Body Parts That Don't Belong to Favre

We interrupt the 24-7 news coverage about Favre and his wiener to talk about something that actually matters, and no, we don’t mean the NBA season starting. Everyone knows the NBA season doesn’t really start until after Christmas. Do you really think a veteran Celtics team with Garnett, Allen, Pierce, Shaq and Jermaine O’Neal cares if they win 51 or 65 games? Do they care if they are the #1 seed or the #4 seed?

And I’m not talking about the enormous Big Ten matchup in Madison this weekend between Wisconsin and Ohio State. Wisconsin is going to have to play defense with their offense by playing a little keep-away from Terrell Pryor if they hope to upset the top-ranked Buckeyes. The Badgers have the rushing offense to put points on the board, but the concern is that their defense has more holes than David Arquette’s explanation of his relationship with Jasmine Waltz. Add to that their lack of discipline and poor special teams play, and it could be a scary Saturday for Brett Bielema two weeks before Halloween.

What I actually think are the best events of the weekend are the playoff baseball games. The ALCS and NLCS start on Friday and Saturday night and both series should be extremely entertaining, particularly the opening games. Arguably the four best pitchers in all of baseball have led their teams to the league championship series – Roy Halladay of the Phillies, Tim Lincecum of the Giants, Cliff Lee of the Rangers and C.C. Sabathia of the Yankees. Add in the other premiere starters: Roy Oswalt, Cole Hammels, Matt Cain, Jonathan Sanchez, Andy Pettitte, Phil Hughes, and CJ Wilson, and you have yourself the makings of a tremendously pitched series.

The year of the pitcher has continued in the playoffs with amazing performances one after another. Even the teams that lost had stud pitchers that got them there: David Price, Francisco Liriano, Tim Hudson and Johnny Cueto.

I wonder if the Brewers owner and general manager were watching the playoffs? Dear Doug Melvin, I hope you can tell the difference between any pitcher that started a game this post season and pitchers that were on your roster named Bush, Parra, Doug Davis, Suppan, or Randy Wolf. None of those guys would even make the roster of the playoff teams, more less actually see the field. Upgrade the pitching whatever you have to do – and that includes trading Prince. Sincerely, The Sports Addict

So sit back and get ready for some amazing pitching performances in the league championship series. My baseball prognosticating is worse than my football picks (I picked the Mariners as the best odds bet to win the world series before the season…at least I had Cliff Lee right, just on the wrong team?), so I won’t bother trying to convince you who will win.

Ah, who am I kidding? I’ll take the Rangers over the Yankees in 7 games with Lee winning games 3 and 7. I’ll also take the Giants to beat the Phillies in 6 games, but that might be as much because of my hatred for the Phillies than any sound logic.

Degenerate Friday - On Thursday! NBA Playoffs - West

The NBA playoffs begin this weekend, so let’s break down the each conference, starting in the West because my brain is still in California. The biggest difference between being in California and New York – aside from the weather? The driving. Out west for an entire week, and I never heard a single car horn honk. They don’t use them at all. In New York? The horn is a way for cabs to let the pedestrians know he is about to mow them down. It is a way to let people know they can’t just stop in the middle of the road. And it is a way to let cars know they haven’t jumped on their gas pedal 0.2 seconds after the light turned green. The other difference while driving is that in California, the people wave with all of their fingers when they’re allowing you to merge in front of their Toyota Prius, Lexus Hybrid, or 1987 Mercedes (no snow means no salt which means no rust on the cars so there are an inordinate number of 20+ year old cars that are not collectors cars yet still in great condition). And instead of the “Jersey Special” cars – white cars with ultra black tinted windows, there were the “Low-Rider Special” cars – pick-up trucks dropped down low over 24 inch chrome rims with Spanish writing across the top of the windshield.

Anyway, let’s get to the Western Conference…….(odds from lasvegassportsbetting.com)

#1 Los Angeles Lakers vs. #8 Oklahoma City Thunder

Lakers odds: 2/3 to win the West, 5/2 to win the NBA Championship
Thunder odds: 20/1 to win the West, 40/1 to win the NBA Championship

This series has all the makings of Michael Jordan and the Bulls going up against the Celtics in 1986. That was the series where Jordan put up 63 in the double overtime game and produced that memorable clip where he crossed over between his legs multiple times before hitting the fade away jumper on Larry Bird. Kevin Durant will be playing the role of Jordan, and the defending champion Lakers will be playing the role of the 1985 (and eventual 1986) champion Celtics. The Thunder have an incredible young nucleus but their lack of playoff experience will be exploited by Phil Jackson and his veteran team. Like a match up of Miley Cyrus against Jennifer Aniston – you appreciate the young and vigor of Cyrus and know that she will likely have her day as a champion eventually, but not right now. Right now, it’s still a league that is dominated by a veteran like Aniston even if she has picked up a few scars along the way. The Lakers have showed some signs of tiring as the season wound down, but they may have just began to coast sooner than the rest of the league. They still have the inside game of Pau Gasol and they have the most clutch player in the entire league in Kobe Bryant.

