Jerrybear, my recollection that far back is hazy and all my sports reference books are somewhere else (paging BobT, paging BobT) but as I recall it was the Houston Rockets that talked about deliberately tanking games so that they could get Ralph Sampson. The Clippers may have done so too. I doubt the Cavs could’ve done it because that would mean that they had a deliberate plan of action at that time, which I highly doubt.
New Orleans Saints fan. I don’t even know where to start…
For some ungodly reason, having never lived in a place with pro basketball (I grew up in Baton Rouge), when I moved to Denver I decided to get interested in the Denver Nuggets. Again, I don’t even know where to start.
At least I’m used to losing…
Good points, but you are forgetting the moves they will make in the meantime, that will counteract all of the points you mentioned. I think they are pinning far too much hope on that second round draft pick Yugslavian point guard. Don’t forget the curse of the Knicks as well. McDyess will probably have a good season, get resigned for the max, and then pull a Grant Hill.
Very true. My roommate is a huge Knick fan and I love being the first to report Layden’s latest brainstorm to him. Hee hee. But like I said, if Layden shows a little patience and doesn’t sign any big contracts for the next few seasons, things will look up. Probably won’t happen, though.
The Yugoslavian point guard is legit though. He’s not going to be a Kidd or a Stockton, but he could very easily be a Bibby-Stackhouse type. Not a franchise player necessarily, but someone who will be extremely effective - especially for a second rounder. He’ll need some NBA development time and will probably ride the bench the first season or two he’s in there, of course.
Who I feel bad for in last year’s draft was Denver. They could have had a rookie front court of Stoudamire and Butler (two ROY candidates) but passed them up. Not that they made bad choices in Hilario and Tskitishvili, but they could have done better.
Huge Dallas Mavericks fan… and I’m glad to see all the NBA smack goin’ down in here.
I fully expected to be ranting about a loss to the Spurs today. We never seem to win against the Big Boys in the West. I fucking HATE the way the Mavs slow down and stop running whenever they get a decent lead, just to let the other team back into the game. They freakin did it twice last night, once in the 2nd, and again in the 4th. UGH!!! Visions of the 30 pt lead vs. the Lakers and their 16 pt lead against the Spurs earlier this year were dancing thru my head. And they absolutely will not stand up and play tough versus the Kings, yielding layups galore until my head is ready to explode from pounding it against the wall. WTF!!! At least foul somebody! Do something besides gape in amazement as their jock swoops by your face!
But every once in a while, it goes the other way too.
We are CITY, not FOSSE.
I read in the paper today that the Vikings are considering taking an Offensive lineman in the draft. What. The. Fuck. Are. You. Thinking. Need I point out to the world that your D has sucked ass for the better part of a decade?!?!
hardcore, I would be ranting about a Spurs loss to the Mavericks today.
But, as it turns out, I’m not really that mad. The Mavs are a good team, and Lord knows the Spurs were due for a loss.
Might as well happen with Tim Duncan getting poked in the eye. :dubious:
Detroit Red Wings fan here. They’ve been winning lately, except for the game VanMassenHoven raped them out of, so this rant won’t have as much steam as it did a little while ago. Still…
Okay, we’re in a losing streak so you play Sergei Federov 15 minutes against the Avalanche!? And why the fuck keep Cujo in goal? Players can skate around the net faster than he can go from one side of the crease to the other. He has no side to side movement at all. To make up for this, he plays right at the outside edge of the crease. Brilliant! That way people only have to step around him to have a wide open net. Bench the dog and put in Legace. Better yet, trade him and Luc Robitaille to Phoenix for Sean Burke and Teppo Numminen.
now I feel better.
Sigh…once again the Wolverine Women managed to play just well enough to get my hopes up, but not well enough to win. They were leading Penn State 20-15 in the first half, and I had visions of a big upset dancing in my head. Then, all of a sudden Penn State was leading, and before I knew it they were up by eleven. Michigan was not able to recover, and wasted a fine effort (28 points) by junior center Jennifer Smith. “Smitty” got very little help in the scoring department, as none of her teammates could muster double figures in points.
Oh well, I will always love them no matter how much they break my heart.
Memo to: The Oakland Athletics
From: A Concerned yet Disgruntled Fan
Dear Sirs,
Recently, it has come to my attention that you possess three of the top starting pitchers in all of baseball, the American League MVP, an all-star third baseman, and a dominating closer. I am writing this letter to inform you of your surfeit of talent, as I can only assume that your recent playoff performance suggests that you yourselves remain blissfully unaware. Perhaps, with this clarification, you will now cease playing with all the spunk and vigour of comatose arthritic three-toed sloths and actually win a godforsaken playoff series.
Best regards,
Treviathan
RugbyMan: I’ll second the “fark you” to Craig Patrick because he keeps his dumbass brother as the coach of the Wilkes-Barre team (I’ve got season tickets). The players just do not respond to him at all. I’ve heard from several sources that during their Calder Cup run 2 seasons ago, the players sort of took the coaching duties upon themselves and that the team was really being run by a couple of veterans, not Patrick.
The Los Angeles Dodgers… after all the shit they have pulled the last few years…they even had Mike Soscia and he left them for the Angels…
And now…the GREAT Sandy Koufax…the greatest pitcher in the history of baseball (ask any expert) …an icon in Los Angeles…has cut all ties with the team because of some bullshit from the rag that now owns the team because Satan O’Malley sold them a few years for some unknown reason…
I grew up in Dodger Stadium and now i would not spend the gas money to get there if I had free tickets.
