Over the holiday weekend Duke University and John Hopkins University competed in the men’s lacrosse national championship. After all the scrutiny Duke’s team faced in the past year, most of the country rooted for the Blue Devils in the final. Last year three Duke Lacrosse players (Collin Finnerty, David Evans, and Reade Seligmann) were charged with the rape of an African American 28-year-old student at North Carolina Central University who was stripping for the team at an off-campus party. As a result of the allegations Mike Pressler resigned as Men’s Duke Lacrosse coach and Athletic Director Joe Alleva suspended the Blue Devil’s lacrosse season. The end result of this racial storm on tobacco road was that all charges were dropped leaving District Attorney Mike Nifong looking foolish. Duke on the other hand seemed to be on their way to a sports movie deal. In an effort to silence the critics, Duke was on their way to winning their first Lacrosse National Championship. Disney had the papers all drawn up for the movie deal that would have had Chad Michael Murray play Finnerty. Too bad John Hopkins University had other plans, triumphing in an exciting 11-10 victory over Duke in the final.

Although happy no rape occured that fateful night, the Duke players are far from innocent and do not deserve a country rallying behind them for the title of National Champion. The team’s athletic skill was never in question, because former coach Mike Pressler did an excellent job recruiting and coaching these young men when it came to lacrosse. It was their decency, moral values, and manhood off the field that are in question.

District Attorney Mike Niafong was wrong to rush into charging these boys with such a harsh crime, but was absolutely right when he gave these collegiates the name “hoodlums.� The student athletes of Duke Lacrosse were found innocent of rape, but the culture of the program is completely unacceptable. Over half of the 2006 roster had been in trouble with the university because of on-campus drinking violations and conduct issues while 15 had been arrested for public drunkenness, public urination, and other public disturbance charges. Collin Finnerty was charged in 2006 of assault in Washington, DC. According to the police report, Finnerty and two of his friends attacked a man near Georgetown in the early hours of November 5, “busting his lip and bruising his chin.� The man told the boys to stop “calling him gay and … derogatory names.� Finnerty was ordered to serve 25 hours of community service in Washington, DC. But since he did not rape anyone, he must be a good kid.

The Miami University Football program is constantly under attack because of their culture of unruly troubled African American youths. The Hurricanes deserve to be constantly under attack because of their culture and they are an embarrassment to anyone who was/is a part of college athletics. With that said, having 41 players charged with misdemeanor crimes since 1999 and having players involved in underground “fight clubs� is also unacceptable and Duke Lacrosse should be held to the same standards as Miami Football.

I find it repulsive the way our country embraces these boys. Duke Lacrosse merchandise moved off the shelves in record numbers after the rape allegations. The fact that Fathead.com decided to make a Free Duke Fathead ensures the fact that I will never purchase a fathead to put on my wall, no matter how good a LaRon Landry fathead would look next to my bar. Why does our country celebrate and rally behind unruly youths that scream racial slurs and spit on women? Did we forget that one of the players wrote an email saying he wanted to “skin the stripper alive?� I will not cheer Duke Lacrosse anytime soon because I am still offended and you should be too!

Going into the final quarter of game four of the 2007 Western Conference Finals, the game was all but tied. Deron Williams was playing great, Carlos Boozer was playing up to par with Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili was having a rough shooting night. Utah Jazz coach Jerry Sloan could not ask for a better situation at this point in the series…

The San Antonio Spurs showed last night why are they are ready to return to the NBA Finals for a rematch with the Detroit Pistons. Behind the steady play of Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili and unsung heroes Fabricio Oberto and Jacque Vaughn the Spurs were able to take a commanding 3-1 lead over the Utah Jazz Ginobili came up huge last night scoring 16 of his 21 points in the fourth quarter. The Spurs also shot 19 of 25 from the free throw line during the final period. The Spurs are a veteran team ready to take their throne as the Western Conference Champions, while the Utah Jazz look more like the disgruntled Golden State Warriors than a team ready to take the next step.

