Please join the ESPN tournament challenge group. The Poop, as always. Vote early and often. Do one for the kiddies, one for the wife, one for the family dog.
If you are listening to the news or reading the papers today's special election in Massachusetts will decide the fate of our nation.
If Republican Scott Brown wins the election to replace the late Ted Kennedy, Republicans will have 41 seats in the Senate and the ability to block a final vote on a compromise health care bill.
If Martha Coakley wins, health care passes. Coakley once had a huge lead, not surprising in a very liberal state. But latest polls show that lead shrinking considerably with Brown leading in some polls. President Obama was in Massachusetts on Sunday stumping for Coakley, a move that didn't work so well for Jon Corzine.
But I don't really care about the serious side of politics, I only care about the horse race aspect and the silly things candidates do and say, like when Martha Coakley said Curt Schilling was a Yankees fan:
If Brown wins this election (and prevents health insurance reform from passing) it could be seen as karmic payback for Ted Kennedy. His death would be the only thing preventing his lifelong dream from becoming reality.
The breakthrough star of the last relevant season of "American Idol" (before Simon leaves) is General Larry Platt. Not a military general, he earned that mythical title during his battles in the civil rights movement.
His now famous "Pants on the Ground" was inspired three years ago when he saw a guy walking down a downtown Atlanta street with a baby in his arm and his pants slipping below his hips. “He had his underwear showing,” Platt recalled. The song came to him spontaneously. He started chanting the chorus to “Pants on the Ground.” “He was being disrespectful so I wanted to embarrass him,” Platt said. “He rolled his eyes and pulled his pants up a little bit.”
The song sure is catchy, and a 62-year-old trying out for Idol is a little goofy as is the song itself. But not lost in the goofiness is the social message in the song. Young African-American men won't be taken seriously in society so long as they are "walking downtown with [their] pants on the ground."
As is always the case on the internet the song has created numerous copycats, starting with Jimmy Fallon's version as Neil Young:
Then there was Brett Favre singing it in the Vikings locker room after beating the Cowboys.
The kind of fat found in the hips and buttocks may actually help fight diabetes, a result that surprised Harvard doctors performing the research that produced the finding. Although belly fat is known to raise the risk of diabetes, subcutaneous fat injected into the abdomens of mice actually increased their sensitivity to insulin and even helped them lose weight, Reuters reports.
"We actually found it had a beneficial effect, and it was especially true when you put it inside the abdomen," the study's lead doctor said, referring to the subcutaneous fat. "It's an important result because not only does it say that not all fat is bad, but I think it points to a special aspect of fat where we need to do more research."
Here's a partial list of woman at no risk for diabetes:
I went 2-2 last week which isn’t so bad but of course I lost my best bet when Tom Brady had the worst game of his life. One thing I don’t like about this week, the games are being played in three domes and San Diego. I want winter weather. I want snow, I want cold. Either way, I feel confident about this week and I’m about to do something I never do – so let’s get to the picks.
arizona +7 NEW ORLEANS I think the Cardinals offense is too good to get this many points. I can definitely see them winning this game because Warner and Fitzgerald can win them too. The Saints are very good too but they haven’t played a good game in two months, and haven’t played any game at all in one month.
baltimore +6 INDIANAPOLIS This game will be another referendum on how teams with big division leads should handle their late season games. I have a lot of confidence in Peyton Manning but against Baltimore’s defense I can’t shake the feeling that the Colts will have another early round disappointment. I’m not convinced the Ravens will win but I definitely think they will keep it close.
new york jets +7 SAN DIEGO I am sticking with my position that the Chargers will win the Super Bowl, and by extension, win this game. But I have noticed a couple things. The Jets have a great passing defense. The San Diego Chargers are a great passing team. The Chargers don’t have much of a running game, and the Jets rush defense is not a strong suit. The Jets will try to run the ball, and the Chargers allow 4.5 yards a carry. And the Jets have a better than average running game which means they should be able to gain near five yards a carry which would take a lot of pressure off Mark Sanchez. If football is a game of matchups you could make a strong case for the Jets in this one.
BEST BET dallas +3 MINNESOTA I think Dallas is going to win this game outright. They’re playing really well right now and the Vikings aren’t. When the Vikings got Brett Favre I never liked their Super Bowl chances because I thought he would submarine them with one bad game at the wrong time. I think this will be that game. The Cowboys will be able to put a lot of pressure on Favre and surprisingly Adrian Peterson won’t be able to help him.
Last week: 2-2 (1 point) Season: 38-51 (36 points) Best Bets: 0-1 (8-10) Home Favorites: 1-1 (8-14) Home Underdogs: 0-0 (1-2) Road Favorites: 0-0 (16-16) Road Underdogs: 1-1 (13-18) Road Pickem: 0-0 (0-1)
Amanda Cicchini the smoking hot West Virginia University soccer player who gained fame on the internet for being smoking hot and always taking pictures with her ass pointed at the camera. It's no surprise she is banging someone on West Virginia's top ranked basketball team. That's what hot college girls do, they fuck athletes. But usually good athletes. According to Amanda's Facebook page she is in a relationship with Cameron Payne who has played only 19 minutes this year. scoring only 5 points. Hopefully when SU comes to town this weekend they will blow out the Mountaineers by 50 so the luckiest guy in college can get some playing time. Or maybe Andy Rautins can show her what it's like to fuck a good player.
It seems amazing to me that people would use Facebook, friend everyone they've ever met in a weird kind of popularity race, post pictures of themselves drunk or in their underpants or both --- then complain Facebook is violating your privacy. Facebook is not going to make money selling a picture of you going apple-picking. But since my picture of Chase appears on Google, and Georgia Derek recently tracked me down, I thought I would share these Facebook privacy tips with a particular emphasis on #10 (which was not part of the AP article, I threw it in because I like round numbers).
Facebook has been nudging its users -- first gently, then firmly -- to review and update their privacy settings.
You may have procrastinated by hitting "skip for now," but Facebook eventually took away that button and forced you to update your settings before continuing to use the site.
After finally accepting Facebook's recommendations or tweaking the privacy settings yourself, though, you might have made more information about you public than what you had intended.
At the same time, Facebook has given users many granular controls over their privacy, more than what's available on other major social networks.
So if you want to stay out of people's view, but still want to be on Facebook, here are some things to look out for as you take another look at your settings.
