Larry Bird – Not the most physically gifted athlete—he has been described by his former teammate, Bill Walton, as not being able to jump over two pieces of paper—but made up for his lack of athleticism with a keen sense of anticipation and an unparalleled basketball IQ.“The Hick from French Lick” was always in the right position at the right time and never failed to execute, particularly in the clutch.His sixth sense for the game made him one of the best all-around players in history, as he averaged 25-10-6 for his career, including three consecutive MVPs (sandwiched by four 2nd place finishes), joining Bill Russell and Wilt Chamberlain as the only players to accomplish this feat.But more than that, his arrival to the league along with Magic Johnson and their budding rivalry, revitalized interest in the NBA. (more…)
The Phoenix Suns have gone from first to fifth in the Western Conference after losing four of their last seven games. Shaquille O’Neal is averaging 10.8 points, 10.4 rebounds and 1.4 blocks in five games with the Suns and posted right around his season averages with 15 points, 7 rebounds and 2 blocks on Wednesday. Apparently, people thought that Shaq would be able to jump right into his role with no adjustment time and that they would be able to judge how much the Suns really got out of the trade. Let me tell you, Shaq is far from finished improving and especially won’t shoot .412 (14-34) from the charity strike for the rest of the season.
For you fantasy followers, the biggest beneficiary of the trade is, without a doubt, Amare Stoudemire. The Suns’ new power forward is by far, the Suns’ main offensive weapon. He hasn’t scored less than 24 points in any game and recorded a block in all but two games this month. If you’re looking for that big man down the stretch, I would buy high on this guy if I have to. How high? A look at his season averages and 11 games in February:
For someone to average 29 and 11 would near top honor. For comparison, LeBron James averages 30 points and 8 rebounds while Dwight Howard averages 22 points and 14 rebounds. And there is no reason why Amare’s dominance should not continue.
Results (with current conference rank in parenthesis):
2/13 @ Golden State (8) – L 120-118
2/14 Dallas (6) – W 109-97
2/20 Lakers (1) – L 130-124
2/22 Boston (1) – W 85-77
2/24 Detroit (2) – L 116-86
2/26 @ Memphis (14) – W 127-113
2/27 @ New Orleans (3) – L 120-103
Season PF: 109.4
7-game set PF: 107.4
Season PA: 104.6
7-game set PA: 110.4
On their 7-game set, the Suns played six of the top ten teams in the NBA, going 2-4. For all you Lakers fans, I think the next team I’ll follow will be the new top team in the Western Conference. Watch for it on March 11…the collapse.
Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Kyle Kendrick was traded to the Yomiuri Giants for Kobayashi Iwamura last Saturday. Or was he? Born in Houston, Texas, Kendrick was coming off of a solid rookie season when he heard the news orchestrated by pitcher and fellow teammate Brett Myers. Had he known the rules a little bit or even some pop culture, he would have known that it is illegal to trade an MLB player to a foreign country or that Kobayashi is a multiple-winning hot dog eating champion.
It took as long for the game to get started with all those New Orleans festivities as it did for the Mavs to pull off the Jason Kidd deal but once it got under way, it was all East from the get-go. And without the antics of Shaquille O’Neal, whose injury likely kicked him out of the fans’ selection, it was a pretty unfun game until the final couple of minutes. Ray Allen led all scorers with 28 points on 5 3-pointers in just 19 minutes of action while LeBron James took the MVP with 27 points, 8 rebounds and 9 assists in the East’s 134-128 victory Sunday.
I wish I could re-choose my All-Stars because Yao Ming was getting punked by Dwight Howard on both sides of the ball while Amare Stoudemire was really the only showcase dunker for the West. The East attempted 36 3-pointers (making 10 of them), breaking the record of 30 set by the West in 2002. With the win, the Eastern Conference holds a 35-22 edge over the Western Conference as the action will head to Phoenix in 2009.
Michael Jordan – What is there to say that hasn’t already been said?The consensus greatest basketball player of all-time, His Airness, was Finals MVP in each of his 6 titles, a 5-time regular season MVP, a 9-time selection to the All-Defense First Team, a 10-time All-NBA First Team, and he did all this while missing two years in his prime.As the game’s most prolific scorer and stingiest defender, Jordan did anything and everything he wanted on the court.He was the epitome of a perfectionist and was as ruthless as they come when it comes to winning.It didn’t matter who was in his way, MJ would leave his opponents beaten and battered.No one was even close.And he remains the lone exception to the rule that a dominant big man is needed to win championships.I just feel sorry for the likes of Patrick Ewing, Reggie Miller, Gary Payton, Karl Malone and John Stockton—those that possibly could’ve won titles had they had the fortune of playing in another era. (more…)
Florida Panthers forward Richard Zednik underwent surgery to close a deep gash on the right side of his neck and was in stable condition Sunday night after he was cut by teammate, Olli Jokinen’s skate during the game.
