Bed of Rosers

This is Chewbacca, It Does Not Make Sense!!!!

2009-01-23T11:15:00.004-06:00

So I'm watching the Magic/Celtics game last night with A-Bomb and Dirty Drew and I see that the Grizzlies have fired Marc Iavaroni. I'm thinking "it's about time." The horse must go.

Anyways, the CA's report says possible candidates are former Blazers and Sixers coach Mo Cheeks and Bucks Assistant Lionel Hollins. Hollins was a pretty big shocker to see especially since he sucks. Mo Cheeks wouldn't be my first choice but whatever, he's got experience and has been to the playoffs. Personally, I'd rather have Avery Johnson or Flip Saunders but Cheeks would work.

I wake up this morning to see the report that Hollins will be the new head coach and Mo Cheeks will be his lead assistant. I'm thinking to myself: "like Chewbacca, this does not make sense."

My next move? Turn on Ron Tillery's radio show to hear how he tries to defend this. His explanation? "Why not try it out?" Well, I'll tell you why. He's interviewed for 15 other NBA head coaching jobs and how many did he get? NONE. He went to the NBA Draft Lottery one year to represent the Grizzlies and guess what? HE DIDN'T UNDERSTAND HOW THE DRAFT LOTTERY WORKS. He's incompetent and his 18-46 career coaching record tells you so.

Tillery then tries to explain why Mo Cheeks will be the lead assistant. "Well, Lionel and Mo Cheeks have been friends for years and are pretty much best friends and they played together in the league." Again, like Chewbacca, this does not make sense. What would make sense? Hiring Mo Cheeks as the head coach and Lionel Hollins being his lead assistant. That would make sense, but we're talking about the same team with the same owner that thought giving Brian Cardinal $40 million was a good idea.

I would personally like to ask Michael Heisley to buy all Grizzlies fans Growl Towels so we can wipe the load of Gay-Mayo he just blew all over our respective faces.

UPDATE: ESPN.com is reporting Avery Johnson was offered a 5 year deal to be the new head coach of the Grizzlies and he turned it down. I don't blame him. Still, you could've done better than Lionel Hollins. Mr. Heisley, you still owe all of us towels to wipe off the facial you gave all Grizzlies fans.

A DOZEN ROSERS

1. Tigers play Tennessee tomorrow. Bruce Pearl is a better Tic Price. Like Tic, you that guy is bangin students.

2. Rampage Jackson will fight Keith Jardine at UFC 96. When Rampage wins, he'll get another shot at the Light Heavyweight Title sometime in October or November.

3. Celtics beat the Magic in Orlando last night. Orlando is not a championship team. They need a bench. Particularly one where they don't have big white stiffs replacing Dwight Howard.

4. Manny Pacquiao and Ricky Hatton fight is back on. Good. Pacquiao will beat him, but they will both stand in there and throw punches. This should set up a Pacquiao/Mayweather fight which would be the best fight boxing has had since the Holyfield/Bowe fights.

5. I was told that Kanye West wants to be in a bi-sexual porno with another dude and a chick. This dude just released a shitty CD and now wants to do bi-sexual porn. Sounds like somebody needs Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew.

6. Barack Obama and Joe Biden will be in office for the next 8 years. Yes, Obama will get re-elected. Why? I don't think you can get much done in 4 years and with our current situation, it will definitely take more than 4 years. What's the point of this? Joe Biden is pokin someone else that's not his wife. It may not come out within 8 years but it will come out within 10 years. I said the same thing about John Edwards back in 2004.

7. NBA announced their starters for the All-Star Game. Amare, Duncan, Yao, Kobe, CP3 start for the West. LB23, D-Wade, AI, D-12, and KG for the East. AI should not be starting. That should go to Joe Johnson or Devin Harris. Chris Bosh should start over KG.

8. Mets say they aren't interested in Manny Ramirez. Good. You still need pitching.

9. Cubs were sold to the Ricketts family for $900 million. Does that family know they just paid $900 million to lose?

10. Mark McGwire's brother, Jay McGwire, wants to write a book about introducing steroids to his brother. Jay says he wants Mark to "live in truth and see the light." Bullshit. You want to make money and you're a sick enough person to rat your brother out in order to get that money. Jay McGwire is a whore.

11. Stephon Marbury is intersted in playing in Greece, but that Greek team says they would rather have Janero Pargo. Evidently Marbury's image problem has gone worldwide. I never thought I'd see the day where a team would say: "We'd rather have Janero Pargo than Stephon Marbury." Whatever, he's still gettin paid bank.

12. I keep hearing news that Sidney Crosby will play but then won't play in the NHL All Star Game. Either way, I still wouldn't watch.

"Concession Stand Folks Be Droppin Salt"

2008-06-02T14:20:00.002-05:00

Yea yea, I haven't posted anything in a month. I'm back though (at least until I get tired of posting again).

NBA FINALS:
Lakers vs. Celtics

Celtics in 6

I watched them dominate the Lakers twice this season. Yes, Pau didn't play but Bynum did and he's better than Pau. Boston has been dominant on the boards. Adding Pau and taking out Bynum tells me the C's will be dominant on them in this series. 6 games is a stretch. Bean Town could take this in 5.

Kobe vs. Jordan talk has come up all weekend and it came up on Geoff and Gary's Show this morning. All Kobe needs are the rings now to be in the conversation. The MVP's will keep coming as long as they seem like overwhelming favorites to make the Finals every year. With Bynum coming back next season, there's no reason for me to not believe LA won't be there for another 6 years.

Bottom Line is that I think Kobe is honestly the most talented basketball player I've ever seen in my life, but he hasn't won like Jordan so he isn't Jordan. Jordan is the greatest. I reserve the right to change my mind in 6 years when Kobe is sporting 3 or 4 more rings. Scottie Pippen is also better than any player Kobe has on his team. It's not close, don't say Odom or Pau is Kobe's SP33. It's not true and you sound like a moron if you say so. Pippen has led a team by himself to playoff wins and was 3rd in MVP voting when Jordan was gone for that year. That's better than Pau or Odom will ever do. Pippen was on the Dream Team and was named a top 50 player in the NBA. I can name over 50 players in the NBA better than Gasol....and I will

Kobe Bryant
Tim Duncan
Manu Ginobili
Tony Parker
Tracy McGrady
Yao Ming
Baron Davis
Stephen Jackson
Monta Ellis
Elton Brand
Steve Nash
Amare Stoudemire
Ron Artest
Dirk Nowitzki
Josh Howard
Jason Kidd
Chris Paul
David West
Tyson Chandler
Allen Iverson
Carmelo Anthony
Al Jefferson
Brandon Roy
Kevin Durant
Deron Williams
Carlos Boozer
Mehmet Okur
Gilbert Arenas
Antawn Jamison
Caron Butler
Dwight Howard
Dwyane Wade
Shawn Marion
Joe Johnson
Josh Smith
Michael Redd
Richard Hamilton
Chauncey Billups
Rasheed Wallace
LeBron James
Luol Deng
Ben Gordon
Chris Bosh
Andre Igoudala
Vince Carter
Richard Jefferson
Kevin Garnett
Paul Pierce
Ray Allen
Lamar Odom
Andre Miller
Zach Randolph
LaMarcus Aldridge
Emeka Okafor
Gerald Wallace
Kevin Martin

Some of those may be up for debate, so feel free to argue. I also left Andrei Kirilenko off that list. He's probably better than Pau. So if you include Kirilenko, that's 57 players better than Gasol. 58 if I include Marcus Camby.

NBA DRAFT:
If OJ Mayo isn't at #5 (and I don't expect him to be), then you draft big with both picks. You need big men and there's opportunity for them here to play right away. I like Kevin Love with the #5 pick and take a flyer on another big man at #28 (just not Dorsey).

Yes, there's a lot of truth to Miami not being in love with Michael Beasley. I would do everything I could to trade up and get him. Trade your 5 and Mike Miller to Miami for the 2 and whatever crappy player they want to give us to make the contracts equal up (we need crappy bench players since Jacobsen and Andre Brown's contracts have rolled off the books).

Why I like Kevin Love? He can rebound and score in the post and he has 2 things you cannot teach: 1. BBall IQ 2. Shot blocking. People say he was crappy against Memphis. Dude still dropped 12pts, 9rebs, 3blk. He knows how to play. Dough Boy will drop weight (he's already shed 15lbs). He's been awesome his entire life and the success ratio of top 10 players in HS to the NBA has been very good over the last 10 years. It's been known since Dough Boy was in HS that him, Eric Gordon, D-Rose, Beasley and Mayo were "THAT" much better than everybody else. I like taking a guy that I know has been awesome his entire life. So if they took Eric Gordon over Love would I be upset? No. Gordon can play too. EG23 still dropped 21 a game w/ a broken wrist and no coach.

GOLF:
Tiger Woods isn't coming to Memphis again this year. So again, I do not care about the Stanford St. Jude Championship. They did give me a nice tie from Brooks Brothers though, so for that, I do thank them.

MLB:
Does Ozzie Guillen know his team is in first place?

JOAKIM NOAH:
Yannick Noah says he doesn't know what the big deal about his son getting caught w/ an open container and marijuana is? That's exactly why your son is the way he is. Show me a parent (Yannick) that doesn't care and I'll show you a kid (Joakim) that doesn't either. I'm not surprised by it and what athletes wanna do is their business, just don't get caught. Like, ummm, maybe keep that stuff in your house.

BELMONT STAKES:
Big Brown still has that crack in his front left hoof. I don't wanna be Debbie Downer, but PETA is gonna go nuts if this horse breaks that hoof running at a speed on Saturday that it hasn't run at since cracking that hoof. Hoof on Big Brown!!!

STANLEY CUP FINALS:
The first time I've been excited about hockey in, well, ever. Pens are a blast to watch and the Red Wings are the Red Wings. That being said, they've made Pittsburgh look inexperienced and young.

The Pens do have the best play by play announcer ever in Mike Lange so here are his top 10 calls.....

NBA PLAYOFFS....Where Bad 1st Rounds Happen

2008-04-28T13:24:00.002-05:00

At this point, the only thing you can hope for is Philly to beat Detroit. Bad thing about that is then the Eastern Conference become totally worthless. The Pistons are boring to watch (not as boring as the NFL Draft), but they are still the only Eastern Conference team I think has a chance to knock off the C's. Maybe Orlando, they won 3 of 4 in the regular season but I doubt it.

Melo said his team "quit." Thanks for stating the obvious. I love Melo's game, but he really might be the most overrated player in the NBA.

Western Conference? We'll have Lakers/Jazz and Spurs/Hornets. Now the playoffs begin.

Saw C-Webb on the TNT broadcast last night. Not a bad job. I hope Kenny Smith doesn't take the Knicks GM job. That TNT crew is the best in sports.

NFL DRAFT
I saw a little bit on the 2nd day. Why do people care about the 2nd round pick out of Appalachian State? Everybody likes to see who their teams draft, when the reality is you probably haven't seen 2 full games of those guys in college. All they do on ESPN is just talk over each other so there's no real analysis going on.

MLB:
So the Devil Rays are in 1st place and the Yankees don't have 1 guy batting over 300? Yep, it's April. Which means baseball doesn't matter right now. Not even the Cubs being in 1st place.

Speaking of the Cubs, I'll give Alfonso Soriano the award for guy who should be the best player in baseball but isn't. He vows to return Tuesday. Anyways, if this guy would stop swinging for the fences everytime he came up, he could be unstoppable. As it is, he's not as good as he could be.

COLLEGE HOOPS:
John Calipari signed his extension the same weekend that Wesley Witherspoon visited. Cal is worth every penny. Do whatever you have to do to keep him here.

This video is from over the weekend....pretty funny stuff when talking about Giants OF Aaron Rowand

NBA PLAYOFFS......Where Kobe Happens

2008-04-24T13:16:00.002-05:00

Kobe was Kobe last night. It doesn't matter who you put on him, he'll beat them. Kenyon Martin does have size and strength, but Kobe can go around him. AI has the speed, but Kobe can post and shoot over him. Check out Pau's alley oop pass to Kobe in the video. Sick.

-What is JR Smith doing talking trash to Kobe late in that game? Shut up until you've accomplished something. I'm sure AI and Melo told him the same thing.

-Detroit buried Philly last night. No surprise. Philly may get 1 at home, but Detroit wins this in 5 or 6 now.

-Boston owned Atlanta.....again.....big yawn

-Utah goes up 3-0 tonight on Houston. T-Mac said he had "nothing left" in the 4th quarter the other night. That's what separates LeBron and Kobe from you. You find away to take that game over. You don't take just 4 shots in the 4th quarter. True superstars find a way to win that game. True superstars don't think about being tired at the end of playoff games.

-Is Washington done? We'll find out tonight. I think they get a W tonight. They'll get more than 12pts each from their Big 3.

-Toronto isn't done yet. They win tonight at home. They can still win this series, but it doesn't matter. Both teams lose to Detroit in the 2nd round. "The Future" (there ya go Andrew) needs a real point guard. Nelson is ok.

-I don't think the Suns are done yet. They know they have to play better defense in the 2nd half. I know they have to play better defense in the 2nd half. You know they have to play better defense in the 2nd half. Their coaching staff knows they have to play better defense in the 2nd half. Show some heart and do it. You have the talent to beat this team.

NFL:
Pacman Jones was traded to Dallas. Now get reinstated.

-NFL will not allow the Rams to start negotiating w/ guys for their 2nd pick. F U NFL. Whatever, the NBA playoffs will be on and I'd rather watch that than your boring draft.

BASEBALL:
So I had to work a Mississippi State baseball game last night. Let me just say this about college baseball: it sucks. There are some good hitters, but not many good pitchers. This game was something like 12-7 last night and 15-7 the night before. State also lost 20-5 over the weekend to Alabama. College baseball pitching sucks and the reason it sucks is because if you are really good then you go from high school to the pros (minor leagues).

NBA PLAYOFFS.....Where home teams winning happens

2008-04-23T12:28:00.003-05:00

-The Mavericks absolutely have ZERO heart. They look old and slow. I know why Avery Johnson was ready to ship out Dirk after last years playoffs for Kobe in the offseason. Would've been the right move by Dallas if they could've pulled it off. David West gets up in Dirk's grill and he backs down. Attitude is something you need in the playoffs. Dallas lost their swagger in Miami 2 years ago. That being said, I expect them to win 1 of these games at home if not both of them. No way they win the series though.

-Phoenix trades Marion for Shaq just so they can match up better with San Antonio. Phoenix still has the problem they've always had. NO DEFENSE!!! You get down by 16 to San Antonio and good luck coming back. You get down by 16 to the Suns and, well, you see what can happen. Consistent defense is the difference between these 2 teams.

