Turnabout is fair play: Oklahoma City steals the Sonics from Seattle, so LeBron steals some french fries from a fan

I prefer curly fries, but I guess you take what you can get...

okay, that isn’t really a fair deal, but it is a start…

those must of been some good french fries….as they energize LBJ to go for over 40 in the game…
Cleveland 102, Thunder 89.

P.S.  The Burger was good too…it was the firs to go

Mike Brown, Cleveland Cavs coach is the definition of cold-blooded as he fails to play Big Z

Coach Mike Brown and Homer share the same cat scan

Coaching is a very touchy subject.  There is no right way to do it.  As long as you bring wins to the franchise, then you are doing a good job.  You can go outside the bounds of decency as a coach to get those wins.  Woody Hayes is the shining example of a coach going too far.

right, left, right, left they toothless and people say G*dd@mn they ruthless... The original gangster Woody Hayes

The video of the event is shocking as well.  Look at how he winds up to land the blow…

As someone who walks both sides of the line, the job is not easy.  On the high school level, you can have (thankfully this year I don’t) parents in your ear about who to play, or the Athletic Director.  On the varsity, we give suggestions to the JV coach on who and what we want to have develop.  But, as a coach, you go with your gut and your experience.  The News-Herald explains.

Cavaliers coach Mike Brown often governs with his gut.

He makes important decisions by how he feels in the pit of his stomach.

It’s an art form.  There cannot be only one way to accomplish your goal. As a fan, we have the right to criticize the maneuvers of  the coach.  Mike Brown of the Cavs deserves a heaping pile of scorn right now, for not playing Zydrunas Ilgauskas.  The News-Herald continues…

Brown’s decision to bench Zydrunas Ilgauskas on Saturday didn’t go over well with the 7-foot-3 center, his teammates, his agent and many of the fans.

It was supposed to be Ilgauskas’ big night.

Ilgauskas, 34, came into Saturday’s game against Dallas tied with Cavs general manager Danny Ferry with 723 games played, first in franchise history.

Everything was set for the Cavs to honor the major accomplishment. However, Brown inexplicably saddled Ilgauskas with what is thought to be his first “DNP-CD” of his career.

Arguably, this guy has been one of the three best centers your franchise has ever had and this is the way the guy goes out?  It took LeBron to put into words what most people who knew about the record was thinking.

LeBron James, though, had the clout to say what needed to be said.

But why didn’t Brown?

“After having a little bit of time to think about it, me personally, I definitely thought he should have played,” James said. “I’m not trying to stir up anything with Coach. I don’t know who made the call.

“One game is a smaller thing. What was on the line (on Saturday) was way bigger than us playing the Mavericks. That was Z breaking the record to become the franchise leader in games played.”

Ilgauskas reportedly was steamed about Brown’s blunder.

“I think it’s a sensitive subject,” James said. “I’m not one to raise havoc in the locker room, but for me, I speak the truth. As a friend of his, I was very upset, and I know he was also.

“I stand behind Z on whatever he feels.”

Coach Mike, less is more. This is a lesson learned from Tiger...

The bigger problem that I have is that the coach really doesn’t understand that he has made a mistake.  Lets look at his statements after the game.

Brown, though, needs to have a sitdown with Ilgauskas.

“We haven’t sat down and talked face-to-face,” Brown said. “It may come to that.”

Brown said if he had it to do over again, “I’d try to play him.

This is the first clue that he really has no understanding about his team or about the record that was about to be set.  Why would you TRY to play him?  You would JUST PLAY HIM!  Even LBJ had a decent suggestion about the way to work it.

James said one way Brown could have handled the situation was to start Ilgauskas against the Mavs and then substitute for him a minute or two into the game.

That way, he could have gotten a standing ovation from the fans and the Cavs could have honored him with a plaque.

“There were a number of ways for that to be accomplished,” James said. “It could have been done.”

EXACTLY!  It could have been done, but I don’t think that the coach really sees it that way.  He is so caught up in the winning aspect that he fails to see his players as anything but soldiers that can be sacrificed for the greater good.  You burn out your players, you will have nothing to fall back on when you really need it.  The coaches justification continues…

“He was on the minutes’ sheet to play his normal 20 to 25 minutes. They went small, and the team that was out there played well. I stuck with it.

