dh86

Its pretty clear that it will be LSU in the title game. Georgia and Kansas didnt play so LSU will likely gain ground on them in the computers making them on par at minimum along with leapfrogging them in the human polls. VT will likely stay slightly ahead of LSU in the computers, but LSU will undoubtedly leapfrog them in the human polls. Even if Oklahoma were a spot or so higher than LSU in the human polls, they are so far behind in the computers, that its unfathomable. Every other possibility isnt worth mentioning

I understand completely where Whitlock and Wilbon is coming from with their commentaries. To understand someone else's motivation, you have to look at it from their point of view. Not "Ripper"'s point of view. I would never be so general to solely blame this on hip hop culture or Sean being a "thug". The facts remain that Sean Taylor has made poor decisions in the past. Clinton Portis alluded to Sean Taylor changing as a man after the birth of his daughter. In my personal belief, theres a much better than a 50% chance that his maturity lead to hatred and envy which led to the shooting. On a separate note, hip hop has had an irreparably bad effect on our society as a whole. Especially the black community. What started as a true reflection of black culture has been commercialized by white record execs into poisonous bullshit. Negativity breeds Negativity. Growing up in the inner city, in many situations, jobs are out, investments are out. Black children are often found looking elsewhere for male role models. They find themselves watching the filth on BET, listening to the radio. How can hip hop not be an influence? Its been nearly 20 years since it turned into a caricature of itself. I am a product of that. Sean Taylor was a product of that. Crime rates are lower since the commercialization of Hip hop. Hip-hop has not damaged anything. Music is not effecting society. Crime has always been around poor areas. ALWAYS. And it did not start 20 years ago. Hip hop is the new rock music. In the 70's and 80's everything was "devil-worshiping ROCK is destroying society". In the 60's, all the love music was destroying society. They blamed dance music of the 20's for the ills of society. They blamed music for the destruction of the youth in the 50's. And every time they were wrong. Music is a reflection of society, not the other way around. If it became the law that all music was gospel music, people would still be killing each other. Trying to blame a genre of music for societies ills when it has CONSTANTLY been proven to be a idiotic venture. People that want to be criminals will be criminals. Those that want to do something with their lives will attempt to. Simple as that. Blaming music for it is ridiculous and articles like whitlocks will be pointed and laughed at 50 years from now just like those "Rock...the devils music" films are pointed and laughed at now. And I understand that Wilbon and Whitlock(to a lesser extent...I truely don't think he believes half of the bullshit he writes) are staying things from their point of view. But that doesn't stop me from pointing out how stupid it is. I will say again, if they know something that I don't that is supporting their point of view, then fine, go ahead and say it. But as of right now, someone ran in a mans house at night and shot him to death. He has crime in his life that consisted of him allegedly pulling a gun on convicted criminals who had stolen property from him. I am in no way excusing that and calling it a smart move, but I do think that if you want to call him a thug for that, why aren't people calling others thugs for doing the same thing? Do you have to live in texas to get a pass? Do you have to be old? Do you have to kill them? Wilbon and Whitlock took the same facts that have been presented to everyone, and keep saying that the way he led his life lead to this. But they are pointing at anything in his life to support this. Unless they are saying standing up to criminals led to this, but they aren't exactly putting it in that light. He "embraced violence" and "hip hop culture" caused this with absolutely nothing to back up their claims. To be clear, i am not upset about the fact that there is a chance that Sean Taylor could have been involved in something, but the same can be said for anyone that dies ever. I am upset that they are portraying it as it is a forgone conclusion and that he actually had a troubled past when they don't know. All they know is that he was a black kid that got shot and this one time he got arrested. Therefore, his thug life caught up with him. And that is bullshit. "People that want to be criminals will be criminals" Why do these people want to be criminals? It is never that cut and dry simple. Hip hop is a reflection of society and society is now a reflection of hip hop. Entertainers are role models, especially in houses where daddy may not be around. With that said, I dont believe Sean Taylor to be a thug. The man (or woman) that shot Sean is a thug. Sean grew up in the inner city where he may have forged close bonds with said individuals and tried to make a clean break as he matured. Hence the premise of the article. I have had to make the same kind of decisions as I have matured. I dont agree 100% with Jason Whitlock but I definitely get his point