-Houston WILL get swept. We should've seen this coming. They can't beat Utah with a healthy Yao Ming last year so how are they supposed to make it a series this year w/o a healthy Ming and Rafer Alston?

-Philly and Detroit play Game 2 tonight. Sixers could get another one in this series, but I still don't expect them to win it. Chauncey Billups missed 3 of 4 FT's down the stretch the other night. That doesn't happen again. Dude shoots 90% from the line.

-Orlando goes up 2-0 on Toronto. I thought Chris Bosh panicked in those closing seconds. Take the ball to the hole. Either way, at least they didn't get blown out. This series isn't over at all.

-Boston and Atlanta play Game 2 tonight......yawn

It was in the paper today that Donnie Walsh favors either Mark Jackson or Herb Williams to be the next head coach of the Knicks. We'll see what they can do.

NFL
Jake Long will be the #1 pick in the draft. When Roger Goodell gets up to the podium on Saturday it better be "The Miami Dolphins have the 1st pick they are on the clock." Goodell immediately walks to the end of the stage, gets the notecard, goes back to the podium and says "The Miami Dolphins select Jake Long, offensive tackle from the University of Michigan." I do not want to wait 3 minutes for the Dolphins announcing they are going to take Jake Long (kinda like how the Texans took almost all 15 minutes to announce they were drafting David Carr when they already had agreed to a contract).

I'm sure there will be a lot of good players that come out of this draft, but other than Run DMC and Glenn Dorsey, it lacks serious star power.

MLB:
Ever wonder why the Red Sox have a better organization than the Yankees? Starting pitching is one thing, but the owners in Boston stay out of the way. When you hire a guy to be your GM and your manager, let them run the team. The Yankees say they're the most professional team in sports (no facial hair and blah blah blah) yet their owners do the most unprofessional things (i.e. undermining the authority of their GM and coach in the media for all the players to see and hear). I hope Michael Heisley is reading this.....

COLLEGE BASKETBALL:
Antonio Anderson and Robert Dozier declared for the NBA Draft. My gut tells me they'll both come back to school. I think they both have the skills to play in the NBA. Anderson will be either a 2nd round pick or undrafted if he comes back or not. Dozier has the ability to stay, gain weight, and be a potential 1st round pick next year. I do believe Anderson can defend NBA level guys. If he makes it there, he'll be lock down defender and corner 3pt shot guy. If Ime Udoke can play in the NBA, so can Antonio Anderson.

Derek Kellogg will be introduced as new UMASS coach today. Good luck DK. Cal has a lot of work to do in revamping his coaching staff. He's lost Chuck Martin and DK. Kellogg was also his best recruiter. That's a tough one to replace.

UCONN women's coach Geno Auriemma says Pat Summitt ended their series w/ the Lady Vols because Summitt accused Auriemma of cheating in recruiting. I like Pat Summitt, but get in the game.

I've had this song in my head for a few days now.....

Highlight of the Weekend....

2008-04-21T14:05:00.002-05:00

That dunk was absolutely nasty....

That's why I took the Cavs. At the end of the game, it comes down to whether you want Gilbert Arenas, Caron Butler, and Antawn Jamison on your team or would you rather have LeBron James. I'll take James. That's why the Cavs win this series.

Pau Gasol looked like Wilt Chamberlain yesterday. Well, that had a lot to do with Denver's lack of defense.

Rockets could go out in 4.

Atlanta has no chance, but Al Horford will be a player in this league for years to come.

Good win by Philly. I don't know if they can beat Detroit 4 times, but they were tough coming back from 15 down. Bad Thad and Carney representin.

New Orleans doesn't appear to be hurt by their "lack of playoff experience." Is lack of playoff experience overrated? We don't seem to think so in Memphis, but haven't we all just realized that we didn't have good enough players? If you have players, and the Hornets do, you can win some games (see Golden State last year).

I hate the Spurs. Phoenix hung tough in that 2nd OT even w/o Stoudemire. I don't like to get into X's and O's, but when Finley hit the first 3 to send it to OT, what was Phoenix doing on defense? Don't you switch Barbosa onto Oberto and let the big man jump out on Finley? Amare had a great game, so I don't want to kill the guy. However, you switch Stoudemire onto Finley and Barbosa on the block against Oberto. Are they gonna throw it to Oberto? Maybe, but they need a 3 to tie so he's got to kick it back out. Otherwise, he scores a 2 and it's a foul shooting contest the last 10-15 seconds. Nash dominates the ball and makes free throws. Anyways, there's Coach Roser's rant for the day.

Toronto vs. Orlando....blah, who cares

Bed Of Rosers.....Where Amazing Happens

2008-04-17T12:10:00.002-05:00

NBA Playoff time. The Western Conference has some good first round matchups, but it could've been better. I'll take it thought. This should be the best playoffs in a long long time.

Western Conference

(1) LA Lakers vs. (8) Denver (Lakers in 4 or 5)

(2) New Orleans vs. (7) Dallas (Mavs in 7)

(3) San Antonio vs. (6) Phoenix (Spurs in 7)

(4) Utah vs. (5) Houston (Jazz in 6)

Eastern Conference

(1) Boston vs. (8) Atlanta (Celtics in 4)

(2) Detroit vs. (7) Philadelphia (Pistons in 4)

(3) Orlando vs. (6) Toronto (Raptors in 6)

(4) Cleveland vs. (5) Washington (Cavs in 7) *and only because DeShawn Stevenson said LeBron James was overrated. Wrong guy to piss off.

Conference Semi-Finals
Western Conference

(1) LA Lakers vs. (4) Utah (Lakers in 5)

(3) San Antonio vs. (7) Dallas (Mavs in 7)

Eastern Conference

(1) Boston vs. (4) Cleveland (Celtics in 7)

(2) Detroit vs. (6) Toronto (Pistons in 5)

Conference Finals

Western Conference

(1) LA Lakers vs. (7) Dallas (Lakers in 7)

Eastern Conference

(1) Boston vs. (2) Detroit (Celtics in 6)

NBA FINALS

(1) Boston vs. (1) LA Lakers (Celtics in 7)

The Boston pick is based solely on the fact that I don't think Andrew Bynum will be healthy enough to give the Lakers what they'll need in that series. If he plays and plays well early in the playoffs then I'll take the Lakers in 7. Keep in mind, I believe this is a lot of teams last chances to win the Finals for a few years. When the Lakers have Bynum, Kobe, Gasol and Odom healthy next year I think they reel off 2 or 3 titles straight.

Those are your picks. This playoff season will be great.

I Like My Lettuce, Tomato, and Mustard on Rye...

2008-04-14T12:40:00.002-05:00

All this cheese gonna make me cry....

-Darren Rovell from CNBC is reporting Derrick Rose is turning pro and will sign with agent Arn Tellem. Rose was apart of a package put together by William "Worldwide Wes" Wesley that sent Rose to Memphis and would have rose sign with Agent Leon Rose (no relation). Wes also helped funnel Allen Iverson and LeBron James to Rose. For D-Rose to be signing with Tellem means something went wrong in the relationship between Wes and Derrick's brother, Reggie Rose. It's always possible Reggie just cut off the deal because he ventures to profit more from his brother signing with Tellem. Either way, the only way it affects Memphis is if people start saying Wes isn't as powerful as advertised (which I don't believe). He has Memphis in on Tyreke Evans and top 5 2009 player Xavier Henry (picking between Memphis and Kansas). Everything out there indicates Henry is leaning towards Memphis.

-Kevin Love is going pro. They'll make him lose weight. He needs to in order to be a good NBA player. Can't blame him for doing it.

-NHL Playoffs are going on...do you even know who the top seeds are in each conference? I don't either....

-Yankees are proof that big money guys don't always mean World Series rings. The Detroit Tigers obviously didn't pay attention to that.

-Went to the Redbirds on Friday night. AutoZone Park is by far, the most enjoyable sports venue in this city. Yes, even over FedEx Forum. At least AutoZone hasn't fallen apart.

-On that same subject, how does a 4yr old arena already have railings collapsing?

-Lakers knocked off the Spurs yesterday. It was a good beatdown. No Ginobili for San Antonio so I won't put that much stock into it.

-Jazz play the Rockets tonight. It's for home court advantage in their first round series. Houston has it. Utah can get it with a win. Jazz are 36-4 at home this season so I think they'll win. Doesn't matter much though. Houston doesn't have the horses to make a run and Utah isn't good enough on the road to win it all.

-Trevor Immelman won The Masters. Whatever. If Tiger doesn't win, then I don't care. I think most of society agrees with me. The TV ratings say so.

-Michael Beasley is making his decision today at 5 o'clock. FoxSports.com already says sources are saying he'll declare for the Draft. Good choice. He's a top 2 pick. He'll be a very good NBA player just based on his skill. How dominant he will be is based on whether or not he's a 3 or a 4.

It's Go Time!!!!

2008-04-07T10:46:00.002-05:00

Stop the talk of "Memphis could win the national championship." Stop the talk of "well, it's been a great year regardless." No. Like Herman Edwards says: "YOU PLAY TO WIN THE GAME." Tonight at 8:21, stripes will throw it up and it's time to ball. Chalmers is a pro, Arthur is a pro, Rush is a pro, Jackson is a pro, Kaun is a pro. I don't care. Joey will poop on them. CDR will shoot floaters over them. AA will lock them down. D-Rose will cross them over. It's our night as a team and as a city. It's our time. Tonight at 8:21, IT'S GO TIME!!!!!!

I'm back in the business. I'm back on a mission. Got the recipe, so I'm back in the kitchen....

2008-03-13T11:19:00.002-05:00

It's Tourney Time!!!!! Good to see Coach Cal win C-USA Coach of the Year after going undefeated considering he did it last year and didn't get the award. CDR was very deserving of C-USA player of the year. If the guy is a first team All American then surely he's C-USA POY. Memphis will roll through this tourney and have the 1 seed in the South. Get your tix for Little Rock (if they aren't already sold out).

March Madness
Syracuse is done. Thank God. I don't know why I don't like them, but I think it has something to do with Boeheim playing zone defense and me hating zones. Is this guy overrated? He has been to 3 Final Fours and has a National Championship, but he has 3 pros on that team (Donte Green, Jonny Flynn, Paul Harris) and can't make the tourney. He also had a NCAA Tourney type team last year and didn't make it. Just something to think about.....

Bill Raftery is all over the Big East Tournament. Will someone at CBS please pair him with Gus Johnson for the Final Four? Just watchin a little bit of the G'Town/Nova game right now and Raftery is all over it. "Wallace is gonna be open here. With the rainbow. A little wet, give em a towel." Classic Raftery.

Nova beats G'Town today and they're in.

I watched 9 minutes of East Carolina and Tulsa yesterday at the Forum...then I wanted to hang myself.

SEC Tourney starts today in Atlanta. I said it a few weeks back. Tennessee will not win the tourney and will not have a 1 seed.

NBA
Rockets win 20 straight. I still think they're out in the first round, but this is impressive. I don't care if they haven't played all teams about .500. Every year teams have stretches where they play bad teams and somehow manage to lose 1 or 2 of them.

Andrew Bynum is running on treadmills now. Good news. They won't win a title w/o him. Somebody has to make up for Pau sucking on defense.

Greg Oden worked out with the Blazers for the first time all year. They will be a force next year in the loaded West.

Celtics continue to dominate the Eastern Conference.

MLB
Yanks and D'Rays are brawling. It's Spring Training. You know you should chill out about Spring Training when you see Billy Crystal batting leadoff for the Yanks today.

Albert Pujols is holding off on having Tommy John surgery. Tommy John surgery for a batter? Dude was on roids. Yea, I said it. I'm sorry but the tendon in your elbow doesn't pop like that if you're a hitter. Not unless you're doing something you shouldn't be doing.

Here's to March Madness and the great Gus Johnson...

Give Me A Project Chick, Give Me A Hood Rat Chick

2008-02-28T11:56:00.002-06:00

COLLEGE BASKETBALL:
Memphis owned Tulsa last night. Joey Dorsey was nowhere to be found. He even tried goin with the fro, but it did not work. He's not the sole reason Memphis lost to Tennessee. If Willie or Mack hit one 3pter a piece in the UT game then Memphis wins. They finally broke out of their respective funks last night. That's good because it doesn't look like Joey is breaking out of his anytime soon. That's ashame too since his senior day is coming up.....

NBA:
Hornets owned the Suns last night. Yes, the Suns are slower. That's what happens when you trade the best player in the league at running the break for the worst player in the league at running the break. They say they're still trying to figure it out. I've got it figured out. You aren't better than the Lakers, Spurs, Mavs, Hornets, or Jazz. It didn't take the Lakers long to figure it out when Pau got there.

We're all hoping for a Celtics/Lakers Finals. If you're not then you don't like basketball. A lot of people think it's going to happen, but since the trade deadline (Cleveland gets Big Ben, Wally World, Delonte West, and Joe Smith while San Antonio picks up Kurt Thomas) has anyone thought we could have another Spurs/Cavs Finals? Mr. Stern hopes not and the rest of America is with him.

Caron Butler has a torn hip. That sucks. Washington at least had their heads above water while Agent Zero was out. Now they're under .500. They'll still make the playoffs (I think they're the 6 seed now). If they can get Agent Zero and Butler back for the playoffs look for them to maybe upset Orlando in the first round.

MLB:
Roger Clemens is royally screwed. He should've taken the Bonds approach. At least he kept his mouth shut.

Jon Heyman from SI said yesterday on Verno's show that Mark McGwire may make an appearance at Cardinals spring training. Is he finally ready to talk about the past? Because that's all anyone wants to talk to him about.

NFL:
Panthers signed Mushin Mohammed and released David Carr. Good decisions.

Tom Coughlin got paid. F you Tiki Barber.

Free Agents can sign after midnight tonight. Great. I hate football talk in the middle of basketball season.

PREDICTIONS FOR THE DAY:
Darren McFadden will put up Adrian Peterson like numbers next year.

Tennessee will not be a 1 seed because they will not win the SEC Tournament. 1 seeds will be Memphis, UCLA (they will win Pac-10 Tourney), winner of the Big 12 tourney (Kansas or Texas), and winner of ACC tourney (UNC or Duke).

Here's to Myron Cope....

Memphis/Tennessee ticketS available

2008-02-22T09:35:00.002-06:00

I have come across a pair of upper level tickets if you or anyone you know is wanting into this game.

I also have a single game ticket for Saturday available.