Buffalo won the game 5-3, but there was discussion to end the game altogether, including by Jokinen, after the freak incident occurred in the third period.
Zednik’s carotid artery was severed, and one doctor described it as “hanging by a thread.” He underwent surgery for an hour to reconnect the artery, which supplies blood to the brain, as the 1.5 inch-wound gushed out a half-gallon of blood, including on the ice.
It was the second serious injury caused by a skate in two days. On Saturday, NHL linesman Pat Dapuzzo needed dozens of stitches to close a cut on his face after he was hit by the skate of Philadelphia Flyers forward Steve Downie.
And then of course, there was the infamous neck injury in 1989 when Steve Tuttle was upended and sliced goaltender Clint Malarchuk in the neck, requiring over 300 stitches and prompting goaltenders to have the neck protection on their facemasks that are prevalent today because of that.
Caution: Do not watch if you vomit easily or are pregnant.
After last year’s 31-28 Pro Bowl defeat and falling into an early 24-7 hole in this one, the NFC was determined to make things competitive. A strong dose of Minnesota’s Adrian Peterson and Dallas’ Terrell Owens helped the NFC defeat the AFC, 42-30 on Sunday.
Peterson had the second-highest rushing yardage in Pro Bowl history, only behindMarshall Faulk’s 180 yards in 1995, with 16 carries for 129 yards and 2 touchdowns. The two are also the only rookies to be Pro Bowl MVPs. Owens added 8 catches for 101 yards and 2 scores to make each player on the NFC $40,000 richer from the win.
In celebration of Shaquille O’Neal’s 35th birthday, ESPN.com compiled a list of the greatest NBA centers to ever play.Check it out here.Their top five looks like this:
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Wilt Chamberlain
Bill Russell
Shaquille O’Neal
Hakeem Olajuwon
Here’s my take:
Bill Russell – 11 championships in 13 seasons. That’s really all I need to say.Russell, the greatest winner in all of sports, revolutionized the game of basketball, forging the maxim that defense wins championships. He was the first player to effectively shut down the paint and made the blocked shot an art form, breaking it down to a science. The manner with which he deflected shots was so adept he could direct a block to a teammate, essentially starting a fast break by himself. He was the cornerstone to the NBA’s most dominant team, and he created the blueprint to winning a title. (more…)
Same criteria for me in choosing the Eastern Conference All-Stars as I did the Western Conference studs. Let’s get right to it.
Eastern Conference Squad
Guards
Jason Kidd, New Jersey – Kidd easily gets the starting nod despite a drop off in some categories. He is shooting a career-low .365 from the field, although he was never a strong shooter (career .401), and has a career-low 1.5 steals per game, which is pretty amazing. Still, anyone can look past his horrendous shooting when he does everything else right. He is the closest to averaging a triple-double this season than any other in his 14-year career – 11.1 pts, 8.2 reb and 10.4 ast. And this year’s rumors have him returning to Dallas, where they have a much more potent offense.
Dwyane Wade, Miami – After a disappointing season last year, Wade has shown he still has what it takes to be a top-5 scorer in the NBA. Unfortunately, his team forgot how to win. Nevertheless, Wade’s only accolade this season will be an All-Star starting nod, averaging a solid 24.2 pts, 4.4 reb and 6.6 ast.
Forwards
LeBron James, Cleveland – I wonder if I would be slapped with a $259 fine if I went over 100 mph on a California highway. Isn’t that criminal to go over 100 mph? What the hell is that? And he wasn’t even apologetic, saying that he’d probably do it again because it’s not a big deal to him. As for his playing ability? Oh, he’s good.
Kevin Garnett, Boston – K.G. is out with an injury and the Celtics have dropped 5 of their last 13 games and would need to go an improbable 36-2 to match the Bulls’ 72-10 record. They’re done. Okay, not really. Individually, Garnett is shooting a career-high .551 from the field and has made the Mean Green one of the most exciting teams to watch this season.
Center
Dwight Howard, Orlando – I hate Howard’s big ass smile with that pervert ’stache of his. In any case, one cannot deny his success in attempting to get every available rebound. He has eight 20-rebound games, three 20-20 games and two 30-20 games. Now taking wagers on what will come first: Howard’s first 40-20 game or 30-rebound game.
