All posts by Tricia

R.I.P. Manute Bol – We Will Remember You

By | June 20, 2010 | Basketball, R.I.P. | Comments Off

manute bol-rip-sudan-basketball

I was really sad to hear about the passing of Manute Bol yesterday. In my mind he was the epitome of what a professional athlete should strive to be off the court.

Bol died at the University of Virginia Medical Center in Charlottesville. No cause of death has been reported, but he was reportedly being treated for severe kidney trouble.

At 7’7″ it comes as no surprise that he holds the record for career blocks per 48 minutes, (8.6), and blocked a record 2,086 shots, but scored only 1,599 points. He was the only player in NBA history to block more than he scored, but it was his actions off the court that really impressed me.

Throughout his career he was active in charitable causes related to his native Sudan. He visited refugee camps, and gave almost all of the money he earned in his NBA career to causes that supported the refugees of Sudan. He raised global awareness of the Sudanese with the Sudan Freedom Walk. The walk aimed at finding a solution to the genocide in Darfur.

He was a great example of what athletes, the “role models” of today’s youth, should be doing.

Manute, it is also rumored, may have started the phrase ‘my bad” that is so prevalent today.

Our thoughts go out to those who loved him and were loved by him.

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Should Phoenix Let Go Of Amare?

By | June 9, 2010 | Basketball | 4 Comments

amare-stoudemire-phoenix-trade-max-contract-opt outI didn’t know that Amare Stoudemire was such a greedy bastard. He is going to opt out of his $17 million final year with the Phoenix Suns, because he wants to go where he can get the most money.

I can understand the need for money, but I guess the $17 million he would receive next year isn’t enough. He wants more than $17 million.

As you can see I’m perplexed by the turning down of $17 million dollars.

Amare says that he deserves the maximum contract the NBA will allow and he wants a six-year deal worth $127 million.  And if the Suns don’t offer him riches beyond belief he is going to say buh-bye and head to the highest bidder.

I wish team loyalty was more the norm and money-grubbing was something to be looked down upon.

I will be sad to see Amare leave Phoenix. He’s  such a winner with his middle to high scoring average, his middle to high rebounds and his less than average assists. He must be forgetting that he isn’t  the league leader in any category and that his performance in the Western Conference finals  this year was below par, but yet he says this:

“The most important factor of playing for an organization is to be able to be totally comfortable and give them 100 percent. That’s what I’ve done my whole career, so it’s only right to look for a maximum contract.”

So I guess he was just half-assing it all this time so we could see what he’s really worth come contract time. He’s obviously not comfortable giving the Phoenix fans his all. Perhaps they should get someone who will.

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Yay Celtics?!?

By | May 30, 2010 | Basketball, Talking Trash | 2 Comments

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This basketball series is killing me.

I am a Phoenix Suns fan. Also, I am a “Laker hater.” I watch on pins and needles and with bated breath the games between the two teams. I  have to say, I am so excited for game 6 that I can’t even stand it. I really want Phoenix to win, if only so I can talk trash to my new friend from Massachusetts.

Who would’ve thought that the “old men” of Boston would make it to the finals for the 2nd time in three years? She did!

I watched Game 4 in a bar with her and found myself rooting for the Celtics. Not only was I commiserating with her over their loss, I was all bent out of shape with the lack of calls against Orlando and Dwight Howard’s Karl Malone-esque type of play. Also, I don’t think that Steve Nash’s face can take any more hard hits and since Dwight Howard,  of the Magic,  likes to throw his elbows it’s better to just avoid the whole meet up.

I don’t know though, if Boston will be able to defeat the Suns, which of course I don’t want. The Suns are just too fast of a team for the Celtics to try to beat.

The last time these two teams met, in 1976,  Boston won the series 4-2. I’m just hoping that Phoenix holds out against the Lakers and makes it to the Finals.

If the Celtics and the Lakers meet,  I just don’t think the Celtics can battle through Kobe and his compadres.

That’s just my opinion though.

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Mark Cuban Fined For Opening His Big Mouth, Again, But Was He Really Tampering With LeBron?

By | May 25, 2010 | Basketball | 2 Comments

mark-cubanMark Cuban was recently fined $100,000 for comments he made about LeBron James. I couldn’t imagine what he could have he possibly said to have to pay $100,000. Well, I could, but I didn’t want to think him capable of that.

Then I thought that Cuban said something entirely inappropriate about LeBron and all the hoopla about his mother, but alas, it wasn’t so.

Mark Cuban was fined for violating the NBA’s anti-tampering rules.

I’ll admit I didn’t know what that meant entirely. Then I read the statement he made and now I’m totally confused. The rule seems pretty crazy to me, especially since there are quite a few owners who seem to have pretty strong opinions about everything and most of them like to hear themselves speak.

Cuban stated that he hopes LeBron will force a sign-and-trade when it comes time for him to make his move at the end of the season, because then the Mavericks would have a chance at acquiring LeBron and his crazy skills.

“Come July 1st, yeah, of course, anybody would be interested in LeBron James. And if he leaves via free agency, then it’s going to be tough. If he does like I’m guessing, hoping he will, which is say, ‘I’m not going to leave the Cavs high and dry,’ if he decides to leave — there’s still a better chance he stays — then he’ll try to force a sign-and-trade and that gives us a chance.”

Was that worth $100,000? It sure is better than the $5 million fine the team could have received and surely much better than the penalty of not being able to pursue LeBron at all.

Cuban is no stranger to the fact that his mouth gets him into trouble to the tune of hundreds of thousands of dollars, but I think it was totally worth it. It lets LeBron know that Dallas is interested, it gets the team some publicity, plus Cuban gets to shoot off his mouth, which we know he likes to do.

steve-kerr-fined-LeBron JamesOn a side note, Steve Kerr was fined $10,000 for his comments about LeBron as well. He said that he would like to sign LeBron too. He said in an interview that he’d offer, “About five-and-half million, I think he’ll take it. Don’t you think?” Kerr was obviously joking, but got slapped with a fine anyway.

Kerr has no idea where LeBron will go next year:

“I have no idea. I want him to stay in Cleveland. I think that’s good for sports when you’ve got players you connect to over a long period of time, so I hope he stays.”

Opinions are like arseholes, everybody has one. It’s just a good thing we all don’t get fined every time we voice ours.

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Cheater Cheater Pumpkin Eater – The Phillies Are In The Dog House

By | May 16, 2010 | Baseball, Uncategorized | 1 Comment

phils_logo-cheating-stealing signs

The Philadelphia Phillies are in the the Major League dog house. They’ve been accused of sign-stealing, and it’s not the first time.

The full accusation is this: the Phillies have been using binoculars to steal pitching  signs and phone the information to their own bullpen.

What the truck man!?!

Shall we just lump them together with the New England Patriots or are they only as bad as the 1951 NY Giants were? Read more…

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