April 29th – Athlete Talk’s Links of the Week!

Hi everyone, welcome to another edition of the Athlete Talk Links of the Week.  In this episode, we talk about NBA referee bias, Phillip Simmons and the dangers of Twitter.  Lets jump right into your Links!

The Dallas Mavericks have a secret admirer.  However, the secret admirer is NOT Danny Crawford.  The Mavs have not had a good record (1-15, now 1-16) in games ref’d by Mr. Crawford.  Brings to mind the whole Tim Donaghy situation, and how he was able to pick NBA games at an 80% rate just by knowing who was ref’ing each game.  Mr. Donaghy also claimed Danny was proud of his Mavs hating:

It didn’t help the credibility of Crawford, who will work with Dick Bavetta and Rodney Mott, when disgraced ref Tim Donaghy claimed that Crawford bragged about the Mavs’ miserable record in his playoff games.

Hubie Brown has said a lot of sh*t.  A lot of what he says is excessively vague or non-sensical. But one thing he has said recently that does NOT fall into either of those categories is that coaches in the NBA must adjust their game  plan for how the referees are calling the game.  Name me one other sport where the referees call for their own separate game plan.

Twitter accounts are getting people in trouble again! 1310 ‘The Ticket’ in Dallas has fired one of their producers for comments he made via twitter during Monday’s Mavs – Spurs game. The Spurs won that game 92-89 to take a 3-1 series lead. At the time, I guess he was “drunk in a bar” (can’t fault him for that) when he made a few pretty ridiculous less-than-140-character statements via his twitter account, including: “Congrats to all the dirty Mexicans in San Antonio.”

ABC creates fictional character Phillip Simmons to Executive Produce 30 for 30. Current (and real) Executive Producer Bill Simmons not pleased.  You would think ABC would be able to get the names of their own employees right when they post a picture on ABCnews.com, eh?

Athlete Talk Drive to the Finals LEADERBOARD!

It’s time for another quick update for the Athlete Talk Drive to the Finals pick ‘em competition.  I am on my lunch break right now, and I have 15 minutes until I have to be back at work.  I am tempted to sign Abhi’s name at the bottom of this post, just in case this post sucks hard.  We’ll see if I can resist the temptation.

First place on our leaderboard goes to:

‘TxKing’ with 365 points. For every King a Crown, and you are currently sporting the most prestigious crown of all: 1st Place on the Athlete Talk Drive to the Finals Leaderboard!  You correctly picked the daily point leader Joe Johnson for last night.  Which is better than ‘CodyTravers’, TRS_Carl (who the fuck is that?), ‘Shitassbutt’ (couldn’t make it off the toilet last night), and ‘Surgeons23′ who all forgot to make their pick.

‘jgc04b’ is 2nd with 359 points. The race at the top is pretty close, with the difference between first and third place only being 12 points.  It is early in the race but kudos to you for appearing twice in the top 3 so far, let’s hope that eventually your computer algorithms mess up so us humans can have a chance to beat you.  Otherwise, our only hope is a human like robot from the future come back in time to save the human race from total robot domination.  Hey, that’s a pretty good idea for a movie (or three), and possibly a TV series.

SteveAlbini is third wth 353 points. We are getting close to the end of the first round, a lot of teams will start being eliminated now which reduces players available each day.  Steve did not appear on the last leaderboard, so let’s see if he can keep up this positive momentum and continue to make smart picks.  I just want to know I’ll be there rooting against you all the way.

The Antoine Walker Award for the Biggest Fall from Grace: ‘it BURNS when bondrook dominates’ with 295 points. After racing to the top of the leaderboard before the 1st update, you have slowed considerably since then and currently occupy 10th place in our standings.  I agree that this analogy completely works because being 1st in the Athlete Talk Drive to the Finals league is a lot like being paid $110 million dollars over the course of your NBA career, while being 10th in the standings is a lot like writing hot checks to casinos, declaring bankruptcy, and playing basketball in Puerto Rico.

