Richard Jefferson

Jefferson has barely anything to do in the NBA Trade Rumors because of his untradeable contract. Says Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo!:

League sources say the Spurs have raised (Richard Jefferson’s) name in trades talks but found out quickly there’s no market for him and his contract.

Boo hoo. Jefferson has been, shall I say, a disappointment with San Antonio lately. Hasn’t been doing much and the Spurs are in a hole. They just lost to the Lakers without Kobe and allowed Pau Gasol to look like a weirder-looking version with the talent of LeBron James! And they are 29-21 now, I believe.

Might as well have to at least try to ship him off. Tyrus Thomas and Amare Stoudemire have been in talks with the Spurs so far with the Richard Jefferson issue.

Brendan Haywood

With Joel Pyrzbilla and Greg Oden out for the season with the Blazers, they have been looking at Wizards’ center Brendan Haywood. But what would Portland offer for him? The Wizards suggest Rudy Fernandez and/or Nicolas Batum.

Other teams in the mix for Haywood have been the Rockets, Heat, Bobcats, and still a bit of the 76ers who may offer Andre Iguodala for him and Caron Butler.

Dallas Mavericks

The Mavericks have been looking at a lot of guys lately. They have extremely strong interest in Caron Butler as of late. They have also gone into Kevin Martin of the Kings, in which they would give up Erick Dampier and Josh Howard. They would also give up those guys for Andre Iguodala. I expect the Mavs to get somebody by the trade deadline.

Amare Stoudemire

Here we go again. Amare Stoudemire has been getting all the interest he wants still. The Detroit Pistons are now in the mix. But here’s a crazier scenario with Stoudemire in the mix of a deal between the Sixers, Pistons, and Suns together! Writes Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic:

Possibilities with Philadelphia could be stronger with two fronts, a deal between bringing in swingman Andre Iguodala for Stoudemire with perhaps young power forward Marreese Speights or a three-way deal involving Detroit with Pistons guard Ben Gordon winding up in Philadelphia and the Suns getting Iguodala and Detroit power forward Chris Wilcox.

Good deal. And like last time in the trade rumors, those same other teams have interest in Amare like the Nets, Bulls, Spurs, you know…

Marcus Camby

Marcus Camby is in the rumors, too! With the Clippers out of playoff contention, there’s been rumors off Camby being shipped off. Interests for Camby include the Knicks and his old team: the Nuggets.

Camby would most likely fall in New York. It has been said that Darko Milicic will be the suitor if the Clippers were to ship him off.

Tyrus Thomas

Tyrus Thomas has been in the rumors. The Nuggets have been looking for a big man lately, and Thomas seems their best option. Also, Thomas can fall with the Celtics or Lakers if the Kirk Hinrich rumors were to fall.

Along with that, the Spurs and Kings have been looking at Thomas. Spurs could offer Manu Ginobili’s expiring contract along with the Kings putting up Kevin Martin. There is also the Blazers, who are in very deep need of a big man. Rudy Fernandez or Nicolas Batum would be offered most likely.

Milwaukee Bucks

Luke Ridinour, Hakim Warrick, and Joe Alexander may all be on the move. Writes the Journal Times:

Some people in the know claim the Milwaukee Bucks are dangling veteran point guard Luke Ridnour, who is having a stellar season, along with veteran forward Hakim Warrick and young forward Joe Alexander, whom the Bucks chose with the eighth overall pick in the 2008 NBA draft but have since soured on.

A lot of trade rumors lately. I’d really like to see one of them actually happen!

Mr. 20 and 10 is the first All-star for the Clippers since Elton Brand.

He replaces the injured Brandon Roy and joins Eric Gordon,who is trying to join the dunk contest this weekend.

Kaman’s come a long way since airballin’

....a lay-up

….then rebounding it

..and traveling.

Had to show the Clippers some love with this pic.

But this one’s more EPIC :

Baron Davis is killin’ so far this year averaging : 16 points, 7 assists, 3 rebs per game.

Will we have a 1st Round Playoff Hallway Series?

Depends on the Clippers. Lol

Finally the guy gets fired, by himself.

He will remain as the GM though.

He had one winning season with the Clippers in 2005-2006 and nothing ever since.

He is the all-time coach wins leader for the Clippers with 215.

Interesting fact : Dunleavy was the coach for the Lakers in 1991 when we lost to the Bulls.

