Normally I wouldn’t write about this, but since I’ve struggled to be inspired to put up a post about anything going on currently, I might as well weigh in on the retaining of our (has me kinda pumped for next year), Raiders Coach. Cable isn’t the most liked guy around the league, maybe for socking assistant Randy Hanson, maybe because of his woman beating past, or maybe because of his record as head coach (9-19). Whatever the case for the haters, he has won the locker room over, and apparently, for the time being and most importantly, Al Davis. Cable staying keeps the Raiders from NFL history books by not changing coaches for the sixth time in eight years, which would’ve been the most in history. I endorse the move, as we finally have something somewhat stable within the organization, which is much different than years past. I think the hiring has answered at least a couple questions for Raider Nation, but like all Raiders decisions, we never really know if what we are assuming is what’s actually happening.
So what went on in those many meetings between Al and Cable? Did Tom find a way to show Al that Jamarcus was truly a huge problem with this teams success? Was it how Cable kept his poker face when he was surrounded by turmoil on and off the field? Was it the fact that nearly all the players backed him, and wanted him return next season? Did Al finally realize nobody wants to coach the Raiders more than Cable? Continue reading
I couldn’t pass up this video clip of Kobe Bryant on Sesame Street. He’s helping little Abby teach kids the meaning of the word miniature. Kobe pulls out a book, Abby makes a miniature one. Then, he pulls out a painting, and surprise, Abby makes a miniature painting. I’ve got to admit, I got really scared when he pulled out the hot dog. I didn’t want to see his miniature wiener. Thankfully, Sesame Street producers opted to go in a different direction.
The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien lasted 7 strong months, and the series finale was last night. I can safely say with Jay hosting the Tonight Show I will be getting more sleep, since I won’t be staying up to watch late night TV! It’s truly sad to see my favorite late night host get ousted the way he did, but I guess that was NBC’s mistake to make. His multi-million dollar settlement makes me not feel extremely bad for him, since he won’t really need to look for work for the rest of his life, but the way it went down should have gone differently. I hope he does get back in the TV talk show game, after it’s all said and done. I’d love to see him jump over to Fox, Comedy Central, or any other station for that matter. I’d probably even watch Conando on the Telemundo channel if that’s what ended up happening to him. I’m still not 100% clear on what happened, but it sounds like Conan wasn’t getting the ratings that NBC wanted from the show. They decided to bump him time slots, and well, we know the rest of the story. Who knows, maybe that was just a cover up for the real story or my conspiracy theory, which is that NBC’s medical staff thought the concussion he suffered was just too much for him to come back from, so they gave him the Stephon Marbury treatment benching him indefinitely and paying him. There’s probably a lot of people like my grandma that think Jay is better, but speaking for my generation, Conan is the pasty white Jordan of late night talk shows. I’m REALLY glad I made the trip to Universal lot to see at least one of his shows being taped while it was around.
NBC gave Johnny Carson the hosting gig for 30 years, and Leno got a 17 year run (plus whatever he adds on in his second term). Conan bizarrely only got 7 months to prove himself, and build a fan base. Most of my generation doesn’t really remember Carson, and pretty much only saw Leno at the helm of the Tonight Show. I feel like Conan’s comedy is geared much more towards my generation, and if NBC gave him adequate time, he would have gained enough of a following to satisfy the execs as we got older.
MCeezy had a good analogy of why our generation isn’t all that into Leno saying “Jay is more like the drunk Uncle that keeps telling jokes, and you laugh because they’re mildly funny, but it’s still older people humor.”
