All Sport Report

The Wake Forest campus honored and grieved the loss of basketball head coach Skip Prosser, who was remembered in the traditional fashion in which his team had been honored after winning basketball games…with toilet paper fluttering from trees. The tradition is common place on campus, especially on the quad where the majority of students hang out between classes. However, this was no celebration, as Prosser died of an apparent heart attack, on July 26.

Prosser was an exceptional basketball coach who was highly respected by students and staff alike. Under his tutelage, the Demon Deacons were ranked #1 for the first time three years ago. Right now, amidst the grieving, the fate of the team is hanging in the balance, as the next season is approaching at a rapid pace. Amidst the questions of who will replace Prusser remains the question of what will happen to his summer recruitment program and preparation for the following basketball season.

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Why is it that anytime anyone in the public eye does something stupid, illegal, or just plain morally wrong they have a “disease”? You just have to look at Hollywood to see that. Mel Gibson goes off on an anti-semantic tirade it wasn’t really his fault. He had a disease called alcoholism. When Lindsay Lohan got arrested, and arrested, and arrested she went to rehab, and another rehab, and another rehab because she was “sick” with an addiction problem. Then there is my favorite, Isaiah Washington. He called T.R. Night a f#@ not once, but twice (including mentioning it on television at the Golden Globes), and when he was facing major heat for it, he suggested he go to “rehab” to get help for his “problem”. He calls discrimination a problem a.k.a. a disease, while I call it ignorance.

Rather than take responsibility for their actions and change, these celebrities found scapegoats including blaming the booze, screaming racism, and hiding in rehab until things blew over. Yet, you know their efforts were insincere considering the fact that Lindsay (for example) has been caught over and over doing the same thing time and again. She never seems to learn. Meanwhile, Isaiah, who wronged T.R., changed the focus by saying his network just hates him because he’s a black man (in so many words) and that’s why he was fired. Great move to get the heat off your actions, Isaiah. Everybody loves a well prepared sob story.

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After a few days break from my daily sports run down due to life really giving me a sharp kick, it’s back to the grind. So, what did we miss during my brief hiatus? Scandals abound like crazy in the sporting world. From Cycling to Basketball, Friday, July 20, 2007 was not a good day in the vast majority of the world’s top sporting organizations.

Baseball

Cleveland and Detroit Battle it Out for First Place – The Central Division of the American League has been heating up. With just a half game lead over the Cleveland Indians going into the second half of regular season, Detroit and Cleveland have been in a constant battle to see who will be number one. While Detroit remains just barely ahead of Cleveland, Detroit’s catastrophic 10-2 loss to Kansas City after a four game winning streak on Friday thrust Cleveland (who beat the Rangers 3-2) one step closer to taking over the top spot and kicking Detroit down to second place. My Tigers better hustle and win their next game if they want to remain in first place not only for the Central Division, but for the American League as a whole.

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This is a new feature I hope to write every day. Each evening, late at night, I plan to run through the top stories in the Sports World. In the Run Down, you’ll get a crash course through the hottest stories, latest scandals, and most exciting news on all of your favorite sports. If you want to know what is going on in Sports, then the Run Down will offer all of the information you need to keep you wanting more!

In this week’s Run Down:

Baseball

Bonds Bombs in Entire Dodgers Series, Losing Streak Continues Onward– Barry Bonds, just five home runs away from beating the home run record of Henry “Hank” Aaron (a true ball player who didn’t have to use steroids to hit 756 home runs – but don’t get me started on how unfair I think this is), is in a slump. Fellow Giants short-stop, Omar Vizquel, said the slugger just hasn’t been the same since he had an All Star Game party, playing host until the wee hours of the morning, a week and a half ago.

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Varejao’ed - v - When a composite, group or team featuring an outstanding component, individual or player is undermined by a lesser component, individual or player.

The sexy story from last night’s 75-72 Spurs victory over the Cavs will be the non-call on Bruce Bowen fouling LeBron James on a last-second three-point attempt. But the ugly side of Cleveland’s final night of playoff hope doesn’t rest on LeBron’s heave or the ref’s silent whistle.

It rest’s on the floppy-locked head of one Anderson Varejao.

Usually, collective groans and jeers for a home team are reserved for draft selections, and even then, its only a couple hundred die-hard yahoos. But with the Cavs trailing 72-70 with 13 seconds remaining in the game, the Cavaliers version of Full Throttle energy drink took one of the most untimely shots in NBA history, and sent the crowd of 20,562 into a collective “What the heezy?”