Dunleavy was a great coach, coaching the wrong system in Los Angeles. As he steps down, the Clippers make a huge step forward towards the future. The Los Angeles Clippers, currently lead by Baron Davis, NEED to be a run and gun team. This young, and talented team, need to push the ball with Baron Davis at the helm. We all watched Baron Davis on the Warriors put up the best numbers of his career, but with Dunleavy as coach, his talents were squandered. With the addition, and actual play of Blake Griffin, the Los Angeles Clippers will be able to field a starting five as mobile as the Lakers.

Yet, as Dunleavy steps down from coach and remains as GM, lets hope he can focus, and make moves that will thin out the front line (for the eventual addition of Blake Griffin) and pick up another young guard; let’s face it, Eric Gordon needs help. Dunleavy could, and should, start out with moving Marcus Camby. Camby is a solid big man, but with the needed move to a more young-mobile roster, the Clippers have the opportunity to use him as quality bargaining chip.

The future is continuously brighter for the plagued Los Angeles Clippers; let’s just hope they can continue making quality moves that maximize this rosters talent.

RealGM reports

The Los Angeles Clippers today announced that Head Coach and General Manager Mike Dunleavy will step away from his day to day coaching responsibilities and focus exclusively on the team’s personnel matters.

The decision was reached mutually during a meeting at the team’s Playa Vista Training Center on Thursday. In attendance at that meeting were Clippers’ President Andy Roeser, Dunleavy and Assistant General Manager Neil Olshey, who will continue in his role as Dunleavy’s top aide in Basketball Operations.

Current Clippers’ Assistant Coach Kim Hughes will immediately assume the role of Interim Head Coach, and will retain the position through the remainder of the ’09-’10 season.

This is a move that a lot of Clippers fans have wanted for some time.

A good move for the Clippers. A new coach could do a better job in the future + Mike Dunleavy has an interesting record as GM.

So Mike Dunleavy’s the winningest coach in franchise history with a record of 215 wins against 325 losses in seven years as the Los Angeles Clippers head coach. Looks more like he’s the losingest.

Dunleavy stepped down earlier today as the Clippers head coach after a promising eight game road-trip crashed and burned. Hoping to win enough of the eight to give the Clips a shot at reaching the .500 mark by this month’s All-Star Game in Dallas, Los Angeles’ other team finds themselves seven games under .500 falling to 12th in the Western Conference.

Dunleavy’s resignation had to happen after the Clippers lost to the two worst teams in the league during the just completed road-trip, at New Jersey and at Minnesota, in back-to-back games by a combined 30 points. There’s no excuse for that with a team that has playoff talent even without number one overall draft pick Blake Griffin who’s out for the season with a broken knee-cap. You’ve got one of the four best centers in the league in Chris Kaman, one of the league’s best defensive players in forward Marcus Camby and the starting guard tandem is truly one of the better ones barring injury with second year guard Eric Gordon (who’s had problems keeping clear of those lately) and Baron Davis. Throw in Al Thorton or Rasual Butler at the other forward and that’s a playoff starting five.

Assistant Kim Hughes will take over as interim head coach for the remaining 32 regular season games while Dunleavy retains his position as the teams general manager.

Although highly unlikely, making the playoffs still isn’t out of reach for the Clippers. They’ll need to string some wins together for a shot at it. However, it looks more like another trip to the draft lottery. They have plenty of cap space to go after a marquee free agent next year with some believing even Cleveland’s LeBron James might make his way to the Clippers. For that to happen, they’ll need to dump more salaries for more space to entice LeBron to make the leap. So, look for GM Dunleavy to trade Marcus Camby, who’s in high demand by other teams, to a contender by the February 18th trade deadline.

As far as possible head coaching candidates for the Clips, how about Byron Scott. He’s available after being canned by New Orleans earlier in the season. Makes plenty of sense to get the former NBA coach of the year. He played in L.A. with the Lakers during the Showtime Era of the 1980’s. Many think he’s the successor to Phil Jackson on the Lakers bench. I think the Lakers will promote from within, naming either assistant Jim Cleamons or Brian Shaw head coach, to keep that “Triangle Offense” going after the Zen Master rides off into the Montana Sunset for good.

How about former Clippers guard Sam Cassell, who has openly campaigned to be the Clippers head coach. I think that could be a good move. He’s a former player a few of the current Clips have played with, including the 2006 team that came within a win of the Western Conference Finals. Yeah, the Clippers were just five wins from making the NBA Finals just four seasons ago.