Email me at jon.roser@730espn.com if you're interested or know someone that might be. I will send you the details on where they're located etc etc if you email.

Memphis/Tennessee ticket available

2008-02-20T09:42:00.002-06:00

If you're looking for a ticket to Saturday nights game then email me at jon.roser@730espn.com

Please only serious inquiries....

The Aftermath

2008-02-18T14:08:00.002-06:00

Wild one Saturday night in Birmingham. The Tigers played like, well, like, like, well, crap. The only guys who were worth anything were Antonio Anderson and CDR. CDR proved himself worth of being a first team all american. Robert Vaden was unbelievable for UAB. He will play in the NBA. Short summary: Tigers trailed 77-70 with 1:32 left. Anderson hits a 3, CDR hits a 3, Vaden makes 1 of 2 FT's, CDR hits a bucket and draws the foul. Vaden comes back down, throws up a wild shot, Kinnard follows it up with a made bucket but the buzzer had already sounded and UAB had just choked. Yes, they choked.

Pierre Niles then starts taunting the UAB fans, so does Shawn Taggart and so on and so on. Joey Dorsey had lost it and was about to kill someone. My thoughts are this: you do have to learn to control yourself in that situation. The fans have nothing to lose and the players have everything to lose. The only way I say it's ok to fight back is if someone spits on you. Some reports have said that Joey Dorsey was spit on. Why you would spit on Joey Dorsey I have no idea, but that was being reported. This doesn't have anything to do with where these kids are from or how they were brought up. You can go to Germantown and spit in a kid from the burbs and he's going to punch you. It's a man code. I bet Greg Paulus would hit someone if they spit on him. I'm not a fighting man either, but spitting crosses the line.

As for Pierre Niles. You didn't even play. What are you running your mouth for and slapping people? You are the biggest waste of space on the earth. You have talent, but no, you'd rather eat at Gus', Taco Bell and McDonalds. My guess is he gets suspended for the Tulane game on Wednesday and possibly the Tennessee game. Who cares thought, kick him off the team.

Pancakes

-Taylor/Pavlik II was worse than watching a Grizzlies game. I went up to Gills for this one and was pretty excited for it since I heard the first one was so good. This was a boring fight. Jermain Taylor kills boxing. He doesn't fight. I had people in the bar ask me who I was going for and I said: "Pavlik" everytime. They were shocked that I wouldn't go for the local guy. I don't like to root for guys that don't box. Pavlik will punch you. Taylor lays back. The point of boxing is to punch the other person in the face. Taylor does not understand that. Pavlik easily won. Who knows what Jermain Taylor does next. Pavlik threw twice as many punches.

-Dwight Howard was awesome in the dunk contest. Superman dunk was a bit overrated. He had the outfit and the showmanship to pull it off.

-Rudy Gay wasn't horrible. Well, his first dunk was horrible. His 2nd dunk was good. Either way, no surprise to see the Grizz disappoint again.

-LeBron wins MVP of the All Star Game. It wasn't the same not seeing KG, Kobe or Shaq out there.

-Tigers and Vols will meet as #1 and #2 this Saturday (8:00 on ESPN). Picking the Tigers, but they can't let Lofton get hot like last year.

-Mike Miller WILL be traded by the deadline.

Yea I Take Steroids. I Eat That S*** for Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner

2008-02-13T12:09:00.002-06:00

Roger Clemens and Brian McNamee were on Captiol Hill this morning. They both got drilled pretty hard. McNamee seemed to at least have an explanation or quick response to everything. Clemens stumbled a lot. He also had the look on his face that he wanted to throw his 90mph + fastball at each Congressman's head.

Clemens said Andy Pettitte was "one of the most honest men in MLB." Congressman responded with saying that Pettitte said in his deposition that Clemens told him he used HGH. Clemens' response? "Andy misremembers our conversation." I don't know if all the steroid accusations will ever be proven (unless they make Clemens provide DNA to match with the syringes and gauze pads), but the guy took HGH. Just admit it. You look like an idiot.

Funniest part of the day? Knowing McNamee put a needle in Mrs. Clemens' butt.

TIGERS
They play Houston tonight at FEF. This is a blowout waiting to happen. I can't wait for next Saturday.

GRIZZLIES
Hey! They won a game. There's no reason for the Kings to have a better record than the Grizz. Especially when Artest and Bibby missed so many games. We'll see what they do with the cap room. I'm guessing nothing, but we'll see.

COLLEGE HOOPS
Kelvin Sampson is in more trouble than we thought. Apparently he violated telephone recruiting restrictions at Indiana (he was already on probation for doing the same thing at Oklahoma). Sampson and 2 assistants have lied about it to NCAA investigators and Indiana University. I would bet that most schools find loop holes to get away with these things. I also know Sampson made these calls from his office phone (a phone that can be traced). Ever heard of using a pay phone? I know that's probably the way most coaches do it, or they just use a random cell phone. Boo to you Sampson for being a moron. Indiana hosts #14 Wisconsin tonight. Should be interesting to see how they handle it.

Kentucky was beat down by Vanderbilt last night. Finally, Vandy has a good win. Yes, Kentucky isn't very good but they had won 5 straight which included a win over Tennessee so that counts as a good win for Vandy.

There are only a few teams that can win the National Championship. Here they are:
Memphis, Kansas, UCLA, Tennessee, UNC, and Duke. If Tennessee runs into a team that has a good big man (like UCLA and UNC) then they will struggle (see Patrick Patterson of Kentucky).

NBA
Shaq may play Thursday vs. Mavs. Good, but Phoenix still made a desperate move and aren't going to the Finals. It's going to be Lakers/Spurs or Mavs/Lakers in the WCF.

Stan Van Gundy called out Dwight Howard. SVG says Howard gets upset when he doesn't get the ball on offense. SVG wants Howard to worry about defensive rebounding more. If you don't think the rebounding effort from Howard has been there then that's fine. As a coach, shouldn't you also be upset that your best player isn't touching the ball enough on offense? Brian Hill was fired because Howard felt like he didn't get enough touches. Be careful SVG.

All Star Game is this weekend in New Orleans.

Sophomores win the Rook/Soph game.

Gerald Green wins the Dunk Contest again. However, Rudy Gay will do much better than Hakim Warrick did.

West will win the All Star Game. Allen Iverson is MVP.

Somebody will get shot at a strip club on Bourbon Street.

Here's to the All Star Game this weekend. Zach Randolph knows the biz...

Beat A B****, Rob A Ho

2008-02-06T11:43:00.001-06:00

Robert Dozier could be charged with assault after alledgedly hitting his girlfriend. Reports say he followed her outside the Plush Club on Sunday night. They pulled over at Union and 2nd, got into a dispute, and he hit her. WHAT IS HE DOING????? You played with Jeremy Hunt. Didn't that teach you a lesson? Oh wait, Hunt was allowed back on the team and so no, it didn't teach anybody a lesson. Dorsey will come off the bench tonight and I suspect it has something to do with him throwing the ball at the ref Saturday afternoon vs. UTEP. This season could be memorable and even if they do make the Final Four, all anyone will talk about is how Dozier hit his girlfriend and was still allowed to play basketball. First you had CDR pissed off about Thanksgiving, then Andre Allen was pissed off about lack of playing time, now we have Dorsey throwing balls at refs and Dozier punching chicks. They'll still beat SMU by 20, but this thing could fall apart.

Now, more knowledge for your brain....

-Duke at UNC tonight. I've been to one of these games and they are worth all the hype. I hate Duke, but they will win tonight. UNC is overrated and now they don't have Ty Lawson which means Paulus is free to go (he couldn't guard Lawson for doo doo last year). Dickie V is back. Who cares? Duke wins by 8. Final score? 80-72 Duke.

-Shaq is in Phoenix for a physical. If he passes, he will be a Phoenix Sun. Shawn Marion and Marcus Banks go to Miami. Makes sense for both teams. Miami needs to get younger and more athletic. The Heat will still have a top 6 pick and they will try to net a point guard in the draft. Phoenix needs some interior defense. Shaq, i guess, can help that. He's not Shaq of 5 years ago. Hell, he's not Shaq of 2 years ago, but he's big. It's a move to get them by the Spurs. Plus, the Suns are 5-8 this year against teams with winning records so they weren't going anywhere with the lineup they had. Prediction? Phoenix isn't going to the WCF. That'll be a Lakers-Spurs matchup.

-Pau Gasol made his Laker debut last night (24pts, 12rebs). He will help this team alot. Kobe was having to score around 35 a game just to keep LA around in the first 10 games of Bynum's absence. Pau comes in, Kobe only scores 6pts, and they win by 15? He'll help this team. The triangle moves fast and Pau is skilled enough to make it move. It was still the right move in trading him.

-Grizz lost to the Bucks minus Michael Redd. Mo Williams went off. Where's your D Lowry? You're getting traded in the off-season.

-Nolan Ryan will become the new president of the Texas Rangers. Maybe he'll find them some pitching....

-National Signing Day is today. I don't follow recruiting, but I know if you have top classes year in and year out then you're probably going to be good year in and year out.

Here's to Robert Dozier....

Super Bowl

2008-02-04T10:35:00.000-06:00

Alright, I'm notorious for falling asleep during past Super Bowls (see Philly/NE, Pittsburgh/Seattle, Indy/Chicago, etc..). I stayed up for this one and it was the best Super Bowl I've ever seen (yes, better than St. Louis/Tennessee). Eli Manning silenced the haters and threw 2 TD's in the 4th quarter (Brady Who?), meanwhile Tom Brady couldn't shake Strahan and Osi all night. Until Eli Manning threw those 2 TD's, the vote for MVP should've gone to the Giants D-Line. I don't fault Brady though. He ran into the same problem Tony Romo did. You can't do much when you're running for your life all night. Props to the G-Men. I didn't expect it to happen.

Now for random thoughts on the game....

-Bill Belichick left the field before the clock hit :00. No big deal, but of course ESPN makes it a big deal. He and Coughlin shook hands and the game was over. If his defensive players don't care (and I'm sure they don't) then ESPN shouldn't care. Shut up Mark Schlereth.

-David Tyree's catch will be remembered like the "Music City Miracle." Yes, it was that big of a play.

-If people made a big deal about Jessica Simpson at a Cowboys game, then shouldn't they make a big deal about Jiselle (sp?) being at the Super Bowl. You never see her at Patriots games. Brady is 3-0 in Super Bowls, she shows up, and their unstoppable offense only puts up 14 points?

-Tom Petty is still the man. American Girl, I Won't Back Down, Free Fallin', and Running Down A Dream. That's a solid 4 song set. Nothing fancy and no pyrotechnics. Petty just got up there and rocked it. They need to get Led Zeppelin to play next year's halftime show.

-Joe Buck and Troy Aikman are the best commentating duo. Yes, better than Michaels and Madden. I have no problem with Michaels, but Madden states the obvious and isn't critical enough (at least to me he isn't). Aikman calls it like he sees it and if he thinks you screwed up, he tells you so.

-Eli Manning's Super Bowl performance was far more impressive than Peyton's.

Other weekend thoughts....

-Pau Gasol is gone. Good. This team will not be able to sign a free agent this off-season with the current roster they have. They need to build through the draft this year and next year. After 2009's NBA Draft, then they can get someone in free agency. You hope that, by then, they will have built up enough promising talent that makes this place attractive to a FA. What you really hope is that you get a Beasley and he turns out to be a superstar so you don't have to go and spend all of you cap space on 1 guy. If you get your superstar in the draft that means he's outperforming his contract for at least 4 years and you can remain under the cap just by filling in pieces around him.

-Build the team around Mike Conley, not Rudy Gay. Conley doesn't have to score the most, but I feel good about us not turning it over when he has the ball. If Iavaroni truly wants to do the Phoenix style offense then he should think Conley is the guy. He won't be Steve Nash, but he could become just as good a passer as Nash. Put athletic guys around him and go....

-Mike Golic Jr. (son of ESPN's Mike Golic) is going to be on Mike and Mike In the Morning Wednesday to officially sign his letter of intent to play football at Notre Dame. I looked at the top 100 players according to Rivals.com and Golic Jr. isn't on there. You what is? about 7 other guys that are committed to Notre Dame. Why not get an actual good player on your show that's going to sign? I agree with Dana Jacobsen. F Notre Dame!

-Yes, National Signing Day is Wednesday. From what I've heard, Alabama and Notre Dame are on pace to have the top 2 classes. I know it doesn't matter what they're ranked until the players get on the field, but you show me a team that has consistent top 5-10 recruiting classes and I'll bet you that team is consistently good on the field (See USC and LSU the last few years).

-Tigers survived UTEP. DANGER GAME! That game will do them good as they get closer to tourney time. I think you know what happens when games are that close that late. Derrick Rose or CDR get the ball and go.

-Joey Dorsey got mad at some no name UTEP player because he was being physical. Joey, you're the man, but shut up. You'll get bumped a lot harder than that your first day of NBA Training Camp.

-Tiger Woods wins.....AGAIN!!!!!

-I watched Brock Lesnar's UFC debut. Mir was more experienced and that's why he won. Lesnar just came out swinging and Mir waited for the mistake. He saw it, ankle lock, Lesnar taps out.

-Dick Vitale is ready to come back. Damnit, I like Jay Bilas better.

The Greatest Catch Ever....

Pancakes Ye Know...

2008-02-01T12:36:00.000-06:00

Weekend thoughts....

-Jason Collins for Stro? Who cares. One crappy player for another. The Grizz will offcially have 3 of the 5 worst players in the NBA if that deal goes through (Casey, Cardinal and Collins). Kwame Brown and Adonal Foyle are the 2 other worst players in the NBA.

-Pau Gasol trade to the Lakers that would include Kwame Brown. Is this possible? Yea, if you want expiring contracts for Pau then this is an easy one to do. Keep in mind Marc Gasol will be a Laker next season too. Then the Grizz would have 4 of the 5 worst players in the league.

-Suns lost at home to a Tony Parkerless Spurs team. Phoenix isn't going anywhere this year. Their run is over.

-Boston minus KG picked up a home win over the Mavs. Dallas' door to win it all is still open, but not for long. It could open back up if they get J-Kidd.

-Spurs are the 6th seed right now in the West. That will change. They will beat the Hornets in a series and be in the Finals. I'm looking at a Celtics-Spurs Final which, i'm sorry to say, will be just as boring as last years Finals. Nothing but 88-84 games.

-Kobe had the kind of triple double you don't want to have: 39pts, 10rebs, 11T0's. Sucks when you don't have Walton, Bynum, and Ariza out there. They will survive this and be a tough out in the playoffs.

-Tigers play UTEP on Saturday at Noon. Watch out! This is a Danger Game.

