Cheech Tremendous

The late 80s Suns were a lot of fun. White guys galore... Chambers, Majerle, Hornacek, Kerr and Rambis. A coach named Cotton. What's not to love there?

A number of things have happened lately that make me feel old. This is one of them.

I'm not sure if it's flattering or pathetic that she has to sneak onto a board she was banned from months ago to point out that she doesn't think I'm a good poster.

Aww, Leena doesn't like me. How sad.

??? The NFC East has been the most consistently good top to bottom division in the NFL the past few years. When were they a joke?

Okay, that's sorta funny.

Just realized that the Suns will have about $50 million coming off the books at the end of 2010. They will have to re-sign Amare, but I think Wade and Lebron will both be available as well.

I never got the impression that Steve Kerr bought into what the Suns were doing. I don't have any quotes or anything to back that up, but the few times I heard him speak about the team and the future, it seemed like he thought they needed to slow things down and get tougher in the halfcourt. I don't think that a GM would make this trade if they even halfway believed in the Suns style of play.

Well that, and when he got married and had kids. I mean, he started as the "Boston Sports Guy." Perhaps that was a cute gimmick when Boston fans were the most miserable, lovable losers in sports. But that whole down in the dumps routine ceases to work when you are multi-millionaire writing for ESPN and cheering for a city that has won 5 championships this decade.

Cheech, I'm sorry but you're wrong on this one. The WWE Hall of Fame doesn't mean shit. Johnny Rodz and William "The Refrigerator" Perry are in there. I don't see why people get worked up one way or another over it. I guess that #440 will be people getting worked up over WWE Hall of Fame. Yeah, it doesn't mean shit. But if you're going to take the time to debate who should and shouldn't be going in, shouldn't you hold yourself to a higher standard? I am not exactly sure why the WWE folder guys, who I guess are the die-hard fanatics of the product, want their Hall of Fame to become a bigger joke than it already is.

I like Klosterman and Simmons as well, but I get why they aren't liked. With Simmons, I think a lot of people expect a professional writer or journalist with insights into sports. He is not that guy. He's just a blogger from Boston that got a good gig because he had funny pop culture references and came off like an everyday fan. If that's not what you expect going in, there is no chance you'll like him. Why even try?

I am reticent about making predictions before pitchers and catchers even report, but if I was to put together a list it would look almost exactly like Al's. The only minor changes I might have is swapping the Cards and Astros in the Nl Central and the Twins and Sox in the AL Central. I sort of see the Rockies finishing fourth in the west, but the gap is so narrow I could also see them winning. The teams I am most bullish on are the Cincinnati Reds, Tampa Bay Rays, Seattle Mariners and Washington Nationals. Each of those teams could flame out royally, but they have the right mix of talent at the major and minor levels that they could pull off big seasons (relative to their expected performance by the majority of people).

Even if Shaq sucks it up this year, I don't think that he'll be that hard to trade later on. Some team would love the opportunity to take on a $20 million expiring contract (Shaq's deal is done in '10). So theoretically they could take a shot this year and if it fails, they have the opportunity to change the dynamic again next season. I know that's not a good reason to make a trade, but it does give them a chance to take a mulligan.

Stolen liberally from ESPN Insider's Chris Broussard, here are the apparent reasons the Suns wanted Shaq: I don't like this deal and well, no one does really, but I can sort of see why they did it. This team, as presently constructed, probably can't win the title. Marion is gone after the season and Nash has maybe one or two years left to win a title in Phoenix. They are taking a gamble on an old, washed up Shaq, but if he can regain some of his old form he might just be the missing ingredient in the post that this team needs. We'll see.

#439. Oooh the Hall of Fame is coming up soon. I know who should get in. Koko B Ware, Bam Bam Bigelow, Earthquake, the Bushwhackers and Doink! Fucking idiots.

Most fans are insufferable when their team is winning.

I'm no GM, but I don't see this working. At all.

Who knows what Phoenix is thinking. With Marion set to be a free agent this summer, maybe they are just trying to get something in return. Shedding Marcus Banks in the deal is an added bonus. I think we all know that O'Neal is on his last legs, but perhaps Kerr thinks they can get enough out of him to make a run at a title this year.

The Red Sox re-signed Bobby Kielty today. Kielty had previously informed the Sox that he would not sign with the team if he was the 5th outfielder. Either he had a change of heart, or this is a prelude to a Crisp (or Ellsbury) trade.

The Heat infromed Shaq's agent that they are in serious discussions to trade him. Phoenix, as you mentioned above, is the front runner, but Dallas has reportedly made an offer as well. Miami Herald makes it sound like he's as good as gone.

I know that we alll realize that the WWE's Hall is a joke and everyone is in on that joke, but are you guys being serious here? Bad News Brown? Bam Bam Bigelow? Earthquake? It's a Hall of Fame, not a Hall of 80s Midcarders.

I saw that the Raw thread only went like 3 pages this week. And yet, people will still try to argue that this is a wrestling message board.

Why? I find it anti-climactic to build up a monster heel champion for six months, only to job him several minutes into an hour long main event.

I've always respected Heyman's mind for the business and I am sure he would have made it work, but in general I side with Vince on this one. Eliminating the dominant world champion 5 minutes into the match is a bad idea. In hindsight, we all December... sucked and that Heyman's chamber idea might have worked better, but that doesn't mean it was a good idea when he pitched it.

I know that I am opening myself up to a shitstorm here, but why exactly are we supposed to hate the Patriots? Is it because Bill Belichick is a dick and he tried to cheat? Are we just tired in general of mouth-breating Boston fans and their air of importance? Honestly, I don't really see that as a reason to loathe the team with such contempt. I was sort of indifferent to yesterday's outcome, but I've always found the Pats to be an admirable franchise. They've built up a winning organization with a good team concept that evolved through dedicated coaching, strong drafting/free agent decisions and good character guys. I don't really have any sort of emotional connection with that, but their dominance in the salary cap era has been more astonishing than vile. I can think of about 20+ organizations that I hate more than New England.