February 2008 Archives

We will have daily updates for the start of NFL Free Agency:

• Jerry Porter signs with the Jaguars for 6 years 30 million. How many #2 receivers do the Jags have on the Roster now?

• The Shaun Rodgers trade to the Bengals is off. Just like Cincy to blunder something as simple as this.

• Billy Volek will stay with the Chargers for 3 years 9 million

• Jonathan Vilma of the Jets has been traded to the Saints. Great move for the Saints if he is healthy.

• Cincy gets Shaun Rodgers for a 3rd and 5th round pick.

• Asante Samuel signed with the Eagles for 6 years 57 million dollars. 20 million is guaranteed and 32 million over the 1st 3 years. I personally don't think he is worth that type money especially since he is a zone corner and Philly is aggressive scheme.

• Denver Broncos cut Javon Walker and Ian Gold. Look for the Cowboys to make a run at Walker.

• Kawika Mitchell has signed with Buffalo Bills.

• The Cowboys have traded Jason Ferguson to the Miami Dolphins. Ferguson was hurt all of last year.

• Kris Jenkins has been traded to the Jets for a 3rd and 5th draft pick in 2008. Jenkins also signed a new deal with $20 million in guarantees. In my opinion, horrible trade for the Jets not because of the draft picks but for the guaranteed money for someone so injury prone.

• The Minnesota Vikings have sign former Cincy Saftey Madieu Williams for 6 years, 34 million. If Williams can stay healthy, good pick up for the Vikings even though he is a "Roy Williams" in coverage.

• Derek Anderson re-signed with the Cleveland Browns. That means Brady "Free Falling" Quinn will be sitting on the bench for another year.

• No news on the Randy Moss watch which is bad news for the Patriots.

• Asante Samuels will be in Philly this afternoon and my sources say a deal is already in place so unless something unusual happens in the next 4-5 hours he will be an Eagle.

• Michael "Burner" Turner will be visiting the Falcons this afternoon.

• Updated on Anderson's contract it appears he has gotten 24 million over 3 years with 14 million guaranteed and a good chance he will get the full 24 million.

Mr. McFadden,

Wassup! It's your boy Robert Littal. I am a big fan of your undergraduate work at Arkansas. Looks like you are in line to be a top 5 pick in the NFL Draft meaning you are about to pocket anywhere between 20 and 30 million dollars in guaranteed money which is a beautiful thing. You killed at the combine and many are saying you are the next coming of Adrian Peterson. With that being said, while I was reading all of the superlatives about you, something caught my attention. It appears that you may have fathered 4 kids by 4 different women. The paternity tests are pending, but in the event this is actually true, I thought I should holla at you.

You see these?

They are calledl condoms. You can get them at pretty much any store in the continental United States for about $7. Since you are currently rolling around in Escalades, I am sure you can afford them. I know you think highly of yourself, but I hate to break it to you that these woman aren't having sex with you because you are cool. They are having sex with you to collect some of that 30 million you will be getting soon.

I am not sure if they have a class at Arkansas called "How Not To Be Played By Gold-digging Woman" but if they do, I suggest you take it in the spring because, honestly, you are proving to me and many NFL teams you are not the sharpest prospect out there. I would rather you get a 6 on the Wonderlic test than show you have absolutely no common sense at all.

Look we were all young at one time and I can understand if one chick swindles you, but four? Come on, homie, do you need me to spell it out in football terms?

Basically your signing bonus is Tom Brady and those chicks are the Giants D Line. You feeling me? Go read up on Shawn Kemp or Evander Holyfield. Call up Travis Henry and ask him how it is working out for him with multiple baby mamas.

I am telling you this because I think you have great potential as a football player. So don't take it the wrong way. But if you don't starting thinking with your top head first, you will end up more like Lawrence Philips than Eric Dickerson.

And then there were eight

Well, I think we have our Western Conference playoff field all set now. With Yao out for the season, you can pretty much forget about Houston making it. So now, the last two spots should be be easily occupied by Denver and Golden State. The other six, of course are Dallas, San Antonio, New Orleans, Los Angeles (Lakers), Utah, and Phoenix.

What order they'll all finish in is completely up in the air because the margin between first and sixth in the conference is only three games. Just think about the mind-blowing fact that Houston has won thirteen straight games and only moved from tenth to seventh. In the East, a thirteen game winning streak could vault anyone, other than Miami, from the bottom of the standings to darn near the top.

And now, Houston will ultimately be fading from the picture. Yes, they did extremely well against the Wizards, but ultimately reality will set in. Tracy McGrady can only carry this team so far, and it will show pretty soon. I don't care what John Hollinger says about their schedule. Some of those gimme wins he's predicting won't be gimmes by the time the actual game rolls around.

This does raise some serious questions about Houston's future. Right now their fortunes are, as they've been for the past several seasons, tied to two players who are injury prone to say the least. Both Yao and Tracy have missed double digit games every season since Tracy arrived in Houston, and that probably won't be changing. Yao's size alone means that he's going to constantly get preak injuries, like stress fractures that derail him for part of the season. You throw in the aging factor, and it will probably get worse as time goes on. McGrady has suffered from back problems for the last five or six years, and that usually doesn't get right over time either.

I'm not saying they should blow it all up, but this type of thing is enough to make you think about it. You obviously don't get rid of Yao; centers who can put up a 20-10 are rare nowadays, not to mention all the merchandising dollars he generates thanks to his huge overseas fanbase. That would leave McGrady to trade. At this point, I don't think you'd get back good value for him, so I wouldn't go there either. They've done a better job of putting talent around them recently, and that's all you can really do.

