Ripper

You know...Jalen Rose kicks ass. I just felt like saying that. Everytime they interview the guy...pure kickass.

Technically, he's started for five years - he missed a good chunk of the 2003 season due to a pre-season injury. But, while we're looking at selective endpoints, how about this: the Atlanta Falcons have only made the playoffs once in the last four years and have completely missed the postseason over the last two years, when the NFC has been absolutely dreadful. In 2002, Vick was one of the most valuable players in the league, but he has taken a firm step down from that, especially as a passer. Football Outsiders has a stat called Defensive Points Above Replacement (DPAR) that is used to measure the effectiveness of a player, compared to other players at his position and adjusted for multiple factors, including the strength of defenses on the schedule. DPAR shows that, after putting up an great campaign in 2002, Vick has undergone a major regression as a passer: Vick's Passing DPAR 2002: 59.6 (10th in the NFL) 2003: -2.9 (33rd in the NFL - injury shortened season) 2004: -18.5 (37th in the NFL) 2005: 12.9 (26th in the NFL) 2006: -6.3 (37th in the NFL) His abilities as a rusher (which add about ~20-30 DPAR each year) have salvaged much of the value that he has lost as a passer, but the stats show that his performance is far away from his reputation. Vick really hasn't been a premier quarterback in the league for the last four years, which is a period of time where many fans have expected Vick to develop and improve as a player. Furthermore, Vick has had very little impact on the success that the Falcons have had in the playoffs - the two postseason wins that they've had under his tenure involved one of the worst playoff teams in recent memory (the 2004 St. Louis Rams) and a "career-defining win" over the Packers in Lambeau, where Vick had 181 total yards from scrimmage and Brett Favre failed to complete half of his attempts (20/42, 247 yards, 2 INTs). His last playoff game was a 27-10 squash from the Eagles, where he had 26 yards rushing and went 11/24 in pass attempts (1 INT). If you're willing to look beyond over half a dozen different off-the-field incidents, for whatever reason, that's fine, but I would at least consider the actual results of Vick's performance before saying that he's carried the Falcons to anything. LOL. Cute. You want to count the year he played 4 games and went 3-1, fine. The falcons have won 2 times in the last 5 years when Vick misses a game. Or it might be 3. Oddly when he doesn't play the team doesn't win. Like...ever. That is a unarguable point. And after having that "one of the most valuable players in the league" season...I wonder what happend. It couldn't have had ANYTHING to do with a coach change and a offensive coordinator who thought "Recivers don't need to run more than 3-4 routes to be effective. ANd "I don't write audibles into my plays because if ran the way they are supposed to be ran you won't need one" and a offensive line coach that fined his guys for being over 300lbs and couldn't get a single push on the line in goaline and short yardage situations AND couldn't protect the QB for shit. No. It couldn't be that. He went from very good QB with mediocre talent to mediocre QB with better talent. Did Vick digress or was it coaching. I say coaching. He has a real offensive line this year and a real offensive coordinator so we will see. But I do know this. The falcons sucked. HARD. The only reason they have any expectations about them is because of what Vick did his first full year and second full year under center. He played great under one coach and not so great under another. I could see peoples point if at no point did Vick play well. Then I would understand. But to anyone that watches a falcons game and watchs the offensive line get put on their asses or watched Tyson Clabo play great for the falcons at the guard, the falcons won, but then he weighed in over 300lbs and got benched and they started losing again, I think you would be hard pressed to blame Vick for most of their losses. Yes, he has had plenty of bad games, just like every other QB in the league. But the problems with this team was much much bigger at other positions and it started at the coaching. And I don't think the Vince Carter comparison is really a good one. I don't think you can question Vicks drive or desire which is the questions about Vince. I think that Tracy Mcgrady would be a better one. He tries damn hard and is a competitor, but he also bails out the other team with his flaws(vicks unwillingness to toss the ball away, or hold it with two hands, or McGrady's taking jumpers all the time) and hasn't won as much as he should.

