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Am I the only one who thinks that the Philadelphia Eagles' Desean Jackson has an Iverson-like style when he moves? The spindly, strong body. Narrow hips. The slightly slue-footed stance as they dodge defenders.
It's said that Allen Iverson was an excellent high school quarterback. I used to wonder what kind of pro he'd have been. Watching Jackson give me a good idea.
So that's it. Allen Iverson is likely retiring. All because he won't play second banana to any man. Never has, never will.
In Philly, his style convinced management to surround him with a cast of defense- and rebound-minded players. Assumedly, they didn't care about scoring--only getting the basketball somehow, so that Iverson could fire up thirty-plus shots. In Denver, he and Carmelo couldn't quite coexist, or whatever, so on to Detroit, where a promise of starting was reneged upon. Now it's Memphis, where his contract was just dumped. Again he's expected to come off the bench. Again he balked. This time, maybe for the last time. No team is admitting to even considering him.
Easy to criticize this attitude. After all, we are talking about Mr. "We Talkin 'Bout Practice". 
I can't fault Iverson too much. Mostly because I have loved watching him play.
Partly because--well, why would you be surprised that he may go out like this? The idea of a humble superstar is ridiculous, as you need mad confidence to succeed in any industry on this level. Iverson is one of a few whose ego is mostly unhidden.
That's why we like him. His appeal comes from that Everyman quality. He is the same size as the guy working next to you at the office or the plant. He even talks like a few of your co-workers. In fact, he's the colleague who, unlike most people, seems to flaunt his flaws. As if, despite himself, he wants the spotlight. Hey--I gotta be me. Too real?
Fans are beginning to label Iverson "the best little guard ever" to lace it up in the NBA.
I think a young Isiah Thomas would take issue with that.
Who would you take in a playground pick 'em? Zeke, or AI? I would go with Thomas. We have short memories. Either that, or we are too young to remember, with only YouTube and spoken word tales to show us.
Back in the day, Thomas was a few inches too short to be as nice as
Jordan. Believe it. Remember--he was a floor general from Day One, unlike MJ, who needed a few years to figure "TEAM" out. He sacrificed his body just as much as Iverson does. He demanded excellence from his teammates. Plus he had a better outside shot.
With Thomas on the floor, even Hall of Fame coach Chuck Daly could relax, knowing he had a co-coach out there. As much as I love and have defended Allen Iverson... can you give him the same compliment?
So are we still saying that the Philadelphia Eagles' Brian Westbrook is one of the game's best? I don't know if I agree with that, anymore. He had two amazing seasons in 2006 & '07. He blocks and even can play at QB. But we're talking about someo
ne who has never, in an eight-season career, played a full season. And after two concussions in five games, his very playing future is rumored doubtful.
He's got the talent to match anyone in the NFL. But to be considered one of the best, you've got to have durability. It's not his fault that his body breaks down more than average. Nor that he plays at the halfback position, one of the most physically-demanding in the sport.
When we list the best running backs playing today, everything should be taken into account. The statistics. The all-around contributions. The clutch play. And the durability. Sometimes "durability" relates to the size of an athlete's heart (i.e. Allen Iverson); other times to how well his body takes punishment.
Westy's career is not over Not at age 30, with "only" a few concussions so far. At worst, he will sit the 2009 campaign and return next season. Or he might make a tough-guy return for the playoffs--assuming Philly gets in. Aside from the 2006 season, when QB Donovan McNabb went down to injury, and Westbrook willed the team to two playoff wins, #36 seems to fade as winter goes on.
While we're at it, we've got to look at the Chargers' Ladainian Tomlinson, too. Is he still one of the best? Or is he falling off a table?
LT missed a game due to groin injury back in January, and his team lost to eventual Super Bowl champs Pittsburgh. A year before that, he wasn't 
effective (five yards on two carries) in a playoff loss to New England. You've got to assume that it had something to do with the contentious relationship that's developed between San Diego and Tomlinson. Even in 2007, there were whispers about his toughness. Premature? Perhaps.
He's the leading touchdown rusher in history. Westbrook is one of a handful of players to rush for 30 TDs and catch 25.
