Friday Feb 19th Daily Thoughts and Picks

Hey there guys,
First off I want to apologize for the lack of writing in yesterday's thoughts and picks post and that I went without my Olympic watch post. I have been having some major computer problems as of late but I am working on getting those problems fixed. Today we have no problems. As far as my picks went I was 1-1 in SEC Men's Basketball as Florida played a surprisingly close game against Auburn, whose DeWayne Reed dropped 22, but the Gators held on for the W, and Vanderbilt pretty much locked up their NCAA appearance with their defeat of Ole Miss on the road behind A.J. Ogilvy's dominating performance with 27 pts and 8 boards. I went 0-2 in NBA however as Nuggets won on the road despite Lebron James triple double (43 POINTS 13 REB 15 ASSISTS!!!). Carmelo dropped 40pts and Kenyon Martin's double double (18pts 17rbs) were just too much for the Cavs who were playing short handed in the post as they await Antwawn Jamison's first game, and following that the Celtics handed the Lakers their first loss without Kobe, and also paid them back for the 1 point loss back in Boston. Well today I have a lot on my mind so I am going to cover a little more today, like some more about the Olympics, what I want to hear from Tiger Woods today, more on Miss State's fans, and about the big moves that happened near the NBA trade deadline. As far as games go we have got some good ones going on in the NBA today with the Cavs playing at Charlotte as the Bobcats, with new F Tyrus Thomas, fight to hold on to the 8th playoff spot, Milwaukee is 2 games BEHIND that 8th spot and they play at Detroit today, Dallas travels to Disney World to take on the Orlando Magic, in a game that I am really interested in is the red hot Miami Heat traveling to the land of Elvis to take on the Memphis Grizzlies who are trying to get themselves back in the playoff picture, than the Hawks travel to Arizona to take on the Phoenix Suns, and Boston, coming off their win over their rival the Lakers now travel to Portland to take on new Trail Blazer Marcus Camby. Hope you enjoy.



Daily Thoughts.....

-Olympics, The Winners
While interest is picking up in the Olympics, 80% of Americans saying that they have begun watching over the last couple of days (thank you hockey), I have begun to hear an interesting question about the Olympics. When should it be on? Should it be broadcast as they happen live? or rebroadcast later in the day during prime time? Maybe I'm a little slow but why can it not be both? Right now it is already being broadcast on 3 separate channels, that I have watched, NBC, USA, and CNBC. Why not designate one channel to just keep it live all of the time? I mean this is the Winter Olympics. They only happen once every 4 years. Surely you can just delay whatever TV show you've got going on for 2-3 weeks. The Summer Olympics really don't have this problem as it is going on when most prime time TV shows have already ended their season. I really think that one channel, let's say, USA should just broadcast Olympics all of the time during the day until they end, changing back and forth between the different events that are going on, and if there is a certain event that Americans would like to watch without any interruption, say US Hockey? Speed Skating? Curling? Snowboard Halfpipe? than play that event on CNBC, with a replay during prime time on NBC, for the people who have to work during the day. I don't see why this isn't possible. TV shows are going to be on every year at the same designated time. Unless they suck and than other TV shows come on. But the Winter Olympics, easily less popular than the Summer Olympics, is often overshadowed by Other Channels still showing their weekly TV shows. I think as a country that it really shouldn't be that bad to have to watch the Olympics for 2 weeks. NBC does a great job right now. I do however think USA could be showing during prime time other than House re runs.

