Redskins Over Cowboys - 'Nuff Said

I was so content, and mostly shocked, that the Redskins beat the Cowboys on Sunday, I wasn't quite sure how to react. There are so many Dallas fans around DC, that it would have been easy to gloat, but something inside me said that it was just another victory, and it's still a long season. Essentially, winning is saying enough. Then again, a picture is worth a whole bunch of words. (And I'll let others do the talking.)

The two biggest cry-babies of NFL week four. It's an ironic circle:

1. Tank Johnson had to be restrained because Rock Cartwright celebrated on the Dallas star at the 50 yard line after the game. Tank, being a classy man himself, brought up the issue of class.
   
   
2. Mr. Irrelevant reminded us all of a Star logo controversy of the past between Tank's current teammate, Terrell Owens, and former Cowboy, Emmitt Smith.
   
   
3. Now Owens, who I've tried to stress to nervously defensive Cowboys fans time and time again that you NEVER want that guy on your team when the chips are down, is doing exactly what is to be expected of him.....T.O. is saying that he didn't get the ball enough. Evidently, the offense does not exist without T.O., yet Dallas was able to somehow beat Green Bay last week with Owens only catching two balls for 17 yards.
   
   
4. Now, Emmitt Smith is saying that Owens is "not a true Cowboy," but never fear, because Emmitt is still getting his groove on.
   

Around the Internets:

• Jason Campbell was a bigger hero for making a single phone call than for anything he did on the field. [Raw Fisher]

• Somebody may have been wrong about the Redskins (although it's still a long season, that's what I'm going to keep telling myself). [Stet Sports]

• Lil' Danny Snyder = Michael Scott.....that's what she said. [Mr. Irrelevant]
  
  
• Fred Smoot still looked dazed in the locker room after the game.....he thought he was Batman. [DC Sports Bog]
  
  
• Talk about 'Hard Core Players' and Clinton Portis' name should be coming out your mouth. [DC Optimist]
  

My game ball goes to the defense. No, they didn't sack Tony Romo, and they only forced one turnover, but they brought consistency and disrupted what most thought to be an unstoppable Cowboy offense. But the key was that the play of the defense, in holding Dallas to only 44 yards on the ground, helped the Redskins control the ball, and have a significant advantage in time of possession, 38:09 to 21:51.

Hopefully Darrell Armstrong was somewhere near a microphone on Sunday.

"How 'Bout Those Redskins!?!"

Nuff' said.

Washington Wizards Training Camp Spawns Questions

photo from nba.com/wizards

With the commencement of the Washington Wizards training camp this past Saturday, the questions are starting to mount, many of which won't be answered until preseason games are played and upon the Wiz Euro Trip taking place.

Dave Johnson and Steve Buckhantz have been live blogging from camp, and as the Pradamaster mentioned on Bullets Forever, their observations must be taken with a grain of salt.

Question #1: What is Flip Saunders doing at training camp?
As mentioned in the washingtonwizardsblog.com blog from training camp day 1, K.C. Jones is also at camp, but he has ties to the franchise (coached the Bullets from 1973-1976), and hasn't been in the NBA coaching game since 1992 (Seattle Sonics). The Hall of Famer currently works for the University of Hartford Athletic Department.

Flip Saunders, on the other hand, would seemingly be on the prowl for another NBA head coaching gig. But now Saunders is running defensive drills in Wizards training camp, the occurrence of which was deemed worthy of a bold font in the blogging of Johnson and Buckhantz. My initial line of thinking was to wonder who invited Saunders to camp. If it was Grunfeld, does this ruffle the feathers of Eddie Jordan? I doubt it as Jordan seems like a 'check the ego at the door' type and would welcome input from any angle.

I'm not sure if inviting other coaches to camp is a regular occurrence in the NBA or not, but I was certainly thrown off when Buckhantz blogged: "All the coaches are back, and as Dave mentioned, some "guest" coaches are here." So, should we read into the fact that Buckhantz. used quotes around 'guest' or is it more worthy for The "Blog" of "Unnecessary" Quotation Marks?

