When in doubt, write a random notes column!

I know there's a ton of stuff going on in the sports world right now, but a lot of things have already been covered extensively both here and on other blogs (Favre, MLB second half, NBA players leaving to play in Europe, the Dark Knight rules the world) so I'm going to hit you with a few quick points and call it a day. Did I mention I get out of work at 2:00 on Fridays? Holla.




Miguel Cotto and Antonio Margarito will fight for the welterweight title tomorrow night. I have fairly limited boxing knowledge (shocking!), but have a group of friends who are super into the sport. When I watched the Pacquiao fight with them last month, they were all psyched for this fight. Besides the fact that both guys are really, really good, one is from Puerto Rico (Cotto) and the other is from Mexico (Margarito). Something you might not know: Puerto Ricans and Mexicans HATE each other. Okay, that might be a strong generalization, but both countries take their boxing very seriously. Lots of pride. There is a storied history between Puerto Rican fighters and Mexican fighters in brutal matches. Trinidad/De La Hoya comes to mind as the last one to have a huge impact. Margarito (right in photo) obviously has a height advantage, but experts say that Cotto's deliberate style and brutal body shots will prevail. I know in this age of youtube and such that paying to watch live boxing/MMA isn't as appealing as it used to be, but this will most likely be the best fight of the year.


Rooting for the White Sox and following the Red Sox because there really is no escaping them if you live in the Boston area, I noticed both teams have big weeks ahead. Boston has a huge series with the Yankees starting tonight at Fenway. David Ortiz makes his return tonight to try and keep the physically ailing Yankees from gaining any more ground in the East. Beckett vs. Joba, 7:05, catch it! Then on Monday, the Angels roll into town and the Sox get a chance to avenge that ugly sweep from last weekend.

• Just wanted to make a quick mention about how Dice-K (11-1) is having a fantastic second year. I still remember sitting in my car during a lunch break when it was announced that Boston posted the highest amount of any team (51.1 mil) to negotiate with Dice-K and the Seibu Lions. Most people were pretty skeptical about how well he would play, but his numbers this year are fantastic. He had one really awful game when he came back from the DL and although his WHIP is kinda gruesome, he has 83 Ks in 95 innings, his ERA is 2.63, and his BAA is .202.

As far as my ChiSox go, they are on the road in Detroit Fri-Sun, then in Minnesota Mon-Thu. They have a 2.5 game lead right now and could really make a statement by performing well and expanding that lead a bit. Rookie Clayton Richard made his debut in place of Jose Contreras yesterday and wasn't phenomenal, but Chicago pulled out a 10-8 win thanks to my man Carlos Quentin. While it may be a bit early to give Quentin a membership to the Grown Ass Man Club, he is first in the American League in game winning RBIs and first in HRs. The pitching staff has been giving up a lot of runs lately, so hopefully that will change.

Next member of the Grown Ass Man Club?

• You HAVE to watch this: http://withleather.uproxx.com/post.phtml?pk=6456. This is definitely a Web Gem of the Year nominee. The White Sox weren't even sure if Alexei Ramirez was going to make the team during Spring Training. Second base isn't even his natural position! And in addition to making plays like this, he is batting .307 and is the only guy with the last name Ramirez to hit a grand slam this year...

The Golden State Warriors just locked up 22 year old Monta Ellis with a 6 year, $66 million contract. I think this guy is legitimately the fastest player in the entire NBA but the team is shifting him over to point guard. Not sure if he's got the handle to run a team but he's a great scorer. He finished with 21 point and 4 assist averages this past season playing in 81 games. The Warriors also traded for Marcus Williams to back him up. I don't think Williams ever got a fair shake in New Jersey as I thought he was originally the heir apparent to Jason Kidd once he retired. Then, the Nets traded for Devin Harris and the former UConn Husky got pushed to the side. Golden State is now looking at a starting lineup of: Ellis, Stephen Jackson, Corey Maggette, Al Harrington and Ronny Turiaf.

Lebron James will most likely miss the USA Olympic team's exhibition game tonight against Canada. Not a huge deal or anything, but the team can't really afford any more injuries. Lebron's ankle, Dwight Howard's chest, and now it looks like Tyson Chandler might not be the alternate due to an injured toe. Kevin Durant will most likely go in his place. Interesting... Anyway, this will be the only exhibition game that the USA team will play on American soil.

So there are some things to chew on heading into the weekend. I plan on writing a review of the Celtics' Championship DVD either Sunday or Monday. A special viewing might be in order and High Life may be prominently involved. Don't forget to see Step Brothers if the weather is lousy where you live. This will be the best Will Ferrell movie since Anchorman!

P.S. Have I mentioned they're making a sequel to Anchorman?!?!?!

If they can breath, they can win...