One shining star for the Utah Jazz is Deron Williams. The second-year point guard has put on a show during the NBA Playoffs proving he deserved to be taken third overall in the 2005 NBA Draft. Watching him play his college basketball at Illinois, I did not think he would become an impact player. Although he has not played against a point guard known for their defense during the playoffs, being able to average nearly thirty points and nine assists against one of the best defensive teams in the league is impressive.

Usually it is the visiting All-Star guard with the stomach virus who dominates in Utah, but last night Deron Williams was amazing. The Utah point guard continues to out-play Tony Parker causing San Antonio Spurs coach Greg Popovich to bench Parker for long stretches of the second half for the more defensive Jacque Vaughn. Williams’ quickness and strength enables him to dominate ball games like few point guards can. Because of the new hand checking rules, the NBA has shifted to a quicker, smaller game allowing point guards such as Steve Nash, Chris Paul and Tony Parker to get anywhere they please on the court. Because of this rule, college players such as Michael Conley Jr. from Ohio State and North Carolina’s Ty Lawson are held at such high accord. As a result of the smaller point guard movement, the larger, more athletic point guards have flourished in the playoffs. Jason Kidd AVERAGED a triple double in the post season, while Baron Davis was able to dominate the smaller guards of the Dallas Mavericks. Deron Williams fits in the category of a big athletic point guard that manhandled smaller playoff guards such as T.J. Ford, Devin Harris, Jason Terry and Monta Ellis.

The San Antonio Spurs are one the best teams of the decade. Tim Duncan is arguably the best power forward ever to play the game. Tony Parker might be the fastest point guard with the ball in his hands in the NBA. So why does everyone hate the Spurs? Because their teammates Bruce Bowen and Manu Ginobili are dirty players not playing the game the way it should be played. The Spurs last series against the Phoenix Suns, it was Bowen who was the culprit of dirty play. This series his tag-team partner Ginobili is the one disgracing the game. Last night I watched Manu Ginobili score a lay-up in the fourth quarter and then run directly into the back of Derek Fisher then falling to the floor as if Fisher was doing his best Robert Horry impression. The referee called Fisher for a technical foul that triggered the ejection of Utah coach Jerry Sloan.

I can not stand Manu Ginobili’s game. He is notorious for flopping, flailing body parts and traveling more than Eva Longoria during the playoffs. From kicking Amare Stoudamire in the crown jewels to falling every time he is touched Manu disrespects the game of basketball. During game 5 of the Western Conference Finals on Wednesday, watch his feet. No one travels more than Manu driving to the basket. Dwayne Wade and Lebron James come in a close second and third, but no one can do it like Manu.

My hatred for Manu all started when he complained about Tim Duncan winning the Finals MVP in 2005. After the playoffs ended Ginobili ran home to Argentina and began to complain that he should have been the Finals MVP over Tim Duncan! Those comments do not deserve a response or an argument. Manu Ginobili plays basketball like a World Cup soccer match; good footwork, extremely competitive, and will do anything to win. Throwing elbows and knees, flopping, taking dives, anything to get an edge. Ginobili will even pull a Marco Materazzi and whisper into Sheed’s ear, causing a Zinedine Zidane reaction having Wallace head-butt Ginobili, ejecting Rasheed Wallace from the NBA Finals!

• All L.A. Times, all the time, in Kobe coverage today. Around the Horn’s Bill Plashke says the Lakers should trade Kobe. His coworker, TJ Simers, immediately asks “has Plaschke completely lost it?”
• A Dallas Morning News columnist thinks the Mavs should give up Dirk for Kobe. How many of these type of articles do you think were written this weekend? (Searching Houston papers now…)
• WaPo’s Mike Wilbon gives a solid recap of the Spurs/Jazz Game 4
• John Feinstein stops off at the Post to give his Duke alumni perspective, different from the ones seen and heard around campus.
• Barry Bonds isn’t sure he’ll hand over his record-breaking items to the Hall of Fame. This could start a whole debate of its own but do you blame him?
• Chicago Sun-Times columnist Jay Mariotti take shots at slumping rich man Soriano on campus in Wrigley.

