Remember this commercial?

It was filmed in August 2007 and released later that year on November 5th.

At the time of filming, Arenas was battling back from his first knee surgery resulting from the original injury that occurred on April 4, 2007. He would appear in the Wizards’ first eight games of the 07-08 season before shutting it down for a second surgery on November 21st.

Young, starting his second NFL season, was benched for the Titans’ preseason opener against the Redskins because he left the team’s hotel the night before the game. He had an okay 2007 season, helping guide the Titans to a 10-6 record and a playoff appearance. Tennessee lost to the San Diego Chargers in the wild card game.

Trouble came to a head for Young in late 2008. In a span of a week in mid-September, he was booed by his hometown fans in the season opener, injured his knee, disappeared with rumors of suicide contemplation, and was ultimately relegated to the bench. Titans coach Jeff Fisher named Kerry Collins the starter for the rest of the season.

During the same time period, Arenas’ struggles to return to the court continued and culminated with his third knee surgery on September 17, 2008. He would make a brief two game return to the court in the Spring of 2009, but really wasn’t “back.”

It’s worth mentioning that without Young in the lineup, the Titans went 13-3. Without Arenas, the Wizards had a 19-win season, tying the worst 82-game slate in franchise history.

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{Post Game Locker Room Video}

{Best Web Cuts}

There’s so much out there on the web … to filter through it all, I provide the best web cuts from the Wizards-Nets game:

[Mike Jones - Wizards Outlet, Washington Times]

Andray Blatche was feeling good tonight, and for good reason. After the game he got dressed in a snazy suit and tie, accented by giant diamond studs and to top it off, a pair of dark shades. He playfully strutted through the locker room and joked that he didn’t feel like doing an interview, then bust into a laugh and sat down and said, “Alright, let me get for real. What’s up, y’all?”

[Jake Whitacre - Bullets Forever]

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Andray Blatche looked more comfortable than he ever has in a Wizards uniform en route to a new career high 30 points and a Wizards 123-104 win against New Jersey. Sure, he had Yi Jianlian and Eduardo Najera guarding him. But Wiz fans are used to Blatche being his own worst enemy, and not necessarily a Halloween nightmare to whomever is guarding him.

After the game, Flip Saunders praised Blatche for his methodical offensive movement, his ability to read the defense, and overall, his consistency to this point of the season. But no one is going to get too excited over the Blatche they’ve seen so far.

“As a player you have to understand that every game is a building block. I hope he continues to give us that consistency offensively but more importantly defensively,” said Saunders. When asked about the visions of Blatche that people haven’t seen before, Saunders responded, “He hadn’t seen it either.”

On media day, Blatche spoke first and foremost (and second-most) about a summertime concentration on his jump shot. One couldn’t help but wonder, ‘Is that really what he should be talking about?’

Evidently so. With the fluidity and smoothness seen in his jumper on Saturday night, it’s easy to understand why he was bragging so much about the work he’s put in.

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