-Tyler Hansbrough had a solid game for Carolina last night vs. Boston College. I really want Memphis to play them in the Tournament just to see how long it takes before Psycho T and Dorsey get into it.

-Vanderbilt is the most overrated team in college basketball. They have beaten no one and lost to anyone that is relevant.

-Brittney Spears is still crazy

********UPDATE******
According to commercialappeal.com the Grizzlies have traded Pau Gasol to the LA Lakers for Kwame Brown, Javaris Crittendon and first round picks in 2008 and 2010. Apparently the Grizz will also send a 2nd round pick to LA and the Grizz get G Aaron McKie and the draft rights to Marc Gasol. One Gasol for another.

Kwame has a 9 million dollar expiring contract. This will give the Grizz cap relief and you won't truly know who they traded Pau for until you find out who they use that money on. Elton Brand and Antawn Jamison are just a few of the guys on the market this summer.

The Grizz also just made the Lakers contenders for the next 5 years. Starting 5 will look like this when healthy:
PG Derek Fisher
SG Kobe Bryant
SF Lamar Odom
PF Pau Gasol
C Andrew Bynum

Walton, Ariza, Vujacic, Farmar, Vlad Rad all coming off the bench. That's a stacked starting 5. I know this too. Kobe won't tolerate Pau playing like a girl either.

Back Like Jordan Wearin the 4-5

2008-01-28T10:29:00.000-06:00

I figured I'd stop being lazy and update the blog. Here's some takes on things that have happened since you last heard from me.

-Tigers are continuing to dominate. The Gonzaga game was never really in doubt. When Calipari pressed, the Tigers were unstoppable. I've concluded that he dropped the press because he wanted his team to get more experience playing a half court style (something they will run into in the tournament if they meet a team like UCLA). I also thing this is something they will have to try vs. Tennessee. Running with Tennessee is something I wouldn't be in favor of doing. Pick your spots to run, but don't do it with a team that does it exclusively. Tennessee can run and can do it well, they cannot, however, play in the half court (see Kentucky game).

-Grizzlies are continuing to suck. Well, not really. I've been impressed with some games because they have battled (exception would be the Orlando game). Conley and Pau will both need to play tonight and Wednesday if they want to be competitive against Dallas and Denver. The Mavs are a title contender and they're doing a great job of flying under the radar.

-Jason Kidd wants out of New Jersey. I don't blame him. Dallas would be a great fit. They are towards the bottom of the league in assists and there may not be a better set up man in the league than J-Kidd (exceptions could be Nash and CP3). Make it happen Dallas. Trade J-Terry if you must. I'd keep Harris though. Kidd would play this season and next with Big D and then I'd bet you he'll sign for less money to play in either LA w/ Kobe or Cleveland w/ LeBron.

-Speaking of LeBron and Kobe...who says regular season NBA games aren't good? Did you see the Cavs/Lakers game yesterday? The Lakers obviously need Bynum and the fact that he's not there means they have to play Kwame and his $8 million dollar salary. The worst part isn't that they have to play Kwame, it's that they can't trade him at the deadline. Expiring contracts are the heartbeat of NBA trades.

-More on Kwame. Caron Butler for Kwame Brown may be the worst trade in NBA history. Imagine this lineup: Derek Fisher, Kobe, Odom, Butler, Bynum. That could be the best team in the Western Conference. Butler is carrying Washington while Arenas is hurt. Yes, Butler is carrying them not Jamison. When the Wiz needed hoops vs. the Grizz the other night it was Caron Butler doin the damn thing.

-Tiger Woods won another golf tournament. He's incredible and the only reason to watch golf. We're seeing the next Jordan right now. He just doesn't play basketball.

-Dana Jacobsen returned to ESPN's FirstTake today. She was suspended for some remarks she made at the roast of Mike and Mike. She said "F Notre Dame and F Touchdown Jesus. Yea that's right F Jesus." F Notre Dame I can agree with, especially when the walking cardiac arrest Charlie Weis is in attendance, but "F Jesus" just isn't funny.

-I saw Sam Cassell out this weekend. Yes, he really is that ugly.

-Orlando Magic have beaten Detroit and Boston on buzzer beaters within the last 2 weeks. This won't happen in the playoffs. Orlando is a pretender. I'll eat some crow too and said Dwight Howard wouldn't be as good as everyone thought. I was wrong. Mr. Johnson, you are right. He is the future. He's a threat for 20 and 20 every night. I can't say that for anyone else in the league and haven't been able to do so since Shaq was in his prime. Is he a Baby Shaq? No, he keeps himself in shape.

-Heath Ledger died. I don't know what else to say. He's a good actor, but when you pop pills these things can happen. Looking forward to the new Batman movie.

-I saw the Foo Fighters on Friday. They were incredible. I'm not a huge FF fan. In fact, I don't even own one of their cd's, but Dave Grohl knows how to put on a show. They are one of the only true "rock and roll" acts left out there that are still mainstream.

-UCONN knocked off Indiana on Saturday. That's a sleeper team. They are getting better and better. That win for the Tigers will look even more impressive come tourney time. They have a chance to win the Big East Tourney.

-Vanderbilt is the most overrated team in the country. The best teams they've played are Kentucky, Tennessee, and Florida. They lost all 3.

-Kentucky is getting better. Watch out for them in the SEC tourney.

-Ole Miss is coming back down to earth. Losing to Auburn? Unacceptable.

-Mississippi State has won 9 straight and has the best SEC record (5-0). They have Arkansas on Wednesday and Tennessee on Saturday. Win those and you'll see them in the Top 25 come next week.

-The Senior Bowl was this weekend. Who cares? You've seen these guys play for 4 years. They are what they are. I understand the practices are where the scouts judge them, but you have combines coming up where you will see plenty of that. Andre Woodson will be a bust. Colt Brennan doesn't qualify as a bust because he already sucks.

-Damon Stoudamire was bought out. Good Riddance. How can Michael Heisley say he's trying to be more fiscally responsible when he buys out Damon for more than the contract says he has to? Heisley called him a great leader and said he has plenty left in the tank. That's because the last time Heisley saw this team play was 3 years ago. Either that or the CA just took a quote from when they released Eddie Jones.

-I went down to the Tigers locker room after the Gonzaga game to get an interview with a player. Ended up doing the interview with Joey Dorsey. Anyways, that place smells like grundle butter....

Pimp Slap

2008-01-15T13:33:00.001-06:00

Pacman Jones has been accused of punching a woman on January 3rd at an Atlanta strip club. Her name is Wanda Jackson and apparently she's an Atlanta defense attorney working on a divorce case that involves Jones. They argued at the club and she says he punched her in the left eye. Of course he punched you. He's Pacman, drunk, and at a strip club. That is the worst place to possibly argue with Pacman. Why do people test this man???

Seriously, just kick this guy out of the league.....

A Bunch of Stuff....

2008-01-15T09:55:00.000-06:00

I tried to get excited about San Diego upsetting Indianapolis, but that's kinda tough to do when you know they are going to lose to New England this weekend. However, New England won't beat them 38-14 like they did in week 2. It will be closer than that (well, as long as LT plays). The one thing San Diego will have going for them is the tallest CB in the NFL is Antonio Cromartie and he also happened to lead the league in INT's. Put him on Moss, roll your safety over, and hope they don't get a deep ball. Good luck. Easier said than done.

Dallas loses. Cowboys WR's dropped a lot of passes while Romo did make some dumb decisions (last throw in the endzone to Terry Glenn). Dumb decisions tend to be made when you are running for your life. I'll blame the loss on penalties. Yes, Tom Coughlin gets another year.

Anyways, New England over San Diego, Green Bay over NY Giants and New England over Green Bay.

Quick hits, pancakes, tip-ins, whatever you wanna call em...here they are:

-I'll be in bed until the Tigers play Gonzaga.

-Lakers start fast like last season then lose a key player (Odom, Vlad Rad last year). Now Andrew Bynum is out 8 weeks with a jacked up knee. They have a 9 game road trip coming up and this is what their next 7 games look like: Phoenix, Denver, @ San Antonio, @ Dallas, Cleveland, NY Knicks, @ Detroit. 2 months from now the Lakers will be @ New Orleans and that would give Big Bynum 18 games to get ready for the playoffs, assuming the Lakers don't collapse.

-I had a post that if the Celtics broke the Bulls' single season win record that would it be more impressive? Well, scratch that. You can't lose to the Bobcats and Washington (x2) and win 70. They haven't even played San Antonio, Dallas, or Phoenix yet.

-Michael Oher, Darren McFadden and Felix Jones are all going to the NFL. Anyone surprised? Anyone? Seriously, they will all be fantastic players and any team will be making a good pick.

-Hakim Warrick's defense and rebounding are earning him more PT according to the CA. Anyone find it funny that ever since Michael Heisley came in town, Casey Jacobsen hasn't seen the floor?

-Grizz have Cleveland tonight at FedEx Forum. Somebody should call the cops and tell them there's been a murder downtown. Then the po-po can arrest Mike Brown for killing the game of basketball.

-Alabama is 11-6 yet I've talked to 2 people that hate Mark Gottfried. Harry Long, my co-host on Roser and Me Sundays 5-7, is one of them. The other one is the Talledega Tickler known as Luke. When pressed they don't know what Alabama basketball should be. Gottfried has taken them to an Elite 8. What do Tide bball fans expect?

-Pittsburgh beat Georgetown. Jamie Dixon is doing a nice job considering he lost Cook and Fields. That Memphis win over the Hoyas is becoming less and less impressive to me. G'Town just isn't that good. If you're a legit national title contender you don't beat an unranked team (UCONN) by 3pts at home. Hibbert is a stiff.

-Eric Hasseltine, West VA Bball coach Bob Huggins, and Chris Herrington are on the CV Show today. Check it out. It might change your life.

Takin it back to the 9 nickel and two pennies.....

Weekend Pancakes

2008-01-11T14:09:00.000-06:00

-Is Hashim Bailey hurt? If so, ok. If not, you're the worst player ever. Especially if you can't get clock in a 40pt rout over East Carolina

-Grizz blow another one last night vs. Sacto. Only the Grizz could pull that off. I'm predicting blowout losses tonight (Warriors) and Sunday (Lakers). That's not really going out on a limb.

-Playoff football kind of matters to me now. Well, maybe one game matters to me Giants/Cowboys is about the only interesting game to me. I'll take Dallas since T.O. is playing. Get cha popcorn ready!

-Pats kill the Jags. Jacksonville needs to shut up.

-Colts handle the Chargers. I know San Diego beat them this year, but Peyton Manning threw like 5 INT's. That's not happening again.

-Green Bay beats Seattle. Why? Because they're better and Shaun Alexander isn't that good anymore.

-The only reason Pete Carroll would go to the Falcons is because USC could go on probation for the Reggie Bush thing. Who would want full control over their crappy personnel?

-Marion Jones is going to jail. Now raise your hand if you're sick of steroids....

-Brittney Spears does not want her kids. I can't blame her. If you're already paying K-Fed $100,000 or whatever it is each month, at least make him do something.

-OJ Simpson's bail was revoked. Now raise your hand if you're sick of OJ Simpson....

-Trade Pau Gasol

Preview of tonights Grizz/Warriors game...witness Baron Davis giving Pau the biz...

Pathetic

2008-01-09T13:58:00.000-06:00

Lakers destroyed the Grizzlies last night. I'm not surprised by that. I was surprised by how terrible the attendance was. If it weren't for the Kobe Bryant jerseys there, you would've thought the Grizz were playing the Hawks. It'll be interesting to see how many show up to see LeBron and Cleveland next Tuesday. I'm thoroughly convinced after last nights attendance that it doesn't matter who comes to town now. This city has given up on the Grizzlies.

One thing I always hear and I'm starting to hate it is: "Memphis is still a young NBA city and we just don't fully understand the NBA yet."

I think Memphis understands this much about the NBA (especially after going 0 for 12 3 straight years in the playoffs): you need a superstar to compete at a high level in the playoffs. This team, as we all know, doesn't have anyone close to that. Until this team gets one, it isn't gonna happen here. There will be changes that may get a few more in the crowd here and there (trading Pau would help), but until Chris Wallace finds a way to get a superstar, there's no chance of people going back to that arena.

Speaking of no chance....

BCS Title Game and other nuggets of knowledge

2008-01-08T10:09:00.000-06:00

LSU is the BCS National Champion for the 2nd time. They are the only school to do this. For a good part of the season, most people would say that LSU won in spite of Les Miles. You could certainly point to the Auburn game and I would have a hard time arguing. Last night, "The Hat" looked like he knew what was going on. He threw off Jim Tressell with a number of plays, including that quick snap and throw to the tight end while having 4 receivers lined up on the right side. Les Miles may not be Nick Saban, but he's not a total idiot. Urban Meyer has been at Florida 3 seasons. Miles has been at LSU for 3 seasons. Do you know their records? Miles is 34-6 while Meyer is 31-8. I know Meyer had to implement a system different from the Zooker, but Miles also had problems (one being he and his then OC Jimbo Fisher weren't too fond of one another). Anyways, my point is that Meyer is looked on as being some sort of genious and innovator while Miles is a complete idiot that's winning off Saban's ability to recruit. Miles has the better 3 year record and I would say they have close to equal talent (LSU did have 4 NFL 1st Round picks last year to Florida's 2), but that 2006 Florida team did have 11 guys that were All SEC 1st or 2nd team and 3 guys that were on the All SEC Freshman team. Just something to think about....

Pancakes w/ syrup and powdered sugar:

-Clemens/McNamee taped phone conversation did nothing for me. Clemens knew he was taping and McNamee sounded like he knew he was being taped. I guess Congress next week will help clear some of this up.

-Joe Gibbs is retiring. 31-36 in 4 years. This had to be an easy decision for Gibbs when he didn't even know the rules (see Buffalo game). LaRon Landry will be a stud. That's about all that franchise has to look forward to.

-Kobe Bryant invades FedEx Forum tonight. I will be doing "Roser on the Street" at the game. I will be asking for random peoples opinion on Damon Stoudamire requesting a trade and what they would trade him for? Lakers are playing well, but they've played 18 home games and only 14 road games (8-6 on the road). Grizz have been playing well, so here's a chance to pull a big W.

-June Jones is now at SMU. No brainer when you're offered $2million per season, but when you're in C-USA making that then you know they aren't paying you to make the Liberty Bowl every now and then. They want a BCS Bowl.

-Terrell Owens is a game time decision for Sunday vs. NY Giants. If TO plays then Dallas wins. If TO doesn't play then the Giants win. Yes, he means that much to their offense.

