This clip, courtesy of the geniuses at Deadspin, is without a doubt one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen. The only thing better than a nice father son game of beer pong at the ol’ frat house with the boys? Dad going for the backboard breaking jam.
I’m going to watch this all afternoon.
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It didn’t quite appear in the day’s headlines here in the U.S., but if you missed yesterday’s Champion’s League Final between Manchester United and Chelsea, you missed a great one. In the first ever final between English Premier League teams, the two clubs went 120 minutes without having a winner. After a tense round of penalty kicks, United lifted the trophy in Moscow, giving them a double (Premier League and Champion’s League title) in 2008.
It’s a shame that a match this great had to be decided by a PK shootout, but make no mistake. This wasn’t a bland encounter between two defensive teams. In fact, with swift attacking for much of the evening, it was a surprise that the final was just 1-1. For all the joy United fans must be feeling today, the English in them are likely feeling sorry for John Terry, captain for both Chelsea and England’s international side.
For the ten days leading up to the epic match in Moscow, Terry’s presence in the starting lineup was in question. He suffered a partially dislocated elbow in a Premier League match against Bolton, but vowed to be fit for Moscow.
While Terry’s leadership was key in slowing down the vaunted United attack, he wasn’t at his best. A poor clearance in the first half should have led to a goal for Michael Carrick. And then, in the shootout, Terry lost his footing on the pitch-turned-swamp, blasting his penalty wide of the goal. Minutes later, after Nicolas Anelka’s penalty was blocked, United were champions.
I’ve always thought Terry was a prick, but you couldn’t help but feel for the guy. His allegiances to both Chelsea and England are among the strongest in world soccer and here he was, balling his eyes out in front of hundreds of millions of viewers worldwide. Unfortunately for Terry, redemption will have to wait until September. England will not be taking part in EURO 2008, which kicks off in a couple of weeks.
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At this point, I think it’s safe to say that the Cincinnati Bengals are a bigger mess than any other team in the NFL, including the Raiders and Dolphins. The Bengals severed ties with troubled linebacker Odell Thurman after Thurman didn’t show up at several voluntary workouts because he was in Georgia tending to family issues, namely the death of his grandmother. Thurman becomes the second Bengal released this offseason behind wide receiver Chris Henry while other stand out receiver Chad Johnson has threatened to not play for the Bengals in 2008
Thurman, who hasn’t played since 2005 because of several suspensions for smoking the hippy lettuce, was the best linebacker that the Bengals had. Yet it wasn’t his troubled past that got his release from the Bengals but rather it was his choice to deal with family issues instead of attending voluntary workouts. The Bengals maintain that they wanted Thurman to attend because of their new defensive scheme, but I don’t buy it.
It’s voluntary. That’s why Jason Taylor has missed camp with the Dolphins to dance around on ABC and that’s why Chad Johnson hasn’t attended. Thurman had 106 tackles his rookie season; I don’t think it’s a matter of his ability to adapt to a system. Furthermore, the Bengals have limited themselves to a band of undersized and slow linebackers in Dhani Jones, Ahmad Brooks, and Rashad Jeanty. Drafting Keith Rivers in the first round was a step in the right direction but cutting Thurman was a step back in the wrong direction.
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I’ve seen LeBron James do some remarkable things in his five year NBA career. Last season, he led an awful Cavaliers team to the NBA Finals and this season, LBJ won his first scoring title and brought the Cavs within a game of the Eastern Conference Finals. If you missed James’ miraculous 45 point effort yesterday, you missed what we’ve known all along. LeBron James has historic ability and arguably the most pathetic supporting cast in the NBA. To aid the Cavs in building a championship team around #23, I offer a few offseason pointers for general manager Danny Ferry.
Look Into Replacing Mike Brown: Ideally, the Cavs could have crashed out in the 1st round, allowing them to enter into discussions with Mike D’Antoni. Brown’s IQ is right up there with the backboard at Quicken Loans Arena. After James’ dominating 1st half, Brown began the first half by calling several consecutive plays for gumpy center Zydrunas Ilgauskas. Imagine James in an up-tempo system with a true point guard. He’s one of the strongest finishers we’ve ever seen, but he’s probably playing at about 75% of his true ability because of Brown’s awful system.
Take out the trash: This is made difficult because of the contracts some of these guys have. Hacks like Ben Wallace (signed through 2010), Zydrunas Ilgauskas (2010) Wally Szcerbiak (2009) have large, inflexible contracts that are nearly impossible to move. A friend of mine made an incredible point during yesterday’s game. The Cavs have over $20 million tied up in defensive “specialists” Wallace and Anderson Varejao…but simply cannot have them on the court at the same time.
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