McGrady has to be the unluckiest superstar ever. First he goes to Orlando expecting to form an All-Star tag-team with Grant Hill, only to have to endure several seasons of carrying the load alone while Hill went through all those ankle surgeries. Then, when he gets to Houston, his back starts to flare up on a regular basis, and then his best teammate starts having injury issues. I remember a few years ago Tracy was being called the best in the game, even between than Kobe. Not now.

You know anytime I can go back in the vault and pull out quotes from my rap career I am going to do it. So here you go:

"I'm talking to Kobe's lady / she calling me baby / T-Macking in the bed she screams Tracy McGrady?"

The play on words back in the day spoke to the point that there were many who thought Tracy McGrady was going to be the next big thing bigger than even Darth. Fast forward to 45 1st round playoff exits later and McGrady hasn't exactly lived up to expectations. This year started off the same with the Rockets floundering around .500 until they launched (pun intended) into a 12 game winning streak that had them #4 in the West. Of course it wouldn't be a T-Mac season unless something went terribly wrong. This time it Yao Ming went down with a season ending foot injury and once again if the Rockets even make the playoffs we will probably be seeing this.

Don't worry John Calipari, your no Bill Belichick. And why would you want to be? Yeah you lost to your in-state rival, but you have a chance to let your team grow from a lost and hopefully be more equipped come tourney time. When Bill lost, it was the end of his season. Memphis still will be a number one seed, and will be slamming hapless mid-majors in no time. Look at it this way Mr. Calipari, how many undefeated teams are considered some of the best ever? No one thinks the '72 dolphins is the best ever, except for Mercury "this shtick is all I live for" Morris. So don't look so sad. Appalachian-Northeast-Western-Academy University is ready to meet you in March for their annual whipping.

I like Greg Oden even if he looks like Bill Russell's father, but big homie I know they have black barbers in Portland. Asked Brandon Roy or somebody but you need to visit one ASAP. It is bad enough you look like the Black Moses and this haircut is not helping out the rumor you were at the Last Supper. Someone please help this man he is representing my Alma Mata The Ohio State University.

Sometimes a picture is worth a 1000 words.

Surprise surprise Roger Clemens caught in another lie. After telling and anyone who would listen that he wasn't at the infamous Jose Canseco pool party it appears that there is a photo of Roger present at the party. Imagine that Roger wasn't telling the truth. What is this now like they 40th lie we have caught Roger in? I am tired of saying it but I will say it again if you believe Clemens you are an idiot. I don't know how much simpler I can make things.

What's up people? Time for another edition of the roundup. This time it's all about the trade deadline, and just what it means for the rest of the season. Some teams got better, and some just unloaded some big contracts. One thing is for sure and that's the league has a totally different look than it did just two weeks ago. After the huge trades for Gasol, Shaq, and Jason Kidd it really looked like there wasn't much else that could be done. The East was looking like a two team race between Detroit and Boston, while several Western teams were looking to be in danger of falling by the wayside if they didn't change things soon. The Lakers were in danger of being done in by Andrew Bynum's injury, the Spurs were looking old, and Dallas was looking lethargic. The only team playing with real fire was New Orleans. Now those other three teams and the Suns are re-energized and ready to fight to the finish.

To be honest with you, making a prediction for how the West will wind up is completely crazy. It's going to come down to which teams can stay healthy and incorporate their new guys the quickest. One bad week could drop you from first overall to fifth place, or from fourth place to out entirely. This thing probably won't be resolved until the last week of the season, and it's going to be a lot of fun to watch.

If you think Ben Wallace will help Lebron James this is all I have to say?

With the recent trade pickup of Kurt Thomas, the Spurs are definitely one of the three oldest teams in the league, if not the oldest. But, can the Spurs repeat as champions with this squad? I think they have a really good chance. They already won the championship last year without Thomas. Now they add Thomas, another big man with a significant defensive presence, to Bruce Bowen, one of the best defensive players in the league. Plus you know what Duncan, Ginobli, and a healthy, (whipped) Tony Parker can do. And let's not forget Big Shot Bob Horry, (you don't need to be young to make the 3 - think Sam Perkins or Bill Lambier). Of course with the West being as loaded with good teams as they are, the road for the Spurs will certainly be hell with gasoline drawers on, but there's still a chance they can tap into that championship thinking from last year. A lot of people are talking about the Lakers, (which is my favorite team) being the best in the West, but the jury is still out. If the Spurs get through the West battle tested, any team coming out of the East will be easy.

Wait I thought Darth Kobe was injured? Just imagine how many more points he would have dropped on the Phoenix if he had a healthy pinkie. The Lakers even without Andrew Bynum appears poised to make a run at the NBA Finals. You aren't hearing too many critics now questioning Bean's leadership or calling him selfish. It is amazing what surrounding a superstar with very good players will do to someone's image. I know the series I want to see in the NBA playoffs would be the Suns vs. Lakers how fun would that be?

Speaking of The Suns The Big Heat Ray made his debut and played some inspired ball. But here is what I have ascertained from watching Shaq. He has no lift in his legs any more and that explains why his rebound and block shot numbers have steadily been going down. It appears he is willing to except his role on the Suns and put in 15 and 7 every night that would be a positive. His acquisition doesn't really make the Suns a better team from an X and O perspective but from a chemistry perspective it makes them better. In the end though he is not enough of a difference maker at this point in his career to lead the Suns to anything except an early playoff exit.

