[Meridian Hill Park - NW Washington, D.C. - K. Weidie]
Opening night is just about here, I’m pretty much at a loss for words. I’m just ready to sit back and watch basketball. Who knows what path this year’s team will take, we’ll find out soon enough that it might not matter … as long as they prove their hustle and growth.
LINKS!
I recently took part in a Wizards round-table, go check it out.
[DC Pro Sports Report]
[Gilbert Arenas gets some gum/candy for Lester Hudson. Watch out Lester! Tony Kornheiser says that candy could be POISON!]
Bullet Point Thoughts on Gilly …
So that Gilbert guy … you know what he did and you know he has been punished for it in the form of a fine (and likely old man giddiness via Tony Kornheiser … I bet old Tony popped a Viagra and everything when he heard Arenas lied to his coach).
[Ed. Note: I'm going to warn you. Rashad is about to divulge himself as a Philadelphia Eagles fan. Please, do not be outraged. I already knew this and it is okay. He's a fine young man (who's older than me) and you should not hold his fandom of a certain team about 140 miles north against him. Now Mr. Mobley is going to explain why the Bobcats are worth checking out, aside from wondering if Gerald Wallace is going to injure yet another Wizard. -Kyle W.]
I have been a Philadelphia Eagles fan since 1985 when I saw Randall Cunningham running and passing his way to superstardom. And although they have just one Super Bowl appearance and no titles during my 25 years of loyalty, my allegiance remains strong.
Unfortunately, since sports is mostly about business and not fan loyalty, some of my favorite players have left the Eagles via trade, free agency or waivers. Randall Cunningham retired as an Eagle and then unretired and played for Minnesota; Reggie White left for Green Bay via free agency; Terrell Owens was released and then he signed with Dallas; and just this past summer, Donovan McNabb was traded to the Washington Redskins.
ESPN’s John Hollinger and Chad Ford recently completed the latest edition of their ‘Future Power Rankings.’ (Found here, requires ESPN Insider). Like previous versions, they begin their rankings with the following introduction:
The Future Power Rankings are ESPN Insider’s projection of the on-court success expected for each team during the 2011-12, 2012-13 and 2013-14 seasons.
Each of the NBA’s 30 teams received an overall Future Power Rating of 0 to 1,000, based on how well we expect each team to perform in the three seasons following this season.
In determining the Future Power Rating, Hollinger and Ford rated each team in five categories. The sum of those ratings = a team’s Future Power Rating. From the article, here is an explanation of each category: Read more »
Recently, the two first-named Michelle Marie of YoungHollywood.com caught up with Antawn Jamison at some location in the world … and it wasn’t in a dark room featuring an old wooden table, an uncomfortable stool, and a solo Jamison sitting and sipping on some Jameson.
Marie asked ‘Twan how the Cleveland Cavaliers were going to transition without LeBron. The gist of his answer: “It’s going to be interesting.”
Indeed it is, Antawn, indeed it is. He also spit out some generic clichés such as, “It’s a business,” and “It’s not going to be easy.” I don’t think the Gentleman will ever change, and he shouldn’t. In any case, you can watch the video yourself via Yahoo! Sports.
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 »
It’s tough to truly remember Antawn Jamison’s time in D.C., yet hard to do it enough. Wish I were around to cover him when times were good, but this year had to happen. Still, Antawn did it with dignity. He did it with class, emulating the owner he looked up to so much. An owner whose family is making a classy move with a free “Living for the City” Stevie Wonder concert for some of the people touched by Abe Pollin’s spirit for his community. Antawn was the Gentleman Jamison. He deserves an Unsilent tribute. Hence, Jack Kogod (aka Unsilent Majority) of Kissing Suzy Kobler, and occasional Wizards correspondent for Mr. Irrelevant, (not to mention that he sits in some really good season tickets for a ton of Wizards games), agreed to share his thoughts. Here’s what @Unsilent had to say:
>>>>>>>>>
I miss Antawn Jamison more than I thought I would. When the house cleaning commenced I thought it would be Caron Butler I missed the most, but I was wrong. Of course I’m wrong a lot. I was wrong in my belief that the Wizards should have held on to the fifth pick in the ’04 draft to select Luol Deng (although I couldn’t be too upset with any trade that sent Jerry Stackhouse packing), and I was wrong to think that Jamison wasn’t the right guy at the right time. It only took one season for him to prove me wrong. Jamison made his All Star Game debut in that first season, and he helped lead the Wizards on a fantastic turnaround. The Wizards won their first playoff series of my lifetime that year, and that wouldn’t have happened without Jamison.
A lot changed in the years between the ’05 playoffs and the ’10 trade deadline, but Jamison never did. Throughout his time in Washington he was the most consistent player on the team, and one of the most reliable performers in the entire league (defensive shortcomings notwithstanding). There is a reason why Abe Pollin considered Jamison to be the Wes Unseld of the modern Wizards, because he have all of himself to the organization. I hope for nothing but the best from Jamison, just short of winning a ring of course. Afterall, he is a Cav now.
First, congrats goes to Thomas Pruitt and Wade Smith, the only two respondents to answer all nine trivia questions right. They both win a copy of the book. Also congrats to Marc Salmon, his email address was randomly selected from the entire pool of entries. Marc gets the lucky dice.
Now let’s go over the questions, answers and a bit of team history. In case you didn’t take part in the poll, I’m posting the answers at the bottom so you can take a guess at the questions if you feel so inclined.
#1 Which coach led the Washington Bullets in their ’97 1st round playoff matchup against Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls?
Most Washington Nationals probably couldn’t name a current Washington Wizard, aside from Gilbert Arenas and Andray Blatche, both likely more known for infamous reasons. Well, there is that National who recently attended a Wizards game, Nyjer Morgan, but he rooted for the other team.
However, couple of the newer Wizards, transplants from Dallas on what could be just a temporary stop in their careers, have no problem representing the local baseball team.
The Post’s Michael Lee reports that Josh Howard, who attended the Wizards-Knicks game Monday night in NYC, was sporting an over-sized all white Nationals cap afterward. And of course, there’s the picture of James Singleton above. He wore that red Nats cap after a loss to the Charlotte Bobcats, the infamous Blatche benching game.
But enough about that. Here’s some more Wizards and their hats from throughout the season: Read more »
Now that the franchise worst 16-game losing streak has departed, it’s time to remember the players who have departed the Wizards this season — via trade or release, not suspension or injury, and only those who actually received minutes.
Below you will find portraits of the departed along with their story from the night pictured and a video clip of a selected quote. Enjoy … I think.
