Great Article at ESPN.com

This is a very interesting article. It talks about the Myth that is the LA Lakers. It talks about the fact that both Minnesota (if healthy) and Detroit should be able to beat the Lakers. It is a very long article, but if you take the time to read it, you will be happy you did. Especially if you do not like the Lakers

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=wiley/040527

Daily Pick (Saturday)

Started day at 244
Minnesota Timberwolves +135
100-->135 W to 379...L to 144
I don't think the Lakers will care. Plus the NBA wants more games. The Wolves may actually get a whistle or two in this one. THIS IS POST #100

WILL THE WOLVES WIN GAME 5????COMMENT BELOW

Absolutely Embarrassing

I am going to start with "I wish I could have just woke up tomorrow and found out we lost". That's it we lost. I watched almost the entire game. It was horrible. As a Piston's fan, this may be my least favorite game of my entire life.

Lets start with this fact. Last series it was game 5. This series it's game 4. What am I talking about? THE GAME WHERE LARRY BROWN WAS TOTALLY OUTCOACHED. Amazingly, Carlisle made adjustments. Larry Brown could not do anything to take advantage of them. Austin Croshere is not that good, however, he totally took us out of what we were doing defensively. Maybe, just maybe, you should have posted the shit out of him on the other end. Croshere can't cover Rasheed in the post. That is my guarantee.

Here's another thing. How about a Piston other than Rip Hamilton do something offensively. Rip has been amazing. There is no doubt in my mind he can lead us offensively to a championship. However, he is far from good enough to do it alone. Billups and Rasheed must hit shots. Another thought, there is this guy on our team named Mehmet Okur. Larry Brown, YOU EVER HEARD OF HIM. I know he makes mistakes, I know sometimes he settles for jumpshots. But, when our team is struggling (for lack of a profane word) offensively, Memo needs to get more than 5 minutes of playing time.

Now to the positive. Congratulations Pacers. Congratulations Rick Carlisle. I am amazed you made adjustments that actually worked. However, Larry Brown is an idiot on occasion. A doghouse is one thing. Singling out a player, and making him the one guy who can make only one mistake a game is horrible. Mehmet Okur will be playing on someone other than the Pistons next year, unless Joe Dumars makes the decision.
IND 83 DET 68

WHO WINS THE SERIES FROM HERE????COMMENT BELOW

Friday MLB Recap

American League

Baltimore 7 Detroit 5
-- Miggy went yard for the second consecutive game. Jorge Julio earned save number 8.

K.C. 2 Minnesota 1
-- Michael Cuddyer hit his 5th HR of the year to account for the Twins only run. Tony Graffanino beat out an RBI infield single in the bottom of the ninth in his first game since April 30 to end the game.

B-Jays 5 Rangers 4
-- Delgado went deep the 8th time. Jason Frasor, Toronto's closer of the week, earned his 3rd save of the year.

Boston 8 Seattle 4
-- David Ortiz hit a grand slam to up his MLB leading RBI total to 43. Pedro moved to5-3 by striking out 9 Mariners over 7 innings.

Indians 1 A's 0
-- Casey Blake hit a walk off solo shot in the 9th innning for the win.

New York 7 Tampa Bay 5
-- Mariano Rivera picked up career save 300. Damn Yankees.

ChiSox 4 Halos 3
-- Paul Konerko went 3-5 with 3 RBI including the game winner on a single in the bottom of the ninth. Anahiem has lost 4 in a row, all by one run.

National League

Pirates 9 Cubs 5 Game 1
Pirates 5 Cubs 4 Game 2
-- Rob Mackowiak hit a walk-off grand slam to win the first game of this double header. He also hit a game tying jack in the night cap. Craig "I love mullets" Wilson hit a walk off solo shot in the bottom of the 10th inning.

Reds 7 Expos 6
-- Ken Griffey Jr. continued his resugence by hitting his 12th HR of the season. It was his 493rd career jack, tying him for 20th all-time with Lou Gehrig. Danny Graves got his 22nd save of the year.