Question #2: Will the defense really improve?
Über fan docklinkin is all over the live training camp blogs...with great questions, specifically pertaining to perimeter defense. Back at the end of May, I did a post examining the defense of the Wizards in 07-08, good news and bad news. A couple facts from that post: The Wizards gave up an NBA worst 38.6% on opponent 3-point shots (tied with the Pacers), and the Wizards opposition also jacked treys on 27% of all attempts, an NBA high.

Dave Johnson posed one of doclinkin's inquiries about the perimeter D to Antawn Jamison who said, "the key was not to getting beaten off the dribble so quickly...when that happens he said we are relying too much on our second line of defense….and then in the scramble guys gets left open on the perimeter..in fact as they work on this defensive spacing Randy Ayers just said ..better spacing will help in the ability to recover and get out to the shooters…."

So, judging by that comment, it's more player technique and desire over coaching strategy. Sure, Randy Ayers is working on fundamentals, but at this point, if you've made it all the way to the NBA, you should know how to move your feet, and are either too slow or unmotivated if you are unable to do so.

Question #3: Should we panic, or be fatalistically concerned (as Bullets fans have a penchant to do) that Antawn Jamison is already "tweaking" and "straining" things?
Seems like Jamison taking a "cautious" approach would be a prerequisite for a 32-year old....but I can't help thinking that I should be walking around all day with my fingers crossed.

At least AJ is throwing down the gauntlet with challenges to his successor: "My message to Andray is: 'You want to be treated like a veteran, you're ready for the task, well you need to show it. We need him to be consistent. ... We need Andray this year more than we need anybody. We need him to bring energy night in and night out. And I'm not talking about four out of five games. Every night. There's no reason Andray shouldn't be averaging 14, 15 points game."

Jamison is basically saying that his minutes will go down (as I can see a cautious approach being a theme for the season), and Andray better take advantage of the opportunity to play more....the team depends on it.

Question #4: What is Gilbert Arenas learning about leadership?
.....Is it about time, or will he ever?

Ivan Carter's Washington Post headline said it all, "Even While Silent, Arenas Is the Talk of the Wizards." Arenas has become so good at garnering attention that he causes a fuss even when he is ducking through back doors trying to avoid attention. So while Gilbert claims that he didn't want to "take all the attention," and bring "everybody else down," I'm still not sure how he thought he would avoid attention by not participating in media day. Players know they will get fined, and stars like him should realize that such acts will make headlines on ESPN, warranted or not. Oh well, much ado about nothing I suppose.

What's more important is how Gilbert will be as a leader among his teammates going forward, and not the perception of the media. As the reports come in, they recount Arenas organizing early shooting sessions for younger players, being dubbed "Coach Arenas" by Eddie Jordan, and overall just being there, as opposed to not being there, which was the case after his initial knee surgery last November.

Overall, an encouraging sign in my opinion, but when it comes to Agent Wacky Pants, I'll always take a 'wait and see' approach. But the more this group of players, young and old, continue to be around each other, the more prevalent that theme of constancy becomes, allowing for a greater chance of success in the long run.

More to come on the players: the newbies, the returnees, and the developing.

Thoughts on Second Chance Season, the Nick Young Documentary

Last Wednesday, I caught ESPN2's airing of Second Chance Season, the documentary about Nick Young. I won't go so far as to say the film was absolutely captivating, but certainly well worth watching. The best part was the access and candidness allowed by the Young family. Director and co-producer, Daniel H. Forer, did a great job in bringing everything together, as no stone about the saga was left unturned.

Here are some observations:

• I liked Young's dad, Charles, a lot....from his understanding of a world in which no one can ever really escape violence, to his quote to Young's mother, Mae, "You looking at the NBA, I'm looking at a B.A.."
• I was struck curious when Nick's high school coach at Cleveland, Andre Chevalier (at least I recall it being him), expressed that the University of Southern Cal had "excuses" citing low grades, and the fact that Nick had yet to take the SAT. Uhh coach? I think you are using the wrong terminology....perhaps you are confusing "excuses" with "requirements."
• Nick Young vs. Jordan Farmar: To me, it was telling how in the highlight clips of made baskets by each player, Young make his way back down the court not paying attention and pounding his chest, while Farmar calmly went about his business after scoring. Not to say I've got a big problem with on-court celebration, but there is a line to draw. I'd rather have the guy acting a bit more professional on my team.....like when Farmar got fouled with less than a second left in the game, his team down one (good call by the way). Farmer casually hit both free throws to win the game, after Nick had been chirping in his ear before the shots. Young prevailed in their second matchup, but I still didn't like to see him dancing into timeouts.
  