Going to walk through this game as long as time will allow. Not sure how this will be, but I’ll be sitting at the computer through the duration of Game 3. Keep refreshing for updates. If only YouTube could give us real-time video replays… where’s technology when you need it…

FIRST QUARTER

• Lebron James starts the game with two quick dunks he made by driving to the lane untouched. Haven’t seen the lane this clear since… the end of Game 1 when James… passed up the open, game-tying dunk to dish the ball to Donyell Marshall who promptly missed the game winner.
• James is at the line, made 1 of 2. Has 5 of Cleveland’s early 7 points. He’s got his game plan in reverse. Pass all you want in the game, Bron Bron, just never in the fourth…
• Larry Hughes hit a shot! Followed by Tashaun Prince dunking an easy bucket! That should tell you how nuts this game will be.
• Debris keeps falling from the roof of Cleveland’s Arena. Either the team is accidentally showing where its budget cuts are coming from for paying James to stay, or the arena operators know nothing of the huge jinx celebrating prematurely brings to a team.
• Cleveland’s moving around, cutting and getting to the basket fairly easy. Webber’s doing his thing (8 pts) and James is on pace to finally break 20 today! (10 pts)

SECOND QUARTER

• Planar Flacitus injury to Larry Hughes? …what? Sager jokes that he was not a doctor, but contributed a few notes on the injury he knew of. Kerr jokes that Sager isn’t a doctor, but “he did stay at a Holiday Inn Express.â€? Ha. Corporate Comedic Commercials work!
• Flip Murray is contributing for Detroit (7 pts, 1 ast) and whaddayouknow? Prince has already scored more than he has in the last two games (9 pts). He’s on a run right now while James takes a breather. Prince better hurry and score before… d’oh! TV timeout. James is probably back on the court when the game resumes…
• Don’t you miss the days when “McDyess with the reverse jam!” was a guaranteed, sure-fire “Du-nuh nuh! Du-nuh nuh!” moment? His reverse dunk was solid, but McDyess of old would’ve brought the rim down and screamed in a face or two.
• James going to the basket was not just a first quarter trend. He went to the lane, got fouled and hit 2-of-2 at the line to take a 1-pt lead. Side note: why don’t we see 20392 Lebron shoe commercials? During the Indianapolis Colts’ championship run, it seemed every break was dominated by Peyton Manning’s face. (Love the commercials, but it made me want those Bears to beat them in the Super Bowl! And then there was Rex…)
• Doug Collins — who used to coach Michael Jordan, by the way, if he hasn’t already told you that a “handful” of times during his playoff broadcasts — just dropped the first MJ reference - “That’s shades of Michael” - as Lebron took the ball to the sideline, delayed, and then drove and hit a reverse layup. Ah, Doug, how the blonde hair can’t keep you from those sweet, sweet memories…
• First half concludes with the Cavs leading the Pistons 46-43. James leads all players with 19 pts, already matching his series high (10 pts in Game 1, 19 in Game 2). Rip has yet to score but the other 4 starters have spread the ball well. Murray (8 pts) and McDyess (6 pts) have contributed off the bench, helping balance the game well. Signs, as always, point towards Lebron coming out to score big and help take over the game in the second half. Zydrunas Ilgauskas hasn’t done much but I agree with the TNT crew who say the Cavs need to ignore this and keep feeding James the rock.

