GarageGabs

Me, talking about sports….what could be better….or more boring?

Week 1

Week 2

Often times when I take a couple days off from posting, I return with little to no inspiration.  That happened to me this weekend as well.  I searched Sirius radio on the long ride home yesterday for inspiration, and found little.  In fact, I ended up spending most of the trip listening to talk radio go on and on about Anna Nicole Smith.

I got home and still…no inspiration.  Carolina had trounced Weak Forest , on a day that was understandably special to their fan base…but wasn’t all that special to me.

UNC Reunion Photo Album  (InsideCarolina.com)

I flipped to find my beloved Wolfpack getting out rebounded, out hustled, and beaten…by Miami, the worst team in the ACC.

Ho-hum, the Pro-Bowl was on…I didn’t watch a single second of it.  My fiancee and I settled in to watch a few of her shows that she had DVR’d.  I’m talking shows like “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” .  I’ll be honest, while Ellen provides no inspiration for blogging, I generally don’t mind her show.  She’s entertaining, somewhat funny, has good guests (often hot women) and unlike Rosie O’Donnell on “The View” she doesn’t find the need to constantly obsess over her being a lesbian.  Speaking of Rosie, while I know none of the rest of us were all that broken up over the death of Anna Nicole, check out her comments about Anna Nicole Smith just hours before she died:

Honestly, Rosie didn’t say anything the rest of us didn’t already think but talk about bad timing!  Wow!

Anyway, I got a little off track.  Maybe I break “man code” by watching these shows, but I generally enjoy them.

Back to my lack of inspiration.  After moping on the couch for a couple of hours, we decided to go check out Eddie Murphy’s new movie “Norbit”.   If you like funny movies, and aren’t offended by race, sex, or weight jokes, you’ll love this movie.  We both enjoyed it a lot.  Ate a lot of popcorn, laughed and then came back home.  I don’t even remember falling to sleep last night.  Still no inspiration.

I woke up this morning and found my inspiration.  How?  I did what I normally do on a lazy Sunday.   I made a visit to the rest-room.  And there it was!  My inspiration….something/someone for me to write about.  Something I was interested in, that pertained to sports!!

That something or someone was Dwight Howard, ESPN’s “NEXT” athlete for 2007….and he was in my bathroom!  How could I have missed this!?  You really have no idea how much inspiration I get while in the john.  I do most of my reading in there.  I get ideas.  I think.  It’s quiet, I’m not disturbed.  It’s an amazing place to brain storm.

Anyway, I had been following Howard’s career ever since I snagged him off the waiver wire early in his rookie season.  His 12 points and 10 boards, along with 50+% shooting, and 1.7 blocks per game helped team “Tony Montana” win the Grandmaster Flash league.  The first of my back to back Fantasy Basketball Championships.

The kid was Amare Stoudemire raw.  6-11, 265 pounds, straight out of high school, beast.

Fast forward to present day.   Howard has now come into his own.  He’s dropping 17 and 12 per night, while shooting nearly 60% from the field!!  He and Stoudemire are redefining the center position.  No longer is height the only asset.  No more tall, lumbering, strictly post-up guys barely making it up and down the court.  Howard is a pure athlete, in a sculpted body.  Cat quick, with the ability to attack the rim…not only with power…but with speed.  The kicker?  He’s 21 years old!

Wanna see an incredible stat line?  Check out Howard’s numbers from a January 10th win over Golden State:  44 minutes, 11 of 18 from the field, 8 of 15 from the line, 25 boards, (9 offensive) 2 steals, 1 block, 30 points.  He’s the youngest player in history to accumulate 20 points and 20 boards in the same game….He’s done it 6 times now, 4 in this season alone!  Beast.

I chose to write about Howard because I want to write about the future, today.   I’m not sure when, but at some point Howard is going to be leading his team to great things.

[youtube]MI2rLv8Hkl4&eurl=[/youtube]

By the way, before I finish up.  Howard (64,477 votes) did have some competition in “ESPN The Magazine”.  Calvin Johnson (62,427), Evgeni Malkin (49,668),  Jose’ Reyes (38,504), and Juan Pablo Montoya (12,758).

Malkin: (One of the best hockey goals you’ll ever see)

Montoya Burnout

[youtube]-KJNU5CCTqE&mode=related&search=[/youtube]

ESPN is reporting that Lab Results conclude that Michael Vick’s water bottle did not contain drugs.  In the biggest sports story since the Terrell Owens overdose, Vick was suspected of trying to get a water bottle with weed in it into a Miami airport last week.

