Why Phil From Sagamore Park Would Make A Great NFL Player...

According to the equipment guy for the Eagles, "The last player on the Eagles to use a cup was center Steve Everitt in ... 1999" Why would you not wear a cup when playing football, the most physically violent sport there is? Does it chafe when you try to run full speed? If so, then I can understand why the wide recievers, safeties and running backs don't wear them, since they get paid to run fast. But what about all the linemen? After reading some horror stories about what goes in the pile-ups that occur when ever there's a loose ball, I would think that everyone would be wearing cups, but I guess not. Here's a quote from Ben Leber, a linebacker on the Chargers about what goes in under the pile:

"I don't know if people really want to know what goes on down there: Basically
anything you can't get away with on the field, you can get away with under that
pile. Nobody can see you. The go-to spots are the eyes and the family jewels. If
anybody grabs your family jewels, you are going to let go. In the pile you hear
some screams of pain, but you don't know where it is coming from -- unless it's
you."

Are players too macho to wear them? I don't get it.

"best point guard in the league"....

vs

"

Let's just get it out on the table now, because
Tuesday night, after Steve Nash and the Suns showed up at Madison Square Garden
and defeated the Knicks 133-118, this debate is going to happen … again.

The perception is that Tuesday's matchup represents the tale of two
point guards.

The Suns are led by the NBA's most selfless point guard –
a guy who leads the league in assists and only takes shots when there's no one
on the floor with a better one.

The Knicks are led by the NBA's
self-proclaimed best point guard – a guy who fills up a stat sheet everywhere
but where it counts: in the victory column.

"

When his career is over, will that be Marbury's legacy? That he was a great player, but not a winner? Will he be grouped with the likes of Tracy McGrady?

Will he ever be viewed in the eyes of his critics as a winner? Will he be compared to Jason Kidd and Steve Nash?

Maybe it's still too early to tell. He's only been in the league 7 years, only halfway thru his career. Only time will tell.

Too Early For Christmas Wish List?....

The NBA has decided to license it's players' appearances to the poker world. In conjunction with All Pro Deal, they are putting together a set of chips and cards.

Paper Or Plastic....

San Francisco is planning on charging supermarket customers for grocery bags.

"The city's Commission on the Environment is expected to ask the mayor and board of supervisors Tuesday to consider a 17-cent per bag charge on paper and plastic grocery bags. While the goal is reducing plastic bag pollution, paper was added so as not to discriminate."

The goal is to deter customers from wasting the plastic bags. Using them for the 10 minute ride home then throwing them away.

I think a much better approach would be to offer a rebate to customers who bring their own bags in from home to pack the groceries. Consumers are always looking to save money. That's why every flyer printed and circulated boasts things like "2 for 1 Sale", "Buy One, Second One Only 1 Penny", etc.... If they're so concerned about the waste of grocery bags, why not extend that thought process and offer a discount of 2% off of the grocery bill for bringing in your own bags?

The Magic Hour....

I normally don't agree with what Magic Johnson has to say. Mainly because he's a moron and can't put a coherent sentence together. But I couldn't agree more with this quote:

"There's definitely no great teams out there," said Magic Johnson, Smith's TNT studio mate. "But with that being said, it's going to make it better for the playoffs, because you really don't know who's going to win it."

The most exciting thing for me about the NBA this year is the great diversity of talent across the league. There is no clear-cut favorite to win it all.

The Spurs are the favorites (IMO), but not by much.

Blizzard of '05....

Is it just me, or is anyone else sick of hearing the news reports make this out to be some kind of end-of-the-world type shit. We got a foot of snow. And, yes, it's cold. So what's the big deal? Just stay off the roads until the DPW has had the time to plow the streets. And take it slow when you are driving. It really irks me when all the newscasters are using scare tactics, telling everyone "It's going to start snowing at noon. Once it's been snowing for an hour, you had better rach your destination or terrible things will happen to you." Ok, that's not word-for-word what a newscaster would say, but you get the point. Maybe that's why I don't like watching the news.