THIRD QUARTER

• Sager’s knowledge points out Chauncey Billups’ limited playing time (14 min.) in the first half was due to his continued trend of turnovers (3 so far). In the game break in the beginning of the game, Billups remarked that his turnovers have been rare and something he’s going to improve on. Maybe he’ll start next game…
• Big Z is stepping it up. He has two nice low-post buckets early and looks quite aggressive at the start of the 3rd looking aggressive. Keep it up and B-E aggressive…
• Rasheed Wallace hit back-to-back 3s. McDyess hit a long J. After Drew Gooden got T-ed up for arguing, Rip hit the free-throw. Billups hits a 3-pointer (his first FG of the night). The Pistons are on a quality run.
• Tashaun Prince looks aggressive, tipping in an offensive rebound. The Cavs are keeping it close. Too close, it seems. Detroit isn’t the kind of team you want to let stay in the game for too long, considering their experience.
• Cavs didn’t score in the last 4 minutes but still have a 1 pt lead. If only this were the end of the 4th…

FOURTH QUARTER

• James opens the fourth with a three-pointer, causing the arena to go nuts. Doug tells us when James scores 21 or more, the Cavs have never lost. Jinxed? Find out in 11 minutes…
• When Lebron drove to the lane and dished the ball out to Donyell Marshall, the ball clanked out. Will the duo never live down that infamous play? Will the Cavs release Marshall so Lebron won’t be haunted every time they exchange the ball? Find out in a few games when the Cavs’ off-season inevitably begins…
• Cleveland fans booed Chris Webber hard at the line. I thought they had some grudge, but instead, turns out the arena was showing a picture of Charles Barkley wearing a Pistons headband. Quality. All they need to do is show a loop of final possessions of the last two games.
• Steve Kerr’s “Thoughts” note allowed for Doug Collins to reference his MJ coaching days yet again, pointing out that Larry Hughes and Scott Williams are the only two active players who have played with both MJ and Lebron. This point makes me think that off-camera, Kerr and Collins probably like to sit back and relive old MJ memories together… holding hands… giggling.
• James drove to the lane and completely posterized Rasheed Wallace, receiving the whistle in the process. This is the kind of play you will see on Sportscenter every 30 seconds.
• Big Z received a quick dish from The King, prompting the Pistons to call a timeout and probably discuss how they are only down 4 pts.
• Billups has 5 turnovers after a travel was called. He’s not himself this series but the Pistons have worked around it. He can’t stay down forever, right?
• Daniel Gibson hits his second 3-pointer of the night, following a cross-court pass from James. *Insert “should’ve passed that Game 1 ender to…” comment here*
• Fun sequence: Mr. Big Shot (Billups for the ill-informed) hit a huge 3-pointer. Keeps the game close. Big Z hits a quick response shot for the Cavs, puts air back in the crowd. Lebron hits big 3-pointer. Timeout called. Someone’s playing up to his King status tonight… (Cavs up 84-76)
• Hamilton hits 2-of-2 free throws, bringing the game within 4 pts. Cleveland time-out called. King Watch: 30 pts, 9 ast, 9 rbs.
• Billups with a runner… Detroit within 2. Cavs Timeout. Out of timeout, James hits an off-balance shot that looked exactly like the Billups running leaner. Timeout called.
• Billups drives, dishes out to Prince who misses a three-pointer. Gooden gets fouled immediately following his rebound, makes two free-throws and the game is as good as over. If only Rip was really a Reggie Miller clone…
• GAME OVER - CAVS BEAT THE PISTONS 88-82

RANDOM GAME NOTES

• The sound that indicates a stat popping up on the bottom of the screen is the tiVo message notice. It’s the same sound that goes off every time I look at my list of recorded shows, telling me I need to update my tiVo box with a phone line. At the sound of it, my eyes immediately dart to bottom of the screen. I feel like TNT’s puppet.
• Kid Rock is shown on the screen. Tell me again what I have to do to be like Kid and date Pam Anderson? Lower standards and expectations, you say? Eh… forget it.
• I think I abused the dot dot dot (…) wouldn’t you say…? (ha)