NBC went for the quick fix reacting hastily to Conan’s less than impressive ratings, and that reaction was bringing Leno back to his old throne that he seemed to desperately miss. Leno returning to the Tonight Show might raise NBC’s ratings, but at what cost? They no longer have a clear successor once Jay ultimately is too old to do the job. Noway Jimmy Fallon gets the gig, he’s just not the right personality or all that funny in general. Do people really buy Jay’s nice guy image anymore? I for one, won’t watch his show out of spite. I don’t buy that he didn’t have anything to do with pushing Conan off the air either. Back in 1992, you might remember when Conan started his run with NBC, Jay forced another Late Night talk show host out, David Letterman. Dave seems to have done pretty well for himself as he moved to CBS, but in these past few weeks we’ve seen that Dave is indeed still bitter about his ending with NBC. So Coco don’t be discouraged, Jay has taken away more than one job in his rein in late night TV, and it seems to have worked itself out pretty well. Let’s just hope it’s the last one! It’s good he got to throw one hell of an after party last night, I would love to toss a few Jameson’s back with him!
It’s no secret who my teams are. I’m pretty much a homer when it comes to sports. If you’re wondering who my team is in any given sport, just find the team located in Northern California and you’ve got it. Oakland A’s, Golden State Warriors, Oakland Raiders, Sacramento Kings, San Francisco 49ers, and if you have to find a hockey team, the San Jose Sharks. Every once in a while, though, there’s an out of market team that captures my attention. Often times it’s because of a player I like. Other times it’s because I’m a habitual underdog supporter, and there’s actually a team out there worse than mine. Here’s who they are, how they fared, why I liked them, and who I liked on the team….
#10 – 2000 Cincinnati Bengals
Season Outcome: 4-12, 5th in AFC Central
Who I Liked: Corey Dillon, Peter Warrick, Takeo Spikes
Why I Liked Them: This team sort of tricked me. I had flirted with Bengals fandom for a few seasons, mainly on the strength of receivers, Carl Pickens and Darnay Scott. 2000, however, was the year I finally traveled down striped road and jump on the Bengal bandwagon, if there is such a thing. The problem was, Pickens and Scott were gone, and Akili Smith had assumed full time QB duties. What was left was 1,400 rushing yards for Corey Dillon, and Peter Warrick leading the receiving core with an underwhelming 52 catches and 4 TDs. I almost bought a Peter Warrick jersey one day at the San Francisco City Center early that season. Good thing I didn’t, that’d be the second worst jersey in my closet right now.
I’ve played in more than my fair share of beer pong games, and never ran across any beer pong slam dunks! I know there’s no goal tending allowed in normal play, but I feel like in the event someone is trying to dunk, you should be able to block it. These guys took beer pong to a new level, and it looks like they had some Jackass type influence, since I can’t see anyone sober doing this. They even have their own Blue (1:43 mark) to help out with the shenanigans. Good stuff!
What a great playoffs so far, we’ve had one great game, one okay game, and six blowouts. It’s made me much less excited about the upcoming games, but hopefully now all of the “pretenders” are out of the mix. Now, crossing my fingers, we’ll get a couple hard fought games this weekend for the race to own the 32nd draft pick. For some reason I find Shaq’s ultimate fundraising/dunk contest much more exciting than anything I’ve watched over the last two weekends. It’s very unlikely to happen, but you never know! Alas, I went 1-3 last week, AGAIN. I’m now only 2-6 on my playoff picks, which doesn’t really surprise me, since at the outset I knew that picking the playoffs never works out for me. Maybe it’s given me just one more reason to not care as much about these playoffs, but when game time rolls around, I’m sure I’ll be ready to watch. As always the home teams are in bold.
New York Jets (+7.5) Over Indianapolis
I wouldn’t consider myself on the Jets bandwagon, but they are playing some really good football right now. Even though the Jets regular season win over the Colts was against the second stringers, it has to give them some confidence going into this road game. I do want the Colts to win, possibly because I’m already tired of the New York hype machine. The way the Jets shut down SD last week has me wondering if luck IS on their side. It was surely on the Colts side last week as both Peyton picks didn’t hurt them. The Jets situation makes me reminisce about the Steelers march as the 6th seed to a Super Bowl title. I’m wondering how the Jets are going to attack this Colts D. We know what the Jets defense is going to do, and that will be everything they can to confuse and get pressure on Peyton. I know that the Colts haven’t been known over the years for any kind of run stopping capabilities, but this season they’ve held teams to 87 yards per game, which was good for third lowest yards allowed in the league. Since they are better at containing the running game than San Diego, they should be able to keep Greene and Thomas in check enough to pull out a close victory. They also did an amazing job on Fitz last week, so it seems like Braylon should have as tough a time as he does with actually catching the ball. I think the most interesting part of this game will be seeing how many times Peyton tests Revis Island. If Reggie Wayne has a big day, I have no shot at winning this bet. If the Colts jump out into an early lead, and my hopes rely on Sanchez, I have no chance of winning this pick. BTW, can you remember the last Championship game that was over a TD spread!?! Another thing I’m weary of in this game is the home team has won the AFC Championship three straight years.