• Which leads me to the clip, and this all could be the result of editing, of another game. Young made a spin move and hit an amazing scoop shot in the lane in what seemed to be the final seconds. I was like, "wow, that's a pretty amazing game winner," and then the camera pans to the scoreboard and Young's team won 75-68, or something like that, making the basket a hot-dog moment, instead of a necessity. Before I knew it, Young was telling the camera that he thought he was Kobe.
• The scouting report put together by a college coach recruting Young said that he "doesn't compete at times"....I can still see some of that in the NBA, albeit not nearly as much as the one example in the movie, but disturbing nonetheless. Could you imagine Jordan or Kobe ever doing that, even as a youth? Ok, unfair comparisons...how about Antonio Daniels.....or perhaps Jordan Farmar?
• I did like how Coach Chevalier called Nick out with the truth, in the locker room, in front of everyone, after his unmotivated game.
• I was somewhat befuddled when the killer of Nick Young's brother, Marcus, said that at the time he was immature, yet sophisticated enough to kill, I guess it just struck me as odd that he used "sophisticated." He obviously deals with his past on a daily basis, but does the most he can do by helping youth avoid following his path. He understands that the pain of the Young family is much greater than his remorse.
• Nick Young certainly understood the importance of the SAT, but not the importance of the work and preparation involved to pass it. The 'locked out of class for being late scene' was not a pretty site.
  

After watching the documentary, I came away knowing much more about Nick than before. At a minimum, I was previously aware that he had a brother who was killed, but not that the family was dealing with the emotional troubles of another brother.

Nick Young is an earnest young man who was lucky to have good family surrounding him growing up in Los Angeles. At the same time, observing what I've seen during his first year with the Wizards, Young still has a ton of growing up to do. It's hard to distinguish whether there has been significant gained maturity from his persona in high school, the time period during which the documentary took place, and the 23-years old he is today.

Young has been through a lot of experiences which have aged him, but he's still just a kid. He seems to understand that he's playing for something bigger than himself, his mom and his lost brother Junior (Charles). Hopefully, the struggles he's faced will make eventual growth into adulthood, and a mature NBA player, and easier task.

[Note: Jake The Snake has a good movie review of Second Chance Season, on Bullets Forever]

Trailer

Why Does Everyone Talk About Integrity and Fairness When Sports Is A Business?

First of all, I'm all for integrity and fairness in sports, but not when they are used as an excuse for losing.

These examples happen in all professional sports, but I'll concentrate on the sport about to begin its second season, Major League Baseball. All but one division has been decided. The Phillies, Cubs, and Dodgers have made it from the National League; the Brewers sealed the NL wildcard with another Mets collapse. In the American League, the Rays and Angels have won their respective divisions, the Red Sox have locked up the AL wildcard, and the White Sox and Twins will play a tiebreaker for the AL Central Division on Tuesday (correction: if the White Sox beat the Tigers today).

Most seem content with the playoff eligibility process, save for one blowhard. New York Yankees Senior Vice President, Hank Steinbrenner, is turning out to be a bigger jerk than his father, sealing my continued distaste towards the team in pinstripes for the foreseen future.

Last week, Steinbrenner decried that the MLB playoff system, where division winners are guaranteed entry in the postseason, is unfair.

The biggest problem is the divisional setup in major league baseball. I didn't like it in the 1970s, and I hate it now. Baseball went to a multidivision setup to create more races, rivalries and excitement. But it isn't fair.

This is easily a 'sour grapes' moment as the Yankees will be left watching the chase for the World Series from home, thanks to the bad management decisions they have made. Others have also pointed out that Steinbrenner is a pretty big hypocrite for making the complaint now.

Not fair? Please. Every major sport has divisions, which are geographically based and allow for teams from each area of the country the chance to compete for a championship. Equal opportunity is a good thing, except for those whose chances of winning is greatly increased by their ability to spend money without consequence. The business of sports is better served with the way the playoff system is set up. Steinbrenner needs to shut his mouth and stop being an idiot.