I understand completely where Whitlock and Wilbon is coming from with their commentaries. To understand someone else's motivation, you have to look at it from their point of view. Not "Ripper"'s point of view. I would never be so general to solely blame this on hip hop culture or Sean being a "thug". The facts remain that Sean Taylor has made poor decisions in the past. Clinton Portis alluded to Sean Taylor changing as a man after the birth of his daughter. In my personal belief, theres a much better than a 50% chance that his maturity lead to hatred and envy which led to the shooting. On a separate note, hip hop has had an irreparably bad effect on our society as a whole. Especially the black community. What started as a true reflection of black culture has been commercialized by white record execs into poisonous bullshit. Negativity breeds Negativity. Growing up in the inner city, in many situations, jobs are out, investments are out. Black children are often found looking elsewhere for male role models. They find themselves watching the filth on BET, listening to the radio. How can hip hop not be an influence? Its been nearly 20 years since it turned into a caricature of itself. I am a product of that. Sean Taylor was a product of that.

The only time Vince McMahon has even made changes when it comes to drugs in WWE has been when he faced serious scrunity. I hope Congress keeps it up. The Wellness Policy is an absolute farce. Any wrestler can pass with any steroid prescription. Whether its a prescription from a mark doctor (Benoit) or an online pharmacy (the 11 suspended wrestlers). They all pass through with flying colors. WWE wrestlers dont even need to go the designer or HGH route. The Wellness Policy the way it is too still enables things to be as they were.

With HHH,HBK and Jericho all joining raw while he was away...Lashley has to go back to ECW right? or start a shitty heel run on raw

the reason no one has taken a dirty late hit on Brady and no one will is that they will get a 4 game suspension and possibly blackballed if they are expendable enough. Some sort of "pride" is never worth losing 4 paychecks. If you dont like them running up the score...stop them like a man.

Gaining weight that quickly can wreak havoc on joints.

The trade is obviously fake since Amir cant be traded for another month. But Billups/Stuckey/Hunter Bryant/Murray Hayes/Afflalo/Dupree McDyess/Maxiell Wallace/Mohammed/Samb is not a depleted roster We would obviously have a defensive hole at SF, but every contender has a weakness somewhere. The NBA is all about matchups. Mavericks would have been the perfect team to face the Spurs, yet couldnt match up at all with Golden State. If the Kobe Bryant that wants to be a team player and is about winning came in with that roster, we absolutely would be closer to a championship.

That reminds me of a conversation that took place on some sports outlet where they asked if the Pats would win or lose to a team comprised of the rest of the AFC East's best. They would lose by roughly 50 points. Saying otherwise is kinda ridiculous. The Pats would lose to a team quarterbacked by JP Losman by 50 points???!!??

I have absolutely no doubt in my mind that its Roddy Piper

Led rookies in scoring? Maybe in the universe where Brandon Roy wasnt drafted. Maybe if you keep repeating your "facts" they'll come true one day.

Averaging 12 points per game is terrible if it includes you shooting 4-12 every night while contributing absolutely nothing else to the roster. Adam Morrison's only NBA level talent coming into his rookie season was his jumpshot. He is slow, cant defend a soul, cant rebound,pass,block, hustle or many other basketball related attributes. Michael Jordan drafted him because he portrayed a deadly jumper at Gonzaga. Gordon,Deng and Hinrich actually made their teams better as rookies. Morrison became so much of an albatross, that he lost playing time to Walter Hermann as the year went on. Ben Gordon. He is/was a jump shooter when he came into the league and shot close to Morrisons percentage. And once again, his rookie year was better than the ENTIRE Pistons roster's rookie years. He took alot of bad shots and was inconsistant. For every game he would shoot 50-55 percent he would shoot 30 percent in two others. Inconsistancy, low shooting percentages...these are things that rookies go through becuase they are playing an entirely new game. For some reason this means Morrison is a bust and the worse top three pick of the decade? But he is in the league for one purpose. To be a scorer. He led rookies in scoring. No. It wasn't a terrible year. It wasn't a great year, but it was a rookie year just the same. And in the preseason before destroying his knee, look at what his coaches and teammates were saying about his improvements defensively. He improved greatly every year in college. He obviously has the work ethic. The guy is going to be fine if he gets back from this injury okay. What in the blue hell does "had a better rookie season than the Pistons roster" have to do with this conversation? Dude came in the league to shoot and had the worst field goal percentage in the NBA . Ben Gordon had 3.5% better FG, 7% higher 3pt and 15% higher FT....when you are tallking about hundreds of shots taken, a few percentage points are significant. Swift and Williams both became pretty bad pros but even they had more than one basketball attribute that were higher than a high school level.