-I'd still put Steve Nash ahead of Chris Paul for the NBA All Star Game. Nash is averaging a league high and career best 12.3apg. Sorry Chris, you'll have to wait until Nash retires. Don't worry CP3, you'll be on the roster.

-The Celtics do have a shot at breaking the Bulls single season win record, but would it be more impressive? I think so. When Chicago did it there were only 2 teams that had a chance at the Title (Seattle and Chicago). The Spurs won 59 games in the 95-96 season, but they always won a lot of regular season games. They didn't start winning titles until Timmy D got there. Then there's the Jordan factor. Nobody else had a chance at the title because this guy was still playing. This year I would say Boston, Dallas, San Antonio and Phoenix have a chance to win the title. I won't throw in Detroit because they don't have a true superstar. I'll try to prove the league is deeper and more balanced today than it was in 95-96, so once I find a website that tracks how many games teams are on pace to win then I'll get back to you. I know there's a way to do it mathematically, but that takes up time that I do not have right now. Hey, it's something to think about....

-Nicole Kidman is preggy with Keith Urban's 2nd child. Anyone else question her decision making in guys? Tom Cruise (homo) and now Keith Urban (alcoholic).

-Chyna hinted she may be in the next season of "Dancing With The Stars." Why is she not on "American Gladiators?"

-Jamie Lynn Spears is getting her GED. You'll need that now that your TV show has been cancelled.

If you're offended by bad language then don't watch this...it's funny though...I need to find this kind of bum...

TIGER FOOTBALL NEWS

2008-01-02T14:32:00.000-06:00

I just received the press release saying Tommy West will not renew the contract of defensive coordinator Rick Kravitz. So first it was Joe Lee Dunn and now it's Kravitz's turn to be the scapegoat. Try recruiting good football players. Your team wasn't good enough to beat the worst team in the SEC. Bill Belichick couldn't have made your defense look good.

Chris Bosh is funny and more pancakes

2008-01-02T13:20:00.000-06:00

It's around lunch time and I know you're hungry so here are some pancakes....

-Missouri proved they belonged in a BCS Bowl

-Hawaii proved they did not belong in a BCS Bowl

-USC might be the best team in the country, but I'll say Georgia IS the best team in the country.

-SMU is willing to pay $1.5 million per season for a football coach. How does SMU have so much money?

-June Jones should take the gig at SMU. Recruit Texas and you're set.

-North Carolina lost G Bobby Frasor for the season w/ a torn ACL. It's not Ellington, Hansbrough or Lawson so they can still win it all, but they'll miss his three point shot.

-Memphis basketball fans should chill out on not being #1. North Carolina hasn't lost and when you don't lose, you tend to stay at the top. Carolina has the ACC schedule coming up. Dropping a game is inevitable. Memphis will be #1 soon enough.

-Rick Neuheisel will win at UCLA. He's won everywhere.

-49ers are bringing back Mike Nolan. I actually don't mind him, just figure out how to score some points.

-Sidney Crosby is the only reason to watch the NHL

-Wake me up when New England, Indianapolis, Green Bay and Dallas have playoff games

My NBA All Star's (for now):

WEST:
F Tim Duncan
F Carmelo Anthony
G Steve Nash
G Kobe Bryant
C Yao Ming

EAST:
F Kevin Garnett
F LeBron James
G Jason Kidd
G Chauncey Billups
C Dwight Howard

WRITE IN VOTE:
Tarence Kinsey....NBA.com gives you a list of scrubs and I chose a scrub I like.

Brandon Roy deserves to be there, but can you honestly vote Roy over Nash or Kobe?

Anyways, Chris Bosh has the best pitch going to get in the All Star game. I'm sure most of you have seen it by now, but if you haven't.....

Christmas and New Year's Pancakes

2007-12-31T11:06:00.000-06:00

Bed Of Rosers has returned. I was out of the office for a few days and when I was here last week, I was working on other stuff like Best Of's and getting some new equipment installed in the studio. Anyways, here's some thoughts on what has happened since Rudy Gay beat the Spurs:

-Tigers manhandled Georgetown. Roy Hibbert is a big stiff. Dorsey was dominant. Georgetown is not what we thought they were.

-Grizz continue to lose. Trade Pau. Trade Miller. It's not good when 2 of your 3 best players are soft and can't perform late in games. I also get the sense that the rest of the team doesn't respect this guy. Pau also looks like he's lost a step after those foot injuries. Get something. Get anything. If you trade Pau, I bet you will have your largest crowd of the season the next home game. People just want change. We've seen this too much.

-Tigers beat Arizona. Jerryd Bayless didn't play and neither did Brailmaier (sp?). I thought this would be tougher than Georgetown just because Arizona seems to have better athletes. Put those 2 players on the court for ARZ and they could've pulled the upset. Not very impressed, but not disappointed with Memphis in this one. Robert Dozier has stepped his game up. That hook in the lane is virtually unstoppable. Arizona is a better team than Georgetown.

-Patriots went 16-0. Anyone surprised? I'm not. They will win the Super Bowl. Skip the playoffs. If they don't win the Super Bowl then 16-0 doesn't mean a thing.

-Todd Collins is doing what David Garrard does: not throw INT's. Take notes Jason Campbell, Byron Leftwich, and former player Aaron Brooks.

-Lakers wore short shorts last night vs. Celtics. I don't know if there's anything funnier than Andrew Bynum wearing short shorts (ok, maybe Shaq).

-Pittsburgh lost to Dayton and lost more. First, Mike Cook is out for the year after tearing his ACL vs. Duke and now they lost LeVance Fields for 8-12 weeks. Tough break for Jamie Dixon. Ronald Ramon is gonna have to step up.

-Bruce Pearl's team is getting better and better. They bounced back nicely after the loss to Texas (wins over Xavier and Gonzaga). I love JP Prince. When the Vols come to FedExForum it will be the most electric crowd in that arena's short history. I'll put the over/under on fights outside the Forum at 10.

-Bill Parcells fired Randy Mueller. Can't blame him. That team needs a lot. Might as well clean house. If Cam Cameron is the next to go then I'm betting he resurfaces wherever Marty Schottenheimer coaches.

-If Terrell Owens misses a playoff game then Dallas will lose.

-The Buccaneers go 9-7 and win their division. The Browns go 10-6, don't win their division but still can't earn a playoff spot. The NFC East is the only competitive division in that conference and Dallas ran through that this year.

-Portland Trail Blazers have won 13 straight. They have some players, but you wouldn't say they have "THAT" much more talent than the Grizz. Nate McMillan can coach. Brandon Roy is the best player no one knows about in the NBA.

-Kiki Vandeweghe is apparently going to New Jersey to serve in the Nets' front office. Drop a bomb like Hiroshima. You have 3 stars and can't get over the 500mark. The Wizards lost their best player and still have their heads above water. All 3 should be traded.

Music Vid is from the Temptations...

GRIZZLIES WIN GRIZZLIES WIN!!!!!

2007-12-20T11:02:00.000-06:00

I left my media pass at home yesterday so I did not get to go to the game. It wasn't on TV either (I don't know why a game vs. San Antonio would not be televised, but whatever). The had a 20 point lead in the 3rd and I think a little in the 4th too. It was cut to 10pts with about 9 minutes left and you started thinking "here we go again." Mike Miller had 31pts with 9 minutes left in the game and of course, he ended up with 31pts on the night. Ginobili's dunk tied it with 2 seconds left and you just knew the Spurs would win in OT. After all, it is the Grizzlies we're talking about. NOT SO FAST MY FRIEND!!!! Rudy catches the ball at the top of the 3pt arc and shoots one high over Timmy D and it goes in. This team is very bi-polar. How do you lose to the Clippers and then beat the Spurs? The Grizz are 2-2 in their last 4. Wins @ Orlando and vs. San Antonio. Losses vs. LA Clippers and vs. Golden State. If you would've told me they were 2-2 after those 4 games I would've flip flopped the teams they beat vs. the teams they actually lost to. How do you explain this? Marc Iavaroni would say: "it's the NBA." Nevertheless, good win for the Grizz because they play @ Detroit on Friday who is coming off a big win @ Boston.

Tigers are now 9-0 for the first time since the 85-86 season. I thought Joey was going to fight the guy from Poland. One of these days he is going to snap and throw a ball at someones head. Antonio Anderson finally knocked down some shots. Derrick Rose hit five 3's outta nowhere. CDR was non-existant. This game was never in doubt to me. It felt like the UCONN game. Tigers get a comfortable lead, then get in 1st half foul trouble (Taggart, Dorsey, CDR all w/ 2), then the other team comes back. 2nd half rolls around and Memphis gets their guys back, they make a run, and get a 14pt lead. Coach Cal said Cincinnati probably beat his team to about 7 balls and that's why he was upset. That means you Joey. "You gotta get those balls." Rose hit a big 3 which was answered then Anderson hit one from the corner to put it away for good. Georgetown on Saturday. It will be electric. If you have tickets, you're lucky. If you sell your tickets, I don't blame you.

Notes:

-The Grizz have won @ Orlando and vs. San Antonio w/o Pau Gasol. What does that say about his real value to this team?

-Boston is now 20-3. Their 3 toughest games have been @ Orlando, @ Cleveland and vs. Detroit. They lost all 3. The best team in the NBA does not lose all 3 of those games. What am I saying? They are not the best team in the NBA. They could still easily win the East and play in the Finals, but once again, the NBA champion is coming out of the West.

-Alonzo Mourning is done and I could care less.

-Mike and Mike talked way too much about the Steelers/Rams game tonight. If the Rams win this then Pittsburgh has no business in the playoffs. You can't lose to the Jets and Rams and be considered a "legit" team.

-NFL Playoffs don't really matter to me. New England will win the Super Bowl. I had this argument last night with friends. They say "you never know what could happen." That's true, but when pressured no one was willing to bet that something crazy (like New England losing) will happen. It's all about New England, Indy, Dallas, and Green Bay. Wake me up for the Conference Championship games.

-Jamie Lynn Spears is pregnant. This douche is 19 and better get arrested for statutory (sp?) rape. God how I want to get a celebrity pregnant. K-Fed, Cash Warren and now this douche.

-I saw part of Die Hard 4 the other night. Justin Long is annoying, but not as bad as Keith Olbermann.

-Washington State basketball coach Tony Bennett was on the show the other day and he mentioned that R. Kelly is one of his favorite artists and in fact, he has a great christian album. R Kelly has a christian album? That's messed up.

-I watched the movie "Contact" last night around 2am. You know, the one with Jodie Foster and Matthew McConaghey (however you spell his name). Yea, it sucks.

-There's a 12 year old that is 7 foot tall. Here's the link: http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/us/2007/12/20/pkg.seven.foot.boy.kima

Somebody needs to put a basketball in his hand.

-Terrell Owens says Jessica Simpson doesn't need to be at anymore Cowboys games. I agree, she's a distraction to me too.

-Bill Parcells is the VP of Football Ops for the Dolphins. I'm glad he's off ESPN. This is all I learned from Bill Parcells: "you're quarterback has to be competent. If he's not then you're in trouble." That's an exact quote from his Friday night radio show with Chris Mortensen and Keyshawn Johnson. What a genious. Here's betting he places a call to Drew Bledsoe to see if he wants to come back.

-Stuart Scott has to undergo Chemo. I feel bad for the guy, but your lazy eye and "boo yah's" are more annoying than Beyonce's "upgrade" commercial. Please, go away for awhile.

-Lakers vs. Cavs tonight aka Kobe vs. LeBron. This is always must see TV.

-Bowl season starts tonight. None of them matter to me except for LSU/Ohio State, although I know I'll watch some of them just because it's football.

-Florida Atlantic will beat Memphis.

-Terry Bowden is apparently gaining support for the West VA coaching job. Tell me West Virginia, why wouldn't you hire this guy? Who else wants to coach in Morgantown, WV? You have a proven winner from the SEC that wants your job. Do it.

-Shut up Curt Schilling.

RUDY, RUDY, RUDY, RUDY!!!!!!!

Grizz/Warriors and boobies

2007-12-18T14:07:00.000-06:00

Grizz lost last night. No surprise there. Rudy had 15 after the first quarter and it looked like he might go off for 40 or 50. That didn't happen either. If this team doesn't outscore you then they don't win. For Coach Iavaroni: quit worrying about defense. This team can't play it. Just committ to doing nothing but running and let this team score 110 every game. You'll take your losses, but you'll get more wins than how you're doing it now. The moment of the night came when they were doing the Dance Hall of Fame and some chick proceeded to flash the crowd (yes, boobs were shown). This has probably been the highlight of the season at FedEx Forum. The girl and her friend left a few minutes after the incident. I went to track her down and try to get her on the show today. Her friend Michelle said that she was going to find some of their other friends so they could try and bail her out of jail. Stephanie was the girl who flashed the crowd and she had nothing but cops surrounding her in the lobby. Anyways, I found out she's 35 and is visiting from St. Thomas. Apparently she's been there for the last 10 to 15 years and taking your clothes off in public isn't a big deal. Welcome back to the mainland.

It's a pretty cold and crappy day outside so I'll pick a vid that can make you laugh...Here's a quick excerpt from Dave Chappelle's "Killing Them Softly."

Ballin' and some NFL pancakes

2007-12-17T11:14:00.001-06:00

Grizz picked up a huge win over Orlando on Saturday night. Neither team was at full strength (Orlando minus Lewis and Grizz minus Pau). It's always good to see the other teams superstar go nuts (Howard had 30 and 20) and the Grizz still pick up a W. They will definitely need the same kind of offensive effort tonight vs. Golden State. Warriors will be playing their 3rd game in 4 nights so this is a good spot for the Grizz to pick up their 2nd straight win.

The Tigers also knocked off MTSU Saturday night in Nashville. Dorsey was a beast. That makes the 2nd time the Tigers and Grizz have won on the same day this season. They'll both need to do it again on Saturday night.

NFL pancakes:

Baltimore blew it. Memo to Coach Billick: "YOU PLAY TO WIN THE GAME." What's this kicking a FG crap vs. Miami with less than 15 seconds left. You're playing the Dolphins. Have some balls.

Detroit's season ended after allowing Dallas to come back. That was a heartbreaker and so they come out and can't score on a San Diego defense w/o Shawn Merriman.

I was really tired after getting off of work yesterday and so I needed to find a way to go to sleep. What could put me to sleep on a Sunday afternoon? Oh yea, the Titans-Chiefs game. It worked.

Green Bay will be in the Super Bowl. I like Dallas' talent better, but I'll take Favre over Romo in a big game.

