What we're talking about.....
Basketball
Baron Davis, just signed a 5 year $65 million deal to go from the Golden State Warriors to the Los Angeles Clippers. The Clippers are always living in the shadow of the more famous (and better) Los Angeles Lakers. Maybe this trade will give the Clippers a little oomph!
Wednesday at 4:00 pm (pacific), U.S. District Judge Marsha Pechman will announce whether the Seattle Super Sonics have to honor the last two years of their lease at KeyArena. Clay Bennett bought the team in 2006 and is trying to move the Sonics to his hometown in Oklahoma City.
Baseball
Tampa Bay Rays are still atop the American League East (2 1/2 games over the Boston Red Sox)
What a busy week. Two major stories in the sporting world.
1) This week saw the quarter, semi, and finals of the UEFA cup -- a soccer tournament held every 4 years to see who is the most dominant team in Europe. Well, it was all SPAIN, a team normally cursed with a loss in the quarterfinals, finally broke out of their shell and won the entire competition. They weren't favored by any means at the beginning of the tournament, but going into the championship game on Sunday, they were expected to topple the normally dominant GERMANY team. And that's exactly what they did -- capping off a excruciating road to success with a 1-0 win.
2) THE 2008 NBA DRAFT. Considering the event doesn't have much action, it's still packed full of drama. The most skilled players in college hoops, combined with the potential superstars of the international market -- all with no idea of where they will spend their NBA careers. If you're a sports fan, half the fun is imagining how X player will jell with X player, and how your favorite team will improve because of it. The Draft sends your imagination spinning. And on top of all this, there's the trades. Numerous teams trading up or down to get the player they want. In the blink of an eye, your favorite player could switch uniforms just so your team can move up one draft spot. Plus, even when they make their draft selections, it's not final, because you don't know if they are drafting for another team, or intend to trade that selection before night's end. (And yes, this happened several times on Draft Night).
There was a lot of debate who would go #1 on Thursday night, but those questions were answered. The Chicago Bulls selected Point Guard Derrick Rose
with the No. 1 pick, and the Miami Heat, expected by experts to trade
the No. 2 pick... didn't -- selecting Forward Michael Beasley at No. 2.
And they're keeping it. He's just too good to let go.
Rounding out the Top 5 -- USC's OJ Mayo at No.3 to the Minnesota
Timberwolves (then traded to the Memphis Grizzlies) UCLA's Russell
Westbrook to the Seattle Supersonics at No. 4 (who are moving to
Oklahoma City in the next year or two) and another UCLA star, Kevin Love,
to the Memphis Grizzlies. And in a blockbuster draft day trade, the
Grizzlies sent Love and sharp-shooter Mike Miller to the Minnesota
Timberwolves in exchange for OJ Mayo.
One more item of note: This year set the record for most freshman taken
in the first round; a fact that's wholly attributed to the rule NBA
Commissioner David Stern implemented 2 years ago forcing aspiring NBA
High School hopefuls to spend at least 1 year in college (or just be
19). This resulted in a plethora of "one and dones" in college. Do your
year, and then depart for the NBA. It has made college basketball more
fun to which (on account of the talent increase), but many people have
complained that this rule makes a mockery of the "student athlete",
considering these kids only have to be enrolled in one class in order
to play basketball at the university. We can only wait and see if the
rule sticks.
Watercooler Discussion: What do you think of the one year in college rule?
FOR MORE ON FEMALE FAN, COME VISIT US AT WWW.FEMALEFAN.COM
NBA Draft Tonight!
Here's a look at a future NBA Star, Jerryd (not that's not a typo) Bayless. "Sure, he can dribble, shoot lights out, dunk and pass – but he’s also 19 and close with his parents and big brother Justin. Jerryd keeps in touch with Justin – who is working as a Wall Street investment banker in New York – by sharing live video on his cell phone." To quote Risky Business, "the NBA can use a boy boy like Jerryd".
Check out Jerryd on YouTube.