Phillies 3 Braves 2
-- Tomas Perez tied the game with a double in the 8th and hit a game winning HR in the 10th. Congrats, go buy an H.

Marlins 2 Mets 1
-- Luis Castillo went 3-3, scored a run, and drove in another to lead the fish. Todd Zeile went yard for the Mets only run. Dontrelle Willis improved to 5-3 while Tom Glavine dropped to 6-3.

Cardinals 2 Astros 1
-- Ray Lankford scored the game winning run in the top of the 10th inning on an Octavio Dotel balk. Scott Rolen hit his 12th HR of the year.

D'Backs 6 Dodgers 3
-- Big Unit improved to 6-4. Luis Gonzalez hit HR #13.

Giants 4 Rockies 2
-- The Giants scored all 4 of their runs in the bottom of the 9th. Barry Bonds hit a 2-run HR to break a 2-2 tie and end the game. I do not understand why they pitched to Bonds when they did not have to.

Padres 5 Brew-Crew 3
-- Brian Lawrence gave up 1 run on 4 hits over 7 innings. He also struck out 10 to improve to 7-3 on the year. Trevor Hoffman picked up save 13 on the year.

NBA Pregame

Take a look at this C-SUCK. Jim Carrey gone evil and insane.... This is the big one. The Pistons need to win this game just as much as the Indiana Pacers do. If the Pistons were to lose they would be down to winning 2 out of 3 with two of those games being played at Conseco. Rip Hamilton has been amazing. He is the up and coming star of this year's NBA playoffs. I expect him to be just as amazing in this game. If Chauncey Billups can limit his turnovers for the second straight game the Pistons will walk out of the Palace very happy. The Pacers need to change their rotation. They need less minutes from Reggie Miller. They need more production from Jamaal Tinsley. Al Harrington needs to play 35+ minutes, he has been the best player for the Pacers in this series. Carlisle, is the most stubborn coach I have ever seen. He almost always refuses to change anything. That being said, he will probably stick with what he has been doing. He does have Jermaine Oneal, so if he can figure a way to put up close to 30 than the Pacers have a chance. Otherwise, the Pacers are going to struggle if the rotation stays the same. My prediction is that Prick Carlisle will make VERY LITTLE ADJUSTMENTS and the Pacers will be going home down 3-1. Pistons by 6.

Daily Pick (Friday)

Started day at 194, NOT GOOD
Boston Red Sox -240
120 -->50
W at 244, L to 74

NBDL to expand

David Stern has an idea to move the NBDL to around 15 teams. Then, allowing each team to have the rights to a player or two playing in the league so they can get some playing time. Darko Milicic probably could have used this idea this year. I'm not sure though, some coaches would probably rather have the quality practice time with the youngsters. I happen to like the idea, but, I am not sure how the coaches will like it. The NBA's version of the minor leagues would be good for the 1000 High school players that are currently in the NBA draft pool.

SI's Fortunate 50

For those of you who may have missed it, in their May 17th issue Sports Illustrated published a list of the 50 highest payed active American athletes. The list was based on the current seasons for team sports and the 2003 calender year for winning-based sports. Here are the top 10.

1. Tiger Woods $76,673,413
-- Tiger earned $6.673 milliion on the PGA Tour in 2003. His endorsements carried him to the top spot. His deals with Buick, Nike and EASports among others earned him an estimated $70 million dollars in 2003.

2. Shaquille O'Neal $40,517,858
-- The Lakers big man was payed $26.517 million this year. His endorsements with Nestle, Burger King, and Radio Shaq.... er Shack got him an additional $14 million.

3. LeBron James $39,018,920
-- LeBron was payed the maximum salary for an NBA rookie($4.018 million). His endorsements($35 million) were second only to Tiger to put him in the number three slot. Nike & Sprite led the way to the bank for LeBron.

4. Peyton Manning $36,400,000
-- The currnet Manning family leader in chokes also earned the most cash. The Colts payed him $26.9 million dollars to not lead them to the Super Bowl. Gatorade and Nike helped Peyton earn an additional $9.5 million.