Last Place: ‘Dan’s Entry is going to spank yours’ with 264 points. Still time to recover, especially since he is “Saving Timmy (Duncan) for the finals.”  A lot of time left but you are down almost 100 points.  You will need some help or some people to stop making their picks.  I’ve already missed making two of mine.  You’re welcome.

Woo hoo! I am not last!

-Abhi

- Okay okay…Carl

Check out our other posts about Athlete Talk’s Drive to the Finals Fantasy Pick ‘em League here:

NBA Drive to the Finals Challenge!

1st Update!

4/23 Friday Tweets – NFL Draft and More!

What’s up Twitter fans, time for your Friday Edition of DA TWEETS!  Today, we spend 140 characters or less on The NFL Draft, NCAA March Madness Expansion, and the beer capital of the sports world!  Lets dive right into it with a trip back in time to 2006:

espn4d

When do Allen Bradford and Robert Rose get picked? Oh, sorry, just looking at top 10 recruits from 2006 graduating class.

Good point. Here is the rivals Top 100 for the 2006 Recruiting Class.  A lot of names you know (Percy Harvin #1 overall) but there are also a few you have not heard from since. Vidal Hazelton? Allen Bradford? Not quite the same miss-rate as in the pros but still interesting to see the guys who couldn’t quite cut it.

Adam_Schefter

A source close to situation says it is “extremely unlikely” the Pittsburgh Steelers will trade quarterback Ben Roethlisberger. #nfldraft

So much for the Steelers being a moral organization…I was really hoping they would trade Rapistberger and suck for a few years without him.  To be fair, it’s hard to see any of these 4 QBs winning 2 Super Bowls before they turn 30.  Bradford because he went to the Rams and the other guys because they won’t be ‘The Man’ for a few years.

jalenrose

NCAA also signed a 14yr deal worth over $10 billion…should college athletes receive any stipend or payments? (beyond scholarship)

Hold on Hold on Hold on…this is hard for me to say.  Deep Sigh.  Okay, Jalen Rose makes a good point here. (Gah, that hurts)  If the NCAA can make all those dollars from TV contracts why can’t kids get stipends to play?  This TV contract, according to this article, provides more than 95% of the NCAA’s total revenue; allowing the NCAA to lose fistfuls of money on it’s other sports for non-revenue events.  So it sounds like the NCAA has already spent a good chunk of the money coming in.  However, each conference/university would have no problem finding money to pay the top tier players a stipend to play ball for them. Would it reduce the under-the-table money already coming to these athletes?  That, to me, would be the best justification for allowing stipends to be given to “student”-athletes.

frankthetank111

Should be awesome RT @ESPN_BigTen ESPN_BigTen Northwestern, Illinois finalize Wrigley game – http://tinyurl.com/264qehr

Um…#WhoCares?

SI_PeterKing

Before we go all football, 1 point about this city’s marvelous baseball park: Safeco’s a gem, as is King Felix. 967,000 beers on tap there.

I NEED TO MOVE!

-Carl

Check out our other “Da Tweets” Here:

4/20 Tweetastic Tuesday

4/17-4/18 Tweets of the Weekend!

Tweets of the Day! Friday 4/16

Athlete Talk NBA Playoff Fantasy Awesome-ness Game – The 1st Update!!

4 days down and it’s time for an update on our leaderboard!  I know all of you are ITCHING for a Drive to Finals update for the Athlete Talk league.  Congrats to most of you who have made your picks every night.  I am jealous of you, as I completely forgot to make my Monday one.  It went something like this:

Jazz – THUGS about to come on.  I feel like I’m forgetting something. Shit.  Maybe the players aren’t locked yet?!? (Racing to website).  Hmmm, all the good players are locked, but I can still pick Wesley Matthews and a bunch of other crappers?! Thats strange.  Why aren’t all the players locked? Oh well, let’s hit refresh.  EFFF.  Now they are all locked.