1. Some of your information is viewable by everyone.
Everyone can see your name, your profile photo and the names of work and school networks you're part of. Ditto for pages you are a fan of. If you are worried about a potential employer finding out about a quirky fetish or unorthodox political leaning, avoid becoming a Facebook fan of such groups. You can't tell Facebook you don't want those publicly listed. Your gender and current city are also available, if you choose to specify them. You can uncheck "Show my sex in my profile" when you edit your profile if you don't want it listed, and you can leave "Current City" blank.
2. Your list of friends may also be public.
Facebook also considers your friends list publicly available information. Privacy advocates worry that much can be gleaned from a person's list of friends -- even sexual orientation, according to one MIT study. But there is a way to hide the list. Go to your profile page and click on the little blue pencil icon on the top right of your box of friends. Uncheck "Show Friend List to everyone." Either way, those you are already friends with can always see your full list.
3. You can hide yourself from Web searches.
There is a section for "Search" under Facebook's privacy settings page, which is accessible from the top right corner of the Web site under "Settings." If you click the "Allow" box next to "Public Search Results," the information that Facebook deems publicly available (such as photo, fan pages and list of friends), along with anything else you have made available to everyone, will show up when someone looks up your name on a search engine such as Google. The stuff you've limited access to in your profile will not show up.
This is useful if you want people you've lost touch with, or potential work contacts, to be able to find your Facebook page. If you'd rather not be found, uncheck this box.
A second setting, controlling searches within Facebook, lets you refine who can find you once that person has logged on. Limit searches to friends only if you think you have all the friends you need and don't want anyone to find you when they type in your name to Facebook.
4. Beware of third-party applications.
Quizzes and games are fun, but each time you take one, you first authorize it to access your profile information, even if you have made that available only to your friends. You're also letting the app access some information on your friends.
Under "Application Settings," Facebook lists all the apps you have opened your profile up to. If you no longer want to authorize access to "Which Golden Girl Are You?" you can always remove it by clicking on the "X" next to its name. Apps you use regularly, such as Facebook for Android if you update your status from your mobile phone, should stay.
Next, by clicking on "Applications and Websites" on the privacy settings page, you can edit whether your friends can share your birthday, photos and other specific information. Remember that applications can access your "publicly available information" no matter what.
The security firm Sophos recommends users set their privacy settings for two of Facebook's own popular applications, notes and photos, to friends only.
5. Go over your list of friends.
The average Facebook user has 130 friends. But many people interact with a much smaller group when commenting on status updates, photos and links. So it doesn't hurt to occasionally review your list of your friends to get an idea of just who can view your status posts, vacation photos and funny links you've shared over the years. Don't feel obligated to add anyone as a friend, even if that person adds you first. For professional acquaintance you don't want to snub, send them to a LinkedIn profile you can set up. Some workplaces and schools have rules about Facebook interactions between bosses and employees or students and teachers.
6. Create custom friends groups.
If you have friended a lot of people, sort them. Think of the groups you interact with in real life -- co-workers, college buddies, girlfriends, grandma and grandpa -- and organize your Facebook friends in these groups, too. Go to "All Friends" under the "Friends" button up top, click on "Create New List" and fire away. Then decide what aspects of your profile, and which status posts and photos, these people will have access to. Or, simply create a "limited" list for acquaintances or distant relatives and limit their access.
7. Customize your status posts.
Type "I'm hungry" into your status update box. Click on the little lock icon. You'll see a range of privacy controls pop up, letting you either allow or limit access to the post. If you want, you can even hide it from everyone by clicking "Only Me" under the custom settings. Click on "Save Setting." Repeat with each post, or create a default setting for most updates and increase or decrease privacy as you see fit.
8. Let your friends know you have boundaries -- in person.
Many of us have woken up on a Sunday morning to find that an overzealous friend has posted dozens of photos from that wild party we barely remembered -- the good, the bad and the hideous. Chances are, they didn't do this to embarrass you, though if they did you have bigger problems. Rather, they probably don't know that you don't want these photos posted. Sure, tweak your photo privacy settings on Facebook. But if someone starts snapping pictures of you at a party, ask them to check with you before posting it anywhere.
9. Never assume complete privacy.
Even for the most tech-savvy person, unflattering photos, incriminating text messages or angry status posts about work have a way of worming their way out in the open. Just saying.
10. If you are that worried about your privacy -- DON'T JOIN FACEBOOK IN THE FIRST PLACE!!!! This one has been mastered by Mem. She doesn't want everyone seeing what she is up to, so she never joined Facebook. Ok, she did join Facebook, but she used a fake name not realizing no one would friend her and she wouldn't be able to see anything but a tiny thumbnail of that person and now Mrs. Poop and I constantly get Facebook suggestion recommending her pseudonym as a friend. But all that aside, she's worried about her privacy, so she doesn't join Facebook, simple.
Teddy Pendergrass, who became R&B's reigning sex symbol in the 1970s and '80s with his forceful, masculine voice and passionate love ballads and later became an inspirational figure after suffering a devastating car accident that left him paralyzed, died Wednesday at age 59.
The singer's son, Teddy Pendergrass II, said his father died at a hospital in suburban Philadelphia. The singer underwent colon cancer surgery eight months ago and had "a difficult recovery," his son said.
"To all his fans who loved his music, thank you," his son said. "He will live on through his music."
Pendergrass, who was born in Philadelphia on March 26, 1950, gained popularity first as a member of Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes.
In 1971, the group signed a record deal with the legendary writer/producers Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff. The group released its first single, "I Miss You," in 1972 and then released "If You Don't Know Me by Now," which was nominated for a Grammy Award.
Pendergrass quit the group in 1975 and embarked on a solo career in 1976. It was his solo hits that brought him his greatest fame. With songs such as "Love T.K.O.," "Close the Door" and "I Don't Love You Anymore," he came to define a new era of black male singers with his powerful, aggressive vocals that spoke to virility, not vulnerability.
His lyrics were never coarse, as those of later male R&B stars would be, but they had a sensual nature that bordered on erotic without being explicit.
"Turn Off the Lights" was a tune that perhaps best represented the many moods of Pendergrass - tender and coaxing yet strong as the song reached its climax.
Pendergrass, the first black male singer to record five consecutive multi-platinum albums, made women swoon with each note, and his concerts were a testament to that adulation, with infamous stories of women throwing their underwear on stage for his affection.