Interesting to see who GM Dunleavy and owner Donald Sterling tab as the new coach to guide the Clippers, with the healthy Blake Griffin, beginning next season. In the meantime, Donald. You really ought to think about what KNBC 4 Sports Director Fred Roggin suggested a few weeks back. Change the name of the team, the colors and uniforms and start over. The “Clippers Curse” thing just won’t go away.

“Bloop Single”

-ESPN.com’s Shelley Smith is reporting that 13 year-old quarterback David Sills accepted a scholarship offer from USC football coach Lane Kiffin.

-YES! I said 13 year-old!!  ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!?!?!

-Sills plays for Red Lion Christian Academy in Bear, Delaware. RLCA was in Los Angeles this past November for a couple of games and, obviously, caught the eye of some college scouts. WHAT??

-Get ready for a big announcement regarding Los Angeles and the NFL the week after Super Bowl  44.  Let’s just say, L.A.’s ready for some pro football AGAIN….FINALLY!!

Answer to trivia question:  Before Miami last week, which main-land city was the last to host a Pro Bowl Game?   Los Angeles, 1979. The NFC won 13-7 at the Memorial Coliseum.

It’s been a long time coming, but the MN Timberwolves finally knocked away two consecutive wins. Both games were played at the Target Center after a disappointing three-game road trip. The Wolves welcomed the LA Clippers for a 7 PM tipoff Friday night, and the first few minutes of lively play set the tone for the remainder of the contest. Jonny Flynn nailed a jumper to get his team started on a 9-0 run that seemed to disorient the West Coast ballclub.

Minnesota continued to play well for the entire game, although struggling some on defense during the third quarter. Clipper point guard Baron Davis proved why he is still feared as one of the elite athletes in the NBA when he went on a 24-point rampage during that quarter. However, the Wolves were able to hang onto their lead and took the game with a final score of 111-97.

Coming off a successful game Wednesday night, Minnesota prepared to take on New York for a 6 PM game Sunday. Despite falling by 14 points in the first quarter, the Wolves battled back to defeat the Knicks 112-91. Ironically, NY had defeated the Wolves 27 points in a road game just one week earlier. Momentum from the Clippers win definitely seemed to carry Minnesota forward in Sunday’s game.

Just as enjoyable for fans as the win was the fact that Sunday marked the celebration of Crunch’s (Timberwolves’ mascot) birthday. Arguably the most entertaining game of each season, all four quarters were filled with skits and other amusing performances by Crunch and his friends. Visiting mascots that made an appearance included Benny the Bull (Chicago), Rufus the Bobcat (Charlotte), Puff the Dragon (Orlando), and Bango the Deer (Milwaukee), as well as other Minnesota mascots such as Goldie, Nordy and T.C.

Why play four quarters, when you could win it in one?

That seemed to be the Cavaliers’ strategy Sunday against the Clippers, when they scored 46 points against LA’s 20 in the first quarter. LeBron James scored half the Cavs’ points in that quarter. Three of those points were off a shot from the “C” in “Cavaliers” 30 feet toward center court. Moments later another trey came from the “a” a few feet deeper.

James kept contributing to accumulate 32 points including five three-point shots and 11 assists. Four of those threes were in the first quarter.

LeBron is almost too easy a pick for the Athlete of the Week (AOW). Of all the teams in all the sports in the world, he might be the Most Valuable Player (MVP) of all. His career average is 27.7 PPG! He has improved all of his major stats in this, his seventh season in the NBA, scoring 29.4 PPG with 8.0 assists. He is one of the best athletes to ever play the game of basketball, but he continues to work to improve his game. He focused in the off-season on his shooting, and improved both his FG% and 3P% by 2% each over his career average.

As he has improved, so has his team. The Cavs now have the best record in the NBA at 38-11, are on an 8 game win streak, and are 2-0 against the Lakers, who are a half game behind them at 37-11.

Athlete of the Week is such an understatement for LeBron James it is almost insulting. James is simply “King.”

Cats are excellent self-groomers, long-haired cats benefit from extra grooming care by their owners.   Long-haired cats living indoors can shed all year round.  During the main shedding season (springtime) when the weather turns warmer, the undercoat will loosen.  The loose hairs if not removed by a rake comb or long-toothed comb will become entwined with the guard hairs.  This process is the beginning of a mat, essentially starting a dread-lock on your cat.  The mat then attracts more hair and dirt to join it.  By the time you see the mat, it will be quite large.
 