Another One Joins The Club....

My sister has joined the ink club. She got this:



tattooed to the inside of her right ankle this past Wednesday. In case you don't recognize it, it is the main character from The Very Hungry Caterpillar.

Yes, But Can He Wipe Himself?....

I guess they got bored of teaching them to paint, dance and play musical instruments.

Cold Enough To.....

_______________________ (fill in the blank)

In Embarass, Minnesota it reached a temperature of 54 degrees BELOW zero. Now that's cold. And folks around here are complaining about temperatures in the teens.

She's gone....

My sister Jenna left yesterday on her cross-country road trip. She's tentatively scheduled to arrive back in New Jersey some time in May. She'll be visting friends, family, and various points of interest along her way. I don't expect her to chronicle her trip on her blog that often, due to lack of internet access. But I expect to see some entries every couple of weeks.

So sis, if you're reading this - Have fun and take tons of notes and pictures.

On a side note: I expect her fantasy league team to drop in the standings. It's going to be a huge disadvantage to not have internet access regularly.

"Franchise Player"...

I don't follow the NFL that closely to know what the term 'franchise player' means. I was reading an article about the Jets and their off-season plans. They had listed all of their restricted and unrestricted free agents. John Abraham is listed as an unrestricted free agent and that the Jets are going to tag him a franchise player so that they can hold on to him.

From what I understand the difference between a restricted and unrestricted is that the unrestricted player can court offers from any team in the league and when he gets an offer he likes, he can sign the contract and he is then a member of said team. With a restricted free agent, the Jets have the right to match whatever offer a player gets in order to keep him.

So what is a 'franchise player' and how does that tag work? I have to admit I'm too lazy to research it and look up the definition.

All of this talk of 'franchise player' has got me thinking about maxed-out contracts in the NBA. See next post....

Maxed-out NBA Contracts....

This post is a continuation of my 'franchise player' tag thought process. It amazes me how stupid some team owners are. If I was a team owner, I would only give a player I considered to be a franchise player a maxed-out contract. Someone who is worthy of this statement: "This is a player who we can build our team around. Someone who will make the other players around him better. Someone who will be the face of this franchise for many years to come."

Players like Jason Kidd. Kevin Garnett. Jermaine Oneal. Shaquille Oneal. NOT Kenyon Martin. When the Nets initially traded Kmart to the Nuggets for a few draft picks, I wasn't happy. He was a key part to the team. It was a huge emotional loss to the team. But now that it's 4 months later, I realize (with a clear head) that it was definitely the right thing to do. Kenyon Martin is definitely not a 'franchise player'. I'm not trying to playa hate here, but let's be honest. Kenyon Martin is a good player. But not in the upper echelon of NBA superstars.

Thanks....

to Danny Biasone. He invented the 24 second shot clock that is used in the NBA. He invented it to speed up the game and prevent teams from stalling. The worst case of stalling and holding the ball was evident in the Nov. 22, 1950 game between the For Wayne Pistons and the Minneapolis Lakers. The Pistons won 19-18 in the lowest scoring game in NBA history.

Which doesn't even come close to matching the Jan. 12, 2005 game between BFA-Fairfax High School and Milton High School in Milton, Vermont. That game ended 5-2 in favor of BFA-Fairfax.

Bored At Work?....

Try this paper tossing game out.

My hi score so far is 31.

Just When You Thought Things Were Looking Up....

Richard Jefferson is having season-ending wrist surgery. The Nets had finally garnered some excited by signing Vinve Carter a couple of weeks ago. The team was playing a little better. Starting to get comfortable playing with each other and getting into a groove. Now this.

And I thought the Chicago Cubs were cursed.

Need A Good Laugh?....

For those NBA fans who want to read something funny, check this out:

ESPN.com columnist Bill Simmon's "A few of my favorite NBA things"

One of my favorite lines:

"Part of me feels like Isiah brought in the worst possible coach on purpose, just so it would look better for him when he finally takes over. Of course, if that was his logic, then he should have hired Whoopi Goldberg. At least have some fun with it."

