Peter Christian is joined yet again by David K. to discuss, rank and disparage other 2009 NBA Mock Drafts available on the internet. Sure it is long, but entertainment is our specialty.
The Deposit – Peter and David bring the NBA Mock Draft pretenders back to reality
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By Paul M. Banks
One of the weirdest aspects of a rivalry is when a player changes teams, and goes to his former team’s bitterest of rivals.
Even though he’s been wearing a Detroit Red Wings sweater now for 9 years (the same number of years he was “committed to the Indian”) when Chris Chelios came to town and you just had to root for him, even though he helped do the Blackhawks in. If you didn’t then you fit in to Jerry Seinfeld’s “sports fans are rooting for clothes” routine.
(We’re currently seeing the same thing with Joe Crede leaving the Sox for the Twins) Rivalries are all about black-versus-white, but when it comes to situations like this, it’s actually a shade of grey. With an injury to all-world defenseman Nicklas Lidstrom, as well as his back-up Ericcson, Chelios got his chance to contribute during the Western Conference Finals and helped his team defeat the Blackhawks 6-1 in game 4. Doing the ceremonial puck drop that game was Bob Probert another guy who played for both the Red Wings and Hawks. Chelios spoke about the playoff atmosphere:
“I had a good feeling when it was Proby, because he played for the Wings and the Hawks, everything they’ve done from the marketing to the bringing back the veterans Bobby Hull, Mikita. It’s good to see them back in the building, I’m playing hockey for one reason: because I grew up watching the Hawks,” the Evergreen Park native said. [More …]
By Paul M. Banks
When the NBA Draft Combine comes to Chicago, the Second City resembles Beverly Hills for a couple days. Strolling through the Westin Hotel on Chicago’s Michigan Avenue, where the Draft Combine’s media activities are held, I encountered basketball’s heaviest hitters. The entire Chicago Bulls front office, Pistons GM Joe Dumars, NBA coaches Mike D’Antoni, Mike Dunleavy, legendary talk show host Larry King (twice) and former Los Angeles Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda; and that was just the first hour.
During the actual interview sessions, a draft combine reporter gets up close and personal with every former college basketball star soon to be drafted in a couple weeks. Each player gets his own table in the conference room and journalists rotate like speed-daters to obtain quality face time with everyone. Conversation is much more in-depth than post-game press conferences. It’s about the big picture here- no time to waste on the boringly banal queries from newspaper beat writers.
On top of the media grilling, NBA prospects face tougher inquisitions from the teams themselves. Arizona’s Chase Budinger (projected 23rd) said he faced a psychological aptitude type test from the Bulls. He had to arrange blocks to match a picture they presented. NBA teams want to know if players are single, married, have kids. Multiple players had to reveal if they had a “friend with benefits.” It’s like Torquemada and your [More …]
Who needs “NBA Fastbreak?” We’re back to break down the direction and status quo of every NBA franchise…
PHILADELPHIA 76ERS…where you can experience writing like this…
The Sixers without an authoritative coach will be like a cheese steak without a grease stain on the wrapper. Just mediocre, not exceptional.”
Ohhhh, are you serrrrrrrrrrrrious? Slam jam bam, bay
http://www.walterfootball.com/nbaoffseason2009phi.php
NEW YORK KNICKS
“In recent years the Knicks resembled a fantasy basketball team: lots of quality names on the roster, but no actual team concept. This lack of chemistry hurt them the most late in games when a “closer” was needed.”
SEND IT IN BIG FELLA
http://www.walterfootball.com/nbaoffseason2009nyk.php
DETROIT PISTONS
In Detroit, both the automotive industry and the professional basketball team headquartered there are in need of aggressive rebuilding options. Both have also seen better days. Despite trading Chauncey Billups and Antonio McDyess (who was waived and later re-signed) for superstar Allen Iverson, the Pistons regressed during the regular season, partly due to the controversial moves of first year head coach Michael Curry
http://www.walterfootball.com/nbaoffseason2009det.php
NEW JERSEY NETS
http://www.walterfootball.com/nbaoffseason2009nj.php
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By Jake McCormick
Baseball is great because it can be so unpredictable, yet so easy to understand. Case in point: the St. Louis Cardinals and their past 18 games.
