The musings of a madman...

     Allow me a moment to explain what it is we’re about to embark on… Back in May, I had this idea that I would write a book that would detail the connected histories of Hip Hop and Professional Basketball.  In June I got married, then had the week leading up to my birthday off of work.  In that time, I got a lot of work done on it, but it was not shaping up to be voluminous to be worth attempting to pursue a whole book’s worth of writing on.  As of the date that I type this (10/15/2012), I was a hair over 10,000 words into the project and running out of steam enough to carry it any further.  I mean that to say that I was almost “done,” and would need an amount of input up to about four times the amount of words I had put into it.      Given the length of what I DID have, though, I would not be willing to let it go to waste, and that is what brings me here today.  Instead of a book, I will publish the presentation as a series of blogs to be posted every Tuesday until I h

This is going to be a LONG fall/winter for me without NBA basketball… Yes, I know I will have NCAA ball from November through the beginning of April, but that is just not the same to me… Know who ELSE is going to miss those millionaires running up and down the court? TNT/TBS, ESPN/ABC and NBATV are all going to be HURT for the missing content. I thought to myself about what WOULD they put in the slots that are at this moment still allotted for the televising of NBA games this coming season if there happens to be no (or a shortened) season? This weekend, NBATV showed some “Hardwood Classics” games from years past, and the younger generation may have gotten to see a time where teams like Phoenix, Indiana, Portland and the New York Knicks all pretended to be credible threats to win an NBA championship. Yes, it was all pretending because of that Michael Jordan guy, and Hakeem Olajuwon while MJ went to pretend to be a baseball player to avoid suspension over gambling

While I like Football more than we've all read that I do baseball , I am absolutely not the standard rabid meathead fan that seems to rear their ugly heads this time of year. That being said, if you're for looking for something as in-depth and knowledgeable as my Basketball Posts , you should probably leave now. Something about a sport where this guy has a chance seems a bit less than wholly enjoyable to me. "BEEFCAAAAAAAKE!!!!" I understand that any sport that employs up to 10 or more of what could be construed as "fat dudes" on the field at any given time makes the average American feel as if he is witnessing something that he might have a realistic chance at doing, further endearing himself to it, but I just ain't feeling it like that. Don't get me wrong, now, I like Football just fine. I just prefer to watch a sport with less stop-and-go to it, so give me basketball any day. That being said, don't look for me to have spent time understanding

Why does it feel like we've been here before? Wait, it is more than likely because we have . My last posts on basketball (2 links, that) were rife with concern that Cleveland SHOULD be a problem for anyone they meet. In so many words, I had conceded to the inevitability of this being their championship season. Man, am I EVER glad I was wrong. Look, I know it seems like I am hating on the boy, and to that I will admit, fuck it. What bothers me not is the amount of times he gives, through his actions, REASONS to be hated on. No one remembers how he reacted to being blown off the court in his first finals, as no one expected them to be there, even themselves so their sweep was not even a small surprise. We ALL remember his walking off of the court without even congratulating his "friend" Dwight Howard, then offering the excuse... “It’s not being a poor sport or anything like that...If somebody beats you up, you’re not going to congratulate them,” James said. “It doesn’t

Ladies and gentlemen, I have taken on yet another full-time gig. Those that know me best know that I have only had 4 full-time jobs in the 12 years that I have been working full time, I will use this, my newest one as a supplement to my income and have a reason to spend time analyzing and looking over something I terribly enjoy. In such, I will not be quitting the old job, seeing as how the work that I will need to do most for the new one can be done from a computer during and/or after work. Keep in mind, now, that I did not apply for this job, I just decided that I wanted and went in and took it. Think somewhere along the lines of Fidel Castro in Cuba, Joseph Mobutu in Congo and George W. in 2000. I just walked in the fucking door and took the job and dare anyone effected by it to do something about it, care to try me? I will quit killing you talking AROUND what I will be doing, I am just going to tell you. ... right after I explain that the NBA is tore it's own ass

