Commercial

It is, admittedly, a tad dizzying. But this soccer commercial from Nike is pretty sweet, regardless...


(H/T to Awful Announcing for the find)

Death Of The Suns

Just a superb article on True Hoop about what the Suns did for the NBA. I absolutely love True Hoop (even if it is part of ESPN), and stop by there every day. So go check it out.

David Stern And The NBA

Yes, i live in Phoenix. Yes, i am a big Suns fan. Yes, i was incensed last year when Amare and Boris were suspended for Game 5. Yes, i've written extensively about it here.

All that said, i am over last year's suspensions. What happened is over and done with. I no longer show any anger towards it; i have accepted what happened and gotten over it.

David Stern, however, continues to rub it in Suns' fans faces.

I understand that there were no suspensions over the KG/Zaza altercation in the Celtics-Hawks game the other night. The issue at hand is that both Kendrick Perkins and Marvin Williams, during the altercation, were on their respective benches and stepped onto the court. In fact, both of them admitted to doing so.

But i'm actually glad no one got suspended. Neither team deserves to lose a player based on their small actions that did not result in escalating the situation.

But if what i heard is true, if Stu Jackson actually uttered the words 'I saw no intent in either player's actions', as is being reported, then i am FURIOUS. No intent?! NO FUCKING INTENT?!?! You said last year that intent did not matter and could not be discerned. If that's true, then i call Bullshit on David Stern, Stu Jackson, and the NBA.

I used to have a lot of respect for David Stern, he has done a lot of great things for the NBA, both domestically and nationally. But between this ruling, last year's ruling, how he handled the referee gambling situations, and how is currently butchering the Sonics situation, it may be time to look for a new leader.

Phoenix Sports Odds & Ends

I haven't kept up writing reactions to the Suns-Spurs series as well as i would have liked, mostly because i can't properly put into words exactly what i've been feeling about it. After Game 1, which everyone agrees was an instant classic, the series looked poised to become on of the all-time greats.

Then Game 2 rolled around, and the Suns stayed close towards the end before folding. Then they lost at home in Game 3. And suddenly they were down 3-0 and on the brink of elimination.

Game 4 was a win, which was predictable all things considered. Game 5 is tonight, another must-win for the Suns in order to avoid elimination. There are a considerable amount of people out there that believe the Suns will win tonight, and at least make this somewhat of a series. I am skeptical at best.

As a indictment of how deep my skepticism runs, i will be attending tonight's Dbacks games instead of watching the Suns Game 5. I also have tickets to tomorrow's Dbacks game. Oh, and well pretty much every other game this season at Chase Field. Season tickets. They're a beautiful thing.

Especially when the team is so damn good.

The Dbacks are rolling. Absolutely cruising, rolling through the competition like a freight train on the way to an MLB best 19-7 record and a 6.5-game lead in the division. They have played in eight series, and have lost only 1. On offense they lead MLB in runs scored, RBI's, Slugging Percentage, and total bases. For pitching they lead MLB in ERA, wins, (least) losses, hits given up, and Batting Average Against.

Does this sound like a team that might be good? How about you combine that with the fact that they are one of the youngest teams in baseball also?

This baseball team is fun to watch, in the way they play the game, in the way they come up big in the right spots, in the way they interact with each other. Everyone keeps saying that the season is still young, but it's not that young anymore. We're a month into the season, and things don't look to be stopping for the Dbacks.

I do not know know what the rest of the season holds for the Dbacks, but if they keep playing the way they started this year, it's hard to imagine many teams finishing ahead of them...

(By the way - Found this through my brother, but check out the forums over at Diamondbacks Bullpen. These guys are awesome with their info, and their gameday threads are second to none from any team and any sport.)

Where You Came From

Time for my (almost) weekly feature, Where You Came From, where i take a look at the countries that have visited this site and the search terms that brought you here...

In the last 9 days (it's been slow around here) we've had visitors from Germany, Canada, France, Italy, and the good 'ole US of A. My international audience has been sorely lacking as of late.

Now for my favorite part of this post, the search terms that brought people here. As always, these are copied and pasted, therefore not corrected for any errors spelling or otherwise.