Yeah, but Peterson is on a team that could eventually turn into a real threat. Not that the Lions aren't, but none of Sanders' teams were anything but Barry and Co.. Seems to me that the Lions had a heck of a reciever named Herman Moore who once held the NFL record for most receptions. That was also when Scott Mitchell had his breakout season. That Lions dquad also had Johnnie Morton and Brett Perriman who also put up good numbers. Scott Mitchell's stats: 32 TDs, 12 INTs, and a QB rating of 92.3. Herman Moore: 123 catches, 1686 yards, 13.7 ypr, 14 TD Brett Perriman: 108 catches, 1488 yards, 13.8 ypr, 9 TD Johnnie Morton: 44 catches, 590 yards, 13.4 ypr, 8 TD Those were all taken from the 1995 season. That was the fluke season of fluke seasons. Plus the offensive coordinator was shortly fired after that....whos next stop was the Colts and is still there.

Averaging 12 points per game is terrible if it includes you shooting 4-12 every night while contributing absolutely nothing else to the roster. Adam Morrison's only NBA level talent coming into his rookie season was his jumpshot. He is slow, cant defend a soul, cant rebound,pass,block, hustle or many other basketball related attributes. Michael Jordan drafted him because he portrayed a deadly jumper at Gonzaga. Gordon,Deng and Hinrich actually made their teams better as rookies. Morrison became so much of an albatross, that he lost playing time to Walter Hermann as the year went on.

Didnt say worst ever. I said worst from 2000-07 even though worst top 3 pick ever probably wont be too far off. He was the epitome of one dimensional and that one dimension translated terribly when not playing most of his games in the WCC.

Darko loses out again but this time by Adam Morrison for the worst top 3 pick this decade.

Please explain to me the difference between Noah and/or Wallace and Turiaf? All high energy hustle guys that given the right minutes will net you good numbers. Only Turiaf is much better offensively than both of them, and Wallace is able to stay out of foul trouble better than Turiaf. Much better offensively? HOW? Am I missing the deadly Rony Turiaf jumper? You can to a random ABA team and find a Rony Turiaf. Ben Wallace may be on the downside of his career but hes still one of the top rebounders and defenders in the NBA and far more than a "high energy hustle player". Rony Turiaf may not even be in the NBA next year much less ever average 10 reb a game. How? In every concievable way. He has a hook shot with both hands, a better finisher at the basket and has a consistant jumper out ot 10-15 feet. And yes, Ben Wallace is a high energy hustle player. He doesn't play well defensively on...well...anyone. off the ball, he is as dangerous as most people to play the game, but on the ball he is what he is...a undersized Center that gets abused in the post by anyone not name Big Z. Turiaf, isn't as good off the as Wallace(like I said...there are very few guys that are) but on the ball he is a stronger, longer and better defender. He isn't as consistant as a big rebounder as Wallace, but he is a hell of a defensive and offensive rebounder. Just like last year when I said the bulls weren't really gaining anything with the trade of Chandler and adding Wallace, they really wouldn't lose too much if they were to use Noah and Turiaff in his spot now. High-energy hustle players are players like Jerome Williams or Ronald Dupree who has no discernable skills aside from trying hard and are usually out of the NBA as fast as they step in. The NBDL are full of those types.Ben Wallace far surpassed that level as an NBA player. Chicago jumped ten spots in defensive rankings last year with the addition of Ben. Ben has always been a very good on the ball defender. Dont kid yourself, he is a elite off the ball defender so coaches are more apt to use him in that way. But dont listen to me, I only watched every game he played for 6 years. As Ben Wallace's game starts to diminish, I expect Tyrus Thomas to fill into those shoes perfectly making you bringing up Chandler irrelevant. If Chicago replaced Ben Wallace with Rony Turiaf at center, John Paxson would be waving to us from the Draft Lottery in May.