David Garrard is doin' it. Watch out for Jacksonville. They have 2 running backs that can beat you, a QB that doesn't throw INT's and a top notch defense. They're straight as long as they don't run into Indy.

Seattle will win the NFC WEST which is pathetic. They can't win @ Carolina and they're horrible.

Giants/Redskins might have been more boring than Titans/Chiefs. Analysis? NY didn't run the ball (52 pass attempts) and Washington did (25 pass attempts). Every time I saw Brandon Jacobs touch it for NY he got like 6 yards, yet that didn't seem to register with their offensive coordinator. Now Jeremy Shockey is out for the year and Mr. Johnson told you in his classroom that the Giants would lose their last 3 games. They have to beat Buffalo next week b/c you know they won't knock off New England.

NBC, please get Keith Olbermann off my TV. He's not funny. He's annoying.

Music Vid is Redman's "Gimme One." Check it.....

BREAKING NEWS!!!!!

2007-12-14T12:15:00.000-06:00

Just when you thought the Grizzlies couldn't be any more pathetic this season, I came across this stat on ESPN.com:

Mike Conley leads the Grizzlies w/ 4.2 assists per game. Dude hasn't played the past 15 games. Wow, that's sad.

Mitchell and more pancakes...

2007-12-14T11:26:00.000-06:00

I heard Skip Bayless and that retard Rob Parker on 1st Take this morning. They were both saying how this Mitchell thing is a big deal for baseball since arguably the 2 best players of the last 20 or 30 years were mentioned (Clemens and Bonds). They couldn't be more wrong. Baseball did not suffer through this Mitchell investigation at all. People still showed up. MLB brought in record attendance numbers across the board this past season. Fans, even if they hate him, like seeing Barry Bonds hit. That's why they showed up in San Diego to watch him tie Aaron. True, the playoff TV ratings are hurting, but that's got more to do with the games being so long. Even if you TIVO a World Series game and you fast forward through all the commercials, it will still take you 3 hours to watch. Baseball is fine.

Now for more important stuff...

Cash Warren is getting paid....he and K-Fed need to start a class on how to get rich chicks pregnant

Grizz have the Clip joint tonight. Chris Kaman vs. Darko (matchup of the century). Grizz need a win. Travis Outlaw has ruined the first quarter of this season.

The Miami Heat are terrible. I bet you Dwyane Wade isn't there past this new contract he signed. They're old and you know Pat Riley isn't sticking around to watch them rebuild. D-Wade to Memphis in a few years. Make it happen Mr. Wallace. Rudy and Pau for D-Wade. Do it. Do it.

The Lakers biggest mistake was trading Caron Butler. They still have Butler and they have a big 3.

Reggie Bush and Vince Young both aren't very good. So far, I'm good on my predictions Mr. Smith.

The Philadelphia Flyers signed F Mike Richards to a 12yr, $69 million dollar extension. Who is Mike Richards and how do hockey teams have this much money?

Hakim Warrick was listed by Chris Sheridan as the 4th most likely player to be traded by the Feb 21st deadline. Good. Package him with Pau and get Nocioni, Noah, and Tyrus Thomas from Chicago. At least Nocioni and Noah will D you up.

Here's to the Miami Dolphins being 0-14 after this weekend....

George Mitchell and blah blah blah

2007-12-13T13:36:00.000-06:00

Listening to this George Mitchell press conference is brutal. Not because I love baseball and I hate hearing about this, but because it is incredibly boring. Baseball is better when people hit home runs. Was anyone surprised to hear that Roger Clemens was named? Dude throws 96mph at the age of 45. Nolan Ryan thinks that's messed up. If Clemens is named are you surprised to hear Andy Pettitte was named? I'm not. He doesn't look roided up, but he works out w/ Clemens constantly. Sheffield and Bonds worked out together and they both happened to take the cream and clear.

Now for more important news. Chris Brown is in town tonight and, in a way, I wouldn't mind going to see this. The guy's tribute to James Brown at the Grammy's last year was nothing short of amazing. I tried to get him on the show today, but was told by his management that he's been having problems with his vocal chords and he's not doing any press. He get's to town and sleeps, does his show, drinks tea, and leaves town. Anyways, here's the Chris Brown song "Run It." I'm pretty sure this is the only song I know by him.

*NOTE* I was told by the same guy at Jive Records that Bow Wow will not be there tonight due to other medical reasons. Apparently, he's taken a leave of absence from the tour. We'll see if that's true or not.

You Know My Steez

2007-12-12T14:06:00.000-06:00

i love this song, but i don't really get this video at all....

I Apologize

2007-12-12T10:03:00.001-06:00

Picking the Grizzlies to upset the Pistons last night is probably the dumbest thing I have ever done in my life. Chauncey Billups played the role of "Grizzly Killer" again. Mike Miller and Juan Carlos Navarro cannot guard Rip Hamilton (I told you that in my post yesterday, why not try Kinsey?). It was a 10pt game and it got to 8 late in the 4th, but you never felt the Grizzlies had a chance. Detroit doesn't do anything amazing. They simply run their offense. Pick and rolls with Billups and Wallace/Maxiell/McDyess, elbow screens for Hamilton, post ups for Billups, Prince, and Wallace. It's not complex, but they've been together for 4 years doing this and it was obvious. Coach Iavaroni mentioned it in last nights presser after the game. Check it out at our Grizzlies audio page. In a nutshell he was saying there is no communication on defense and that is due to the fact the team doesn't have a true defensive stopper (no one that will hold everyone else accountable for what they should be doing on D). Rudy was the one to try and step up and make plays last night and he had the flu. The veterans on this team have been nothing short of pathetic. Again, I apologize for picking the Grizzlies to win last night. I guess I see more potential with this team than they do.

Deeeeeeeeetroit Basketballllllllllllllllll

2007-12-11T10:18:00.000-06:00

The Pistons are in town tonight. Great!This is just what the Grizzlies needed to see during a 4 game losing streak. Things I'll be watching for tonight:

1. Who defends Richard Hamilton when he runs around all of those screens? I'd make it Rudy Gay. While he can't keep up with Hamilton speed wise, he can make up with his length.

2. Will Darko step up against his former team? A lot of the guys on the Pistons team acknowledged that Larry Brown destroyed this kid's psyche. Darko's post defense has been better than most of us thought it would be. Here's betting Darko shows up tonight. If he doesn't, the Grizzlies will definitely be looking at a 15pt loss.

3. If you put Rudy on Rip then who guards Tayshaun? This is a problem Iavaroni will face tonight. There's no way Navarro or Miller can guard this guy on the perimeter or in the post. Maybe Ivy goes with Rudy on Tayshaun and tries to get Kinsey some minutes tonight to defend Rip? We know Kinsey is a better perimeter defender than JCN or MM.

4. Can Kyle Lowry defend Chauncey Billups in the post well enough so the Grizz don't have to double team? We know Stoudamire can't so if he plays 30+ minutes then it's probably a Grizz loss.

5. Tayshaun Prince is one of the few guys in the NBA who's length matches up to Rudy Gay's. Prince will more than likely defend Gay. If Rudy gets shut down (which happens to guys defended by Prince), then MM and JCN will need to step it up.

The Grizz aren't a great defensive team and you will need to play good defense to beat Detroit. Darko has to be better than usual on the inside and Lowry has to be better than usual on the perimeter. If they spark the defense, then the offense gets out and running.

This is always one of my favorite games every year at FedExForum. The Pistons fans are out in full force with their "Deeeeeetroit Basketbaaaaallllll" chants.

Grizz snap the skid tonight 107-103.

P.S.
Coach Iavaroni,

Don't even try to play Casey Jacobsen against these guys tonight. It's not worth it. Only bad things will happen. Abuse is what will ensue if Jacobsen enters the game and since I know you like him so much, you can't want that for your boy.

Banana Pancakes

2007-12-07T11:24:00.000-06:00

Random thoughts for the weekend:

-Memo to the Bears Defense: you know you're not what we thought you were when you let Todd Collins throw 2 TD's on you

-Jimbo Fisher has it made at Florida State

-Grizz need to win these next 2 games or I might just give up hope on this season because we know they aren't beating Detroit on Tuesday.

-When Amy Winehouse dies from an overdose, please don't compare her to Kurt Cobain, Jim Morrison, Jimi Hendrix or Janis Joplin.

-My buddies Andrew and Brooks pointed it out to me last night so I'll mention it too. When did Dr. Dre get jacked? I guess BALCO is still alive in the Bay Area.
http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://bp2.blogger.com/_jTSS1sWOKdI/RuhJsfxzOaI/AAAAAAAAAto/4L9ygFxqVsc/s400/dreblog.jpg&imgrefurl=http://mahoganygirl.blogspot.com/2007/09/blog-chatter-dr-dre-taking-steroids.html&h=301&w=400&sz=22&hl=en&start=17&tbnid=0HLVBaZkYUfDVM:&tbnh=93&tbnw=124&prev=/images%3Fq%3DDr.%2BDre%2BMTV%2Bawards%26gbv%3D2%26svnum%3D10%26hl%3Den

-Coach Cal's squad can rest up until Dec 22nd vs. Georgetown. MTSU and Cincinnati are easy wins. Cinci will be the more difficult game.

-Allen Iverson had 49 points through 3 quarters Wednesday vs. LA Lakers. Kobe Bryant had 13pts through those 3 quarters. Iverson finished with 51. Kobe finished with 25, including 6 straight points in the final 3 minutes of the 4th that gave the Lakers the lead for good. This is what separates superstars like Bryant from stars like Iverson. However, Iverson did come back Thursday for 35pts 12asts @ Dallas which ended the Nuggets 5 game losing streak in Big D.

-Jon Stewart isn't that funny. Stephen Colbert is that funny.

-Mark Mangino needs Nutri-Systems

-Darren McFadden should win the Heisman Trophy. If you take Chase Daniel off Mizzou, Tebow off Florida, and Brennan off Hawaii I still think those teams make bowl games. Mizzou runs a wide open offense just like Hawaii. Mizzou will plug another QB in next year and win 7 games. Hawaii plugs in different QB's every year and they win 9 games. Florida has enough talent that they could and would win 6 or 7 games. You take McFadden off Arkansas and they win 4 games (they would still be better than Mississippi). Felix Jones is good, but he's not Run DMC.

-I saw a mock NFL Draft the other day. Just so you know, in case you don't, the Patriots have the 49ers 1st round pick this year. This mock draft has New England taking McFadden. Once again, this is not fair.

Music Video of the Day? This one's for you Mr. Kostakis.

Memphis/USC

2007-12-05T10:28:00.000-06:00

That was a close one for the Tigers last night. USC played the Triangle and 2 to perfection for most of the game. Something woke the Tigers up the last 7 minutes of the game. Maybe it was Cal or maybe they finally said: "we're the better team, let's go prove it." This game felt like it was going to be loss up until the last few minutes of regulation and then Memphis started playing better defense. Their press bothered USC in the closing minutes. The half court defense was there for the whole game (USC shot 29%), but the press really helped get Memphis going. My buddies and I started up the conversation that it seems like when the Tigers lose, they beat themselves. It doesn't seem to be anything that the other team does. The Triangle and 2 was effective, but this team is athletic enough to beat it. It just took them longer to figure things out. I also think USC started to get tired towards the end of the game. Mayo definitely looked like the best player on the court. This was a game I think the Tigers would've lost in years past. It totally reminded me of the UCLA and Texas games 2 years ago. The only other team I can see playing them like this would be Georgetown. It is refreshing to see that Memphis can pull these kinds of games out now despite not being able to make free throws. Cal also said he was outcoached by Tim Floyd. Cal didn't seem to mind saying that at all. Is that because Tim Floyd is a friend of his? I would think so. There's no way Cal would've said that about Bruce Pearl after getting thumped by Tennessee last year. All in all it was a good win and the Tigers experience showed.

Grizz Note:

-Darko says he will play tonight @ Houston despite a sprained ankle. Good. They will need him. This team needs to get one of these next 2 against Houston or New Orleans to make up for that bad loss Monday night vs. Portland.

R.I.P. Pimp C

2007-12-04T13:35:00.000-06:00

Rapper Pimp C of the group UGK was found dead in his Hollywood Hotel. The City of Houston is in mourning. Click on the link for the story.

http://www.tmz.com

I'll now pay tribute to Pimp C with a few selections from Youtube.

TI feat UGK "Front Back"

UGK feat. Outkast "International Players Anthem (I Choose You)"

Three 6 Mafia feat. UGK "Sippin On Some Syrup"

Jay-Z feat. UGK "Big Pimpin"

Random Notes

2007-12-04T11:18:00.001-06:00

-Grizz lost a tough one last night. They should've fouled Outlaw and that was a mistake. He just used his athleticism to his advantage and made a good shot. Grizz have got to get one of these next 2 @ Houston or New Orleans to make up for that one. Losing Darko didn't help either.

-New England did get some help from the refs, but that hold in the endzone wasn't a terrible call. Here's the flipside, would they have called the hold on the Pats if it was Baltimore driving to win the game? I doubt it, but that happens to good teams.

-Memphis has a tough one tonight vs. USC at The Garden. USC is coming off a tough home loss vs. Kansas. Now they have to travel across the country 2 days later to take on a team ranked higher than the Jayhawks. I like the Tigers 84-72 tonight. Mayo will have a big game, but Dorsey will do his thing and so will CDR and that will be more than enough.

Jay-Z turned 38 today. Music video of the day will be "Hard Knock Life." Check it.

The Weekend That Was

2007-12-03T09:58:00.001-06:00

BCS

I have no problem with LSU playing Ohio State. I would've rather seen Georgia just because I happen to like them more than LSU, but LSU's body of work is more impressive even though I do think Georgia is playing better football right now. I would say most voters want to see some sort of playoff system. If that's the case, then they should've put Georgia in the Championship Game. You put Georgia in that game and you can say to the BCS: "look how flawed your system is, you put a team that didn't win their conference in the national championship game." That wasn't the case and so I expect LSU to beat Ohio State. Kansas making a BCS bowl makes 0 sense on every level. I really don't care to see Hawaii in a BCS bowl either but they went undefeated so they got a bone thrown at them.

Best BCS Bowl Game? West Virginia vs. Oklahoma (Fiesta)

BCS Bowl Game I wanted to see that didn't happen? Georgia vs. USC

NBA Notes:
Grizz pounded the T'Wolves. No surprise there. Win tonight vs. Portland and you've won 4 out of 5. The Grizz badly need this win tonight. Their December schedule features 2 games each against New Orleans, Houston, San Antonio, and Detroit.