Pendergrass suffered a spinal cord injury and was paralyzed from the waist down in the 1982 car accident.
Pendergrass later founded the Teddy Pendergrass Alliance, an organization whose mission is to encourage and help people with spinal cord injuries achieve their maximum potential in education, employment, housing, productivity and independence, according to its Web site.
Pendergrass is survived by his son, two daughters, his wife, his mother and nine grandchildren.
The 100th episode of "How I Met Your Mother" was a disappointment on a couple levels.
First, I wasn't thrilled with the show's ballyhooed musical number "Nothing Suits Me Like a Suit."
Note: for some reason the normally youtube friendly HIMYM producers didn't put the full song and dance on the web. All the versions I could find were mirrored. So check out the writing on the newspaper dispenser. You may want to watch this while holding your computer up to a mirror.
Second, I was hopeful Rachel Bilson would be my mother. I fell in love with her on "The O.C." when everyone else was going gaga over heroin-chic Mischa Barton. But that got shot down pretty early on.
That brings me to the conundrum about my mother. It seems clear to me now that they never plan to reveal my mother until they have an end date for the series. She'll either be introduced in the final episode (a typical network trick) or early in the final season which would give them so many great opprtunities for fast forwards until 2030 (which I think would make the final season legend -- wait for it -- dary!)
I don't have a problem with them waiting because I don't watch the show to find out who my mother is. That's not the point. I watch it because it's funny regardless of the plotline hanging above the show like The Sword of Damocles.
But I actually wouldn't mind if the outed my mother sooner rather than later because I trust them to do smart and funny courtship and maybe even marriage episodes.
After all, these are the same people who cast Stacy Keibler as the hot bartender.
Someone actually told me she didn't think Stacy Keibler has big enough boobs to play the part of a bartender with big boobs. That may be true but she's got a GREAT ASS!
In another bit of inspired casting Carrie Underwood makes her acting debut in a HIMYM episode set to air in March.
During the investigation into Pete Rose's gambling Major League Baseball found evidence, or had a strong indication that Rose got in too deep with gamblers and the only way to get out was to fix a game. That's when Commissioner Bart Giamatti called Rose into his office and decided it would be too damaging for the game if this got out. So he offered Rose a deal, keep quiet, accept a lifetime ban, apply for reinstatement in year and Giamatti probably assured Rose he would reinstate him. Unfortunately for Rose, Giamatti died before he could live up to his end of the bargain, and his successors, Fay Vincent and Bud Selig, have too much respect for Giamatti to go against what they believed were his wishes.
That’s my theory, but assuming I am wrong about Rose fixing a game (or more than one) there are still a lot of other reasons to keep him out.
1) He lied about not betting on baseball for 14 years. Then he admitted he did bet on games, and on the Reds, and eventually said he bet on the Reds to win every night. But how can we believe him. The fear of another shoe dropping is definitely part of the reason for his Hall of Fame exclusion. 2) He knew the rules, and he knew the punishment, yet he still committed the crime. If you go to live in a Middle Eastern country and you know they chop your hand off for stealing, then you steal something, you deserve to have your hand cut off, even though I think that punishment is too severe. In this case I think the punishment is just right. 3) The Baseball Hall of Fame is not directly run by Major League Baseball. The Hall has a rule not to consider players for inclusion if they are on baseball's banned list. It is very unlikely baseball will ever remove his ban and allow him to become a coach or manager, so unless the Hall changes its rules he'll never be eligible for induction.
Note: Pete Rose says he will never see a Paul Giamatti movie. He says he and Bart Giamatti (father of actor Paul) agreed not to discuss their meeting and he felt betrayed when Giamatti came out with the now famous speech:
"The banishment for life of Pete Rose from baseball is the sad end of a sorry episode. One of the game's greatest players has engaged in a variety of acts which have stained the game."
The recent induction of Andre Dawson to the Hall of Fame accomplished one thing: it made the induction of Jim Rice not seem so bad.
About the only thing Dawson has going for him is his rare standing as one of the few players with 400 homers and 300 stolen bases. But because counting statistics are so often misleading you should look at the averages, and almost all of Dawson’s are terrible.
His .279 lifetime batting average is one of the lowest in the Hall of Fame and it’s almost Mazeroski-ish when you consider Dawson was an outfielder. I’ve always said batting average is an overrated statistic so let’s look at something that really matters: on base percentage. Specifically, that’s the ability of a hitter to not make an out, a pretty important thing in baseball. He has a lifetime OBP of .323. That’s terrible, also one of the lowest among Hall of Famers. Even his OPS is well below-average.
I think what really drives me nuts is when people get in the Hall of Fame just because they’re not that much worse than someone who is already in. Never was Andre Dawson one of the best players in the game for more than a couple seasons at a time, and none of his stats (other than homers and stolen bases) measure up to the greats of the game.
Even more galling than Dawson’s inclusion is the exclusion of Tim Raines and Edgar Martinez.
Believe it or not, Raines actually has a higher career OPS than Dawson, he had more top seasons than Dawson and is superior to him in almost every area except for home runs and RBI.
And against Edgar Martinez it’s not even close.
For this we’ll use a stat called OPS+ which compares players to the league average and therefore adjusts for differences between eras. 100 is essentially league average, 150 is great. Dawson’s best year was 157, Edgar had 157 once too, was above it 6 other times, including a sick 185 in 1995..
I know the knock on Edgar is that he was mostly a DH, but if you are going to have a position you can’t just exclude everyone who plays it (though the NFL does it with punters). As long as there is a DH in baseball Edgar Martinez should be in the Hall.
And a quick note on the two most prominent pitchers on the ballot. Bert Blyleven doesn’t deserve to get in because he has a lot of negative stats (losses and home runs allowed) and the numbers in his favor (wins and strikeouts) are somewhat inflated by his long career. He never had that many great individual seasons as evidenced by how seldom he received Cy Young votes. I used to be in favor of Jack Morris getting in because he was one of the top pitchers of the 1980s, until I read that if he did get in, he’d have the highest career ERA in the Hall.
The lying scumbag Mark McGwire finally admits to using steroids.
There are a few reasons why this bothers me.
First he cheated. Fundamentally as a fan that hurts me, even though I know hundreds of others did the same thing.
Secondly, he broke sports most hallowed record under false pretenses.
Third, even in telling the truth McGwire told more lies.