But all the stats in the world don't matter, next to piling up numbers when it counts. Both of these men, as much as we love watching them at their best, haven't quite stepped up on that count.
Anyway, there's only one "LT" in football.
So a few more names dropped off the 100-plus PED user list from around 2003. We already knew about Manny Ramirez... and David 'Big Papi' Ortiz showed up too. Predictably, people are once again quaking in their wingtips, and even saying that the Boston Red Sox need to give back their '04 & '07 rings.
Fans who follow the game closely, or claim they do, are less and less concerned about the whole issue. The ones most outraged about Ortiz and Ramirez are people who hate the Red Sox. They always thought that it was strange that the Yankees appeared to be getting picked on and witch-hunted.
Proof that fans only care when it's a team other than them.
Now it's flipped 180 degrees. And it's hard to believe that this isn't some kind of plan. Why these two names; why this team and none other? Does anyone really think this is an accident? And while we're asking questions: where are all the West Coast teams on this list? I suppose only northeastern baseball players use performance-enhancers.
One day, major professional sports are going to allow human growth hormones/PEDs. They're already coming into everyday society, like it or not. Doctors will figure a way to keep us healthier and living longer, and they will naturally trickle into sports.
Hearing this destroys the serious baseball fans, especially the ones who happen to be part of the media. The fans just want to be entertained, no matter what, they say. (As if this is a bad thing.) This was proven the day after Ortiz's name appeared in the sports section at the end of July, when Big Papi hit a homer. The crowd stood nearly unanimously and cheered.
The Purist treats the game of baseball as his blankie. He's going down fighting. He takes it personally when players use. Noted baseball fan George Will said of Barry Bonds in 2006, "Most people who care about baseball wish that Bonds had never played and hope he never does again." Here's hoping Will lives long enough to see Spider-Man's head on the bases, the outfield grass cut in a webbing lattice, and the Green Goblin throwing out the first pitch.
As late as December '07, baseball egghead Tim Kurkjian said of NY Yankee Andy Pettite: "A guy who used HGH a couple of times [is different from] using anabolic steroids. HGH helps in recovery. It doesn't make you bigger and stronger technically so I would be really surprised if a suspension followed this..."
The egghead may be overcooked. Just read that statement, and feel the Need To Believe in the game floating within. (And remember that Pettite, like every other user to date, lied repeatedly, inexorably leaking the truth as he was smacked with evidence.) Will and Kurkjian sound like little boys who got that blankie snatched. Is HGH/PED using cheating, or isn't it? Does it depend on who the appointed grandmasters of baseball personally like? Who decides any of this? You do.
But while we're in this moment, smelling the dying roses of summer, I am looking ahead to modern players' Hall of Fame considerations. The obvious issue of legacy is waiting for them, and for us. Will we still have the scent of Pete Rose hanging around?
There's a direct line from Pete Rose's lifetime suspension for betting on baseball (while still a dugout manager), straight to PED users. 
Even casual fans know that the lifeblood of baseball is streaked with things that don't line up with its All-American, noble athlete, mom n' apple pie image.
Spitballs and illegally-cut baseballs. Upper pills back in the 1970s. Corked bats. Sign-stealing. The issue of wholesale segregation up until the mid-20th century.
I'm sure there's more. And it won't change, no matter how many tests players take. No matter how red-faced the old-timers get about modern hardball. Baseball is only noble on the outside--in the minds of nostalgics. It's like a weird, slightly-too-ripe fruit that'll crumble with a good whack of the bat. Hmm, kinda reads like I'm describing most people's idea of America. Or of humanity.
The major difference is that Pete Rose's mistakes came as a manager. The integrity was missing, but he didn't change stats or outcomes. PED users (and the other cheaters mentioned above) have done it as players.
The irony is, if not for Charlie Hustle's arrogance toward his questioners and accusers... if, to get in his head a moment, he'd just admitted guilt even if he thought it was wrong to do so... he'd be a HOFer already. We like to build people into emperors, and then we like to tear them to shreds. And we especially love it when they 'bare their souls.'
If that means anything anymore. Public apologies and visible victimhood are just more commodities. Another way to get people looking at you.
Why are we so enamored of point guard Ricky Rubio?
