So That's Why The Kings Never Won...

I was a huge fan of that Kings team. Mike Bibby and Chris Webber were two of my favorite players in the league, and Vlade Divac was always good for a laugh due to his tendency to have the world's most hysterical flops.

This whole thing with former referee has to be troubling for the NBA. Many media people who were at the sixth game of the Kings-Lakers series where the Lake Show took something like 25 foul shots in the final quarter of play to win the game are going on TV and saying that everyone thought something was a little weird following the game. That's bad.

However, would anyone really be shocked if this was true? The rumors that have flown around the NBA since the Knicks getting Patrick Ewing and the "frozen envelope" have to come from somewhere. They don't exist in any other sports. It's only the NBA.

It's such a shame too because it's taking away the attention from a pretty good year for the league. The Finals have been fairly entertaining so far and with the amount of talent currently in the association, things were definitely looking up.

While I don't believe Tim Donaghy, the fact that anyone might is very troubling for the NBA.

This Couldn't Be Any More Annoying...

J. Brent Cox, who I have been raving about for some time now, has been put on the disabled list with shoulder Tendonitis. According to the New York Daily News, he was next in line to be called up to the Yankees bullpen.

Cox currently has an ERA of 0.73 and a WHIP of 0.81 in 12.1 innings of relief in Triple-A.

He's expected to miss about three weeks.

Checking In From Niner Land

I haven't wrote about football in a very long time. The reason is two fold; one, after the draft nothing really happens until training camp and secondly I have been consumed by this baseball season.

However, there are a few important Niner developments that are noteworthy.

I questioned the Niners draft this year because, at the time, a lot of the selections looked like they were for depth and the Niners did not take any "skill position" players early on (for a team that has been rebuilding for four years it's a tough pill to swallow.)

However, since they draft a lot has changed. Chilo Richal, a guard at USC (2nd round), has kicked out to Right Tackle. This gives Richal the fast track to a starting job, the starting right tackle is currently Jonas Jennings. Jennings is injury prone, has a huge contract and has been away from the team for most of the off-season. I don't think it's a stretch to say the he might not make the opening day roster.

On defense big ticket free agent defensive end Justin Smith has been working at Right Outside Linebacker. Now in a 3-4 the majority of your pass rush comes from this position, previously the Niners had free agent bust Tully-Banta Catin penciled in as a starter. It's impossible to say how Smith, who isn't regarded as an elite athlete, will adjust to the new position. The move does explain the decision to draft DE/DT Ketwan Balmer in the first round. Smith playing with his hand up more allows Balmer to take his spot on the defensive line.

I like these defensive adjustments. If nothing else it finally gives the Niners the personnel to run the hybrid 3-4 defense that Nolan ran in Baltimore.

In a 3-4 alignment the Niners defense will look like this:

Balmer/Franklin/Sopoaga
Smith/Willis/Ulbrich/Lawson
Clements/Roman/Lewis/Harris

In a 4-3 alignment:

Smith/Balmer/Franklin/Sopoaga
Ulbrich/Willis/Lawson
Clements/Roman/Lewis/Harris

If you notice all Smith has to do is switch from standing to a three point stance to change the front. The Niners should be able to throw a lot of different looks at offenses just from their base defense. Smith in therory would be like Adalius Thomas or Terelle Suggs.

And last but not least DeShuan Goldson. Last year Goldson was impressive before getting injured. Goldson, a converted cornerback, is a ball hawk. A "center fielder" type Free Safety. Rumor has it that he has in the inside track to the job over Mark Roman.

Goldson would complement Lewis, a more physical saftey, perfectly.

All in all I have high hopes for this Niners team.

Top Chef Finale: Why The Hell is Lisa still here?

Seriously, there is no reason that anyone who has been on the chopping block eight times should still be on the final three. That's like being just good to still suck. It's absurd. Then, to make it even worse, she incredibly annoying, and she blames every single problem that she has on someone else. "Who put my rice on high? You know, You could at least be happy for me."She even went as far as throwing my favorite chef on the show, Andrew, under the bus. I'm not even going to waste my time talking about her. She sucks. She has no shot.

