BronBron is a SCRUB!

I was right. All along, Lebron James left a sour taste in my mouth. You can't knock his game but his demeanor always rubbed me the wrong way. Sulking off the court and skipping the press conference does not portray him an emotionally-involved, fierce competitor; it's shows greed and selfishness. A competitor loves to compete for the sake of competition and respects opponents and teammates alike. With that said, I decided to weigh in on incident that has Lebron dubbed Dictator James. It's called Dunkgate. Is it a non-story? Kind of, but that's not why it interests me.

For anyone who hasn't heard, Xavier's Jordan Crawford "dunked on" Lebron James in a scrimmage at Lebron's Nike camp. Immediately after, Lebron conferred with a Nike rep who then rounded up all the tape from the cameras filming the event. While the official tapes were most likely stored in the warehouse in Indiana Jones, someone with a cell phone recently leaked the inflammatory video. Haha, everyone sees it anyway and ironically, the Lebron or Nike's effort to conceal "Dunkgate" and preserve Lebron's image backfired and illuminates the insecurities of one of the most gifted athletes on Earth.

To my untrained eye, it looks like Lebron came late and from the side so he didn't really have a chance at the block. It's not like the guy jumped over him, or went right into his chest, or broke his wrist to throw it down. Was it Nike or Lebron that overreacted and why? Has Lebron made a statement? Crawford did. Kobe weighed in. Darrel Armstrong or well... Jordan wouldn't have gotten dunked on but if he had, he would've threw one down next play. I suppose it was too difficult to laugh it off and give Crawford his props. I think a crossover is more embarrassing anyway. This is filthy.

Similarly, a high schooler beat brash Charger's QB Philip Rivers in a passing competition and Rivers did not confiscate the tape. Good for him.

A Randolph Part 2.

So this is the part two of what happened after I wrote the previous post although it's posted post hoc. I approached Anthony Randolph at the baggage claim. He was super excited to meet a fan who acknowledged his....... Actually he just seemed confused and muttered yeah for all of my super interesting queries. It went just as I expected. Not very memorable or exciting but I made an effort. If I had star power, I would milk and make all my interactions bizarre or heart-warming. I saw the emcee for the Warrior games at security today. He does the annoying interviews and prizes at the games. Didn't feel like talking to him.

Celebrity... no... professional athlete Sighting!

Hey so this is my first impromtu, spontaneous post. Pretty excited. I’m on Virgin flying to Vegas (Go to 1:40!) to help my grandma move and vistit my buddy who busted in the WSOP on the last hand of the day while sitting next to Shannon Elizabeth. I was sitting in the terminal and two asian women walked up to me and held out their boarding passes. They didn’t speak English and they were way early for their flight so the terminal hadn’t been posted. I escorted them to the boarding counter as their intermediary and then communicated by pointing to the floor that this was where they would leave from, a pragmatic linguistic adjustment. I figured that deed makes up for the time I accidentally told a lady who didn’t speak English to get onto the wrong BART train. How could there not be any maps? I felt bad. Anyway, after returning to my seat in the terminal, I noticed a gentleman with extraordinary length carrying a Gucci duffel. I saw him from behind and he had a familiar strut, deliberate with his toes pointed outward kinda like Amare Stoudemire. Ginger ale, that sounds good. He was in first class oooooooh. I had a feeling it might be Anthony Randolph but he was wearing a hat so I couldn’t get a good look at the back of his head. I figured he wouldn’t be by himself so it was probably nobody. When I boarded the plane I saw him folded into a seat. His face and LSU warm up pants indicated that it was indeed Anthony Randolph. He had earphones on and his head was down texting so I didn’t want to pull a Larry David and wave my hand in front of his face to get his attention. Maybe I can get him on the way. He probably won’t say anything of value if I talk to him. I know exactly what he would say. It would be a standard celebrity encounter where he offers a half-hearted hey how are you great thanks bye. What’s so interesting about that? Maybe he would appreciate being noticed in which case, he needs my attention so I’m the one doing the favor. I’ll try to catch him later. After sitting down, I texted a bunch of my friends who would find the Anthony Randolph sighting mildly interesting and encourage me to chat him up. The plane was getting ready for take-off and my dad was nagging me to turn off my phone when he came up with a great idea, just write about it on your bliggety blog. I texted the people who mostly likely at this time happen constitute all of my readership. Did I mention I’m excited to be on Virgin. One time the Virgin flight attendant organized a prize shoot out in the terminal with a mini basketball hoop in honor of march madness. They have TV screens so I played Doom for a bit, watched some TV. Apparently Chad Ochocinco (I love that they he’s actually called that now) wants to use Twitter during games. Charlie Villanueva got in trouble for tweeting during halftime I heard. The Ochocinco wants to twit from the sideline. Ooooohhhh. I hate twitter. One of my friends does too so that’s cool. Hmmm… I can send a text to Anthony Randolph’s seat via my TV screen media device! That’s kinda ummm weird. [Click that link!] Wow, I just remembered that I Virgin has Wifi so I can post this in real time and my subsequent post will detail my encounter with Anthony Randolph.