And don’t get me started on that phony Kevin Brown and his private jet from the Dodgers so his family doesn’t have to be subjected to merely first class travel on a commercial jet…
I wish they would move back to Brooklyn.
As am I.
What the hell are they thinking? They let good players go and get no compensation for them (A. Williams being the exception)
Lets see Hearts, Centers, Simeon Rice, Pitman, now their top 3 recievers Boston Sanders and Jenkins. Jones (rb) is a bust and Jake the snake is pretty much gone as well. To dismantal an offense in a win now year for Coach Mac is crazy. Oh and include the fact we have a new offensive Co. This might not be so bad, had we a good defense to rely upon.
Letting Boston go without any form of tag is dumb. He only lead the league in yards in 2001.
Boston will be the top reciever on most Free agent boards
Plummer is also right up there for the QB ratings as well. (admittedly a weak QB class this year)
Coach Mac is a fantastic Defensive minded coach and get more out of less than any other coach The new Off Co, is one of the best WR coaches in the buisness, Greene is a fantastic Def line coach But not enough talent there.
Their ability to sign a 1st round draft pick is historically worse in the league. If Bidwell would step down maybe things will get better. In a division with the 49ers Rams and Seahawks they need better talent and support from management to suceed.
Coah Mac will be a great coach one day… I just doubt it will be in the desert.
Hello Denver Broncos -
Brian Griese is not the quaterback of the future. Yes I know there is only one John Elway. I am not expecting Elway . . . but a player with a third his heart and half his brains would be nice. Griese does not show up for the big games, and thinking on it he only shows about half the time for the not big games. The kids got the personality of a brain dead advocato and he is not a gamer. Let us move on and find someone else.
Oh, and please PLEASE don’t replace him with a guy who farts dust. coughBeurleincough
To Butch Davis, head coach of the Cleveland Browns:
By God, if you don’t start Kelly Holcomb over Tim Couch, you should be run out of town on a rail!
It’s February, I’m a Leafs fan, and I…really don’t have much to complain about. I guess exorcising Harold Ballard’s ghost did work, after all.
Which really doesn’t mean shit, given the bizarre formula used to calculate QB rating. Plummer wins you a few games a year, and tanks on the rest. He’d do better with a decent team around him, but he’s not a QB you really ought to be shelling out for.
On a different note, I did love my realization this year that both Super Bowl QBs had been cut by the Redskins. Sheesh. :smack:
I swear, give me half a chance and I’ll have Snyder’s head on a stick. Consider that the Skins have–or have had in the recent past–top-quality quarterbacks, running backs, corners, linebackers, and a reasonably talented supporting cast, and this is what we get?
And Spurrier: fuck you for not putting my man Darrel Green in for some actual playing time in his last game in the NFL, which didn’t mean shit for the team anyway. The man’s been a fucking rock at corner for 20 years, and is still damn good in his old age. I watched him shut down somebody good (I think it may have been Boston) while playing with bronchitis in a 38 year-old body. Shit, I remember watching him–years ago–jump clear over a tackler and run for the TD while returning the ball. He worked his ass off for the Skins for two decades, and didn’t even make a fuss when he got replaced with young talent, so give him a few freaking minutes of game time.
And the less said about the Sox, the better. The only hope I have for next season is a total collapse by the fucking Yankees.
Ah, mes amours, The Montreal Canadians.
It’s so nice to root for a team that has been go great in the past, but now hangs on to its position of 4th in the division, 9th in the conferance with such tenacity. Signing chronic underachiever Patrice Brisebois to a 3 year, 13 million dollar contract so he can produce 20-30 points a season. Not to mention trips to Europe when he’s supposed to be at home, recovering from an injury. Don’t you love the devotion that shows.
To have to start Jose Theodore, not matter how hot the back up goalie is, or how bad Theo’s recent play has been, (he’s ranked 70th in the league in GAA) just to soothe Theo’s ego.
Mm mm, and we get to add Patrick Traverse, a defenseman so reliable on the blueline, he should be wearing the other teams jersey.
Ah, to root for the Bleu Blanc Rouge.
Elwood, is CP the influence for this thread? 
It wouldn’t surprise me a bit! Nothing quite like nepotism, is there? If you read Andrew Ference’s comments when he was traded to Calgary, where he slammed the organization’s ability to develop young talent, I would believe just about every word you hear about the Baby Pen management. The blame gets passed around in circles: the coaches say that the scouts don’t get them sufficient players, and the scouts say the coaches aren’t doing anything with the excellent talent they seek out, and NOTHING CHANGES! With the string of busts that recent #1 draft picks have become, something is clearly wrong, and while Detroit and NY can afford mistakes in development, Pittsburgh clearly cannot! If the Pittsburgh Penguins are ever to return to the glory days of beautiful, offensive hockey and the Stanley Cup, then there has to be a shakeup in both the scouting and development of young prospects, and until Patrick does this (and has the courage to fire his own brother), things are going to stay as they are 
Still, once the NHL works out a REAL change in the CBA (and they are committed to change, unlike the nod that baseball gives), I think the Pens will be back, so keep the faith and remember, friends don’t let friends become Flyers fans
Ohh, and ** Scott**, it seems that we have mutually exclusive interests (Montreal, 62 points; Pittsburgh, 59) so it seems that one of us will be sadly disappointed come early April ;).