The golden-skinned Rubio qualifies as exotic, in the United States. It's the name, so pleasing to the ear. It's the court vision, the occasional Pistol Pete pass. He turns 19 at the start of the 09-10 season, and he's fun to watch.
We're left to wonder: why did Minnesota draft Rubio and PG Jonny Flynn?
There's reason to think he'll be All-Star caliber. Anyone who intellectually honest will admit that his Olympic play was stellar. He was 17, remember. My guess is he'll peak five or six seasons into his career. He is a hell of a passer--anticipatory the way John Stockton was. Obviously he's got to get stronger and improve his defense (like 95% of draftees every year).
Yet the reaction to Rubio's NBA debut is a huge man-crush. I don't remember ever getting excited about a NBA rookie. Because no matter how good they are, they all get humbled. Bron, Kobe, Jordan, Bird--name anyone you want. No one is that good.
It's the exotic-ness.
There is a segment of NBA fans that will support Rubio because he's (euphemism alert) "different."
Ricky Rubio is from Spain, which is the original Hispanic-producing region, depending who you ask. But it's hard to imagine Rubio getting quite the same love, if his parents had both been Mexican, or Cuban. We like to claim that it's all about talent. In sports, more than any other sphere right now, it is.
Reality is not always so simple. When what I hear clashes with what I see, I go with my eyes. Don't you?
The whole idea of Rubio confuses people. Even admitted racists are confused. A 'white power' site [is that the right label for such a site?] commenting on Spainards had the forum split between they're white and be careful of Spainards... Penelope Cruz has a mulatto-looking father...
But let's not judge the I like Ricky because he's 'different' types too harshly. For there is another segment, just as vocal, who already hate on Rubio for the exactly the same reason: racism. He's not black, and he's getting some early love... and these fans can't stand it. Knowing that if Rubio was black, according to the amorphous and random definitions in the U.S., they'd be kissing his ass.
Both of these groups should just let the kid play.
Before the deciding game of the NBA Finals, his Orlando Magic down three games to one, Dwight Howard pretty much spelled out his doom, right there in the tunnel. He was asked if he had faith in his team's ability to do the unprecedented.
"Impossible is Nothing," Howard said, quoting a sneaker ad. His tone didn't match adidas' words. There was no fire, no fury. I wanted to see D-How with his nostrils flaring, barely able to wait for the tip-off. I wanted him to be impatient with the whole idea of a pre-game interview, and telling us as much with body language.
We saw none of that. They're definitely done, I thought.
Howard's play reflected that chat. He was more Clark Kent than Superman. His tendency to bowl people over and call it a post move didn't work this time. That helped him into foul trouble.
After the loss, with the LA Lakers celebrating on the Magic home floor, Howard's words finally matched his body language.
"It hurts," he said, watching the ceremonies. "Sometimes you've got to lose to win."
Orlando may be a balanced team, but without Dwight Howard on the floor for stretches... forget it.
Yet there were flashes. Little glimpses of what could be.. footwork and shots we'd never seen him do. Makes me wonder what he could do, if his legs were as developed as his upper body.
At that point, forget "Superman". He'd be Baby Wilt.
The names are still falling from the sky like bird shit. Big names--only the big names. There will be a few more trickling out over the next year.
Predictable and kinda funny. Like Sammy Sosa preparing for another walk through a testimonial minefield. Sosa walked the legal line in 2005, almost as well as he lined sixty-plus homers in three straight seasons--something no other player has ever done. "To be clear, I've never taken illegal performance-enhancing drugs," Sosa told the gub-mint. It was technically true. And it was the gub-mint in front of him. They don't care about honesty anyway, not until reporters come around. The gub-mint is all about technical truth. Find a hidey-hole in that law; they are the best at this game, because they write the books.
The major league players' union got their humps kicked back in February 09, when the A-Rod story broke. Maybe the union is negligent in letting this leak. They don't protect their players. Looks like that was true. The union has failed again. People like HOF pitcher Goose Gossage are saying, "Screw it--just tell us all of the names at once."
This is more evidence, if needed, that baseball isn't football. When Patriots coach Bill Belichick ran up against Spygate, remember how quickly Commissioner Goodell moved to bury the tapes. TOO quick, some might say. But you have to admire the NFL's efficiency. It was third-and-long, and Goodell converted.
