WBRS Sports Blog

Written by my younger brother this morning...

I apologize for the tardiness and delay of this blog post, but recently it has been morally reprehensible and taboo in the city of Dallas to speak of the Mavs’ premature postseason exit. After months of recuperation, Mavs fans are prepared to “face the music” and answer any questions the nation asks. I, a college student outside the state of Texas, am constantly burdened by the aged old question, “man what happened to your boys (Dallas Mavericks)?” Although sometimes worded differently, the questions meaning and significance is always identical. For months Mavs supporters had no answer, we could only sit in the corner quietly while being ridiculed by the nations NBA viewers. I knew it was bad when a Celtics fan had the audacity to ridicule my Mavericks, “we might tank games, but ya’ll are choke artists,” the fan boasted.

Mavs fans are coming out of hibernation, and are prepared to accept one horrifying and gut churning fact: Dirk will not lead us to the promise land. This took me months to comprehend and acknowledge. How can a player who scored over 50 against any defender Phoenix would throw at him, choke in the finals? How can the leagues MVP allow the greatest upset in NBA post-season history? Sure, the Warriors were rattled with injuries all season, and were hot entering the playoffs, but there were no excuses we could invent to justify our untimely post-season departure, or lessen the pain our little mavericks caused.

I'm speechless

Absolutely disgusted...that's how I feel after hearing the 1050 ESPN Radio report out of New York claiming that Tim Donaghy will name as many as 20 other NBA referees who also gambled on NBA games.

This unfortunate news is so disheartening not only to myself but every NBA fan out there. We were betrayed I tell you. We invested so much time, energy and emotions into a league in which its games apparently weren't even legitimate. As a Mavericks fan myself, I took the 2006 NBA Finals like an unprotected boxer receiving a Mike Tyson upper-cut to the chin. I eventually recovered but now after the Donaghy development I find myself more irate than before over all of the phantom Dwayne Wade calls. For many of those screaming Mavs fans who insisted that the league was rigged, maybe they weren't being that ridiculous after all.

We were all lied to and only God knows how many games were influenced by these scandolous referees. How can we ever watch an NBA game again without thinking twice about whether it is fixed or not? I can't believe I just typed that sentence and meant it. What a sad day. I'm not sure what can be done to regain our trust, but hopefully something can erase this awful event from my memory and I can one day watch the NBA again without a suspicious eye.

Eric Gagne has been nothing but a disappointment in Boston. Gagne has not had a clean inning yet with the Sox and has blown two saves. In effect, Gagne has cost the Red Sox two games in the standings, allowing the hated Yankees to be just 4 games back of the team that currently has baseball's best record. This sounds awful, but many Red Sox fans are glad that Kason Gabbard left his third start with Texas due to an injury. Since that injury, I stopped cursing the name of Theo Epstein for acquiring Gagne. If the Red Sox plan to stay in first, Eric "I suck" Gagne will need to stop pitching in critical situations.

Gagne after Sunday's game:
“It’s stupid,” he said. “They brought me here to do a job and I’m not doing it. I gotta step up my game. It’s ridiculous. These guys play eight great innings and I go out and blow it. That’s just . . . a shame.
“It’s a bunch of (expletive) is what it is. You go out there and do your job. I’m not doing my job right now. I’m letting everybody here down. I need to step up my game and find my game. That’s it. It’s pretty simple.
“This game is simple. I’m (expletive) this up right now.”

Eric, you're on the right track. You are "(expletive) this up right now."

If you were contemplating getting Madden 08, you shouldn't have to think about it any longer after seeing Eli Manning in this clip.

Espn.com reports that Danny Ainge, Director of Basketball Operations of the Boston Celtics, has contacted Reggie Miller to be a role player on the Celtics bench. Miller, a five-time NBA All-Star, would be expected to play about 15 minutes a game as a backup to seven-time All-Star Ray Allen.

If the Celtics sign Miller, they would have filled their 15 roster spots. That would leave them without a quality backup point guard on the roster and three players similar skill-sets in Ray Allen, Miller, and Eddie House. The move may help them, but it might also mean recently signed Jackie Manuel or Brandon Wallace would make a quick exit from Beantown to sign another point guard or big man. Manuel's contract is not guaranteed so releasing him might be a possibility.

Having one of the all-time greatest 3-point shooters on your bench is definitely a great thing. Miller has hit 100+ 3-point field goals in 15 straight years, but those days are far behind him, given that he is 42 years old.

The Celtics are probably better off signing PJ Brown to back up Kendrick Perkins. Even though they signed Scot Pollard yesterday, they are still weak at the center position since Pollard is nothing more than a body to put on the floor that can hammer Shaq and grab 6 fouls a game. The Pollard signing is actually not quite smart because he isn't a good player. The move seems to have been made because of money issues.