He said he only juiced for health reasons, to help recover from injuries. I guess he doesn't buy the theory that his steroid use led to his body breaking down.
When pressed by Bob Costas he refused to even acknowledge that even if that were the case he still benefitted from the roids.
He said he had been hitting home runs in little league, high school, college the minor leagues and even as a rookie before discovering steroids (supposedly). That may be true, but not that many.
And then he trotted out the old hand eye coordination excuse. Yes its true steroids can't teach you how to hit a baseball traveling towards you at 95 miles per hour. But if you already know how to do that like say a major league baseball player, steroids will help you hit it farther. Even the player with the most natural power and the best hand eye coordination would still hit fly balls to the warning track. But with steroids those balls become home runs.
When asked if he could have hit 70 without roids McGwire said yes. I wish he would have said "I think so, but I never gave myself the chance."
A couple things McGwire said did stick with me.
He said he wanted to tell the truth to Congress that day but his lawyers couldn't get him immunity (a longshot) so he pulled the incredibly incriminating "I'm not here to talk about the past" routine. I've killed him over that for nearly five years but I now realize if you have to show up but you can't tell the truth and don't want to lie "I'm not here to talk about the past" is probably your best choice. Especially since "no hablo ingles" was taken by Sammy Sosa.
In his statement/confession McGwire said "I wish I never played in the steroid era."
That to me seems like his way of saying he felt obligated to cheat because everyone else was. I'm sure he feels had he played in the 60s or 70s he would have been a great home run hitter without ever hearing the word steroids.
But it was his misfortune that he played in the steroid era. And ours too.
"Curb Your Enthusiasm" fans may remember this scene where Larry David took an interest in a baby recently adopted from China and her ability to use chopsticks.
Fox News contributor Brit Hume knows exactly what Tiger needs: Jesus.
I know this is what Jesus people do, they tell other people how great Jesus is, but it seems the height of arrogance to tell someone: what you believe is wrong, if you want to be happy, believe in what I tell you.
This is why I am glad Jews aren't allowed to prostelytize.
LeBron James wore one orange and one blue sneaker during a game against the Portland Trail Blazers, to match the Cavaliers orange and blue throwback jersey. LeBron claimed the mismatched shoes were a tribute to Craig Ehlo, Mark Price, Larry Nance and Brad Daugherty but I think he just grabbed the wrong one and was trying to play it off.
Fans of "Lost" the ABC series about marooned plane crash survivors fear President Barack Obama will give his State of the Union address Feb. 2.
That's the same day as the three-hour premiere of the final season of "Lost."
Twitter comments Wednesday included "Leave my LOST alone, Skippy!" and "Come onnnn, Obama..pick another day."
The Facebook group "Americans Against the State of the Union on the Same Night as LOST" asks "When will it end?" It notes that Obama already bumped "A Charlie Brown Christmas" for his Afghanistan speech in some markets.
The White House isn't saying when Obama will speak. An ABC spokesman wouldn't say whether the network would consider moving the premiere.
The Facebook and Twitter comments would be out of control if Obama did this. As a Lost fan myself I just want the season to start already because the sooner it starts the sooner it'll be over. I've said this before but I cannot wait for the show to wrap up so they can stop coming up with ridiculous paranormal twists and start explaining.
But no matter what Obama does he's gonna piss off some people when he bumps their favorite show.
According to the Washington Post this is what really happened in the Gilbert Arenas gun incident:
"The dispute between Arenas and Crittenton began on the team plane during a popular card game between players called "Boo-ray." Crittenton lost roughly $1,100 to JaVale McGee, a Wizards center, in the game, according to a player who watched the game and who also spoke on condition of anonymity. Crittenton, already angry over a dispute over the game's rules, became irate when Arenas began needling him.
Their barbs escalated to a point where Arenas, smiling, said he would blow up Crittenton's car, according to two players on the flight, who requested anonymity. Crittenton replied that he would shoot Arenas in his surgically repaired knee.
Walking into the locker room two days after the dispute on the team plane, according to two witnesses, Arenas laid out the guns in Crittenton's locker. Two other teammates eventually sauntered in and, while Arenas was writing the note in front of Crittenton's cubicle, in walked Crittenton, according to their account.
Asking Arenas what he was doing, Arenas replied, "If you want to shoot me, I'd just thought I'd make it easy for you." As other teammates laughed, Crittenton crumpled up the paper, tossed one of Arenas's guns across the room, where it bounced in front of a team trainer, and said he didn't need any of Arenas's firearms because he had his own, according to the witness accounts.
Crittenton then drew his weapon, loaded it and chambered a round, the witnesses said.
Neither witness said the gun was ever pointed at Arenas, but both said Crittenton began singing as he held the gun.
Arenas began laughing, the witnesses said, telling Crittenton, "Look at that little shiny gun," as two other players slowly retreated to the training room.
Arenas eventually followed. By the time the players came back out, Crittenton was gone."
If this version is accurate it doesn't seem that bad for Arenas, and it's really bad for Crittenton. It's actually kind of noble that Arenas lied about it to protect Crittenton.
Either way, both guys are incredibly stupid for bringing guns (even licensed, unloaded ones if that's the case) to the workplace. And then joking with them and leaving them out. Incredibly stupid. But if this version is accurate Crittenton should be out of the league forever. You can not load a gun and threaten someone with it. As his employer, the Wizards cannot allow that.
As for Arenas, I think he may done in the NBA for his career. I think the Wizards could definitely seek to void his contract and legally I'd have a hard time seeing how a judge could say the Wizards wouldn't be within their rights to do so.
But Arenas's coup de grace of stupidity, which finally forced David Stern to suspend him is two weeks after the incident he pantomimed shooting his teammates with finger pistols in a pregame huddle.
Just for the record I think this ranks second in terms of worst, most serious behavior by an NBA player in a league facility in a recent memory. I would put this just above Sprewell choking PJ Carlesimo and right below Ron Artest attacking the fans.
Unless you are as old as Joe Paterno and remember when basketball was a Jewish mans game the only Jews in the NBA you probably know are Jordan Farmar and Danny Schayes.
Here's the entire story on Casspi who wears #18 for chai.
Rabbi Reuven Taff took 21 members of his congregation to Israel this summer and made sure they saw all the historic landmarks most sacred to Jews from Sacramento: the Western Wall, the Golan Heights, Old Jaffa, Masada, the Dead Sea, the Holocaust Memorial at Yad Vashem and, of course, the childhood home of Kings rookie Omri Casspi. On a 10-day pilgrimage to the Holy Land, that had to be their first stop.
