Ever wonder why they refer to F Street as “Fun” Street? This whole time, I thought it had something to do with the Wizards or Capitals….or the restaurants and bars in a revitalized area of Washington, DC.

Unbeknownst to me, the corner of 6th & F in Chinatown DC (yup, right next to the Verizon Center) is where undercover gigolos roam.

Gigolo….huh, sucka?

Yes sucka indeed…..evidently the Mayor of District Heights, Maryland, James Walls Jr. (also an associate minister at a Baptist church), was arrested on the corner 6th and F late last night for doing the Buffalo Stance soliciting an undercover male prostitute. You can read the story here on the WashingtonPost.com. I guess Jimmy wanted to get ripped a new one just like the Cleveland Cavaliers.

My first thought….keeping the stereotypical image of cops in mind….was who the hell is Cathy Lanier hiring these days? Then, as the story goes, I found out that Mayor Walls offered the undercover cop $40 bucks for his “services.” Hmmm….doesn’t seem like much. I imagine that this cop looks like the combination of the following three people:

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This is not so much a game 3 preview as it is a festival of related links and the best words from them. I’ve read them all and can vouch for each and every one. Enjoy.

flickr/wizardsdotcom

Good Words to Start
>> “We have to channel all of our aggressiveness, all of our excitement and all of our bravado into being organized within the team framework.” [Eddie Jordan via WashingtonWizardsBlog]

>> “Discipline first is self control. Discipline second is The Enforcer. If you can’t control yourself, The Enforcer must control it, and that’s me.” [Eddie Jordan via DC Sports Bog] – Oh yea, same link….Caron Butler shaved a message in the back of his head.Advocating to use Roger Mason Junior as the “enforcer” because of his “super human strength.” [Basketbawful]

>> Great piece on the upbringing of Roger Mason aka The Silent Assassin [Jon Siegel, Washington Times]

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Put yourself in this all too familiar situation: You see a player on the team you root for commit a foul on an opposing player going for a shot…..but the foul isn’t strong enough. Actually, the foul is rather clement as the opposing player brushes it off and scores the basket, And 1. What do you say to yourself? “If you’re going to foul the guy, don’t let him get a shot off!”

My truthful opinion: Brendan Haywood’s foul on LeBron James deserved a flagrant 1 and not a flagrant 2.

But…..I understand why the referees felt the need to toss Haywood from the game. And don’t worry, I’m not pulling the “Superstar Call/David Stern Conspiracy” card. At that point in the 3rd quarter, the refs had to do something, as they were well aware of the situation….. from the war of words off the court to the blade cutting tension on it. A message needed to be sent to both teams: crossing the line beyond ‘physical play’ will not be tolerated. Do I like being on the losing end of that message, and the game? Of course not.

I will contend that the act of Brendan Haywood’s foul was no worse that Anderson Varejao’s arm swipe at Andray Blatche’s head.

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Remembering history? Doomed to repeat it? Well, let’s hope these react quotes reverse karma in the direction of the Washington Wizards. Oh yea, a muzzle on Gil and DeShawn wouldn’t hurt either……..especially because I really don’t feel like putting together an ‘Egg on Our Face’ photoshop in the future.

If you dare, here’s the Wizards-Cavs game two blog on Bullets Forever.

React Quotes

“Last night, Washington decided to value physicality over skill, and in the process managed to lose the ability to do either effectively. [JakeTheSnake, Bullets Forever]

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As we all prepare for tonight’s game, especially in Cleveland where they will be handing out complimentary tissues to combat the flow of tears which will no doubt be shed from Cavs coaches, some type of Ohio King, and ‘mistake by the lake’ fans alike, I suggest that you buckle up for a good one. But first, go check out the ‘need-to-know’ game 2 preview from Bullets Forever.

Cleveland Cavalier Coach Mike Brown is a learned fellow, graduating magna cum laude from the Phil Jackson School of Using The Media to Politick for Whistles. Tonight’s referees will have David Stern’s tears-to-calls ratio chart on hand.

baby photo from flickr/pigstyave

Tonight: Gilbert Arenas is wrapped, bankrupt, and ready to go, Caron Butler is quietly focused, and Joe Smith scoffs at game one’s physicality…..as should you. [Wizards Insider]

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Matt from Hardwood Paroxysm recently posed some questions to a round-table of Wizards and Cavs bloggers. Here are my initial responses, stay tuned for the rest.