This is what we're all after now... Okay, we have finally separated the wheat from the chaff and the NBA regular season has drawn to a close. Teams who did not stand a chance can spend the next 8 weeks thinking about what they will do in the NBA draft, and 2 following that making moves for the free agency boom that will see LeBron keeping his ass in Cleveland. [ Phlip note - I been saying it for 2 years now, and I will eat the proverbial crow if it doesn't happen] We can now speak of the things that one should at the end of a season, awards and playoffs and such. **Post Season Awards** I was wrong about Rookie of the Year, but I was not expecting The Clippers to be so unlucky as to have the kid Blake Griffin go down without playing a single game. As it were, and as a watcher of basketball, DeJuan Blair SHOULD win it, but Tyreke Evans or Brandon Jennings will win it, I am thinking Evans personally. Defensive player of the year is a no-brainer. Dwight Howard leads the league in

In roughly 12 hours here, Major League Baseball will shove off on a mercilessly and inexplicably long season. Being the asshole that I am, I am only here this morning to talk down on it, simply because I don't like baseball much as a spectator sport. Back in August of 2009, I offered up some suggestions on how to "fix" baseball, and they were mostly good ideas, to speed game play along and make for something to get fans involved in something more than drinking beer, fighting off sleep and singing "take me out to the ballgame" after the 5th inning. [ Phlip note - ... and heat stroke] I mean, I understand why play the game when it is played if you're not going to play it exclusively in indoor stadiums. One must first make sure that the players are comfortable in an environment most like what they're used to. In such, I must see to it that it feels the most like Cuba and The Dominican Republic if I intend to have anything made of this. Okay, that was mean

The internets and ESPN are abuzz with the talk of college basketball as they are at this time literally every year of our lives. The only redeeming things about it to me, though are that it stretches the time I can ignore baseball for a few more weeks in wait for the NBA playoffs. [ Phlip note - c'mon, baseball... Take on my suggestions and your game won't fucking suck!] Anyway... This is the time that, as described once before recently, coincides with that lull in the NBA (and Hockey, if you care) season where teams are gearing up to take it home. It also represents a time where the everyman (or what USED to be 'everyman') student-athlete from a small-to-midsize school can prevail in the land of giants. The word "parity" applies here. One problem... Players who once were able to just g'head and skip college and not even PRETEND to be taking classes now HAVE to go to school for one year and do just that. With that, you have what is now known as the one-a

NFL is gearing up for Draft Day and teams are feverishly releasing and signing players who already are and/or have been in the league for a while... And the Will he - Won't he Brett Favre drama rears its ugly head yet again. ... and Ben Roethlisberger allegedly inserting his penis in an unauthorized manner into someone's recently post-teenage daughter. [ Phlip note - put a pin in that one, I am coming back to it] The NBA is in the post-All Star lull just following trade deadlines, where players pay actual acknowledgment and medical attention to any injuries to prepare themselves for either the post season or next season, dependent upon whether or not they will even BE in the playoffs next year. We also see players posturing to shore up their stats, or make last-ditch efforts to make their names as huge as possible in hopes of windfall monetary gains in the offseason, if not directly through a free agent contract, then by any means necessary, word to El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz .

I have been critical of Tracy McGrady for as far back as I care to remember... For that record, that would be about the time when he and Grant Hill got to Orlando, McGrady scored a ton of points and got an enormous contract which ignored that he was a huge softy who didn't seemed to be terribly interested in playing defense if it would take away his energy to score, and then he started getting injured left and fucking right while Grant Hill continued to do the same. $21+ million a year and you don't commit to the requisite conditioning and medical attention that helps you to preserve your livelihood? Or were you planning to take this fatty contract and call it a life? Riiiiiiiight... Orlando apparently comes to grips with the fact that he can't (or won't, which serves to my opinion of it) get and stay in shape to be worth the money he is making, so he is shoved off to Houston, where he COULD have served as one half of the second coming of Shaq and Kobe, pla