Integrity of the Game?

In the heat of closing playoff races, Marlins manager, Fredi Gonzalez, insisted that he'd play his regular players in the final series of the season against the New York Mets for the "integrity of the game."

This is all fine and dandy with me. Being a Nationals fan, I find solace, albeit not a lot, in rooting for my team to play the spoiler. Too bad they were too busy failing, and got swept by the Phillies.

On the other hand, Cubs manager, Lou Piniella, publicly stated that he was going to rest some of his players having clinched a playoff spot. Is this to insinuate that Piniella has no integrity for the game of baseball? Hopefully not. Piniella has endured some criticism for this move, all of it is unjust.

The ultimate goal in sports is to win. Winning brings glory and dollars. So, whether a contender risks playing its players when it does not matter, or if a team with no chance decides to take a look-see at next year's prospects over playing regular starters when it matters to the opponent....neither has anything to do with the integrity of the game. It's all about the choices a franchise has the right to make in order to benefit themselves, in a manner they see fit, in the business of sports.

Antawn Jamison is tired of hearing talk about it and wants Andray Blatche to be about it

photo from nba.com/wizards

Silly, zany, wacky.....all terms used to describe Washington Wizards media day. Laptops are even blowing up because of it.

>> DeShawn Stevenson is swagger jacking Lil' Wayne and claiming originality.....Lemme guess, Stevenson's next wrist band will say, "Misunderstood ain't gotta be explained," or perhaps "Bling, Bling." (Just go listen to 'DontGetIt' (some call it 'Misunderstood') on Lil' Wayne's Tha Carter III - or just check the lyrics here.)

>> The key part of the body is the wrist:

• DeShawn Stevenson is debuting his 'Wristbands That Don't Make Sense' line (above link from the DC Sports Bog).
  
• Dee Brown has a superman wristband.
• Antonio Daniels did not have surgery on his troubled wrist, but it's feeling okay....even though he will wear a light brace.
  

>> Caron Butler is making bold claims: "If healthy, we're the best team in the Eastern Conference," Caron Butler said. "That's how I feel. Hands down, we're the best team in the Eastern Conference if healthy."

I've suggested that the team slogan be changed from 'Character, Commitment, Connection' to just a big 'IF' on a billboard.

>> Oh yea, Gilbert Arenas ducked out a side door and didn't speak with any members of the media on Media Day.

>> But the most important part....how much maturity has Andray Blatche gained over the summer? I have my reasons (basically, we've been waiting the longest for him) for voting Blatche (over Nick Young) as the Wizard who needs to step it up the most in Gilbert's absence on Bullets Forever.

Let me just put the excerpt from Ivan Carter's Media Day Entry on Wizards Insider:

When we chatted with Andray, he swore that he's "more mature" this year and hungry to break out and really tap into his potential.

When this was related to Antawn Jamison, he responded by shooting me with a look that effectively said "We'll see."

Jamison then talked about Andray: "He says he's a veteran. He says he's matured. He says he's ready for the task. He has to show us. I mean, like you guys, the excuses and hearing the same thing at the start of every season, it goes in one ear and out the other. It's time to show it."

In Mike Jones' version, both Haywood and Jamison snicker at Andray's talk. We will see indeed.

Too much thinking.....not enough doing, 'Dray.

photo from nba.com/wizards

Ernie Grunfeld's Hidden Gems - Is Juan Dixon One?

photobucket - TheCoolest404

I'm not sure if Ernie Grunfeld is good at chess, but when it comes to generally managing an NBA franchise, he has a knack for moving around pawns for the benefit of the program (not to trivialize the fill-in pieces which are crucial to a team's end of the bench by calling them 'pawns').

A Michael Ruffin here (yea, he was the definition of a role player, but always did what was expected of him....well, except for this of course - Best game ever as a Wizard? Game 1 of the 04-05 season when Ruffin pulled down 11 boards, scored 6 points, and blocked 7 shots in a win at Memphis....to say the Wizards were short-handed that night would be an understatement: Kwame Brown, Etan Thomas, and Steve Blake were on the injured list; Gilbert Arenas, Larry Hughes, Brendan Haywood an Anthony Peeler were all suspended from a pre-season fight with the Chicago Bulls)....Note: The Memphis game was also Antawn Jamison's first game as a Wizard - 45 minutes, 34 points, 8 rebounds.