13 seconds and three Ginobili free throws later, the Spurs went into cruise control in the search for their fourth NBA championship.

Sure, Larry Hughes didn’t play, the role players didn’t contribute, and Daniel ‘Boobie’ Gibson came up ‘A-cup’ in his first Finals start, but the Cavs kept it close enough in spite of horrendous shooting from three; 2-16 compared to the Spurs’ 10-19. The Spurs defense played bad enough to not blow them out, but well enough to match an ineffective offense. This same defense should pick up in game four to close it out.

No matter the reason, the city of Cleveland has a chance to come down from the disappointment of meeting up with the Spurs in the NBA finals, just in time to greet a man named Brady at Browns mini-camp.

The announcement of Chamique Holdsclaw’s retirement yesterday afternoon was a sudden and surprising development in the world of professional sports. At 29 years of age, and a storied career at the University of Tennessee and with the WNBA’s Washington Mystics and Los Angeles Sparks, Holdsclaw has been consider one of the best women’s basketball players of all-time, for a long time.But those who have closely followed Holdsclaw’s career know that her professional life was heavily influenced by her personal life. A very private person, she publicly disclosed that she was dealing with depression in 2002 following the death of her grandmother. Her grandfather died two years later, and she was excused from the team in the early part of the 2006 season to be with her father and stepfather, who were both diagnosed with cancer.

It’s not difficult for athletes pegged for greatness to falter under the weight of expectations. She excelled under those circumstances on the court, to the point that she probably pushed aside her personal pain for too long. Championships, accolades and fame only carry you so far professionally, but it’s a good bet that Holdsclaw has the heart to be a champion in the next phases of her life.

If you are pissed about last night’s series finale of ‘The Sopranos,’ (Caution: Spoiler) don’t worry; highlights of Game 2 between the Spurs and the Cavaliers will satisfy your thirst for blood.

The Cavs trailed by as many as 29 points early in the second half, and were overwhelmed on both ends of the floor in the 103-92 loss in San Antonio last night. With a 2-0 series lead, sweep isn’t even the word to describe how the Cavs will fare against the Spurs.

It’s not often in a game featuring LeBron James that you associate the words “prolific scorer” with another player, much less San Antonio’s Tony Parker. But it was Parker’s ability to get to the basket and hit open jumpshots that led to a 30-point outburst and another enigma for the Cavaliers to solve. Not that they have been particularly great at stopping the efforts from the usual suspects, as guard Manu Ginobili finished with 25 and Tim Duncan finished with 23.

It’s clear that the Cavs only hope in this series will be three-point shooting, and so far, that stat lives and dies with rookie guard Daniel Gibson. He was the team’s second leading scorer in last night’s game with 15 points, and 40 percent shooting from three. While he is small in stature and presents a match-up problem on the defensive end, his ability to create his own shot and shoot from distance spreads the floor for less focus on LeBron. He can’t fare much worse than starting guard Larry Hughes, who has been largely ineffective in his minutes.

Besides, with the Cavs down this deep in the hole, a little Boobie might go a lot further than a gimpy Larry.

Unlike my hockey predictions, at least all of the teams I picked to be in the hunt in hoops are still there. Now lets have a look at the brackets and see how it’s gonna go down.

We’ll start with the East:

- Detroit over Orlando in six

- Cleveland sweeps Washington

- Nets over Toronto in seven

- Miami over Chicago in six

Round two:

- Jason Kidd, Vince Carter and the supporting cast of the Nets upset number on Detroit in five

- Heat over the Cavs in six

Eastern Conference Championship:

Just like I predicted in January Miami will be the Conference Champions by walking all over the Nets in five

Now the Confernce that matters:

West Round 1:

- Dallas sweeps Golden State

- Phoenix over the Lakers in five - sorry Kobe, the scoring title don’t mean nothin’ when your playing Steve Nash and the Suns

- Denver surprises San Antonio in seven

- Utah over Houston in six

Round 2:

- The Mavs are just too much for AI and Melo - Dallas takes down Denver in five

- Phoenix takes out the Jazz in six

Western Conference Championship

- In a seven game series that will prove to be ten times more exiting than the finals Dirk Nowitzki and the Mavs knock off Steve Nash and the Suns in dramatic fashion at the buzzer in game six.

NBA Finals

Dallas makes Miami look like school kids, turning off the Heat in five to take the crown.