1. How is this time around going to be different from the other times you’ve met the Cavs in the playoffs? Last year was obviously a joke with the injuries, but the year before that was a pretty entertaining series. How confident do you feel right now going into this matchup?
Yea, I’m not counting last year. For the Wizards, injuries and lack of depth sealed their fate. So, I’ll compare this year to what happened in 05-06 when the Cavs took out the Wizards 4-2 in a thrilling series:

In the 05-06 playoffs, the Wizards struggled to field even a seven man rotation. Arenas, Butler (before he really came into his own) Jamison, Haywood, and Jared Jeffries were the series starters. We all loved the defense of Jeffries (at times), but that dude was soft like goo and couldn’t finish a layup to save his life…..not to mention that he wasn’t opening a damn thing inside with any sort of outside presence. Insert DeShawn Stevenson, the Lock Smith. Not only has DeShawn been a warrior, playing through a multitude of injuries this year, but he’s played great defense against some of the toughest match-ups in the league. Did I mention that Stevenson has drained 157 threes this year…only about 30 more than DeShawn made in his previous seven NBA seasons combined.

Bench please. In 06, it basically consisted of Antonio Daniels and several square pegs trying to fit into round holes: (total series minutes played in parens) — Billy Thomas (13:55), Etan Thomas (18:20), Michael Ruffin (69:36:), and Donell Taylor (3:12). You’re putting yourself behind the 8-Ball when Michael Ruffin is your key 7th man. And yes, I do realize that the bench time shortens during the playoffs, but that should not detract from the need to have kick-ass relief.

This year, you have Roger Mason Jr. aka Mase-ON, aka The Potomac Rainmaker, aka Dr. Trey, coming off the pine to confidently make buckets son. You also got your Darius Songaila, the Lithuanian Brawler, hitting jumpers, driving to the hoop, getting boards, and helping the offense tick. If up and coming Andray Blatche can stay out of foul trouble, he can contribute with energy, rebounds, blocks and passing. Oh yea, that Gilbert Arenas fella….Eddie Jordan has said that he’ll continue to bring Arenas off the bench during the playoffs — we’ll see if that lasts. I’m all for severely limiting the minutes of Nick Young, Dominic McGuire and Oleksiy Pecherov in the post-season.

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Charles Barkley threw the Wizards through a plate-glass window and spit on them like a little girl when he called Washington the “dumbest franchise in the history of civilization.”

flickr/vedia

Nowadays, when the Wizards talk, the ears of the media perk up, and the word on the street starts bubbling. Of course, we throw the entire Wizards team into the mix, but it’s really only two who are opening their mouths: DeShawn Stevenson and Gilbert Arenas. Their teammates are put in the position to back up their claims. Who knows what savvy vets such as Antonio Daniels and Antawn Jamison think of all the words. My gut feeling is that they don’t mind so much (and neither does Eddie Jordan). They’re competitors too and are just as ready to strap ‘em up and go to war on the court.

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We all know what transpired the last time the Washington Wizards and Cleveland Cavaliers really faced each other in the playoffs on May 5th of 2006. LeBron James talked trash to Gilbert Arenas before two crucial free-throws. Gilbert missed both. Damon Jones hit a deuce with four seconds left and the rest is history. Cleveland won 114-113 that night and took a very hard fought series in six games. Leaving the Verizon Center, my buddy Chris and I had only one choice: drink our troubles away in Chinatown with a boatload of scotch.

Even last year when the Cavs swept the Wizards without Gilbert Arenas and Caron Butler in the playoffs, all seemed quiet on the Eastern Conference front between Cleveland and Washington….until 2008. Below is the time-line of the trash talk that’s gone since.

flickr/wizardsdotcom

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flickr/wizardsdotcom

Here’s the ranks:

1) You must know that Bullets Forever has gone through a pretty kick-ass revamp. Stop waiting and go join the community. By the way, that’s where the Game 82 blog vs. the Orlando Magic will be tonight.

2) Wow, it’s been a whole five years since Michael Jordan played his last game as a Wizard. The crew at We Rite Goode has an excellent run-down.

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Ron Thompson on Comcast with his “Ronny’s” tonight…..some type of award with a creative nickname.

The Warrior Award: DeShawn Stevenson – agreed. My 2nd place would be Antawn Jamison
Most Improved: Roger Mason – agreed again. Just as Ron said, it was a difficult choice between Mase-ON and Brendan Haywood.
Mr. Dependable: Obviously Jamison.
Mr. Complete: Caron Butler
(I’m beginning to think that they selected players first, and then named awards according to their games.)
The Overachiever: Eddie Jordan – I’m caught on this award. I hate to call Eddie an “overachiever” for doing his job and being the good coach that I know he is, and whom I’ve supported, from Day 1.

Anyway, the game…

This is the Pacers ‘De La Soul’ game….you know, the Stakes Is High. If they lose, they can pretty much count on watching the playoffs from home. And that’s fine with me, I’d rather see the Atlanta Hawks step up to bat. The task won’t be easy, Danny Granger has been killing lately (much less being an upcoming Wizards Killer, a la Mo Williams) and both Gilbert Arenas and Caron Butler will be resting injuries tonight.

Quarter One

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