>>>>>>>>A man who looks similar to Michael Jordan is suing for $832 million
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>http://msn.foxsports.com/nba/story/5766288?FSO1&ATT=HMA
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>If he wins, I'm suing Pamela Anderson - people get us confused all the time, and it's caused me great pain and suffering.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>Really? I thought you look more like Carmen Electra. :)
>>>>>>>But you're right. You'll probably get more money from Pamela.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>I honestly don't get the attraction of either one of them. Breasts artificially enhanced to the size (and firmness) of basketballs get me about as excited as thumbtacks. Ain't nothing wrong with the real thing, baby.
>>>>>
>>>>>I know what you mean. This is another thing we can agree on. I'm FAST approaching the age when I look back fondly to women like Farrah Fawcett, Rachel Welch and Bo Dereck. Yeah, where have all the good ones gone?
>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>Oho, I had a cool basketball moment last night. I went downtown to the Taste of Chicago, an annual event where a few dozen local restaurants set up booths between Grant Park and Millennium Park. One of the annual exhibitors is a U.S. Army recruiting station, with a chance to take three basketball shots as the draw. Not free throws, more like 3 point land, 20 feet plus. In Chicago, one of the true basketball hotbeds, you can imagine how long the line was. The guys running that part of the operation were making anyone who shot an air ball do 10 pushups, and there were plenty of those. At the time I was there the line basically consisted of a lot of young black guys and me. I was getting some glances -- "What's Mr. Old White Dude doing here?" I guess I haven't completely forgotten how because my first two shots were nothing but net. The third one wasn't quite as deft, it used every inch of the rim, but it fell in. Some of the looks changed to, "Wow, you never know!" LOL
>>>>>
>>>>>Wow! three in a row from three point land.... The Mavericks could have used you.
>>>>>Ever seen the movie "White Man Can't Jump"? :)
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>Would you believe I am excited about the Bulls' chances next season? It's been a while. First they steal Tyrus Thomas in the draft, then they sign Ben Wallace away from the Pistons. Maybe I'm nuts but I think they are legitimate candidates to make the finals. John Paxson and Scott Skiles have assembled a team of blue collar guys who play hard and are out there to win. (They just traded away the last guy who didn't really fit that mold). You heard it here first!
>>>>>
>>>>>I think the Bulls are on their way back.
>>>>>I'm still in shock over the Mavs loosing to Miami in the finals this year. I've never seen D. Wade play until this finals. He is the real deal..... I'm a new Wade fan now.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>If you hadn't seen him play, no wonder you thought the Mavs were going to win ;-) He is a breath of fresh air. His style of play is aesthetically pleasing to a basketball fan, slashing to the hoop and soaring way above the rim. He even deigns to work on defense -- imagine that!
>>>>
>>>>In a way he reminds me of Scottie Pippen in his early years, before he got famous and surly. Scottie was still just an unknown kid from Arkansas Whatever, the youngest of 10 or more children in his family, busting his hump every night. When he soared to the basket for a monster dunk the old Chicago Stadium went deafening, even more so than for Michael's arobatics. Michael was already anointed, Scottie was just on his way. That story never gets old. I know it's blasphemous to compare MJ unfavorably to anyone in any way but the crowd really did get more fired up over Scottie at that time. I was there. Bear in mind this was before the championships, the pieces still falling into place, when MJ was still dogged with the "great player who has never won a championship" tag.
>>>
>>>I'm of an entirely different school of thought. Two of the greatest modern players I ever saw are Larry Bird and Magic Johnson. They both rarely ever did monster dunks or hung on the rim, or any of the other junk that passes for great playing these days. Dennis Rodman was touted as one of the great shot blockers, and sure when he smashed a block up into the 10th row of the stands it looked spectacular and the fans went nuts, but in fact, what he was doing was turning the ball over, back to the opposition. The great ones are the ones who block and keep the ball, either by actually grabbing it, or tipping it to a player on their own team. Robert Parrish was a pretty decent example of that, but it wasn't talked up as a big deal. Not spectacular enough.
>>>
>>>I'm a much bigger fan of straight, no nonsense good plays, accurate blind passing, etc. than I'll ever be of monster dunks.
>>
>>
>>I agree with almost everything you say. My apologies for expressing myself poorly. I do like the monster dunks but those are more things that make the ESPN highlight reels than win championships. Bird and Magic are both heroes of mine. (I take long distance shots, when I take them, exactly the way Bird did -- sideways to the basket rather than "squared up" like every coach since John Wooden has preached). I don't think it's an overstatement to say they rescued the NBA from its last period of serious malaise. Guys like D-Wade and LeBron James are part of the current renaissance IMO. They can dunk but that sure isn't all there is to their game.
>>
>>I must disagree with you about Dennis Rodman. He was not particularly known as a shot blocker. What he was known as was the best straight-up defender in the league, a guy who could reliably be counted on to stop the other team's top scoring forward or center. And he played hard every second. When he came here he had two huge strikes against him -- his reputation as a flake, possibly institutionable, and coming here from the despised Pistons, who were as popular in Chicago as the proverbial skunk at a garden party. He dove headlong for loose balls, played D as hard as ever, and quickly won the fans over. Chicago is a city that will give anyone a second chance if they work hard. He meshed perfectly with the "Grabowski" sensibility. The hair coloring and the outrageous quotes were just a sideshow.
>
>I never cared about Rodman's 'persona'. Let him colour his hair rainbow and wear bunny slippers with paper clips in it's ears if he wants. All that mattered to me was his game, and yes he played hard, but I swear, every time I saw him smash a ball into the stands and watched the fans jump and cheer, all I could think was, "Damn! He turned the ball over again."
>
>I'm not entirely convinced about his defense either. If you had just talked about his rebounding, then ok, can't argue.
>
>We are in agreement about the Pistons though. Being a Celtic fan since the days of Hondo Havlicek (who defined 'play hard') and Bill Russel, I see the Pistons as a team that should have been in the NFL instead of the NBA.


Alan, you're a nice guy so I hate disagreeing with you, partially, twice in the same day. But you are so wrong ;-)

I was a huge Bill Russell fan and still am. That cackle and his prickly but generous personality are hard not to like. If I'm not wrong he is the originator of the shot-blocking argument you are making. Swatting a shot into the stands might make them ooh and ah, he said, but it's better to bang it straight down on the court where you or a teammate can grab it.

Dennis never blocked that many shots, BTW. He was the George Kennan -- well, OK, maybe the George of the Jungle -- of the NBA: containment. He stayed right down there in the trenches.

I have an awful admission to make for a Bulls fan, one whose hopes were dashed more than once by the "Bad Boys" Pistons of the early 1990s. I had a grudging admiration for the Pistons. They had one genuine thug, Rick Mahorn, and one petulant cheap shot artist, Bill Laimbeer. (Didn't Larry Bird actually throw a punch at him in one playoff game? I don't think I am imagining this). Apart from them, who was there to dislike? Joe Dumars, Isiah, Dennis, John Salley, Vinnie Johnson (nicknamed Woo supposedly for the sound he made when he wanted to go into the game for instant offense) -- great players who played the game the right way.