They flew into Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv, changed into fresh purple-and-black garb and hopped a bus straight to the suburb of Yavne, once known as the first settlement after the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D., now known as the first town in Israel to produce an NBA player. The congregation could identify the hallowed house by all the bouquets of flowers on the sidewalk, left by neighbors and fans after Casspi, a 6'9" forward, had been taken by Sacramento two weeks earlier with the 23rd pick in the draft.
The visitors were greeted at the front door by Casspi's parents, Shimon and Ilana, and led to the backyard, where they feasted on bourekas and wine. After many mazel tovs and l'chaims, it was time to reboard the bus and head back to Tel Aviv, but Shimon would not let the rabbi go. "He came running up to me, and there were tears in his eyes," Taff says. "He was carrying two Israeli flags in his hands, and he told me to take them." Shimon explained that he had bought the flags when Omri was 14 and waved them at every international game his son had played. "I want you to promise me," Shimon told Taff, "that these two flags will be at every game Omri plays in Sacramento."
The request didn't come at the best time for the rabbi: He no longer had his season tickets. So on Rosh Hashanah, Taff walked down from the pulpit, carrying a wireless microphone in one hand and the flags in the other, and outlined the challenge that Shimon Casspi had put to him two months earlier. Even if the Kings were in last place, even if Omri Casspi never got off the bench, at least one member of the Mosaic Law Congregation had to attend every game at Arco Arena—and to stop by the synagogue first to fetch the flags.
The congregation has responded, and so has Casspi. He doesn't start and isn't even Sacramento's best rookie (see high-scoring combo guard Tyreke Evans), but at week's end he was averaging 11.0 points on 52.5% shooting and 4.0 rebounds, contributing 23.8 strong minutes per game on a 10--12 team that has exceeded expectations. Beyond that, Casspi is making an impact on the NBA in more original ways—debating Kobe versus LeBron in Hebrew, eating foods prepared by a kosher cook, wearing number 18 because it is the Jewish symbol for life and playing with what he calls "the Israeli spirit," which manifests itself in floor burns and busted lips. "He can piss some people off," says Kings swingman Francisco Garcia, "and I love that about him."
Casspi is a spindly 225 pounds, with a black beard that covers his sunken cheekbones and a toughness that belies his frame. He can defend everyone from point guards (he hounded the Bulls' Derrick Rose) to centers (he begged to cover the Suns' Amar'e Stoudemire). Each steal or tip-in provokes a swell of national pride within him. "Every time he scores," says Kings assistant G.M. Jason Levien, "it's as though he's wrapped in the Israeli flag."
Like most NBA players, Casspi grew up watching Michael Jordan—only he had to wake up at 4 a.m. to do it. At 17 he signed with Maccabi Tel Aviv, the best team in Israel and one of the best in Europe, but a year later he was drafted into the army. Every able-bodied 18-year-old Israeli must serve three years in the Israel Defense Forces, a rule that derails most promising athletic careers. But Casspi was among a handful of basketball players chosen by the IDF's sports committee as an "outstanding athlete," meaning he would stay with Maccabi and be sheltered like an elite American college recruit. Although he went to basic training and learned to shoot a gun, he only had to report to the base in Tel Aviv twice a week, and then he wore a sweat suit instead of a uniform. While his older brother, Eitan—a standout point guard in high school—was a paratrooper jumping out of planes in the middle of the night, Casspi was sorting paperwork and refereeing officer basketball games, a soldier in name only. Basketball kept him safe, but it also kept him separate, and even though he was grateful for the arrangement, there were times he felt a little guilty.
"In Israel, being in the army is a special experience, and my friends will take it with them their whole lives," Casspi says. "I didn't have that experience. I didn't really do anything in the army. But right now, I am trying to serve my country in another way."
Before this season 70 nations had sent players to the NBA, from Iceland (Peter Gudmundsson) to Estonia (Martin Muursepp), from Egypt (Alaa Abdelnaby) to Iran (Hamed Haddadi). But Israelis had a history of rimming out. Mickey Berkowitz tried to sign with the Hawks in 1979, but Maccabi would not release him from his contract, and when Berkowitz took the team to court, a judge denied him as well. Oded Katash signed a two-year deal with the Knicks in 1999 but lost patience during the ensuing lockout and returned to Israel. The Sonics took Yotam Halperin with the 53rd pick in 2006, but second-rounders are not given guaranteed contracts, so he too went back to Israel.
That crushed Levien, who was then an agent representing Halperin. A former guard at Pomona who was bar mitzvahed in Jerusalem, Levien was driven to bring the first Israeli to the NBA. After Halperin went home, Levien turned his attention to an athletic but unpolished teenager from Maccabi, Omri Casspi. "He was frenetic," Levien says. "He was a force of nature. He dunked in a way I'd never seen a player from Israel dunk." But before Levien could enter Casspi in the 2009 draft, he was hired last November by Sacramento. Although Levien still wanted to see an Israeli make it to the NBA, he now had to value the Kings' interests over Casspi's, Israel's and even his own. "I had to be totally objective," Levien says. Meanwhile, Casspi was seeing Levien at predraft workouts, telling him, "If you pick me, I will fight for you. I will go to war for you." Coming from another athlete, the war reference might have been off-putting, but given Casspi's background, it had greater meaning. As a Kings executive, Levien appreciated Casspi not because he was a potential pioneer but because he could bring energy off the bench immediately; over time, under Sacramento's coaches, he could add strength and smooth out his jumpers. G.M. Geoff Petrie and other Kings scouts, who brought imports Hedo Turkoglu and Peja Stojakovic to Sacramento with great success, had tracked Casspi for years and were already intrigued with his abilities. When NBA commissioner David Stern announced that Sacramento was selecting Casspi, Stern cracked a smile, which Casspi maintains was a little wider than usual. "Because he's Jewish," Casspi reasons.