This new information leaves a lot of questions to be answered:

1. Does the police officer that determined the substance in the bottle smelled like sticky icky face any punishment?  I mean come on, seems like the police would know that they had better be sure in such a high profile case.  If I’m ridin around with my boys and someone hands me a bottle, sure, I would say….“Hey man, this smells like dope”.   However, you might wanna think twice about saying something like that if your comments are going to GO NATIONAL!

2. So, what exactly was in the freakin bottle?  This doesn’t change the fact that Vick had a water bottle with a secret compartment in it that he was a bit hesitant to part ways with. Of course, neither of those are crimes, but really….I’ve never had a need to carry around the old secret water bottle thing.  Is this just a case of the police dropping the ball?  Was their really some residue in the bottle, but to save face they said there was nothing?  Saving face because they didn’t inspect the bottle until after Vick had thrown it in a recycle bin.

3. Does Michael Vick really smoke weed?

If I were Ron Mexico Michael Vick,  I’d want to clear this mess up.  Something fishy is going on here.

I will probably be done posting until after the Championship games.  I’m pulling double duty tomorrow; I’ll be at the Duke @ NCSU basketball game at 3:30, then 5 hours later the Canes host the Tampa Bay Lightning in the same building.  Unfortunately I’ll have to leave between games, they run everyone out of the building while they uncover the ice.  Should be a lot of fun.

Have a good Saturday and enjoy the Championship Games on Sunday.  If you come across any irresistible sports nuggets shoot me an e-mail at garagegabs@gmail.com.

Jason Cole of Yahoo Sports toys with the idea that running back by committee seems to be taking over the NFL….and championships as well. Those of us that play fantasy football are all to aware of the rising usage of the dreaded “running back by committee. It’s becoming increasingly difficult to pick out backs that get the majority of their teams carries….and even when you do, they often have a goal line hawk waiting in the wings to steal touchdowns.

Is the stud running back becoming obsolete? Will there come a day when even a guy like L.T. gives way to a touchdown vulture? It used to be you only had to be weary of the Denver Broncos…..now you have many NFL teams employing multiple backs.

Time will tell, but trends are an important thing in the NFL. Teams copy what wins. I believe this is just the beginning of the RBBC. In a few short years, every team will rotate backs in and out of the game as the NFL becomes more and more situational. Remember, there was a time when the 11 guys on defense were simply the 11 guys on defense. There were not dime and nickel packages. You did not have linemen that only played on passing downs. Mark my words….Guys like Tomlinson and Larry Johnson are a dieing breed in the NFL.

Winning Combination (Yahoo Sports)

Just a quick rundown of some YouTube videos you might get a kick out of:

IU Fans Chant “Stand up old people!”   Ever been to a game where the older crowd sits on their hands?

Windstorm At Soccer Game  You really need to watch this one, a windstorm kicks up signs at a soccer game.

Kobe’s Top 5 Dunks On Tim Duncan 

Guys Drop Stretcher At Soccer Game 

First of all, you’re probably asking yourself what the relevance of that photo is to an ACC basketball game. I’ll tell ya. Folks in North Carolina know two things: How to panic in 1/4 inch of snow…..and the Clemson Tigers are not a threat to become a dominant force in College Basketball.

The only reason I’m even up this morning…..is that 1/4 inch of snow. I’m sitting here on the computer waiting for my fiance’ to make it to her destination. Once I get that “honey I made it” phone call….I can put my old bones back in the bed.

As for Clemson, the National media was calling last nights game vs. North Carolina a “statement game”. Clemson made a statement alright, but it was the same one they’ve been since Jimmy Carter was in office….they lost to UNC, 77-55. Is it just people outside of the ACC that think Clemson is about to become some sort of national power? Yeah, they were 17-1 coming into this game, but as I mentioned a day before Christmas, their schedule has been cupcake city. They’ve now played 2 ranked teams (Maryland is about to be unranked as well) and lost to both of them. They’ll be VERY lucky if they gain a split out of Boston College and Duke (their next 2 games). Lucky for Clemson, the ACC is shaping up to be a very up and down league…they’ll win 20 games (thanks to a patsy non-conference schedule) and they have an outside shot at finishing .500 in the ACC, which more than likely will get them an early exit from the Big Dance.