“It wasn’t planned. It just happened. There was nothing for me to say. It was based on matchups and the course of the game. You can call it a mistake or a coach’s decision.”

I think that it is pretty clear that is was a mistake.

Brown said he’s handled his players well since he’s been with the Cavs.

“I’ve done a decent job of treating guys right,” he said. “Maybe in a lot of guys’ minds, I didn’t this time. I don’t know. That’s part of being a head coach.”

Being a head coach is about being a leader of men (or in my case a leader of women) and being someone that they look to when the times are rough.  last night, in our scrimmage, we came out flat and we were down at the half.  It took a rousing halftime by the women to get their heads on right and the trust in the coaching staff to get the game back.  We went on a 16-7 run and ended up winning.  You have to have trust and I don’t think that Mike Brown has it.  When your BEST player says that you did someone dirty, it’s because you most likely did someone dirty.  Own up to the mistake and make it right.  Everything else are just excuses that keep the problem alive.

There was an opportunity for Ilgauskas to play at the end of the game, but Brown didn’t want to disrespect the center.

“That’s when you start battling yourself,” he said.

Why do you care?  Either the matchups were are weren’t there.  Either you wanted to respect him (then you should of played him to get the record and the adulation of the fans) or you didn’t care about his feelings (in which case you should have thrown him in there as well)  This would have gone away had you met with the players and told them of your sub pattern (since you should have figured that they might go small) and just played him early and gotten it out of the way.

You better hope that this doesn’t lead to a mutiny, because management usually sides with the players, especially if you are LBJ, in a walk year.  For this, Coach Mike, you are the hater of the week!

Shaquille O’Neal shows the spirit of Thanksgiving by paying for the funeral of Shaniya Davis

This dude does not have to worry about anything....

Having everything you want and not having to want for anything must be nice.  I know its the reason that I continue in the rat race, even though I would rather be at home on the couch.  Sometimes, you see stories on the news and you feel motivated to help, or it touches you that something happened.  Hey, it is part of the reason why we blog.

When you know the story is truly horrific, can be just the tonic for action.  each person should try to do what they can.  You don’t have to be a big baller to help, although if you are, you should do more.  Shaq would qualify as a big baller.  A lot of the things that Shaq or other celebrities/athletes do don’t get the press. We want the salacious details, the embarrassing gaffes that they make.  For some, it makes them feel better about their own miserable life when they see someone else down in the dumps.  This time, we want to celebrate people doing good, especially on Thanksgiving.  Shaq showed how to be thankful for what you have…

Whip them into shape Shaq! Shaq clearly has a soft soft for kids, since he is just an oversized one himself

Shaq pays for N.C. girl’s funeral

Comment Email Print Share //

Associated Press

FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. — Basketball star Shaquille O’Neal paid for the funeral of a 5-year-old North Carolina girl after being moved by national news coverage of the case of Shaniya Davis, who police say was kidnapped and killed.

Shaniya and her father, Bradley Lockhart. How did this guy get involved with a crackhead mother? My heart goes out to him.

The Cleveland Cavaliers player was touched by the stories he saw and got in touch with the family to see what he could do to help, a spokeswoman for O’Neal said Thursday.

Another sign that the Cleveland Browns are desperate: Eric Man-GENIUS is looking towards LeBron James again

Even he can't save you from getting fired Mangini

Another sign that the 1-8 Browns are desperate is that the LBJ talk is happening again.  Even you you mean this tongue in cheek, it comes off looking like you are pitful, which you are.

With my draft this year we, as we always do, rented a house where all of us met for the draft.  The people that we rented the house from were desperate to get us in the house and gave us a huge discount.  They opened with the fact that there could be a discount in it for us, which meant we KNEW that we were getting a discount.  We knew they were desperate and we took advantage of it.

The Browns are desperate and this story from ESPN proves it.

BEREA, Ohio — If LeBron James truly believes he can help the Cleveland Browns, coach Eric Mangini has an orange helmet waiting for him.

“I think he should come on down,” Mangini said.

"If I could clone LBJ and have him play all 11 positions, we can be really good..." Mangenious, shouldn't you be working on something that is actually feasible, instead of wishful thinking?

The NBA superstar, who was an All-State wide receiver in high school, said Tuesday night that if he put the time and commitment into it, he could be a good football player.

