CNBC Sports Business Reporter Darren Rovell recently revealed that in late December 2009, the NBA suspended production of retro Washington Bullets merchandise as a result of ‘Locker Room Gun-Gate 2009-10: A Gilbert Arenas-Javaris Crittenton-John Wayne-Peter Vecsey Story.’
Now, Rovell reports that, “the league has approved licensees to make retro Bullets items again.”
In TruthAboutIt.net’s never-ending quest to search for the truth, about it, site investigators have discovered the behind the scenes process of removing Washington Bullets retro items from production. The following footage has never been seen before, ever. I’m talking never. Except for now.
Click the image below to begin your journey
(RSS feed readers, you have to actually come to the site … it’s an animated GIF ‘n’ stuff.)
Gazo the Prankster just never made it to the big screen, or internet screen, or any screen. But you could certainly tell that the cartoon rendition of “Gazo” was modeled off the same blueprint as Gilbert Arenas.
On Friday, in the aftermath of the mythical Gazo the Prankster serving as a character witness for Arenas (via The Washington City Paper), the mold for the cartoon appeared in cartoon form … well actually, “illustrated” with some sort of art medium.
It’s not exactly the Gazo the Prankster kids might watch, but the courtroom sketches of Gilbert may be the closest we ever come to seeing him in cartoon form. Here they go.
Here, Arenas seems to be shrugging his shoulders, with a tinge of Alfred E. Neuman. The cartoon version of Judge Robert Morin seems to be an elder Keith Olbermann-looking kind of fellow, with perhaps a little bit of a perm up front.
In case you missed it last week, NBA commish David Stern strolled into a Harlem barbershop and displayed a skill he’s masterfully crafted, that of the silver-tongued politician. Watch for yourself.
I love how he tells almost everyone “you are right,” before making his own point, or says things like “good question,” while avoiding being patronizing.
Funny, when I say those things in public I come across as a condescending S.O.B. … guess I shouldn’t be telling the homeless guy ‘good question’ after he asks me for some change.
Now that the greatest Olympics of my lifetime (of 28 years) has concluded, it’s time for me to wonder, why do team sports get slighted in terms of medal events?
The dedication it takes for one to succeed at an individual event is truly amazing. All of the worldwide buzz and attention shed upon Michael Phelps and his accomplishment of eight gold medals is more than justified. At no point have I felt over-saturated with the media coverage surrounding Phelps.
However, something must be said about the unity and cohesion it takes to succeed as a team. It’s a display of the true human spirit of being able to work together to accomplish one goal. In my opinion, this is more difficult to achieve than striving for Olympic success alone….if only slightly, because my intent is not to subtract from individual competition.
Focusing on swimming, there are 14 individual medal events and three “team” relay events for both men and women. In comparison, basketball and other team sports have only one shot, each for men and women, in a tournament style medal chase. I’m concentrating on basketball because it is my favorite sport (and this is a Washington Wizards based blog), but basketball is also unique compared to other team sports in that you can practice many skills of the game by yourself. Granted, 12 total gold medals are doled out to each individual member of the winning basketball team.
As an NBA fan, I want to believe that the fix wasn’t in. But as an NBA fan, I really don’t care. I’m still going to watch the games and the NBA will continue to be the Grade A of my favorite sport.
David Stern simply wanted to make more money. If Donaghy’s rhetoric is true, then the Commish has made his own bed….and should sleep in it, as he has potentially over-stepped his bounds in an unfathomable manner.
Stern has done a ton to promote basketball, and not just the NBA: Globalization of the sport, subsidizing the WNBA, the dress code, NBA Cares program, a tightly kempt Wikipedia profile. I still maintain that Stern is the best commissioner in sports, but if the turd hits the fan, will he continue his 20-year-plus year reign at the helm?
Gotta have money to make money, right? To get that capital for expansion, you need ad revenue. To get ad revenue, you need ratings. To get ratings, you need the involvement of the major media markets. But is this necessarily true? Sure Stern’s heart may have been in the right place, but did he have the wrong fix?
Want ratings? Instead of promoting big markets and star players, how about fixing all games to eliminate blowouts? It sounds exciting. Seems like people would catch on and want to watch regardless of the match-ups…..especially if this “phenomenon” led to more seven game series in the playoffs.