There is a scene in the movie Airplane in which a flight attendant asks a female passenger if she would like something to read. The passenger asks the flight attendant, "Do you have anything light?" Without hesitation, the attendant hands her a leaflet entitled Famous Jewish Sports Legends. The joke, which has dozens of derivatives, was a bit off-base, especially regarding hoops. The first basket ever in the Basketball Association of America—predecessor to the NBA—was scored in 1946 by Ossie Schechtman, a Jew from Brooklyn who played for the Knicks. The '46 Knicks had four Jewish starters in all. Three years later the Syracuse Nationals signed Dolph Schayes, who made 12 All-Star teams and the Hall of Fame. But since Schayes's son, journeyman center Danny Schayes, retired in 1999, the only Jewish player of repute has been Lakers guard Jordan Farmar.
David Vyorst, who produced and directed the 2008 documentary The First Basket, believes that Jewish migration to the suburbs after World War II is to blame for the falloff. If difficult and densely populated environments tend to yield the best basketball players, it only made sense that the next Jewish hope would come from Israel. When Tal Brody arrived in Israel in 1966—he was drafted 13th by the Baltimore Bullets out of Illinois but signed with Maccabi Tel Aviv instead—every game was played outside. Maccabi played in the rain, in the snow, on a kibbutz in the middle of a dust storm. When Saddam Hussein was in power in Iraq, Israeli high school players hauled gas masks to the court as if they were part of their uniform.
When Casspi was drafted, Brody called it "the completion of a circle." Mickey Berkowitz said it "made my dream." Dolph Schayes started checking Sacramento box scores every morning.
At first Casspi appeared overwhelmed by U.S. hoops, shooting a ghastly 29.5% in the Las Vegas Summer League. After a morning practice in late September, Francisco Garcia told Casspi to meet him in the gym at 10 p.m. "He showed up at 9:45," Garcia said. That night Garcia revealed his secret to life in the NBA: "Work when everyone else is asleep." Garcia underwent surgery on his right forearm and wrist in mid-October and will miss most of this season, but he is still traveling with the Kings, mainly to keep an eye on Casspi.
Casspi's combative approach could land him in some trouble. During a predraft group workout he accidentally hit Gonzaga's Austin Daye with an elbow, splitting his lip. During an early-season game against the Warriors, he went face-to-face with notorious brawler Stephen Jackson. Even in practice Casspi is constantly hand-checking teammates, bucking the image of the soft Euro. Among the Kings he is a source of admiration and irritation both. "He gets people riled up," center Spencer Hawes said. "He gets them to the brink." Casspi developed his style under Zvika Sherf, coach of the Israeli national team, who used to tell his players before big tournaments, "We are not going to be the tallest or the strongest or the most talented. But we have something different. We are Israel. We are going to play harder, and that's how we are going to win."
In recent years Hollywood has released films such as Munich, Defiance, American Gangster and Inglourious Basterds in which the main characters are aggressive, physical and Jewish. "It used to be that tough Jewish actors had to play Italians because nobody believed Jews could be that way," said Rich Cohen, author of Tough Jews. "James Caan played Sonny Corleone. Henry Winkler played Arthur Fonzarelli. Jewish characters always had to be the nebbish sidekick—the doctor, the lawyer, the banker, the accountant. There is a very different image of Jewish men in the world right now."
Omri Casspi plays a small role in the evolution, a seventh man in Sacramento trying to establish himself in the NBA, willing to throw a few elbows if that's what it takes. His physicality is part of his appeal, along with his sense of service. On Nov. 17 the Kings lost to the Bulls by 14 points, and Casspi scored only two baskets. But after the game he stood patiently on the court, posing for pictures with the Pollack and Gonzalez families, members of the Mosaic Law Congregation who that night had waved Shimon Casspi's flags. Being the first Israeli in the NBA comes with a responsibility to meet the local rabbis and hit the community Hanukkah parties. More important, though, it comes with the responsibility to keep fighting when everyone else is asleep.
As we often see in postgame interviews, winners credit God for their performance. But very rarely do we hear losers blame the loss on God. Except for Texas quarterback Colt McCoy who was injured on the fifth play of the Citi BCS National Championship game:
"I've given college football the best I've had for the last four years," McCoy said. "Every player's dream is to play on a stage like that and have an opportunity like that. I could have never imagined this would happen. I'll never question God. I'm a man of faith. I've never questioned why. But, yes, I'm truly disappointed because I would have made a huge difference."
It seems to me he is clearly saying that God caused his shoulder injury but as a man of faith he is not going to ask why God ruined his college career and his life.
Since most of us need a mulligan on our preseason picks (only Reissberg and Focks have both their Super Bowl teams in the playoffs), let's see if we can do any better from here.
Wild Card: New York Jets over Cincinnati Bengals Dallas Cowboys over Philadelphia Eagles Green Bay Packers over Arizona Cardinals New England Patriots over Baltimore Ravens
Divisional round: Indianapolis Colts over New York Jets San Diego Chargers over New England Patriots New Orleans Saints over Green Bay Packers Dallas Cowboys over Minnesota Vikings
Conference Championships: Dallas Cowboys over New Orleans Saints [corrected] San Diego Chargers over Indianapolis Colts
Super Bowl: San Diego Chargers 27 Dallas Cowboys 17
Ok, so I had a terrible regular season I was due after some pretty good years. Plus this is the playoffs. This is where you make your money.
new york jets +2 CINCINNATI I hate to go with what seems like the common consensus here but I just have a feeling about the Jets. I don’t think they have the potential to be this year’s surprising Wild Card team that makes the Super Bowl but I do like them against the Bengals here. After a series of disastrous performances by Mark Sanchez I think the Jets have calibrated a game plan that can use their top running game and their top ranked defense and take the game completely out of Sanchez’s hands. Remember the Bengals passing game is no great shakes either.
DALLAS -4 philadelphia Don’t believe the hype. It’s hard to beat a team three times in a season, it’s harder to beat a team that’s better than you in the playoffs on the road. For the record 19 times teams a team has had the chance to beat another team 3 times in one season. They did it 12 times. That’s 63%. I’ll take those odds. The Tony Romo – Donovan McNabb factor is very volatile though. Both of these quarterbacks have shown the ability to flame out spectacularly especially in the playoffs. I’d like to see Donovan win the Super Bowl to shut up the obnoxious Philly fans but I don’t think this is his year.
green bay +1 ½ ARIZONA I hate to be picking all three teams that won last week to win again but that’s just what I see when I look at these games. Green Bay has a better defense and I think Rodgers can match Warner throw for throw. I also don’t think Arizona will be a sleeper two years in a row.
