The Drubbing

Just expand the damn Big 11 already.

A few weeks back, Joe Paterno got cranky, just like old men typically do, and challenged the Big 10 leadership to correct a perceived deficiency in his coaching ability. Paterno, sick of constantly being physically manhandled in the Rose Bowl, requested that his minor conference expand to include a twelfth member. Paterno’s excuse for consistent bowl loses is simply put, the additional two week lay off from the end of the Big XI season to bowl season leaves the B11 rusty and therefore unable to compete with the likes of any other BCS conference.
Continue reading “Thoughts on Joe Pa and Dementia” →

Best Block Party: The Birdman

While i do not enjoy NBA basketball as much as some of my fellow writers (Nate, Jordan, Rodney), i am the only one that will write an article about the NBA playoffs.  So, with only 4 teams left, lets hand out some awards:

PG Award: Chauncey Billups, Nuggets.  The dude just comes up with big, in your face shots.  There is no other point guard in the playoffs, outside maybe Rajon Rondo that i wanted on my team (that includes Chris Paul).  Watching Billups control a game and put constant pressure on opposing guards is enjoyable.

6th Man Award: JR Smith, Nuggets.  With a close second to Mikael Pietrus, of the Magic.  Smith can score 20 points in a quarter, of course he can also go 0-12, with 5 turnovers, but he has been playing very well and would be my first choice for guy off the bench in the playoffs.
Continue reading “All NBA Conference Finals Team” →

The NBA and NHL conference finals heat up:

While the coverage of this is a bit more than needed, just be glad there is something other than Brett Favre to talk about.

Gotta love the old Snickers commercials, especially this gem.

Your Weekly Chuck Norris Fact:

Chuck Norris is so fast he can run around the world, and punch him self in the back of the head.

* Please note that Chuck Norris is in no way affiliated with The Drubbing or its writers. If he did find out we were using his name in a gimmick he would roundhouse kick all of us to death.

Hot Carl Crawford

The best athlete i have personally seen in my lifetime is Bo Jackson.  The second best, Tecmo Bo.  Unfortunately for us, Bo suffered a career ending injury and we never really got to witness him playing over a prolonged period of time.  We also, never got to see him play just 1 sport full time.  This most likely took away from the absolute best he could have been either on the football field, or at the ball park.  One can only speculate how amazing his career would have been.

Carl Crawford is a very interesting athlete.  I did not learn how good of an athlete he really was until i heard over the radio some stories about him.  Once again, check out the all reliable wikipedia entry.  Carl lettered in 4 sports, was offered a scholarship to play point at historic UCLA, signed a letter of intent to play QB at Nebraska (which was a national powerhouse at the time) but ultimately decided to sign with the Devil Rays after being drafted in the 2nd round, 52nd overall.  Those offers are from some very prestigious schools.  With as fast, powerfully, and coordinated Carl is, i can only imagine what impact he would have had on the bball court, or on the football field.

Other recent great athletes to get noticed in different sports are:

• Kenny Lofton (who upon leaving the University of Arizona, was their all-time steals leader)
• Dave Winfield was drafted in 3 sports, San Diego Padres for baseball, the Atlanta Hawks (NBA) and Utah Stars (ABA) for basketball, and Minnesota Vikings for football.
• Deon Sanders played both in the NFL (multiple teams) and MLB (Braves & Reds)
• Brian Jordan played both in the NFL (Falcons) and MLB (Braves)

Small list since i was traveling for work this week:

In the Swedish Hockey League a player has a sex scandal, so this is the obvious reaction at a game.

Your Weekly Chuck Norris Fact:

Instead of smoking a cigarette after sex, Chuck Norris heads outside and brands his cattle..

* Please note that Chuck Norris is in no way affiliated with The Drubbing or its writers. If he did find out we were using his name in a gimmick he would roundhouse kick all of us to death.

As Ryan pointed out this past Friday, the NHL did a bang up job with its Game 7 scheduling. While the brain-trust in New York continues with its poor decisions, one General Manager ended up proving that he too cannot escape some of the stupidity surrounding the NHL.

Anaheim Ducks GM Bob Murray, accidentally, struck a woman with a chair following his teams series loss to the Detroit Red Wings a week ago. The woman declined to seek charges against Murray according to the AP article on ESPN. Who knows, maybe Murray’s apology was very heartfelt, or perhaps the woman, who was in the press box, felt bad for the guy. It’s understandable Murray was probably upset with the loss, but swinging a chair in a press box is pretty lame. Punch the wall or slam a door; don’t swing a chair at an unsuspecting woman.

The NHL is not pro wrestling and this is not good press. It’s a shame that a white collar employee, who should be concerned with helping the NHL and hockey rid itself of its barbarian-esque reputation, reacted this way. I’m sure Murray will or has gotten an earful from someone, but incidents like this don’t help the NHL gain fans.

I will be the first to admit i am not an avid hockey fan (at least not anymore).  But i had a mild interest in hopping on the bandwagon and watching the Boston Bruins play game 7 last night, and what did i find?  They were playing at roughly the same time as the other game 7, Detroit and Anaheim.  How can a sport who is struggling to gain back a dying fan base schedule 2 game 7′s at the same time?!?!

I think that hockey itself is a good product, it is a great product watching live, and probably has been helped the most out of any sport with the invention and mainstream of HD TV.  Work with the momentum, gain back the casual fans you idiots.  For being inept at running a sports league, the NHL gets The Drubbing FAIL of the week award.

Brett Favre , Aroid & now Manny dominate the news….lovely:

The “are you effing kidding me” award goes to this Orlando Magic fan with his absurd demands.

What do the Dolphins and Jimmy Buffet have in common?

Phil Jackson wants the media to give Houston some errr credit.

Your Weekly Chuck Norris Fact:

Chuck Norris trims his beard with a dull bayonet.

* Please note that Chuck Norris is in no way affiliated with The Drubbing or its writers. If he did find out we were using his name in a gimmick he would roundhouse kick all of us to death.

Not only do i close games, i am also the head cook at TGI Friday's.

White Sox Closer, Bobby Jenks was fined $750 for a single pitch, which seems funny to fine a Major League baseball player such an amount.  That is like pocket change to players.  Why fine him such a minimal, what seems like arbitrary amount?  Well, because of this interview he gave after the South Siders beat the Rangers.  I completely understand what Jenks was doing to Kinsler, and i had no problem with his pitch (outside of it being a 3-2 game in the 9th inning).  He threw low, around the mid section and behind of Kinsler so as to not hurt him but let him know that he was mad 2 of his players were hit earlier in the game.

This will win Jenks over in the clubhouse with his teammates.  But that is where it should end.  The casual fan or media does not need to know his intentions with his pitch.  That pitch was not for Joe Somebody who turned on WGN, or Sally Beatwriter who wants to get the inside scoop.  That pitch was for the clubhouse.

The absurd $750 fine, is basically MLB saying, “Bobby, you idiot, we were not going to fine you because you handled things well, but because you had to go and talk to the media we have to do something.”  So for this Bobby Jenks, i give you the Drubbing award of the week for stupidity.  You play the game for your teammates respect, just keep it at that and continue to close out games.

In another edition of good teams doing right by their fans, the Camden Riversharks are re-designating a section of their stands. The Camden, New Jersey-based, minor league baseball team have recently declared Suite 319 to be peanut-free.

The suite holds about 25 people and there will be no products that include peanuts or cooked with peanut oil served in that section. Tickets for this section won’t change even with this new policy.

The Riversharks said that the change was brought upon by requests from the fans. It’s a nice change to hear an organization listen to and respond to the concerns of it’s fan base.