5. Kevin Garnett $36,000,000
-- The current NBA MVP was also the highest payed athlete in terms of salary with a $29 million dollar salary. His endorsements totaled $7 million.

6. Oscar De La Hoya $32,000,000
-- The highest payed boxer made $30 million for his fighting efforts in 2003. Someone payed him $2 million to pimp something that I do not know about. Probably hair gel or something. Damn pretty boy boxer.

7. Andre Agassi $27,030,929
-- The highest payed tennis player made $2.53 million for his efforts on the court. He made $24.5 million pimping for Nike, Gatorade and Nikkon among other companies.

8. Kobe Bryant $25,498,000
-- Kobe was payed $13.498 million to play for the Lakers this year. He earned an additional $12 million to represent McDonald's, Sprite and others.

9. Derek Jeter $25,000,000
-- $19 million gives him the highest salary on the Yankees. American Exprees and Gatorade gave Jeter $6 to push their products.

10. Grant Hill $24,279,250
-- CAN YOU SAY OVERPAYED!!!! I knew you could. The Orlando Magic payed Hill $13,279,250 to play slightly more basketball than me this year. I think Nike payed Hill like $8 million to say he does not wear their shoes. The other $3 million probably came from some company who makes ankle braces or some surgeon or something.

Comments Section FINALLY ready for all visitors

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NBA Pregame

This is the game that decides whether or not this is a series. If the Lakers win this game, especially if they win easily, this series is over. However, if the Timberwolves can win this game they go from basically being eliminated to being in control of the series. The Timberwolves need Sam Cassell in the 4th quarter. That is a must. They also need better performance from KG. If Garnett can put up 30 plus points they have a chance. If KG can get Malone in foul trouble early, it would pave the way to an easier game for all the Timberwolves. I may be the only one who feels this way, but, if the wolves can get Cassell to be effective in the 4th quarter I can see the Wolves walking out of Staples very content. If Cassell does not play good late minutes, the wolves will be going back to Minnesota down 3-1.

Big Summer for Orlando Magic Started Tonight

Tonight the Orlando Magic won the NBA Draft Lottery. This is only the beginning of what could be a huge summer for the Orlando Magic. This summer will include drafting the first pick in the draft, deciding what they should do with Tracy McGrady, and seventeen prayers a day for Grant Hill's health.

This summer could be a mammoth success or a complete disaster. First off, the Magic have to decide whether or not they can keep Tracy McGrady after next season. Then, they decide whether or not they can get a trade worth taking. I don't see the Magic finding any takers for McGrady with anything worth accepting. I could be wrong, but I seriously doubt it. THE ORLANDO MAGIC HAVE TO BE GOOD IN THE UPCOMING SEASON. That will begin by drafting Okafor with the first pick in the NBA draft. I have given up on the idea of Grant Hill being healthy. That 14 million or so a year is killing the Orlando Magic.

Okafor will help the Magic, but he is far from an answer EVEN IN THE EASTERN CONFERENCE. The Magic were pathetic this past season, their roster had real close to zero talent past Tracy McGrady. My prediction is that the Orlando Magic will not be good next year, and that Tracy McGrady will be the biggest free agent since oh ya this year when Kobe Bryant is a Free Agent.

The Emerging Superstar

The Detroit Pistons got a huge win tonight. Richard Hamilton continued to do what he has done all season for the Pistons. He scored big buckets at big times. Richard Hamilton is yet to be an All-star guard. That should change next year. Richard Hamilton has been scoring against players such as Ron Artest and Jermaine Oneal in this series. If he can keep this up the Pistons have a chance against anybody in the league.

The first quarter of tonight's game showed the Pistons playing aggressive on both ends. They made stops and turned many of them into easy baskets. The second quarter showed a Piston's bench bunch play without any aggression which led to Indiana coming all the way back from a 13 point first quarter deficit.

