Cavs/Hawks Game Four Open Thread
May 11, 2009While Nobody is Paying Attention, Tribe Wins
May 12, 2009While We’re Waiting aims to be the round-up of the recent WFNY-esque information for your morning viewing. Have something you think we should see? Send it to our tips email in the sidebar.
Please keep egging him on: “As he has done in other venues over the years — notably Toronto, Milwaukee and Sacramento — James used the fan for inspiration and pointed to him every time he made a play on that side of the court. Since James scored 74 points in two games here as the Cavs swept the Hawks out of the Eastern Conference semis, that was a lot of pointing.
“Certain fans think it’s a great idea for them to get out of control against me,” James said. “It does nothing but fuel the fire I already had. I don’t think that guy will be allowed to another Hawks game when the Cavs come to Atlanta.” [LeBron James via Mary Schmitt Boyer]
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Move a guy to LA and he gets a chip on his shoulder: “Between the Aubrey Huff-Joba Chamberlain dustup, Ryan Braun’s cocky homer trot after a near beaning by the Cubs and Bobby Jenks throwing behind Ian Kinsler, it was a busy weekend for baseball teams being steamed by the actions of their opponents. But none of the above run-ins brought out more emotion or have as much potential for future retribution than what happened between Dodgers third baseman Casey Blake and Giants reliever Brian Wilson on Sunday afternoon.” [Kevin Kaduk/Big League Stew]
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Gregg Doyle does in fact not rule: “And with the exception of these Bulls, every other NBA Champ, according to Doyel, “[has] had someone like Shaquille O’Neal or Tim Duncan — sometimes with David Robinson — or Hakeem Olajuwon or the combination of Ben Wallace and Rasheed Wallace. Going back a little farther, NBA champions had big men like Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (and James Worthy) or Robert Parish-Kevin McHale-Larry Bird or Moses Malone. Or even Jack Sikma. Wes Unseld. Bill Walton.” Doyel then points out that while Cleveland is 73-9 against every other team in the league, the Cavs are 3-7 against “Boston, Orlando, Los Angeles and Houston — arguably, teams with the NBA’s best four frontcourts.” [CBS Sports via Cleveland Frowns]
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About this whole benched Matt LaPorta fiasco: “Prospect Matt LaPorta missed his fourth straight start Monday night and manager Eric Wedge gave a reason. Wedge said he used his regular lineup, the lineup he broke spring training with, Sunday and Monday, because he wants to give them a chance to take whatever fire they generated in Saturday night’s players-only meeting onto the field. […] Wedge hinted that when LaPorta does return to the lineup it could be at first base.” [Paul Hoynes/Plain Dealer]
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And while we’re discussing LaPorta… “For the time being, Matt LaPorta is in Cleveland, even if he’s not really playing right now. He may be back in Columbus at some point. Who knows. One place he won’t be playing the rest of the year is in Akron, which is funny because Akron is having Matt LaPorta bobblehead night on July 18. OK, he did play there for 17 games last year, but still. That’s pretty short sighted to not think that LaPorta wouldn’t step foot in Akron this year.” [Vince Grzegorek/’64 and Counting]
18 Comments
Since when did MLB players grow female reproductive organs? Geez, if you put a gesture out there, it’s open season on you as far as being mocked – regardless of what the gesture means.
maybe someone mentioned this in the comments over the past couple days, but did anyone else notice big baby shoving that kid on the sidelines after his winning jumper the other night? it was hilarious and reminded me of how much i hate boston (not that it takes much)
Delonte West’s throwdown was ridiculous. Who saw that coming? Huge props to this half of Molonte for the dunk… all it needed was some AC in the background “Delonte THROWING THE HAMMER DOWN. ha-HAAAA!!!”