BEST BET NEW ENGLAND -3 baltimore I know there is a lot working against the Patriots here including Tom Brady’s nicks and Wes Welker injuries but I won’t bet against the Patriots at home in playoffs as long as Tom Brady and Bill Belichick are prominently involved. But my real guess is that the Pats win by a field goal and royally screw me.
Last week: 3-2 (2 points) Season: 36-49 (35 points) Best Bets: 0-1 (8-9) Home Favorites: 0-0 (7-13) Home Underdogs: 0-0 (1-2) Road Favorites: 2-1 (16-16) Road Underdogs: 1-1 (12-17) Road Pickem: 0-0 (0-1)
Troubled comic Artie Lange landed in the hospital after stabbing himself nine times in an apparent suicide attempt. Lange's frantic mom called 911 after she entered his Hoboken apartment and found him bleeding. Lange sustained six "hesitation wounds" and three deep plunges. Surgeons managed to save Lange despite heavy bleeding.
I really don't think Artie Lange is funny at all and I especially didn't think his stint on Joe Buck Live deserved all the attention it got. Any 12 year-old boy could have said "you're gay and your favorite website is suckingcock.com." Nothing smart or clever or funny about that.
The 100th episode of "How I Met Your Mother" airs on Monday and it features a 2 and a half minute song and dance number with 65 dancers and a 50 piece orchestra.
I don't like spoilers but I will say the song is in praise of the suit, after a girl Barney tries to bang doesn't like men who wear them.
Note: Anyone who took a class at Syracuse taught by Professor Bob Thompson surely knows 100 episodes is the former benchmark a show needed to reach before it could be syndicated. In the 100th episode of "St. Elsewhere" a patient named Cindy Cation survived 100 episodes of angina.
Interesting New York Times article about the future of Las Vegas sportsbooks. A casino in Henderson, Nevada is experimenting with eDecks, handheld devices that allow you to bet on sporting events from anywhere in the casino (yeah, you still have to be in the casino) avoiding the window and the betting slips. Similar devices are already in use at the Venetian and the Palazzo. But the coolest part of this: being able to bet on a single event within a game. Imagine how much money we could make betting on: David Wright will strike out with the bases loaded and one out.
This is the 5000th post in the history of the Poop. Not bad for a blog that's a little more than 4 years old (can't believe I missed Poop Day this year. It's November 3rd, remind me next year assholes, send me a card, or an e-card, how hard could that be?).
Here are the number of posts made in each of the 4 full years:
2006: 1631 2007: 1356 2008: 1047 2009: 647
That's a major decline of 38% from 2008. Basically I just don't have the time, so I am lot more discerning with what I post. I've looked at old posts from 2006 and I wouldn't bother reading half that stuff now. But the blog is definitely a lot worse now. Stuff is old, or not published at all. Sometimes it's dark for days at a time if I don't have time to prep stuff to autopost. And readership by real people is down too. I'd say right now we only have about 15-20 real Poopheads.
But there is one thing that's way up: the number of hits. Via google searches for various things, the Poop is getting more hits and page views than ever. In fact, that's the second milestone. We recently passed half a million page views (as calculated by Google) in the history of the Poop.
Nebraska quarterback Zac Lee will have surgery on his throwing arm to repair an injury that he’s been playing with most of the season.
Throughout this season, the junior quarterback had a significant tear develop to a tendon on his throwing elbow after injuring his wrist in the Arkansas State game.
“I guess from favoring (my wrist) or something like that, I have what you would call a fairly extensive tear on my flexor tendon,” Lee said. “It’s just been something you have to play with, something you have to function with. It’s just a decent amount of pain in the elbow when you throw.”
Lee did not go public with the injury until after the Holiday Bowl domination of Arizona. Lee went 13 for 23 with 173 yards including a 74-yard touchdown pass to Niles Paul. Lee added 65 yards rushing and another TD in Nebraska's 33-0 win.
“In the course of the season you’re going to get hurt. Things are going to happen. I just didn’t want it to be an excuse,” Lee said. “I didn’t want it to distract from what we were trying to accomplish as a team. Our media, our fans, it would have been a wildfire if it came out during the season.”
It usually takes about 10 to 12 weeks for a player to start throwing after such surgery.
Which brings us to spring practice. Lee may or may not be ready by then. It’s no secret the coaching staff wants Cody Green to win the job. He’s their recruit, Zac was recruited by the previous administration. They want to run the option, Green is faster. Problem is, Zac is a pretty good game manager, Green is mistake prone.
If the only game you watched Nebraska play all year was against Texas then you probably don’t agree with my take on Lee, but if you saw him play all season you will know he has potential and if given the chance to run an offense where passing is for more than just third and long, than he could take a team with a defense as good as Nebraska’s a really long way.
A new political action committee is running ads this week touting a college football playoff system in the markets of two undefeated teams who were bypassed for the national championship.
Playoff PAC says it will run the 30-second ads in Dallas-Fort Worth and Boise, Idaho, where TCU and Boise State are located. The ads also will run in Salt Lake City, where fans are still angry that undefeated Utah didn't get to play in last season's title game despite going undefeated.
Matt Sanderson, one of the founders of Playoff PAC, said the size of the TV ad buy will depend on the response the group gets in the next few days, but that the group will definitely run TV ads.
"It matters when they exclude teams like this from the national championship not just because it denies fans bragging rights, but because there are significant institutional benefits that come with that," Sanderson said, such as funding and boosts in admission.
Enough already. Enjoy the college season for what it is, a year-long tournament where in most cases the best two teams play in the end to settle the championship on the field. This year is a bad example because of five undefeateds but that never happens and usually we get a great, meaningful, exciting regular season followed by a one-game championship between the two best teams.
First we wore silly hats and glasses. I completely wasted $10 on these but I got sucked in by the persuasive salesman on 32nd street. I should have smelled the hat before I bought it (the way The Concierge does with hotel rooms) because it did not come from a smoke-free environment. The thing smelled so bad we had to put it out in the sunroom because it made the whole house smell. And unlike the glasses which can be worn for only one day the hat just says “Happy New Year” so if we can kill the odor we can keep it for next year.
Then we counted down to noon with our friends. And we tried to take a picture but the boys wouldn’t sit still and wouldn’t leave their hats on and the girls were sitting like perfect angels and getting very mad at the boys for ruining every picture.
And then we had a big cookie.
We also watched "The Hangover" and Dick Clark and Mrs. Poop got furious when he screwed up the countdown and she hopes they don't roll him out there again next year.