CONGRATULATIONS TO:

‘it BURNS when boondrook dominates’ – 162 pts

Great job so far on your picks, but you should probably get that checked out.

Best Pick: Derrick Rose for 45 points

Worst Pick: Kevin Durant I guess?  32 pts is still pretty decent but he is your lowest point total.

‘jgc04b’s Entry’ – 159

And Abhi was worried we wouldn’t get any Star Wars fans!  I apologize, but I can’t convert this site into binary code for you.  Hopefully you can tap into the Millenium Falcon and download a program so you can read this site.  With that being said, you are kicking some ass so far and I am wicked jealous.  Robots are so freakin’ smart.

Best Pick: Carmelo? Dirk? Both were points leaders for the day you picked them, problem is their teams are good and may advance to the next round and beyond.  I think you Deron Williams pick is the best but I am in last place.

Worst Pick: Brandon Jennings.  Dude was electric game 1 but caught a case of Larry Hughes syndrome and missed all his jumpers in Game 2.

‘OKC THUNDER’ – 145

Okay, my turn.  New Jersey Nets.  Go ahead, name your next team.  Oh, we aren’t playing categories the drinking game? My bad.  I’ll drink for that.

Best Pick: You’ve got a bunch of good mid 30s picks.  Hard to choose.  I’ll go with your Duncan pick because he’s old as hell.  No offense Spurs fans.

Worst Pick: Duncan? Ha! J/k.  All of your picks were pretty good actually.  Although you did Pick Rose and D-Will on their lowest point totals of their first two games.  What’s that? Yeah, I know…I’m in last place.

Last Place:  ‘TRS_Carl’ – 81

Shut it.

- Carl

It’s the Internet SUCKA! April 21st Links of the Week!

Joakim Noah says Cleveland sucks

Joakim Noah says Garnett sucks

Joakim Noah says his orthodontist sucks

With these new developments, Mr. Noah is the talk of the NBA at the moment. I am also a new fan of his. He was always a great, high energy player, but he is also not afraid to speak his mind.  That was a big reason I enjoyed Dennis Rodman – besides the fact that he wore a wedding dress and married himself in an official ceremony a while back, and gives herpes to people.

“I don’t know about Cleveland, man,” Noah said following Bulls’ practice on Sunday. “There is nothing going on. It’s bad, man.”

When asked if his dislike for the town would motivate him more in the series, Noah said: “What, that Cleveland sucks?”

Haha! Even though you have no chance to beat the Cleveland Carmakers, you are good for a few laughs. And at least you don’t live in that shithole.

This is what Derrick Rose had to say about Joakim - “Actually, it makes us all play hard because you know every arena we go to everybody hates him. It makes us player harder and we love shutting the crowd up.”

I can imagine Joakim reading that and laughing, then saying “Wait, everyone hates me!?”

Why We Don’t Like Kevin Garnett Anymore

This is a topic of conversation in a lot of corners this week as KG and his temper landed him a 1 game suspension.  Now, Superstars have gotten upset and gotten suspensions before, that itself is nothing new.  What is surprising is the string of his outbreaks over his time in Boston.  From yelling at Glen Davis and making him cry like a big baby (I got jokes!), to a incoherent string of swear words after Boston’s Finals Championship, to the repeated and recurring strings of F BOMBS and other swear words he drops on the bench, on the court and so on.  Kevin Garnett and his persona have changed, the question is did the lighting change  our image of him as more media coverage in Boston exposed his true personality, or has KG change himself over time has his skills have diminished?

The True Story Behind 4/20

Dude, where did all the Funyons go?

April 14th Links of the Week

* Investing in Sports Gambling

* Vinny Del Negro shows off his dark side (get it? Because his last name is Del Negro? Aww, nevermind)

* Forbes values Major League Baseball

April 3rd Links of the Week

* How to fix the NBA draft

* Expansion of the NCAA Tournament

* AthleteTalk moving to Bloguin!