WATERCOOLER DISCUSSION: WHO WILL GO NUMBER ONE IN THE NBA DRAFT? WILL IT BE DERRICK ROSE GOING TO CHICAGO FOR THE NUMBER ONE PICK AND MICHAEL BEASLEY GOING TO MIAMI WITH THE NUMBER TWO PICK?
FOR MORE ON FEMALE FAN, COME VISIT US AT WWW.FEMALEFAN.COM
Recap of Last Week's NBA Finals:
The excitement that was the NBA Finals came to an end on Tuesday, as
the Boston Celtics absolutely destroyed the Los Angeles Lakers in
Boston. This was literally an obliteration. The game was over by the
3rd quarter as the Celtics maintained a 30-point lead throughout. It's
almost as if they intentionally lost Game 5 in Los Angeles just so they
could humiliate the Lakers in front of their home crowd. And in the 4th
quarter, Celtics coach, Doc Rivers, gave us a memorable heartfelt
moment as he brought all of the Big 3 off the court
together. Ray Allen, Paul Pierce, and Kevin Garnett walked to the bench
in unison capping off what will become a historic season. And Paul Pierce
took home a well-deserved award for Finals MVP. At the beginning of the
series, the Lakers were heavy favorites, primarily because they had the
league MVP, Kobe Bryant. But... the Celtics veteran squad was just too
much for the Lakers, and Kobe was practically a no-show during the
entire series. Well either that or Paul Pierce completely shut him down
defensively.
The Celtics wanted a championship team at the beginning of the year, and that's exactly what they got; turning a bottom-of-the-barrel lottery team into an NBA Champion. Originally, they landed the No. 5 pick of the NBA draft (when they had been tanking the previous season in order to draft either of the college phemons -- Greg Oden or Kevin Durant). However, the No. 5 pick was traded for Ray Allen, and then they swung a trade for Kevin Garnett, and all the sudden they became the team to beat. Simply amazing.
With that said, this year's NBA draft will be held this Thursday. It's a weaker draft class than last year, but it will certainly be interesting as there is no clear No. 1 pick. The top two prospects are Memphis PG Derrick Rose,
and Kansas State Power Forward Michael Beasley. The Chicago Bulls have
the No. 1 pick, with the Miami Heat at No. 2. Derrick Rose has pleaded
for his home town Chicago Bulls to draft him with the first pick,
saying that he will be absolutely devastated if he doesn't play for
them. He said his work ethic will never diminish, but he would love for
his career to take place in Chicago. Furthermore, the Heat want Derrick
Rose REAL BAD, and have hinted that they will trade the pick if he
isn't available at No. 2. Therefore, it is very possible that a number
of NBA players will be dealt around the league before the night is
over. It will definitely be another exciting evening at the NBA draft.
BASEBALL NEWS
Chicago Cubs on a Roll! They have won 14 games in a row at home
(only the 8th time in team history they've done that). This past
weekend, the Cubbies swept the crosstown Chicago White Sox. You've got
to love the ranting f
rom
the White Sox...kind of reminds me of Ebby Calvin "Nuke" Laloosh's
interviews in the movie Bull Durham....before "Crash" Davis reformed
him.
Sox Manager Ozzie Guillen told reporters there were rats as big as pigs in the batting cage; pitcher John Danks said Wrigley smelled of urine; and catcher A.J. Pierzynski, who is always booed loudly, weighed in after fans directed a profane chant in his direction Saturday."They're idiots," Pierzynski told the Chicago Sun-Times. "It's like what Lee Elia said: 'Eighty-five percent of the people work, the other [bleeps] come out here.'" ESPN.com
FOR MORE ON FEMALE FAN, COME VISIT US AT WWW.FEMALEFAN.COM
CELTICS WIN...BIG!
Celtics beat the Lakers 131-92, the largest victory in an NBA Series clinching game. This is the 17th NBA Championship in Celtics team history and the first since 1986. The Celtics Paul Pierce
earned the Finals MVP and the Celtics coach, Doc Rivers (whom many
thought would be fired last year) was doused with orange gatorade after
the win.
FOR MORE ON FEMALE FAN, COME VISIT US AT WWW.FEMALEFAN.COM
