(picture via USA Basketball)

USA Basketball rolled into the nation’s capital this past weekend, taking part in a variety of World Basketball Festival events throughout the city. It all culminates with the U.S. men’s and women’s national teams facing off tonight at the Verizon Center against their counterparts from Brazil in a friendly exhibition. The men’s team held a “Hoops for Troops” practice on Saturday afternoon at D.C. Armory in front of 3,000 fans, many of them members of the armed forces. The team ran through 5-on-0 full court offensive sets, defensive drills, and had an intra-squad scrimmage. The special gathering had a “midnight madness” feel with a sprinkle of Wizards home game flavor. And, lest we forget, these are the best basketball players in the world going hard at each other; it was truly special to witness. (Additional coverage of this experience will be available in forthcoming posts.)

On Sunday, the men’s team held a practice at the Smith Center (George Washington University’s basketball arena), and it was briefly open to the media. The preparations are part of the USA Basketball tour that started in Las Vegas with this stop in D.C., along with appearances in Manchester, England and Barcelona, Spain, before ultimately arriving in London to defend their 2008 Olympic gold.

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I’ve been sitting on this post for a while, almost since Eddie Jordan got fired from his gig with the Wiz. Well, now that he’s at the helm of the Philadelphia 76ers, this is an appropriate time as ever to publish.

My feeling is that a majority of Wizards fans think Jordan was unjustly fired (or at least weren’t dancing in the streets when he departed), and that even more wish him well.

Count me among both of these groups. Although, when he was terminated, I wasn’t like, “OMG! What an injustice!”

I was more disappointed with the entire landscape of the team, and later resigned to it just being ‘one of those things’, and in the end, maybe it was best that both parties moved on. But we’ll never really know.

In any case, here goes my tribute to Jordan’s basketball career (to date).

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No one is going to question Wale’s allegiance to the DMV area. As he’s worked his way up through the mix-tape scene en route to his first studio production release, the DC-born/Largo, Maryland-bred rapper hasn’t lost touch with his roots, carrying the District’s Go-Go music genre with him along the way. Wale is the epitome of an up-and-coming rapper with snowballing nationwide appeal, and genuine staying power for a long time coming.

Wale has also stays touch with the DC sports scene. He’s rapped about Alex Ovechkin, among other DC sports figures, including Gilbert Arenas and Clinton Portis. He’s also appeared on ESPN’s First Take to rep DC sports, not to mention wearing the Nats’ Curly W while taking pics wit Lindsay Lohan. Wale puts on for the sports in his city … or so it seems.

Late Friday night, Wale twittered:

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If the Wizards’ play on the court wasn’t indication enough that this wretched season has long been over, causing some to yearn for the remaining games to be put out of their misery, then planned ‘End of the Season’ “celebrations” before, well, the actual end of the season, are a sure sign that it’s in the books.

Yes, the Wizards’ own model of concentration, hustle, and professionalism, Andray Blatche, will be hosting his “End of the Year” party…excuse me, “celebration”… this Sunday, April 12th, at “Josephine UltraChic Lounge“ in DC.

Oh, did I mention that the last home game of the year is the next day against the Raptors, with the finalé in Boston on the 15th?

Not sure how much “celebrating” of the season Andray will be able to accomplish, but if memories get him down, he can always head to his old Thomas Circle stomping grounds, literally a hop, skip and a fast-break travel and/or turnover away from Jospehine’s 1008 Vermont Ave. address, for some late night relief from a street walker….or undercover cop. Read more »

Just to make one thing clear, I do NOT read Perez Hilton…..the GF does and I get the occasional share via Google Reader. Still don’t believe me? Well, eff it.

One of Hilton’s “gimmicks” is to do things to photos of celebrities…..nasty things.

The audacity of this LeBron “Raymone” James….to throw a party in DC, the city he has done wrong with countless acts of douche-baggery.

I do not care for LeBaby James, a secret this is not.

Would Philly, or perhaps Boston, or even Detroit tolerate a LeDouche-Nozzle party in their wastelands? Who knows.

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Once again the presidential inauguration doesn’t have much to do with the Washington Wizards, except for the fact that everyone on the team, from players to coaches, wished they were in DC experiencing history.

I was there for you guys.

But…..if the Wizards were in DC, I’m pretty sure they’d be schmoozing it up close with clowns like P-Diddy, or even this interesting looking feller right here.

I, on the other hand, walked with the masses around the Washington Monument and the WWII Memorial…..it was cool (and pretty freakin’ cold too).

Pictures: A Google Reader ShareBro put me on a post from Gizmodo featuring the absurd shot below from the inaugural youth ball.

From the Gizmodo post: “…..people are more interested in taking photos of something they’re witnessing than actually, you know, witnessing it.”

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So What Does Milwaukee Think of Arenas……and D.C.?

To make it clear, I’m not here to bash Milwaukee. After Gilbert’s recent comments in regard to Brew City (covered here in Part I: Gilbert Arenas doesn’t like Milwaukee, and that’s good for the NBA), the citizens of that good land naturally were driven to rebut DC’s Agent Zero.

Milwaukee, tell us how you really feel:

OnMilwaukee.com Blogger, Jeff Sherman, comes to the defense:
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The 2008 Melbourne Homeless World Cup is right around the corner. Get tickets now if you would like to enjoy the Australian summer while taking in some transient action on the pitch.

While common sense reason would tell me otherwise…..living in Washington, DC, where the homeless presence has increased in the current economic environment, the idea of a Homeless World Cup, now in it’s 6th year, can’t help but conjure up some interesting images in my head.

I imagine spirited competition just like any other serious sporting event. However, instead of uniforms, participants are wearing tattered clothes, worn in upwards of eight layers. Perhaps there’s a guy trying to play while a hefty bag full of world possessions is in his grasp. Maybe the main striker wonders off the field during the course of play to pee in a glass jar. Instead of Gatorade baths, players squeegee each other off. The goals are over-sized grocery carts turned on their sides. Each player has homemade cardboard signs pinned to their back with name and jersey number…..some signs go on diatribes about implanted government chips. (Actually, if you are homeless and you make something yourself, can you really call it homemade?) In any case, perhaps the benches would be akin to the gentlemen in the photo below making comfortable use of a chain between two poles.

But the Homeless World Cup does have some interesting ‘Street Soccer’ Rules…including:

• If you’re homeless and younger than 16, no dice. So, a homeless man’s homeless Freddy Adu is left at home….or wherever……left to consider his self worth.
• You are eligible if you meet one of the following conditions:

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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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All Eyez on Green

The ingredients of a ‘Pac song:

1. Bitches? (a quote and not a derogatory reference) Check.
2. Weed? You realize you’re dealing with the clientele of Earth Day right? Ok, check.
3. Litter? (the aforementioned replacement) Double-check.

In spite of the rain, I decided to head south from my spot between Columbia Heights and Mount Pleasant to check out the District of Columbia’s Earth Day 2008. While I’m about 27 mental breakdowns and a house full of loose screws short of chaining myself to hugging a tree, it doesn’t mean that I’m not down for the cause of pro-consciousness/making sure I separate my recyclables, on the side.

Oh yea, it didn’t hurt that the Roots (along with Talib Kweli, Doug E. Fresh, Chrisette Michele, etc.) and Toots (along with the Maytals) were scheduled to perform. Actually, these acts were pretty much the only reason I took the trip (that whole getting out the apartment thing is nice too).

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