Unfortunately for gambling purposes, the Lakers are not a great value bet either to win the conference or to win the title. However, as much as I want to find a team that can beat the Lakers, I really can’t see it happening until the Finals. I guess sometimes it’s better to get the bet correct than it is to get the best value (see, I’ve learned from the NCAA tournament)

First Round Pick: Lakers in 5 games

#2 Dallas Mavericks vs. #7 San Antonio Spurs

Mavericks odds: 6/1 to win the West, 12/1 to win the NBA Title
Spurs odds: 9/1 to win the West, 20/1 to win the NBA Title

The Mavs reloaded with the trade for Caron Butler and Brendan Haywood, which has revitalized the team and given them a great shot. The best comparison I can think of for the Mavs is Kim Kardashian – she had an attractive face and a great body, so she just added a little talent to the front court and she’s ready to compete with anyone. The Mavs added a little to their front court with Haywood and Butler and they present the biggest challenge to the Lakers in the West. They also still have one of the best scorers in the league in Dirk Nowitzki who will pose match-up problems for the Spurs. The Mavs have the diverse scoring options which should be enough to exploit the strong defense fo the Spurs, carrying them into the second round.

The Spurs still have the experience and heart of a champion, but they are on their last legs. The addition of younger players like Richard Jefferson and rookie DeJuan Blair was basically like Harrison Ford getting his ear pierced. He thinks it makes him look younger and more hip, but in reality, it just shows even more that he is old and past his prime. Like the Spurs, he was great in his day – among the best ever – but that day has passed. The Spurs can still play defense, as evidenced by them allowing the second-fewest points per game in the Western conference and holding teams to the lowest field goal percentage in the West. That will allow them to keep the series close, but they are an aging fighter with a few good punches left in their arsenal. Maybe a better comparison for the Spurs would be Sylvester Stallone rather than Harrison Ford.

For gambling purposes, the Mavs are a pretty good buy to win the West, as they have the talent and momentum to do battle with the Lakers. They have experience and talent at the key positions to match up with the defending champs. However, just like in 2006 when the refs gave Dwayne Wade the benefit of every single call the entire series, they don’t have the biggest superstars who will get the calls down the stretch. Dirk is a star, but will not get the benefits that Kobe, Carmelo, Wade or LeBron will.

First Round Prediction: Mavericks in 6 games

#3 Phoenix Suns vs. #6 Portland Trailblazers

Suns odds: 15/1 to win the West, 25/1 to win the NBA title
Trailblazers odds: 25/1 to win the West, 45/1 to win the NBA title

The Suns Jared Dudley has always been an idiot, dating back to his days as a spaz at Boston College. Well, some things never change. He commented this week that he wanted to play the Blazers because of the Brandon Roy injury. Why would he want to give the Blazers locker room material? Because he’s an idiot. Thankfully for the Suns, they still have Steve Nash playing as well as he has in his entire career and Amare Stoudemire has decided to put his contract worries aside and get back to playing basketball. The Suns are like Heidi Montag – their plastic surgery was removing Terry Porter as coach – so they fit the profile of a strong contender, but like Heidi’s flaw of her messed up self image, the Suns have a fatal flaw which is a lack of defense. The NBA playoffs slow the game down and teams have to grind it out by playing defense and half court offense. That’s where the Suns fail.

The Blazers with a healthy Brandon Roy would have been very well positioned to win this series. However, without Roy – even if he plays, he is not going to have the same explosiveness – the Blazers will not be able to keep up. The Blazers are also defensively challenged despite the fact that they allowed the fewest points per game in the western conference. They allowed the highest opponent field goal percentage of any playoff team in the West, meaning they slow the game down (they score the second fewest points in the west), but give up too many easy or open looks. That will be a problem against the Suns, especially since they won’t have a full version of their best scoring option. Like Kate Hudson, who supposedly had a boob job recently, you wanted to root for her but the surgery makes you rethink whether she has some major issues.