The Celtics ownership needs to realize that with the investments they have already made, it would be foolish not to go all out and spend the full mid-level exception to get quality players. The new trio is not enough to contend with the likes of San Antonio and Dallas, among others.

Danny Ainge and the Celtics ownership have a very short amount of time to make the Allen and KG trades turn into a Celtic championship. Ownership should not have signed off on those trades if they were not willing to spend the necessary money to bring a true contender to Boston.

Note: ESPN reports that only 12 players are under contract for Boston. Eddie House and Jackie Manuel are not listed as part of the Boston roster on their website. However, the Boston Herald reported 13 players on the roster prior to the Scot Pollard signing. Unless the rookies are not under contract, the ESPN information is incorrect.

Boston Herald's Breakdown of the Celtics' Bench

There are Rats in Angel Stadium. The City of Los Angeles would have never allowed for such a transgression to occur. But Angel Stadium isn't in Los Angeles, it's in Anaheim.

County health officials say they're stepping up enforcement at Angel Stadium, where they've found 118 vermin violations at stadium kiosks and restaurants over the last 2 1/2 years.

Thirty-three of those reports represent "major" violations, in which "rodent activity" was observed by health inspectors in a "critical area" of 18 stadium food venues, the Orange County Register reported Sunday.

Makes you want to think twice about seeing an Angels game, or at least purchasing and eatings something from Angel Stadium. But then again, I guess when you're in first place in your division, sanitation isn't a prerequisite for filling the seats in the stadium.

Good luck with that Angel fans.

Following the Garnett trade, agents of quality players were calling the Boston Celtics, looking to get their clients a workout.

Yesterday the Celtics signed veteran Eddie House to possibly back up Rajon Rondo at the point, but also play shooting guard with Allen on the bench. You may see him late in a game when you need an additional shooter off the bench to get a defender off of a star playe.

Last season House was a quality bench player in New Jersey and had previously backed up superstar point guards Steve Nash and Mike Bibby. Now it's Rondo's turn.

The Celtics addressed two needs by signing House:
1. They got a veteran guard to come off the bench.
2. They added a player who boasted a 42.9 3-point percentage a year ago and a player who can share the scoring load in the second unit if needed.

The Celtics also signed Jackie Manuel who played in the NBDL last season. Manuel is nothing more than a backup wingman who can come in and eat some minutes to keep Pierce fresh.
I really don't understand this move simply because this is D-league player and there are other guys waiting to be signed.

The Celtics now have 13 players on their roster, giving them 2 more roster spots. The C's are looking to sign either 41 year-old center Dikembe Mutombo or possibly P.J. Brown. The Celtics hope that one of these players will sign for the bi-annual exception, which is slightly less than $2 million.

The Celtics are in luxury tax land so it is great to see that ownership is still willing to spend the big bucks and put a contender in Boston.

Daunte Culpepper has had his share of bad luck over the last few years. Randy Moss left him in Minnesota, where he struggled mightily before suffering a season-ending injury, then he came back too early from knee surgery last year in Miami and struggled before he was replaced by Joey Harrington. He didn't get another chance with the Dolphins as they traded for Trent Green and he nearly didn't control his own fate when the Dolphins held off on releasing him, in the hope that they could force a trade.

Culpepper has found a new home in Oakland, where he'll get the chance to start; an opportunity which seemed extremely unlikely not long ago. Oakland is the best situation Culpepper could have hoped for. He'll have the chance to start, which would have been much harder to come by anywhere else, and mentor JaMarcus Russell. If he succeeds as the starting quarterback, he may well get the chance to start for the entire season (if the Raiders are remotely competitive). The Raiders might take an approach similar to the one Cincinnati took with Carson Palmer or San Diego with Phiip Rivers. That worked out pretty well for the Bengals and the Chargers. Culpepper will most likely be out after one season anyway, so this season will effectively be an audition for him for the rest of the league. If he can prove that he is still the same Daunte Culpepper who lit up defenses in Minnesota, he'll get some calls at the end of the year. (Jacksonville may already have him on speed-dial, just in case.)

It's a great move for the Raiders as well, who now don't have to throw their rookie into the fire behind a poor offensive line and turn him into a tackling dummy. (See: Carr, David) Culpepper, well aware of his role, should make a good mentor for the Russell. What will be very interesting to watch is how long Culpepper lasts. Supposedly he is back to full health now, but with the Raiders' offensive line, that may not last long.

This season could determine Culpepper's NFL legacy. Is he a big guy with a strong arm who was lucky enough to play with a Hall of Fame wide receiver, or is he a superstar who suffered some bad luck? We may not find that out this year, but his performance (and health) could determine whether he gets a chance next year.