Tim Duncan left Sunday's win over Portland hurt. Doesn't appear to be serious. Their bench is good enough to hold the fort down until he comes back.

Miami is old and terrible. Ricky Davis doesn't care what Pat Riley tells him to do. Shaq is carbondated. Ilgauskus gives you better numbers than Shaq does. This should be the last season for Pat Riley as head coach. Turn it over to somebody young and start to rebuild around Wade. The Nuggets ran them out of the building in the first half last night.

Golden State has gotten it together after an 0-6 start. They've won 9 of their last 10 and they're actually playing better on the road (6-3) than they are at home (3-4)

NFL:
My 49ers are absolutely pathetic. No need to say anymore.

Willie Parker needs to learn to hold on to the football. Fast Willie had something like 3 or 4 fumbles in a 9 carry span last night. Steelers still got the win. That's because Cincinnati is terrible.

San Diego looks like they might be turning the corner.

I thought Jay Cutler was turning the corner....then he threw 2 INT's and 0 TD's and his team lost by 14pts to the crappy Raiders.

You could see it happening again. NY Giants get off to a fast start and then they slowly start dying in the 2nd half of the season. It appeared that way, then Eli Manning looked like Joe Montana in the 4th quarter.

The Saints are done. That game vs. Tampa Bay is one you have to win on your home field. That's a playoff type game and if you can't win it at home, you don't deserve the playoffs.

Adrian Peterson is still awesome and the Lions are reminding us that they are still the Lions. Hey Drew Smith, Jon Kitna sucks.

The Titans got just what they needed: a game vs. Houston. What did they make it yesterday? 6, 7 straight wins over the Texans?

SEC CHAMPIONSHIP GAME:
LSU beats Tennessee 21-14. Erik Ainge blew this game. Everybody knows it because everybody saw it. Dude looked like Michael Hennig out there. The INT's weren't even good defensive plays. He just threw the ball right to them. Ainge had happy feet all throughout that 4th quarter and never looked at ease. This guy was projected to be a late 1st, early 2nd round pick had he come out last season. That game Saturday might have just cost him a lot of money.

A Little Love for the Grizzlies

2007-11-29T12:30:00.000-06:00

I just now got a chance to read espn.com today and the first thing I go to is their "Daily Dime." Looks like David Thorpe is a fan of Juan Carlos Navarro's.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/dailydime?page=dime-071129&lpos=spotlight&lid=tab5pos2

Thorpe lists Navarro as his leader for rookie of the year and writes this:

1. Juan Carlos Navarro, Grizzlies (6)
He's terrific when he gets 30-plus minutes; the Grizzlies are 2-1 with him as a starter. He followed his 28-point performance -- on only 14 shots -- against the Wizards with a gritty, 16-point, 11-board showing in a big win in Jersey on Tuesday. If he can maintain these minutes, he will put up enough numbers to compete for rookie of the year with the "Big 3" (who follow him here).

He lists Kevin Durant as #2. I think Durant will be spectacular even though his team is terrible. Durant will have to learn how to be more than just a pure scorer. With his 6'10'' frame he needs more than 4rebs a game too. This will come with age and strength. I'm sure the 2.1apg will go up too, but it probably won't be this year.

Grizzlies/Raptors

2007-11-28T19:42:00.000-06:00

The Grizzlies are getting slaughtered right now by Toronto. It's a 26pt lead for the Raptors with about 1:30 left in the 3rd. This game is nothing more than Toronto having much more rest than the Grizzlies. Iavaroni's squad is on the 2nd game of a back-to-back while Toronto hasn't played since Sunday. The Raptors are a better team than the Grizzlies, but not 20pts better (especially since Chris Bosh is out for the game).

Tigers and other stuff

2007-11-28T11:25:00.000-06:00

Tigers game last night? BORING. They didn't play like a top 3 team, but that really doesn't bother me. Defense seemed to be the issue according to the paper and if you're giving up 82 points to Austin Peay then defense is an issue. I don't worry about it because this team showed against Oklahoma and UCONN that they can play D when they want to. They will do it against USC and come away with a win. The only thing that scares me about this game is that USC will come to play and they have the athletes to play with Memphis. Do they have enough athletes 1-10 to play with Memphis for 40 minutes? We'll find out next week and my first inclination is that they do not. However, if Joey Dorsey is in foul trouble then they can.

Grizzlies finally won back to back games for the first time this season. It took them 73 games last season to win 2 straight and just 14 games this season. I didn't get to see any of this game because I was at the Tigers game, but it was good to see that despite Jason Kidd (triple double), Vince Carter and Richard Jefferson going off they still got a W. We'll see if they can make it 3 straight tonight against Toronto. I was at the Toronto game last week and they should've won, but didn't really come to play. If they win tonight then Minnesota should be 4 in a row on Saturday with a chance to make it 5 next Monday vs. Portland.

So the Grizz and Tigers won on the same day. The last time that happened? tick tick tick tick tick...Answer? November 20th 2006. Memphis beat Oklahoma in Maui 77-65 and the Grizz beat Orlando 95-86 at FedExForum. That Orlando game would be the last full game Kyle Lowry would play his rookie season. He led the charge to that win over Orlando with 6 assists and made a bunch of high energy plays. The next night the Grizz played at Cleveland and Lowry broke his wrist, ending his rookie campaign.

Because this song has been in my head all day, I'll post it as my music video of the day. "Hip Hop Is Dead" by Nas.

Sean Taylor

2007-11-27T11:22:00.000-06:00

My thoughts and prayers go out towards the Taylor family. This guy was on his way to being the best safety in the NFL. He was one guy you never wanted to see in the middle of the field. That being said, if you google this guys name you will find out he has a pretty long rap sheet. Don't get me wrong, he didn't deserve to die, but I think when this is all said and done you just might find out he wasn't exactly living like a great American citizen. I'm definitely going to miss watching him play (the thought of him and LaRon Landry in the same secondary for years to come made many receivers fall into the fetal position). He will be missed and all of the "he was turning his life around" columns are starting to come out, but believe me, this isn't the end of this story. People don't just break into rich people's houses. First off, those neighborhoods constantly have security everywhere. The people that broke in had a personal vendetta against Taylor and I'm sure it wasn't just because he's in the NFL. Something happened and we'll know sooner rather than later.

RIP Sean Taylor (1983-2007)

Thanksgiving Weekend

2007-11-26T11:11:00.000-06:00

I don't ever want to have 3 days off of work again. Most of you would say I'm crazy for saying something like that, but I'm not a big fan of spending money and that's always what I find myself doing on days I don't work. I dropped way too much $$$$ at Best Buy and other places around the Wolfchase area. Yes, I did go to the bars every night and even ran into Pau Gasol and Navarro at Pat O's on Saturday night. They were wearing the exact same thing (leather jacket, jeans, black shirt). Anyways, I talked to him for a minute and he was pleasant. He said Marc Gasol will stay overseas this year and that more than likely he'll end up in LA next season. The weekend was fun and my boy Andy had some wasted fat girl dancing all up on him at 152 Saturday night. The bouncers even had to tell her to chill out.

Now for football:
Mississippi is terrible and Coach O is now gone. Candidates? Rick Neuheisel, Bo Pelini, Dennis Franchione, Jimbo Fisher, Ron Zook, Bo Pelini, Art Briles, Glen Mason, Gus Malzahn (now some of these probably won't even get a shot, but they were just names that came to the top of my head). They need someone that will stay for longer than 3 years. We know there is talent on that roster and the offense definitely needs a shot in the arm (Texas QB transfer Jevan Sneed could be that shot). Neuheisel's name comes up a lot and if he was hired and had immediate success, I could see him bolt in 3 years. We know Franchione isn't the most loyal guy. Ron Zook is kinda crazy and Mississippi just got rid of a crazy coach. Some of these coordinators may not get looked at because that would be "taking a chance" and Mississippi just took a chance on a guy and it was a total disaster. I would look for a guy who has been a head coach or is a head coach to get this job. I guarantee you whoever gets it will win at least win a SEC game next year. You know what the video of the day is, right?

Happy Thanksgiving

2007-11-22T17:32:00.001-06:00

I just wanted to wish everyone out there a very Happy Thanksgiving. Wherever you go, drive safely. If I see you out at a bar tonight then come holla. Take care everyone.

Last Night and Tonight

2007-11-21T14:38:00.001-06:00

I went to the Tigers/Arkansas State game last night. Pretty much, it was a boring game. Willie Kemp learned how to shoot. Doneal Mack's head is ridiculous. I went as a fan and not a member of the media last night. First off, I met some folks at the Saucer. I know the debate of me being an alcoholic came up on the show yesterday and it doesn't make me look any better seeing as how I went to the Saucer immediately after work, but whatever, sometimes you just want a drink. After the boring game? I went back to the Saucer. Yes, I had a few more drinks (2 to be exact) and I called it a night around 10. I was in bed by 11 and got a good nights sleep. While at the Saucer, there was a guy playing acoustic guitar. Let's just say he sucked. He kept playing Dave Matthews songs and was butchering every one of them. He forgot the words to "Jimi Thing" and "Crush." Absolutely pathetic. Don't make yourself look stupid. Sing the songs that you know. As for tonight? I'm headed to cover the Grizzlies/Raptors game and then I'm off to have a drink somewhere. There probably won't be too much consumption of the beverages tonight because I'm sure I'll do plenty of that tomorrow night. Thanksgiving night is probably the best night to go out. Everyone have a safe holiday, eat turkey, watch football, and do the damn thing. Oh yea, I owe Andrew 2 drinks now. JP Losman happened to stay in the game Sunday night and the Tigers didn't cover.

PAY DAY

2007-11-20T10:49:00.000-06:00

We got paid today here at 730 ESPN so there can only be one choice for my music video of the day. You guessed it. 50 Cent's "Straight To The Bank." I'm laughin straight to da bank with this hahahaha ha ha hahahaha...

Weekend Review

2007-11-19T10:49:00.000-06:00

The Memphis Tigers basketball team won the 2K Sports Shootout benefiting Coaches vs. Cancer. Although the Tigers have only played 4 games, I think these are true statements:

1. They could lose Derrick Rose and still be a top 10 team

2. They could not lose CDR or Dorsey and be a top 10 team

Joey has an incredible effect on games. UCONN couldn't do anything when Dorsey played. I looked at my buddies at halftime and said: "Memphis is at least 10 points better than UCONN." Ask Andrew (www.mrjohnsonsclassroom.blogspot.com or check out my links). Of course, they won by 11. You get great at these kind of predictions when you hang around Chris Vernon all day.

Now for the Grizzlies. I'm not as down on this team as some others may be. Despite losing 3 straight, they've played hard and battled back. Iavaroni has not lost this team at all which was the case last season under Fratello. Rudy took the last shot in the New Orleans game. Good, I like it when that happens. Pau took a big shot in the Dallas game (I know it wasn't the final shot b/c Navarro missed two 3's at the end). I don't want to sound like a broken record, but we know what this team is when Pau is the go-to-guy. We don't know what this team can be when Rudy is. If I had to give my opinion on Rudy, I'd say he's going to be a Vince Carter like player w/ better defensive attributes. Now, Vince Carter's teams haven't exactly gone too far in the playoffs (except for the ECF appearance in Toronto), but VC is better than Pau Gasol. This team will still be in the thick of things by the end of the year. Remember, Baron Davis nor Peja Stojakovic have gotten hurt yet.

NFL Notes:
-New England is awesome (because JP Losman managed to play the whole game I lost a shot to Andrew. What's it gonna be next weekend Mr. Johnson? Jager, Purple Heart?

-Indianapolis is still good, but they have fallen off with the loss of Dwight Freeney

-TO won that game for Dallas. You can say "Romo threw him the ball" and that's true, but TO constantly abused the veteran Shawn Springs. Romo threw him the ball b/c Springs couldn't hold him anywhere on the field. JP Losman could've made those throws.

-DeMarcus Ware should be NFL Defensive Player of the Year

-The Ravens are done and it's not getting better soon. The defense is aging (aside from Ed Reed) and the offense is terrible. They have one playmaker in McGahee but don't have their best o-lineman (Ogden). Ogden retires, Ray Lewis will be shortly after that, then comes Samari Rolle and the Ravens are in rebuilding mode.

-Pittsburgh is bi-polar. They will still destroy Miami next Monday.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL NOTES:

-LSU will have a tougher time with Georgia than Tennessee in the SEC Championship

-Lloyd Carr is gone at Michigan (thank god)

-Michigan/Ohio State is a boring game (exception would be last year)

-knowing how insane and irrational Alabama fans are, I bet some of them are wanting Saban gone after Saturday

-Mississippi sucks (you already know that, but I just like reminding you)

WEEKEND:
I went to Blue Fin Friday night w/ Jason, Allison and 2 people I didn't know. It was kinda lame. Beale Street looked like a ghost town Friday night. We gathered at the Double Deuce after the Fin. DD was empty. Pretty much a boring night. Saturday it was Posey's birthday party at Yosemite Sam's. We got down, took some shots, sang some karaoke (Higher by Creed) and yes, I rocked.

ON TAP FOR THE WEEK:
Grizz/Sonics tonight
Tigers/Arkansas St Tuesday
Grizz/Raptors on Wednesday

I'll be at all 3. Holla.

Nothing

2007-11-16T13:08:00.000-06:00

I really can't think of much to say today, but here are some random thoughts:

-Hard Rock Cafe has a really good burger

-bums that try to sell me stolen cd's from Starbucks are funny

-"The Thrill Is Gone" is a great song

-Joey Dorsey is awesome (I don't care if he makes it rain or beats people up..he plays with an attitude that you need in basketball...the Grizz could use a mean player like him...well, a better mean player than Dorsey)

-The Grizz will be lucky to get 10,000 people in that arena tonight (I'm watching the Tigers game...aren't you?)

-that 2K Sports commercial w/ Greg Oden and Mike Conley is terrible

-Miss Lippy's car.....is green

Now for the music video of the day. I picked up Public Enemy's "It Takes A Nation" the other day and it's amazing. Here it is..."Don't Believe The Hype"

Oh yea, goin to Yosemite Sam's this weekend for some chick's b-day. Holla if you come.