Ten days ago, the team was on the losing end of a sweep from the Brewers and had lost seven of nine games. Since that point, St. Louis did a Michael Jackson 180 and tallied a 7-2 record, including an always enjoyable sweep of the Chicago Cubs and a vindicated two out of three games against Milwaukee.
Considering the Cardinals had lost 10 out of 11 against the Brewers dating back to last year, the monkey was thrown from their backs. Now St. Louis hopes to carry that momentum over to Friday’s game against the San Francisco Giants.
Add in a healthy Rick Ankiel and Ryan Ludwick, and the team has to feel good about leading a division rife with injuries among all contenders. Injuries are a part of the game obviously, but the number of bodies on the disabled list in the NL Central could fill a quality fantasy team. They piled up quicker than Arnold Schwarzenegger’s victims in the last half-hour of “Commando,” yet the April standings still made a strong case for the Central’s place as baseball’s toughest division.
Tony La Russa has never been a conventional manager, frequently batting the pitcher eighth in the lineup and shuffling his lineup every day like it was an NBA draft [More …]
By Ailyn Diaz, of Hockey Chics and Big Hair Hockey Show
It’s rematch time for the Detroit Red Wings and the Pittsburgh Penguins, face to face, yet again in the Stanley Cup Finals.
The Detroit Red Wings are looking to extend their dynasty with back-to-back Stanley Cup wins. They accomplished a similar feat 11 years ago while the Pittsburgh Penguins are trying to win their first Stanley Cup since the classic 1992 Finals with Mario Lemieux and Jaromir Jagr.
The Canadian Press has obviously likened it to the New York Islanders vs. Edmonton Oilers of 1984. In fact, it’s the first time the same two teams have squared off in a final in consecutive seasons since Wayne Gretzky led the Oilers. At that time, the New York Islanders finished the 1983–84 regular season tied atop the Eastern Conference while successfully defending their Patrick Division title. The Canadian Press relates the youthful Pittsburgh Penguins to the Edmonton Oilers in talent and playmaking while the veteran Detroit Red Wings are compared to the experienced New York Islanders.
And Detroit Red Wings’ head coach Mike Babcock is looking forward to the series. “To have the opportunity against Pittsburgh should be a lot of fun,” Detroit coach Mike Babcock said during a press conference. “There will be a lot of hype.”
The hype just started and Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Brook Orpik believes his team has a huge advantage over the Detroit Red Wings knowing that Detroit is injury-riddled. Detroit Red Wings [More …]
By Paul M. Banks
Although the end was not pretty, it was quite a memorable season for the Chicago Blackhawks, who long surpassed expectations: reaching the Western Conference quarterfinals for the first time since 1995. As I predicted exactly on the Big Hair Hockey Show podcast, they lost to their bitter rivals the Detroit Red Wings in 5 games. One of the biggest reasons why is Wings alternate captain and left wing Henrik Zetterberg.
Last season Zetterberg was nominated for the Frank J. Selke Trophy as the best defensive forward, but finished as a runner-up to teammate Pavel Datsyuk. This year the league’s reigning Conn Smythe Trophy (Stanley Cup playoffs MVP) had 3 goals, an assist, and a +2 in the series.
Hawks fans, just in case you don’t have sufficient reason to dislike him…his current contract is the longest and most lucrative in Detroit history and he’s also engaged to a Swedish model and tv host. Zetterberg spoke about overcoming the Hawks despite a couple slow starts “We’ve had some trouble during the playoffs starting off well. Every game we talk about it. They’re (Chicago) coming with a lot of speed. If you execute on the first pass, it’s a lot easier for you. You know we did that today.”