• Lebron and the gang couldn’t get it done yet again, losing to the Detroit Pistons in Game 2, 79-76. Last moments looked just like Game 1. Get me a “Blame Lebron for…” shirt with a huge list on the back of items including: Games 1 & 2, Darfur, the War in Iraq, World Wars 1-3, etc. He is only 22. He will get going, folks. Hang in there.
  UPDATE: As I.G. points out, M.J. didn’t win his first until he was 25.
• Having seen only a handful of MMA (mixed martial arts) matches and thoroughly enjoying each and every one, Saturday’s much-hyped Chuck Liddell/Quinton Jackson match-up should be a hellova show. What are the bets on how close the pay-per-view dollars will compare to the Mayweather/De La Hoya record-breaker?
• There’s no crying in baseball! Here’s the scenario: John Lieber threw a pitch skimming the back of Dontrelle Willis. Later when Willis is on the mound, he tosses a pitch behind Lieber. Both dugouts are handed verbal warnings. After the inning concludes, Willis walks off the field yelling over to the Phillies’ dugout a few “sweet nothings”. Both teams spill out of the dugouts for an elongated shouting match. But take a look when they zoom in on Willis being held back — is he crying? During the video, when they zoom in, Willis’ face looks a bit “shiny” doesn’t it? Where’s Tom Hanks when you need him? By the way, Marlins go on to win with a Miguel Cabrera walk-off. (Sometime it might be good for the MLB to have the NBA’s strict bench-clearing rules, if for no reason other than to prevent players from looking so ridiculous.)
• WaPo’s Michael Wilbon says the NBA loses if their top-2 draft picks are out west and not frequently seen.
• William Rhoden of the NYTimes wildly suggests the NBA Commissioner wipe the Isiah Thomas mess clean and absolve the Knicks of their cap detbt. Silly.
• Anyone see the video of Andy Roddick’s smooth behind-the-back return? (please send if so) Roddick makes a nice play, smirks, throws his hands in the air, acknowledges every side of the crowd and then gets upset by wild card Gael Monfils. Oh the irony.
• Lawyers harass TheBigLead.com and other bloggers who posted those goofy AJ Hawk wedding photos, including quality ones of Brady Quinn as a YMCA member

Mike Brown called an isolation play for Lebron James to exercise his Game 1 demons and win the game, down by 1. Rip Hamilton plays tough D, creates minor contact but no blood, no foul - in the last ticks anyway. Even for the “king”. Ball rims out. Larry Hughes gets the rebound, pulls a fadeaway from about 7-feet. Clank. Varejao tips the ball towards the rim. Clank.

Detroit took it, 79-76. Yet again, Cleveland had the chance to win it but… no dice.

At some point we may have to concede that the “basketball gods” do not want the Cavs to win. Or we could one day look back and refer to this as “The Year” and laugh as Lebron finally makes his way to a certified contender and wins a handful of championships.

“You don’t get through Detroit training in no pool!” - says Wise ‘Bron.

Damn straight.

What a game. Lebron decides to shoot s’more (19 shots = 19 pts, 7 assists, 6 boards).

Tayshaun Prince is still strug-gling on offense (41 = 0-for-8, 1-2 FT, 1 pt). I know the man has to guard Lebron but still…

Jason Maxiell’s 15 pts off the bench were solid hype points. Any one else think his arm length isn’t regulation size? If you’re not 7-feet tall, you shouldn’t be able to dunk on folks without really jumping. Crazy.

Sheed, not surprisingly, has been solid in both games. He’s easily the Pistons’ best player. Consistent. But in all fairness he pulled a serious Mike Irvin on Verajao for that go-ahead bucket.

More tomorrow. Tough livin, Cavs. Bron. Let the NBA.com recap do for now.

Athletes who refer to themselves in the third-person — and do so with a serious, non-mocking sort of way — can either be easy to despise, or extremely entertaining. When T.O. says “I love me some me!” we laugh.

That aside, after all the fuss about how Michael Vick owned a house busted with suspicions of dog-fighting, The Starting Five points out that reports out of Virginia Beach say the city lacks enough evidence to link Vick or anyone else to any illegal acts.