A Brevin Knight there (more about getting rid of Jahidi White's bloated body and contract).....Knight averaged 4.3 points, 3.2 assists, and 1.6 steals filling in here and there, appearing in 32 games, starting 12, before being released and later picked up by the Milwaukee Bucks.

A Billy Thomas here (a CBA call-up/10-day contractor -- who, in a late March 2006 game at Sacramento, with Gilbert Arenas so sick with the flu he couldn't leave the hotel, and Caron Butler leaving the game in the 3rd quarter to get stitches in his forehead, came off the bench to score 14 points and snag three steals.

A Roger Mason, Jr. there (we already know what he can do/did)

Ok, perhaps I'm using the word 'gem' a little bit liberally.

In Steps Juanny Dixon

In case you didn't know, the Wizards signed Juan Dixon to a partially guaranteed deal for the $1.03 million veterans minimum. Call him a fill-in, call him a stop-gap, just don't call him shy when it comes to jacking shots. Dixon is clearly better than your average fill-in. He's an NBA vet, a Wizards vet, and a proven commodity in being able to ignite the hometown crowd....let's not underestimate that.

Will he be better than Roger Mason? The Pradamaster at Bullets Forever makes a good argument that he will not. However, Dixon was quoted in the Washington Times as saying, "Roger and I are similar players. He's a little bigger than me, but we can do the same type of things off the bench, so I felt confident that I'd have a good chance to come back here." In any case, Dixon is seemingly the best option available, considering the limited salary cap flexibility.

In pondering Washington Wizards role players, a big concern of mine was having a long distance scoring threat off the bench. Sure Nick Young has given us glimpses of being able to create his own shot, but he hasn't done a lot to attract the confidence of Wizards fans. But after Young, who's left in the backcourt? Dee Brown? He's got scoring anemia. Also consider that Gilbert Arena's starting replacement at the point guard, Antonio Daniels, is Brick City from the outside, and I'm not talking about Redman's stomping grounds of Newark, New Jersey.

Some have welcomed back Dixon with memories of Terrapin glory, some wonder if Dixon's homecoming will have enough of a significant effect on the Wizards to be on par with the excitement of DC locals.

So is Juan Dixon the answer? Not necessarily, but he's an answer. Two things Eddie Jordan's pro-style Princeton offense depends on is distributorship and movement. With Dixon's previous experience as a Wizard, he can provide both. So eff the defense, let's go score some points....assuming Juan can pull the reigns on jacking and serve the team as he claims he can, "I'm capable of initiating the offense, getting guys the ball in the right spot and taking it from there."

Other Rough Precious Stones?

In other news, the Wizards have invited a Taj and two Johnsons to training camp. For all you need to know about MacCullough, DerMarr and Linton, Bullets Forever is your one-stop shop.

DerMarr Johnson is obviously the most intriguing prospect. The scouting report on DerMarr isn't the biggest endorsement. But actually, Johnson might be a better, lower-risk option than the Darius Miles idea. For one, he's better suited for work at the SF than Miles, as DerMarr has more of an outside game. [I love how Johnson's per 36 minutes numbers on Basketball-Reference indicate that in his five games with the San Antonio Spurs last year, he attempted 11.6 threes, making 3.9 of them.]

Plus, DerMarr is from DC, so he's coming home.....he already knows all the good night spots.......wait, aww crap. Hmm....maybe this is Andray Blatche's opportunity to take someone under his wing, kinda like that Saved By The Bell episode where they had to be parents to an egg, except this egg has an I.D. that says he's over the age of 21.

Was Re-Upping Eddie Jordan A Good Move?

When the Washington Wizards decided to pick up the third-year option on Coach Eddie Jordan's current contract, extending him through the 2009-2010 season, I thought, "Well, that's a little random."

There have been questions about Jordan's status from year to year.....whether it be general disapproval from fans, the fact that he wasn't an 'Ernie Grunfeld' selection, or that Jordan's hand-picked assistants were only renewed on a year-to-year basis.