There are better days ahead for the Hawks, currently the league’s youngest team, but in this series it was Detroit’s veteran savvy and composure that led to victory. Zetterberg spoke about the Wings’ response to the Hawks’ running [More …]
By Melissa S. Wollering
Statistics crunched in 8,469+ ways—sometimes over more than a century—always encompassing a team’s entire existence. Can you live without it? As of the 2009-2010 season, you’ll see the beginning of the end of this desktop reference guide. You’ll be driven to the Web. The University of Wisconsin’s Athletic Department is part of the trend; will your team follow?
On Thursday, three Big 10 schools announced they will stop printing their beloved media guides. Michigan and Ohio State have already stopped production of the guides for all of their sports and say the information will be available on the Web. Michigan and Ohio State estimate they will save a combined $250,000 per year as a result of the decision. That’s enough to purchase approximately 416 Fergie-inspired Hewlett-Packard notebooks to make their athletes smarter.
University of Wisconsin Athletic Director Barry Alvarez says his department will stop printing media guides for all UW sports. He says the move will save the school $200,000 and the trend doesn’t stop at the collegiate level. In February, Major League Baseball ceased printing its green and red guides to the National and American leagues. PDF versions of the information were made available to all media.
At a PRSA (Public Relations Society of America) luncheon that I attended at the Hilton in downtown Madison last week, featured speaker and UW Associate Athletic Director for Communications Justin Doherty addressed the death of the media guide. He says UW will cease production of the [More …]
by Peter Christian
The Call-Outs are a weekly list comprised of entities in the sports and pop culture realm whose actions and behaviors deserve to be pointed out and ridiculed. I didn’t ask for the gig, it was presented to me as a gift by the Greek God Apollo. OK, I made that up, but it makes for a good story. I also include a list of things I enjoyed so that I don’t seem like a complete “Negative Ned”
This week I enjoyed: Minnesota Twins sweep of the Milwaukee Brewers, NBA Eastern Conference Finals, Chuck Fletcher as the Minnesota Wild GM, Mark Cuban on the B.S. Report, Adrian Johnson using common sense behind home plate, Joe Mauer
Dwight Howard
For the longest time I could never quite put into words why I never felt the urge to cheer for Dwight Howard. On the surface he is a super athletic 7-footer who can absolutely dominate the glass and is nearly impossible to defend. Plus all indications are that he is a pretty decent human being and has his head on relatively straight for a 23 year old kid that makes tens of millions of dollars per year. So why can’t I cheer for him and why can’t I put my finger on the reason why not?
I think I can’t cheer for him because he is kind of a cry-baby on and off the court. He wears [More …]
By Paul Schmidt
Watching the Cubs’ struggles over the last few weeks has led me to try and come up with a comparison, something that mirrors the feelings that I’ve had over the eight game losing streak they just posted, and their continual struggle to score runs.
After days of thought, the realization washed over me – The current Cubs slide completely mirrors every trip I have ever taken to Las Vegas.
Now, maybe you don’t understand that comparison – maybe you’ve never been to Las Vegas, or maybe you’re always successful gambling, flirting, and drinking while you are there (and if so, well, quite frankly, I hate you). But that’s why I’m here, to explain an analogy that, on the surface, might not make much sense.
The Rise in Action
Every trip starts with a run. A good run. It’s how Vegas sucks you in. If, as soon as you landed at McCarren International Airport, you started hemorrhaging money like Clint Malarchuk getting slashed by a skate, you’d tighten up the purse strings, spend some time by the pool and walking around seeing the sites. Maybe even plan a trip to the Grand Canyon or Hoover Dam (well, maybe not ).
So the Vegas gambling gods really want to reel you in. You can only be over-confident after you’ve won a little of the house’s money. Sometimes, even a lot of the house’s money.
The Cubs, came into May reeling a little, but won 11 of 14 games [More …]
by: David K.
