Fökai

The worst part of the trade is dealing Livingston. Bill Simmons has me convinced that he's the next superstar on the team, but maybe Elgin Baylor and Dunleavy know otherwise.

I failed to mention one of the talking heads (one not associated with ESPN) calling it "the greatest offense of all time", which resulted in audible laughter off-camera from Tommy Lasorda and Tim Kurkjian. I was referring to the offense, since they were 90% of the focus of the show, and the talent that were peaking when they won their championship. Look at the amount of Yankees on that squad that retired or faded away soon after. While a very good team, I have a hard time believing they were juggernauts while an equal team (106-win Braves) would've posed a challenge for them at the end. To steal a stat out of Al's playbook, their Pythagorean records were only seperated by three wins, which is useless since the Braves were playing in the better league that year overall. Imagine if the Braves lucked out better in one-run games (23-21) than the Yankees had (21-10)? Imagine if the Braves played in the AL that year where the other division leaders failed to break 90 wins?

Anyone else watching that "Best of the World Series Champions" tournament they're currently airing on ESPN2? They've stuck 64 championship teams in brackets (AL side and NL side) and are using fan voting to determine the results. Not a bad waste of an hour, especially when you see how stacked many of these teams were. Case in point: the '98 Yankees, the #1 seed in their bracket, who look like a Little League team compared to others in the tournament.

Don't you know that according to ESPN Reggie Bush could run for 600 yards and 20 TDs in one game and be the only one on the field for his team at the time? Well, to be fair, he did it in high school...and he did that in college.

It's pathetic that a player, who I'm safely saying isn't a racist, had to use race-baiting to incite the reaction desired from Zidane.

I take it you don't follow soccer too closely, or know that Zidane has a history of being egged on by dirty players. With Italy across the field, this was bound to happen.

Ortiz realizes there's money in him fighting either guy, so I doubt he really cares if he got leapfrogged by Silva.. He'll be fine working other guys until they become available, because, win or lose, Ortiz is fighting Liddell and/or Silva for a nice payday.

I can't believe Meltzer was right about Silva/Liddell being announced tonight. Even he didn't think it was possible. Everyone and their mother thought the "big surprise" was the deal with HBO, and Wanderlei was there simply to watch the show.

That's what I read, but that sounds off the bullshit meter already. Who in the hell would New York and Philly give up? And really, would Detroit really want any of the potential guys available? (since Frye and Iguodala would likely be untouchable).

"Why should Manny be playing? Such a meaningless, meaningless game. Woody, why are people criticizing him?". "Skip, you know why you're saying that? Because you're a Red Sox fan". He doesn't have to play. The point is, he's collecting the All-Star bonus and not even showing up. The media decides that it's more an issue of him "disrespecting" the fans, so the bonus thing gets overlooked.

I can't imagine anyone talking sign-and-trade with Wallace, because no one in their right mind would want to do it. You'd have to assume his contract and give away players that are possibly equivalent, even if it is combined. Even then, the Bulls and Cavs are out of the picture because there's no way that the Pistons trade within their division. A writer from the Detroit News claimed it was simply an unfounded rumor, but I'm not sure how credible that paper is.

Like the poster said, he had never been sidelined for any length of time. He's probably referring to Christian after his back injury, but that may be too obvious.

I'm hoping and praying it doesn't happen. But nearly all of Orlando's contracts are off the books in that time (save Howard, Jameer and Turkoglu), so they could make a really serious offer.

The Cavs are in okay shape for the foreseeable future. They also have no cap room for that future, provided Lebron signs. Who can they lure in within that period? The only position they can supplant is point and power forward, and they won't have the money to improve both. 2008 is a quick turnaround for any team. And those with cap room in that timeframe could include Orlando, Chicago, Indiana, New Jersey (VC expires), Philadelphia (Webber expires) and possibly Miami (Shaq's future). And that's just the Eastern Conference. Let alone only mentioning the contenders, because Atlanta, Charlotte and the Hornets aren't that far away from competing, either. The man has too many options to worry about building the team himself. If they provide a similar performance next season, which everyone but Hughes likely will, he has to consider the possibility of leaving. And that sure worked for the Lakers, didn't it?

One thing's for sure: Chandler is gone before the season starts. But even with the Bulls trading Chandler, having the Knicks' pick next year could logjam a lot of positions for the Bulls, especially with the cap space they'll have. Losing Hinrich or Nocioni next summer isn't a possibility, so they're staying. Gordon, Deng, Sefolosha, Tyrus, Sweetney and Duhon are all there until 2008, and they just acquired Wallace. That's still a small amount of money invested in a team that are already playoff bound.

Better that the Bulls overpaid for Wallace, whose sheer reputation can get him by defensively, than overpaying Joel Przybilla (probably $9 mil annually) or Nazr Mohammed. Does that mean that Chandler's contract is off the books? P.J. is a free agent next year (making $8 million this year), so that frees up some money along with the Knicks' pick if they choose to swap. That means that signing Hinrich and Nocioni will be a definite if they choose to stay. This isn't an exact depth chart, but more a sorted roster... Hinrich Duhon Gordon Sefolosha Basden J.R. Smith Deng Nocioni Khyrapa Tyrus Thomas Malik Allen P.J. Brown Othella Wallace Sweetney

That is a top 50 salary for the league, which is pretty ridiculous if they can't shed Kenyon off the books.

dp.

I don't know about Blair, either Williams' sister, BJK or Evert. Just a couple of great athletes that had no real effect on their sport that someone else didn't have before them. There is no predecessor to Hamm, and quite possibly no successor. She's responsible for any popularity the sport had after their World Cup win.

I'm hoping that Carmelo signing for 5/$80 million will persuade Lebron to seek a better offer. It'll be nice to see nearly twenty teams attempting to feverishly shed cap space at the same time.

Is a CHANDELIER in a hotel gym bathroom necessary?

It didn't look like any of the announcers heard a thing... which ended up making this guy look pretty pathetic for keeping that up all night. The crew turned their heads toward the guys a few times; Bilas and Patrick were laughing when they started chanting "DOODLES!". That arena was completely silent for the entire second round.

So from compiling everything, here's the Blazers list for today: In: Aldridge Roy LaFrentz Dickau? (pending injury) Sergio Rodriguez Future 2nd-round pick (Grizzlies) Two future 2nd-round picks (Pacers) Out: Telfair Ratliff Khryapa 2008 2nd-round pick (to Boston) Cash (to Phoenix for Rodriguez) Coming in with the #4 pick and little else.

HUH???? You could tell that Steve Austin had charisma dating back to when he teamed with Brian Pillman. You could tell he had mic skills with his ECW promos. You could tell he had star quality from the moment he won the King of the Ring and cut the 3:16 promo. What injury are you referring to? Perhaps it was an injury before he even started wrestling? The guy had charisma the moment you watched him carry himself. My friends and I could tell he was the next big thing back in 1992, and everyone working in WCW would've said the same thing (and most of them did say it at the time).

Sefolosha being graded an F at that pick? Come on. He's everything the Bulls need in the backcourt and can supplant anyone the Bulls will trade in the coming weeks. Whether it's Deng, Gordon or Chandler who's going, the two guys they picked up tonight will fill that hole immediately.