Marvin Gaye USA Basketball Nike commercial

Usually I like to keep my musicians and commercials separate, especially when dealing with cats from yesteryear, and ESPECIALLY when dealing with the deceased...but I'm gonna have to bend a little on this one. Nike, with the BEST advertising campaigns, does it again with another classic commercial.

I know what your thinkin...I'm a lil' late with this. Let's jus say I now believe in the Redeem Team. I'm jumpin on the bandwagon, I got my chips in the center of the table, I'm drinkin the Kool-Aid, I'm buyin into the system, what ever you wanna say...I'm in! You can call me fair-weather all you want, because I'm from L.A. and that's how we get DOWN!

Yao AND Ron Artest

Ok...MAYBE I jumped the gun putting Ron Artest and Yao Ming at odds. But still, its gonna be interesting how this odd couple gets along. Here's an interview from PTI today and Artest explains the comments.

Yao vs. Ron Artest

Well...not really, but there was definitely an interesting back and forth between the two, and were both said remarks that I thought were poorly said, and came off in a way that opens themselves up to a hot topic of debate. I'm not sure how race and/or driven you can make these comments out to be, or if these two are showing exactly how opposite they are, or if I'm making a big deal out of nothing. Either way, I wanna share this excerpt from and ESPN article, and I'm interested to hear what people have to say.



The potential trade of Ron Artest to the Houston Rockets may have gotten off on the wrong foot over comments made by Artest's potential teammate, Yao Ming, about Artest's stormy past.

A day after the Rockets and Sacramento Kings agreed in principle to a deal sending Artest to Houston for Bobby Jackson, Donte Greene and a first-round draft pick, Yao expressed concerns about team chemistry to the Houston Chronicle and referenced Artest's involvement in the 2004 brawl with Pistons fans.

"Hopefully, he's not fighting anymore and going after a guy in the stands," Yao said, according to the Chronicle.

When asked about those comments, Artest said Yao had bought into "all the propaganda" about him, according to The Sacramento Bee.

"I understand what Yao said, but I'm still ghetto," Artest said, according to the report. "That's not going to change. I'm never going to change my culture. Yao has played with a lot of black players, but I don't think he's ever played with a black player that really represents his culture as much as I represent my culture. Once Yao Ming gets to know me, he'll understand what I'm about.

If you go back to the brawl, that's a culture issue right there. Somebody was disrespecting me, so he's got to understand where I'm coming from. People that know me know that Ron Artest never changed."

Shan Foster: I can't wait to play in the NBA

Former Vanderbilt star and last years SEC Player of the year Shan Foster was interviewed on Jim Rome's to discuss his feelings on draft day, his decorated college career, his promising future in the NBA playing for the Dallas Mavericks, and his video that has been talked about on youtube. I'll be echoing Rome by saying this, but the feelings are identical. The instrumental over the Keyboard is kinda cheesy, the camera work looks like it was done by his 12 year old brother, his singing is pretty good, not the greatest...but you GOTTA love it! I am now a Shan Foster fan! I remember when he lit up Mississippi St. for 42 pts on senior day and carried his team on his back, and I remember seein him shoot the lights out in some other games. I didn't follow him religiously, but I did know he was a standout, and he had the chance to get drafted. But now, I'm a fan! You gotta love his sincerity, and the innocence, and the lyrics, and just the overall message. You gotta get behind this kid. Foster was drafted 51st overall (I think), which means his contract is NOT guaranteed, and he'll have to try out to make the team, so he's not there yet, but you can tell by his song that he DOES love the game, and that his message is heartfelt. I was also impressed to know that he is self taught on the piano. I probably won't care too much about what the Mavs do this season, but I hope for the best for Shan Foster.

...and just to give him some of his Street cred back, Here's his Highlight reel.



Here's Foster dunkin on Georgetown Center Roy Hibbert. you can't tell in the pic, but Hibbert is 7' 2".

Baron Davis...Welcome Home!

I always thought he belonged in Los Angeles, ever since he left UCLA. I always like it when players play for their home town, It seem that that's the way it SHOULD be. As you can see, Baron Davis couldn't WAIT to put on that Los Angeles Clippers jersey!

2008 NBA Finals wrap up

So I finished watchin the Lakers crash and burn in the finals, and I couldn't be more suprised. It was as if they didn't know they had to go through the eastern conference to win the championship. Or maybe their goal was to get Kobe the MVP trophy that has eluded him for so many years, because it seems like they were content with just those two moral victories. Just like in Boston, they don't hang Western Conference banners in the arena, and the Lakers thought they did.
Here's my synopsis...Gasol was charmin soft, Odom NEVER lives up to his height and size. Yeah, sure, he can take it to hole like a point guard, but he finishes like he's on the JV team. Kobe could score in the 1st quarter, but he couldn't keep it goin for the whole game. I gotta give it up to the Celtics though. I've haven't seen Kobe look like that for years, and their role players stepped it up when they had to. I hate to admit it, but I'm happy for KG, and Inglewood HS player Paul Pierce, and Doc is a likeable guy, so I'm not completely upset. I can also appreciate KG's emotion when he won. I don't think I've ever seen a player show that much exuberance for winning a championship, and it is appreciated when a player DOES care.
I aint mad though. Kobe aint even 30 years old, and the team made the finals and still has a lot of room for improvement. The Lakers will get there in due time.

Lakers vs. Celtics

This was back when they had “Technical Warnings” and “Fighting Fouls”. Times sure have changed! I remember watching this Lakers vs. Pistons (or Celtics) game on ESPN Classic, and Worthy was swingin and kickin in the 2nd fight that happened in the game! After the 2nd one, the ref goes both benches and says “If this keeps up, Im gonna start throwing people out!” Nowadays, if a player not involved in a fight comes off the BENCH, its a 1 game suspension. I'm always saying that todays NBA is less exciting, and I hate to say it, but fights is what made those rivalries what they were...RIVALRIES! Lakers v. Celtics, Lakers v. Pistons, Bulls v. Heat, Bulls v. Knicks, even Kings v. Lakers... what did they have in common? EXACTLY! By no means am I saying that an NBA team should have to resort to having four basketball players and one brawler on the court at all times, like the NHL, or that the Ron Artest incident should be a weekly occurance, but maybe when two players get physical, maybe the ref can let em fight a little longer than usual, or maybe players SHOULD run off the bench, so like the MLB, you have the one main fight, and then a couple of little side fights going on. ANYway, I knew the NBA was lacking something for the last couple of years, and it AIN'T just #23.

and for you so called 80's babies...weren't raised in the 80's if you don't remember this! this was back when you could only play with the teams that made the playoffs!






...oh, and I can't forget to meantion the odd and disturbing NBA finals promos one last time. this one wakes me up in my sleep! It's still better than hearing the Black Eyed Peas "Let's Get it Started" over and over and over and over again.