As for Carolina, last nights results weren’t all that surprising. Coming off an upset loss to Virginia Tech, everyone knew the Heels would be foaming at the mouth to do some Tiger stomping. Make no mistake about it…this UNC team is strong. Are they strong enough to win a national title? Honestly, I don’t think they are….to much youth. They are just young enough to put up that occasional clunker of a game, which will probably keep them from winning 6 straight in March. I do believe they will easily win the ACC regular season title, and probably the tournament title as well.

I wouldn’t have made that statement about UNC two days ago, but that was before Boston College showed Sean Williams and Akida McLain the door. If you’ve ever watched B.C. play, you know the importance of Sean Williams, the guy is a shot blocking machine. His dismissal only validates my opinion that the B.C. basketball team is Thug Central. Every time I have watched them play I see Jared Dudley pumping his chest and pointing at the opposing teams fans…this was going on last year as well. I know there is such a thing as playing with emotion, but when a large percent of your google image results are you celebrating, then something is up. Anyway, the loss of Williams in the middle is going to do a ton of damage to the Eagles win/loss record. Couldn’t have happened to a nicer bunch of guys.

A lot of people have been jumping on the Virginia Tech bandwagon lately as well. Tech knocked off then #5 Duke (@ Duke) and #1 UNC in the space of one week. Ok, let me go ahead and kill this myth. Duke is not that good this year. Dick Vitale might tell you they are, but this really isn’t the finest entry Coach K has brought to the pageant. That being said, winning at Duke is a nice win, but Tech won’t be the only ACC team to do it this season. Now, the win at UNC was impressive, but as I mentioned earlier, UNC is gonna slip up from time to time….Tech caught them slipping. Tech validated my theory last night by going out and losing to FSU, 82-73.

It’s just gonna be one of those years in the ACC. Maryland, Virginia Tech, Florida State, Clemson, Boston College, Virginia, and Georgia Tech are all just good enough to beat up on eachother. Any of them could step up on any given night and knock off Duke, and a couple of them will beat UNC. State and Wake Forest are left on the outside looking in. Outside of Carolina, I don’t see any of these teams stepping up and becoming some sort of National force. Of course, that doesn’t mean an ACC team other than UNC won’t make a deep tourney run.

Not much going on in the ACC tonight other than Wake Forest picking up another loss at Duke. I can hear that “fire Prosser” machine starting to heat up, to think people thought only NCSU fans were crazy.

I’ve gotten my phone call, that’s my cue to get out of here.

Triangle Could See Up To 2 Inches Of Snow  (Seriously, it’s 8 am and drizzling rain…these fools act like we’re in a blizzard)

Fantasy Basketball fills a definite void for many of us….it’s that time in between football and baseball, when you can just have a little fun with fantasy. Well, that doesn’t go for all of us. Personally, I take fantasy basketball pretty seriously. Pretty seriously being that I show up for the draft, edit my roster daily, and even on occasion I will drop a player who I find out is injured. Not a huge amount of dedication is required to achieve these goals.

My friend Mike however, he is a different creature. Mike, like myself is a fantasy veteran. He takes every league seriously. He takes basketball VERY seriously. Over the years, Mike has developed sort of a reputation in fantasy basketball….he’s the guy that ends up with injured players….and he’s cursed.
Let’s do a quick review:

Last year Mike had the honor of owning the following players on his team called “Death Row”- (A fitting name for much of his squad) Shaquille Oneal, Manu Ginobili, Ron Artest, Emeka Okafor, Carlos Boozer, and Kenyon Martin. Mike proclaimed early in the year that Ron Artest was the steal of the draft (4th round pick) and could very likely win the MVP award. A bold proclamation, but Mike is not one to send mixed signals. Anyone that knows anything about the NBA, knows that the group of players I listed had somewhat of a tough time last year:

Oneal: Shaq’s career took a turn for the worse last season (despite a 4th NBA Championship) as he played in only 59 games, averaging a career low 20 ppg.

Ginobili: Coming off a fantastic NBA playoff and finals performance, Ginobili was bugged by injuries all year, missing 17 games and never blossoming into the player it looked like he was becoming. He seems to be back on track this season, go figure.

Ron Artest: Mike’s MVP pick played only 16 games for Indiana before being benched(He said he’d rather rap than play ball) as they tried to trade him. He eventually would end up in Sacramento, but of course, Mike had given up on him long before he got back to playing.

