Best NBA Commercial That Will Never Air

An Indictment of A-Rod That Doesn't Come from Selena Roberts

Joel Sherman, who's one of the best writers in baseball when he's not scripting venom about Joe Girardi, tells the story of how A-Rod and Jeter almost became real enemies. It was the fall of 2000, and Alex Rodriguez and my beloved New York Mets were closing in on a record-deal. But that was before the following demands were allegedly made by Rodriguez and Scott Boras:

-A Shea Stadium office for A-Rod to handle off-the-field issues. Like potentially, where to put you know, those substances MLB would eventually prohibit you from taking.

-Instant, on-demand charter jet service for friends and family. We assume Madonna and Jocelyn from Scores count in the friends department.

-And here's one to improve the A-Rod-Jeter relationship. A guarantee that Rodriguez would have the largest billboard presence in the Big Apple, over "The Captain."

So does Steve Phillips and the Wilpons get a pass for saying thanks but no thanks? Not really. As much as I don't like A-Rod the person, there's nothing bad to say about A-Rod the player, roids or no roids(and you know how I feel about that). Hey, I'm even the guy that thinks the "he's not clutch" statements are ridiculous.

But let's face it, I'm not losing sleep over missing a chance to root for Alex Rodriguez.

Photo courtesy of NY Daily News

And NBA Officiating Has Gone from Sucking to Even Worse...

Just in case you still haven't witness Saturday's embarrassing end by the zebras, stealing a victory from Dallas and giving it to Denver, here's the video from one of the worst non-calls in NBA history.



You know it's got to be downright horrific when a Heat fan actually has sympathy for the Mavericks and Mark Cuban.

Or maybe it's just I detest the job NBA officials are doing, and the absolute hard-headedness from David Stern on-down to not address it. And a statement two hours after the game saying "We F'd Up," does not count.

What gets me is this: If you really want to make the situation right, wipe the Carmelo 3 off the board, give Antoine Wright the foul and gather everyone to replay the final 4 seconds with Dallas up 105-103, before the tip-off of Game 4. Sure, it's not the most fair scenario to Denver. But isn't this about getting calls right? What's a more fair scenario: Taking a win away from Denver that it didn't deserve, or screwing Dallas by standing by a call you've already admitted was wrong?

Until those things happen, everyone should be allowed to take unlimited shots at the officiating without any ramifications, beginning with the commish's best friend, Mr. Cuban.

Well Since the Dolphins Went from 1-15 to the Playoffs...

Now it's the new fad to predict that your team ascends from crapburgerville to the postseason.

Today's example, Lions RB Kevin Smith on his blog, not only guaranteeing that Detroit will make it to the playoffs next year, but also says "Believe it or not we weren’t far off last year. Almost every game we could have won, we were one play or one player short. Except for Tennessee on Thanksgiving, they just came out and beat us to sleep. They manhandled us, but nobody else did."

A quick review of the Lions 0-16 season, in which they were allegedly as Kevin Smith says "close."(Dave Wannstedt also seemed to say that every year)

Week 2: Lions get nipped by Green Bay 48-25
Week 3: Lions lose a 31-13 heartbreaker to San Francisco
Week 5: Lions just needed that one play to turn around a 34-7 loss to Chicago.
Week 10: In an instant classic, Jacksonville squeaks past the Lions 38-14.
Week 12: Another close call, Tampa 38, Detroit 20.
Week 16: And who can forget the game of the ages that dropped the Lions to 0-15, a 42-7 nailbiter to New Orleans?

Two other thoughts here. Number one, how did that Jon Kitna 10-win projection work out in 2007? All they need is a 3-13 season to match that 10-win guarantee-in three years. Number two, nice way to help alleviate pressure on top pick Matthew Stafford, Kev!

NBA Officiating Still Sucks

Magic vs. Sixers GM 5 First Round: Dwight Howard blasts Samuel Dalenbert with an elbow. Officials call technical foul. League overrules, suspends Howard for Game 6.

Celtics vs. Bulls GM 5 First Round: Late in overtime, Brad Miller drives to the hole and gets smacked in the face by Rajon Rondo. Clearly a flagrant one by the NBA rulebook, yet both the officials and league say two-shot foul.

Heat vs. Hawks GM 5 First Round: Mo Evans on a fast break rises for a dunk, Dwyane Wade clearly going for the ball gets Evans arm. Officials call it a flagrant foul one. League overrules and retracts the flagrant.

Heat vs. Hawks GM 7 First Round: Zaza Pachulia gets pulled down by Udonis Haslem late in the game. Officials call it a flagrant two and toss Haslem. League reduces it to a flagrant one.

Magic vs. Celtics GM 2 East Semis: After hitting a 3, Eddie House gets slapped in the head by Rafer Alston. Officials assess double technicals on House and Alston. League gives Alston a 1-game suspension.

Lakers vs. Rockets GM 2 West Semis: While battling for a rebound, Kobe Bryant elbows Ron Artest either in the throat or the upper shoulders. Officials call nothing on Bryant and eject Artest. League overrules and gives Bryant a flagrant foul.

Magic vs. Celtics GM 3 East Semis: If the location of Kobe's elbow was questionable, then we know where Kendrick Perkins landed his elbow: Above Mickael Pietrus's shoulders. Automatic suspension according to the rulebook. But both officials and league give Perkins only a flagrant one, perhaps applying the new Kobe rules.

Lakers vs. Rockets GM 3 West Semis: Late in the game, Pau Gasol gets dropped by Ron Artest in what seemed like a hard foul/borderline flagrant one. Officials give Artest a flagrant 2 and eject him. League reduces foul to flagrant one.

And David Stern still thinks his officials are good???

Weekend Reading

Urban Meyer off the field is Matt Millen on the field, according to this Lehigh Valley blogger. Suffice to say, Matt Millen off the field is Urban Meyer on it.

Bio on the late great Chuck Daly. Certainly makes a case of ranking him as a top 5 NBA coach. And a few did you know's, such as he was an assistant for six years at Duke.

ESPN's John Hollinger says LeBron James's PER rating is 42.28 through the playoffs so far. WOW! You can get an explanation to how PER works here, but it's the best barometer for an NBA players success in my opinion.

SI's Steve Aschburner becomes the second person this week to call Kobe Bryant a dirty player. Some former Heat studio host was the first of course...

It's an A-Bomb for A-Rod! And Georgie Girl needs another clothing change. John Sterling and Suzyn Waldman's call of Alex Rodriguez's first pitch homer.

Marlins Putting the N/A in Defense...

On one hand the news of calling up Chris Coughlan and putting him at a position where he hasn't played since Litthe League days isn't a terrible idea. Coughlan is a very highly touted prospect, and the Marlins .238 combined average proves the "home run or strikeout" lineup doesn't do a lot of good without plenty of Option A. And, let's face it, the Fish's defense is going to be terrible until the roster goes through a major facelift. That's what happens when you take players who have plenty of skill but aren't fully developed in the minor leagues, and put them in the Show a year early.

But, on the other hand, are we serious here? Have you ever heard of a major league team assigning someone a position they haven't played since the 7th grade? Maybe other things than the Marlins payroll comes closer to mirroring Westminster Christian than a MLB team.

And of course, this is the same franchise that canned Joe Giardi because of stuff like this. Funny that Miguel Cabrera is now at......oh yeah first base!