I've been a staunch supporter of Jordan. Sure there are issues, as I outlined in his evaluation. But I factor in his DC resume, and an appreciation that for the last four years, I haven't had to cross my fingers when ping-pong balls start mixing in late May.

But in terms of the timing, I was perplexed as Prada at Bullets Forever....why now? Perhaps my curiosity was more the result of surprise at the unexpectedness of the re-up. But after further pondering, it was a good move by GM Ernie Grunfeld and Owner Abe Pollin.

With the state of Gilbert Arenas' knee, the team had to shift focus towards a more pragmatic approach. Sure, fans are ready for the team to advance past the 2nd round of the playoffs....statim. But now, a one-year plan for the desired playoff advancement is more realistically a two-year plan. Would the Wizards have exercised the option on Jordan had Arenas not gone under the knife for a third time? I'm not so sure.

No one is giving up on the upcoming season, evidenced by inking a stop-gap solution in Juan Dixon as an insurance policy for the investments already made towards 2008-09. And expectations surrounding the significant development of Wizards youth, especially Andray Blatche, need not be tempered. The Wizards can accomplish the mission this year, as long as the team is able to tread water before the return of Arenas (assuming he will be healthy....and right now, that's really hard to do).

As history has shown us, Tuff Juice, Jamison, Antonio Daniels & Co. are capable of hoisting the sails and steering the ship through tumultuous waters. But the weather of an NBA season can be unpredictable. The players resonate with Eddie Jordan as their coach. Knowing that the franchise will be more towards a state of constancy than flux with the same instructor at the chalkboard....at least for the next two years....the Washington Wizards will be better prepared for continued growth as a team.

Too Many Sellout Cowboy Fans in DC

flickr/jmj1000

In the artistic sense of the word, sellout, according to UrbanDictionary.com, means:

• When an artist changes their play style to make more money

Let's equate artist to sports fan, play style to hometown pride, and make more money to wanting more wins.

Sure, everybody likes rooting for a winner. But you don't ostracize your hometown team from your sports loyalties to wagon-jump and chase championships, especially to run into the arms of rivals. This will be a rule for my unborn son.

Washington, DC is a transient city, everyone knows this, but the number of Dallas Cowboys fans from DC is baffling, embarrassing, and a disgrace. They are all going to sports hell where men's tandem figure skating and that Olympic horse dancing sport are the only options.

I Caught Hell For Picking Arizona To Win
Immediately after the game, I got several text messages reminding me how I said the Skins were going to lose to the Cardinals (I actually said this when hope looked lost during a stretch of the Saints game). In my office pool, I picked the Skins to beat the Giants and then to lose to the Saints in week 2 (the only NFL game I missed that week). I picked the Redskins to lose to the Cardinals in week 3 too (but didn't fare so well in the pool). I'm not much of a superstitious person, but if it works, it works.....now that I've negated any opposite luck that was going....

Did Stephon Heyer Warrant A Penalty, Costing Devin Thomas His First Career TD?
As the debate goes on at Mr. Irrelevant, my thoughts: At first, it didn't look deserving of a penalty. For all Stephon Heyer knew, Jason Campbell was still scrambling and was making a legal block. Fox's booth team of Kenny and Moose cited Heyer hitting the side of an unaware Darnell Dockett. It's still a tough call, but upon reviewing the video a couple times, I don't blame the refs from throwing the flag. Heyer seemed more concerned with hitting Dockett than even knowing the result of Campbell's bootleg. His back was to the play for longer than it seemed necessary, making it appear as if Heyer was simply going after Dockett (perhaps in retaliation, but still...don't get caught).

Other Notes
As evidenced by a certain someone among the day's losers, it's my desire to see more of what Chris Horton has to offer than the other guy.

Durant Brooks Can't Win, and it's looking more and more like Derrick Frost was right about Cerrato.

"He scared me. He matured me, how about that."
- Durant Brooks

Slow End of Summer? Gilbert Arenas to the Rescue

flickr/wizardsdotcom

You don't realize it until you realize it. Here we were, the end of summer creeping to a close. Football, baseball, football, baseball....NBA basketball? Meh.

Wizards basketball? Sure Nick Young's progression, speculation on who to sign (such as this guy, this guy, or this guy), fashion modeling gigs, etc., are nice for fodder. Even resigning Jamison and Arenas brought a ho-hum, casual "keeping the status quo" attitude, mostly from the national Canadian media.