1) dennis green quotes vikings
2) The Big Shaqtus (2)
3) Marwan Williams (2) (Seriously, every week? Still?)
4) fuck brett favre (2) (Ha ha ha, i still love that that one brings people here...)
5) dennis green postgame (3)
6) shirts iowa 2008 wrestling national championship
7) suns vs celtics 2008
8) kenechi udeze press conference
9) Phoenix SUns Scandal Iowa (Huh?)
10) http smitty's blogspot com (So close...)
11) 2008 nba playoff after game press conferences
12) Suns and Spurs postgame press conference
13) stupid sports quotes "dennis green" (That one says it all...)
14) NBA postgame conference April 19 2008
15) a bad day coach dennis green
16) dennis green basketball (Again, huh?)
17) "pitcher hit two home runs in a game" (That would be Micah Owings...)
18) ahh ha (That's random)
19) Dennis Green
20) trampling video gworld (No idea how that brought someone here...)
21) referee betting scandal quote (Arrgghhh... don't get me started)
22) Miami Heat Postgame Press conference

So that's it. As always, thanks for stopping by. Stick around and leave some comments...

Uh oh!

Hey NFC North:

You are in trouble.

The Minnesota Vikings, who already have the best tandem of interior defensive linemen in the League, and therefore the best run defense in the League, just traded for and signed the League's sack leader from last season, Jared Allen (All the major news sources have the story, but read about it here).

Thank you Kansas City and Herm Edwards, for being so inept that one of the best Defensive End's in the NFL wanted no part of signing a long-term deal with.

And so the Vikings defense just got a whole lot stronger. Best run defense. Last year's sack leader with 15.5 sacks. One of the best safeties in the NFL, Darren Sharper, the NFL's leader in INT's since 2000. A great corner in Antoine Winfield.

This defense is gonna be stacked.

Oh, and did i mention they have arguably the best running back in the League, Pro Bowl MVP Adrian Peterson?

Is it September yet??

Game 1

It has taken me a few hours to put my down my first thoughts, mostly because it was such an amazing game. Going into the series, everyone was convinced this was the series to watch. It was the first round, but everyone thought it would be the most entertaining series of the entire postseason. Some people had gone so far as to call this match-up the best first-round series in the history of the NBA.

Game 1 did not disappoint.

In a game that went into two overtimes, that featured three game tying three point shots with under 15 seconds left in what could have been the game, i am left with only one thought:

This will be fun.

My immediate reaction after watching the game is that the Suns, after losing, now had almost zero chance to win the series. They played what looked to be a perfect game, never trailing until the last minutes of regulation, and leading going into the final possessions of both regulation and the first overtime.

The Suns seemingly had every chance and opportunity to win this game, but couldn't put it away. And with all the luck once again falling to the Spurs with two late improbable three's, the Suns could easily pack it in and fall by the wayside.

But i don't think this Suns team will do that.

After a couple of hours have passed, and looking at the box score, there is one glaring thing that tells me the Suns may still have a chance in this series: They played like crap.

The box score tells the story. Amare shot 13-26, or 50%. He has shot 59% for the season. Grant Hill, who personally i think his groin injury is still bothering him, had only 5 points. Shaq, while great in both overtimes, barely played in regulation and wasn't good when he did. Steve Nash shot only 9-20. And by the way, the Suns play much better when Nash doesn't have to shoot so much and take over games. Gordon Giricek, who has been an offensive spark the last 20 games, had only 2 points. Barbosa, who i thought actually played pretty well, still had only 12 points when he averaged 15.6 on the season. I think i was most impressed offensively by Raja Bell, and he's in there for his defense, not his offense.

While it was a hard-fought, highly entertaining and well-contested basketball game, i still can't shake the feeling that the Suns did not play their best game. They were taken out of their game early and often because of both Shaq's and Amare's foul troubles. They shot 50% from the field, which isn't bad, but only 31.3% from beyond the arc, making only 5 three's. I understand the Spurs play the Suns in such a way as to take away their three-point shot, but they still could have done better.

Regardless, this series is shaping up to be another classic battle. Say what you will about the Suns, but they always seem to be involved in some of the most entertaining and memorable postseason series in NBA history...