There’s nothing to see here from a gambling perspective. Neither of these teams will be able to advance past the Conference Finals at best.

First Round Prediction: Suns in 6 games

#4 Denver Nuggets vs. #5 Utah Jazz

Nuggets odds: 6/1 to win the West, 12/1 to win the NBA title
Jazz odds: 8/1 to win the West, 20/1 to win the NBA title

The Nuggets have the superstar in Carmelo Anthony that is needed to succeed in the NBA playoffs. They have the motivation of playing for their cancer-stricken coach, George Karl. They have talent across the board. Yet there is just something generally unlikeable about this team. Is it because of Kenyon Martin? Is it that although the Birdman, Chris Anderson, has a game you can like, he looks like a complete idiot? Or is it Carmelo Anthony himself? As good as Anthony is, he comes across as a pouting, immature player who can’t quite raise his game when the team needs him the most. They resemble Ashley Dupre, the infamous hooker that was caught up in the Eliot Spitzer scandal. As much as she tries to rehab her image with help from the NY Post, she’s still a former (maybe still current?) call girl who just recently posed in Playboy. Just like as much as Carmelo rehabs his image, he’s still the same guy who got busted with weed and made the video telling kids not to be a snitch.

The Jazz and Jerry Sloan continue to cruise along as one of the better teams in the league that no one really talks about. Is there a better coach out there than Jerry Sloan? He has made the transition from Karl Malone and John Stockton to a team led by Derron Williams and has remained among the better teams in the competitive Western Conference. Like Ed Norton, you never think of him first among the best actors out there, but look at his filmography and you can’t help but be impressed. The Jazz play fundamentally sound basketball which is why this first round match-up is among the most difficult to predict. They have the talent and discipline combined with Sloan’s coaching to make a really deep run in the West, but will that be enough to overcome the talent of the Nuggets?

I’m going to take another lesson from my NCAA spanking, and not go against a team just because I don’t like them. I’m going to put money on the Nuggets using the motivation of their ailing coach to come together with their talent across the board. I think they are the gambling pick to win the Western Conference.

First Round Prediction: Nuggets in 7 games

Degenerate Friday!! NCAA Tourney

A couple quick hits before this week’s gambling tip. First, the most dangerous thing in New York right now? Trees. Another N’oreaster storm hit the city yesterday (and today), with a ton of wet, heavy snow which sticks to the tree branches and creates a really pretty winter wonderland scene in Central Park. Really pretty until those branches can’t handle the weight of the snow and start crashing down. One of those falling branches hit and killed a guy yesterday. I can’t think of too many worse ways to go – that’s brutal.

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Supposedly there is a feud between US Olympic skiiers Lindsey Vonn and Julia Mancuso and it boiled over when Vonn crashed on her run earlier this week. The crash caused them to restart Mancuso’s run (which had started while Vonn was still on the course), and she had to rerun after waiting for the rest of the field to run and the course conditions deteriorated. Mancuso also made some comments in Sports Illustrated about how the team is struggling because everyone is struggling for attention and that Vonn was basically being a diva. Are we really surprised that Mancuso would feel some jealousy toward her teammate who didn’t win medals in Torino in 2006 yet snagged an SI cover photo, was part of the swimsuit issue and then snared all the headlines with her shin injury drama? That attention turns into endorsements, which means money. And for Olympic athletes (other than the pros in basketball or hockey), making a name for themselves and getting endorsements is their best chance to rake in the dough.

Mancuso has been very successful – two silvers in this year’s games, and another chance hurt by Vonn’s fall – and she is also very talented in the beauty department. And so maybe hinting at a catfight is a ploy to get some attention turned on her as well as Lindsey. Personally? I’m a fan of Mancuso over Vonn. Vonn is a fame-monger and a drama queen who seems to share the same attitude of Bode Miller, whom I have very little respect for.

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I thought about just rerunning last week’s degenerate column and pick the USA to win the gold medal game this weekend. Yet I actually think the US team will have a tough time beating Finland in the semifinal round today. It has all of the set up for a let-down game for the US, where they are looking forward to the gold medal game and take the Fins lightly. The loss to the US also served as a wake-up call for the Canadians who took out their frustration on the Russians and will be ready for whoever makes the final game. Look for the Canadians to win the hockey gold to go with their golds in men’s and women’s curling. Although the Canadians haven’t owned the podium like they claimed they would, if they win hockey and curling gold, they can at least know that their position in the world is secure.

