Avery Johnson or....Reggie Evans?

You decide.

The Avery Bunch

Well, Dallas finally did it, knocking off the hated Spurs in a great game seven while riding the back of Dirk Nowitzki, who has been playing lights out this entire playoffs. He finished with 37 points and 15 boards, and hit the game-tying 3 point play to send the game into overtime. Avery Johnson has done an amazing job with this team, finally getting them to play defense, making great coaching moves, and getting the most out of role-players like DaSagana Diop, Keith Van Horn, and Marquise Daniels.

I've really enjoyed the NBA playoffs this year, as there have been a lot of thrilling games and big time players stepping up, like Nowitzki, Lebron James, Steve Nash, Manu Ginobli, Dwyane Wade, and Sam Cassell; and for what it's worth, noboy has played better than Nowitzki. The Conference Finals should also be very good, with the Heat/Pistons starting tonight and the Suns/Mavs tipping-off tomorrow and I think in the end we'll have the Heat playing the Mavericks to determine the champion.

Oh, and here's the Mavericks playoff promotional video.

Fried Oreos

Crack. That is all.

I'm Speechless...

I'm in utter shock and disabelief that there is a WNBA fantasy game on nba.com and I'm sure it sucks just as much as women's basketball. It isn't structured like traditional fantasy basketball where you pick players to form a team; rather, you pick one player each night and points are based on her performance. Sounds thrilling, huh? In my adult life I've been under the impression that gambling on anything would make it exciting, but I'm going to have to change that belief now that I found out there is a WNBA FANTASY game. Let me repeat that for the 10th time: THERE IS A WOMEN'S FANTASY BASKETBALL GAME. You don't believe me? Click here and I'll kick you in the nuts if I find out you joined.

Old School Song Of The Week

Kool Moe Dee - "I Go To Work." Kool Moe Dee was one an original member of one of hip hop's earliest crews, the Treacherous Three, but parted ways in 1986 to go solo. Though he more well known for his trademark Bret Hart glasses, "Wild Wild West" and "Go See The Doctor," "I Go To Work" (dropped in 1989) is a great James Bond-esque video, not to mention the quick hitting lyrics and style Kool Moe brought to the table. In my opinion, he is one of the more under appreciated lyricists ever and hopefully this video will educate you suckas about his skills.

The Game Formerly Known As The World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party

I don't think I'm going out on a limb here by saying that UGA President Michael Adams is a giant douchebag (hey, pictures don't lie). Now, Adams has done a lot of things to anger many in the Bulldawg Nation, like misappropriation of funds, hiring Jim Harrick, canning the legendary Vince Dooley, etc. but he's officially public enemy #1 for his most recent idea: Asking that the annual Georgia/Florida game no longer be called "The World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party."

That's it pal, the boxing gloves are off and you've found a way to officially anger every Georgia fan, student, and alum, as well as Gators. There were some that supported his decision to remove Coach Dooley, but this is beyond horrible (and retarded). Adams cites drinking and the bad press given to the game by its nickname and I can understand that he wants to make UGA nationally known for its academics. He's already reacted to it by changing the fall break from the weekend of the game to another date, thinking that UGA should not associate the break with a big party. Hey dickface, students will skip Thursday and Friday's classes, much like I did when I was at UGA.

Now he wants the name changed, but all he did was create an uproar not only in the UGA community, but at UF and with college football fans around the country. Local sports shows in DC have talked about it as well as those in Philly and even ESPN mocked President Adams. This game goes beyond UGA and UF, as it is one of the most unique in college football and is essentially a bowl game in the middle of the season, with a stadium split in half, red on one side, blue on the other, in a warm November environment, near St. Simon's and other beaches, a fun downtown bar area, and oh yeah, a game featuring two teams that hate each other. And don't forget, it's been played there for over 60 years. I was at the game in Athens in 1995 and it didn't even compare with the pageantry and excitement of the WLOCP.

Any ideas for names? I don't even want to think about it, but we'll have to if Adams gets his way. F him.

Good UGA News

Georgia just won the SEC All-Sports trophy, winning a total of 7 championships and we have the potential to win more with the baseball, softball, and men's tennis championships still to be decided. UGA ended Florida's 14 year streak. Hail to Georgia!

Georgia Hoops Update

UGA released the 2006-07 schedule, which includes match-ups against two of college basketball's better teams, Gonzaga and Wisconsin. The game against the Zags will be at Philips Arena in Atlanta on either December 16th or 17th and will be in Spokane next year. The Wisconsin game is a home and home, with the Badgers visiting Athens on December 31st. Also of note, the Dawgs are close to agreeing on a home and home with Wake Forest.

I like these match-ups, as it shows two things about the program. One, Dennis Felton likes the direction of the team and feels we are improved enough to compete with teams from other high powered conferences; and two, these games will prepare UGA for the tough 2 months of SEC games. Florida, Tennessee, South Carolina, Kentucky, LSU, Arkansa, and Alabama all stand to have pretty good teams.