The Championship should really be decided between the Mavs and the Suns, foregoing the inevitable embarassment of the Eastern Conference. Three teams to make the playoffs from the east have records of .500 or worse while the three top teams from the West all have far better winning percentages than the top team in the East.

NBA playoffs, NBA predictions, playoff predictions

There weren’t a whole lot of blockbuster trades pulled of in the closing minutes leading up to the NBA trade deadline, in fact there weren’t any. I’ll bet right at this moment, the Sacramento Kings are wishing that they could have put some kind of deal together to move forward Ron Artest.

It was a big risk for Sacramento, taking on the likes of the baggage laden Artest, but it almost looked like it was working in their favor…almost.

Artest, who’s been a member of the Kings since January of ‘07, is more famous for antics unbecoming a role-model than for his play on the court - namely the “brawl” in 2004 when he was a member of the Indiana Pacers. For those of you unfamiliar with this event, a fight began on court between the Pacers and the Detroit Pistons, then escalated into the crowd, where Artest and fellow Pacer Steve Jackson engaged in some fisticuffs with the fans. The end result of this ill advised route of action for Artest - one year probation and 60 hours of community service from the courts and a suspension from the league that would last the remainder of the 2004 season - 73 games, costing Ron nearly 5 million dollars.

I would think that an event of this magnitude, that brought on so much public attention would get a man to right his ways, and it did with Ron for a little while.

In February of this year the legal troubles began again with Artest having to shell out close to two thousand dollars in impound fees for his dogs which had spent two and a half months at the Placer County Pound after animal control officers took the dogs following multiple visits, in which it was determined that the animals weren’t being taken care of or controlled properly.

As if that weren’t enough, Artest was arrested again this week following a domestic disturbance at his home in Placer county. Exact details of the event are sketchy at best but neighbors say Artest was involved in an altercation with his wife that ultimately lead to his Hummer’s windshield being smashed. Artest was charged with the suspicion of domestic violence and released on $50,000 bail.

This isn’t the first time police have been called to Artest’s five acre estate and though he was cooperative with police when they arrived on the scene, the Sacramento Kings have decided it best for the team if Ron be “excused from any further participation with the team indefinitely, pending a full investigation of the events.”

I’m wondering if this is a case where the league should intervene and make an example of Ron Artest. There has been a lot of “bad boy” image bull floating around the NBA over the last few years and in my opinion it’s beginning to take away from the sport. It’s great to have a heroes and villains scenario like in professional wrestling, but this isn’t something the league wants to get out of control.

Revenue depends on the fans and a lot of fans can be turned off by this type of behavior. If criminal activity becomes a habit among the players, some fans will eventually stop going to games and buying merchandise, which will lead to a drop off in sponsers, which means less money. If the league isn’t overly concerned with producing positive role models, you can bet they’ll start to open their eyes when their income begins to be effected. I hope appropriate measures are taken before it comes to that.

Think about it, if Steven Jackson happens upon Placer County and finds his old fighting buddy behind the counter of Mickey-D’s after having lost his sweet job as forward for the Kings, maybe he’ll think twice next time before sucker punching a fan.

Ron Artest, Basketball fight, basketball arrest, Artest domestic violence

Although Allen Iverson has been a member of the Denver Nuggets for about a month, he hadn’t played in a game with the person everyone wanted to see him interact with until last night.

Carmelo Anthony had missed the last thirty-seven days and fifteen games of Denver Nugget basketball, serving out a suspension due to his participation in what I like to call Slapfest 2006 - a brawl between the Nuggets and the Knicks on December sixteenth in which Anthony was not so “Melo”, striking a Knicks player in what many view as a cheapshot.

The question in the minds of many since the 76ers dealt AI to the Nuggets was “can these two co-exist and still be successful?”

Well the answer appears to be yes, at least when the are up against a sub par Memphis Grizzlies defense. The two combined for 51 of the Nuggets 115 points, Anthony dropping 28 and the Answer adding 23. Iverson was the slightest bit more generous with seven assists to Anthony’s six. I think, the pitiful Grizzlies defense aside, the two played very well together, and as I’ve said before I see the Nuggets making a strong playoff run, provided the two superstars can ward off jealousy or ill will towards one another.

Neither Anthony or Iverson have played NBA ball alongside a player of the other’s caliber until last night and at times it was downright pretty. If the two can get well aquainted on the court and manage to gel their respective styles of play as teammates, the Denver Nuggets are going to provide many entertaining moments and highlight reel plays, and maybe in a few years an NBA title.