Speaking of curling, there is quite a bit of buzz around the captain of the women’s team, Cheryl Bernard. The 43 year old cougar has taken the country by storm and said she can’t even go to the grocery store without being mobbed for autographs.

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Finally, let’s get to the gambling!! This week, let’s take a look at the odds to win the NCAA tournament, as selection Sunday is March 14th – only 2 weeks away. Since many employers may block the links to bodog, here’s a quick list of the odds for some of the favorites:

Kansas – 2/1
Kentucky – 4/1
Syracuse – 5/1
Villanova – 8/1
Texas – 13/1
Duke – 14/1
Purdue – 15/1
Ohio State – 15/1
Michigan State – 18/1
West Virginia – 18/1
Kansas State – 25/1
Georgetown – 32/1
Wisconsin – 45/1
Tennessee – 50/1
California – 60/1

If we are going to place some hard earned bling down on a team – even if it is previous gambling winnings, you worked hard to pick that win – we want it to be the best value. Therefore, getting less than 5/1 odds is not attractive. Kansas and Kentucky get eliminated. The next requirement is that the team has to have the ability to win and it would not be a huge shocker to see them cutting down the nets. That takes out Duke, Kansas State and West Virginia. And finally, they can’t play in a conference that resembles a toilet bowl – full of turds. That takes out California and really, any team west of the Rocky Mountains (BYU & New Mexico). Let’s look at the best bets among the favorites , the pick, and the best long-shot value.

Quick Aside – before this week’s games, Purdue would have been my pick. They have a veteran point guard (Chris Kramer – Purdue always has these junkyard dog guys – Kramer, Brian Cardinal, Matt Painter), dynamic scorer (E’Twaun Moore), big man (JuJuan Johnson), shooter (Robbie Hummel), bench scoring (Keaton Grant) and defense tighter than the Hannah Storm’s outfits on ESPN. (ESPN can’t suspend me like they did with Tony Kornheiser, right? I’m allowed to say that I’m all for Hannah and her hooker boots and that Chris Berman is a fat, arrogant blowhard. I can say that, right?) Losing Hummel for the season to an ACL injury changes all of that – he was their all-around guy, who rebounded well and defended well in addition to his shooting. If Coach Painter can rally his guys, they still have the talent to make noise, but I don’t see them getting past the sweet 16.

The Favorite

Villanova (8/1)
Jay Wright’s Wildcats have the talent and depth to win the title. They have the veteran guard play with Scottie Reynolds to keep the team under control, which I think separates them from a team like Kentucky, who may have more talent from top to bottom. ESPN is currently running a promo for their gameday this weekend and a special on Villanova and “why Scottie Reynolds chose to come back for his senior year” – is this really a question? The reason he came back was that he is destined to be the next Troy Bell or Shawn Respert!! A prolific scoring guard in college that is not big enough to play shooting guard at the next level and not a good enough ball handler or passer to make the shift to point guard. But he is built perfectly to get hot in the tournament and lead his team to the championship. Shooting guard Corey Stokes was busted for public urination last week which may affect his status for the game against Syracuse, but shouldn’t affect the team long term. Kind of like when Hildo was busted for public urination ON Science Hall in Madison – it affected our trip to Qdoba (at that time named Z-Teca?), but didn’t affect our drinking the next night.

The Long Shot

Georgetown (32/1)
They have many of the key elements that it takes to win the title: disciplined coach, strong defense, and a big man that can take over games and get his own shot in Greg Monroe. Add to it the tough schedule they have played going through the Big East and their non-conference destruction of Duke, and you have a team that is very capable of holding up the trophy in Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. The key for the Hoyas may be how they finish the season and the seeding they get because while they have some marquee wins like Duke and Villanova, they have some bad losses like South Florida and Rutgers. They lack a consistent threat from the outside, which causes them to have scoring droughts and keeps lesser teams in the game.

The Pick

Ohio State (15/1)
They offer the best value, play strong defense, have a serviceable big man (Dallas Lauderdale), a shooter (Jon Diebler), and the best player in the game in Evan Turner. The biggest chink in their armor is that they don’t have the depth of a team like Kansas. The runner-up for this pick was Michigan State, who has the depth, defense and coach. But the defining factor was Evan Turner is tremendously better than Kalin Lucas when you match up the star players. My other fear about the Buckeyes is that they are pulling a Lindsay Lohan and have peaked a little too early (meaning: right now), so there is a fear that by the time the tourney rolls around, the Buckeyes will have transformed from young, hot Lindsay to the drug-addled, cutting scarred, sun-damaged Lindsay trying to rely on her cleavage (her Evan Turner) to carry her. Wow, I’m rethinking my pick after typing that sentence, as I don’t really want to be betting on Lindsay Lohan. Yet, I’m going to stick with my pick because I see Ohio State more like Gwen Stefani, who we thought peaked as a part of No Doubt, but has actually become stronger and can carry a concert by herself. And while she still has her Evan Turner (her abs) to carry her, the rest of her has come along very nicely.