New Orleans (-3.5) Over Minnesota
I couldn’t be more wishy washy with this pick since the line came out. Who knows by game time I might change my mind again. For now it’s the Saints though! I love the way they played like their old selves last week, even if it was at the expense of a terrible Arizona D. I’m thinking that it only takes one week to get your swagger back, and they looked rested and revived with plenty of swagger at home. I think the Saints D showed what they are capable of against a high powered offense, and have the tools to slow down another old man. I see the same type of energy this week coming out of them at home. I truly believe that the home field exists more in New Orleans than any other stadium, which has helped this team thrive over the season. If Minnesota wants to win this game, they’ll need to give AP the ball more. He needs to be more of a factor than Reggie Bush. I think because Bush was a factor last week it will keep the Vikings gambling defense a little more honest. Brees is as good as it gets on getting the ball out quickly, and I don’t see him ever holding the ball Romo-like in the pocket waiting for the mullet to destroy him. I’m really hoping this prediction is correct, so we aren’t subjected to watch/listen to Favre hype for two straight weeks. Another reason I’m not buying the Vikings is because I felt they had a pretty easy schedule, and seem prone to sucking in road games. They lost three of their last four road games, and the losses were to Carolina, Chicago, and Arizona. I’ll forgive the Arizona game, but the other losses shouldn’t have happened. It’s also when all the experts were wondering if they were even contenders. I’ve decided it’s because they just don’t play well on the road, and won’t this week either.
The late Wayman Tisdale.... the greatest to ever play for the Kings and the Suns?
For all the Sacramento fans out there, here’s a great deal on Kings tickets for the February 5th game against the Phoenix Suns. Lower bowl tickets for ONLY $40.50!!! These seats are usually $89.50, so grab them now and go watch Tyreke Evans run circles around Steve Nash, IF Coach Gentry even lets him try to guard him. Click on the link below for this special deal, and use the password…. kings.
Yeah yeah, I know, this clip is old, but every time I watch it I get a good laugh. I guess it’s kinda like MCeezy’s favorite dubs clip. Sometimes when there isn’t a ton to root for on the court in terms of winning, you may as well enjoy the little things, and at least laugh a little about it! My two favorite comments are at the 3:10 mark (play like we don’t want no autographs) and at the 7:15 mark (you look like an AAU team out there). Thanks for being a great dubs fan Mistah FAB! Enjoy if you never saw it, the Lakers announcer seemed to love having him sit behind them! We’ll at least for most of it… Oh yeah, and the inspiration for posting this video was this Mistah FAB interview from yesterday, where he shows just how hardcore of a Warriors fan he is.
Bradley's world has always been a little upside down...
I’m not sure what it is about athletes getting sued or getting in trouble that is so fascinating to me, but alas, I give you the most recent case against one of the most hated players in baseball, Milton Bradley. He is being sued by his landlord in Chicago for $44K in back rent, fees, and interest. I truly CAN understand why people hate Bradley so much, because he has the skill set to be a force in baseball, but he never really lives up to that potential as he sits out from hangnail type injuries throughout each season, and causes rifts in the clubhouse more often than not. His personality is emotional to say the least, and that sensitivity has made the media get on him that much more! I can’t defend most of his tirades, but I’m still grateful for his stint with the A’s. He single-handedly carried our offense to the ALCS in 2006. Unfortunately, he won’t be remembered for his on-field contributions, and more for his dynamic personality off the field. To beat the dead horse, at the end of the article I found a statement I thought was pretty funny,
Bradley — who said during his time in Chicago that writers, fans and even waiters didn’t like him
Sounds like a pretty open and shut case to me. If you sign a lease and don’t pay it, you might find yourself getting sued. I’d expect that if I decided to stop paying rent! I’m guessing the landlord is probably a Cubs fan and has close to the same amount of hate towards him as the rest of the city does. I’d wish him luck, but I think he probably needs a shrink to figure out why so many people hate him. I hope he does good in Seattle, as long as it’s not against the A’s!