David Stern was being a bitch. Talking over someone isn't making them your bitch. My problem, once again, with all of this is that the SAME league to into consideration that James jones and Fransico Elson only jawed at each other for a few seconds and didn't get physical in deciding that Tim Duncan running on the court in anticipation of a altercation and bruce bowen running out behind him was okay....IN THE SAME GAME. Players are allowed to walk out to the coaches box, so basically, that ONE foot of Boris diaw that came across the inline and those 2 STEPS that Amare took across the inline is why they are suspended while Duncan who jogged out past the three point line, once again, in the SAME GAME, is getting nothing. If it is "I have a rule and they broke it and I have no choice" how can you choose to look at all these different circumstances with one team and none with the other? And having swarmy asshole attitude when talking to a reporter doesn't make his retarded logic any more or less unarguable. Just to say how stupid the rule is. If James Jones had kicked Franisco Elson in the face after that play, Duncan would have been suspended. So bascially once again, you play dirty, it plays dividends. Remember that NBA players. And for the people saying Golden State got screwed on the calls last night, the officiating was just fucking horrible everywhere. I mean yeah, that bs Flagrant on Jackson, tech on Barnes and that flop by Kirilinko were all horrible, but Baron Davis got at least 5-6 plays where he got absolutely horrible calls go his way. The refs just were sucking last night all around.

The old Ray Lewis argument. He was great on the field, so let's ignore his off-field stuff. Good times. Anyways, if you don't want to compare Vick to Brady and Favre, how about comparing him to Leonard Little. Little actually killed a woman while drunk driving, and the guy is still happily in the league. I'm not saying Little should be suspended for something that happened a few years ago, but it just shows that there seems to be a way higher standard for how Vick acts vs how some defensive end acts. For starters, Ray Lewis took a very substantial hit to his reputation for the murder charges that came up a few years ago, and there are more than enough people that still despise him today, despite the fact that he was not convicted of the charges. Secondly, Leonard Little would almost certainly be suspended for a very long time if his incident had occurred under Goodell's watch and I wouldn't say that it's been swept under the rug either - both the Tony LaRussa DUI and the Josh Hancock death were both subtexted with the point that "at least they weren't a Leonard Little incident". Most importantly, I'm not trying to excuse the behavior of these athletes but, rather, address the discussion that some fans feel like Michael Vick should be dealt away from the franchise, as a result of the constant off-the-field issues that have been alleged and reported. There were many lofty (and perhaps undeserved) expectations from fans and analysts alike for Michael Vick when he entered into the NFL. Ultimately, he has failed to meet these expectations and people are searching for an answer and, in their search, they're finding all of the various off-the-field incidents, in addition to other less admirable traits as well (allegations that he milked his injury in 2003, observations that he refused to study game film). This is not a "rolling stop" and to rationalize it as such is lunacy. This is a string of incidents, one after another after another over the last four years, all coming from a guy that's supposed to be one of the premier players in the league, a guy that has not only failed to reach his expectations, but has demonstrated - through his actions - a real lack of interest in trying to improve his game. I think Atlanta fans, bandwagoners or not, have a legitimate right to be pissed off. I thought you were refering to this: My fault. It isn't lunacy. Before dog fighting, his off filed incidents were minor at best. Flip off some loud obnoxious fans. Not a big deal. Was subject of a publicity seeking Civil Suit. Was accused of something with the water bottle that was proven to be false in every possible way. None of that is "drop him from the franchise" worthy, and you know it. If it was ANY other player you know you wouldn't say "yeah, time to cut losses. He got accused of something not true.." And anyone expecting anything else out of Vick is, well...stupid. 2 playoff appearances with wins in 4 years as a starter. Not exactly the makings of a bust.

