Hoops and Other Pop Culture

Good Morning America -- "Thanks But No Thanks" To Adam Lambert

2009-11-24T12:12:00.002-07:00

http://www.popeater.com/2009/11/24/adam-lambert-gma/?icid=mainhtmlws-main-ndl2link4http%3A%2F%2Fwww.popeater.com%2F2009%2F11%2F24%2Fadam-lambert-gma%2F

Lambert's claim -- "discrimination." No doubt true -- GMA discriminates against bizarre S&M porn that offends virtually all of its viewership.

I enjoy the one comment that asks "can we just cross Ellen and Lambert to get one fairly normal gay man?"

More Mauer

2009-11-24T09:52:00.002-07:00

My favorite Internet comments thus far regarding the guy who did not vote for Mauer:

"Keizo Konishi of Kyodo News, based in Seattle, voted for Cabrera.
But only because Mauer spurned Konishi's se.xual advances."

"Cabrera gets $200K for gettig 4th place or should I say - Cabrera will be splitting $200k with Keizo Konishi of Kyodo News."

"The pitchforks and torches are out in MN and they're looking for Keizo Konishi of Kyodo News. Who the fuck is that? Well, he'll get the attention he wanted now."

You would think that Konishi would come out and try to explain his rather inexplicable vote. Again, I would not have a problem with him voting for either Jeter or Teixiera, but the Cabrera vote makes absolutely no sense.

Joe Mauer -- Almost Unanimous MVP

2009-11-23T12:20:00.005-07:00

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=4682842

Who voted for THE DRUNK Miguel Cabrera? A man who was arrested (note -- should say "picked up by the police at his house and held at the police station until his employer appeared" -- http://www.freep.com/article/20091005/SPORTS02/91005019/1319/Police--Cabrera-was-drunk-during-fight-with-wife wouldn't want to accuse the police of actually doing their job and arresting such an innocent man) and played drunk during a key game down the stretch?

http://search.aol.com/aol/imageDetails?s_it=imageDetails&q=Miguel+Cabrera+Drunk&img=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.millerparkdrunk.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2009%2F10%2Fmiguel-cabrera-240x300.jpg&site=&host=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.millerparkdrunk.com%2Foff-base%2Fwhy-miguel-cabrera-is-an-a-hole%2F&width=93&height=116&thumbUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fimages-partners-tbn.google.com%2Fimages%3Fq%3Dtbn%3AobDj8JQb5J4zxM%3Awww.millerparkdrunk.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2009%2F10%2Fmiguel-cabrera-240x300.jpg&b=image%3Fq%3DMiguel%2520Cabrera%2520Drunk%26oreq%3D7cf92354f3634e58b3c668fcb9f341f1&imgHeight=300&imgWidth=240&imgTitle=%3Cb%3Emiguel%3C%2Fb%3E-%3Cb%3Ecabrera%3C%2Fb%3E&imgSize=25103&hostName=www.millerparkdrunk.com

Honestly? Look at the league leaders and see how many times Mauer is #1: http://www.baseball-reference.com/leagues/AL/2009-batting-leaders.shtml His OPS+ is 170!!!!!!!!!!! 170. Cabrera's 142 was 7th in the league, far closer to Jason Kubel (136) than Joe Mauer.

Cabrera plays first base (the easiest fielding position) and Mauer plays catcher (the hardest). I just cannot understand this vote. I guess an argument could be made that Cabrera played 160 games to Mauer's 138, but then where is the extra production?

Cabrera in 22 more games and 88 more at bats had the following advantages: 2 more runs scored, 7 more hits (7 for 88), 4 more doubles (one fewer triple), 6 more HRs, 7 more RBI, 2 more SBs, 27 more total bases.

So the voter's opinion must have been that it was more valuable for the Tigers to have Cabrera for those 22 extra games, even though he was playing first base and his numbers would add up to a .080 batting average and a slugging percentage of .307, scoring 1 run every 11 games.

And the fact that the Tigers were 5th in team ERA and the Twins 11th, but the Tigers did not make the playoffs (because they were beaten by the Twins)? Take that into account at all?

I would not have complained had a Yankee received one or more #1 votes, but this vote is truly baffling.

(Correction -- next sentence should start "Other than a wickedly steroided-up Ivan Rodriguez in 1999"....)

You go back to Thurman Munson (1976) to find the last AL MVP catcher, and then back to 1963 (Elston Howard). Neither man made the Hall of Fame.

Other Than Having Sex With Men.........This Is the Gayest Thing Adam Lambert Has Ever Done

2009-11-23T12:16:00.003-07:00

It takes a great deal for me to turn off the TV, but gay male S&M porn will do it. So much for the people who say gay folks are unfairly portrayed in the media as sexual deviants -- Lambert apparently WANTS to be protrayed in that manner.