The Dangers of Mats
Mats can cause skin infections, skin lesions and other pyodermas.  The hair clumped together cuts off the oxygen to the skin creating a hot bed for bacteria. The dead hair traps dirt and debris.  If the matted hair gets wet, this can be an open invitation for a maggots, lice and fleas to take residence making your cat quite miserable.  If the mats are too large, if there are too many or if they are obstructing the rectum or are on the legs, over time, your cat will be unable to walk properly, so take your cat to vet now as these are major medical issues.  A professional groomer can also remove mats but make sure that they are familiar with the differences in attitude between cats and dogs.  Grooming your long-hair cat/kitten from the first day she arrives at your home so they become used to and eventually like the process is very important.
 
Removing Mats
Never bathe your cat before trying to remove the mats and gather your tools around your work station. To start put a pinch of cornstarch on the mat and gently work it down into the hairs with your fingers.  Pull the mat upward, without pulling the skin and using either the comb or your fingers, grasp the base of the mat above the skin and work the hairs to try and loosen it.  Once the hair is less tight, use the comb and gently comb the hairs apart. If the mat is stubborn, use a smaller flea comb or a baby comb to work through the clump of hairs. Do not use your wire bristle brushes for mat removal.   Clippers are the safest and best way to remove matted hair.  Unfortunately, most people do not own clippers and must make do with scissors, just be very careful.
 
Preventing Mats
Prevention means brushing your cat daily.  Although short-haired cats do not get mats, brushing them daily will help stop hairballs from occurring.  If you own a long-haired cat, you should have on hand at all times hairball medicine. There are also various quality dry foods for cats that help control hairballs.  Laxatone works well as a hairball aid and cats seem to like it. It can be bought at any pet supply store.  Daily grooming is the key to stopping mats from taking hold in long-haired cats.  Brushing their hair helps prevent hairballs from occurring in both long and short-haired cats. Regular grooming sessions will also allow you to form a unique opportunity to bond with your cat, making each experience better and better.

Cats are excellent self-groomers, long-haired cats benefit from extra grooming care by their owners.   Long-haired cats living indoors can shed all year round.  During the main shedding season (springtime) when the weather turns warmer, the undercoat will loosen.  The loose hairs if not removed by a rake comb or long-toothed comb will become entwined with the guard hairs.  This process is the beginning of a mat, essentially starting a dread-lock on your cat.  The mat then attracts more hair and dirt to join it.  By the time you see the mat, it will be quite large.
 
The Dangers of Mats
Mats can cause skin infections, skin lesions and other pyodermas.  The hair clumped together cuts off the oxygen to the skin creating a hot bed for bacteria. The dead hair traps dirt and debris.  If the matted hair gets wet, this can be an open invitation for a maggots, lice and fleas to take residence making your cat quite miserable.  If the mats are too large, if there are too many or if they are obstructing the rectum or are on the legs, over time, your cat will be unable to walk properly, so take your cat to vet now as these are major medical issues.  A professional groomer can also remove mats but make sure that they are familiar with the differences in attitude between cats and dogs.  Grooming your long-hair cat/kitten from the first day she arrives at your home so they become used to and eventually like the process is very important.
 
Removing Mats
Never bathe your cat before trying to remove the mats and gather your tools around your work station. To start put a pinch of cornstarch on the mat and gently work it down into the hairs with your fingers.  Pull the mat upward, without pulling the skin and using either the comb or your fingers, grasp the base of the mat above the skin and work the hairs to try and loosen it.  Once the hair is less tight, use the comb and gently comb the hairs apart. If the mat is stubborn, use a smaller flea comb or a baby comb to work through the clump of hairs. Do not use your wire bristle brushes for mat removal.   Clippers are the safest and best way to remove matted hair.  Unfortunately, most people do not own clippers and must make do with scissors, just be very careful.
 
Preventing Mats
Prevention means brushing your cat daily.  Although short-haired cats do not get mats, brushing them daily will help stop hairballs from occurring.  If you own a long-haired cat, you should have on hand at all times hairball medicine. There are also various quality dry foods for cats that help control hairballs.  Laxatone works well as a hairball aid and cats seem to like it. It can be bought at any pet supply store.  Daily grooming is the key to stopping mats from taking hold in long-haired cats.  Brushing their hair helps prevent hairballs from occurring in both long and short-haired cats. Regular grooming sessions will also allow you to form a unique opportunity to bond with your cat, making each experience better and better.