Would it be too much to say that society has gotten out of hand with its constant “guilty until proven innocent” labeling?

Vick was presumed guilty in this dogfighting incident and also with the incident at the airport with the water bottle (no wrongdoing was found, other than having a secret compartment in a water bottle is enough to have loud media folks calling for your head/job/badge).

Even Chris Henry, who finds himself immersed in trouble more often than not, was recently wrongfully accused of failing a drug test.

For as much as athletes prove they don’t know when to remain silent on certain issues, sooner or later we will have George Stephanopolous or James Carville taking a leap into the sports world to replace Drew “Next question!” Rosenhaus. Maybe then they could present professional athletes in a positive light — with commercials plugging their service to community, shaking of millions of hands, signing of millions autographs and the occasional gentle kissing of babies — so as to deter their althete-clients from sticking their foot in their mouth. Athletes today just aren’t well-versed in political-speak to babble their way correctly and safely out/around their problems.

Although I’m not sure if GS and GC would represent someone who referred to themself in the third-person… but how much do we really know their most famous buddy/client/pal, Bill “Mr. Hilary” Clinton?

Not too many rational Bonds pieces can be found. (If you know of some, please send them our way) I happened upon one on award-winning writer Dave Zirin’s page, Edge Of Sports. The Starting Five did a great interview with Zirin not too long ago, so check that if you want better insight into his general sports positions and ideas.

“Bonds-bashing: bad sport” points out the absurdity of comparisons and criticisms of Bonds alone as the end-all evil-doer in all things steroids. Zirin doesn’t defend Bonds so much as he points out how the FBI, MLB and critics tend to single out Bonds as a “cheater” much more than they do other players. On the steroids point, he makes a fun food-comparison and offers a quote from a late-great Negro Leagues star:

Yes, the man is plagued by suspicions of steroid use. But despising a pro athlete for using performance-enhancing drugs is like hating a chef for cooking with trans fats. As the late Buck O’Neil, the Negro Leagues star, said, “The only reason we didn’t use steroids is we didn’t have them.”

ESPN’s Jemele Hill called for a “smiting” from The Almighty on Bonds and compares the upcoming situation of breaking Hank Aaron’s all-time home run record to the OJ Simpson trial. Hopefully she is referring to the racial divide and not comparing the situation of steroids to double-homicide (as Zirin points out as well), but maybe yelling at Skip Bayless day-after-day is starting to have an effect on her…

They don’t call him “King James” for nothing.

As it goes with kings, Lebron James has no problem with delegation. In Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals, James delegated shot-taking responsibilites to two of his Cleveland teammates in the final possessions of the game.

The teammates — Zydrunas Ilgauskas and Donyell Marshall — missed both shots and cost the Cleveland Cavaliers a chance of stealing home-court advantage away from Detroit.

After the game, Charles Barkley and Magic Johnson spoke their piece, ripping James for not having the “Let me do it” mentality. The fire. The desire to take over at clutch moments and be selfish with the rock.

Magic, Charles and any other person placing blame on King James are asbsolutely wrong.

In both moments, James held the ultimate decision-making power. In both moments, James ultimately made the right decision.

Why should James be blamed for his teammates’ shortcomings? Even if — this is a HUGE if — James elected to pass the ball rather than shoot just to escape blame, he is still not at fault. Most of the good point guards would have made the same play 9 out of 10 times.

ESPN’s John Hollinger points out — while breaking down the numbers of why ‘Bron’s decision was statistically correct — that a certain 2-time MVP would have made that pass, 100 times out of 100. Criticism never does seem to flow in the same direction, consistently, in sports.

James plays in the National Basketball Association, a league full of professional ball players. Every player’s role is different but they tend to have similar goals: run, pass, catch and shoot and the bottom line is to score more points than the other team.