At most colleges, athletes are hidden in the communication program, but Boise State has done them one better. During last night's Tostitos Fiesta Bowl Fox's graphics indicated Jeron Johnson is a "cummunication" major.
Neyer, a gifted baseball mind, expresses similar thoughts but in a more detached, well-reasoned manner. But the point is the same, the Mets are going about everything all wrong.
"A bit of (seeming) trivia from Jeff Passan: before Omar Minaya signed Jason Bay, he traded him for Lou Collier ... and before the Mets signed Jason Bay, they traded him (and Bobby Jones and Josh Reynolds) for Steve Reed (and Jason Middlebrook).
What does it all mean? Well, to Passan it means that Minaya and the Mets, once again, are valuing the wrong end of the talent/salary scale ...
All of this highlights an endemic problem with the Mets that they try to cover with their payrolls, which provided among the highest cost per win in baseball this past decade: Their player-development system is a mess, and not the kind of mess a toddler makes at dinner. It is whole-cafeteria-food-fight bad, and in that respect, the coupling of Minaya and the Mets seems perfectly matrimonious.
Together, they have spent hundreds of millions to go backward. There was the ill-fated Pedro Martinez deal. And the on-deathbed-ill-fated contract for Oliver Perez. They blew money ($25 million on Luis Castillo. They lavished it ($37 million in a closer-loaded market for Francisco Rodriguez, with an easily attainable $17.5 million option). They spent themselves out of all the good will engendered by the tremendously club-friendly contracts for David Wright and Jose Reyes.
Wright and Reyes represent the only worthwhile thing the Mets can call their own. Since 1985, the Mets have signed and developed five players who later wore their uniforms in an All-Star game. Five. Wright, Reyes, Todd Hundley, Edgardo Alfonzo and Bobby Jones. Even Kansas City can say it has passed eight homegrown All-Stars through its system.
Paul's note: this stat is complete bullshit since the Royals have to send a representative every year and since they have no high-priced talent some cheap guy from their minor leagues has to go.
--snip--
Still, it speaks to the team’s recognition that baseball trades in a new currency -- youth -- and that the Mets always arrive late to the party of the latest trend. New York spent $3.1 million on the amateur draft in 2009. It was the lowest figure in the game. Ramping up their spending in Latin America -- which has netted them their three top prospects, Fernando Martinez(notes), Jenrry Mejia and Wilmer Flores -- doesn’t excuse going skinflint stateside.
To compensate, they dole out dollars in the most inefficient market: free agency. Bay hits for power and he gets on base and he fits into a clubhouse well, and every team desires such a player. He’s also 31. Defensive metrics and scouts agree he’s a massive liability in left field. He was obviously blanching at playing for the Mets and in the massive Citi Field, or he wouldn’t have spent more than two weeks spelunking for another offer before taking New York’s.
--snip--
The Bay signing is reminiscent, in a way, of the last time the Mets reached these depths. Following a 91-loss season in 2004, the Mets brought in a past-his-prime Martinez for $55 million, then made the splash of the offseason by signing Carlos Beltran to a $119 million contract.
--snip--
“I call it the New Mets,” Beltran said, “because this organization is going to a different direction, the right direction, the direction of winning.”
The New Mets never arrived. They were on the cusp of the World Series in 2006 and couldn’t capitalize. The Santana trade didn’t reinvigorate them. Scant reinforcements from the farm system arrived. Signings blew up. And ultimately, nothing changed.
They’re just the same old Mets. The same old mess.
In fairness, after bringing in past-his-prime Pedro and signing Carlos Beltran, the Mets did average 89 wins over the next four seasons. There were the best team in the National League in 2006, and were (arguably) the best team in the National League East, on paper anyway, entering each of the next three seasons (yes, even 2009). Thanks to the Phillies and any number of other things, it just didn't work out that way.
Still, it's a bit shocking that the Mets have developed only five All-Stars in the past quarter-century. And that only one of them was a pitcher. And that the pitcher was Bobby Jones. It's also a bit shocking that the Mets, who had the second-highest payroll in the majors in 2009, spent less money than anyone else in the draft.
Granted, they'd given up their first-round pick by signing Francisco Rodriguez. And they really have upped their investment in international talent. But when are the results going to show up in the majors? As Baseball America's Adam Rubin notes, just one of the Mets' domestic minor-league teams finished 2009 with a winning record, and the system's .451 winning percentage was the second-worst in baseball.
Minaya has been the Mets' general manager for five years. Wright and Reyes were in the pipeline before he arrived. He's spent a lot of money, but bought just one playoff appearance. At some point soon, it will be fair to ask some tough questions."
Hustler founder Larry Flynt is suing his two nephews claiming they ruined his business by putting out inferior product using the Flynt name. The nephews worked for Flynt for a long time but when he fired them they launced their own company, FLYNT Media. In order to decide the case the four women and four men of the mostly middle-aged jury viewed photos of some of the nephews' DVD boxes. Images of naked, well-endowed women on the front and people in all sorts of contortions on the back were flashed on a giant-screen TV right next to them.
The jury decided the nephews had infringed on Larry Flynt's trademark and they will now be required to use their first names on their porn moives.
The new year is presenting a new challenge. What do we call this thing? Some people are opting for "twenty-ten" while others prefer "two-thousand-ten". What do you say?
Obviously I stink this year so I hope you aren't using these picks for anything other than picking the opposite. One note of caution, I guarantee this week a couple teams that need to win to make the playoffs will lose to teams that have nothing to play for.
atlanta -1 1/2 TAMPA BAY I know the Bucs beat New Orleans last week, but they still suck.
kansas city +10 DENVER I just have no confidence in the Broncos right now.
chicago -3 DETROIT Maybe Jay Cutler figured something out last week.
philadelphia +3 DALLAS Would be cool if we could get this matchup again next week. There's a possibility three of next week's four games could be rematches from this week.
BEST BET tennessee -6 SEATTLE I think the Titans will play hard to try to get 2,000 yards for Chris Johnson.
Last week: 0-5 (-1 points) Season: 33-47 (33 points) Best Bets: 1-0 (8-8) Home Favorites: 0-3 (7-13) Home Underdogs: 0-0 (1-2) Road Favorites: 0-1 (14-15) Road Underdogs: 0-1 (11-16) Road Pickem: 0-0 (0-1)
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