Something had to be done. Drastic news had to be made. What could get Washington (at least the sports scene) buzzing about a basketball player in the middle of the Redskins' hold on the top 10 WaPost stories (ok, so Gil loses there), and a historical Presidential race? What could get a traffic surge to Agent Zero: The Blog File that would rival the DC area's mixing bowl at rush hour with an overturned tractor-trailer of live chickens to boot? What could get the real estate around District Columbia water coolers worn from the topic of basketball, of all things, in early September?

Gilbert Arenas can.

Now, It would be absurd of me to think that Arenas scheduled a knee surgery around optimal headline grabbing time. No, I'm completely sure that the timing we've been sold by et al. was the expected and right thing to do all along. Then again, how am I not to feel that the tight-lipped nature from Ernie Grunfeld and Co. over this matter is not akin to a George Bushian "massaging" of the information? Think the press conference announcing Gil's new contract as the equivalent to landing on an aircraft carrier and proclaiming the war to be over.

What other conclusion am I supposed to come to? How did we go from "Rehab's good, cool as a fan....Big Three, 82 games, healthy like a health nut," [sure I'm paraphrasing] to shocking everyone by announcing after-the-fact surgery and a hiatus for the duration of 2008 with Brian Fellows-esque enthusiasm, to acting surprised from the resulting reaction?

Arenas: "Yea, the knee was like this the whole time...What? Ya'll didn't know? You're messing with me, right? You mean, you didn't receive a copy of the latest script? Damn, dog....I thought you were in on the process....my bad. -- 'Hey Ernie Gruns! They're saying that they didn't receive the updated script....you know, the plan about me being out until January and everyone going into the vault and opening up the folder that says "Contingency Plan A"? Yea, that one....naw, they didn't know about it.'" [Didn't seem like Contingency Plan A, Antonio Daniels, was aware.]

Ok, so that is not an actual Gilbert Arenas quote from his latest blog entry, The Story Behind Surgery #3, which is ironically, one of his most sensible posts. And I feel for the guy, I really do. I can't fathom what it's like for Gil to experience setback after setback....we're all aware of the total injury timeline and the misplaced optimism that has come with it.

But to drop such a bombshell and then wonder why everyone's "tripping" is even more baffling. The Pradamaster spelled it out pretty well at Bullets Forever. So which is it more...is Arenas so out of touch that he's unable to comprehend the natural reaction of fans, or is he so into himself and his addiction to attention that it doesn't really matter? In the end, maybe Wizards fans weren't promised anything....this is, after all, Agent Wacky Pants we're talking about....but we made summertime assumptions that no news was good news. I guess disappointment is what we get for assuming in the first place.

Did Michael Beasley Stop Snitchin'? What Would 'Melo Do?

The main stream headlines read, Beasley fined $50,000 for involvement in Rookie Transition Program incident [ESPN.com], saying that NBA Rookie, Michael Beasley, "originally failed to cooperate," but "eventually chose to reveal that he was part of the incident."

What incident you say? Well, you should know as it's been covered here: NBA FanHouse (Matt Moore), and here: Hardwood Paroxysm (Ron Mahoney), with photos here: The Big Lead.

Basically, the blogosphere has used the NBA more than doubling the fine of Mario Chalmers and Darrell Arthur for Beasley to deduce that he was hiding in the closet, most likely kicking it to Method Man and Redman, and acting like a horny teenager....sounds like a fun party, except the wrong place, at wrong time.

Beasley tried to keep his involvement under wraps, but facing David Stern carries more consequence than facing an AAU coach, high school principal, or even parents. The Commish is going to hit that pocket book....or most likely in Beasley's case, a Sponge Bob wallet attached to his jeans with a chain.

Did Beasley snitch on Arthur and Chalmers? Not really, they already got caught red-handed. Did Beasley snitch on himself? Eventually. And Carmelo Anthony at one point of his life would not have approved, but we all have an 'eventually.'

Beasley was all set to star in the sequel,
but ended up ripping into his favorite shirt.

For the Washington Wizards and Gilbert Arenas, SOS Means 'Same Ol' Shhhh _ _'