My very first time in the snow!

And a few pictures from my trip to Denver/Breckenridge &Vail…

Sun setting over mountains as we headed back to Denver

Homes in Breckenridge

Mountains on the way to Vail

Downtown Denver

Shag Lounge

Coors Field

Clippers vs. Nuggets

Dad & I at the tilted kilt after the Clippers vs. Nuggets game

Protest at Colorado State Capitol

Frozen in mid surge

Fortunately our civilization has advanced enough so that we experienced minimum electrical ‘outages’, despite heavy snow, icicles and ice on power lines. There were, however, multiple power ’surges’ and computers countrywide were frozen in mid surge. Mac and pc-owners and related computer businesses are still counting the cost. Curry’s have been doing a roaring trade in replacement laptops!

It seems to have hit a lot of young ones harder than they might have thought: not that closing schools and cancelling bus and train services are a hazard; more time to make snowmen, play and enjoy winter sports, you might think. Lack of reliable public transportation, however – counting on any public services, in fact – four weeks without refuse collection borders on neglect, were commuters’ and householders’ concerns. Abandonment, remoteness and surprise at being cut off suddenly are what hit the teens hardest, I think because they are unaccustomed to having their social life curtailed by ‘weather’ and few had experienced conditions such as these in their young lives.

Some of us older oldies remember the winter of 1981/2 with shivering empathy; electrical failure, power cuts, snow drifts higher than houses; evacuating and rescuing neighbours, birds frozen overnight in trees. But that was back in the Thatcherite era, before the internet, when we didn’t EXPECT everything to run on time, snow ploughs to get through, petrol in cars not to freeze.

Human culture has changed in nearly 30 years: Even in the modern backwater of Aberdeenshire, the County of no motorways, the self-styled Oil Capital of Europe.

Tea Clipper Thermopylae was built in Aberdeen by Walter Hood for the White Star Line

Unlike some other lesser-urban metropolises, however, (Dundee, Perth, Stranraer), Aberdeen has always pulled through its hardest times: Dundee used to be known (an age ago, when the world was young) for its Jute, Jam and Journalism. Now it is home to none of these; but it has Robert Scott’s ‘Discovery‘, the Tay Bridge and it’s on the way to St. Andrews, which every golfer in the world has heard of; i.e. it participates peripherally in tourism, but some of its poorer districts are in appalling shape.

Perth floods every year and millions of national money poured in to rescue low-level housing has been a nightmare. Stranraer we won’t go into. It’s no longer on the way to anywhere.

Then there’s Aberdeen.

Perched on the westernmost limb of the North Sea’s mild Gulf Stream current, its dry climate (usually, rain from the west is captured by the Grampian mountains before it reaches the plain) and its remarkable latitude (57ºN2ºW ), akin to central Alaska, give it a climatic anomaly. Its farming hinterland was rich in Neolithic times and has grown richer.

Tall Ships Race reenacts 19thC sailing contest in the Clipper tea trade

Aberdeen, however, was never one to have only one egg in one basket: it was also the sole exporter of granite to needy growing urban centres: London streets were indeed paved with (Aberdeen granite) gold. Craigenlow quarry at Dunecht supplied the English capital with tons of its ‘cassies’ or granite sets – hand-cut granite blocks the size of a gingerbread loaf – to meet the demands of a city experiencing growing Victorian traffic problems. If they had but known…

At the height of Georgian expansion, Aberdeen city burghers were so wealthy, their coffers overflowing from the ocean tea trade, the Baltic route, their fishing ports supplying Europe’s tables (nowadays it’s the other way around), their granite exported the world over; that they chose to beautify: and the mile-long boulevard known as Union Street was built in 1801-05. This grandiose gesture – a feat of engineering which levelled St. Catherine’s Hill and carried the extra-wide thoroughfare across arches built over the previous lower Denburn and ancient market Green – almost bankcrupted the burghers, but brought the city fame to add to its already growing fortune.

Danzig Willie's Craigievar

Within this mix stir a couple of ancient universities – one founded in 1495, the other in 1593, both fostered and supported through the centuries by Aberdonian merchant success.

The world joke about the Aberdonian who watches his pennies is not entirely untrue. And the tradition goes back farther than the fifteenth century.

Aberdeen Harbour shipping with ice floes in the 1920s

But the bell tolled. The fishing industry worldwide killed its own small fry: when container ships and tankers beheaded sailing vessels, similarly Icelandic and Norwegian refrigerated freighters signalled the death knell for trawlers and owner-operated fishing boats; and Aberdeen’s shipbuilding days were over.

