Antawn Jamison doesn’t get Twitter. Neither does my 70-year old dad (okay, he’s 69, will be 70 next June).

He, my dad, was recently in town and Twitter came up in the dinner conversation. I tried to justify its relevancy by citing how it provides those in the media, bloggers, such as myself, the ability to extend personal branding (as HRO would call it), and even more so, how it’s great for late-breaking news, especially in the sports world. I trailed off and cut the list of merits short after seeing the look on my dad’s face, not mentioning how I’ve actually made friends with people via Twitter.

My pops, mind you, is not completely tech oblivious. He does have a ‘net book’. And I suppose Antawn is in the same boat.

Tom Sorenson of the Charlotte Observer has the first Antawn Jamison, ‘Here I Am’ article of the summer. Sorenson recently caught up with the Gentleman Jamison at his basketball camp in North Carolina. You should read the whole piece, but here are a couple select quotes: Read more »

First the Reebok announcement, now his jersey number. John Wall has chosen to have a deuce on the back of his uniform next season, making us forget about all the other No. 2s who have ever worn a Bullets/Wizards jersey.

And all via Twitter. Look at John Wall leegggooo!!! He’s a Twitter news-making machine! He’s also interacting with fans by soliciting their opinion. Smooth marketing move.

John Wall’s Tweet is thy command (to Tweet back). So people did. And to get the immediate (at the time) pulse of yucks, comments and thoughts, let’s check some Tweets out.

First …..

Read more »

Evidently while in New York to face the Knicks in the Wizards’ final road game of the year, JaVale McGee stopped by FAO Schwarz to go shopping for some toys. We know this because he Tweeted it and shared the above pic of himself and a stuffed acquisition resembling his likeness … in Muppet form.

I could totally see JaVale trying to recreate that piano scene from Big while he was there … if he even remembers that movie. It came out the year he was born, 1988.

But the imaginary fun doesn’t end there. Cue the genius of the WizzNutzz in Tweet form …

Read more »

Despite his team just coming off a nice victory over the Bulls, Flip Saunders was curt when responding to the first query of Monday night’s post-game press conference.

“Josh Howard update?,” began a voice from the media corps.

“Knee,” Saunders deadpanned. “Know more tomorrow,” he followed. “I’m sure he’ll be out for a little bit,” the coach trailed off as he surveyed the room for the next question.

It’s hard to tell what Saunders really knew about what had been called a sprained left knee at that exact moment, judgment is usually withheld until an MRI is procured. But his demeanor regarding the subject spoke of a grim outlook, as if the worst was expected, as if the post-game diagnosis divulged a strong possibility that it was more than a sprain.

Read more »

I managed to survive the recent heavy snowfall in D.C., and all the cutesy names people were calling it — #SNOMG, Snowpocalypse, etc. — but in the process, somehow found myself taking a little break from writing/blogging. But now I’m back, and hopefully a bit refreshed and motivated to keep on keepin’ on through the rest of this season nightmare.

Apologies if, at times, I tend to get a little negative/overboard on this site, or on Twitter (mostly Twitter) … and no, I’m not writing this as a reaction to JaVale McGee, via Twitter, dubbing myself, Mike Prada of Bullets Forever, and Michael Lee of the Washington Post, “haters” after Friday’s game against the Magic, also suggesting that we should work for TMZ. (JaVale did this after re-Tweeting something that each of us had Tweeted, links below). Actually, I’m not reacting to anything anyone has said to me, just doing a little self-check here.

But back to McGee for second, I really don’t think anyone was “hating” on him, but rather commenting on game observations/understandably reflecting on frustrations. But if the feelings of young JaVale got hurt, then I suppose apologies are in order. I responded to his call-out with a couple Tweets of my own, nothing defensive, but mostly with a some classic music tracks. Others chose to remain silent with, perhaps, the intent of approaching McGee in person. All and all, it’s really a shoulder shrugging, no biggie situation. In other words, I could care less.

But back to my, at brief times, penchant for negativity (again, this is mostly on Twitter). It happens, oh well.  One must find a way to vent about witnessing frustrating, unacceptable effort while not going overboard … in addition to acting as a balance to the always positive light emitted from official team outlets (or the non-bias of main-stream media outlets). That’s what each of those entities are supposed to do, but speaking specifically in terms of the former, there are only so many ways to polish up a pile of crap before giving up because of the stink.

Read more »

I’m not sure of the exact time Gilbert Arenas’ Twitter account, @gilbertarenas, was removed from the Internet (sometime during the evening of January 7th, probably about the time Garrett Gilbert-Javier Arenas zingers were getting started Twitter), but I am sure it existed. I’m also sure that nothing can ever be completely removed from the web … such as a handy little RSS feed I had of Arenas’ tweets.