Things That Make Me Go "Huh"....

The Kings traded Doug Christie to the Magic for Cutino Mobley and Michael Bradley. I don't understand the thinking behind this trade for the Kings. They gave up their best (and only) defender for another scorer. They were already one of the league leaders (#3) in points per game. Are they trying to emulate the Suns in thinking that they can outscore their opponents? If so, what a huge mistake. The Suns play an up-tempo style of ball. Always looking to push the ball and run. The Kings are definitely not that kind of team.

Could the Kings have been trying to save money? Probably not, since the rules governing trades in the NBA state that the value of the salaries traded have to be equal (or within a certain %). And both Mobley and Christie will be free agents after the 05-06 season. So there's no advantage there.

As for the Magic, they are currently 4th in league in scoring so they're not all that worried about losing a couple of points a game. Especially since they're picking up a top-notch defender in Christie. I expect the Magic's points allowed per game to drop, so the offensive drop in points will be a wash. Christie will also bring some intangibles to the table. He's a playoff veteran with a lot of experience and leadership. Something Mobley didn't possess.

While, on paper, this trade seems like its even, I say the Magic definitely got the better end of it.

Don't Want To Go To Work Today?....

Try these excuses:

I was sprayed by a skunk.
I tripped over my dog and was knocked unconscious.
My bus broke down and was held up by robbers.
I was arrested as a result of mistaken identity.
I forgot to come back to work after lunch.
I couldn't find my shoes.
I hurt myself bowling.
I was spit on by a venomous snake.
I totaled my wife's jeep in a collision with a cow.
A hitman was looking for me.
My curlers burned my hair and I had to go to the hairdresser.
I eloped.
My brain went to sleep and I couldn't wake it up.
My cat unplugged my alarm clock.
I had to be there for my husband's grand jury trial.
I had to ship my grandmother's bones to India.
I forgot what day of the week it was.
Someone slipped drugs in my drink last night.
A tree fell on my car.
My monkey died.


Those are actual reasons employees gave for missing work. It take a lot of chutzpah to actually use some of those.

Help My Sister.....

She's leaving on a road trip and needs help naming her travel blog.

Not As Bad As I Expected....

I saw 50 First Dates last night. I was expected a stupid humor type movie. But I was pleasantly surprised to find that it wasn't. There were some parts that were stupid, but overall it was a nice movie with a lot of funny parts. Without ruining the ending for those who haven't seen it yet, I was very pleased with how it turned out.

That's Odd....

Richard Hamilton led his team in scoring last night. While that's not news (he's averaging a team high 20.3 ppg), it's the manner in which he led the team. 0-10 Field Goals, but 14-14 from the free throw line.

2 At Once....

I figured out how to show two pictures in the same post thanks to some help from my friend Ami.


Alexis all dressed up for christmas:


The boys just chilling out watching tv:

Welcome....

to the world of blogging, Matt Guiney.

Top 25....

From CNN:

TOP INNOVATIONS OF THE PAST 25 YEARS
The number one innovation will be announced on Sunday, January 16, at 8 p.m. ET.

2. Cell phone
3. Personal computers
4. Fiber optics
5. E-mail
6. Commercialized GPS
7. Portable computers
8. Memory storage discs
9. Consumer level digital camera
10. Radio frequency ID tags
11. MEMS
12. DNA fingerprinting
13. Air bags
14. ATM
15. Advanced batteries
16. Hybrid car
17. OLEDs
18. Display panels
19. HDTV
20. Space shuttle
21. Nanotechnology
22. Flash memory
23. Voice mail
24. Modern hearing aids
25. Short Range, High Frequency Radio


I wonder what #1 could be?

How about instant messenger service?
MRI's?
DVD's?

At first I wondered how come the microwave oven isn't on the list, but after some research I found that the countertop version was invented more than 25 years ago, so it didn't meat the criteria.

Separated At Birth....

Alfred

Separated At Birth....

Dubya