Anytime I have written anything about Carlos Zambrano, I always half-jokingly mention his craziness and habit of taking out his anger out on helpless Gatorade jugs. Now you know why.
Big Z lost it Wednesday afternoon, throwing an impressive tantrum by bumping the home plate umpire then throwing HIM out of the game, whipping the ball into the outfield, slamming his glove on the ground, and then taking a bat to the new Gatorade dispenser in the Cubs dug-out like it was the copier in Office Space after disagreeing with a close play at the plate. Cue up the Geto Boys, “Die Mother F@!&ers, Die Mother F@!&ers, Still!”
The thing that really irks me about another Los blow-up is that it came in the seventh inning of a tied game when the Cubs needed him to finish out his solid performance. Way to have the team’s best interest in mind, Z. You make Milton Bradley and Lindsey Lohan’s relationship with Samantha Ronson look sane. Now, you will likely see a hefty fine and multi-game suspension. Just what the Cubs need.
A friend recently pointed out to me that since his power out-burst of hitting three home runs during a four-game span, Ryan Theriot, who only hit one longball in 2008, hit two more jacks, but just five singles in his next 17 games and saw his average dip fifty-points. That is what happens when a 5-11, 175 pound shortstop who makes his living using [More …]
By Paul M. Banks
Yesterday, the California supreme court voted 6-1 to uphold the ban on gay marriage voted in by Proposition 8 last November. The decision sparked massive protest demonstration all across the country. Within this political atmosphere I learned the story of Brian Sims, a former Defensive tackle and captain of the Bloomsburg University football team who came out to his team during his senior season. Sims’ story of his team succeeding both on the field and with the concept of tolerance is profiled on the website OutSports.com
“they never heard a single negative comment about Sims’ sexuality the rest of the year. Part of that was the timing. They were in the middle of a season for which they all had high hopes, and by the time most of the team found out about Sims, they had started talking about the playoffs. After starting the season 1-2, they ran off 11 straight wins and reached the 2000 Division II National Championship game. With the preparation and frenzy surrounding the team as they inched closer to the playoffs and then started winning playoff games, the sexuality of one of the team’s most respected players was the furthest from players’ concerns.”
As teammates found out, in the locker room no one moved away from Sims. No one shied away from him. His being gay became just more fodder for locker room teasing, like someone’s fat mom. Sims said he also became [More …]
Want to see our plans to fix your favorite NBA team’s roster? Follow these links below
Boston Celtics
http://www.walterfootball.com/nbaoffseason2009bos.php
Phoenix Suns
http://www.walterfootball.com/nbaoffseason2009phx.php
Portland Trailblazers
http://www.walterfootball.com/nbaoffseason2009por.php
Toronto Raptors
http://www.walterfootball.com/nbaoffseason2009tor.php
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By Melissa S. Wollering
It has been less than three months since non-academically affiliated fans of the Fighting Irish won our founder’s version of the TSB Douchebracket Regional Championship. This week, those insufferable fans are talking football as University of Wisconsin Athletic Director Barry Alvarez talks with Notre Dame’s Jack Swarbrick about the possibility of a non-conference game between the two organizations.
During a 1070 AM radio interview here in Madison, Alvarez discussed a window between 2012 and 2015 when both organizations may consider scheduling non-conference game(s). He says Notre Dame’s AD Jack Swarbrick is considering removing Purdue from their annual schedule and playing them less frequently. That could open the door for an occasional Badger/Irish duel.
UW and Notre Dame have united over the pigskin 16 times throughout the schools’ histories but haven’t played each other since 1964. Nine of the 16 games were played in Madison, Wisconsin, four in South Bend, Indiana, two in Milwaukee and one in Chicago. The Fighting Irish have had the most ‘luck’, leading the series 8-6-2.
The last time Notre Dame won a national championship was in 1988, under Lou Holtz. Ironically, Barry Alvarez was an assistant on that staff. Less than two years later, Barry was named head coach at UW thanks to the infamous Donna Shelala and Pat Richter.
