hope for the future outside of Curry, today the possibilities are endless!
Due to a Sunday morning obligation, I stayed in Saturday night and channel surfed what ended up being a wave of RFPs. The star of the show was none other than NBA Ironman, A.C. Green. Green was cohosting a religious show on channel 95. I didn’t even recognize him at first. Whereas most retired athletes tend to pack on the pounds, AC looks like he’s been on a decade long fast since his playing days. The guy is so skinny he looks like he should be writing for Doin Work! Obviously Green ditched the jheri curl long ago, but he’s also left behind the flat top he rocked in later years. Green now sports the semi-fro, with a soul patch to boot. We all know about AC’s incredible consecutive games streak – he basically played every game from 1987 to 1998. Nowadays he’s an ironman on God’s court.
After I got bored of that show, which was pretty quick, I stumbled upon some NBA D-League action. The Dakota Wizards were taking on the Erie Bayhawks. One guy stood out right away. Former Georgetown standout Michael Sweetney is a member of the Erie club. Now, talk about a guy who’s packed on the pounds. I didn’t even recognize him at first. There’s a number 50 across the front of jersey, but you can’t help but notice the belly and two boobs first. He can still play, as he went for about 20 points, but based on his appearance and lack of mobility, I wouldn’t expect to see him back in the big league any time soon.
Also on the Bayhawks is former Santa Clara University star, Big John Bryant. While Bryant’s size is the main thing keeping him from the NBA, he put it to work last night. In just 17 minutes, he logged 6 points to go with 6 rebounds, but he made his presence felt on the defensive end, blocking 5 shots. The Dakota team boasted an even more unknown player that caught my eye in Corsley Edwards. Edwards was a former 2nd round pick of the Sacramento Kings in 2002. While he struggled from the field, 3-13, he saved his best play of the night for the final possession. With the clock winding down, Edwards drove and dished to a wide open guy (it’s the D-league, you expect me to remember everyone?) for a buzzer-beating, game winning layup.
I’ve heard of many athlete’s taking up different types of conditioning regiments, and know that some turn to different types of fighter training to get their stamina up. Whether it’s boxing or martial arts keeping them agile and strong for the rigors of their sport they do what they need to stay at the top. I’ve never really seen it go the other way though. You don’t often get to see a well rounded martial arts guy playing non boxing/MMA sports. Anyways, whoever this guy above is, he took it to a new level with his nun chuck abilities. He shows us he can hit for power in the batting cages. I don’t think there’s a pitch that’s out of his zone with that kind of unorthodox swing. He’s got a different type of nun chuck when he feels like hitting the links. I wonder if he has a full set? Amazingly his swing still looks better Charles Barkley’s does! If he wants to pimp a chick, he can even impress the ladies with his badminton skills. If he was on your team for anything, you know he’d be able to help you celebrate in style opening champagne bottles for the team. He’s the full package in a multi-sport athlete. If West Eastern State can find the IvanBrothersthen why not look for some talented young kid in some crazy martial arts community in Asia!
Easily the most time I've spent on CBS's website...
I’m not even going to try and recap the amazing day that happened yesterday. Personally I thought it was far and away the best 12 hour stretch of basketball I’ve seen in my lifetime. There were buzzer beaters, overtime, comebacks, cinderella stories, the whole enchilada! I’m hoping that today will bring just as much excitement, but am somewhat skeptical that the games will live up to yesterdays excitment… I don’t even know what my favorite moment was from yesterday, because there were so many of them. If there was ever a time when Sportscenter needed a top 20 plays list, yesterday was the day for it.
7 of the 16 games were decided by 3 points or less
11 of the 16 games were decided by single digits
4 of those games were decided by a shot made in the last five seconds
Quincy Pondexter’s performance was something out of Steph Curry’s book, leading a storming Washington Husky team back from a 14 point deficit making every shot he took over the last six minutes including the game winner. Murray State, Ohio, and Old Dominion all gave us reasons to believe there could be another George Mason, although I don’t see any of them making it to the elite 8, but then again, after yesterday’s action anything is possible. It was good to see St. Mary’s get their first tourney win and rep the WCC. If you liked buzzer beaters Ishmael Smith, Pondexter, and Danero’s will all be highlights for the rest of the tourney. I’d write more, but the games are about to start, and I’m at work, so it’s time to start streamling again! If today is anything like yesterday, then every basketball fan won’t want to miss a minute of the action! Feel free to let us know what your favorite moment was from day 1.