Voting closed today for the 2010 NBA All-Star Game, so in honor of the inevitable snubs and undeserving nods, here’s the top WTF all-stars of the last 15 years. These aren’t necessarily guys who were undeserving, but certainly a list of names you wouldn’t necessarily think all-star.
F – Christian Laettner (1997) 18 ppg, 9 rpg for Atlanta
F – Chris Gatling (1997) 19 ppg, 8 rpg for Dallas
C – Jamaal Magloire (2004) 13 ppg, 10 rpg for New Orleans
G – Wally Szczerbiak (2002) 18.7 ppg for Minnesota
G – Allan Houston (2001) 18.7 ppg for New York
F – Antonio Davis (2001) 13ppg, 10 rpg for Toronto
C – Rik Smits (1998) 17 ppg, 7 rpg for Indiana
F – Anthony Mason (2001) 16 ppg, 10 rpg for Miami
F – Detlef Schrempf (1997) 17 ppg, 6 rpg for Seattle
F – Dale Davis (2000) 10 ppg, 10 rpg for Indiana
C – Vlade Divac (2001) 12 ppg, 8 rpg for Sacramento
F – Tom Gugliotta (1997) 20 ppg, 6 rpg for Minnesota
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Monta Ellis may be playing like an all-star, but it doesn’t sound too likely he’ll make it to the mid-season classic. He’ s averaging 26.1 ppg 4.2 rebounds, 5.3 assists, and 2.2 steals per game. Some argue that since he’s on a losing team that plays at a fast pace waters down his stats. Some also argue that his league high in minutes (41.3 ) make putting up those kind of numbers much easier. I think people are taking for granted what he’s been doing consistently for the Warriors. Defense’s are obviously keying on him, and he’s improving in every facet of his game, again. I’ve never once felt like Monta was regressing during his whole career with the dubs, which is something I can’t say for many players. My question to the doubters is, how could the Warriors really afford to play him less? They’ve had 9 or less players suited up for 32 of their games this season. Against Milwaukee, they didn’t have enough guys to finish the game, and took a technical despite having Stephen Curry fouled out. If they didn’t have him, they probably wouldn’t even have double digit wins (11). I hope he gets selected as a reserve. He doesn’t have a ton of competition aside from Brandon Roy at the SG spot (he deserves it over Monta), so I’m holding on to a little hope. O.J. Mayo and Eric Gordon are the closest to him in scoring, but would you agree with either of them getting the nod over Monta? Doubtful. I guess they might take an extra PG, since there are a TON of good ones that probably won’t get into the game. If Monta doesn’t get picked, he should consider entering the HORSE game, because it looks like he’s got a few trick shots in the bag!
I’d like to invite anyone to argue that he is a less deserving candidate for the team, than say, Tracy Mcgrady! If T-Mac doesn’t give up his All-Star spot, we shouldn’t allow China’s All-Star votes to count next year. Ok, one case is acceptable, and that’s if the votes are going to someone that actually IS playing like Ariza or Brooks. The same kind of argument could be made about AI as well, but I don’t really want to get into that one…
The Dubs haven’t had a All-Star since Carlisimacoachchoker Spreewell in 1997. Not an eyebrow raising fact, but true nonetheless. I’ll leave you with Kobe’s thoughts on Ellis “”He’s still underrated. I know how good he is, and all his peers know how good he is … he doesn’t get the credit he deserves.”
Welcome to Doin Work’s NFC Divisional round live blog between the Cowboys and the Vikings. Yesterday we got two dome games in the books, and hopefully there will be a little more drama in the last dome game of the week. Of the games this week it has the lowest spread, so there’s some hope at least!