Please Keyshawn go back to the NFL go play for your snuggle bunny Bill Parcells. Wherever Bill goes Keyshawn follows him like a puppy dog. It is sad really when you think about because it was Parcells that traded him to Tampa and it was Parcells who cut him from the Cowboys. Nevertheless getting Keyshawn off my TV will be the best thing that could happen in the offseason. Maybe Parcells can take Emmitt, TJ and Chris Berman too? Or is that asking too much?

The NFL Combine starts today and for the 100th year in a row it means absolutely nothing. I will say this every year that I am living but how in the blue hell can you determine how fast someone is in pads but testing them shorts and a t-shirts? When was the last time you saw a RB or WR run unabated straight ahead 40 yards? I understand why they have the combine but until they actually do some drills that test football skills as oppose to track and field skills I would rather trust the game film.

Clearly, after watching the festivities associated with the NBA All-Star game, it's a unanimous decision in my opinion. The NBA has the best All-Star weekend. It's three days of activities showcasing the NBA's best. The skills of its ballers, the gift of giving and the hottest parties. Retired and active players, celebrities and fans, converge to the host city to bask in the NBA's glory. They're all there donating time and money to charities and lending their names to sponsored parties, which contributes significant dollars to the host city. How's this for sportsmanship. The nominated players show up, injured and all. Kobe Bryant who is a fan favorite and injured, started the game. Why, because it's their league, their job, and that is how you represent. The NFL and it's players should take note.

The Pro Bowl and the events surrounding the game need an upgrade. How about moving the Pro Bowl to the middle of the season, giving each team that week off? For those that argue that football is physically demanding and the risk of injury to great. Remove a game from the preseason schedule. It's not like the starters play an entire game. Besides, the players don't get serious about winning the Pro Bowl until the 4th quarter, when the money is on the line. Prior to, its an offensive showdown = highlights and fun.

As for the festivities. How about televising a game between retired AFC and NFC players? What about a skills competition for the different positions? There's a plethora of opportunities for the NFL to showcase its players, all the while giving back to its fans.

The only constant is change and the time for change is now.

It took longer than McLovin getting the liquor to the party in SuperBad, but the trade that won't make a difference has finally taken place. Jason "I use to beat my wife because she was crazy" Kidd is finally on his way to Dallas. Thanks to Devean George blocking and Jerry Stackhouse talking they get to stay in Dallas which is actually makes the trade a little better than before, but in the end this isn't an All-Star team or the Olympic team it is the emotionally fragile Mavericks and they have no chance against the Spurs, Lakers or Suns in the West. They probably couldn't beat Golden State or New Orleans. Just a waste of time and money (it cost them an additional 11 million in the new deal) for the Dallas mark the tape.

I haven't watched wrestling since The Rock decided to be an actor, but when the sidekick started to blow up late last night talking about Money Mayweather just busted into a WWE Pay-Per-View and broke someone's nose this was something I had to check out. The someone in question was the 7 foot plus tall Big Show and to my surprise he really did bust him pretty good in the nose to where he was bleeding all over the place. To the 5 people who still believe wrestling is real I hate to break it to you (I am so good with puns) but this was all scripted and just another Floyd is branching out outside of boxing. Pretty funny watching him run for his life though after getting his 2 piece combo off on Big Show's nose. If you haven't seen it here is the video below.

What you didn't think I watched NASCAR? How could you not like a sport where people get rammed with cars and have fist fights in the garage? I am a big fan of the sport and was sitting on the edge of my seat for the last 30 laps of the Daytona 500. I must admit I was pulling for Dale Earnhardt Jr. considering that his evil stepmom forced him to leave the company that has his name on it. Think about that for a minute your pops leaves you a company with your name on it after he is tragically killed and your stepmom forces you out. How sick is that? Congratulations to Ryan Newman on the victory hopefully Tony Stewart doesn't beat him down for passing him on the last lap.

Dwight Howard was the star of All-Star Saturday with his SuperMan Dunk. Check out the video of the Superman Dunk and the rest of the spectacular dunks from the NBA All Star Dunk Contest.

Kelly Pavlik showed that he definitely isn't a one hit wonder with his unanimous decision over Jermain Taylor. The thing that impressed me about Pavlik's performance was when it became obvious that Jermaine was going to do everything in his power not to get knocked out Pavlik didn't panic or get wild he just kept stalking and backing Taylor up until he started hurting him in the later rounds. That is the sign that Pavlik is going to be around for awhile and isn't just a KO artist. As far as Jermain I give him credit for taking the fight which he didn't have to do and he fought the only way I thought he could to give himself a chance to win, but he just wasn't busy enough and was backed up too many times by Pavlik to get the victory. I don't believe in moral victories but in this case he has no reason to hang his head.

Chris Bosh's girlfriend head starts in New Orleans, but her hairline doesn't began until it is back in Toronto.

What's up people? Another edition of the Roundup is here. We just finished up All-Star Weekend, and the stretch run is officially in effect now. There's a lot of stuff to get to, too much in fact, so it's going to be catch up time for the next few weeks.

All-Star Weekend is All Good!

