Draft Day Suit

Ron Artest has lost a bet, his mind or both.

[photos via The Big Lead]

Ok, so I’m a little behind. On Thursday my wife and I brought home a brand new baby!

Our baby doesn’t play any sports right now, unless you consider peeing for distance a sport. I haven’t seen any sports all week other than the eight-dollar Cavaliers game I watched while we were in the hospital. (Yes, “non-basic” TV was eight dollars a day in the hospital room.) And I only kind of watched it whilst in the haze of new parenthood.

Oh, I did hear that Zydrunas Ilgauskas will rejoin the Cavs after having been traded last month at the deadline. “Z” was/is the longest-tenured Cavalier. And I never noticed it before but he kind of looks like a baby – a giant, Lithuanian baby. Amazing.

Please don’t mention that to my wife for at least another three months.

I haven’t read any news stories, seen any blogs or heard any sports talk radio. As a matter of fact, I haven’t really thought about sports at all, other than to contemplate which professional sport our sure-to-be super baby will pursue. And whether Brett Favre will retire! I can’t take the suspense! When will we know?

So, I fear I don’t have much to add to the conversation this week.  Hopefully once we’ve adjusted a little more to our new bundle of joy I will be able to sit down and, you know, watch a sporting event. Until then I’ll have to be content with long-distance peeing, infant division.

Jake Delhomme was released from the Panthers today. There were tears shed and hands wrung by General Manager Matt Hurney and John Fox when they faced the press this morning.

Hurney  got choked up during the press conference, saying it was the hardest decision he’s ever had to make. I seriously doubt it was the hardest, but it’s a good sound byte for the press.

“It’s really hard to describe how hard this was,” he said. “It’s hard not to get emotional when you talk about it because he epitomizes everything we want. He’s been an excellent player for us.”

It’s hard to let a good guy go, especially when there is all that money to think about.

We all know that Delhomme had a rough season last year. I mean come on, there was interception after interception after interception. If he were to stick around for next season, there would be a tremendous amount of pressure. I don’t know if anyone deserves that. Oh wait, he’s getting paid millions of dollars to do his job. Yes, he deserves it.

Coach John Fox said: “He’s done some great things for this team. Two (NFC) championship games, a Super Bowl, all those comeback victories. I’m not sure I’ve had any more respect for an NFL football player than Jake Delhomme.”

Yet they are still letting him go.

Delhomme was, according to his teammates, a great team leader. Left tackle Jordon Gross said, “It’s tough. As a friend and a teammate he was always someone you could count on and did things the right way and was a leader and a family man. I’m glad to have him in my life and it’s hard when you learn that he’s not going to be around anymore.”

It almost makes me feel bad for the guy. Except of course for that $12.5 million left on his contract that he’s guaranteed.

Replacement Matt Moore took over for Delhomme in Week 13 last season and ended with a 4-1 record. Michael Vick and Donovan McNabb have been suggested additions to the roster for depth on the bench.

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Ashton Gibbs

I thought last night’s game against Providence was over. Brad Wanamaker was unable to secure the tie-breaking shot and then fouled. After they were able to pull ahead by 1 with 3.5 seconds to go, I left the room in disgust. I was in the kitchen when I heard my husband yelp, “HUH HO! OH MY GOD!” I ran back in asking what happened and he could only answer, “GIBBS!”

I watched the replay in disbelief. Gibbs took the ball, made several inhumanly long strides to just past mid-court, and just milliseconds before time ran out, drained a 3-pointer that seemed to come directly from heaven.

The win secured them a double-bye in the Big East tournament and maintained their chance to be seeded #2. They also vindicated themselves against Providence, who beat Pitt last season. Awesome game and incredible fodder for the highlight reel. Video of the amazing moment is here.