J Lo -- Not 20 Anymore

2009-11-23T10:57:00.000-07:00

4:42 You Will Never Get Back......Or Want Back

2009-11-20T12:35:00.001-07:00

NSFW

I would say big things lie ahead for her.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9z8L_gOog2k&feature=related

Creepy -- Part II

2009-11-20T10:43:00.001-07:00

http://news.aol.com/article/linda-tate-pleads-guilty-to-sending-nude/776396?icid=mainhtmlws-main-ndl4link4http%3A%2F%2Fnews.aol.com%2Farticle%2Flinda-tate-pleads-guilty-to-sending-nude%2F776396

Well, yeah. I wonder if the naked cheerleader girl also suffered any discipline? I mean, based upon some cases I have seen, some states prosecute minors for distributing nude images of themselves.

Western New York Football Results

2009-11-20T10:30:00.002-07:00

http://www.mpnnow.com/sports/x206843276/Section-6-teams-flex-their-muscles-again

Both my alma mater (Letchworth) and my dad's (Dundee) took the loss in super-sectional action.

D'oh!!! One bright note. This report seems to say that my old school has fairly decent enrollment for 8th-12th grade, so maybe the section championship in football can be repeated in future years? My dad's school is winning with less than 70 in a graduating class. But it looks like enrollment goes slightly up in the next few years.

Georgia Mascot -- Dead

2009-11-20T10:17:00.003-07:00

http://news.aol.com/article/university-of-georgia-bulldog-mascot-uga/776340 Died at age 4.

I am sure that somehow Mark Richt is to blame.

In light of UGA VII's death, Sports Illustrated has moved Georgia down from #1 to #2 in its already-written 2010-11 College Football pre-season poll.

Brad Childress Signs Extension Through 2013

2009-11-20T09:41:00.003-07:00

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/football/nfl/11/19/childress.extension.ap/index.html

Because............of his .500 coaching record before this year?

Because.........of his 1 playoff appearance in 3 years?

Because..........of his 0-1 playoff record???

Because..........of the great job he did selecting and grooming T-Jack?

Every year the Vikes add another great player (Peterson, Allen, Favre) and yet Chilliwack has never won a playoff game. So, yeah, great job Wilf family. When Favre gets too old to play and you are back at 8-8, enjoy the L.A. Vikings' obligation to pay Chilly-Chill $12MM more bucks.

Creepy

2009-11-19T13:31:00.001-07:00

http://www.switched.com/2009/11/15/undercover-wife-busts-husband-by-posing-as-a-chatroom-teen?icid=mainhtmlws-main-ndl5link6http%3A%2F%2Fwww.switched.com%2F2009%2F11%2F15%2Fundercover-wife-busts-husband-by-posing-as-a-chatroom-teen

Because I Just Mentioned This Cover In a Comment

2009-11-19T10:49:00.002-07:00

Great day when this issue was delivered to my mailbox when I was 13!

Your 8 Most Productive NBA Players Before the 11-18 Games

2009-11-18T15:57:00.003-07:00

Efficiency (a measure of how productive you are for the game, so if you play hardly at all your Efficiency will suck)

1) LeBron
2) Chris Paul
3) Chris Bosh
4) Dirk
5) Andrew Bynum
6) Kevin Martin (now hurt)
7) Carmelo Anthony
8) Kevin Durant
9) Josh Smith
10) Dwyane Wade
11) The Devil
12) Tim Duncan
13) Dwight Howard
14) Marc Gasol

I decided to stop at Marc Gasol becauase it is obviously the place where the stat's usefulness starts to break down.

Eff48 (adjusts for how much you play, so if you play 24 minutes and get 15 points a night, your Eff48 is gonna be really good).

I sorted out guys who have not played at least 4 games or at least 10 minutes a game

1) Chris Paul
2) Chris Bosh
3) LeBron
4) Duncan
5) Dwight Howard
6) Josh Smith
7) Roy Hibbert ------!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
8) Dirk
9) Melo
10 through 14 -- Carl Landry ! Joakim Noah!! Marreese Speights ! Corey Maggette ? Greg Oden?

Um, OK, so Eff48 is maybe not quite ready for prime time yet as a judge of all of the league's best guys, but who are the Efficiency stars who are Eff48 slackers?