As you may have heard, the All-Star Weekend festivities took place this past weekend in the Big Easy. I watched most of it, and I've got to agree with most of the commentary I've seen that it was excellent unlike last year's debacle in Las Vegas. The dunk contest was fun again (I think we're just going to have to accept the fact that it's going to be really good every few years and kind of ho hum in between), and I enjoyed all the other stuff (skills competition, three point contest, etc.) The game on Sunday was a good one as well, which was sorely needed after last year's disaster. All in all, this was just what the league needed, a good weekend with no major incidents, no Pac Man Jones (and let's not forget that he's a FOOTBALL PLAYER), and no reports that things resembled the opening act of 'Cloverfield'. We all now that the NBA gets a slanted review by the NFL and Major League Baseball-loving media, so it is of the utmost importance that things went on without any major drama.

There were also a few guys who got some real national exposure for the first time, which should be a bigger help down the road. Dwight Howard's Superman routine at the dunk contest has the potential to turn him into a big star now, and Chris Paul did well in his job as de facto host for the weekend. Brandon Roy got a chance to show what he can do in the game on Sunday, and did well for himself. Hopefully, this will translate into more television time for all these guys next season. We don't get anywhere near enough chances to see these three guys do their thing on television, but hopefully David Stern and co. will ease up a little and give these guys some of the slots that are being held down by the Bulls and the Heat this season.

So Roger Clemens is being murdered by the public for being a bold face liar and conveniently for the bias mainstream media a report comes out late last night that Barry Bonds tested positive for steroids about a month after he hit his record breaking 73rd home run. Every media out in America ran it as breaking news and once again Bonds became a much easier target than Clemens. Funny thing though the report was incorrect because of a typo and the information had already been reported a few years back. Instead of an immediate retraction it was buried by the majority of the mainstream media. Look we all know that Bonds used steroids, but lets face the facts Clemens is what is going on right now and by trying to use Bonds to deflect criticisms from Clemens just shows how much the media doesn't want their Golden Boy to have shine taken away.

How's it feel Indiana (and Kentucky)?

There are fewer things that bring me more joy than watching these high and mighty college fanbases (and boosters) get what's coming to them after running a good coach out of town because he isn't good enough for them. Every few years one of these schools, who's supporters act as if they have a birthright to Final Fours and BCS Bowl Games), runs a good coach with a winning record out of town because he isn't winning enough, then hires some guy who is supposed to be a big deal to replace him. And of course the new coach does worse than the guy who supposedly wasn't good enough. In Kentucky, Tubby Smith was finally cahsed away after many seasons where the Wildcat fans were complaining about never getting further than the Elite Eight. Now they have their new coach in Billy Gillespie, and they stink (by Kentucky standards). And in Indiana, first they ran Knight (who's behavoir was perfectly acceptable until they started losing in the first round every year) then they got rid of his replacement Mike Davis even though he got them to the Final game in his second season and had a winning record. They chose Kelvin Sampson to replace him, even though he has some shadiness in his past, because Sampson was the winner they needed. Now Sampson's cheating ways are being put on full blast, and they feel stupid. And don't get me started on Notre Dame football. These programs all deserve what they get. This isn't 1970 anymore, and you can't just expect your team to be great because it always has been, If you have a good coach who follows the rules, wins more than he loses, and gets to postseason play, support him! Or else you risk looking like the guy who dumped his 40 year old wife for a 24 year old 'upgrade', only to find her stealing all his money sleeping around on him.

Please don't get tired of Roger Clemens!

The last thing I want to hear from anyone in the media is that they are tired of Roger Clemens. Don't want to hear it!! You people never got tired of trashing Barry Bonds, so don't get tired now. The stories are similar. Yes, Roger obviously did something, but we don't know what. Same as Barry. We also have a not so trustworthy character serving as the rat, with Brian McNamee taking the place of Kimberly Bell. But you'd better stay on this story with the same intensity that you did with Barry, and the four letter network had better stop running these legal experts out there to say that McNamee's got nothing to say we shouldn't listen to. If a dumped mistress with an ax to grind can be considered a credible source, then so can McNamee. Now can somebody please implicate an owner or Bud Selig in SOMETHING so that we can get to the real heart of the matter?

The NFL Hall of Fame still sucks!

Yes, they let my man Art Monk in. But that doesn't mean they're off my list. I'll go into it more in a separate piece, but as far as I'm concerned they still stink out loud.

Hey all, it's your resident Diva/Bonafide Sports Expert. (Robert has NOTHING on me.) Seems like I've been planning the birthday thing for an eternity now, but we are finally getting close! I am having 3, yes THREE, parties to celebrate the most awesome day on the calendar; the day I graced the earth with me presence .. The first party is in Cleveland and it's sure to BANG!

What: Karma... the pink & white edition
Where: Cyrus Ultralounge
When: Saturday, February 16th
Who: Amber Fox of www.foreverafox.com




And what Amber Fox party would be complete without a video invite. You know ya girl does it big!

Devean George has painted himself in a corner in Dallas. Now I understand about wanting to make sure he can use the Larry Bird rule by sticking it out for the rest of this year in Big D. But last night's game is an indication of how the rest of his season is going to be whether he has a bad game or not. I think anytime he touches the ball the fans will be on him. And his agent had the nerve to say George is starting now. He's only starting because Josh Howard is hurt. George couldn't crack the starting lineup on the Lakers when they didn't have anybody there outside of Kobe and Lamar Odom, and he can't legitimately crack the Mavs lineup now without someone being injured. George should move on to the Nets, although this is really a horrible trade for the Mavs. George may be saving Mark Cuban from himself right now, but he may become a virtual martyr in the process because the fans will verbally kill him the rest of this season.