The Cavs were this close scoring more than than the Pistions, with the final shot for Cleveland coming from Marshall in the corner beyond the arc. Wide open. Click-clack. The rim had its own Under Armor moment and decided “WE MUST PROTECT THIS HOUSE!”

With 12 seconds to go, a timeout was called. A play was set. The Cavs executed the play to perfection. Lebron James executed the play to perfection. Donyell Marshall screwed everything up.

Don’t blame the team player for assuming his teammates are out on the floor to contribute. NBA players are constantly accused of selfishness but Lebron was anything but in this case. Despite his status as an NBA superstar, he executed a coach-designed play to perfection, set to go for the win on the road. Yes, a layup was possible, but on the road the odds were against the Cavs.

The media/critic/hater backlash is overblown.

Jesters dance, chefs cook and concubines… well, you get the point.

Kings delegate.

Lebron made the right decision at the end of the game, considering Marshall’s 3-point reliability in the playoffs thus far (remember the 6 threes against the Nets). His status as a superstar is the only reason he receives blame. If Steve Blake or TJ Ford makes the same decision, the blame is placed on the missed shot.

But James is “The Next…” so until he hits buzzer-beaters, game-winners and wags his tongue in the wind, the criticism will continue.

For tonight’s Game 2 in Detroit, James promises to shoot more and do all the right things to get past all this undeserved last-play criticism. Should be a classic tonight. Two things: don’t expect Tayshaun Prince to go 1-for-11 again. And don’t expect James to hold back on shooting the rock.

*For some reason this issue reminds me of the Chris Rock special that talks about the Bill Clinton/Monica Lewinsky sexual relations incident and jokes, asking how famous one must be to catapult someone who you “mess with” into their own fame…

Greg Oden Will Have Tim Duncan To Credit For #1 Pick
Remember the debates about whether to pick Kevin Durant or Greg Oden? Gone. Oden is the pound-for-pound, undisputed consensus #1 pick. Now that all but 4 teams have faded into the off-season, Tim “The Big Fundamental” Duncan has taken the big stage, yet again, showing how important it is to have a big man on your roster. Lottery teams have no choice but to take notice, especially considering recent history: Duncan and Shaq, the premier big men of the league, hold 7 of the last 8 NBA championship titles.

Wow indeed.

If we can draw the parallel without being punched in the face, skipping over Oden would be 10-times bigger than the Houston Texans skipping over Reggie Bush last year.

Watching the NBA Through A Racial Lens
Henry Abbott, of TrueHoop (via ESPN), posted the thoughts of a poet/author named Sherman Alexie regarding the NBA from a racial point-of-view. It is poignant and very much worth reading. I have a snippet here but for the entire post go to TrueHoop:

I’m positive the anti-NBA reaction is racial AND racist.

First of all, in racial terms, the game has become so black American and internationally dominated that the typical white American fan has nobody special to root for. That’s not racism, but it is racial. And it’s not a problem. If a Native American ever makes it into the NBA, he will instantly become my favorite player because I will racially, culturally, and physically identify with him. I understand and completely accept why so many white guys love Larry Bird, just as I understand why there are 1,000 black kids in Kobe Bryant jerseys at every Laker game played here in Seattle. It’s a tribal thing.

But the racial aspects of fandom can easily become racist. And I think that many white fans, having no player like Larry Bird or even Tom Chambers to root for, have consciously and/or subconsiously turned that lack of a special white player into an indictment of the league in general. And since the league is black it becomes an indictment of blackness.

Read the rest here.

• Bill Simmons and the “woe is me… Boston got screwed” entry.
  (I’m old school but can’t say a city is cursed when they have as many titles as Boston. Now those Cubs, they have plenty of reason to burn a couch or two…)
• Keyshawn Johnson Retires, Joins ESPN
• Georgetown’s Roy Hibbert Definitely Staying Put, Green to Go Pro
• ESPN Unveils New NFL Blog “Hashmarks”
• MJ Assault By Wizznutzz
• Why No Super Bowl At FedEx Stadium?