With the additions of two big men, Albert Jackson and Takais Brown, to a talened group of guards, UGA could surprise some people and stands to improve on last year's record of 15-15 (which saw an 8 game improvement from the previous year). Brown was one of the top JUCO players in the country and will finally give us a presence down low, while Jackson, though unpolished, shows a lot of upside and played at Oak Hill last year, one of the best prep schools in the country.

Old School Song of the Week

Afrika Bambaataa & The Soul Sonic Force - "Looking For The Perfect Beat"
Dropped in 1983, it was the follow-up single to the hit "Planet Rock." Bambaataa began his career as a DJ in the Bronx and then formed the Zulu Nation, a group of politically aware rappers. Here's the video for you fools who slept on this song, which is a perfect example of what early hip-hop was all about. And for what it's worth, the song is currently running in a Visa commercial that features a breakdancing worm.

Rick Sutcliffe Drunk

Hilarious! At the San Diego Padres game, ole Rrrrrricky shows up as a guest in the booth hammered. Video is below, audio is found here.

Update On Jason Allen

He's good at being run over.

Hi, I'm Jason Allen

Bonds

"For Sale: Life-Sized Bobblehead. See Leftfield." Or the skinny guy with the T-shirt that said "Barry With Pirates" while his buddy, dressed in an inflatable sumo costume, wore one that said "Barry With San Fran."

Nash Wins Second Straight MVP

Steve Nash just entered the select club of multiple NBA MVP winners today when he was named MVP, which makes it two years in a row for the Canadian (and Terp killer). He joins Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (6), Michael Jordan (5), Bill Russell (5), Wilt Chamberlain (4), Larry Bird (3), Magic Johnson (3), Moses Malone (3), Bob Petit (2), Karl Malone (2), and Tim Duncan (2). I can't argue with the selection (though I would've voted Lebron James MVP), as Nash played without Amare Stoudmire, averaged 18.5 points and 10.5 assists a game, and lead the Suns into the second round of the playoffs.

Is Nash the most talented player in the league? Hardly, but he is exteremely necessary to the Suns (and I would pick him as my point guard if I started a team). The same could be said for James and Kobe Bryant, but Nash arguably has meant more to his team this year than he did last year. I would have voted James MVP because he has considerably less talent on his team than the Suns and I would have voted Nash second. Bryant, Dirk Nowitzki, and Chauncey Billups (respectively) would round out my top five.

Jason Allen vs. Leonard Pope

A recent article, about the Miami Dolphins #1 pick out of Tennessee, Jason Allen, mentions Allen's hit list of guys who embarrassed him on the football field. Leonard Pope, all 6'7 260 lbs of him, is sure to be on this list and it's quite obvious that they don't do much teaching at Tennessee. Keep yapping Allen, a 1-4 record and a season ending injury (which Allen can thank himself for, trying to tackle Pope low and in a catcher stance), both courtesy of UGA, should be enough to keep your mouth shut, so keep showing your true colors.

Old School Song of the Week

In order to educate you fools on what real hip-hop music was/is, I will be presenting on a weekly basis my Old School Song of the Week. I consider the Old School (and classic) era to be between 1979-1995, when hip-hop was at it's purest and progressive form, so bust out your shell toes, parachute pants, kangols, gold chains, & boombox and get ready to relive good, fun music.

So without further ado, the first ever Old School Song of the Week is: Eric B. & Rakim - "Juice." Now I know you may be wondering why I chose "Juice" over the other more well-known Eric B. & Rakim classics. Well, I was shuffling through my Old School playlist on my iPod yesterday and I stopped on that song; it's just hip-hip at it's best, an intense beat matched with Rakim's unique voice, flow, and story telling abilities. It originally dropped on the "Juice Soundtrack" in 1991, then made it's way onto the "Don't Sweat the Technique" album a year later. "Sip the juice, I got enough to go around..." Ahhh, classic!

Hot For Teacher

Quoting my friend Eric, "I wish I grew up in Tennessee" (well, not really, but you get the point). Where were teachers like this when we were young?

Random UGA News

The Matthew Stafford hype is gathering steam and with Mark Richt saying a decision on the starting quarterback may not come until the 2nd game, I can see why. Articles like this one by CNNSI's Cory McCartney make the Dawgs' future look very bright. And quotes like this regarding Stafford's ability make every Dawg fan giddy like a school girl:

"After two workouts and one chalk talk, two things have become very clear at this year's EA SPORTS Elite 11. One is this is a very strong group of signal callers without a weak link in the bunch, something we haven't been able to say every year. The second is even in a group this strong and balanced, one signal caller has clearly stood head and shoulders above the rest and it hasn't even been close. In the words of one of the college counselors, there's Matthew Stafford, and then there's everyone else."