I could write you 3-4 pages on the Congressional hearing today featuring Roger Clemens vs. Brian McNamee. I could talk about Jose Canseco Pool Parties, bloody asses, tape phone calls and hidden syringes, but what is the point? You have already made up your mind on who you believe and you know if you believe Clemens I think you are an idiot. With that being said I just want to bring up two points about the hearing and I want you to think really hard and draw your own conclusions.

1- Andy Pettitte says he did it.

No one questions Andy Pettitte honesty not even Roger Clemens. Everyone says he is a stand up guy, a very religious guy and someone who won't lie. So do you really think he "Misremembered"?

2- Clemens's Wife.

To me this more than anything proves Clemens's guilt. Clemens states that McNamee shot his wife in the ass with HGH in their bedroom, but he had no knowledge of it. I am going to re-write that sentence in bold:

CLEMENS STATES THAT MCNAMEE SHOT HIS WIFE IN THE ASS WITH HGH IN THEIR BEDROOM, BUT HE HAD NO KNOWLEDGE OF IT.

So let me get this straight Clemens never took steroids or HGH but his wife who isn't a scientist to my understanding lets his personal trainer into their bedroom and lets him shoot her in the ass with a substance she has no knowledge of and decides not to tell her husband about. Clemens finds out McNamee does this to his wife and does nothing. I don't have to be Matlock to figure out this makes absolutely no sense. Clemens is a liar can we please move on now?

Jason Kidd was supposed to be traded to the Mavs by now, but of all people Devean George put a stop to the trade. George exercised his right to block the trade and even though Mavs fans maybe pissed right now in the end they will be thanking George. There is one thing to get a player for nothing like the Lakers did with Pau Gasol, but the Mavericks were giving up a lot and unlike the Lakers Kidd isn't in his prime like Gasol. Sometimes it is just better to stay pat and not overact to what everyone else is doing. The Mavs as they are currently constructed can win the West is they get their head out of their asses and play with some emotion and passion. Kidd is not the answer the answer is to look in the mirror and stop feeling sorry for themselves for what happen against Golden State last year.

As you know I am not a big Bob Knight fan, but the one thing I can say about Knight is that he isn't a cheater, he runs a clean program and his players (the ones that can stand him) graduate. Indiana fired Knight because he is a crazy, they fired Mike Davis because he didn't win enough (even though he took them to the Final Four) and they hired Kelvin Sampson knowing from the jump he was a little shady. Now I wonder if the fans of Indiana are wondering if life would have been better if Knight or Davis would have stayed considering all the hot water Sampson is now in with the NCAA. The thing about Sampson is the NCAA already caught him once at Oklahoma for doing shady things did he think just because he was at U of I that he could get away with it? He needs to be fired ASAP because the example he is setting for the kids is not the right one.

When your boy was a shooting guard with a killer 17 footer and Pippen like defensive skills in 11th grade the tallest guy on our team was 6'5". Fast forward to today and they are now trotting out 6'8" Centers on the girl basketball team who can dunk? What in the blue hell is in the milk these days? Anyway check out Brittney Griner dunking all over these poor little girls. Did I mention she is just a junior? I swear there is some of that "Cloverleaf" in the water.

Daniel Synder wants Ocho Cinco. Ocho Cinco wants out of Cincinnati. Your Bona Fide Sports Expert predicted this may happen a month ago (see: pic above). With that being said I think it will be a mistake on everyone's part especially the Bengals. I think TJ Whoseyamomma is a very good WR but similar to Wes Welker in New England it is a lot easier to get open when the opposite receiver is drawing double and triple coverage on every down. You will hear the bias mainstream media use the deadly phrase:

"ADDITION BY SUBTRACTION"

If the trades goes down but what we have learned is it isn't usually the Wide Receiver that is the problem it is the organization. The reason why I say it would be a mistake for Chad to leave is simply that as a WR you don't want to leave franchise QB for unproven one that normally turns out bad. I will say I like Chad's chances to be successful a lot more than the Bengals if this actually happens.

Some of you said I am beating a dead horse into the ground with my "Roger Staying Lying" campaign, but until I get every single person in the USA, China and Cockfighters in the Dominican Republic on my side I will be like Puffy "Can't Stop Won't Stop".

Andy Pettitte is one of Clemens best friends. More like a little puppy dog in my opinion because wherever Clemens went Pettitte followed (Houston & NYC). If anyone would lie for Roger Clemens it would be him and guess what he did when he was disposed by Congress?

HE BACK UP MCNAMEE!!!!!

What more proof do you need? This is the equivalent of Robin turning in Batman for smoking Bat-Weed in the Batcave before killing the Joker (I read comics sue me). Clemens is a clown and just because you bring cookies and milk to Congress doesn't mean that you aren't a steroid cheater. Right now Clemens is a Pete Rose hopefully he will be man enough not to lie for the next 10 years.

