For the Record

Me, two days ago:

On the other hand, I'm a bit speechless that we didn't wait until the night of the draft since Rubio has been slipping in several mocks, and I'm pretty sure I won't be able to take it if he was still there at 5.

In no way did I actually expect this to happen, but I was right about one thing: it's pretty fucking difficult to take.

DCJonesy's point about the stakes of Grunfeld's move is also more true than ever. Now rather than simply being judged by Washington's successes or failures, his record be also be measured by the arc of Rubio's pro career. Predicting how draft picks will turn out is always a crap shoot, but betting the house against Rubio isn't a place I'd want to be.

Grunfeld Risks His Career in D.C., Makes Bizarre Trade for Randy Foye

Well, good to know that a whole year without Gilbert Arenas and Brendan Haywood which saw us tie the franchise-worst ever record netted us... Randy Foye. Yeah, totally worth it.

Wizards GM Ernie Grunfeld has practically staked his reputation, along with his future in Washington, on this move, which sent the fifth overall draft pick, Darius Songaila, Etan Thomas and Oleksiy Pecherov to Minnesota in exchange for Foye and Mike Miller. My initial reaction to this trade is "not good." Upon further reflection, I suppose the Wizards do need to upgrade on the defensive side, especially on the perimeter. The longer we sit here and say we need to improve defensively and summarily fail to add any defensive-minded players, the stupider we'll be.

However, you cannot tell me that the number five pick, even in a draft as watered down as this one, is only worth Randy Foye. I liked him well enough when he played at Villanova, and I honestly haven't seen enough of him in the pros to make a full assessment of his skill (probably has something to do with the fact that he was in Minnesota). But there were way bigger names being bandied about in these trade talks (Ray Allen, Amar'e Stoudemire) and I personally feel that if all we're getting back is Foye, we would have been better off just using the pick ourselves.

The bottom line, though, is that this strange move could make or break Grunfeld's tenure as Washington's GM. If this works, and Foye provides balance among our guard rotation and Miller adds scoring from the bench (as he brings nothing else to the table), Grunfeld will get to say a hearty I-told-you-so, all the while helping acclimate new coach Flip Saunders by surrounding with just about everyone he could from his former team. But if this trade doesn't work... well that's another story entirely. The only things this guarantees is that draft night will be utterly useless to watch as a Wizards fan and nearly impossible to enjoy, unless the Clippers trade the number one pick for Stephon Marbury.

One final note about the trade is that it sees Etan Thomas' long run with the team end after alomst a decade. On the court, Etan was virtually useless at this point, having missed the better part of the past two years with a heart ailment and a knee injury. In the community, he was a tremendous humanitarian, a poet, and an activist. His service to the D.C. area was invaluable and he was never afraid to speak his mind.

Well, now that any sense of anticipation for tomorrow's draft has been mercilessly sucked out for any Wizards fan, I guess I'll go back to biding my time until the Redskins do something stupid enough for me to rant about.

Great Moments of 2008: Cultural Exchange

Yao Ming, on Ron Artest being traded to the Rockets:

"There's worry. Obviously, yes. We will think about it, of course. Hopefully, he's not fighting anymore and going after a guy in the stands. I haven't talked to Ron yet, so it's hard to say."

That's pretty damn stupid. Ron Artest, your response?

Yao has played with a lot of black players, but I don’t think he’s ever played with a black player that really represents his culture as much as I represent my culture.

Sweet Jesus, that's even worse. But you get an even better story when Ron goes back on his meds the next day:

Artest was admittedly stung by the remarks when he heard them Wednesday, specifically the comment about "going after a guy in the stands," saying that Yao's words "hit me in the soft spot when I read that."

By Wednesday night, though, Artest was already downplaying the controversy in an appearance on a Sacramento radio show he frequents -- KHTK-AM's Carmichael Dave show -- and describing himself as "a Yao Ming soldier." Artest also tossed out the possibility of traveling to China to show support for Yao during the Olympics.

And then during the first month of the season, Ron Artest keeping his word and acting as a Yao Ming Soldier:



Ron Artest and Yao Ming, 2008's great moment in cultural exchange!

CHANGE!

Caron Butler: (via Ivan Carter)

"Coach Jordan will be a lifelong friend and somone I communicate with for the rest of my life," Butler said. "To see him go, that was tough. That's why I didn't talk yesterday because it hurt but as the same time, now that we got Obama on the sideline with us now, we're going to ride with it."

Obama? You mean Tapscott?

"Yeah, he's light-skinned. He has a law degree. He stands for change, he uses big words, he's new in the district and he's in control now, so shout-out to Obama. We won tonight so we have hope."

Change we can believe in, wizards fans.