So Ron Washington failed a drug test for cocaine. Shame on him. But since the story broke, I’ve witnessed a man take responsibility and hone up to his mistakes better than any other sports figure of this generation. While most of these guys deny accusations for months, sometimes years, until their glass house of lies comes crumbling down, only THEN to make apologies and fess up to their misdeeds, Ron Washington submitted a dug test, notified the administrators he would likely fail it, and then proceeded to communicate with each party of interest what was going on. Wash has always been a mastermind on the field, but he showed me that he is one off of it too. This news surely would’ve outraged the media in most scenarios, but Wash has been one step ahead of the game the entire time. He’s an unproven, black manager of a non-contending team. Major League Baseball and/or the owners could have easily made an example of him, but Wash is a guy who earns respect, and I think it’s obvious that all parties involved respected the way he took responsibility for his lapse in judgment. I always suspected Wash of being a closet pothead, but now we know that third base wasn’t the only line he was handling all these years.
Here’s where I think Ron Washington is not just one, but two steps ahead of the game. He’s long been heralded a player’s coach. Guys seem to play harder for Wash – Chappy alluded to it a few months back, how the A’s demise over the last few years may very well be a direct correlation of Washington’s departure. The manager said he used cocaine once last season, and that’s what caused him to fail the test. He ran the risk of alienating himself from the owners and his ballclub. Instead, you see players like Michael Young coming to his defense. But there’s one player in that clubhouse who suddenly can relate to Wash more than anyone. That player also happens to be the team’s best player. Josh Hamilton, as everyone knows, has had his own battles with cocaine. While Washington’s incident is nothing compared to Hamilton’s years of addiction, when Rangers fans think of drug use, they won’t be zeroing in on him anymore. Wash took the heat, for lack of a better word, off of Hamilton – not that there was much, but still. The best player on the team and the manager just got that much closer on a personal level. Any time the best player on the team and the coach are on the same page, it’s a recipe for success on the field. We’ll see how it plays out, but Washington’s blunder off the field may very well be the best move he makes all season in terms of his teams’ performance on it.
I’ve been searching for a solid baseball video game for awhile. And by awhile, I mean since 2007 when Electronic Arts stopped making their MVP baseball series. I tried out the 2K9 series last year, and thankfully I rented it opposed to buying it. The game was un-realistic to say the least. I also tried out The Bigs, and that one was even less like the real game, and felt more like NBA Jam (side note: I’m very excited about the new edition of Jam). Anyways, I think I’ve finally found my replacement for the EA MVP Series, and after about ten games played it is; Sony’s MLB 10 The Show.
The graphics are great, but they better be for every PS3 game. The best part about the game is obviously how much control you have over everything. The pitching is tough, and like real life the pitchers get angry, and over throw when they aren’t getting calls. It’s great how they did borderline pitches that are grazing or missing by millimeters. If your guy is on a streak of strikeouts, then when you slightly miss a corner the ump still gives it to you. It also works the other way when you can’t throw a strike, and you get squeezed on the corners having everything get called a ball. Fielding is fairly good, even though it randomly switches what player you are from time to time it usually changes you to the correct/closest person. They don’t make it super hard, and that’s a big plus, because I hate playing those games when a weak grounder ends up being an inside the park home run. Hitting is tough, but I think I’m getting the hang of it and finally not swinging at every pitch. If you square one up it’s usually out of the park. While hitting you can swing for the fence or you can use the left toggle to “go with the pitch” and spray it all over the field. All in all great gameplay, and I didn’t really scratch the surface of some of the truly cool features. I just wanted to let everyone know that if they are looking for a lifelike game this is it.
Another great feature in the franchise mode is the announcers. Yeah I know you rolled your eyes, but in this game they seem to not recycle the same phrases nearly as much. They also talk about the batters previous games. They will talk about how hot or cold they are and spit out stats like if they homered or went 3 for 3 or struck out five times. It’s pretty refreshing so far, because I don’t think I’ve really heard them repeat anything more than a couple times over about ten games. One downside is you have to listen to one of my most despised announcers, Rex Hudler. If you want to know how much I can’t stand him, read this one I wrote a little while back. Pretty good when the games can last an hour or more. Two thumbs up for the show! Oh, and so what if I only wrote this post because my hands were getting tired from playing!
