Posts tagged ‘media day 2009’

Last Monday’s Washington Wizards media day seems like such a long time ago.

In addition to me being there, blogging about DeShawn Stevenson’s new tats, the musings of Gilbert Arenas, and the ‘consistent’ goals of Andray Blatche, there was a ton of great coverage from Hoops Addict, Wizards Insider, Wizards Outlet, and Bullets Forever.

Now, after transcribing all of my interview recordings, I wanted to share some of the quotes/pictures that have been relatively unheard/unseen.

{Note: I will be in Richmond for training camp on Saturday and Sunday. There’s limited media access, but I’ll be updating some of the goings-ons via Twitter}

Back in late May, Mike Miller professed his ‘man-crush’ on LeBron James via Twitter. When coming across this sometime in early September, I thought, ‘okay, let’s give this guy the benefit of the doubt.’ For one, his proclamation occurred way before he joined the Wizards. And let’s be honest, despite my hatred of LeBron, the guy is a damn fine basketball player.

Unfortunately, Miller just doesn’t seem to know any better. It’s kinda like the greasy-faced tween-age boys who have crushes on Megan Fox. Grown men know better. Sure, most so-called grown men wouldn’t kick Fox out the bed, i.e., wouldn’t mind LeBron James on their team. However, neither of these happen without compromising personal beliefs (and cheating on whomever you’re with/your team … especially if you’re a Wizards fans, but a distaste for LeBron is growing around the league).

My point: LeBron getting “Chosen One” tattooed on his back is just as douchey as Fox getting Marilyn Monroe tattooed on her forearm. (Cavs fans, I know you’re wondering, where does getting Abe Lincoln’s face tattooed on the front of your neck fit in? I’m not sure, and I won’t even begin to explain.)

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Media day was the first time I’ve been around Andray Blatche in a public setting. From what I’ve gathered in the past, he’s not exactly a juicy quote machine. On Monday, he pretty much lived up to that expectation.

“Consistent” was Andray’s choice word of the day, repeating it several times, and mostly in reference to his jump shot. I found this to be a bit curious. In my evaluation of Blatche, I outlined how I’d rather him take less jumpers (or at least avoid ill-advised/forced ones).

If he can hit them, great/splendid/wonderful. Everyone likes a big man who can spread the floor. I just would have been more comfortable had Andray mentioned rebounding and defense as priorities.

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The media knew Gilbert Arenas was going to be first up to bat at media day, so they picked their spots and waited. When Arenas arrived with a full ‘mean-mug’ on his face, the rugby scrum for question asking and comment hearing positioning began.

Arenas started with a serious nature and short answers, but eventually opened up and talked about a wide range of subjects. Here’s the run-down:

Three-Hour Retirement Contemplation

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Back from the whirlwind of Washington Wizards media day ’09 and ready to blog it out. With much to transcribe, I’ll have a lot more in the future, but I wanted to get to something of utmost importance first, DeShawn Stevenson’s new tattoos.

(No, I don’t think this is really of the ‘utmost’ importance, but definitely the quickest/easiest/most fun to blog about.)

What does Abe Lincoln have to do with all this? Well, his face is one of Stevenson’s new tats … and it’s right on the front of his neck (jeez that seems painful), always looking right back at you.

Stevenson also has a backwards Pittsburgh Pirates logo on his right cheek and a Frankenstein-esque crack starting at his hairline and working its way down his forehead (not sure what happens if his hairline starts receding). Read more »