It should be noted that "everyone else" includes the media touted Tim Tebow of UF and top signal callers Jevan Snead (Texas) and Mitch Mustain (Arkansas).

Schedule Announcement - Of particular note is how aggressive Damon Evans and the Athletic Department are when it comes to scheduling future teams. We have upcoming home/homes with the following teams: Colorado, Arizona State, Clemson, Louisville, and according to this article, a future series with Oregon is soon to be finalized. I like the match-ups and diversity of teams, especially against the PAC-10 and they should make for some fun road trips. The 12 game season will allow for games that otherwise would not happen and hopefully we get a series with a prominent Big 10 team, Big 12, and for my personal want, Maryland.

DC Area Sports News And Thoughts

Nats Get Owner

After several delays, political sessions, and MLB foul-ups (no pun intended), the Washington Nationals finally have an owner. Baseball announced yesterday that the Lerner Group was awarded the franchise with details about cost to come. Though I'm not a Nationals fan, it's good to see that the team finally has an owner and progress can be made to make them competitive and get the ball rolling on the stadium construction. Hopefully this will pressure Satan himself, Peter Angelos, into making the O's competitive, but I'm willing to bet he'll purposelly keep the O's marginal and blame the Nationals for the O's plight.

Wizards Choke

No better word describes last night, except maybe "swiss cheese" (well, two words). Arenas and Lebron battled it out last night in one of the best 1-on-1 match-ups in recent NBA playoffs, though not quite Larry Bird v. Dominique Wilkins. Areans dropped 44 and Lebron had 45, which coincidentally, is your difference in the final, 121-120. Now, where was the defense and coaching? Granted Jared Jeffries and Caron Butler fould out (and don't get me started on the refs), but you can not let Lebron James catch the ball on the run and get to the hoop that easily. However, my biggest gripe is with what happened next: They had TWO timeouts and would've been able to get the ball at half court, for a better shot, and with plenty of time to get that shot off. But, instead, they inbounded the ball from the baseline and Arenas had to launch a half court shot. Dumb. Where was the TO? Did Jordan tell the guys to call a TO if the Cavs hit a shot? Why wasn't Jordan yelling at the refs for a TO? The Zards should have this series wrapped up but instead, they have to win two in a row.

Bobby Knight At His Best

Well worth the time, absolutely hilarious. Warning: Lots of cursing, Bobby Knight style, so probably not safe for work.

NFL Draft Review

This draft had a lot of surprises, a lot of guys went lower than expected and some went higher than expected (maybe b/c teams like Buffalo were high when they picked). I think that with today's information age teams are blowing a lot more smoke than previous years, so that may have added to the so-called experts' projection mistakes.

Winners - New England & Philadelphia. I like the Pats' first two picks, Laurence Maroney and Chad Jackson. They were aggressive and traded up to get their needs; Dillon isnt getting any younger and neither he nor Faulk can stay healthy. Maroney fits their style and Jackson brings them much needed WR help. He's a guy that dropped and I'm not sure why. Philly got a very good and athletic DT in Brodrick Bunkley, but they definitely improved their OL with the drafting of Winston Justice in the 2nd(!) and then Max Jean-Gilles in the 4th(!); both were projected to be possible first round picks.

Losers - Buffalo. Seriously, WTF? Donte Whitner was a big stretch at 8 and then they traded up for John McCargo. They need impact players and they failed to get one.

Local Teams -

Baltimore: I really like the pick of Haloti Ngata and maybe now Ray Lewis will stop whining. They addressed the need at center with Chris Chester and provided running back depth by picking P.J. Daniels (boo Georgia Tech).
Washington: They traded a lot to get Rocky McIntosh, but he should start immediately. They addressed their needs and did as much as they could with what little they had; however, I don't like how they operate in the now rather than developing players. But, they have money and can do that. I do like their pick of Kedric Golston, DT out of UGA. He can be a contributor if he stays healthy.

UGA Players Drafted: Tim Jennings (Colts) and Leonard Pope (Cards) went in the 3rd, Jean-Gilles went in the 4th (Eagles), Greg Blue (Vikes) & Demario Minter (Browns) in the 5th, Golston (Skins) in the 6th, and DJ Shockley (Falcons) in the 7th.

Update - Four UGA players signed free agent contracts yesterday. They were: Russ Taner (Colts), Will Thompson (Jets), Bryan McClendon (Bears), and Dennis Roland (Cowboys).

Louis C.K.

I saw Louis C.K. Saturday night at the Improv down in DC and let me tell you, it was hilarious. One of the best comedy shows I've seen; constantly laughing and it was a great atmosphere. The comedian before him, Andy Campbell, was pretty funny as well; the opening act was ok, but surprise, it was a woman, so by nature, she lacks the ability to truly be hilarious.