Speaking about Sosa, ESPN's Sportsnation asks, "Unlike the A-Rod situation, could this be classified as 'well, duh' news?" This question puzzles me. Since when was Alex Rodriguez's name being linked to PEDs a 'well, duh?'
Some sports talking heads and journalists (not the same thing) keep saying "we were all fooled" when talking about Mark McGwire, Sosa, Barry Bonds, and so on. But the 'we' they mean is Them.
Once Rafael Palmiero got dragged in the wake of this, you knew no player was off-limits from suspicion. You knew that it wasn't just the top 1% of players using performance-enhancers--it was the very good players, too. And the just-makin'-it players, and the Triple A players with all likelihood, and maybe even those big sausages that race between innings.
We don't know who did what. Keep in mind that the idea of pitchers benefitting from PEDs is still fairly recent. At first, we all assumed it was mostly the sluggers. Turns out they were just the most visible.
Nearly every big-timer of the last two decades has been either suspiciously evasive, or a proven augmenter. So by the start of the 2008 season, there were about five players on the so-called innocent list. A-Rod. Derek Jeter. Albert Pujols. Manny Ramirez.
That list is now halved. Pujols isn't on the radar, but then, neither was Rodriguez a few years ago. And baseball's golden boy, Jeter?
People like Peter Gammons say of Jeter, "that's still the one name that would surprise me." This seems to be the prevailing theme, online and in casual convos with fans. I've got to wonder why they still feel this way. Why would they be surprised? How could any name shake you by this point?
Only the youngest stars are squeaky-clean. So far. They have the advantage of fresh starts. Evan Longoria. David Wright. Prince Fielder. Joba Chamberlain. Jacoby Ellsbury. Baseball's old guard, like the smarmy Bob Costas, will hang their derbies on this idea, this hope--that the newest and best will prove clean.
Be sure not to fall for this. Any real baseball fan or player knows that the game has quietly allowed cheating, in whatever form, since its inception.
Was at my friend Q's house. He likes mixed martial arts. Watches it all the time, and plays the XBox 360 version of it. I only watch when I'm at his place. Puts me to sleep inside of fifteen minutes.
Kickboxing, judo, wrestling all mashed up? Sounds good in my mind. The reality is a letdown. There's a glut of fighters who can't perform up to TV standards. You don't watch TV to see someone try to do something. You want entertainment, especially when it comes to battlin'. Otherwise you might as well take a walk.
We saw the hype commercials for the upcoming pay-per-view, Brock Lesnar v. Frank Mir. Q got very excited. He can't wait. I'll likely hit Hooters to check it myself. A match like that, will hook me. Anything that's top shelf-quality, I'm interested. Otherwise, you can keep that stuff.
For a few years, since MMA surge in popularity has really been acknowledged by the mainstream, UFC prez Dana White's been a rooster show. Kicking up dust in the yard and trying to bury his nearest neighbor on the pop culture spectrum.
This was a bad day for boxing, he said of HBO's De La Hoya-Pacquiao production. What's more violent than boxing? he asked, when questioned whether MMA is more dangerous. Boxing is a game, compared to UFC, he said in response to Floyd Mayweather's criticisms.
White is one of those people who thinks if he says it enough, it'll come true. How many times will it take, Dana? My guess is a number with six digits. He has a big mouth. He might make that estimate.
Some of what he says is a reaction, obviously. I'm sure White gets lots of dumb questions. Floyd is an excellent boxer who doesn't talk as well as he thinks he does. Floyd came right out and called MMA fighters "boxing rejects."
Boxing isn't dead yet. Plus it's head to take Dana White seriously. If Grimace ran out and told me the Burger King was a child molester, I wouldn't listen. (bad example.) Because Grimace is the beneficiary when he says something like this. The term is 'conflict of interest.'
Dana White benefits, too, when he says a competitor is crap. Not to mention he was on "Dr Phil" in May 2009, so... the respect wanes for you, brother.
On that episode, titled "Dangerous Teen Trends", Dr Phil took to task a couple of young men. These men were about a step above street fighting, but thought they were seriously in training. Fighters Kenny Florian and Forrest Griffin cautioned them about their method and mortality--they said the right things and sounded sincere doing it.