Eastern Conference Reserves
Chauncey Billups, Detroit Michael Redd, Milwaukee Caron Butler, Washington Antawn Jamison, Washington Chris Bosh, Toronto
Comparison (In all seriousness, my team’s better.)
Chris Le’s East All-Stars Bryan Jeon’s East All-Stars
PG – Chauncey Billups Jason Kidd
SG – Jason Kidd Dwyane Wade
SF – LeBron James LeBron James
PF – Kevin Garnett Kevin Garnett
C – Dwight Howard Dwight Howard
B – Richard Hamilton Chauncey Billups
B – Paul Pierce Michael Redd
B – Caron Butler Caron Butler
B – Antawn Jamison Antawn Jamison
B – Chris Bosh Chris Bosh
Thinking back to North Carolina’s last meeting with Duke, I can’t help but crack a smile.Not because I dislike Tyler Hansbrough, who never fails to look like a Special Olympian.No, it isn’t that at all.It’s the fact that Gerald Henderson’s forearm added more bad blood—literally—to an already heated rivalry, which is possibly the best in all of sports.I can only hope to see more blood in tonight’s game.The fans at the Dean Dome will most definitely be on Henderson’s case, but don’t count out Carolina fans unleashing their verbal onslaughts on Greg Paul and particularly Kyle Singler, the ACC’s top freshman who possesses the traditional Duke arrogance, though in a more subtle manner than Christian Laettner and J.J. Redick.Can you imagine how tense and testosterone-filled the atmosphere would be if these two teams were to meet again in the upcoming ACC Tournament? Or better yet, the NCAA Tournament?This is one match up I look forward to every year.And it’s all because of their mutual disgust for one another.
This got me to thinking. Is UNC-Duke the best rivalry in sports?Certainly, it’s the most heated and storied in college basketball, but does it stack up to sports’ other battles?
Here’s my take:
(In no particular order, except for one.You’ll see.Read on.)
Duke vs. North Carolina – Perennial powerhouses and two of the most successful college basketball teams in NCAA history separated by a shade of blue and an eight-mile stretch named Tobacco Road.There are so many elements that make this such an impassioned rivalry: the close proximity of the two schools, the legendary coaches (Mike Krzyzewski, Dean Smith, Roy Williams), the prolific players (Michael Jordan, Jerry Stackhouse, Christian Laettner, J.J. Redick and of course, the incomparable Shane Battier).But most of all, it’s the parity combined with the sustained excellence of both teams that push it over the top.In this 88-year battle, UNC holds only a 126-96 edge in the all-time series.And the fact that these two teams are always in the top 25, if not top 10, makes every single one of their meetings that much more meaningful, often deciding who will be the ACC Champion.This is sports hatred in its purest form.
OhioState vs. Michigan – It wasn’t until recently, thanks to the HBO documentary “The Ten Year War,” that I fully realized the intensity and magnitude of this match up.Two of the most storied programs in college football lore, Michigan and Ohio State have been each other’s final regular season opponent since 1942, regularly with Big 10 supremacy at stake.But it isn’t just about the legendary coaches (Bo Schembechler and Woody Hayes), the titles or the fact that Michigan steals many of Ohio’s native blue-chip prospects.Like most of the best rivalries, this goes beyond the field in which the game is played.In the eyes of the fans, this is a social divide.Michigan sees Ohio State as a bunch of hicks that are beneath them, which is apparent in the joke of the Michigan student dropping out and enrolling at Ohio State, effectively raising the collective GPA of both universities.On the flip side, Ohio State views Michigan as crowd of smug wannabes with a false sense of self worth.Either way, it makes for great football.Michigan leads the series 57-41-6, though Ohio State has been dominant lately, taking the last four meetings.
New York Yankees vs. Boston Red Sox – Not the closest rivalry in the bunch, seeing how the Yanks hold the edge in World Series Championships (26-7) and Pennants (39 to 11), but the seemingly one-sidedness of this match up doesn’t hold it back in the rankings of the greatest head-to-head meetings of all-time.Though the disparity in titles hurts, this shared distaste was developed in the way these division rivals have inflicted emotional pain in each other. This factor truly sets rivalry apart from any other: Boone in ’03, the Curse of the Bambino, the come back from a 0-3 series deficit to release the curse – none remembered without a bitter taste in the mouth.The history of these two teams is infamous, the pain felt by Sox fans legendary, and because of this, the Yankees and Red Sox will forever be linked and seen as the best rivalry in baseball, even if the outcome at times is lopsided.