Video here (great bench reaction as always):
http://mrfactoidssportsworld.blogspot.com/2009/05/video-delonte-west-dunks-on-williams.html
Am I the only one who doesn’t care what Brian Wilson’s hand signal is used for? The hand signal is showy and inappropriate. Good intentions doesn’t give him protection. If he wants to show something for God, shouldn’t he kneel or cross himself or something? The double crossed fingers is easily misconstrued. Why should I be expected to care or know what he means with his antics and hand signals?
Am I the crazy one here?
For some reason, though I am not a spritual authority by any means, I find that: “[adapting] a slogan for an ultimate fighting clothing company…” isn’t the most “Christian” thing ever.
But that’s just me.
Anyone else catch that Gregg Doyle choose to ignore the Bulls team, who’s only dominate big man was Dennis Rodman? Not saying the Cavs are the Bulls, but out of all the teams he listed, it seems that the Cavs are the most like those Bulls teams from the 90’s. You can find a way to spin just about anything you want I guess…
Eric Wedge is silly. Silly silly silly.
That said, irrespective of whatever ridiculous treehouse reasoning he throws our way, this is exactly how to bring a prospect into the bigs. A few at bats at a time, until he shows you something. Age-old confidence-building game. (See, generally, the at-bat surge after his Toronto home run, then the reduction of at bats when he went 1-10 or whatever after that.)
But yeah, we’re nearing the point where “easing him in” probably will start to take a toll on the sharpness of a guy who’s been an everyday player his whole life.
I will now put you in a figure four leglock.
@mendy – Yeah I saw that and thought it was pretty funny. Did anyone else think Boston acted like fools after that shot? I know it is a playoff win but act like you’ve been there before. Doc Rivers pumping his fist all over the court just looked dumb and unprofessional. Does anyone see Mike Brown EVER doing that? Weren’t they the ones just bitching about disrespect?
I prefer to kneel down towards Mecca and praise Allah after every big interval run I have. But that’s me.
Nah Craig, I’m on your page. If you make a public display after striking someone out, saving a game, hitting a home run, or whatever it may be, you should be ready to catch some flak from anyone who sees it. Kinda like (i forget which player ) mocking Joba’s fist pump after slamming a homer off of him.
@DP and craig – completely agree about the hand signal. i don’t care what its for, its stupid and deserved to be mocked.
@Brendon – i don’t really have any problems with how they acted after the shot. look at how the cavs act after almost every shot by wally or that dunk last night by delonte. the only problem i had was the fact that big baby SHOVED a kid! and no one mentioned it! it was no different in my eyes than cuban shoving the camera man, and that seemed to make front page news everywhere. can you imagine if ron artest made a game winning shot then shoved a little kid on the sidelines? he’d be suspended for the rest of the playoffs
@Chris M i think it was aubrey huff.
LaPorta will go back to C-bus when Hafner comes back and Valbuena will go back when Carroll is activated.
As a person who practices religion, I find all these “signs of the cross” and “pointing to the heavens” and “thanking jesus” things dumb and unsavory. God would prefer maybe we go shelter the homeless, feed the starving, etc – not play dumb sports.
So God helps the pitcher strike out the batter? But what if that batter prays to the same God? He’s being punished somehow? I don’t get it. Completely inane.
I think sports have a legitimite place in society but I think all these theatrics diminish my faith, not make it better. Just my $.02.
@Mendy
http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/sports_magic/2009/05/big-baby-shoves-magic-fan-.html
The dad of the kid emailed the NBA and demanded an apology!! Haha, that’s terrible.
Sorry everybody – strong coffee today.
The poll needs to add the LBJ commercial with the chick from the Pussycat dolls. Please!
Hey James thanks for the link, here’s my favorite part:
“Interestingly enough, Provetti said he was a huge Boston Celtics fan before moving to Orlando from New Jersey last year. He said Doc Rivers and Ray Allen are class acts, but thinks the NBA’s overall image is becoming more thuggish.”
Ray Allen is so much a “class act” that he elbows people in the nads. nice.