In the early 1970s, Britain was experiencing the three-day-week, unemployment stats for the country were the highest then known, and even the granite industry declined. Its clients metamorphosed from those who appreciated polished stone to faceless ‘councils’ and ‘road departments’ which required the precious quartz and gneiss resource to be ground into dust-like fragments which could be mixed with tar and spread in increasing quantities on the nation’s arteries.

It looked as if Aberdeen, like every other Scots city, might founder on the rocks of history.

North Sea Oil baled Aberdeen out on the death of shipbuilding and fishing

It is said that because of its very geographic isolation the county learned to take care of itself. And its humour has a lot to do with its character.

Now that there is talk of worldwide recession and dwindling of the oil resource, the current Aberdonian humorous response is ‘oil goes out, Donald Trump comes in’. This refers to the New York entrepreneur’s £1 billion golf course resort where sand dune reinforcing work has just begun on the very landholdings of Menie once owned by Danzig Willie. Aberdeenshire is not averse to turning full circle. It has so far weathered many storms through centuries of change.

So how did we fare in this last Great Storm? How did the planet fare?

Greece had 100ºF temperatures at Christmas and Abu Dhabi and Dubai had HAIL the day before the launch of the 2,717-feet Burj Khalifa tower in the first week of January.

Scotland and Aberdeenshire in particular were at the time experiencing the grip of an Arctic winter, with traffic on all roads down to minimum and gritting and snow-ploughing said by Council spokesmen to be ‘impossible’. While they reported worries that supplies of salt from the Cheshire salt mine might be exhausted, citrus orchards throughout the state of Florida were hit by snow and frost lingered long enough to decimate their total citrus crop for 2010.

At the same time Mount Nyamulagira in a sparsely populated area of the Democratic Republic of Congo erupted, threatening an enclave of rare chimpanzees.

Eureka and Haiti had 6.5 and 7.2 Richter earthquakes respectively, while inland Northern California and Southern Oregon, usually inundated with snow, received not one drop. States of emergency were declared for Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Francisco and Siskiyou counties and as the rainstorm headed east, floods swamped the Arizona desert, threatening homes and killing migrant birds. Las Vegas, Nevada had more rain in two days than for the total year of 2009 (1.69 inches). Alligators in the Everglades froze to death.

France’s Mistral blew early this year, wreaking havoc and damage to vines and vineyards in southern départements of Lyon and Provence; the Riviera harbours of St Tropez and Marseille suffered damage to private yachts.

Since the snowmelt arrived in Scotland in mid January, it is superfluous to mention that the resulting floods have routed gutters and drains in cities and country towns and overflowed ditches in outlying country areas. Perth (again) and Inverurie, Huntly and Kintore were unable to cope with the deluge. These levels of precipitation bring Aberdeen’s rainfall statistics for the year 2009 to mid January 2010 to 101.23 inches, for a county normally experiencing 33.6 inches per annum.

The Earth doesn’t like what we’ve been doing to her in the last thirty years. She’s beginning to fight back.

The Bruins are going through off-ice workouts today. However Marc Savard, Steve Begin, and Byron Bitz skated.
Savard and Bitz are expected to play on Friday when the B’s take on the Sabres in Buffalo.

After a win over the Clippers last night the Celtics go on the road to face the Magic on Thursday night.

Patriots offensive tackle Matt Light tells ESPN that his knee injury was a dislocated kneecap with MCL damage.
In an online chat this afternoon, he said he has no thoughts on moving to Right Tackle and will do whatever he is asked to do.

The Boston Herald reports at this hour that there’s “not a lot of interest on either side” regarding the Patriots and free agent Tight End Ben Watson.

The Oakland A’s have agreed to terms with pitcher Ben Sheets on a one-year deal for 10 million dollars.

New York Mets ace Johan Santana threw off a mound for the first time today since elbow surgery last September and said he felt good.

And Former Red Sox infielder Mark Loretta has announced his retirement.
He will join the San Diego Padres front office.

…because I would never be that cruel to you.

Seriously, now you’ve done it Donnie…you went and signed Bobby F’ing Brown?! Bro, oh, ah no, oh!

Obviously, the Clippers have made some incredibly bad personnel moves in the past, been beset by injuries etc etc…but this has to be like killing a dead man (if that’s even possible).