“If I put all my time and commitment into it, if I dedicated myself to the game of football, I could be really good,” he said Tuesday night, “no matter what team I was on.”

Like the look, but c'mon...keep dreaming. Try getting a QB who could get him the ball

Mangini agreed, calling James “a freak athletically” and said the 6-foot-8, 260-pounder could be dangerous at tight end, wide receiver or even outside linebacker.

For the Browns to be good, they would need to clone him and he would have to play all three positions on the field.  Even then, they would need a QB and another RB, since it looks like the tank is empty with Jamal Lewis.  Shouldn’t Mangenius be worried about how they are going to fix their totally anemic offense?

Quarterback Brady Quinn also heard about James’ football fetish. He would love to have a target to throw to like James in the red zone.

“That’d be great,” Quinn said. “Tell him to suit up and let us know, we’ll get him working. Obviously he’s an incredibly talented athlete. If he wants to try to play a little bit now, we’d be more than willing to pick him up.”

Brady, your Norte Dame education is really shining through now.  Too bad your cheating ways are getting in the way of actual wins.  Even JaMarcus Russell is ahead of you and he hasn’t been hitting the books or the WR’s.  There are 36 other QB’s rated higher than you.

Browns nose tackle Shaun Rogers isn’t convinced James, as great as he is, could step into the NFL and be able to handle the pounding.

“I heard that comment,” Rogers said. “I have mixed emotions about that. A great athlete? Yes. A football player? No.”

Rogers then looked into TV cameras.

Damn Biz Markie, I didn't know that you branched off into football....

“Yeah LeBron, I said it,” he said. “It’s a punishing game. I just don’t think you can step off the basketball court after not going through this year in and year out and just play football. From that standpoint, I just don’t think it’s possible. You have to weather and condition your body to take this punishment.”

So what if James had a year to train? Could he do it then?

“Yeah, he might make a heckuva tight end,” Rogers said. “I’d like to see him out there running down the seam.”

James was an All-Ohio wide receiver at St. Vincent-St. Mary High School before quitting football after his junior year to focus on basketball. But he still follows the game closely and believes he could have been a hybrid tight end/receiver in the mold of San Diego’s Antonio Gates or Atlanta’s Tony Gonzalez.

Gates, who played basketball in college and not football, is listed at 6-foot-4 and 260 pounds. James is listed at 6-8 and 250 pounds.

“They’re not always lined up next to the tackle,” James said. “Sometimes they go against strong safeties and linebackers. It’s tough to match up with those guys because they’re so athletic.”

James filmed a commercial last year for an insurance company that depicted him in a No. 23 Browns jersey with “LeBron” stitched across the back.

He has no serious plans of returning to football, but said playing the two sports takes entirely different types of stamina.

“I’d be in football shape during football season, then I’d go to basketball and feel like I was out of shape,” he said. “It’s totally different. And another thing you have to get used to is getting hit again.”

Plus, it’s enough LeBron that you are carrying the city of Akron and Cleveland on your back for basketball.  You shouldn’t have to carry the football team as well.

Mangini, don’t worry, you are about to be collecting a paycheck to NOT coach.

damn, New York can be a cold and cruel place...

Delonte West looking to improve his shooting…but before he could get some shots up, he was arrested for possession of loaded firearms….

One might ask him, “Where the hell are you going strapped like Mel Gibson in Mad Max?

What are you fighting for?...Where is Tina Turner when I need her?

NBA Star Delonte West Arrested on Weapons Charges
Cavaliers Guard Was Carrying Three Guns While Driving on I-95, Authorities Say
By Matt Zapotosky
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, September 18, 2009 3:46 PM

An NBA star and former area high school player was pulled over and arrested in Prince George’s County on Thursday night after a police officer found he was carrying three loaded guns, authorities said.

So, you were rolling something like this, huh?

Delonte West, a guard for the Cleveland Cavaliers, was driving a three-wheeled motorcycle north on Interstate 95 near Route 214 in the Largo area when he cut off a Prince George’s County police officer, authorities said. The officer pulled him over, and West told the officer that he was carrying a handgun in his waistband.

remember, this is how Plax shot himself....this is the 9mm

That prompted the officer to call for backup, and investigators found that West was actually carrying three guns: a Beretta 9mm in his waistband, a Ruger .357 strapped to his leg and a shotgun in a guitar case slung over his back, said Maj. Andy Ellis, a spokesman for the Prince George’s County Police Department.