The second half was controlled by the Detroit Pistons from beginning to end. However, the Pacers even though they appeared to out of the game from time to time would never allow the Pistons to completly bury them. The Pacers made a push late in the 4th quarter but a tip-in by Ben Wallace and a Rasheed Wallace and-1 fade-away sealed the victory. The Pistons now lead the series 2-1. Game 4 is crucial, and there is no better place to be on a Friday Night than at the Palace of Auburn Hills.
DET 85 IND 78

Wednesday MLB Recap

American League

Royals 7 Tigers 3
-- This game ended on a 6-4-3 double play for the second night in a row. The Tigers left 20 runners on base. That is not a good thing.

Twins 4 D-Rays 2
-- Lew Ford continued to be the MAN. He went 3-3 and scored 2 runs. He also walked two times. Joe Mauer should be back next week. He went 3-4 with Class-A Ft. Myers.

B-Jays 6 Halos 5
-- Troy Percival blew his 4th save of the year. The Angels pulled a MAJOR whoopsy by forgetting to cover home plate on the play that tied the game. I do not think that pleased Mike Scoscia very much.

Sawx 9 A's 6
-- Eric Chavez went yard for the 12th time this year, but the Sawx scored 9 runs on 9 hits to get the victory.

Yankees 12 Orioles 9
-- Gary Sheffield went 4-5 with 6 RBI. Mariano Rivera picked up save number 16. A-Rod reached base safely for the 34th straight game. I still hate the Yankees.

Seattle 7 Cleveland 3
-- There were 6 HR's in this game. Raul Ibanez(8), Ichiro(3), Edgar Martinez(4), Casey Blake(5), Victor Martinez(9), and Travis Hafner(7) were the hitters of those long bombs.

ChiSox 4 Tex-ass 0
-- Esteban Loaiza gave up 2 hits over 8 innings to move to 6-3 on the year. Frank Thomas went DEEP for the 10th time this year. Miguel Olivo also went yard for the 5th tome on the season.

National League

Atlanta 6 Montreal 1
-- The Braves are not very good, but the Expos look WAY up to not very good. Tomorrow night, diddy will throw 8 innings of 3 hit ball against the 'Spos. Furcal showed up in this game by hittin a homer, and stealing a base.

Marlins 3 Reds 0
-- Griffey is still not injured. The Marlins pitching staff is unbelievable, and they soon will be getting back what could be their best pitcher.

Phillies 7 Mets 4
-- I am beginning to believe in these Phillies. No homers and still 7 runs, didn't think they had that in them.

Stros 7 Cubbies 3
-- Cubbies are really missing Sosa. Berkman hit number 12, he may be the hottest hitter in the league right now.

Brew Crew 2 Dodgers 1
-- Dodgers going back to reality. Perez gives up 4 hits in 7 innings and his team loses.

Pirates 11 Cards 8
-- Benson gives up 7 runs in 6 innings for the win. I would imagine Expos pitchers are ready to kill somebody after reading this. D Ward had 6RBI

Rockies 13 Padres 6
--Vinny Castilla is amazing (14 HR 43 RBI). Wish I would have drafted him.

Giants 4 Dbacks 3
--Dbacks appeared to win the game in the 7th. Then came their bullpen. Bonds homered and Pedro Feliz won the game with a 2 RBI double in the 8th off Jose Valverde.

NBA Pregame

Two days after an enormous win the Pistons have a whole lot of pressure on them to hold home court. The Pistons will need to continue the defensive aggressiveness, as well as keep the Wallaces out of foul trouble. Indiana needs to find a way to shoot better from the field. They cannot win any series shooting around 30 percent. The Pistons could use some offense out of Rasheed Wallace, however, if he is going to continue shutting down Jermaine Oneal his production is just fine. The Palace will be extremely rambunctious tonight, it should be fun to watch. I wish I could be there, but I am stuck on the other side of the country. GO PISTONS. The Pistons will win by around 7-9 points, and will reach that ELUSIVE 80 point mark.

