Blogrolling Needs A New Arena

Won't you please save a word today? Me, I'm going with boreism, or possibly namelings to describe the dozens of Ramerizi in MLB.

NY Yankees Rumors.com has dozens of photos of the new yard, which looks really big and very expensive -- shocking, I am sure. His caption for the photo above ("It’s like an all Yankees Cooperstown") either shows that he's never actually been to Cooperstown, or that I'm very bitter, or both.

The latest NBA Teams are on the move post from Fanleader.com, by way of the Boston Globe, has the Kings and Pacers looking for greener pastures. The Kings are said to be going to Anaheim, which probably makes more sense than their usual destination of Las Vegas, given how the Association has issues with that town, and they really don't have an arena that's up to standards.

As for the Pacers, let's just say that Ron Artest killed basketball in that state, and be done with it. In reality, the rent on Conseco Fieldhouse is $15 million per year, and this is in all likelihood just a negotiating ploy on the plight of a bad team that is currently last in the league in attendance.

It's said that the Pacers have lost money in 26 out of 28 years, so maybe it's more than just Testy, but it just sounds right to blame him, doesn't it? (As for where they will go... the usual suspects now are Kansas City, Seattle and, again, Vegas. But if freaking Indiana can't support an NBA team, doesn't that just make you wonder if any place can?)

30 teams have passed on Barry Bonds, but it's news when the Red Sox do it. Of course, the Bahstons were definitely always going to stay away from him, since he's a steroid user and all.

We Are Unhappy With Scoop Jackson

And continuing in the theme of If A Guy Works For A Media Conglomerate, His Opinion Must Be Better Than Ours... well, Scoop Jackson's usually better than this, so I'm not even going to link to it, but still.

He managed to milk a column out of the idea that people give Isiah Thomas too much grief, and Larry Bird not enough, as terrible, terrible GMs. This has, of course, led to the usual backlash.

Now, Scoop? If you really want to point out the corollary of white ex-star player who is now a terrible GM, why wouldn't you pick Kevin McHale? The man blew five -- five! -- number one draft picks for the right to prostrate his franchise over Joe Smith. They dealt Kevin Garnett for the guts of a terrible team, just to get him out of the conference. The best players that they could get for KG in his entire tenure in Minnesota were multi-team retreads and world-class head cases Sam I Am and Spree the Yachtsman. Seriously, take the lay up.

But no, you had to go take down the Legend, giving everyone the easy out of just blaming Testy -- never mind, of course, that Larry seems to continually fail to make the right choice on Character Issues.

Look, no one's arguing with you that any ex-NBA star, with the contested exception of Darko Dumars, hasn't been utterly terrible at the job. But just as there is a difference between Mussolini and Hitler, Tiffany and Britney, or gonorrhea and syphilis, there is Any Terrible GM and Isiah. That's just how special he is, really.

Befuddling NBA Free Agent Signings

This post is in honor of the Phillies player with perhaps the best nickname ever in the history of the franchise, Pearce "What's The Use" Chiles. (Hat tip, Ron Schuler's Parlor Tricks, a fine blog for people who like old-time baseball criminals. I eat that stuff with a fork.)

Past NBA posts in this off-season have stressed the idea that NBA General Managers are captivated by brand name players -- to wit, that they'll overpay for a known quantity, rather than roll the dice with a younger, cheaper energy guy. Or that they'll just break the bank for role players, then wonder where the cap money went.

As a Sixers fan, we can just call these the Kevin Ollie All-Stars -- scrubs that no one would ever win with, without any real promise for the future... and yet they're getting contracts. Because in the NBA, Players Nine Through Twelve are all about getting along. Pearce Chiles will have more to do with whether these teams win or lose than these guys.

Here's the list that I'm sure will grow soon...

Bulls sign Joe Smith. I guess he's here to teach Ty Thomas and Joakim Noah. Funny, I thought that was the job of, um, coaches.

Mavs resign Devean George. 2000 was a long time ago, and he wasn't good then, either.

Denver signs Chucky Atkins. Because old point guards are kind of like old left-handed relievers in baseball -- you can be crappy for a long time before everyone finally gets wind and stop paying you.

Indy signs Kareem Rush. Well, sure. Devean George not being available and all.

Milwaukee signs Jake Voskuhl. Well, he'll give them more than Yi. Can they sign Jake Tsakalidis as well, so they can do the whole identical twin tag team and befuddle the refs? I'm still waiting for someone to get the Collins brothers back together and try this.

Phoenix signs Sean Marks. This one makes sense, actually -- it helps them corner that all important Australia / New Zealand fan base.

Utah signs Jason Hart. This hurts me, as a fellow 'Cuse man, but Jason my man... you are the new Rick Brunson. Rent, don't buy.