Yo Delonte, Dirty Harry Callahan is looking for his gun back.. at least you had this one in a holster...

Let’s not forget he was carrying another gun like he was Antonio Banderas ready to shoot up the place…

Remember in El Mariachi/Desperado? That was a sweet case...

West, who is 26 and lives in Brandywine, was arrested and charged with speeding and two counts of carrying a handgun, Ellis said. He was released today on personal recognizance, according to Ellis and online court records.

Ellis said it was unclear where West was going and why he was armed.

Damn dog, that is a helluva burn...

I won’t go in on Delonte and his crack pipe burn on his lip, but really?  You needed to have all those guns?  This is the same reason Plax is going to be doing a stretch in the big house.

I think that this is where I make the joke like in White Men Can’t Jump, where the guy loses the game (Raymond)  and says that he is going to get his gun…

If I was Boobie Gibson or Anthony Parker, I would watch out….

I was right; Lebron is a punk b$tch

This is a rather late update to my previous post about Lebron the cry-baby, but for those of you who don’t watch sports television or read sports-related news, this may be new.  Recently, Lebron was working his summer skills camp for younger players when he was posterized by Xavier rising sophomore Jordan Crawford.  This would be, seemingly, innocuous news except for the fact that Lebron immediately had Nike officials confiscate all video evidence of the dunk.  I don’t think it bears repeating how pathetic this whole situation is, but I will say that I think it would have been far less of a media storm if they had just let the tape get released for public viewing.  Sure, people would take about the King getting punked, but my, in my opinion, it’s much worse to have everyone know you gut punked AND that you were too big of a bitch to let the video hit youtube.  All of the “first amendment” and “media censorship” hoo-ha aside, it’s just a real bitch move.  Can’t say I’m surprised.  And what’s even funnier, is how this interacts with his Nike campaign: “We are all witnesses.”  Not this time we weren’t.  I guess the only question now is whether Nike will bend to the demands of hoop enthusiasts everywhere and finally leak the vid.  According to Darren Rovell of CNBC:

By: Darren Rovell
Sports Business Reporter

AP LeBron James

It’s the talk of the sports world.

Jordan Crawford’s dunk over LeBron James at the Cavaliers star’s Skills Academy.

I’ll make the story short for those who somehow haven’t heard it. Crawford, who plays at Xavier, jammed on James, but Nike // [NKE 51.30 0.24 (+0.47%) ]// confiscated the visual evidence, citing rules that stated that taping was off limits.

The story leaked out.

Yesterday’s story was that Nike had the tape.

Today’s story? Fans want to see the tape.

Ten years ago, this would have all gone away. Fans wouldn’t have been able to generate enough noise to pressure Nike into giving the tape up. Now there’s hope in generating buzz on blogs, Facebook and Twitter.

So what will it take for Nike to release this thing?

Even though Nike can’t put any sort of branding on the video because Crawford is still playing his college ball, I still think it would be a good business move to release this. If it gets out there, everyone will know it’s because Nike decided to do it.

Nike execs know that it doesn’t have to have the Swoosh on there to generate buzz. The company is probably the best company out there in terms of working with viral videos. And the truth of the matter is that one kid jamming on LeBron doesn’t hurt Nike or LeBron from a marketability standpoint.

If the tape doesn’t come out, you can read it in a couple ways. One, Nike doesn’t want to set a precedent if their executives are serious about their filming policy. Two, they are unclear of their legal rights to air it — they confiscated it, but they legally might not even have rights to air it. Lastly, if it doesn’t come out, it might mean LeBron is legitimately being sensitive about this moment, which I honestly can’t believe. The guy is the MVP of the NBA, why would he care about something like this?

Did Michael Jordan insist on pulling this video of CEO John Rogers beating him at his camp? Of course not.

I’m pretty sure we’ve played this video on the blog before, but I thought I’d repost so you could see it again…

This once again proves my point from my last rant abut hating Lebron: he will never be the champion that Jordan is.  All you Lebron pole-riders out there, take note.  Maybe it’s time to get behind a winner.  Kobe has an MVP AND 4 championships.  I’ll also make this prediction right now: Lebron won’t do what Kobe did, namely, win a championship playing with Shaq.