The Irish’s football program has been fighting throughout coach Charlie Weis’ first four seasons. After a combined record of 19-6 over his first two seasons, Weis [More …]
By Paul M. Banks
-The Chicago Blackhawks organization and Chairman W. Rockwell “Rocky” Wirtz are both finalists in two separate categories at the 2009 Sports Business Awards. The organization has been selected as a finalist in the category of Professional Sports Team of the Year, while Wirtz has been chosen as a finalist in the category of Sports Executive of the Year.
-And they were recently dubbed one of the greatest sports industry turnaround stories of all time by Forbes magazine
-Even though the chances of the Hawks advancing past Detroit are bleak at best, I got to hand it to the Chicago fans, who changed the “Let’s Go Hawks” chant to “De-troit Sucks” for this round.
-If you hear a song enough times, I guarantee you’ll grow to like it- no matter how annoying you found it originally. Such is the case with “Chelsea Dagger” by the Fratelli’s, the Amstel Light song and Hawks goal scoring song.
-By the way if you still haven’t seen the Hawks home intro video that is shown pre-game on the scoreboard at all home games, it’s pretty cool and depicts Chicago in a post-apocalyptic Ice Age.
-Don’t you hate it when you’re watching a game and you get up to get something and then you miss something important. Hottie actress Ali Larter was at game 3 and I missed it when they showed her on the scoreboard because I was in the bathroom at the time. Damn that sucked. [More …]
By Melissa S. Wollering
Bill Hall hits a two-out RBI single in the bottom of the 10th Sunday to beat St. Louis 1-0 and what does he do? Pivots like a runway model at first, leads the entire team up the dugout stairs to the locker room at cheetah speed and signals to the whining Cardinals that they can take Milwaukee’s untucked jerseys and SHOVE THEM. No high-fives, no on-field celebration and no coincidence.
Apparently, the St. Louis Cardinals grumble the most about the Milwaukee Brewers untucking their shirts after victories. Complaints emerged again after the Brewers’ last sweep of the red birds at Busch Stadium on May 17. If you still haven’t heard the story, the tradition honors Mike Cameron’s father, who untucked his shirt after a hard day’s work.
It’s no surprise. The Cardinals are bitter due to the fact the Brewers have dominated the NL Central rivalry as of late, winning 9 of the last 10 games in St. Louis and 14 of 19 overall since the start of last season.
The Milwaukee Brewers, however, are NOT dominating interleague play. Call it a mere interruption if you’re an optimist and a giant gaping black hole in play if you’re a pessimist, but the Minnesota Twinkies sat on the Crew like a fat kid on a Hostess cupcake.
Manny Parra and Braden Looper struggled as rookie Anthony Swarzak prompted umpteen texts/emails to my phone courtesy Palmer and Christian. Swarzak was so good, that during my [More …]
There’s been a few changes made within our NBA Mock Draft, check it out here
http://www.walterfootball.com/nbadraft2009mock.php
And the list of early entries has been updated too
http://www.walterfootball.com/nbadraft2009earlyentries.php
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Maven presents The Divo Series! The Sports Bank.net founder Paul M. Banks is one of a select few being honored as a Divo: {dee-voh}, celebrita: A Divo is an Italian word used to describe male superstars!
The Divo Series honors influential men in Media, Marketing, Sports, Fashion, Fitness, Music, TV and much more!
Private reception hosted by Chivas 18 6-7pm
Host:
Sarah Vargo of Maven | Promotions, Publicity and Events! http://www.maven-chicago.com
Cocktail Party and Networking function: Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Time:
6:00pm – 9:00pm YES, THERE WILL BE TVs TO WATCH BLACKHAWKS-WINGS GAME 5!
Location:
Bull and Bear (IF YOU’RE A CHICAGO SPORTS FAN YOU GOTTA LOVE A BAR WITH THAT NAME!)