Wow, that’s weak, the Wifi costs money, $10 for the duration of the flight. You can’t exactly get your money’s worth with lewd and explicit content due to the conspicuousness of shared space. Although I’m sure there are others out there like the one who played pocket pool while used the hostel lobby computer. There was a room full of this breed at the Las Vagas public library computer lab. The screen tinting was not sufficient. Well, in-flight wifi was a tease and grandma don’t got internet so I’ll post hoc this one. I just caught the back-story of the Freddy Adu’s lost years. I was just wondering about him the other day. Tony Gonzalez is heading to the ATL, Dirty Dirty, Hotlanta. This was supposed to be my first spontaneous post but it is now delayed.

(This happened on Tuesday July 10, 2009. This was posted on Friday from the airport.)

The Title

I don't really like blogs yet but I know that I hate twitter. Despite its ubiquity even in sports broadcasts, Twitter seems extraneous so I refuse to acknowledge it’s existence. This blog on the other hand, has a purpose. I will use this blog to explain an inflammatory statement that I made after Roger Federer won Roland Garros and that statement shall be the title of this blog. But really, I assumed Soderling would lay down to Federer just as he did when I saw the two play in Paris, so I anointed Federer a “Paper Champion” before the match. Let’s be real, The Fed needs to conquer his perfect storm that is Nadal at Roland Garros, not Madrid, to be crowned GOAT.

Today (well technically yesterday by the time I post this) The Fed was proclaimed GOAT after his 15th Grand Slam title put him past Pistol Pete for most GST all-time. Even in an age of hyperbole, it must have been the 2nd greatest match ever played, after last year’s epic final, of course. Roddick put up a fight a but he doesn’t have the huevos to take The Fed. He’s just the second straight scrub Federer walked over in a GSF. No disrespect to Andy Roddick, but he’s really just a huge server who slaps forehands, muscles backhands, and botches volleys. That’s all the game he needs to be a top tier pro. The Fed, on the other hand, has touch and creativity that was probably evident at an early age. [Insert a maestro virtuoso composer da Vinci-type metaphor] That’s the foundation of greatness in tennis, basketball, or soccer. I'm talking about an unrivaled feel for the game, part geometry, part artistry.

Arod is a great player but he can only dream of the stuff The Fed pulls off. Arod played the match of his life and lost. This is hardly adequate competition for the rising GOAT in a GSF. Put simply, he must beat the best, to be best, as they say in the boxing world. People won’t remember who he played or the circumstances, only the magnitude of the record-breaking victory. But I will. I saw Michael Jordan play once and it was the one of the worst games of his career. Speaking of, I wasn't a fan of the Nike commercial with all the other GOATs and Pistol Pete that played immediately after The Fed dropped to his knees in a heap of joy and relief of monkey-off-the-backedness after his astounding demonstration of persistency. Anyway, I will always remember who The Fed faced and the situation. With that said, I would have preferred to see him take on someone capable of beating him, maybe Andy Murray. Sorry Arod, but what’s your record against The Fed and what was the score in the 2nd set breaker? I know you had a complete make-over and you're in such a good place in your personal life but it wasn't enough. I don't favor either player, especially their personalities, not that I know them personally. Federer reveals his repressed greed in the tears and outbursts that dismantle his pretentious facade in times of duress. Roddick is a prick. I appreciate the games but I dislike the players. Is it wrong or sadistic to long for the taste of Federer’s tears of despair after a GSF loss? Bummer Roddick couldn't open the flood gates today.

So Fed, I'm calling you out! Get ready, the pressure isn’t off just because of 15 slams or the birth of your child. The field you so easily trounced en route to your previous slams is no longer awestruck and deferential. They’re hungry and you’ve been exposed. They’ll show up for every point and try harder than ever before. You have some real competition now just like the greats of the other eras had. You’ll beat most of them anyway, but that’s not what matters. You’re now fighting to erect your legagy and decorate it with gold trim and RF emblems because the people haven’t yet spoken. Fedra, I'm allowing you the opportunity to actualize your Roland Garros title, Career Slam and cement your GOAT status next year when you face the best. Until then, you’re still flimsy product of circumstance, a “Paper Champion.”

What I liked:

1. Roddick's whiney and incredulous retort to The Fed's consolation during the victory speech at 5:59.
2. The lady behind Pistol Pete had her shirt undone. Hmmm.

What I didn't like:

1. Pistol Pete's Nike sunglasses. Tacky.
2. The Fed's track top with, guess what, an embroided "15". Yeah nice. Check the vid at the end.
   

What's this all aboot?

I enjoy sports, playing guitar, photography, fishing, sometimes hunting, cooking & cleaning, chess, and 2 truths. So these are my musings possibly pertaining to my interests. This is primetime, showtime, gametime, anytime. [Yeah you can click on the highlighted words cuz they’re links. Rick Rolls free I promise.]

Inaugural Maiden Voyage

I don’t expect anyone to read this (except for maybe my mom) because I doubt people sit around and read other people’s bliggity blogs with any regularity. Well I don’t but I suppose I would enjoy reading my own blog. So I guess this mainly for personal consumption but consider yourself priveledged to have accesss to my wandering consciousness. I hope it is as swimming for you as it is for me. This is my ness. Hop on and you may learn something of partial value.