"On The Jewels I Blew More Money Than Latrell"

One of my all time favorite Jay Lines speaking to how Latrell was blowing his money back in the day. Who knew almost a decade later Jiggaman would be so prophetic. Latrell Sprewell famous for choking a coach and once saying 21 million wasn't enough money because "he has to feed his family" maybe knew more than we did because according to a story in the AP Sprewell is broke and the creditors have come knocking. A very rich athlete once told me the difference between him and a person working a regular 9-5 is that when someone working check to check goes to McDonalds they may spend $6, but when he goes to McDonalds and finishes paying for himself and the entire entourage he spends $106. The point being the more money you have the more you spend, but once that money stops' coming in it is hard to stop spending like you are a baller. I would say this is a cautionary tale but unfortunately this happens so often if they don't know by now they never will.

Look I don't know if Hockey players need to wear scarves, chokers, Erkel button ups or whatever but they need to do something. Because what is going to happen is someone is going to die on the ice. Richard Zednik was lucky. The next player might not be as lucky. Do something NHL.

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When Terrell Owens was going through his drama in Philly I made the point of saying the only thing he was guilty of was having a big mouth. 90% of what he was saying was true, but that didn't matter because if you talk too loud in a league that wants you to be buttoned down it will always get you in trouble with the bias mainstream media. This brings me to Chad Johnson. Ocho Cinco is a good guy, a great player, a tremendous competitor and a very entertaining person, but unfortunately for Chad the NFL and the bias mainstream media don't want to talk about that. Chad was on the interview circuit during Super Bowl week and unfortunately for Chad he couldn't hide his displeasure for the Cincinnati Bengals. Now Chad being Chad never said he wanted to be traded, but in his own entertaining way let it be known. It would have probably been in his best interest not to say anything, but that isn't Ocho and of course the bias mainstream media has jumped on the story and has buried Chad as another T.O. Our good friends at profootballtalk.com seem to want to make it there mission to force you into believing Chad is another T.O. and that the league would be better if all receivers were like Art Monk.

I have made this point many times that one of the greatest lies perpetuated by the media is that players like T.O., Randy Moss and Chad Johnson destroy teams. It is simply a lie. How has Philly and Oakland done without Moss and T.O.? What is a truer statement is that sometimes it is the team not the player that is the problem and I feel that is the case with the Cincinnati Bengals. It isn't Chad Johnson's fault that the team underachieved and anyone who tells you otherwise is not someone you should take seriously. The Bengals from ownership, management and head coach have failed to realize this team's full potential. The defense is laughable and if you want a real reason for their struggles that is it. But no it is all Chad's fault? If you were him you would want to get traded to. The day Chad Johnson leaves the Bengals trust me they will be a lot worse off than before. Open your eyes people don't be blinded by hate.

Time for the latest volume of the roundup. This week it's all Shaq all the time as we break down the big trade!!

Another Big Trade!!

I will never again question the tradeability of anyone in the NBA. It seems that every time someone's contract looks so bad that no one in their right mind would think about taking it on, somebody does. After seeing Shaq get traded to Phoenix, which NOBODY saw coming, I will never doubt again. The man has two years and $40 million left on his deal after this season. Who on earth would want to be stuck with that, considering that we're talking about an old Shaq and not the MVP-level Shaq of just a few seasons ago. He has long passed the point of diminishing returns but is getting paid more than almost everyone in the league. And for the Phoenix Suns, a team that has been giving away draft picks and players for almost nothing just to avoid the luxury tax, to be the trading partners is even more mind-boggling. They've given away the draft rights to Luol Deng and Rajon Rondo for cash and second round picks, and traded away Kurt Thomas for second round picks, all so they wouldn't have to fool with the luxury tax. It's been widely assumed that if $17 million man Shawn Marion opted out of the last year of his deal, the Suns would probably let him go rather than give him a salary bump. That totally disqualified them from ever doing anything like this. But lo and behold, they found a way to make it happen. In a desperate push to add some talent to their team for the postseason, they acquired the big guy and his bloated contract. There's only one problem, though. They had to give up Marion (and backup guard Marcus Banks) to do it. I don't think I'd have gone there.

Now I understand the rationalizations that led Suns GM Steve Kerr to make the trade. First off, the Suns have been following their usual path of regular season dominance which usually results in 55 to 60 wins and a playoff defeat at the hands of whoever ends up in the NBA Finals. They've been to that movie three times now and don't want to make it a fourth. With Steve Nash approaching NBA AARP age, the window of opportunity is closing very rapidly for them, so it's better to make a big move now than to wait another year. OK, fine. Second, the Lakers just made a huge move by trading for Pau Gasol. So now the Suns had to worry about being able to win the division, which hadn't been problem before. The possibility of finishing second and then having to play the Spurs or Mavericks in the first round became very real, and they wanted no part of that. They'd already been locked in a death match with the Lakers for the division crown, but Andrew Bynum's injury meant that a slide was likely and the Suns could breathe a little easier. Not any more, thanks to Gasol. So again, a move was needed to keep up with Lakers. And finally, there was the Shawn Marion issue. An All-Star who was a few months away from possibly leaving town for no compensation was not something they wanted to deal with, so they had to move him now so they could get something in return. Again, I understand.

Now all that being said, the move they did make was dead wrong. First off, we need to go back to this summer. The Suns more or less gave away Kurt Thomas to Seattle for some second round picks. They might as well have traded Kurt for me; it would have cost them the same amount of money, which is none at all. Everyone knows their big problem has been interior defense, and Thomas can provide plenty of that. They had Kurt for two years, and in each year they were unable to have both he and Amare Stoudemire on the floor when it mattered. The first year both men were out with injuries come playoff time, and last year Stoudemire was suspended for the series turning game five against the Spurs. This season both men have been healthy on their respective teams, so it could have finally come to fruition. Right now Thomas is a better interior defender than Shaq, rebounds better, and makes much less money ($8 million vs., $20 million for Shaq). Keeping him, which would have also meant being to hang on to Marion, would have made more sense than giving him away, then giving up Marion to get Shaq. For all intents and purposes, this was a trade of Thomas and Marion for Shaq, which is a net loser for the Suns.