On to some good things How bout the USA on this past Wednesday? 3 Gold Medals 1 silver and 2 bronze. Wow. And I have to be honest it was the Gold won by Lindsey Vonn that impressed me more than anything. With all of the drama surrounding her over the past few days talking about how she was hurt and they didn't know how long she'd be able to go, if she'd be able to hold up, etc. But in the end she nailed that downhill. And what made it even better, at least to me, was that the commentators could not stop about how awful her form was, how she was doing so many things wrong, yet SOMEHOW she managed to win. Suck it. Lindsey Vonn, despite the critics, despite the injury, accomplished her goal. She won a Gold Medal. And I am not trying to take anything away from the other Gold winners on Wednesday, Congrats Shani Davis, and Shaun White was SIIIIIIIIIIIICK including breaking out his new move at the end of his 2nd run. But both of them were uninjured favorites. But as much I was happy for her win they began to compare her breakout to that of Usain Bolt back in the Summer Olympics. Ehhhh. Usain Bolt was a monster sprinter and he dominated the competition that he went up against. You can say that Vonn was injured and that kept her from having a better time but Usain Bolt didn't just win Gold he shattered World Records. I mean just blew them out of the Water. And he did that with each of his Olympic Events. Oh yeah and he is also 6'5. Most sprinters go in the 5'10 and below range. Anyway back to the American part of this I have been talking about Gold Medal winners but what about the job done by the non-gold medal winners. And maybe I don't know the stories or the competition as well as others but I have to think that Julia Mancuso winning a silver Medals Wednesday and yesterday should be enough to qualify her as the most impressive non-gold medal winner. I mean Lindsey Vonn BARELY won her Gold. If it wasn't for the performance of the Olympics so far than Mancuso would have won Gold, as she did in Turino 4 years ago. I also feel that Apolo Ohno needs to be mentioned here as well because he also did something great, and while the actual Silver that he won was partly because of a crash that took out the two other skaters closest too him, it is more for tying as the most decorated Winter Olympian in United States history. Congratulations to both.

-Golf, Tiger Woods and other annoying stories
So Tiger Woods is holding a speaking today. For the first time in 3 months the greatest golfer of our generation, if not all time, will come speak to the media regarding his status as a golfer. I know that there are a lot of people out there that are tired of hearing about him and you know what I agree, but the fact is that golf, which is something that I follow, NEEDS Tiger Woods. How many of you knew that 6 tournaments have already taken place? That Geoff Ogilvy (SBS), Ryan Palmer (Sony), Bill Haas (Bob Hope), Ben Crane (Farmers), Steve Stricker (Northern Trust), and Dustin Johnson (Pebble Beach) have already won tournaments so far this year? I love the fact that self proclaimed Golf fans really don't care about a sport once it's star is gone. And as sad as it is this game of Golf really does need Tiger. He brings media attention to the game. ESPN doesn't show highlights of Golf anymore, CBS doesn't advertise when they will be showing a Golf tournament on TV, it is amazing how little anyone cares when the star is gone. There were once talks about how golf had 2 stars. Woods and Mickelson. Tiger and Lefty. It was a great rivalry. This shows how big of a star Phil really is. And it shows just HOW big of a star Tiger really is. Tiger makes other players a little more famous when he plays. If there is a tournament at the end and Tiger is one of the competitors people actually here about who he is competing against. People actually remember that guys name later on. "Wait that guy sounds familiar... OH! Didn't he face off with Tiger at the end of X Open?" Now there could be a great finish in Golf and barely anyone would know it ever happened. And if Tiger comes back he will not only bring his game back with him, and knowing Tiger he will probably come back with a vengeance, a "want to" that no other golfer can match, and will probably re-assert himself as the best on the course, but Tiger will also bring with him 3 months worth of Drama that includes a bunch of ugly girls, a threatened divorce by a wife who showed she only cares about his money, and a stop at a Sex Rehab Clinic in Mississippi, of all places. More fans than ever will pay attention to the game if he were to return. His reputation will be forever tarnished and there is nothing he can do about that but try to overshadow it as much as he possibly can by winning more tournaments and not get caught with anymore women other than his own wife. Tiger Woods, come back. Golf needs you. And one more thing Tiger. Brand loyal bud. Stay brand loyal.