Bynum -- 15th in Eff48
Kevin Martin -- 34
Durant -- 31
Wade -- 27
Devil -- 25
Gasol -- 23

Take only the guys who are top 14 in both stats, and you see that the 8 guys enjoying the best seasons so far are:

1) -- Chris Paul (second in Efficiency, first in Eff48 -- 2+1=3)

2) -- LeBron (1+3=4)

3) -- Bosh (3+2=5)

Big Gap

4) -- Dirk (4+8=12)

5) -- Josh Smith (9+6=15)

6 and 7 (tie) -- Melo (7+9=16)
-- Tim Duncan (12+4=16)

8) -- Dwight Howard (13+5=18)

Nate Archibald 1972-73 Season and Truck Robinson 1977-78 season

2009-11-18T15:15:00.004-07:00

http://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/KCO/1973.html

In looking up Nate (since Brandon Jennings brought Nate to mind) I looked for Nate's signature season, the year he led the league in both scoring and assists.

Most noteworthy part of that season? Not that Nate led in both stats (never done again since) -- the most amazing stat to me is that Nate logged 46 minutes a night.

He led Wilt by over 100 minutes played that year.

In the history of the NBA, there have only been 3 guys who ever logged more minutes in an NBA season than Nate did that year -- Wilt (7 times), and John Havlicek and Elvin Hayes (each once).

There has only been one guy since 1972-73 who even came close to Nate's 3681 minutes in a season. In 1977-78 Leonard "Truck" Robinson logged 3,638 minutes for the New Orleans Jazz. Not coincidentally, that was the year Truck led the league in rebounding.

To find a guy since the ABA/NBA merger, other than Truck, who comes in the top 40 for minutes played, you need to go down to #26 for Latrell Sprewell (1993-94, 1st team all-NBA), #32 for Iverson (2002-03, AS, 2nd team all-NBA) and Michael Finley (1999-2000 -- 1 of his 2 all-star appearance years).

C-Webb's Sacto Restaurant Calls a Timeout

2009-11-18T10:13:00.003-07:00

http://www.luxist.com/2009/11/17/chris-webbers-restaurant-shuts-down/?icid=mainhtmlws-main-ndl5link4http%3A%2F%2Fwww.luxist.com%2F2009%2F11%2F17%2Fchris-webbers-restaurant-shuts-down%2F

They sold a 44 ounce "Fab 5" burger for $30. "All Choice Angus Meat."

Shouldn't the Fab 5 burger be a stack of one ground up filet mignon (Webber), two pieces of choice angus beef (Rose and Howard), a decent regular piece of burger (King) and reheated meat returned to the kitchen after being uneaten by another patron (Jackson)?????

ARTL Group -- "Sarah Palin Not Crazy ENOUGH"!!

2009-11-17T12:48:00.002-07:00

http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2009/11/american-right-to-life-abortion-protest-sarah-palin

I can't believe I am saying this in a non-sexual context, but "I am on Sarah Plain's side here."

You have to read the quote about how a fish eating a fish is not a crime...

And you Thought Only EASTERN Michigan Was Messed Up

2009-11-17T11:57:00.003-07:00

http://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2009/11/shoppers_flood_barnes_noble_to.html

From the article:

"A shopper named Charie who declined to give her last name said she was planning to pass on her 5:30 a.m. workout to get in line for the wristband and is excited about meeting Palin.

“She’s feisty, like me,” she said with a smile. “Despite what they say in the media, she’s smart. People underestimate her. But I hope she runs for something because she could kick this country’s butt.”

Translation:
"Despite what people say who have actually met her, I know she is smart because I have never met her. But I think people who have never met her underestimate her because they don't know her like I do.....and I have never met her and will stand in line at 5:30 a.m. to do so."

I hope she runs for "something"? She WAS one of the U.S.'s 50 state governors, but she quit so she could suckle at the teat of folks like you who want to read her book.

And, well, I can't dispute the part about kicking the country's butt.

Good Investment of the Day -- Paying Joe Cada's Entry Fee

2009-11-17T10:15:00.003-07:00

http://www.walletpop.com/blog/2009/11/13/dropping-out-of-community-college-pays-off-for-poker-champ/?icid=mainhtmlws-main-ndl3link3http%3A%2F%2Fwww.walletpop.com%2Fblog%2F2009%2F11%2F13%2Fdropping-out-of-community-college-pays-off-for-poker-champ%2F

He got $8.5MM for winning the world series of poker, but has to give 50% of it to "two backers who helped pay his entry fee."

Um, OK. Suppose they paid the whole thing. For each guy's investment, he received:

Investment -- $5,000 (after tax money)
Return -- $2,125,000 (pre-tax)
After Tax Raturn -- $1,062,500 (50% goes to taxes)

Time from investment to return -- 3 to 6 months (we will use 6 months).

Return on investment -- 211.5 times your investment (21,150%)
Annualized return -- 42,300% per annum

I renewed a couple $500 CDs today for 1.5%, so I didn't do quite as well.