Tuesday Rambling - Amare Stoudemire

The NBA trading deadline is this Thursday afternoon and typically the deadline results in a few minor trades, and a few trades of guys that retired 3 years ago but resign for an insane salary and allow themselves to be traded to make the salaries involved work (see Keith Van Horn and potentially Wally Szerbiak this year). While the Knicks appear to be excited about getting the corpse of Tracy McGrady, the only real big name that may be traded is Amare Stoudemire of the Phoenix Suns. There are teams that want Stoudemire, teams that the Suns want to trade him to, and teams where Stoudemire would like to be traded. Is he really worth it? And how will it work out with the likeliest team to get him?

The Suns would like to trade Stoudemire to Philadelphia for Andre Iguodala but the 76ers have no plans to make that deal. Amare would like to be traded to Miami, where he keeps an off-season home. Yet the Suns are not interested in Michael Beasley, which is the core of the offer the Heat are making. The Suns are in alignment with my thoughts on Beasley that he is not the type of player you want to build a franchise around. Beasley is like Nicole Eggert from her days on Charles in Charge – good enough to draw some attention as a side character or among other stars (she was on Baywatch with Pam Anderson), but could never carry a show by herself. The Golden State Warriors are trying to get involved by offering Corey Magette, but it appears that their best shot is to be the third team involved in a deal. The most likely landing spot for Stoudemire appears to be Cleveland, which has offered young JJ Hickson and the corpse of Zdrunas Illgauskas. (Random side note – I rode an elevator with Big Z in a hotel in Boston before opening night of the 2008-09 season. I asked if he was ready for the season and he grunted and said “It’s such a long and dragging season – I’m already looking forward to the all-star break.”)

So why would Cleveland give up the young and improving Hickson to get Amare, possibly without a contract extension? I’m not really sure. I have to make the disclaimer that I have not watched a complete Suns game in years. I don’t really understand the appeal of Amare. He is a great athlete and a ferocious dunker. But does that make him a great basketball player? Does that make him worthy of a max contract? He has impressive stats – 21.2ppg and 8.6 rpg this season, which is close to his career averages. Then again, Megan Fox has impressive stats, but it all falls apart when she has to act or open her mouth. Amare shoots nearly 55% from the field and averages over a block a game. Yet watching the highlight package that ESPN shows when they discuss the trade rumors, every single shot is either a dunk or a layup crashing to the rim off a great pass from Steve Nash. John Hollinger of ESPN has in his scouting report that he is a good outside shooter, yet quotes his shooting percentage at only 46% on jump shots. I also did a youtube search for Amare highlights and everyone only focuses on his dunks. Granted, those are the plays that tend to make highlight reels, but if you do a search for Barkley highlights or Malone highlights, you will see some jumpers, some fadeaways, and some lay-ups.

The other question is how effective Amare will be when he’s not playing with the incredible passing of a Hall of Fame point guard in Steve Nash. Getting passes from a shot-happy point guard like Mo Williams will not lead for nearly as many reckless crashes to the rim. Add to that the concern of Amare playing with Shaq, because that did not work very well during the 2008-09 season in Phoenix, when Amare’s numbers were down nearly 4 points and a rebound a game. If Amare was such a foundation for a team, wouldn't the Suns be interested in signing him to an extension rather than trading him?

At the end of the day, why are the Cavs so interested in a guy that is not a complete player, who needs a new contract and will be playing in a system not the most conducive to his talents? Because LeBron said so. King James is interested in playing with Amare and the Cavs are willing to do any and everything to try and keep him happy enough to resign with the Cavs this summer.

Tuesday Ramblings - World Series - Philadelphia, NJ

Interesting take here from Gary D Howard on how to handle Brett Favre’s return to Lambeau this Sunday. I think I agree with him. As much of a d-bag as Favre was as a person on his way out of town, he was the single legend that returned respectability to the team, the franchise, the city and the state for football. He’s the reason Reggie White came to town. So I think he deserves the pre-game cheer when he runs out on to the field. But that’s where it ends, and once the ball is kicked, I’m cheering with all my might for him to be the overly-excited turnover machine he has been in the past.