Carlos Boozer: Boozer “aggravated his hamstring” early in the year causing him to miss most of the first half of the season. Again, Mike didn’t have the resources to hang onto Boozer, so he had to drop him. I picked him up upon his comeback and rode his 16 & 9 to a championship.

Emeka Okafor: Missed 56 games due to injury.

Kenyon Martin: Missed 26 games due to injury and was as likely to get a DNPCD as any 12th man in the league.

In summary, just these 6 players missed 197 games, and were hobbled in many of the games they did play in. And you thought there was a Madden Curse.
Mike never gave up though. He hung on to several of these guys early, but eventually started working the waiver wires. Mike ended up making a league high 180 moves,(the next closest was 66) and made it into the playoffs where he was one and done as the 6th and last seed. Quite an accomplishment for someone that seemed cursed.

Mike learned a lot from last year. He came into this years draft refreshed, wiser, and ready to make a bigger fantasy impact. With the 6th pick in an 8 team draft, Mike was poised to prove that there was no “Newman Curse”. He snagged last years Mr. Everything, Elton Brand with his 1st pick…..Allen Iverson with his 2nd…..Andre Kirilenko with his 3rd…. Gerald Wallace in the 5th, and sleeper Marvin Williams in the 9th. This of course, wasn’t his entire draft, I just mention these guys because they stand out in a certain way.

Which way you might ask?

In the “Newman Curse” way.

Elton Brand? He’s not having a “bad” year, but compared to what he did last year, Brand is average. He’s down in every category, across the board, most importantly, scoring which is down nearly 4 points. “Newman Curse”

Allen Iverson? Statistically he’s having a fine year; if you don’t count the 6 consecutive games he missed while the Sixers decided what to do with him. Six games is no big deal right? It is when you are dealing with your 2nd round pick, and leading scorer.

Andre Kirilenko? Missed 5 games due to injury and is currently mired in the worse slump of his career. Jerry Sloan has even spoke of no longer starting AK-47 due to lack of production. He can now currently be had on our waiver wire. “Newman Curse”

Gerald Wallace? Hasn’t played in 2 weeks due to a bum shoulder and was severely limited early in the season due to a multitude of injuries. “Newman Curse”

Marvin Williams? Mike’s super sleeper (I agreed with him) missed the first 17 games of the season due to injury. “Newman Curse”

Mike has fought through the adversity of his own personal curse with diligence to to this point in the season. He’s currently sitting in 4th place, at 79-69-2 and easily leads the league in roster moves with 63. (the next closest is a whopping 10)

The Newman Curse keeps finding strange ways to sneak in and bite Mike though, the most recent was in the case of J.R. Smith. On December 11th, Mike dropped an injury prone Gerald Wallace, and Udonis Haslem to aquire J.R. Smith and Jarrett Jack. Jack is now on the injury list due to a concussion. More interesting, J.R. Smith would play just 4 games in a Food Stamps uniform before being suspended 10 games for his role in the Nuggets/Knicks brawl on December 16th. You can’t tell me there isn’t something to this curse.

What I’d like to know is how Tony Allen never found his way onto Mike’s roster?

[youtube]Le8rMnL56w8&eurl=[/youtube]

If you haven’t had a chance to watch Texas Freshman Kevin Durant play, you need to set your Tivo for Thursday night, 5 pm, ESPN Classic. That’s when they will replay last nights 3 Overtime thriller between Texas and Oklahoma State. If you haven’t seen the highlights yet, #14 Oklahoma State needed 37 points and a late desperation 3 pointer from Mario Boggan to subdue the #23 Longhorns 105-103.

Video Highlights Per ESPN

AP Recap Per Yahoo

The game was full of fantastic plays, but you’ve got to check out Kevin Durant. The kid is a Magic Johnson/Kevin Garnette hybrid on the court. He does it all; he drains 3’s, finishes with authority, dishes, rebounds, plays defense…and he’s just a FRESHMAN!! Long story short, the 6-9 Durant is the best freshman in the land this year….not Greg Oden.

The two make for an interesting comparison as they are both freshman, and both play on young teams….hence, they get plenty of opportunities to be “the man”.