There are four stories out there that I am getting really tired of. Not so much stories as re-occurring figures in the media highlights. And Tiger is the one that I will be the happiest when I don't have to wake up and hear or read something about him. But you know who else I am ready to see the media forget about for awhile? Mark McGwire. Barry Bonds has never admitted to using steroids, even though we all knew, and his life is scrutinized every time his name comes up. Why are we bashing McGwire now? It's not like you can look at two pictures of McGwire, one from early in his career and one from later on, and not think to yourself, hmmmm he looks much bigger the older he gets. Yet we are going to bash him now? If there is anything I am going to say about Mark McGwire is that he is retarded if he thinks that those steroids did not help him hit home runs. They helped him stay healthy when he would have otherwise been healthy and kept him from losing as much muscle mass the older he got. Cause if he had been hurt and considerably weaker he would have still been hitting those home runs. Riiiiiight. Me too. But really let's stop checking up on McGwire every time he leaves his house to go to the park. The other two that I am tired of hearing about are both football related. Tim Tebow for starters. And I am going to start by saying that I DO NOT THINK THAT TEBOW WILL BE A SUCCESSFUL NFL QUARTERBACK. But for the love of God quit bashing this kid. Which is what he is. A kid. A year older than me. And I'm a dumbass of a kid. But when I listen to a program that is going to be talking about the DEFENSIVE LINEMAN in the draft and they save a special piece of that segment to bash Tim Tebow and talk about how they don't think he should get drafted here or there or anywhere than it is beginning to get to be ridiculous. When has a player coming out of college EVER received this much scrutiny? The negative coverage on Tim Tebow since the end of this past season makes all of the combined coverage on Reggie Bush seem so insignificant. Reggie Bush is on Interactive Tuesday while Monday Night Football. That is the difference. And I have a few more things that I am working on that, yes, Tebow will be a part of and, yes, I will say why I don't think he should be drafted. But it is going to be when I cover Quarterbacks. And than later on when I look at the draft when it's over. I am not going to talk about him whenever the idea of the draft comes up unless I am asked specifically. Why can't we just wait and see what happens? And finally, and I think I speak for a lot of people when I say this, but I don't care about any news considering Brett Favre's future in the NFL until he is not on an NFL roster come Pre-Season. It is absolutely pointless to worry about it. It's like if a Soap Opera had a buch of great years than suddenly started showing the same story during each of it's last seasons. Whats the point? The next time I talk about Brett Favre will either be breaking down his performance in the (insert team)'s first Pre-Season game or when I talk about his official retirement after the regular season starts. Please don't ask me for any info on Brett. Because I don't care.

-NCAA Basketball, Miss State's Fans
I have to admit I may have jumped on the Mississippi State fans a little too much the other day. I'm not saying that what they did was any less worse than it was, and their actions really were classless, but the facts are that they are not original actions. These are not first time offenses for college basketball fans as a whole. In fact the two major crimes committed by the Mississippi State fans have both been done in recent sports history. LSU fans got a hold of Tim Tebow's phone number and had been calling and texting hateful things towards him the week prior to the LSU vs. Florida football game back in 2007, and the throwing of water bottles and things on the court was in the news earlier this season during the Pittsburgh and West Virginia Basketball game in which West Virginia fans threw coins, water bottles, and other objects at opposing players, coaches, and at the officials. Blaming bad officials? Ole Miss students threw water bottles and smuggled Vodka bottles at Alabama players, coaches, and officials after the 2007 game. And those are just the incidents that Cameras got a hold of. What goes on that Cameras don't catch can sometimes be much worse. What separates Mississippi State from those other schools was that they combined them together the way they did. They not only called and threatened Kentucky F DeMarcus Cousins but many did so in a blatantly racist manner. Now while other schools might have done it and I'm sure Cousins has had to deal with it at some point in time in his life but what makes this worse in the case of Mississippi State is the first part of that name. Mississippi. Considered by many the most backwards state in the US, Mississippi is still fighting the image that it is considered a bunch of white trash rednecks. Harassing Cousins in a racist way set back a lot of hard work that both Miss State and Ole Miss have done to try and wipe away that image. I could go into this much further but I really don't like the topic as I stand by that anyone who says that Mississippi or Alabama is filled with racists has obviously never been to either of those states. Not to say that it doesn't exist but we have progressed. MOVING ON. Another thing about calling DeMarcus Cousins is that when LSU did so to Tim Tebow there was never anyone blatantly laughing about it or admitting it in front of the camera. While everyone knew that LSU did what they did they tried their very best to avoid digging themselves a bigger hole when the cameras arrived. Not Miss State. One Camera panned the student section and there were two students who were holding up their phones showing that they were calling DeMarcus Cousins. Really? Who is that dumb? And than to combine it with the throwing of objects out onto the court? It doesn't matter how few things were thrown. So while I admit that I may have come out to strong against Mississippi State fans, I do stand by that what they did was classless, no matter how hard you try to shine the light on other programs, schools, or individuals, it does not make what they did any less wrong. As a final note to this I wish Mike Slive would do something about the SEC Officials before the conference gets any more embarrassed than it already has been by the laziest, dumbest, and just downright worst officiating group, both football and basketball, in the COUNTRY.

