My First Brawl!

Well, kinda. The 2008-2009 NBA season is barely 2 weeks old and we've already had a mini-round of fisticuffs. Well, there weren't any fists involved. More like big men pushing and shoving. A couple of guys hit the ground, a couple of extra guys came off the benches, several players were restrained. Can we call it a melee? Hellz to the nah, it wasn't even that serious. How about I just tell the story...

Wednesday night the Houston Rockets traveled to Arizona to face the Phoenix Suns. All seemed normal until the 3rd quarter when Rafer Alston (BKA Skip to My Lou) caught a stiff shoulder from Matt Barnes. (By the way, I've always thought Barnes was dirty. There's just something about that dude...) Skip got upset came back with a shove rest is, as they say, history. Steve Nash came in and it looked like he was trying to break things up. Tracy McGrady came in shoving, and Shaq wasn't having his perennial All-Star point guard getting treated like a rag doll, so he came in , all 7-1, 360 pounds of him, and shoved McGrady and to the ground. It was pretty funny. Check the video:



Barnes and Alston were ejected, and McGrady, Nash & O'Neal all received techs. A few days after this attempt at an altercation, the NBA levied some fined and handed down some suspensions. Alston and Barnes were suspended for 2 games, while Nash was only suspended for 1 for "escalating the altercation." You gotta love how the league phrases this shit! They hit (or should I say lightly tapped) Shaq and McGrady in their abyss-like pockets fining them $35,000 and $25,000 respectively. Can we say a drop in the Pacific?

This tit-for-tat, 1st grade pushing match was not worthy of any kind of suspension. A fine? Meh, I can live with that, but to suspend guys when no one even got punched, kicked or spit on? I mean come on David Stern!! I understand we don't want another brawl like at The Palace at Auburn Hills, or The Garden, or even like last year's playoff where Steve Nash got mollywhopped and slammed across the floor. But this was nothing like that, thanks in part to all the coached who came through and tried to diffuse the situation, and the players on the bench who recognized that their involvement would only have exacerbated the situation.


Even if I side with the league and agree with the suspensions of Barnes and Alston, Steve Nash should not have been suspended. That little white man is MAD!! As he should be! Over the past few years he's been gettin his ass whooped!! Taking hard fouls, driving to the basket then quickly hitting the parquet. Let's not forget what happened to him in San Antonio last season where he was clotheslined by Robert Horry, and a game or two later force-fed his own bloody nose. Frankly, I wasn't surprised when teammates had to hold his ass back in this game vs. Houston. Damn right he's mad! He's kissing the hardwood like that shit is going outta style!

Agree with the NBA's decision or not, the league is clearly taking a stand early in this season: Act a fool, and pay the price. (I really tried hard to think of something that would rhyme, like Stay in School, or Follow the Rules, but nothing made sense so...) The NBA is image oriented and if you decide to engage in behavior unbecoming of a representative of the Nation Basketball Association Stern is comin for that ass!


**Shout out to all the players who showed restraint and stayed on the bench, and to the coaches for getting the players into their separate corners swiftly. Here we are talking about a fight on the court and I the man most people would assume was involved - didn't even hint at RON ARTEST!! The Rockets were involved in a mini-scuffle and Mr. Artest was chillaxin on the bench keepin his nose, hands, and fists where they belonged - to himself! Shout out to Ronnie!

I love me some Charles!! Barkely that is. He's off the wall, unrepentant, and refreshingly candid. He didn't think this Suns/Rockets shoving match was so serious either.

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

It really is. Fall is my favorite season. The leaves on the trees are bright yellow, orange and red. New York fall isn't as picturesque as the Falls I've experienced in New England, but hey, take a picture, it lasts longer. The temperature is a cool 65 degrees but with the sun beating on you it feels like 72. It's perfect light jacket weather, the boots come out, and the Bill Cosby sweaters are in full effect. This is my time of year!!

But Autumn isn't just about the fashion. As per the name of this blog and my life's obsession, it's perfect sports mix. Some seasons are just getting started while others are almost over. It feels like every night of the week is must see sports tv.


The MLB postseason seems to go later and later into each year, which means fans are still watching baseball well into October. While the past few years have been lackluster as far as series matchups and wins, it's only a matter of time before the World Series returns to form, as will the slumping ratings.


We are knee deep in the NFL season!! Week 11 is underway, and the playoff picture is already starting to take some shape. Like every season, there are __surprises and unbelievable disappointments. Example? The Tennessee Titans are the league's sole undefeated team. Wholda thunk it!?!? The Indianapolis Colts have stumbled with their veteran QB Peyton Manning trying to regain his form following offseason knee surgery. On the other hand, 2 rookie quarterbacks, Joe Flacco of the Baltimore Ravens and Matt Ryan of the Atlanta Falcons, have made solid transitions from college to pro, and are playing better than some veteran QBs.

The COLLEGE FOOTBALL season is rounding its final corner and, as usual, we're arguing about rankings and wondering who's playing in what bowl. Should a top ranked 1-loss team (see Florida, Texas, Oklahoma, Penn State) team play for the championship over a team that could possibly finish the season undefeated (Alabama, Texas Tech, Utah, Boise State, Ball State)? BCS seems to stand for Bowl Confusion Series, especially since a lot of people still don't even understand how the system even works. Should computers decide which teams are the best, or should coaches and media (many of whom have their own biases and agendas) decide teams' fate? We're still debating whether or not the NCAA should implement a playoff system - a discussion that only gets louder and louder as more deserving schools are left out of championship games. Whether you like it or not, every week is a big game with monumental post-season implications. Exciting to say the least.

The 2008-2009 NBA season started with a block buster trade that sent Allen Iverson to the Detroit Pistons, and Chauncey Billups to the Denver Nuggets. This is also the tie where we get to see what this year's rookie class has to offer. Derrick Rose, Michael Beasley, Kevin Love, Brian Westbrook, . And let's not forget the most unconventional rookie, 2007's #1 overall pick, Greg Oden. He missed all of last season after having knee surgery, and injured himself in his VERY FIRST GAME of his NBA career!! Sprained foot. People are calling him injury prone, and we'll see how the rest of his season shapes up.


And last but not least, COLLEGE FOOTBALL!! This is a long season that's already started. The preseason rankings have UNC, UConn, Louisville, UCLA and Pittsburgh as the top 5 teams. Last year's final teams, Memphis and Kansas are ranked 13th and 24th respectively. I was a little surprised at first when I saw the 2008 champs, the Jayhawks, were down near the bottom until I realized that they are quite a depleted team. Kansas lost all 5 starters (Brandon Rush, Darrell Arthur, Mario Chalmers, Darnell Jackson, Sasha Kaun) and a repeat of last year is . Davidson, last year's Cinderella, is in the top 25, along with last year's disappointment, Florida. The Gators won back to back championships with Joakim Noah, Al Horford and Corey Brewer, then seemingly fell of the face of the Earth. From The Big Dance to the NIT? Womp. And Davidson's star PG Stephen Curry is already thrown into the mix as this year's top player. UNC is the #1 team, surprise surprise, but their #1 player Tyler Hansbrough starts the season on the bench, sitting out with a stress reaction in his right shin. Trouble in paradise...?


Now look, if the NBA, NFL, NCAAF, NCAAB and MLB don't float your sports boat, then there's still the NHL, MLS, PGA, and Nascar. I'm just gonna leave it at that.