Case of the Mondays: Eddie Got Fired

No matter how bad your Monday was, it wasn't nearly as bad as it was for that guy:

The Wizards have relieved Coach Eddie Jordan of his duties. Jordan was informed of the decision this morning around 8 a.m. shortly after he and his wife, Charrisse, handed out Thanksgiving turkeys to the needy at a team-sponsored charitable event. Associate Head Coach Mike O'Koren was also let go.

Can't exactly say he didn't have it coming. It doesn't matter that Gilbert Arenas and Brendan Haywood are out with long-term injuries. There is no way this team could start 1-10 and Jordan could get to keep his job.

I told JJ recently that I didn't believe owner Abe Pollin would make the move, despite the fact that it was the right decision. Pollin's history of loyalty speaks for itself (Wes Unseld, anyone?) and I thought the fact that Jordan has presided over the team for four consectutive playoff seasons would see him remain at least until the end of the season. I was wrong, though, and I'm glad I was.

To put this into some perspective, this franchise hasn't made the playoffs that many times in a row since 1976-1980, a run which included 1978's NBA title and a Finals appearance in 1979. Furthermore, not only was Jordan the Eastern Conference's longest-tenured coach, but he was also the THIRD-LONGEST TENURED COACH IN THE NBA behind Jerry Sloan and Greg Popovich! Pure insanity.

If he was going to be fired though, now would have to be the time. The truth is that the team has succeeded in spite of Eddie Jordan. His rotations make no sense. He can't diagram any kind of set play that actually works. His lack of a defensive culture has been mind-boggling. This year's 1-10 start was the final straw, with many of these losses being inexcusable (New York two nights ago, Atlanta and Miami, only to name a few).

So, happy trails to Coach Jordan. Ed Tapscott will replace him on an interim basis, if for no other reason than the fact that he looks almost exactly like Eddie Jordan and maybe the players won't be able to tell the difference. The only place I'm concerned about a difference being made is in the win column.

Sports musings

A few things going on in the world of sports lately:

• The San Antonio Spurs were able to pip the Hornets to the Western Conference Finals last night, defeating New Orleans 91-82 in Game 7. Without a doubt, I was rooting for the Hornets, hard, as was much of the rest of the country. In addition to the sentimental reasons still attached to all New Orleans franchises in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, the Hornets were the biggest surprise of the NBA season, spearheaded by phenomenal young guard Chris Paul. When the Hornets easily dispatched of a seasoned Dallas team, there was a feeling that maybe this was a team of destiny that could ride an incredible wave of momentum beyond the defending champs. The Spurs are just too good, though. I still don't know why they are branded as boring (I really think it might be their drab uniforms). The fact of the matter is that San Antonio plays great team basketball, Greg Popovich is undeniably one of the great head coaches of our time and their series against Los Angeles should figure to be another one for the ages.

• D.C. United is clearly in disarray after yet another loss over the weekend. At 2-6 overall and riding a three-game losing streak, it should only be a matter of hours, not if not minutes, before Coach Tom Soehn is fired. Not that this is really his fault, it's just not good enough for the recent winning tradition for the team. I'm not going to waste everyone's time by going over the 30 different reasons the team is struggling. It really all boils down to one factor; lack of team chemistry. For all the new players brought in during the offseason, D.C. has had virtually no time to gel or get a feel for each other. The lineup is so vastly different than what it was last season that growing pains are only natural. United has a home-and-home against Toronto FC (in the T-Dot tomorrow, then back at RFK on Saturday) to get its shit together. Anything less than two wins from two and Soehn is fired. Grim, I know, but the good news is that the MLS regular season is so worthless that a few wins a month from here on should be good enough to make the playoffs.

• All quiet on the Redskins front... which I gotta say is how I like it to be. Apart from some front office moves, there is nothing else to really talk about. As boring as that is for Skins fans, I would always rather come in under the radar as opposed to being the lead story on Sportscenter every night in May. In the draft we took a lot of pass catchers and I would have liked to see us strengthen our offensive line, secondary and D line a little more, in that order, but when was the last time the Redskins amassed 10 draft picks? I can't remember.

• Detroit vs. Boston in Game 1 tonight of the Eastern Finals, as well as... drumroll please... the NBA Draft Lottery! What's that? The Wizards aren't in it? Oh yeah, jeez sorry. Just mental conditioning. All those years of anxiously awaiting the draft lottery has made it tough to remember that Washington isn't always involved in it. There's also a game between two teams I hate more than almost anything in soccer's biggest club cup competition tomorrow at 2:30pm. Finally, Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Finals between Detroit and Pittsburgh is Saturday night, which I absolutely can't wait for.

Wizards out, but not down

I wanted to say something really quickly about the end of the Washington Wizards' season after losing Game 6 at home to the Cleveland Cavaliers, who eliminated Washington from the playoffs for the third consecutive year. While it obviously hurt to fall short of the second round, especially to be knocked out by LeBron and Cleveland yet again, this is not the end of the world for this team. 