You aren't going to find a time Charles came off the bench in a fight. He always came off and was a peacemaker. He was a hot head in the heat of battle but off the bench, he never got into a battle, so he isn't full of shit at all. Plus, Barkley hardly ever got a second tech, because he could control himself. I understand THIS IS THE RULE. But it is being selectively enforced when the same thing happened in the SAME GAME. I ask for consistancy. If it is such a automatic rule, then were is the automatic punishment for everyone? I can't take his word for anything regarding controlled behavior, sorry. I've seen him get into way too much trouble on the court. As for the spitting incident, yeah he was trying to spit at her father. But, this isn't the NFL where you can likely get away with spitting on someone. I mean shit, a fan bothered you THAT BAD? I am interested in knowing what incidents are you talking about? Like I said, he never came off the bench throwing fist, and yeah, he spit at a fan that had been calling him a monkey and nigger all night. Not exactly "Wild and CRAZY Charles all over the court". He didn't control his tounge off the court, but on the court, Charles was very much in control of himself. I remember the Suns/Knicks brawl where charles was one of the 3 players from either team not to get suspended. And I am convinced that Greg Anthony would have been beaten to death that night if not for charles and Patrick Ewing. He had quite a few leaving the bench and breaking up fights incidents in his career so yeah, I think he is quite qualified to talk about how stupid of a rule the "don't leave the bench EVAR" rule is.

Vick has started 4 years, and led them to the playoffs for two of them with winning records, once to the NFC championship game and once to the second round. The problem is that Atlanta is full of bandwagoners who have no idea that this team has absolutely sucked save one year in 98 for their entire existance. The guy literally carried the offense the last three years, because Greg Knapp...in a word...sucked. They were great for one year under Mora and like every team that is great one year, you have to make adjustments the next year because the rest of the league is going to. Knapp said "Fuck that, it worked last year. No reason it shouldn't work now"....for two years. With vick, this is a major issue. But removing this, his off field issues is like saying they should trade a guy because he did a rolling stop and was caught doing 15 over the speed limit in the last couple of years. Minor stuff that he was even exonorated of. But once again, if he was behind dog fighting, they should drop the fucking bomb on him.

But casting a insanely biased vote should stop you from ever being able to vote again. Like that PJ Brown vote that year.

The guy just gets overscrutinized to the point its ridiculous. When rape, gun charges and assault and other things get less news time than "Vick misses flight" then it is just ridiculous. I don't disagree that athletes, by and large, have too much scrutiny upon their various indiscretions, but the situation that surrounds Vick seems to indicate a possibility that there's a real fire beyond all of this "smoke" (i.e. the multiple incidents that Porter mentioned earlier). And when you isolate the most harmless of his offenses (flipping the fans off) and directly compare that to potential responses from fans for two white quarterbacks that have Super Bowl rings and no history of potential involvement in illegal activities, your argument for Vick comes off as being somewhat dishonest, in my opinion. Do you really think Vick's on-the-field performance has warranted any kind of leeway from fans for the multiple off-the-field incidents that have came up over his career? Then why bring it up? First, I didn't isolate the flipping off fans. I isolated the STD case(which is pretty close to the Kemping that a certain New England QB has been doing...not controling your dick). And if you want to have a problem with me using two superbowl winning QBs then how about Jake Plummer. Jake was flipping off fans, running his car in to other peoples cars because of road rage and was getting a pretty much free pass. Hell, Joey Porter gets alot less flack than Vick. And last time I checked Farve was using those pain killers in quite a illegal manner and admitted it. Once the reponse to that was "Oh well...it IS Brett Farve" Vick got exonorated in every possible way with the water bottle thing but people are still using that against him. Do I think his on field performance has warrented leeway? On incidents that either have beein obsensely minor yet overblown or completely proven false. Yeah. But if he is guilty of the dog fighting, fuck him, he deserves what he gets. That simple. I am saying that if you scruitinized any player to the degree that Vick has been over the last few years (after Espn fell out of love with him and stopped the constant cock sucking) I think you would find a hell of a lot more than a waterbottle and a civil suit. Yet Vick needs to be moved?