Daily Pick (Wednesday)

Started the day at 264. Goin' with the Tiggers
Tigers +125@ Kansas City
20 -->25
Loss to 244, Win to 289

Tuesday night MLB recaps

Breaking news!! Big Papa is not available for tonight's recaps, so with his blessing, I'm going to take tonight's recaps.

K.C. Royals-4 Detroit Tigers - 3
KC won this game on a LONG home run by Ken Harvey off Danny Patterson. The Tigers thought they tied the game in the top of the 9th, when Alex Sanchez scored on a DP grounder to 2nd that Pudge Rodriguez beat out. The 2nd base ump, however, called automatic DP because of interference on Carlos Guillen, as he didn't slide to break up the throw.

In a shocking development, former Tiger, Juan Gonzalez didn't play.

NY Yankees - 11 Baltimore - 3
A-Rod hit his 11th HR of the season as the Yankees send Baltimore to their 5th straight loss.

Bo Sox-12 A's- 2
Manny Ramirez hit his 12th Big Fly,and Mark Bellhorn had a career high 5 RBI game to lead the rout of the athletics. Tim Hudson fell to 1-3 with a 8.53 at Fenway Park, for his career.

M's-5 Indians- 4 12INN
Raul Ibanez's RBI single in the 12th Inning sends Cleveland to their 6th straight loss.

T.B. Devil Rays-6 Twinkies-1
TB wins their 6th straight game as Julio Lugo goes yard, and Victor (I'm the OTHER)Zambrano allows 1 run in seven strong innings pitched. Justin Morneau hit his 2nd HR in 11 AB's this season after just TEARING UP AAA pitching. Morneau hit .356 with 10 HR, 29 RBI and slugged .644 in 37 games for the Twins AAA team.

Rangers- 7 Pale Hose - 4
Mark Teixeira and Herbert Perry each hit solo HR's as the Rangers defeat the White Sox 7-4. The Gambler Kenny Rogers wins his 7th game to move into a tie with Roger Clemens, Jarrod Washburn and Paul Wilson for the MLB lead in Wins.


Montreal-San Juan-(DC-Northern VA) Expos- 3 Atlanta- 1
Endy Chavez, Juan Rivera and Tony Batista each homered as the Expos defeat Atlanta 3-1.

Cincy-5 Marlins-2
The Marlins walked NL leading hitter Sean Casey intentionally to pitch to MLB All-Century team member Ken Griffey Jr, and JR made them pay, blasting his 492nd Career Home Run, a 3 run homer, to RF. Paul Wilson won his 7th game of the season tying Roger Clemens and 2 others for the MLB win lead.

NYM- 5 Phillies -0
The Mets got their 2nd shut-out in a row as Steve Traschel battled rain, mud and Philies hitters, none of which stopped him as the Mets win 5-0. Tom Glavine shut-out the Colorado Rockies yesterday.

Dodgers-5 Beer-Makers- 3
Lima-Time is back in LA, as Jose Lima wins his 3rd game of the year in relief of Kaz Ishii. Eric Gagne saved his 74th straight game, for the Dodgers

Astros-5 Cubs-0
Roy Oswalt shut out the Cubs, and picks up his first win in a month. Lance Berkman homered for the 'stros, as they defeat Carlos Zambrano for the first time since August 14, 2002.

Pad's 11 Rockies 6
At least the Rockies pitching staff can blame Coors. Jay Payton had 4 hits for the Padres. The other Luis Gonzalez had 4 hits for the Rockies in a losing effort.

Giants 4 Dbacks 1
Jason Schmidt owns the Diamondbacks. Bonds homered, I had almost forgot he was in the league.

Pirates @ St. Louis Postponed due to rain

Daily Pick (Tuesday)

Started Day at 314
Minnesota +350@ LAL
I am going to do this in both games, unless I win the first one. I am expecting Minnesota to shock the world and win a game in LA.

50 to win 175
Win to 489...Loss to 264

The Daily Pick is Back to Respectability

After 3 straight hits the Daily Pick is up to 314.That is still far from the starting point of 500. But, a couple days ago I had a pick that would have put the balance at ZERO with a loss. 314 doesn't sound that bad.