-NBA, Great Games and Trade Deadline
Got to admit there were some pretty good NBA games going on yesterday. The Boston Celtics at the Los Angeles Lakers? The Rivalry of the NBA. And the game was just as good as the rivalry with Boston leading for most of the game and holding on to win by 1, but before we were able to watch that we got to see what I think might be a possible NBA Finals preview between the Nuggets and the Cavaliers, and what a game it was. Lebron James threw down 40+ points and had a triple double but the Nuggets won in overtime. Great basketball. Professional Basketball. Which means that there can be trades to help better your team. Like trades made by Cleveland to bring in Antwan Jamison, Dallas to bring in Caron Butler and Brendan Haywood, Portland bringing in Marcus Camby, and Houston getting rid of Tracy McGrady and ending up with Kevin Martin. All great moves by some contenders in the last couple of days. Houston is a YOUNG team and now they have Aaron Brooks and Kevin Martin, two young but very talented guards, to go along with F Trevor Ariza. Imagine if they can get Yao Ming to play a healthy season next year. You're talking about a possible surprise contender in Houston next season. I can't wait to see if these guys can close out the season right and see how they do in the playoffs. I am a big Marcus Camby fan and it seems like he just continues to defy the age part of his game and at 35 years old he is still rebounding the ball better than anyone not named Dwight Howard. Hey I even like Boston picking up tiny guard Nate Robinson. Ray Allen may still be good with the game on the line but how about the other 47 1/2 minutes? Robinson averages more points per 48 than anyone else on Boston's roster and though he isn't so hot on defense I expect him to be a spark for the Celtics during the final weeks of the season and even into the playoffs. I'll get to the Cleveland trade here in a second but I want to go ahead and say that I think the best move of the 4 was for Dallas to bring in Caron Butler and Brendan Haywood. Haywood is a very good C who I expect to thrive playing down low along side Dirk Nowitzki. With Haywood, a solid rebounder, manning the boards that will allow for Dirk to go outside more often and stretch the defense to allow for driving lanes. That will give Haywood some 1-on-1 match ups down low where he is very good with the ball in his hands. And with Haywood and Nowitzki playing well that will give Caron Butler, who is very good but has been struggling this year as he has been in a terrible locker room (Arenas and Crittendon's teammate) and has also been focused on a lot more after having a great 08-09 season, a lot more chances to get back in to rhythm and maybe make a statement in the playoffs. Now onto Cleveland and bringing in Antwawn Jamison. I like this move in that it brings another player, and scoring threat, down low to help out the aging Shaq, and Jamison can still pose a post threat when Anderson Varejao is in the game. There are two big questions that arise from this deal, with the first being can this help take LeBron and the Cavs over the hump and win a Championship? My opinion I don't think they really needed Jamison but it certainly doesn't hurt to have him. This is still a great team and when it gets Mo Williams back healthy should be a big threat come playoff time. The other question is will this be a big enough acquisition to help keep LeBron in Cleveland. And I'm going to just go ahead and say that I don't ever think he was going to leave in the first place. Hometown, LOTS of money, and if they make it to the Finals? Done deal. Rest easy Cleveland, the King is not going anywhere.

My Picks.....

NBA

SPURS (-3) by 13 @ 76ers

NUGGETS (-5.5) by 14 @ wizards

CAVALIERS (-5) by 10 @ bobcats

pacers @ HORNETS (-4) by 14

BUCKS (push) by 3 @ pistons

BULLS (-2) by 13 @ timberwolves

RAPTORS (-3) by 23 @ nets

mavericks @ MAGIC (-6.5) by 14

HEAT by 1 @ grizzlies (-5.5) <----- UPSET

hawks @ SUNS (-4) by 1

JAZZ (-6) by 19 @ warriors

celtics @ TRAIL BLAZERS (-3) by 1

Alright guys hope you enjoy. If you have any comments, topics you want me to cover, games you want me to go more in depth with, or just general questions let me know.