The other two people are pretty evenly matched. Stephanie and Richard are both very good chefs. However, their is one key component to this match-up: Does anyone else feel like Richard is slowing losing it?

For those who are yet to figure out how great the show is, here's the breakdown: Richard is from Atlanta and had some very original techniques for cooking. For example, he smoked some meat inside of a plastic bag earlier in the season. Now, veteran Top Chef watchers know that this is a good way to ensure victory, mainly because the judges are always looking for something a little different.

However, about midway through the season, the judges just stopped being entertained by it. It just seemed like all of the charm faded away and soon Richard was on the chopping block. He went back to cooking a more conservative style, and has survived until now, but has drawn questions from the judges like "Isn't that a little boring for you?"

Now, he seems more nervous than ever every second of the show and seems like he is going to just snap and lose it. His competition, Stephanie, has never seemed anything less than gracious and cool, and has almost never been even close to the chopping block, as she wins quickfires and elimination challenges like it's nothing.

That's why she'll be the victor tonight. Is she the better chef? Probably not, however, She has never faltered at all during the competition. Last week, her sous chef (who happened to be one my favorite characters from the show, Dale) left meat for one her dishes out overnight and ruined it. She didn't panic, came up with a great idea and came away with a victory.

She was made for this. She deserves to win, and if she doesn't I'll be shocked. If Lisa wins, I'll just light myself on fire.

Tonight is a Fantastic TV Night...

And it starts as early as 3:55.

The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim will face the Tampa Bay Rays, and both teams will send their aces to the mound. That means you’ll be seeing a pitching matchup of John Lackey versus Scott Kazmir. Don’t know if you’ve heard, but they both are pretty damn good.

Later tonight at 10 pm, There is the Top Chef finally. Now, I normally leave the reality television to Jason, but Top Chef is my one weakness. I’m going to do a column breaking down the competition tonight, but I can’t encourage all of you enough to watch.

Here’s What Happens When You Win the Super Bowl…

Suddenly everyone wants a raise.

- According to Rotoworld, Plaxico Burress will be skipping Mini-Camp over a contract dispute. He’s slated to be making 3.25 million this season, and he’s not happy about it. He’s rumored to want something like a Javon Walker 6 year, 55 million.

Let’s take a look at this shall we? Plax will be 31 when the season opens. He expects the Giants to sign him until he’s 37? Now, I know that the second half of most contracts don’t really exist, as players are often cut or traded or they re-negotiate before they ever see them, but still. That would also drive up the signing bonus which is what I’m sure Burress really wants.

Jerry Reese is too good of a general manager to do anything too stupid with this. Expect Plax to start being fined $8,600 a day if he doesn’t start showing up. In other news, if Jerry Reese wants to give me that money, that’s fine.

- In other Giants News, Jeremy Shockey showed up to work today! Despite everything indicating the fact that he wouldn’t, the tight end came to mini-camp today. However, he’s still recovering from the broken leg he suffered last season and couldn’t particapte in any drills. He also wasn’t doing any conditioning with the rest of the injured players.

When asked why Jeremy stated inside, head coach Tom Coughlin just said “That’s between Jeremy and I.”

Yikes. I’m so sick of this drama already. Can’t we all just get along?

Junior Gets It Done...

Congradulations to Ken Griffey Jr. on hitting his 600th home run last night.

I’ve always been a fan of Junior, even when he was costing the Yankees a playoff series back in 1995. His naturally sweet swing and big, wide smile during all the games made him incredibly likable. In an era where our current home run king is both on steroids and a giant tool, it makes you wonder, what would have happened had Griffey stayed healthy throughout his career?

He would have pwned the Home run record a very long time ago, that’s what.

Unfortunetly, he didn’t. However, that won’t stop him from making the hall of fame, and being remembered as one of the greatest players I ever saw play. It’s just too bad that the main thing most people will remember about his career was “What If?”

Which makes me think: How was that Mariners team not unstoppable? Griffey, Randy Johnson, A-Rod, Jay Buhner, Edgar Martinez. Tino Martinez, the list goes on and on.

Has to be one of the greatest teams never to win a world series right?

Well, Anyway, Congrats Ken. You earned it.