Quickies

- Aaron Brooks was named the T-Mobile Rookie of the Month in the NBA. Are you serious? Man, he must be making a huge impact on the Houston Rockets! Oh, what? The season hasn't started yet? Oh, what? The regular season doesn't start until November? Thanks T-Mobile. Thanks NBA. Can't wait to find out who the next Rookie of the Month is.

- Also in the NBA, a couple of tidbits that describe where my beloved Boston Celtics are:

Allred makes noise: Celt’s 75 percent deaf

Is Danny Ainge sure that Allred didn't contract deafness from him?

- Speaking of deafness, Kevin McHale likes the Ray Allen deal.

If the guy who's basically suffocated Kevin Garnett with one cap-crippling, draft-pick-draining trade after another likes your trade, you're toast.

- The benevolent use of the N-word by a university benefactor. "We really need a more diverse board folks. We really need more [N-words] on the board." Oops. "What else can I do? Kill myself?" Ralph Papitto said in response to the controversy.

Good question. He is already 80.

- Michael Moore v. Sanjay Gupta: much ado about nothing.

- The death of accountability spread to my San Francisco Giants. Three losing seasons. Perfect time to throw the future all-time homerun champ for all the old players Brian Sabean has signed. Perfect time to sign Sabean to an extension.

Did I mention that in this age of sabermetrics, OPS and 30 year-old statistician GMs, Sabean reportedly doesn't use email?

- And finally, from Flight of the Conchords, "If you're into it."

Highly Recommended for Unintentional Comedy: Making the Band 4

If you haven't seen Making the Band 4 yet, Diddy's new MTV show about 20 Boyz II Men hopefuls makes MTB 3's girls Danity Kane seem bland. Where else can you see Michael Bivens (separated at birth with Baron Davis?) play good cop to Diddy's bad cop? And how did that happen? Wasn't BBD plowing groupies before Diddy could shave?

Where else can you watch adult men whip off their sideways baseball caps and stand toe to toe in a "sing off," only to have the winning guy lifted up by his housemates joining him in a Boyz II Men song?

Dare I say: ghey?

Spoiler Alert - Hollywood Kills The Black Transformers First

There's been plenty written about the new Transformers live action movie by indie auteurs Michael Bay and Steven Spielberg. I was personally disappointed on the whole. But just so you know, Hollywood even kills the black Transformers first. Bumblebee loses a leg and gets the heroic war veteran treatment. Meanwhile, Jazz gets ripped in half and dies by the hand of Megatron. Jazz is voiced by Darius McCrary (pictured above). You may recognize him from Family Matters.

In Michael Bay's world, you're either Bernie Mac or Anthony Anderson, or you're Jazz.

Thou Doth Protest Too Much Man Love

There's this cool new trend in baseball these days where a player loses it in the dugout and starts fighting his teammates and then confesses his undying love to him. Who says there's no gay in baseball? HOT!


Astros' Wheeler apologizes for blowup during Houston loss

FROM ESPN: Sampson, who pitched seven strong innings, tried to console Wheeler when he came back to the dugout. Wheeler turned and shoved Sampson with both hands, then yelled at Sampson to go to the other end of the dugout...Wheeler was contrite after the game and told Sampson he wanted to talk to him after the media finished asking Sampson questions.

"There's nothing going on," Wheeler said. "I love Chris."


Zambrano says he and Barrett are past dugout slugout

FROM ESPN: Pitcher Carlos Zambrano said he and batterymate Michael Barrett shared some tears when the two Chicago Cubs teammates reconciled after their dugout fight last week.

"He came to me the next day, and he apologized and I apologized to him and we cried," a teary-eyed Zambrano said after he beat the Milwaukee Brewers on Wednesday. "I still love him."

"It was over the moment it happened for me. There were no hard feelings," Barrett told reporters. "I totally understand how things like that can happen. And like I said, I love him enough to move forward."

The MTV Movie Awards

No comments that haven't been made already, other than: "They wanna make me listen to Amy Winehouse, I say no, no, no."

The Movie Industry Really Misses Cynthia Rothrock

Linked to yesterday on Bill Simmons' ESPN blog. Words cannot do it justice.
From "Undefeatable" starring Cynthia Rothrock

King James' Coronation or The Worst Prince in NBA History

After reading all the praise for LeBron James' Game 5 performance, all the coronations of King James, LeBron makes the LeLeap storylines, I rewatched Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Finals on NBA TV last night. And I can't decide whether LeBron James' 48 point performance is one of the best in NBA History or worst...for Tayshaun Prince.

Here's a case for the latter:

- James has already scored 40 plus points in a playoff game 5 times. Were all those coronations too?

- Detroit guarded him with Rip Hamilton and Chauncey Billups and the real topic of this entry: Tayshaun Prince. Prince's numbers: 48 minutes, 10 points on 4-13 shooting, 4 turnovers.

- 33 seconds left in the 4th quarter, Pistons by 1 and LeBron drives past Jason Maxiell and dunks...over Tayshaun Prince. James doesn't really dunk over Prince. He dunks PAST him. Tayshaun never leaves the floor, just gets out of the way. Then he throws his hands up and looks for a teammate to blame. I repeat, 33 seconds left in the 4th quarter with the lead, Prince is apparently more afraid of being YouTubed by LeBron than making a sub-70 percent free throw shooter earn his two from the line.

- After a Billups three, it's 91-89 and James blows by Tayshaun Prince untouched and dunks. Prince again looks for a teammate to blame instead of wrapping LeBron up and making him earn his two at the line. I think its arguable that if Flip Saunders had balls enough to sub Nazr Mohammed or former Cav Ronald Murray for the ineffective Prince, Craig Sager might be interviewing Rip Hamilton instead of 60 year old Eric Snow before Game 6.

- Mike Brown's incompetence hit a new level in the 1st OT when he calls the Cavs last timeout with 30 seconds left. Sure enough, the Pistons tie the game on Billups free throws and instead of being able to advance the ball to half-court with 3 seconds left, the timeout-less Cavs have to settle for a full-court heave.

- More Tayshaun Prince highlights: 3:35 to go in the 1st OT and Ilgauskas hits James with a high-post pass for another easy dunk. Who does he fake out? Tayshaun Prince.

- 107-107 in 2OT. James drives the lane, splits Jason Maxiell and Rip Hamilton and lays it in. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention one last guy James beats to the rim. Tayshaun Prince. He half-heartedly steps into the lane and looks like he's turning his face away from LeBron like he can't stand his body odor as LeBron lays it in.

Add Tayshaun's uselessness on the offensive end in the 4th quarter and 2 overtimes (3 turnovers, 0-4 from the field and his inability to post up and score over 5 foot 11 Eric Snow) and I'm not so sure this wasn't the worst playoff performance in NBA history. And yet all the stories the next day were about how LeBron was a "Raging Inferno" and made "LeLeap" even though we've all seen him explode like this before. The real story was the gutless performance from Prince, stoking LeBron's fires.

Kiss the ring, Tayshaun. He should give his 2004 championship ring back after Game 5. I've never seen a former champion, a key player to the Pistons 5 straight Eastern Conference Final appearances, so obviously leave his testicles in the locker room before a critical playoff game like Prince did in Game 5.

A 21st Century Way to Grieve

Your kid dies in a car accident slamming into a tow truck. A day later, you find out he was drunk driving, his blood alcohol level twice the legal limit. Your kid made a tragic mistake that cost him his life, right?

Wrong.

Hancock's father files suit against restaurant and tow truck company

Yet another example of our the-people-you-know-are-never-wrong-so-blame-everyone-and-anyone-else society.