Why did the Pats lose? Tom Brady got his butt kicked.

"The quarterback must go down and he must go down hard."

Those words, spoken by Al Davis ring true to this day. The key to any defensive game plan is always not allowing the other team's quarterback to remain upright. And you have to do more than just get a few sacks. You need to hit him hard and knock him down early and often. I don't care who your quarterback is, if he's picking himself up off the ground after every pass attempt and has to run for his life immediately after he gets the snap from center he will not have a good day. You can disrupt any high powered offense out there simply by rattling their signal caller. Peyton Manning knows, Kurt Warner knows this, and now Tom Brady can testify. The Giants defensive line treated the Pats Pro Bowl-laden blockers the same way they handled the Cowboys Pro Bowl blockers two weeks earlier, with the same results. You can't get the ball to your big time receivers if you're constantly getting up off the ground every time you drop back to throw. It just doesn't happen. Brady was under siege all day, and the results were obvious. Even when he got passes off, they were all over the place. Some blame the ankle injury, I blame shellshock. When you're getting the crap knocked out of you, you want to do everything you can to make it stop, and for him that meant getting the ball out of there as quickly as possible. That, more than anything else, is why the Pats lost. Period. It wasn't because of a lack of focus, or because Bill Belichek had his cameras shut down, or because Gisele distracted Brady (just like Jessica did not cause the Cowboys to lose). Their offensive line got whipped, and their quarterback got hit. A lot. That is never a recipe for success. Great blocking in 1991-92 made Mark Rypien look like a world beater for a year, while bad blocking can make anyone look like a bum. The game is still won in the trenches, as it always has been.

P.S.: Why is that whenever a guy hooks up with a really hot girl (or just falls really hard for a girl, regardless of how she looks) everyone wants him to dump her, blaming her for anything bad that happens to the guy? Haters, I tell you! If you had a shot with Simpson or Gisele (or Beyonce or Rhianna or Jessica Alba or whoever), you'd take it and you wouldn't dump her just because some idiot behind a microphone or a keyboard told you to.

There's a reason I'm not a handicapper.

I believe it was me who shouted out in print for you to load up on the Patriots. Turns out that was a really bad idea. There's a reason that more casinos are getting built than are going out of business; it's because of schmucks like me who yell 'Lock & load!' because we like the way it sounds and not because it's sound advice. I figured the Giants had to do too many things that we couldn't count on them to do in order to win. I did not expect Eli to man up the way that he did, and did not expect the Giants pass rush to put the kind of heat they did on Brady. But they did all those things, and then some. I figured the Giant secondary would be good for surrendering at least one long touchdown, and that didn't happen. There's a bunch of other stuff I thought would happen that didn't. But hey, the Giants earned it, so congrats to them. No one can say that they got over, or that they lucked out and didn't have to face the toughest possible teams. They beat the three teams with the best records in the league, all on the road or in a neutral site. And they got no help from tuck rules, or crazy fumbles on the goal line, or guys stepping out of bounds and not getting caught. There were no flukes here, boys and girls, just one team taking it to the opposition and beating them all.

The guy you heard yelling at his television about good and bad receivers was Donovan McNabb.

The biggest offensive play in the game were made the quarterback and his receivers. The big escape and the big catch, which happened on the same play, were the most crucial moments of the entire game and are proof that you can't just have a bunch of guys playing at wideout and expect to win. Do you need Randy Moss, TO, etc.? No, but you need guys who are capable of making the kind of plays they can make, even if it's as a group and not individually. You need a guy who can make tough catches the way that David Tyree did, who can go up and fight for the ball when you absolutely need them to. I mention McNabb because if he had the Giants receivers the Eagles would have definitely played in more Super Bowls and might have even won one. During most of his career he has not had one receiver who could do the things that Tyree and Plaxico Buress are able to do on the field, or even a guy like Amani Toomer who is a good professional receiver who knows how to get open (legally and illegally), and can catch the ball whenever it's thrown to him. You think James Thrash or Todd Pinkston would have come down with that ball? No way! Neither would Greg Lewis, Reggie Brown, Kevin Curtis, Freddie Mitchell, Torrance Small, Charles Johnson, or any of the rest of the mediocre lot he's had to throw to for most of his career. Now he did have an great receiver for one year and they did make the Super Bowl, but of you're throwing to garbage, you end up with garbage.

Many many many moons ago when I wasn't quite Bonafide and BlackSportsOnline wasn't very infamous I wrote an article about Dwanye Wade & Shaquille O'Neal title:

"D Wade The Real Superman"

Most writers will tell you they have signature articles similar to have musicians have signature singles. For me the list is short and only includes 4 articles that help put me on the map.

"Darth Kobe": The Michael Jackson Thriller of BSO


"Confessions of a Groupie Part 1, 2 & 3": The Jay Z Hard Knock Life of BSO


"Open Letter to Tim Duncan" The Nelly Country Grammar of BSO (and the 1st article ever published).