Over seven days Arenas shared 155 Tweets with the world (I don’t count the ‘non-Tweet’ videos he posted before he really got going on New Year’s Eve). He had some good ones, he had some interesting ones, he had some ‘I’m a silly little kid’ ones. I didn’t mind Arenas being on Twitter so much — it got blown out of proportion — but I doubt I would have done the same had I been in his position … or at least I would have been more apologetic/sensible (I’d like to think).

Then reader Sean Snider sent me a lesson for Gilbert that made perfect sense:

A little bird was flying south for the winter. It was so cold the bird froze and fell to the ground into a large field. While he was lying there, a cow came by and dropped some dung on him. As the frozen bird lay there in the pile of cow dung, he began to realize how warm he was. The dung was actually thawing him out! He lay there all warm and happy, and soon began to sing for joy. A passing cat heard the bird singing and came to investigate. Following the sound, the cat discovered the bird under the pile of cow dung, and promptly dug him out and ate him.

Read more »

Gilbert Arenas tweeted a lot as he brought in the new year. He acknowledged that his gun thing is serious, but that he doesn’t do serious things. He said the Shaq rumor wasn’t true, but indicated that even so, panties, blowies and massages were supposedly at his disposal. Arenas almost complains about the drama in his life, yet embraces it because it gives him the attention he so seemingly and desperately craves. He was just being the crazy (in a good way) Gilbert we know, but yet don’t quite understand.

There are a couple reasons to document Gilbert Arenas’ first 24-hours of Tweeting. For one, you might not be one of his 13,338 growing army of followers, students in the study of Gilbertology. Secondly, Tweets can be erased. This site isn’t going anywhere. And if it does, there’s still always the Internet Archive: Way Back Machine. Also worth considering: It’s quite possible that Gilbert Arenas will deny that he was behind his January 1st 2010 Tweets (@gilbertarenas is not currently a verified account). But knowing Gil (sorta), I doubt it.

During the height of Arena’s Tweets on New Year’s Day, while many were planting a palm-smack on their forehead or pleading with him to stop, I wanted Gilbert to keep going. Not because it provides good blogging fodder, although it does, but more because Arenas was being allowed to be human. Twitter offers celebrities such as him, and normal folks such as you and I, the unfiltered freedom to share thoughts, etc..

Sure, everyone should be careful what they say in a public venue, but with $111 million dollars on your side, you don’t always have to go tip-toeing over people’s sensitivities when it’s your own life. Who is to say that Arenas must shut himself up? Or speak through a mouthpiece, an agent, such as Drew Rosenhaus … could you imagine if he was involved?

Read more »

via Mike James’ Twitter …

But he seems like such a nice guy!…

{via Ned Dishman, WashingtonWizards.com}

Well … the preseason ended on a poor note Friday in Chicago. Meh. At least the Wizards’ preseason mantra of “It’s just the preseason” can no longer be used … cheers all around. Read more »

{flickr/Rick Austin}

Well, I started off trying to listen to the Wizards versus Hawks on DC’s 106.7 The Fan via the Internet. I heard some Randy Foye turnovers, heard him jack some threes and heard him get his shot blocked going to the rack (Foye led the NBA last season with a fifth of all of his inside shots being blocked).

I also heard the Hawks rain threes (4-4) and the Wizards turn the ball over some more (Andray Blatche had three). And this was all in the first quarter as Atlanta took a 35-18 lead.

Thankfully, technical difficulties spared me from listening to the rest as it only seemed to go downhill from there. The most telling stat(s) from the game? The Wizards’ plus/minus leaders were: Paul Davis +5, Vincent Grier +5, JaVale McGee +4, and Mike James +3.

Read more »

The battle for Wizards starting shooting guard is crucial. The backup power forward spot almost just as much, especially with Antawn Jamison nursing injury and little to show in terms of front court depth. The backup point guard position, however, is a relatively unheralded story.

The talented and rock-steady Randy Foye is thought by many to be the favorite to spell Gilbert Arenas. Foye is also in the mix to play off the ball some. But, there’s already quite a crowd competing at shooting guard with Mike Miller, DeShawn Stevenson, Nick Young and even Caron Butler factoring in.

And then there’s Mike James. With Javaris Crittenton currently out with a foot injury and an unknown timetable for return, some of the competition at point has been eliminated … or at least postponed. But with two DNPs in five preseason games, is James being given a fair shake?

Read more »