The Bulls could resign Deng and Gordon easily for what Kobe's contract was worth. If you gut the entire roster sans Deng for Kobe, you are not making the championship window bigger, you are making it immensely smaller by tying the entire ship to a man that has 12 years of NBA mileage on his legs already. If you think Kobe is the best player in the NBA, how much longer do you think that will last? a couple more seasons? With the team as is, Chicago can easily contend for the next 6-7 years for the East and be the right role player away from a championship team. Doing the Kobe trade that you proposed erases all of the progress. Rony Turiaf is not an NBA starter in any universe. Neither is Chris Duhon. Your Bulls team would struggle to make the playoffs in the East and quite frankly, are worse than todays Lakers. Kobe would put the kibosh on the trade in a heartbeat. If you have a legitimate superstar on your team, let alone two, the Bulls don't need a top-level point. Have you SEEN the fucking bums that the Cavs have been trotting out at the point for the last three years? But anyway, Duhon isn't much of a step down from Hinrich, and he sure as hell can't be a worse shooter. The offense still runs smoothly with him in there; it's the matter of the Bulls never being able to sustain runs and leads because their game has no mileage on it. If Gordon goes cold, which happens too damn often, they're fucked. If Deng goes cold, they might as well board the team flight then. Their offense is absolute ass in the paint, which was even more apparent in the playoff series with Detroit, because their perimeter offense doesn't get much better beyond Deng creating his own shot. There's nothing to take the focus off of their post offense, without a consistent shooter that can draw doubles. Maybe Deng can fit that mold with another year under his belt, but he's not going anywhere without help in the backcourt. Enter Kobe. The ideal trade is the one Ripper pointed out: Kobe, Farmar and Turiaf for Hinrich, Gordon, Wallace and Tyrus, with the Bulls being given the option to switch first-rounders in 2008 if so be it. If you want to break it down for Chicago... -we've established why Duhon can supplant Hinrich in the point role. If you don't feel confident in him, try Crittendon or Farmar. JamesOn Curry will also play a big role in the Bulls offense if this trade comes together. --even without the trade talks, I wouldn't want to re-sign Gordon for the money's he going to be asking for. It's going to be a choice between Gordon and Deng come 2008, and the decision's easy. --Wallace matches the salaries, but he's a perfect fit for the Lakers. He's what they need at the 5, and with Mihm and Odom out there, they're going to love him. --Tyrus Thomas = Joakim Noah. Trade him. The Lakers can then gut their rotation to [Hinrich, Gordon, Odom, Bynum and Wallace] as starters, with [Fisher, Sasha, Walton, Tyrus and Mihm] off the bench, with Crittendon and Karl contributing. That leaves Buss to get Vlad and Kwame on the first flight out of Los Angeles. The Bulls will come up with [Duhon, Kobe, Deng, Turiaf and Noah], with Farmar, Curry, Thabo, Nocioni, Gray and Joe Smith. Not a sexy team, but one without a weakness that can be exposed on a consistent basis. Kobe (and later Deng) commanding double teams leaves opportunities for a guy like Curry, and well, Curry, to burn teams. As said before, Turiaf, Noah and Gray can all become solid offensive contributors with an open lane. If this trade is even remotely possible, Paxson should do it. This is the best offer on the board outside of Phoenix. Rony Turiaf would never start ahead of Joe Smith. Smith and Noah would still be possibly the worst C/PF combination in the NBA. Would the Bulls be making the trade to win the East or to win the Championship. Getting by with iffy role players in the starting lineup may work when you have Kobe along with Shaq in his prime. This isnt 2000 and this isnt LA. You need a complete roster to win the NBA championship. The getting 2 superstars and letting the rest sort itself out by and large does not work. Especially when the second star is Loul Deng who is not a superstar. Houston found that out and Boston will this season. How would the Pistons not sweep this Bulls team? This Bulls team would be competing with Orlando for a playoff spot. Doesn't Beantown actually have 3 Superstars? And Houston is in the stronger west, in the East the Bulls could get it done and pull off something in the Finals, so you can't really put them in the same boat either. Why do you hate Turiaf? Did he steal your lunch money? If you are making a drastic trade like that while still having the same chance at the NBA title, that defeats the purpose of the trade. I dont hate Turiaf at all. Its just that he isnt a good player that any other team would desire in a trade.