Weren't there also pictures of him smoking weed on someone's Myspace account? I'll give him a pass on the STD case just for the lifetime of Ron Mexico jokes that resulted from it. You mean that picture of him with a Black and Mild? After the waterbottle incident he was tested by the NFL and was clean, and the contents of the water bottle were not illegal. What else do you want? The STD case was just "I want money so lets get bad press on him". I don't see how this should be any worse press than being addicted to pain killers and going to rehad or going all Shawn Kemp on mufuckas And fuck those fans.

How has vick been "shitting the bed"? Vick has never been arrested and his bad press has been laughable up until now. His friend took a watch....OMG HE IS SUCH A BAD ROLE MODEL FOR everyone trade him. He flipped off some people. So the fuck what? I have a feeling that if Brady or Farve flipped off someone no one would be saying they should be cut loose and aren't the face of the franchise. What else? Waterbottle? The same one they tested the contents and it was a illegal substance? Bottomline, he has never been arrested or charged with anything because he hasn't done anything. If he did have something to do with the dog fighting, that will be the first, and he should be suspended at least 5-6 games in my eyes. The guy just gets overscrutinized to the point its ridiculous. When rape, gun charges and assault and other things get less news time than "Vick misses flight" then it is just ridiculous. And in the Shaub case, it was going to trial and the guy that was claiming the assualt no longer cooperated with the trial about a month before. Bet that had nothing to do with a settlement between the two.

Because his assault case is an upgrade?

Thats usually what happens when you are found to be guilty of a felony...yeah.

I'll go see it. Even though we all pretty much know how its going to end.

Agreed. If for nothing else, knowing you are the most overly scrutinized guy in the NFL and say "Maybe I should do some illegal shit." I will wait until everything comes out to make sure, because I tend to care about what the law says instead of some lady that in investigating for animal control.

Get a Turion anyway. really, how much performance issues are you going to have using word or excel. But really, fuck them both and get a Core 2 Duo. the performance difference is so much better while the price won't be that much different.

What took Scott Skiles 4 games to move Hinrich over to Billups? REALLY? I said it after game one, it was a waste of a defender to put your best perimeter defender on a guy who's offesnive game is running off screens. Ben Gordon and THABO~! can do that. This will leave your point guard more rested on the offensive end and disrupt the guy that makes things go on the defensive end. Seems like the obvious option there.

And he moved. What kinda pussy dodges the spit meant for him and lets his daughter take it.

What two assholes voted for Amare Stoudimire And what three assholes voted for Shaq? Really, they should revoke some peoples right to vote for any awards.

You aren't going to find a time Charles came off the bench in a fight. He always came off and was a peacemaker. He was a hot head in the heat of battle but off the bench, he never got into a battle, so he isn't full of shit at all. Plus, Barkley hardly ever got a second tech, because he could control himself. I understand THIS IS THE RULE. But it is being selectively enforced when the same thing happened in the SAME GAME. I ask for consistancy. If it is such a automatic rule, then were is the automatic punishment for everyone?

How are they being rewarded? Horry got his suspension. Stoudemire and Diaw broke the rules and they have to sit out for it. Kind of hard to feel sorry for them. Should the league just overlook obvious violations because Horry was a dick? They saw fit to overlook the exact same violations in the 2nd quarter of the same game. You have one play where it was accidental or at least arguably accidental, and on the other side you have a unquestionably dirty play. The Spurs are getting a pass for leaving the bench during the first play and the suns are getting penalized for reacting to the second play. If you want to count steps, duncan and bowen left further from the bench than Diaw(who took 3-4 steps the was turned around) and stoudimire(who took 5-6 steps and then was turned around). So yes, they are rewarding the spurs for a dirty play. And to just pile on, Baron Davis gets a flagrant for a elbow to the head, Bruce Bowen gets a flagrant for kneeing a guy in the crotch and nothing for kicking a guy in the achilles, but these two get suspended for walking. Seriously. You don't see ANYTHING wrong with that?