Doin Work hasn’t done a live blog in forever! We don’t forsee any relevant Northern California sports events happening anytime soon, so we picked a game that has seemingly endless amounts of national media attention, and plenty of players and organizations that are fun to make fun of! Tomorrow is your chance to chat it up with us and friends. We will be starting the chat room about 15 minutes before kickoff 12:45 EST/9:45 PST. It should the perfect opportunity to get in all the cheap shots and take out your frustrations on the many easy targets like Favre, Romo, Jerry Jones, Wade Phillips, Brad Childress, and the always annoying announcers. We’ll have a link up tomorrow morning for you to log into the chat!
The tinkering continues in Oakland as the Athletics acquired 3B Kevin Kouzmanoff today from the Padres. He’s not exactly a guy I rosterbate to, but he can probably man the corner better than anyone else in house. He comes to Oakland with a minor league PTBNL (rumor is a fellow called Eric Sogard. We’ll hold off on him until we know he’s in the deal) . Going back to San Diego is Scott Hairston, who was just acquired from San Diego last summer. The A’s are also sending fringe player Aaron Cunningham in the deal. Cunningham looked promising in his time in AAA-Sacramento, but never found his stroke in the majors, batting .211 in limited action. I’ve seen a good majority of his progression through the minors since he was acquired from Arizona in the Dan Haren deal. While he was one of my more exciting prospects, I ultimately concluded that he’ll probably project to no better than a 4th outfielder on a big league team. Hairston, meanwhile, was the clear odd man out immediately following the Coco Crisp signing. All in all, the A’s acquired a position of need – and quite frankly their most dire by far – while trading away from a position of strength. …Strength in numbers at least.
While this move addressed some questions, it also raises just as many in my mind. Obviously the team got a veteran third baseman which they needed, but what does this mean for Eric Chavez? Don’t get me wrong, I’m about two full years removed from having stopped counting on Chavez being on the field, but I at least need some closure. Last I heard he was almost healthy. Granted that probably applies to him 95% of the time, but still. Perhaps he’s going to spend the majority of his time at DH, but wait, isn’t that what they brought Jack Cust back for? I really hope this move wasn’t made to clear room in the outfield for Cust. The other thing I still wonder about is the future of the third base position. Surely Kouzmanoff can’t be the long term solution. He’s a career .261 hitter whose average has declined in each of his three full seasons in the bigs. Not one to ever pay attention to fielding statistics, I couldn’t help but noticed that he’s cut his errors drastically each season, from 22 to 11 to just 3 last year. His fielding percentage has gone up each year as well, topping off at .990 last season. At least having a good defensive third baseman will alleviate a lot of roster concerns. I just really wish we had someone promising there in the minors. Brett Wallace was the most hope I’d had in years, and now he’s in Toronto. Don’t get me wrong, I’m equally excited about Michael Taylor. I just can’t come up with anything more exciting than Adrian Cardenas when I think about the A’s prospects at third. Problem is, Cardenas isn’t even a third baseman. It’s okay though, a good player is always just a trade away. At the rate the A’s are going, there should be a few more before the season rolls around.
A Mistah FAB Classic
Yeah yeah, I know, this clip is old, but every time I watch it I get a good laugh. I guess it’s kinda like MCeezy’s favorite dubs clip. Sometimes when there isn’t a ton to root for on the court in terms of winning, you may as well enjoy the little things, and at least laugh a little about it! My two favorite comments are at the 3:10 mark (play like we don’t want no autographs) and at the 7:15 mark (you look like an AAU team out there). Thanks for being a great dubs fan Mistah FAB! Enjoy if you never saw it, the Lakers announcer seemed to love having him sit behind them! We’ll at least for most of it… Oh yeah, and the inspiration for posting this video was this Mistah FAB interview from yesterday, where he shows just how hardcore of a Warriors fan he is.
2 Comments | tags: basketball, commentator, funny, golden state warriors, los angeles lakers, mistah fab, NBA | posted in Comedy, Sports