In my opinion, this series was lost in Game 4, a heart-wrenching 100-97 home loss which saw D.C. native Delonte West sink the game-winning shot in the final seconds. The Wizards valiantly fought back to force a sixth game, but there was no way back in a series this evenly matched. We saw the same thing happen to Phoenix, who was dispatched after only five games, as well as Dallas who lost in five to the New Orleans Hornets. These were good teams that might have fared better with slightly different luck (say, for instance, the Suns had stolen Game 1 in San Antonio, you would have to like their chances to win the series after that).

I do not think Wizards fans should hang their heads after this playoff loss. The pieces are in place to set them up well for the future, whether Gil comes back or not. That being said, I would be concerned if the team fails to improve next season. After so many years of missing the playoffs entirely, making them four straight seasons seems like an accomplishment. Normally, I'm not of the mind that you should fire a coach for not getting to the Finals or the semis if the team is consistently a contender, but in this case I think we'll need to raise our ambition. Eddie Jordan has done well enough for now, but only enough to get by. He's not the longest-tenured coach in the Eastern Conference for nothing, but if he wants to stay that way he needs to take this team to a higher level.

GTA & Rising Down out today: holy crap!

A double-whammy of big releases takes place today as both the new Grand Theft Auto and Roots album Rising Down hit the shelves. The release of GTA 4 is clearly the most-anticipated for any video game in history, with sales expected to top $400 million in the first week. Somehow, I have been able to resist the lure of the game up to this point. This is basically because I knew that if I ever did own the game, I would probably have to drop out of school. But now that JJ will be getting his pre-ordered copy, he will force me to indulge in the violence and I won't try to stop him.

As for the new Roots album, I am completely blown away that this album is already out. I knew it was slated for a 2008 release, but what a pleasant surprise to have it out in stores this soon. The Roots' last album, Game Theory, was released in late 2006 to the usual critical acclaim, but very little buzz from the general public or otherwise. Rising Down is only poised to top its predecessor.  

Common. Mos Def. Talib Kweli. Saigon. Styles P. And probably my favorite-named rapper of all-time, Porn. All appear on the album. But the absolute shocker is the appearance of Wale, the great hope for D.C. rap, on the go-go tinged track, "Rising Up." Unfortunately, I cannot provide a full album review because I refuse to download this album, I will wait to buy it in stores (I could not uphold this pledge when Game Theory came out). But if anyone else has the money, I implore you to BUY THIS RECORD!

In other news, the Wizards face elimination tomorrow night, nobody gave the Montreal Canadiens the memo but they are not allowed to lose, and what???? Furthermore, WHAT????????   

Laters, y'all.

A crushing blow

How does that old saying go? It's better to have loved and lost... or something, than to... something something? Well, whatever it is, it just about sums up the Caps' playoff experience after a heart-wrenching overtime loss in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals.

I guess I got so caught up in the excitement of having playoff hockey around again that I forgot to mention a few things. First, that as exhilarating and fun as the playoffs can be, they can be equally as devastating when you lose. In a game filled with dubious calls, including one which gifted Philadelphia a power play goal in OT, to lose at home after clawing all the way back from a 3-1 series deficit... well, it just sucked, quite frankly.

The other thing I neglected to mention, probably out of fear of bad karma, was that the words "Playoffs" and "Disappointment" have gone hand in hand throughout the Capitals' history. Apart from one magical run to the Stanley Cup Finals in 1998 (which we lost, 4-games-to-0, to the Detroit Red Wings), Washington was known for blowing the big games. I thought it would be different this time because those teams of the past never had Alex Ovechkin, but I found myself reliving the same familiar memories from elementary school of a first or second round exit for the Caps.

This is not meant to overlook how incredible this season was. Either me or J will write up a proper eulogy of the season sometime in the near future. And, unlike all those years back in the day, the Wizards are still alive in the NBA Playoffs (albeit, just barely) and I will be at Verizon tonight commemorating a year in which the Redskins, Caps and Wizards all made the playoffs. I've been lucky enough to be in attendance at critical games for all three (Capitals Game 5, Redskins vs. Cowboys which we needed to win to make the playoffs, and tonight's game). Contrast that with the days when all three teams sucked and there was no baseball team to even speak of (let alone, a brand new stadium) and it's hard to really complain. So, I'll take in the playoff game tonight, have a few beers and chalk it up as an overall win for D.C. sports.

NBA Playoff Predictions

So my nba pre-season picks weren't exactly on point, but it's not like that was gonna stop me from giving a go at the playoffs, so here it is:

East

Round 1
Boston over Atlanta in 5
Philadelphia over Detroit in 7
Orlando over Toronto in 7
Washington over Cleveland in 6.