The only thing that could make this worse, is if the 2014 2nd Rd pick ends up being as quality as this guy was back at #57 in 1999.

I have no more words for you sir – good day.

RealGM reports

The Los Angeles Clippers today acquired guard Bobby Brown from the New Orleans Hornets in exchange for a 2014 conditional second round draft pick and cash considerations. In a related move, the Clippers released guard JamesOn Curry from his 10-day contract.

Brown, 25, has appeared in 25 games for the Hornets this season and is averaging 6.6 points and 2.1 assists in 14.9 minutes per game.

New Orleans

Nicely played by New Orleans. They are now below the luxury tax threshold and they did most of the work by removing non-rotation worthy talent. Impressive maneuvering from Jeff Bower.

• Hilton Armstrong to Sacramento
• Devin Brown to Chicago
• Bobby Brown to the Clippers
• The only rotation player that they lost in all of this was Rasual Butler … and they had James Posey, Peja Stojakovic, Marcus Thornton, Julian Wright and Mo Peterson to fill that void.

Overall, they’ve done an excellent job of sorting out their finances without costing them much on the basketball side of the operation.

LA Clippers

The Clippers sent away a conditional second round pick which will likely never make it to New Orleans. Unimportant.

They also gained a poor-to-mediocre third string point guard who should be fourth in line for PG minutes behind Baron Davis, Sebastian Telfair and Mardy Collins in LA. Also unimportant.

Summary

Excellent trade for New Orleans.

Just some random what nots:

• The last day I missed a post was Monday, October 5, 2009. That means it is now 113 days of consecutive blogging and counting! Eat that, NaBloPoMo.
• The blog is now eight comments away from the “1,000 comments” achievement. Who will be the one to pop my 1k cherry?
• Last night Mrs. Abyss laughed her ass off. Longer and harder than any time I can think of in recent memory. (Too bad for her she has a cold and a little rattle in her chest and all that laughter choked her good!) She came home from work and found that I had purchased haircut clippers and had buzzed my head good. I figured it would be a good cost-cutting move since haircuts cost me $22 each and the clippers were a one-time investment of only $10.50.
• In my latest move of craziness I decided to forgo the gasoline-powered internal combustion engine this morning and I walked my ass to work. (It’s only two miles.) There is something exhilarating about getting from point A to point B under your own head of steam. The trick now is to see how long I can keep this up and what effect it might have on me. Thanks to the WordPress “schedule post” feature I’ll still be able to blog while I’m hoofin’ it across town later this afternoon.
• There have been four cans of energy drinks in our fridge during the last 24 hours. The gerbil herd may be getting ready to stampede. Our scientists are carefully observing – from a safe distance.

Have a great day, all!

With the return of Kevin Garnett,  Boston’s basketball team is back to their winning ways. Last night Celtics beat the LA Clippers thanks to great performance by Rajon Rondo & Paul Pierce at the Garden.

During the first period, the parquet floor of the Garden was doing whatever it could to make life difficult for both teams.  The Garden’s crew were doing whatever they could to keep the court dry last night and  with less than 2:30 left in the first quater, they had to stop the game  to clean up the condensation. After watching the players slip-n-slide around the court, Doc Rivers and LA Clippers coach, Mike Dunleavy, considered canceling the game. The players talked about the poor playing conditions with the press after the game.

Paul Pierce was the big start of the night, scoring 22 points in the win and not to be out down, Improper Bostonian cover boy, Rajon Rondo scored 16 points and recorded 12 rebounds. Ray Allen, who’s name has been popping up in trade rumors as of late, scored 15 points last night.

Prior to last night’s game, Glen Davis announced he was dropping the ‘Big Baby’ nickname and started taking ideas for a new one. So far ‘Uno Uno’ seems to be the big winner. If you have a suggestion, you should send it over to Davis on Twitter. The Celtics are missing a great opportunity for a contest. The Give Glen A Nickname Contest! Wyc, call me and we’ll talk!

The Celtics travel to Orlando to battle the Magic on Thursday.

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Super Bowl 44 is locked and loaded.  First time since 1993 that the top seeds from each conference has made the big game.  I enjoyed the first game.  Thought the Jets did all they could.  Hey they ran into a better team.  Jets fans can’t hang there heads today.  You made it further then you could have hoped for and what a bright future the team has.  The Colts are just a buzzsaw and this Peyton guy has a chance to be almost as good as his brother. 