Best Defensive Play Ever...I Guarantee It

This was one of the best games I have seen in a long time. If you made it through the first quarter you were rewarded in the 3rd and 4th quarters. The defense played by the two teams combined was the best I have ever seen by two different teams in the same game. The Pistons blocked 19 shots and held Oneal and Artest to a combined 11 of 39. The referees almost cost the Pistons the game on one of the worst calls in NBA history (Double Dribble that wasn't). The Pacers looked to have the game tied when Tayshaun Prince came out of no where to have the block of the century on Reggie Miller. He hurt his elbow cause he hit it on the backboard. Rasheed guaranteed it and it happened. He shot the ball horrible, but he played awesome defense on one of the best players in the league. I will take his shooting every day if he can shut down Oneal like that. The series is now going back to the Psychotic Palace of Auburn Hills tied at 1 game a piece. I would work for a month to be at the next two games. This series is going to the Pistons. The Pacers should feel lucky its not 2 games to zero. Maybe the Pistons should too.
Pistons 72 Pacers 67

Monday MLB Recap

American League

B-Jays 6 Halos 5
-- Three Angels homered in a losing effort. The Jays won the game but lost Delgado. Thats not a good trade.

National League

Fish 13 D'Backs 5
-- Steve Finley hit his 14th HR of the year. Brandon Webb got jacked.

Braves 5 X'Pos 0
-- Andrew Jones went yard twice to lead the Braves to victory over the AAA team playing a MLB schedule.

Reds 7 Astros 5
-- Ken Griffey Jr. is batting like its 1999. He got his 10th jack of the year. Danny Graves picked up his 21st save of the year.

Timberwolves get the Win they needed

The Minnesota Timberwolves went into Sunday night's game knowing that this game was a must win. They came out with exactly that. Sam Cassell played 43 seconds of basketball. The odds were stacked against the T-wolves from the tip-off. They really did not care. Kevin Garnett led the way with help from just about all of his teammates. Latrell Sprewell was great, as were players like Darrick Martin and Wally Szczerbiak. The defense led the way. The Lakers looked as if they were fine with losing. I am personally hoping they lose Game 3 and then realize that they are human and far from unbeatable.

Daily Pick (Monday)

Start the day at 224
50 to win 90 on the Pistons +180

L at 174...W to 314
GO PISTONS

Daily Pick (Sunday)

Started day at 214
Minnesota + 7 1/2 Second Half (EVEN) vs the Lakers..the Lakers are giving this one to a Minnesota team that believes in themselves no matter what everybody else thinks

10 to win 10-->W makes 224...Loss would make it 204

One Horrible Performance, One HUGE Guarantee

Rasheed Wallace was horrible in game one. He scored 4 points. He allowed Jeff Foster to score a bucket in the final minute of the game. He shot an airball when he could have passed the ball out with ten seconds to go. What does this mean to Rasheed? Obviously, it means he will play better in Game 2. "They will not win Game 2." Said Rasheed after the game. He said this over and over. Well Rasheed if you would have played even an average game, The Pacers would not have won Game 1.

Well Sheed, I hope you are right. I thought that the Pistons would win one of two in Indiana. Now we need to win one of one or the numbers are heavily stacked against us. Go Pistons in Game 2 or we would have to win 4 of 5 against a team who hasn't lost 4 times in a 5 game span in around 2 years.

SAM I.....MIGHT BE????

Well this one is quite simple. The Wolves have to win game 2. KG has to be an MVP for that to happen. Sprewell will have to hit big shots, and get to the lane, and to the foul line. To be honest with Sam Cassell very questionable, my money would be on the Lakers. Kevin Garnett needs 30 points and 18 rebounds. Shaq won't hit 90 percent from the line. Derek Fisher won't hit 4 three pointers. Karl Malone will miss. The Timberwolves will find a way to win. I know I said that my money would be on the Lakers, that is because that makes sense. The Timberwolves will win tonight, don't ask me why. Timberwolves by 4.