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So Mark McGwire is going to be a hitting coach? Isn’t that kind of like asking a girl with a boob job to explain a push-up bra? I think this is another case of the arrogance of Tony LaRussa taking over. He is trying to get people to see McGwire as a baseball guy and eventually get him into the Hall of Fame, instead of only remembering his pathetic performance in front of Congress about using steroids – “I’m not here to talk about the past.” The guy is a career .263 hitter, and only hit over .300 twice in full seasons during his 16 year career. And that guy is going to teach guys how to hit? What is he going to teach Albert Pujols? Ridiculous.

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Could ESPN have a more biased team of analysts for the baseball season? Jayson Stark, Peter Pascarelli, Eric Karabell, and John Kruk are such homers for the Phillies, they can’t actually make sane assessments of the matchup between Philly and the Yankees. Stark just hesitated comparing Jorge Posada and Carlos Ruiz. Don’t get me wrong, Ruiz has a knack for coming up with huge hits and might be the Darrell Porter of the past few season, but he is not on the same level as Posada. And I think Posada is a whiny diva biyatch. Kruk claimed that the Phillies line-up was more potent than the Yankees. Really? Better than the Yankees lineup that had 7 guys with more than 20 HRs, all 9 starters with double digits in HRs, the second-highest batting average in baseball, 244 HRs as a team (more than the NL leading 224 the Phils hit), and the highest OBP in the league. It’s not even close, and Kruk showed he must have had his brains in his mullet during the 90’s and when he cut it off to do television analysis, he lost his mind.

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How are you feeling if you’re a Cleveland Indians fan right now? Watching your two former aces facing off in game 1 – CC Sabbathia vs. Cliff Lee. Ouch. Doesn’t seem like that long ago the Indians had a team that looked ready to compete for some time with Grady Sizemore, Jhonny Peralta, Victor Martinez, CC & Lee. Maybe they’re the new Montreal Expos – Pedro Martinez, Delino DeShields, Marquis Grissom, Larry Walker, Moises Alou, Cliff Floyd, Sean Berry, Mel Rojas, Dennis Martinez, Ken Hill, and John Wetteland

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Taking the Yankees in 6 games. Too much Yankee offense, and despite the fact that the Phillies bullpen was good in the NLCS, they are not good. The Phillies are relying on Pedro to keep his magic going and Cole Hammels to not be as awful as he has been during the regular and post season. That’s too many holes to allow a team like the Yankees to exploit. The Phillies were the best team in the NL all season, and deserve to be in the World Series, but they don’t have the talent to keep up.

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So the teams will have a something like 17 off-days during the post-season, after only having 20 off-days during the entire 6-month regular season. That’s a dumb schedule.

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Philly is my most hated city in the entire US. The city is dirty, ugly and not good to visit or spend any time in. And the people are all chubby, greasy, angry, fair-weather fans, and all have a chip on their shoulder. I understand that it’s not fun being the biggest city in New Jersey – I’d be angry too if that was my claim to fame. Oh, wait, their claim to fame is a fake movie about a 5’5” boxer named Rocky. So their baseball success has just made their fans even more insufferable. I hope they get swept just to shut up their fans. As a good friend says, “Philly is a good place to take a dump on your way to a real city.”

EDITOR’S NOTE: I know Philly is not actually in Jersey, but it might as well be – it’s surrounded by Jersey, the people are the same as the worst in Jersey and it smells like the worst of Jersey.

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I think the NBA season starts tonight. I think I’ll put together a season preview piece as soon as the players start to play hard and make an effort. So look for that piece to come out around New Year’s. The biggest stories for the season are what LeBron James and Dwayne Wade are going to do NEXT year, and all the teams that are tanking it to make cap room to try and sign one of those guys.

Oh, and Blake Griffin gets a hairline fracture in his knee 2 days before he’s supposed to make his regular season debut. And he looked extremely impressive and had the potential to keep the Clippers in the playoff hunt. Typical Clippers luck.

And I’m pretty sure that Kevin Durant is the new Dominique Wilkins. A dynamic player that everyone talks about as being under the radar, but he’s under the radar because he doesn’t have the ability to raise the level of play for those around him. Someone has to take shots and score on that pathetic team. Maybe a combination of Wilkins and Shareef Abdur-Rahim.