Not Dana White. He decided to take one more shot at boxing. "In the almost 20 years of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, there's never been a serious injury or death," he said. "Boxing has five or six deaths a year. We take safety measures." Those sound like famous last words to me.
These are grown men, among the most-conditioned and strongest in our population. Schooled in various ways of hurting other men. And White doesn't think death is hanging over his sport's shoulder? Safety measures, by definition, don't keep bad things from happening. They merely kind of maybe prevent them.
I don't want to give the impression that I hate UFC. There's no outrage on my part over the brutality--the almost anything-goes atmosphere, or so it appears to the casual eye. I'm a boxing fan. I've watched that sport for about thirty years. "The sweet science": when I've watched boxing at its best, I know what that phrase really means.
White misses the point. MMA is real fighting, as he says, but is that the contest, in his mind? Boxers wear gloves. That's not real fighting, and even an idiot could see that from jump street. White is a former boxer (don't you wonder if he was any good?), and he ought to give boxing props on one point: from that sport, he's certainly learned the definition of filthy promoting.
MMA has a science to it, too. Q explained certain moves and counters and we watched old UFC matches. I felt a spark, a hint that I could become a fan if I really got into it. But I don't see the same beauty as I do in boxing. If UFC keeps people like White around to promote the sport, I likely never will. Sell it on its merits, not on the next person's flaws.
Until then, not interested.
JJ Redick is in the Finals. His Orlando Magic trail the series 3-1 after losing their second overtime game to the Lakers. The score was 99-91 this time. Derek Fisher saved LA's asses in Game 4 and everyone is "this thing is a wrap." Redick has scored in three of the four games (though his field goal % is down by his ankles). Hey, that's pretty good. That's three more than anyone reading these words... Redick has to feel the pressure. Not just because of the obvious--that his team is a few plays away from winning instead of losing. He's also repping Duke University.
People already think Blue Devils are cotton-soft when they go pro. Duke players never reach that next level. Or in common terms, they suck in the pros. Do they?
The school that Duke gets stacked against the most, when discussing the NCAA's best pro factories, is their long-time rival, UNC. The Tarheels have sent enough players to the NBA to make several excellent teams. The list starts with MJ and runs through Billy Cunningham, James Worthy, Bob McAdoo, Mitch Kupchak, Sam Perkins... well this is going to get boring.
But maybe things are shifting, if not completely changed. Who does Carolina have in the league today? Not just existing. Playing at All Star level.
Rasheed Wallace. Vince Carter. Jerry Stackhouse. Antwan Jamison. Except... the first three are old in NBA years. All Star-quality players, for sure, but not anymore. And as good as Jamison is, he's peaked, and no one but very knowledgable fans ever knew his best play is near-elite.
Duke had three of those in the 2008-09 season. Shane Battier. Luol Deng. Elton Brand. As these words are written, summer 09, I'd take any of them over any of the four Carolina players. Any of the Duke players is capable of making the All Star team without too many dissenters.
UNC has multiple Hall of Famers--men who moved to the pros and still excelled. Duke has zero. Its alumni are totally overmatched by Carolina's.
But in recent years, Duke has better pros. That's a first. It'll last at least four or five months, when Ty Lawson laces it up.
And before Dookies think about gloating, keep in mind that Redick can't get a shot off when Kobe's guarding him. It's apparent by body language that Redick is shook by that fact. He's a very recent NCAA player of the year, and what used to be a wide-open trey for him is now a big armbanded elbow in his face. That's how big the gap is between All American and All Star. Excuse me: All World.
Apropos of nothing, if Orlando wins the series--they won't, but if they pulled a hat trick--Hedo should be Finals MVP. Like Jamison, some fans don't realize how good Turkoglu is. His ballhandling, passing, and fifteen-foot fade are sick, and opponents respect all of that. Plus he's blocked Kobe's shit at least twice in big moments so far this series.
So he fools people (especially Lamar "Now N Later" Odom) with that foul-baiting fake jumper so often, he shouldn't just get the trophy for best player in that instance. He should get a Golden Globe, too.
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