Who knows the NBA Rookie of the Year candidates better than Doin Work? Name one blog with more content about the Kings and Warriors. We’ve been gushing about Tyreke Evans and Stephen Curry all season long, so now that it’s down to a two-man race for the award, who better to weigh in on the subject than us? We’re breaking down the analysis into three categories which we feel make up the criteria for the award. The first is Stats – no explanation needed. The second is Team Performance / Influence – how well has the team played and how much is a result of the player’s impact? The third is Future Outlook – meaning whose resume is going to look better 20 years from now. Most voters will probably tell you that has nothing to do with the Rookie of the Year award, but that’s not true. Sportswriters love being right. They want to vote for the guy who’s going to have a couple MVP awards in his career so they can say, “I voted for him.” You think any writers out there are watching any Wizards’ games bragging that they voted for Mike Miller for ROY? Come take a trip with us up and down I-80 to see if the trophy is going to end up in Oakland or Sacramento this year….
STATS
Tyreke Evans (MCeezy)-The numbers don’t always tell the whole story, but I think in this case they do. Evans is averaging more than 20 pts, 5 reb, and 5 ast for the season. This fact has been well documented, including here, but in case you missed it, the only other rookies to do that are Lebron James, Michael Jordan, and Oscar Robertson. He’s in the top 20 in the league in Points, Assists, Steals, Minutes, and triple doubles. Sure, he has one, but no one who’s not named Lebron James has more. In fact, Evans’ last outing he came up one rebound shy of his second triple double. Curry’s got a slight edge in 3pt and FT%, as well as steals, but Evans’ overall numbers definitely trump those of Curry.
Stephen Curry (Chappy)- I have to concede that Tyreke’s numbers are superior to Curry’s, but in Curry’s defense, his first two months under Nellie were inconsistent to say the least. There were games when he’d play 35-40 minutes, and the next night he’d play 10-15. I’m not sure if it was Ellis saying that they couldn’t play together, but either way Nellie didn’t seem to trust him that much. Since the Warriors were struck furiously by the injury bug, Curry’s minutes went up and so did his production. Since December, he’s had close to the same numbers as Reke averging 20 pts, 4 rebs, 4 assists, and nearly 2 steals. He’s easily been the most improved rookie over the season. Continue reading
With the upcoming March Madness tourney about to start, I thought I’d do a “what if” post. What if college basketball players were like their football counterparts and had to stay in college for all four years!?! Think how much different the brackets would be! Would it be a no brainer to pick the Texas Durantulas? Probably not, but I’m going to run through the teams that I think would be in mix based on guys they’d still have. I’m not completely sure who the champ would eventually be, but it’s always fun to debate, and I’d have to give it to Senior Kevin Durant!
Memphis – No they wouldn’t have Derrick Rose, because he would be deemed ineligible from that whole cheating on his SAT thing. They would still have Tyreke Evans and Shawn Taggert though. Having both of these guys back would improve their defense. They already showed they could score without them, but they’d just be that much better by being able to shut down the opponents key players. I’m 99.9% sure they would’ve added to their impressive winning streak, and pushed it over 70 games. Continue reading
Although Northern California is best known for its wine production, there are some great breweries out here as well to satisfy any beer aficionado. Now I’m not just talking some home brewin’ favorites, there are some legitimately great beers that come out of this area. The most well-known is probably the Sierra Nevada Brewing Company in Chico, CA. Beyond that, there are countless lesser-known breweries in the area that deserve a visit. I’m really not sure why I haven’t made a point to visit all of these by now, but I have been slowly chipping away over the last few years. There’s nothing like tasting an entire catalog of beers directly from the source. This weekend, I paid a visit to one of the more notable breweries in NorCal, Lost Coast Brewing Co. in Eureka, CA. Lost Coast is one of the original North Coast beer producers, and arguably one of the finest. The problem is, I’ve never really liked any of their beers. I wanted to like them, because I think they make really good beer, but the problem is none of them seemed to be suited to my tastes. I made a stop in yesterday hoping to find a diamond in the rough – a Lost Coast beer that I could truly love.
They are best known for three beers: Great White, Alleycat Amber, and Downtown Brown. I’m not a fan of white beers, but damnit if I don’t respect Great White. It’s very well made, it’s just Continue reading
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cali4dre
chappy81
dyslecix
mceezy
Doin Work 