Jalen Rose? marcus Banks? Who knows. I hope someone steps up really big and the Suns win this game, because there are so many things wrong with a team being rewarded for a dirty play, its ridiculous. I would like to add that when I initially saw the thing, I thought that was Diaw breaking up the fight, but that was actually Barbosa.

So walking out past the freethrow line after a play in which Elson is jawing with James Jones....fine. Taking two steps off the bench....suspension. Everyone kept saying that the commisioner can't have it both ways. Either suspend Diaw and Stoudimire AND Duncan and Bowen or no one at all. Well the commissioner said fuck you all, I can have it both ways. Bullshit. Rules are rules...unless you are Tim Duncan and a ref threw you out over some bullshit a couple of weeks ago...then you get a pass.

I don't know. Most people i hear love Halo 2 multiplayer. Everytime a new game with a good multiplayer comes out, you have to hear "how does it compare to Halo 2?". And while I don't care for the games, the geometry in the beta is greater than the others, so all that is missing is simple stuff like textures and lighting effects. The game will look great. I mean, I won't be buying it either way, but I think people are making too much about how the beta looks. I think this was a calculated move to. people see how the beta looks then they are going to drop a beautiful game.

And you are a Kings fan? Is some of this left over from that Sacramento team never winning anything? Am I being whooshed here? Surely you're not comparing the Princeton offense that the Kings played during their run, where the ball was in constant motion in the halfcourt, where 4-5 guys averaged at least four assists (Webber, Divac, Christie, Miller, Bibby) to the Suns, are you? The Kings were not a running team; hell, aside from Webber, they didn't really have any athletes... they made their money in the halfcourt game. The Suns don't play anything like the Kings did when they were actually contenders, and they never have: throughout the brief (entirely too brief, in my opinion) period that the Kings were relevant in the NBA, which was basically just 2001-2003, the Kings only had two guys averaging more than three 3-pt attempts a game (Stojakovic and Jackson in 01-02, Stojakovic and Christie in 02-03). The Suns have five. Last year, they had six. So I don't know why you would mention the Kings like, if I liked one style, I should like the other, as if they played anything alike. Hell, the Wizards play more like the Kings did than the Suns do. :: doesn't like the Wizards, either :: Saying that ball was in constant motion is a simply not true. The players were, but the ball stayed mostly between the point and the PF (namely Webber and whoever the point was, be it Christie, Bibby or Williams) and they ran stacked screen and rolls just like the suns do(screen and roll, if that doesn't work another one is ran right after it) with peja coming off screens all over the place. They had just as much Webber facing up the defender as Stoudimire facing up the defender, only Amare is more agressive than Chris. Their offense was just a beautiful as the Suns is now. You can keep trying to simplify the suns offense as "Standing around the three point line" but every stat says otherwise. Most of their points come in the paint off of cutting, backdoors and diving to the rim. The Suns are just as potent in the half court as those Kings teams were. (you know, the ones built around a bunch of guys that could shoot a jumper and pass the ball). The Suns have 3 guys averaging over 4 assist(Nash, Diaw, Barbosa), just like the Kings in the 01-02 season(not 4-5 guys). Yeah, the suns took more threes, but really, they shoot better than the kings at the 3. What do you expect? You don't have to run up and down the court to be a uptempo team and those kings teams were definately a uptempo team. Only they weren't as good defensively as the Suns and couldn't shoot as well. And low scoring games is very seldom evidence of great defense. Maybe some pistons games, but look at the amount of shots the "great" defensive team is taking and you see why the game is so low scoring. If one team constantly takes 20 seconds off the shot clock, it is giong to be a low scoring game. That simple. And that can be boring to some (I honestly don't care either way).

The finale will make or break this season. When looked at as a whole, it really wasn't bad at all. pretty good actually. Just too many throw away storylines that no one cared about. Like last night. I wasn't slightly moved by the fact that Josh was taken. Nadia and Morris getting all gangsta with Jack was the highlight for me. Overall, nothing really happend last night.