Those 3 are the most recognized, but "D Wade The Real Superman" always held a special place in my heart even if it isn't what you immediately think of when you think of BSO. I consider it my "Off The Wall" article. Most people remember "Thriller" & "Bad" but "Off The Wall" may have been better than both of them.

Once again I urged you not to be fooled by Roger Clemens lying spree. His former trainer Brian McNamee who obviously been holding on to this last piece of evidence against Clemens brought out syringes among other things that he claims has Clemens's blood on it as well as traces of steroids and HGH. Clemens's lawyer is comparing the case to the Duke Lacrosse fiasco which should convince you even more that Clemens is lying because the comparison is ludicrous. First you should never compare a rape charge to some pompous arrogant baseball player shooting himself in the ass with HGH but more importantly there was very little evidence again the Duke Lacrosse players whereas there is overwhelming evidence against Clemens. I will leave you with this thought every other player that McNamee has fingered has confessed, so why would you assume if he is telling the truth about all other players that he is lying about the player he cared about the most? Think about it.

People really need to chill out. You might have heard about a video that was floating around of Pedro Martinez being involved in a cockfight in the Dominican Republic. Pedro was there as a guest of the legendary Juan Marichal. First off the video is from 2 years ago, secondly cockfighting is legal in the Dominican Republic and lastly who the hell cares what Pedro is doing in his free time in the Dominican Republic. Did I mention that cockfight it shown as on TV there as much as Brittney Spears crotch shots in the U.S.? A guy is plotting to shoot up the Super Bowl and we are more concerned about what Pedro did with a bunch of birds 2 years ago? I forgot this is a society were dog fighting gets your 2 years and running over someone with your car while drunk gets you probation.

What's up people? I know you're still recovering from that Big Game (I won't use the official title because I don't the NFL Nazis to come flying over my house in their black helicopter to serve me a cease-and-desist order, but there's still some NBA news to take a look at. Mainly All-Star stuff, and a HUGE trade (but apparently not the last one). Let's hit it!!

Not much wiggle room when you are talking about Bobby Knight. Normally it is a strong love or a very strong hate. There are things that I really respect about Knight mostly the fact that he graduates his kids and never break NCAA rules, but in my opinion that gets overshadowed by the fact that he makes Bill Bilichick look like Tony Dungy when it comes to being an ass. Many people point out that some college coaches in football and basketball are considered like "Gods" on their respective campuses, but Knight epitomized that and far too many times thought his "God" like status meant he could treat players, staff, fans and just people in general like crap and before anything else that is what I will remember about Bob Knight.

Roger Clemens continued his lying spree by making his deposition for Congress. I seriously can't wait to the day that some concrete evidence shows up (trust me it is coming) and he is forced to tell the truth a la Marion Jones. I honestly hope that Congress is trying to catch him in a lie. I won't be able to contain my excitement when this happens.

Well the New York "Football" Giants did it. The Goliath, that being the New England Patriots, were toppled by the David (the G-Men). Last week I was looking for history to be made...and it was, just not what I expected. To review, the Manning boys had the chance to be the first brothers to go back to back in Super Bowl wins, and they've done that, (with Peyton looking down from on high...in the luxury box). They are also the first brothers to each win a SB after their father (Archie) ended his career without ever going to the playoffs. Now they are also the first brother duo to be named back to back MVP's. Hey I never said this would be the type of sexy history that a perfect 19-0 season would have been. But it is still history that was made. Kind of makes you wonder what Momma Manning has been feeding those boys down in N'awlins, LA. There must be a special gumbo recipe she has, or maybe she's been over to Algiers, LA, (some of you from Louisiana know what I'm talking about).

Now remember how everybody talked about Brady's vast core of WR's, but the WR crew that really came up big was the Giants. All of them came up big at some point, but the biggest playmaker was David Tyree. If it wasn't for "the catch", we would be saying 19-0 is the best ever. Of course Plax is the one that sealed it with the TD catch. Speaking of Plax, he may become a good prediction man. He said last week that the Giants would win 21-17, and Brady scoffed, laughed at, and discounted the notion. Turns out Plax was almost right, (he estimated a little too high).

Finally, I want to talk about the end of the game, and gives some unexpected props to one man. The game still had 1 second left, and they had to make it official by running one more play. We all saw the teams coming together before the game ended, and we saw most of the Patriots go to the locker room, including head coach Mr. Phelps, I mean Bill Belicheck. But the one guy I give props to for staying out there until the end is Randy Moss. I don't know if most people caught the camera cut away to him getting ready to walk off, then turn and wait for the last play to end, but I caught it. You remember how he got criticized for walking off with 2 seconds left in a certain defeat when he was with the Vikes. Well this time he was the utmost professional, sticking it out in a certain win in the biggest let down of a team in history, even though the coach left. Some people are already giving Billy Bear a pass, but I say he should have been standing right next to Moss until the end. He should also get the same criticism Moss has in the past.. People always want to bring up Moss' past when they want to talk bad about him. Well let's give him a cyber pound for being a pro in staying until the end. Hats off to you Randy.

How could you have not seen the play by now?

The Lakers get Pau Gasol for what amounts to pennies on the dollar and the team that Kobe wanted to get traded from all of a sudden looks like it might be a contender in the West. Once Andrew Bynum comes back from injury they have a lineup and depth that should allow them to compete with any team in the West. Kobe Bryant is still the best player in the game and all Darth has complained about over the years in not having a squad that can compete. He has that now, no more excuses.