East Semis
Boston over Washington in 6
Orlando over Philadelphia in 6

East Finals
Boston over Orlando in 6

West
Round 1
L.A over Denver in 6
New Orleans over Dallas in 6
Phoenix over San Antonio in 7
Utah over Houston in 6

Western Semis
L.A. over Utah in 7
Phoenix over N.O. in 6

Western Finals
Phoenix over L.A. in 7


NBA Finals
Phoenix over Boston in 7
MVP: Amare Stoudemire

The biggest surprise here isn't that I picked Philly to beat Detroit, it's that I would pick the city of Philadelphia to do something well ever again after the garbage they've given us over the past 3 days. A win over the caps on Tuesday, a disgrace of a debate on Wednesday, and then a completely undeserved spirit crushing 2OT win over the caps on Thursday. Seriously, has there ever been a city that produced more disgusting acts in such a short period of time? Ughh. Oh yeah, and for the record, will somebody please wrap Danny Briere's spine around the crossbar next time he tries to touch Huet in front of net? Brash? Erskine? Thanks. Oh yeah, and speaking of Brashear, if you're like me and were thrilled to find out that he has an NBA playoffs Pool, here's the link.

Lets see your picks in the comments... the winner gets a mystery prize!

Mark Penn and the Isiah Thomas question

As Nick pointed out in the comments a few posts back, Mark Penn is out as Clinton's chief strategist.

I've devoted a decent amount of posts to this asshole, so I'll write bit more about his dismissal/ or not really dismissal as details of what actually happened come out over the course of the week.

But for the moment I'll just mention that if he really was fired, it raises an interesting question. A few weeks ago, I was talking to a few fellow NBA fans (possibly dcjonesy or LSouth, can't quite remember) and we were having a laugh at the expense of the Knicks franchise. We were debating the idiocy of their owner James Dolan, and when he would finally see the writing on the wall and fire their GM(actually he has since been fired from this job)/Coach, former NBA legend Isiah Thomas.

Then someone brought up a pretty interesting point: If Isiah Thomas hadn't been fired for ruining the Knicks franchise in every way possible since he took over (leagues highest payroll, near-worst record, trades and contracts that guarantee they will be bad for years to come, constant bad press and drama which included a sex scandal that tarnished the franchise in addition to a large court settlement), why would they fire him now? If he didn't get fired for any of that, why are we so sure he's gonna get fired now? It's not like its gonna be a surprise when he makes the next bad move, and when he inevitably does, what makes it any worse than the other stuff he did that seemed to be fine with their owner?

And that's why this whole thing reminds me of Mark Penn. If Hillary Clinton was cool with all of the other stuff he was doing (unionbusting, consulting for blackwater and loansharks, being a disingenuous pollster and truly moronic strategist), what makes this different from the pattern? I mean if none of that stuff got him fired, and anyway why was this any worse than what he had already done? And when you read the news the most recent scandal over the Columbia FTA, was anybody actually shocked? Of course they weren't! He's a right wing hack! What else would he be doing? Would you be shocked tomorrow if Isiah traded Nate Robinson, David Lee and next years number one for Ricky Davis and case of beer? Of course not! He's a terrible GM! That's what he does!

And if James Dolan is dumb enough to let someone as inept as Isiah Thomas run his franchise, then the blame lies squarely at his feet. And there's no difference with Hillary Clinton. She knows he's an amoral hack, and frankly the fact that she would give some like that complete control of her campaign tells you all you need to know about her judgment and leadership skills.

So it looks like Mark Penn may have actually lost his job. If I were Isiah, I'd be watching my back.

2007-2008 NBA Picks

So the NBA is getting underway, I figured I would put up my predictions here so we could all have a laugh in about a month or so. One note, looking at espn and almost everywhere else, I feel like people have forgotten that the wizards would have been serious contenders to get to the finals were their two best players not injured. They are being completely ignored, and in some cases not even picked to make the playoffs. Well, better that then being the favorites I guess.

The East

1. Boston
2. Toronto
3. Washington
4. Chicago
5. Orlando
6. Detroit
7. New Jersey
8. Miami
9. Cleveland
10. Milwaukee
    
11. Charlotte
12. Atlanta
13. Indiana
14. New York
15. Philadelphia

The West

1. Phoenix
2. San Antonio
3. Denver
4. Houston
5. Dallas
6. Memphis
7. Utah
8. Seattle
9. Golden State
10. Portland
11. New Orleans
12. L.A. Lakers
13. L.A. Clippers
14. Sacramento
    
15. Minnesota

Eastern Champ: Boston - Western Champ: Phoenix

NBA Champion: Phoenix

2007-2008 Award Tour

MVP: Carmelo Anthony
Most Improved: Andray Blatche
Rookie of the Year: Al Horford wins, but Durant and Juan Carlos Navarro will make it very close.

I'm curious what you think, put your picks in the comments if you'd like.