And now the fiercest opponents in the history of sports…
Muhammad Ali vs. Joe Frazier – The mother of all rivalries.Nothing has or ever will come close.I don’t think in any other rivalry, the participants actually hated one another; they just hated losing to one another.Not so with Ali and especially Frazier, whose abhorrence for Muhammad was/is as intense and real as it gets.Maybe not so much with Ali, as he most likely traded verbal shots with Frazier in order to hype their fights.But his words cut Frazier deeply, particularly the “Uncle Tom” comments, which in the 70’s was probably the worst thing a black man could call another.Ali would end up winning two of their three meetings, with their first and last bouts being two of the most sickeningly savage displays of boxing the world has ever seen.And don’t think for a second matters have cooled down between the two.In 1996, when asked about their trilogy, Joe Frazier remarked, “Look at me and look at Ali (who is currently suffering from Parkinson’s disease) — who do you think won those fights?”All I can say is, damn, that’s cold.Now that’s a rivalry.
losing four of their last seven games. Shaquille O’Neal is averaging 10.8 points, 10.4 rebounds and 1.4 blocks in five games with the Suns and posted right around his season averages with 15 points, 7 rebounds and 2 blocks on Wednesday. Apparently, people thought that Shaq would be able to jump right into his role with no adjustment time and that they would be able to judge how much the Suns really got out of the trade. Let me tell you, Shaq is far from finished improving and especially won’t shoot .412 (14-34) from the charity strike for the rest of the season.
did for the Mavs to pull off the Jason Kidd deal but once it got under way, it was all East from the get-go. And without the antics of Shaquille O’Neal, whose injury likely kicked him out of the fans’ selection, it was a pretty unfun game until the final couple of minutes. Ray Allen led all scorers with 28 points on 5 3-pointers in just 19 minutes of action while LeBron James took the MVP with 27 points, 8 rebounds and 9 assists in the East’s 134-128 victory Sunday.
By Bryan Jeon
Marshall Faulk’s 180 yards in 1995, with 16 carries for 129 yards and 2 touchdowns. The two are also the only rookies to be Pro Bowl MVPs. Owens added 8 catches for 101 yards and 2 scores to make each player on the NFC $40,000 richer from the win.
Jason Kidd, New Jersey – Kidd easily gets the starting nod despite a drop off in some categories. He is shooting a career-low .365 from the field, although he was never a strong shooter (career .401), and has a career-low 1.5 steals per game, which is pretty amazing. Still, anyone can look past his horrendous shooting when he does everything else right. He is the closest to averaging a triple-double this season than any other in his 14-year career – 11.1 pts, 8.2 reb and 10.4 ast. And this year’s rumors have him returning to Dallas, where they have a much more potent offense.
Dwyane Wade, Miami – After a disappointing season last year, Wade has shown he still has what it takes to be a top-5 scorer in the NBA. Unfortunately, his team forgot how to win. Nevertheless, Wade’s only accolade this season will be an All-Star starting nod, averaging a solid 24.2 pts, 4.4 reb and 6.6 ast.
LeBron James, Cleveland – I wonder if I would be slapped with a $259 fine if I went over 100 mph on a California highway. Isn’t that criminal to go over 100 mph? What the hell is that? And he wasn’t even apologetic, saying that he’d probably do it again because it’s not a big deal to him. As for his playing ability? Oh, he’s good.
Kevin Garnett, Boston – K.G. is out with an injury and the Celtics have dropped 5 of their last 13 games and would need to go an improbable 36-2 to match the Bulls’ 72-10 record. They’re done. Okay, not really. Individually, Garnett is shooting a career-high .551 from the field and has made the Mean Green one of the most exciting teams to watch this season.
Dwight Howard, Orlando – I hate Howard’s big ass smile with that pervert ’stache of his. In any case, one cannot deny his success in attempting to get every available rebound. He has eight 20-rebound games, three 20-20 games and two 30-20 games. Now taking wagers on what will come first: Howard’s first 40-20 game or 30-rebound game.
Duke vs. 
North Carolina – Perennial powerhouses and two of the most successful college basketball teams in NCAA history separated by a shade of blue and an eight-mile stretch named Tobacco Road.
Ohio State vs. 
Michigan – It wasn’t until recently, thanks to the HBO documentary “The Ten Year War,” that I fully realized the intensity and magnitude of this match up.
New York Yankees vs. 
Boston Red Sox – Not the closest rivalry in the bunch, seeing how the Yanks hold the edge in World Series Championships (26-7) and Pennants (39 to 11), but the seemingly one-sidedness of this match up doesn’t hold it back in the rankings of the greatest head-to-head meetings of all-time.