Here’s a comparison of their statistics: I’ll remove some of my own personal bias by adding that Oden has been limited this year due to injury:

Kevin Durant 6-9 G-F Freshman Texas

PPG- 24.5

APG- 1.8

RPG- 11.1

BPG- 1.9

SPG- 1.6

.491 FG%, .850 FT%, .374 3PT.% (34-91) 11 double-doubles including last 6 games

Gren Oden 7-0 C Freshman Ohio State

PPG- 14.9

APG- 1.0
RPG- 9.8
BPG- 3.9
SPG- .4

.611 FG%, .591 FT%, 4 double/doubles: Missed 7 games due to injury

The Jury? I guess it depends on what you need. If you need a 7 footer to fill the paint,(what team doesn’t?) block shots, snag boards, give you 15-20 per night, but be somewhat of a liability from the charity stripe, then Oden is your man. However, if you want a versatile 6-9 presence with the ability to take over and dominate any perspective of the game, then your guy is Durant. Either way, there is no denying that both of these guys are mega-studs. I think teams could game-plan Oden out of a game…..so to speak. They could limit his offense. In Durant’s case, I think his plethora of offensive game makes him unstoppable on a college level.

Ok, before I get into all the technicalities of this weekends (not that I usually do that) AFC Championship Game, I’d like to bring your attention to this post over at Kissing Suzy Kolber. I haven’t seen someone sum up my exact thoughts and feelings since church this past weekend.

Seriously, which of these teams do you pull for this weekend?

On the one hand, you’ve got the Patriots. Somehow after 3 Super Bowls, and a 12-1 playoff record, you grow tired of a team. Not to mention that the Patriots don’t play the most exciting brand of football….at least for non-Patriot fans. Bill Belichick is certainly not lovable. Basically, New England has become the San Antonio Spurs of the NFL…when they are in the playoffs, I don’t really care to watch them play. I haven’t actually pulled for them since they played the Rams in Super Bowl something another. That team was likable….Tom Brady was the wonder kid replacement for Bledsoe, Belichick was the success story that failed in Cleveland, and they ran out as a team in that Super Bowl, rather than individual introductions. They beat the Rams that year in a great game, and of course went on to win 2 more Super Bowls. They’ve become less likable, and more faceless along the way…robots of victory so to speak. However, one part of the Patriots existence has always tickled my fancy….They exist to beat and frustrate the Indianapolis Colts in the playoffs!!!

Ahh, yes, Peyton Manning and his crew of bambi-like wide receivers….seriously, Marvin Harrison slides better than any quarterback and probably better than Jose Reyes. Twice they’ve ran into New England in the playoffs; only to discover that Manning is a creature of rhythm and timing. The Patriots ability to pressure Manning along with disrupting (often illegally, but who’s counting?) the timing of the Colts physically challenged wide receivers has led to the early exit of Manning and his crew….not once, but twice. Problem is, both of those contests were in New England. This year, Manning and crew finally get the home field advantage on the fast turf of Indy. Weather won’t be a factor. If Manning is able to advance to the Super Bowl I will no longer have reason or opportunity to continue my personal assault on his career. The media will generate this huge Pre-Super Bowl Peyton Manning Love Boat and half of America will jump on board…..including that guy you work with…you know, the guy that knows about 4 NFL teams but pulls for the Colts because he sees Peyton Manning on commercials everyday? Yeah him….he’s gonna give you hell about Manning and the Colts. Everyday during the 2 weeks leading up to the Super Bowl you’re going to have to see Archie Manning drool over his son’s new found success. You’ll see special interviews with the “Manning brothers”, and learn how this “football family” overcame all odds to become champions. Sound like a stretch? Well, it might be…but the fact is, you don’t know.

However, A Patriots victory is something we have all experienced in the past. Yes, it is tiresome and redundant, but we’ve all be immunized against the Patriot plague. The Patriots are like snake venom….if you get bit by them a few times, you eventually learn to ignore them. (Yes, I ignore snake bites, don’t you?) So, lets all get on the same boat and pull for the Patriots this weekend. Remember, Peyton Manning exists so we can call him a playoff failure.

With all that being said, I of course, am going to pick the Patriots this weekend. Lets see…..an ironic way for things to end would be if Manning actually played a good game…..but still came up short. New England 26 Indianapolis 24. Manning leads the Colts to a 24-23 lead VERY late in the game only to see the Patriots pull out a miracle in the end. That sounds heartbreaking enough.

Colts or Pats? I Prefer the Lesser of Two Evils (Kissing Suzy Kolber)