Grizzlies/Bucks

2007-11-15T11:20:00.000-06:00

So I did the usual last night. Grabbed a 12 pack and headed over to a friends place to watch the Grizzlies and the Bucks. I ended up over there around the end of the 1st quarter. I did get a chance to hear my man E-Hass on the way over. Good call E on the Pau to Rudy alley. Even though the team didn't play that well, there were some good things that came to light. Darko looked impressive on the 2nd night of a back to back. Casey Jacobsen actually did something. My only issue was Kyle Lowry driving to take the game tying shot. It wasn't a terrible decision due to how frequently Lowry gets to the line. The problem is that Rudy had hit a 3 to tie the game. Desmond Mason came down and broke the tie with about 13 seconds left. GO BACK TO RUDY!!! He and Lowry look like the only guys on this team that want to take the last shot. Well, that's not totally true. Damon would, but he's old and I don't want to see that happen. We know this team will not be great until someone better than Pau Gasol steps up. Rudy looks like he wants to be that guy. Give him a chance. You give him the ball late in the game and let him create. His jumper isn't horrible and he can get to the rim at ease. MAKE RUDY GAY THE GO TO GUY!

CHANGES

2007-11-14T11:30:00.001-06:00

If you look at our website here at 730ESPN or Verno's Blog then you know by now that there will be a major announcement taking place next Monday on the show. I guess you could say there will be some "changes." Today's music video of the day is "Changes" by 2Pac.

Grizzlies/Rockets and Pint Night

2007-11-13T11:39:00.000-06:00

Good luck to the Grizz tonight. They're gonna need it. So far, Yao Ming has been unstoppable (even made Tim Duncan look like Popeye Jones the other night). Grizz will need to be virtually flawless to win this one. This means don't play Casey Jacobsen.

So I left the Tigers game early last night (prob around 15min left in 2nd half) and made my way w/ some friends over to the Saucer. My buddies girlfriend, Beka, always has this thing with arm wrestling when she's drunk. Her friend, Liz, also likes to arm wrestle. Well, I had consumed enough beverages that I decided I wanted a piece of this action. I challenged Beka (I'm a tough guy aren't I?). She accepted the challenge. My friend Andy locked us in and then felt he would give Beka an advantage. It wasn't a good enough advantage and I defeated Andy and Beka. I was Saucer arm wrestling champ for the night. After the Saucer, we went back to a friends place to chill out. I ended up arm wrestling my friend Drew and proceeded to dominate him. Drew and I are good friends, but it's a competitive friendship. He thinks he can do a lot of things better than me and vice versa. I always end up being right. Well, Drew is licking his wounds and I know he doesn't want anything to do w/ JFR from now on. That was Monday night for me. It's A Bed Of Rosers. BELIEVE THE HYPE!!!

Saturday Night

2007-11-11T09:34:00.000-06:00

It was bumpin at the Windjammer....I dominated "Zombie" and I'll try to post pictures if I can find anybody that took some....Holla back young'n

Karaoke Time!!!

2007-11-10T07:51:00.000-06:00

I'm doing some karaoke tonight with a bunch of friends. It should be the greatest night ever. This is my karaoke song and so it is my music video of the day. Enjoy....

College Football Picks

2007-11-09T09:35:00.000-06:00

I'll use this blog as my own form of philanthropy. Here are the college football picks for this week...

Arkansas pick Tennessee (take the Hogs)

Kentucky -4 Vandy (Kentucky is the pick)

East Carolina -7 Marshall (East Carolina...that's easy money)

California +4 1/2 USC (Da Bears)

Take these picks and go paper chasin'.

American Gangsta

2007-11-08T19:17:00.000-06:00

I saw the movie....it's incredible. Rapper T.I. actually has a role in it and isn't too bad of an actor. Anyways, one of my all time favorite songs is in the movie and it was also featured at the beginning of the movie "Jackie Brown." "Across 110th Street" by Bobby Womack is my music video of the day.

Fun with Interview Requests

2007-11-08T11:00:00.000-06:00

As you know one of my jobs on The Chris Vernon Show is to try and set up interviews with various guests. I am responsible for getting the mullet man Dog The Bounty Hunter, Criss Angel, Joe Rogan, Chris Daughtry, etc. Well, I haven't been getting much sleep in the last week so I thought I would crash early last night. I fell asleep around 8:45 and woke up only between 11 and 12 due to the cell phone ringing (normally that would upset me, but there's something about 50 Cent's "Straight To The Bank" that wakes me up). Anyways, I didn't get to see any scores from last nights games. Well, I did see that Rudy stayed out of foul trouble last night and the Grizz finally won a game. I get to the office this morning around 10am and sit down to send in an interview request to the University of Kentucky. Kentucky is in the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic w/ Memphis, UCONN and Oklahoma. I figured there's a good chance Memphis could meet Kentucky in NYC. After all, Kentucky only played Gardner-Webb last night and UCONN isn't exactly incredible this year. Memphis should beat Oklahoma and Kentucky should beat UCONN and everything would set up great for us to have Coach Gillispie on. As Lee Corso would say: "NOT SO FAST MY FRIEND!!!" I receive an email back from their basketball SID that goes something like: "As you should know by now, Kentucky lost last night and will not be going to NYC. Now is probably not the best time to do an interview w/ Coach Gillispie." How the hell do you lose to Gardner-Webb? Check out the aftermath of that game here: http://kentucky.rivals.com/forum.asp

Memphis Tigers

2007-11-07T14:37:00.000-06:00

So I went the last 2 nights to FedExForum to see the #3 nationally ranked Memphis Tiger basketball team. I must say that they were quite impressive, but didn't blow me away. Here are a few notes from the 2 games:

-Chris Douglass Roberts was the best player on the team last year and could be this year. He didn't look to good in the game vs. Richmond. Roberts forced a lot of shots, but I think that was mostly his way of saying "I'm the best player and we need buckets." Also, was in the locker room getting audio from Derrick Rose after the UT-Martin game I noticed that Roberts' locker is next to Rose's. CDR has Sean Banks locker room tag put up inside his locker. I guess that's to remind him of what not to become. More Sean Banks references to come....

-Derrick Rose is as advertised. He will be one of the best 5 players in the country by the end of the year. The kid knows how to turn it on and maybe only Ty Lawson (UNC) can match him end to end with the ball.

-Joey Dorsey WILL be the most important player on the team. Gary Parrish said it the other day on the show and I think this is something most people already believed. When Joey is in the game and is out of foul trouble then the Tigers roll. He didn't play in these 2 games and it was very noticeable.

-Jeff Robinson will be a better player as the year goes on, but I don't see much PT for him this year. He looked lost against UT-Martin and didn't play vs. Richmond.

-Andre Allen is the best defender and will be the heart and soul of the team. This guy takes pride in being from the city and putting on that Memphis jersey. He still can't shoot free throws.

-Shawn Taggart was being compared to Sean Banks in the off-season. Whoever made that comparison is an idiot. Taggart looks like a big stiff compared to Banks. Banks could take over games. Taggart will never do that. His attitude is better.

-Willie Kemp will be much better this year. His shot looked better against Richmond even though this team can't shoot very much. I also saw Willie get upset with Shawn Taggart (correct me if it wasn't Taggart) which shows he's growing more comfortable with being vocal. That's good news. This team will need him down the road (like next year when Rose is gone).

-Robert Dozier is the Stromile Swift of college basketball. This guy just comes and goes. He had a few good post moves for dunks, but he also let guys bully him around. He has not gained 20lbs of muscle. I don't care what anyone says. No way. I hope Dozier needs a heart transplant and Andre Allen offers his up.

There will be more to come as the season goes on....now for my music video of the day:

"We gonna rub yo ass in the moonshine. Let's take it back to '79."

Note: if you don't like hip-hop then don't watch it.

Grizzlies/Spurs Opening Night Review

2007-11-01T09:52:00.000-05:00

So I attended the Grizzlies/Spurs game last night. First off, there were actually more people there than I originally thought would be. They passed out flags to the first 15,000 fans and that really made the atmosphere better. The pregame festivities were great. Michael Buffer was cool. The fruit booty did a good job on the National Anthem. Honestly, do you really care about that? My surprise of the night was Darko Milicic. He did the best he could do on Tim Duncan. There's a reason Duncan is a 4 time champion. The guy is unguardable. Tony Parker almost gave Damon Stoudamire a career ending injury in the first quarter, but that being said, Stoudamire did some good things last night. As much as I would like Kyle Lowry to start and Mike Conley to back him up, Damon is a better PG than Conley right now. You see the complaints about his lack of speed, but you look up at the scoreboard and the guys got 13 points on the board. I don't know how he does it. Now this is the time where I get to really whine. WHY DOES CASEY JACOBSEN PLAY OVER TARENCE KINSEY? Kinsey doesn't shoot the ball as well from the outside, but his mid-range game is better, his defense is better, he's quicker up and down the court, and he can create his own shot. Greg Popovich said the Grizz looked like a playoff team last night and they did. Consistency will be the problem as the season goes on. The effort was great, but San Antonio really hasn't started playing ball yet. They will need consistent double digit efforts from a lot of players each night to be successful. Ultimately, this team will make the playoffs.

2007-2008 NBA Preview

2007-10-30T11:25:00.000-05:00

So I will pick everything that is to happen in the NBA this season. When doing this I found that the Eastern Conference actually has more parity than the Western Conference. I can't remember the last time this was the case. Certainly it's the first time since the Grizzlies moved to town. There were a lot of moves by a lot of teams and there are more to come (Kobe). All of those factors weighed into my predictions. Here goes......

EASTERN CONFERENCE

ATLANTIC DIVISION
1. Boston Celtics (their role players aren't incredible, but their big 3 is better than New Jersey's big 3 so that's why they'll finish 1st)

2. New Jersey Nets

3. Toronto Raptors (I don't think they have the talent that the Knicks do, but they have a better GM who knows how to assemble a roster. Watch out for Bargnani this year)

4. New York Knicks (Marbury, Crawford, Richardson, Randolph, Curry---that's a lot of talent, but not enough shots to go around)

5. Philadelphia 76ers

CENTRAL DIVISION
1. Detroit Pistons (Apparently Rasheed Wallace has lost 25 pounds. That really doesn't matter to me, they still are the best team in this division and proved it last year against the Bulls in the playoffs. Yes, I know they lost to Cleveland, but you'll see why Cleveland is where they are in a sec...)

2. Chicago Bulls (They could finish atop this division if Luol Deng continues where he left off in the playoffs)

3. Cleveland Cavaliers (Pavlovic and Varejao still haven't signed and it doesn't look like they will. Having said that, LeBron and co is still better than Kobe and co)

4. Milwaukee Bucks

5. Indiana Pacers

SOUTHEAST DIVISION
1. Miami Heat (The trade for Ricky Davis tells me that D-Wade could be out for a long time. Davis can fill in w/ perimeter scoring while he gets healthy. It's better to have Wade hurt now than at the end of the season (see last year). They'll get to January and have a big 3 of Shaq, Wade and Davis. They will win this division.

2. Washington Wizards

3. Orlando Magic (They overpaid for Rashard Lewis. Dwight Howard still hasn't reached his potential. A lot of people think Howard will be a superstar that can lead a team to Championships. I don't believe that. I compare him to a Kevin Garnett type. He's great and fills out the stat sheet, but you need a better player around him to win it all. Rashard Lewis is not that player.)

4. Atlanta Hawks (I like Law and Horford. In the long run, they will need to run this offense through Horford to be successful, but Joe Johnson is better right now and the Hawks will continue to be bad.)

5. Charlotte Bobcats

WESTERN CONFERENCE

SOUTHWEST DIVISION
1. Dallas Mavericks (They will not go out in the first round this year.)

2. San Antonio Spurs

3. Houston Rockets (They made a good coaching hire and have players to play the way Adelman wants. I still can't put a team whose best player has never made it out of the first round ahead of San Antonio or Dallas.)

4. Memphis Grizzlies (Good changes. I think Darko will be a disappointment though. JCN is the real deal and has a shot at the 6th Man Award. Pau will be Pau. Rudy will average around 18ppg. Bottom line, this team will go nowhere with Pau Gasol as its best player.)

5. New Orleans Hornets (I would have them ahead of the Grizzlies because I do believe Chris Paul is better than the Grizzlies' best player, but I have a feeling Stojakovic gets hurt again.)

NORTHWEST DIVISION
1. Denver Nuggets (A full year of AI and Melo to go along with a healthy Kenyon Martin = division title)

2. Utah Jazz (They weren't a fluke last year. Deron Williams is the real deal, but the Kirilenko situation could cause problems and the bottom line is they aren't as talented as Denver.)

3. Portland Trail Blazers (They lost Oden for the year and traded Randolph. They're still good enough to finish 3rd. Brandon Roy will be improved and look out for LaMarcus Aldridge to have a breakout season.)

4. Seattle Sonics (Durant will be Rookie of the Year, but they are way too young.)

5. Minnesota Timberwolves (They are the Boston Celtics of last year minus Paul Pierce.)

PACIFIC DIVISION
1. Phoenix Suns (Does anyone else even have a chance to win this division?)

2. LA Lakers (They can't trade Kobe. Or can they? The Lakers want a lot for him and Kobe wants to win a title wherever he goes. The Bulls will have to give up too much and Kobe knows they wouldn't have enough left over to win big in Chicago. The most logical places are Dallas (for Dirk), San Antonio (for Parker and Ginobili) or Phoenix (for Marion, Bell and a pack of skittles). San Antonio and Phoenix aren't happening either.

3. Golden State Warriors (They could finish with a better record than the Lakers, but that means Baron Davis will have to be healthy for another 2 years. Not gonna happen.)

4. LA Clippers (Brand is out for awhile, but they're still better than the Kings.)

5. Sacramento Kings

PLAYOFFS
Eastern Conference Seeds
1. Boston
2. Detroit
3. Chicago
4. Miami
5. New Jersey Nets
6. Washington Wizards
7. Cleveland Cavaliers
8. Toronto Raptors

1st round
Boston over Toronto

Detroit over Cleveland

Chicago over Washington

Miami over New Jersey

2nd round
Boston over Miami

Detroit over Chicago

Eastern Conference Finals
Boston over Detroit

WESTERN CONFERENCE PLAYOFFS
1. Dallas
2. Phoenix
3. San Antonio
4. Denver
5. Houston
6. Utah
7. Memphis
8. LA Lakers

1st round
Dallas over LA Lakers

Phoenix over Memphis

San Antonio over Utah

Denver over Houston

2nd round
Dallas over Denver

San Antonio over Phoenix

WESTERN CONFERENCE FINALS
Dallas over San Antonio

NBA FINALS
Dallas over Boston

Welcome

2007-10-30T10:50:00.000-05:00

I'd like to say hello out there to all the listeners and welcome you to my new blog, Bed of Rosers. This blog will a form of therapy for me, much like we do on The Chris Vernon Show. This is my way to vent about any and everything going on in the world of sports and entertainment. This actually might be the 2nd greatest blog in the world (cvernon.com #1) when it's all said and done. Next up.....2007-2008 NBA preview.