Now that title doesn't mean, "As long as the USA Men's Basketball team is conscious, they'll kick the crap out of every country they face." It's more like, "the air in China resembles Mars so stay the hell inside at all times." But alas, instead of investigating the extremely poor air quality over there, I'm actually going to analyze the team and why/how it's different from the 2004 squad. I suppose I could just say that this team doesn't have Stephon Marbury and call it a day. Seriously, Marbury?

There are only four players from that team that's back again this year: Dwayne Wade (pictured above, being awesome), LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony and Carlos Boozer. If all are healthy, I see no reason why they shouldn't be in Beijing. Jason Kidd will most likely start at the point with two schmoes (kidding!) named Chris Paul and Deron Williams backing him up. Considering how Wade, Tattoo-Head and Allen Iverson (Tattoo-Neck?) were the only three guards on the ENTIRE team in Athens, I'd say the team is off to a pretty damn good start. Michael Redd and Kobe round out the guards. Not only does Kobe need surgery on his finger, but he just played in the NBA Finals a month ago. He'll still play well but he's nowhere near 100% right now. Redd is just viscious from beyond the arc and that will most likely be his only responsibility. Nothing wrong with that.

Joining Lebron, Boozer and Melo at forward will be Tayshaun Prince. Personally, I hate this guy. As a Heat fan and someone who followed the Celtics' run through the playoffs this year, I just can't stand that Detroit team. Not to mention he sucked big time in that series against Boston. He played seven more minutes a game and barely raised his season averages, disappearing on the court for lengths of time. But with all that said, I think he's a good fit here. He won't be looking for his shot at all and will play some serious D. Lamar Odom, Shawn Marion, and Richard Jefferson were there in Athens. Um, what were Stephen Jackson, Rasheed Wallace and Al Harrington busy? Lamar and Marion are essentially the same player (with Marion playing more D) and Jefferson always struck me as kind of soft. They are good NBA players, but not good enough for an Olympic team.

Now here's where things might get a little dicey. Dwight Howard will start at center. The dude is a beast, no question. He will dominate any joker that tries to get in the paint. But when he's out of the game, Chris Bosh will be at the 5. Chris Bosh is a great, but he's not a true center by any means. He's more of a KG type power forward. The height is there, but he's not a banger. The team could run into some trouble against bigger lineups.

The problem is, what American born centers could make the trip? Tyson Chandler is actually going as an alternate. He's really coming into his own and I wouldn't mind him as a 12th man, maybe going instead of Carmelo or Deron Williams. But after him? Amare proved that he can be a superstar-but playing next to a huge center in the middle. (Notice I said huge and not necessarily good.) Al Jefferson's not a true center either plus he's a long way off defensively. Duncan was there in Athens but at this point in his career, I doubt he wants anything to do with games not played in the NBA. Don't even get me started on Okafor being there either...Kendrick Perkins is coming off shoulder surgery and KG still hasn't slept since the Finals. Not kidding. So that leaves the one guy I think will be a star by the 2012 games in London: Andrew Bynum. Even if he was healthy, I don't know if I would expose him to all that international play after only his second year. But I can promise you that if he progresses the way he did in the first half of the season this year, other countries will be peeing everywhere at the thought of going up against Howard AND Bynum in four years.

I've heard some arguments that whatever team wins the NBA Finals should represent the US against the world. I can appreciate the whole "they've been playing on the same team all year so they'll be cohesive" approach, but Boston played 108 games since November 2nd. That is insane. I'm sure Danny Ainge is thanking his lucky stars that no Boston player is actually on the Olympic roster. Plus, do you think the rest of the guys would want to play next to Posey right now? Don't get me wrong, I think it'd be rad to see Leon rep the red, white and blue, but there just isn't enough time to recuperate and prepare. Besides, I wouldn't be shocked to see some of the younger guys on the next Olympic team.

But I'm getting ahead of myself here. Puerto Rico demolished the United States 92-73 in the first game in 2004. It would make a great statement if the US could go out and not only win big in their first game, but win against the home country. Having Mike Krzyzewski as the head coach is a bit interesting since there are no college players. Boozer is the only one with any kind of history with Coach K so I don't see any bad blood being a possibility.



They'll have five exhibition games leading up to that August 10th matchup against Yao and the Chinese team. Combine that with all of the practices and the desire to finish higher than third in World competition for the first time since 2000, I believe the United States Men's Basketball team has a great chance to come together as a unit, put egos aside, and proudly and successfully represent their country. All twelve of those guys definitely deserve to be there and I don't think they'll take anything for granted. Yes, the rest of the world has caught up a bit to America, but I don't think they've caught up enough to beat this team.

I never really believe anything that Kobe Bryant said, but when he was asked what would be placed higher in his trophy case (let's just assume he has one) his NBA Championships or a potential gold medal, he didn't hesitate to say it would be the medal. He also said that every one of his teammates feel the same way. Take that all with a grain of salt but it's still fairly encouraging. It sucks that it will probably feel like smoking a carton of American Spirits after being outside for five seconds, but you can't control everything...