Tweet-tastic Tuesday (4/20)

I’m actually surprised there were no 4/20 related tweets… maybe athletes are smarter than we think? Haha not.

matrix31

Ok just walk in bathroom and thought I was in wrong one cause the dude looked like a girl wow

Haha, the funniest part is I can imagine the matrix walking in, looking at girl-boy for a second, going outside, checking the sign, going back in the door, and tweeting while he’s using the urinal. He’s probably one of those guys that puts his hand on the wall while he’s doing his business. Gross!!

AndrewMBogut

About to try a deep fried alligator eye

AndrewMBogut

Just kidding

Glad you got over your injury, and the fact that you are letting down the whole state of Wisconsin by missing the playoff series. At least you still have your humor!! Stick to your day job.

StarburyMarbury

Starburytv coming soon…..

I don’t even have a witty response to this one. I can’t imagine being tortured any worse than having to watch Starburytv. I’d rather have a rhinoceros take a diarrhea dump on my forehead.

These tweets by Nate Robinson were all posted within 15 minutes of each other… there were even more but my computer ran out of memory to save them all.

 

 

 

Interesting. I think he’s so used to missing the playoffs with the Knicks that he forgot he still has a job to do with the C’s!!

April 17-18th Tweets of the Weekend!

johnhollinger
Wow. Joakim Noah not mincing any words on KG. (Via @KCJHoop)http://bit.ly/cu52Bg Any else think C’s aren’t league’s most popular opponent?

I guess JoNo didn’t stay to get KG’s autograph after the game.  I read an article a few years back (probably 10 years now) written by an anonymous NBA player on how to cheat and get away with it, essentially how to use cheap little maneuvers to help give yourself an advantage defensively or when rebounding.  Here are a few of the “tricks”  I remember him writing about:

1) When you turn around to box someone out, make sure you also put your foot on the top of theirs to prevent his from outjumping you to the rebound.  This also works when you are posting someone up, step on the top of their foot before elevating for your shot.

2) When guarding someone you is driving on you, use the space between your thumb and index finger to control their outside hip (the hip away from the basketball).  Always make sure you keep this low and don’t let their be too much space between you and the defender or the refs will see your hand.  And your opposite hand should be up in the air to give you illusion you are playing good defense.

3) When a shooter gets hot from outside, jam your fingers into his elbow.  The goal here is to hit the funny bone and throw his shot off for the rest of the game.

It’s been awhile since I read the article, so I’m sure there are other tactics one could employ.  Just watch game tape of Bruce Bowen, I’m sure you will discover more.

Adam_Schefter
RT @Rachel__Nichols: Excellent story in Post-Gazette on Roethlisberger. Behavior of officer in case shocking http://tinyurl.com/y3bt4gv

Is it too early to give Big Ben a new nickname? Rapistberger? What, too soon? That story sure sheds light on the massive massive incompetence of the police force in Georgia.  If I ever want to commit a crime, I am moving there first.

A janitor cleaned the bathroom 8 hrs after the sexual assault took place because no one had told him not to do so.  When the police went back to the scene of the crime because their original samples were poor, they discovered Clorox and Pine-sol instead of Ben’s DNA.  Without any DNA evidence, there was little reason for Big Ben to comply with any requests for an interview.  The police had no case, so why give them the chance to make one by giving them the opportunity to ask you questions?

frankthetank111

New blog post with analysis from TV insider on the value of Big Ten expansion candidates to Big Ten Network: http://tinyurl.com/y579hg8

This is a story that’s died a little with NCAA march madness, baseball, and the NBA playoffs taking over recently.  But from what I’ve heard the Big 10 is looking to become the Big 14, not just the Big 10 + 2.

CollegeWolf
Bwahahaha epic awesome! “If You Aren’t Following Jose Canseco, Now is a Good Time” – http://bit.ly/a4zafZ

So many good people have been killed from too much steroid use, why can’t Jose Conseco be one of them?