Lane Kiffin -- Dismisses the Two Worst Guys

2009-11-16T14:43:00.003-07:00

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=4660351

So, one guy is a starter, he stays around. Other two -- gone. Amazing luck for Kiffin that the one starter had absolutely no knowledge of the armed robbery that occurred. Amazing.

Erin Andrews Speaker Fee

2009-11-16T13:51:00.002-07:00

http://www.imgspeakers.com/speaker/Bio.aspx?SpeakerID=470

You mean, if I am a single guy with some money, I can stage an event and call it "the HM Charity Gala" and get Erin Andrews to show up and give a speech for as low as $7,500!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It costs $40,000 plus to get Ian Woosnam to give a speech! http://www.imgspeakers.com/speaker/Bio.aspx?SpeakerID=350 It costs 50-100% more than Erin's fee to get Bonnie Bernstein to give a speech!!! http://www.imgspeakers.com/speaker/Bio.aspx?SpeakerID=190

Single men, this is the greatest bargain on the market that I am aware of. Get 29 friends together, agree to dress up and rent a hall somewhere (what? maybe $1,500?) and then split the cost of Erin Andrews hanging out all night with you and giving a speech on something.

Suppose you can get the $7,500 rate. Add in the $1,500 for the hall and maybe some refreshments and $1,000 for finger food. $10,000 divided by 30 = $333 each and you all would get to meet Erin Andrews!!!

I am just saying......

Joe Montana -- Selling His House

2009-11-16T13:33:00.002-07:00

http://www.shelterpop.com/2009/11/12/joe-montana-selling-his-tuscan-style-villa-for-49-million/?icid=mainhtmlws-main-ndl3link6http%3A%2F%2Fwww.shelterpop.com%2F2009%2F11%2F12%2Fjoe-montana-selling-his-tuscan-style-villa-for-49-million%2F

You have to admire a guy who has a 500 acre estate in Cali. I mean, 500 acres in Napa and Sonoma. Heck, if the economy ever got back to 2007 levels, you wouldn't even need to buy the house to justify the $49MM price tag.

Wolves 1-10, Still Ahead of the 1972-73 Sixers' Pace

2009-11-16T10:17:00.004-07:00

Sixers lost their first 15, and were 1-15 and 3-30. So the Wolves have a ways to go yet.

Of course the real mark to shoot for is 4 and 50. http://hoopramblings.blogspot.com/2008/01/timberwolves-futility-versus-76ers.html

Unless you go 4 and 50, you really don't stand much of a chance to be the all-time worst.

By the by, Brandon Jennings 55!!!!!!!!!!! Doesn't Scott Skiles realize he is killing the kid's chances by running so much isolation and pick and roll for him, and winning games. Kurt Rambis feels that winning games by running pick and roll and isolation would destroy Jonny Flynn's career.

I was stunned to see that Jennings' 55 was not a rookie record. (Wilt -- 58 twice as a rookie). But Wilt, Rick Barry and Earl Monroe are the only three rookies to ever outdo Jennings' 55.

Wilt, by the way, also had a 55 to go with his two rookie 58s. These outbursts were not even in the top 30 games of Wilt's career. He went for 60+ 32 times: http://www.nba.com/history/60_040311.html

Bud Adams -- This Bird's For You

2009-11-16T10:15:00.001-07:00

http://nfl.fanhouse.com/2009/11/15/titans-owner-bud-adams-shoots-double-birds-at-buffalo-bills/?icid=mainhtmlws-main-ndl4link7http%3A%2F%2Fnfl.fanhouse.com%2F2009%2F11%2F15%2Ftitans-owner-bud-adams-shoots-double-birds-at-buffalo-bills%2F

I guess when you are beating a great team like Buffalo and moving all of the way up to 3-6, you get a little full of yourself.

Brock Lesnar "In Very Very Bad Shape" -- May Never Fight Again

2009-11-16T09:19:00.002-07:00

http://www.themmaspace.com/forum/posts/id_1371/title_brock-lesnar-in-hospital-may-never-fight-again/

It is usually a very bad sign when people discuss your health and state that you collapsed and had to be put in an ambulance, but then add in, "And at the hospital they found something ELSE wrong with him." So, yeah, you collapsed and could have died, but that in the long run may not be your worst problem.....

Hannity -- "Inadvertent Error"

2009-11-13T10:01:00.002-07:00

Because when you are doing a story about a poorly attended fall rally, I can see why you might accidentally walk to the back room and pull out footage of a well-attended summer rally. Happens all of the time. When folks want to do a story on me, they often pull out pictures of Alec Baldwin from the mid-1980s.