431 N. Wells
Chicago, IL
Come check out the party’s Facebook Invitation here-
http://www.facebook.com/groups/edit.php?members&gid=2242250822#/event.php?eid=97118831962&ref=share
Phone:
2246221759
Email:
sarah@maven-chicago.com
Sponsored by TheChiGuide.com, Halo, Chivas 18 and Nicholas Joseph! Check out http://www.TheChiGuide.com | http://www.halochicago.com | http://www.nicholas-joseph.com
Starring Brandon Zisman, Dave Rekhson and Luke Stoioff the Co-Founders/Owners of Twilight Traffic Control Entertainment Development responsible for Stone Lotus Lounge & Bull,
Dave Andrews from Good Life PR,
Bob Patrizi from Halo,
Nick Hansen from Nicholas Joseph,
Alexander Lurie – CEO and Founder of TheChiGuide.com,
Christopher Ash – Editor in Chief of TheChiGuide.com,
Rajib Nandi – CFO and COO of TheChiGuide.com,
David Barnett, creative director of The Salon at ULTA,
Kameron Jackson and David Faber of Ortanic,
Bucky Skeel from [More …]
By David Palmer
This must be what it feels like to be bi-polar. We’re not even fifty games into the season and the roller coaster ride is killing me. I’ve never experienced so many mixed emotions so early in a season before. I hate to make light of depression, but as Frank the Tank so eloquently put it in the movie “Old School,” we’re streeeaaking!
The Twins might be the streakiest team in baseball right now, we lost six games in a row at the mausoleum know as New Yankee Stadium and “The Cell” on the south side of Chicago, before breaking out of the coma Uma Thurman style for 20 runs in the final game of the road trip. Since then we’ve coasted to three more easy victories at home against the suddenly sucky Brewers. Interleague play could not have come at a better time.
This most recent hot streak coincided with a tweak to the lineup, Joe “Baby Jesus” Mauer sliding up into the number 2 hole. This gives Him and Morneau extra at-bats, and when Span gets on base there is nobody to hit into a rally killing double play ahead of them.
Speaking of Joe Mauer, is there a better hitter in baseball right now? I’m thinking…no. I don’t know where this sudden burst of power came from, but I can tell you that the last two years all those fly balls that are now [More …]
By Paul M. Banks
In Kane and Sharp, the Chicago Blackhawks possess two young star forwards named Patrick. “Sharpie” the lesser known of the two, is having a much better Western Conference Finals than “Kaner.” Down 3-1 to the Detroit Red Wings, the Hawks will need both of them, (and a more reinforcements) to be on their A game if Chicago is going to stand any chance of advancing to the Stanley Cup Finals.
Sharp is often overshadowed by Kane, the 2008 Calder Memorial Trophy winner and face-of-the-franchise, but it was Sharpie who was on pace to lead the team in goals this season before being sidelined by injury down the stretch.
Kaner is having a rough series, sporting an ugly -7 in the +/- department, and he didn’t even make it onto the score sheet until notching a game 4 assist. Red Wings Coach Mike Babcock talked about how his team shut down Kane.
“Till today we always played Nick (All-Star defenseman Nicklas Lidstrom) against him. Today, we didn’t have that option so we just try to play a really good five man unit and limit their touches the best we can.
I think Osgood did a good job, but you’re never going to shut a guy like that down totally with the amount of skill level he has. I thought the other night in game three even though he didn’t get on the sheet, I thought that line with Byufglien and Toews dominated the shifts territorally- just [More …]
Established in 2005 by former US President Bill Clinton, the Clinton Global Initiative, is responsible for improving the quality of life in over 170 countries around the world. Clinton, along with his advisor Doug Band, have reached out to heads of state, Nobel Peace Prize winners, global CEOs, major philanthropists, and foundation heads to help improve the state of modern globalization and international cooperation for humanity.
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