The Bulls could resign Deng and Gordon easily for what Kobe's contract was worth. If you gut the entire roster sans Deng for Kobe, you are not making the championship window bigger, you are making it immensely smaller by tying the entire ship to a man that has 12 years of NBA mileage on his legs already. If you think Kobe is the best player in the NBA, how much longer do you think that will last? a couple more seasons? With the team as is, Chicago can easily contend for the next 6-7 years for the East and be the right role player away from a championship team. Doing the Kobe trade that you proposed erases all of the progress. Rony Turiaf is not an NBA starter in any universe. Neither is Chris Duhon. Your Bulls team would struggle to make the playoffs in the East and quite frankly, are worse than todays Lakers. Kobe would put the kibosh on the trade in a heartbeat. If you have a legitimate superstar on your team, let alone two, the Bulls don't need a top-level point. Have you SEEN the fucking bums that the Cavs have been trotting out at the point for the last three years? But anyway, Duhon isn't much of a step down from Hinrich, and he sure as hell can't be a worse shooter. The offense still runs smoothly with him in there; it's the matter of the Bulls never being able to sustain runs and leads because their game has no mileage on it. If Gordon goes cold, which happens too damn often, they're fucked. If Deng goes cold, they might as well board the team flight then. Their offense is absolute ass in the paint, which was even more apparent in the playoff series with Detroit, because their perimeter offense doesn't get much better beyond Deng creating his own shot. There's nothing to take the focus off of their post offense, without a consistent shooter that can draw doubles. Maybe Deng can fit that mold with another year under his belt, but he's not going anywhere without help in the backcourt. Enter Kobe. The ideal trade is the one Ripper pointed out: Kobe, Farmar and Turiaf for Hinrich, Gordon, Wallace and Tyrus, with the Bulls being given the option to switch first-rounders in 2008 if so be it. If you want to break it down for Chicago... -we've established why Duhon can supplant Hinrich in the point role. If you don't feel confident in him, try Crittendon or Farmar. JamesOn Curry will also play a big role in the Bulls offense if this trade comes together. --even without the trade talks, I wouldn't want to re-sign Gordon for the money's he going to be asking for. It's going to be a choice between Gordon and Deng come 2008, and the decision's easy. --Wallace matches the salaries, but he's a perfect fit for the Lakers. He's what they need at the 5, and with Mihm and Odom out there, they're going to love him. --Tyrus Thomas = Joakim Noah. Trade him. The Lakers can then gut their rotation to [Hinrich, Gordon, Odom, Bynum and Wallace] as starters, with [Fisher, Sasha, Walton, Tyrus and Mihm] off the bench, with Crittendon and Karl contributing. That leaves Buss to get Vlad and Kwame on the first flight out of Los Angeles. The Bulls will come up with [Duhon, Kobe, Deng, Turiaf and Noah], with Farmar, Curry, Thabo, Nocioni, Gray and Joe Smith. Not a sexy team, but one without a weakness that can be exposed on a consistent basis. Kobe (and later Deng) commanding double teams leaves opportunities for a guy like Curry, and well, Curry, to burn teams. As said before, Turiaf, Noah and Gray can all become solid offensive contributors with an open lane. If this trade is even remotely possible, Paxson should do it. This is the best offer on the board outside of Phoenix. Rony Turiaf would never start ahead of Joe Smith. Smith and Noah would still be possibly the worst C/PF combination in the NBA. Would the Bulls be making the trade to win the East or to win the Championship. Getting by with iffy role players in the starting lineup may work when you have Kobe along with Shaq in his prime. This isnt 2000 and this isnt LA. You need a complete roster to win the NBA championship. The getting 2 superstars and letting the rest sort itself out by and large does not work. Especially when the second star is Loul Deng who is not a superstar. Houston found that out and Boston will this season. How would the Pistons not sweep this Bulls team? This Bulls team would be competing with Orlando for a playoff spot.

Please explain to me the difference between Noah and/or Wallace and Turiaf? All high energy hustle guys that given the right minutes will net you good numbers. Only Turiaf is much better offensively than both of them, and Wallace is able to stay out of foul trouble better than Turiaf. Much better offensively? HOW? Am I missing the deadly Rony Turiaf jumper? You can to a random ABA team and find a Rony Turiaf. Ben Wallace may be on the downside of his career but hes still one of the top rebounders and defenders in the NBA and far more than a "high energy hustle player". Rony Turiaf may not even be in the NBA next year much less ever average 10 reb a game.

Theres no way WWE will ever change their current status quo unless USA threatens to cancel Raw or WWE is losing money.

Of course Kobe is a better defender than Gordon but he would have to carry that team on offense reminiscent of 1988 MJ. To think replacing Tyrus,Wallace and Hinrich for 3 guys that would not start on the Charlotte Bobcats would = any type of a defensive upgrade.....I dont know what to say to you

The Bulls could resign Deng and Gordon easily for what Kobe's contract was worth. If you gut the entire roster sans Deng for Kobe, you are not making the championship window bigger, you are making it immensely smaller by tying the entire ship to a man that has 12 years of NBA mileage on his legs already. If you think Kobe is the best player in the NBA, how much longer do you think that will last? a couple more seasons? With the team as is, Chicago can easily contend for the next 6-7 years for the East and be the right role player away from a championship team. Doing the Kobe trade that you proposed erases all of the progress. Rony Turiaf is not an NBA starter in any universe. Neither is Chris Duhon. Your Bulls team would struggle to make the playoffs in the East and quite frankly, are worse than todays Lakers. Kobe would put the kibosh on the trade in a heartbeat.

The more things change, they stay the same...I had to deal with 4 seasons of "give joey weapons"