As for game #2, I’m happy for the Saints and New Orleans.  They played weel enough to not get beat and what a huge uplift for that entire region.  I don’t think Drew Brees or Sean Payton will ever have to pay for food again in the Crescent City.

The Vikes…..and their fans.  I think they have officially become the most tortured fanbase in the country.  0-4 in Super Bowls.  0-5 in their past five NFC championship games.  The last three played out like this:  a kicker missing his only field goal of the year sending Atlanta to the game, losing 41-0 at the Giants and being done in the first five minutes, now this.  I have friends who are Vikes  fans and I just don’t now where they go from here.  This was their shot.  Well, that was till Favre turned into, well, Favre. 

Which brings me to my main point.  The Vikings fans were always on the list of most tortured fanbases, but now, without a doubt, they are at the head of this dubious list.  Trust me, I know all about this list, remember I am a Red Sox and we were #1 till 2004.  So, the question now is, who else is on the list.  THese are the guys you see walking down the street wearing these teams’ gear and you can only shake your head and offer your condolences.

Here’s Mine:

#1 Viking Fans:  for the reasons stated above.

#2 All Cleveland fans:  Losing the Browns to Baltimore, the Indians w/o a World Series since 1953, the Cavs rough history and now they may lose Lebron.  Plus Cleveland is a dreadful city.

#3 Seattle Fans.  The Mariners have never been to a World Series.  The Seahawks have been perpetually bad(minus a few good years this decade) and the Supersonics moving to Oklahoma City.  Also throw in the rain and Kurt Cobain dying.  It’s not easy.

#4 Pittsburgh Pirate fans.  The Steelers are a crown jewel in the NFL.  The Penguins have three Stanley Cups.  The Pirates:  haven’t had a winning season since 1992.  Hey, at least you had Barry Bonds before steroids.

#5 LA Clipper fans.  They are #2 in a city that just doesn’t care about #2’s.  They have had the most #1 picks in NBA draft history and have crashed and burned on them all.  This years #1 broke his kneecap during the preseason for gods sake.  They have had only one or two playoff seasons and haven’t even come close to sniffing a Finals appearance.

Honorable mentions: NJ Nets, NY Islanders, Oakland fans, Kansas City fans and Buffalo fans.

The Lakers continued their uninspired play and Kobe missed a potential gamewinner at the buzzer; the Lakers lose in Toronto 106-105.

Meanwhile across town, Chris Kaveman lobbies for his own (deserved) All-Star candidacy by trashing Pau Gasol’s viability in the Game.

Kudos to Ramona Shelbourne on her new gig for EspnLosAngles.com, espousing on the inconsisent, difficult-to-read play of both the USC and UCLA hoops squads.

That said, folks back in the Tri-Valley of Eastern Washington are disappointed reading about the upstart Bruins defeating the Cougars, 74-62. Again, the continued scrappy play of Mustafa Abdul-Hamid provided a constant spark. The Bruins are now one game out of first place – and two games out of last – in the Pac-10 conference standings. The conference Champion will get a bid, but will that champ be the only team from the Pac-10 to make the tourney?

I’m telling you, how can you not harken back to this guy during times such as these:

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Oh yeah, that’s right.

I will tell you this, however, Kevin O’Neill is doing a helluva job in obscurity (and sanctionville) after the implosion of last year’s Trojan squad. I’ll bet even this guy is proud:

Bytheway Dodger fans – have you checked out Dylan Hernandez’s Twitter yet?

As far as the Angels are concerned, an unemotional goodbye is in order for strangely estranged Native Son Gary Matthews Jr., traded unceremoniously for Brian Stokes, another California kid. Matthews never really fit under Arte’s regime; always the fourth outfielder, sort of in a Juan Pierre-esque fashion – Matthews definitely is good enough to play centerfield wherever he wants, but his hitting just hasn’t been the same since the suspiciously successful 2006 year he had with the Rangers. The HGH accusations didn’t sit too well at home, nor with the Angels’ brass.

Also I keep saying it – don’t sleep on the Kings this year. NHL pundit Jason Sapir says they still may be too young, but with inspirational wins such as the 3-2 comeback over the Red Wings becoming commonplace, don’t be surprised if they ride young goalie Jonathan Quick to a deep run in the Playoffs. With five Olympians, the squad is immensely talented. And well coached. Even with the rift between negative18er Jack Johnson and stud GM Dean Lombardi, the Kings are playing well, and holding on to the seventh seed in the West.