No Winners, Just Whiners

Chris Paul seems to have added himself to the list of NBA divas who are demanding to play with another superstar in order to contend for a title. ESPN and Yahoo are reporting he is demanding a trade to the Knicks, Magic, or Lakers. Chris Paul still has two years left on his current contract.

This new “Super Team” era in the NBA is bad for the league. The more super teams the NBA has the worse the competition is going to be. No one wants to watch a game, in person or on TV, that they know is going to be a blowout. I’m not going to watch a Lakers vs. Grizzlies game – we all know how that game is going to turn out. The lack of competition will lead to the loss of revenue for the teams and for the league.

Recently Hall of Famers Michael Jordan and Magic Johnson have publicly stated that they would not have pulled a LeBron and called up all the other superstars during their era to play on the same team to compete for a championship. That’s just now how the NBA used to work. It was about the competition and the challenge of beating your rivals, not teaming up with them.

What happened to getting up early, eating your Wheaties, and working harder than the other guy to win a title? It sounds like working hard turned into clubbing till 4am, sipping a drink on the beach, and let the other guy win you a ring.

In order to be the man, you have to beat the man - not join his team.

Shaq to play football..and tennis..and baseball?

It looks like I have a new favorite show this year - "Shaq Vs". Debuting in August, Shaquille O'Neal will be the star of a show where he will compete against other top athletes in their respective sport. He came up with the idea for the show as a way to train for the upcoming basketball season.

Athletes that are lined up right now include Aquaman Michael Phelps, Steelers Quarterback Ben Roethilisberger, retired former world boxing champ Oscar De La Hoya, Tennis grunter Serena Williams, St. Louis Cardinals slugger Albert Pujlos, and Olympic volleyball gold medalists Kerri Walsh and Misty May-Treanor.

A handicap will be established as part of the competition and Shaq is looking to defeat these other world class athletes at their own game.

Since Shaq completed the Sportscaster U program at Syracuse this past year, I would put my money on this being the first of many opportunities we will have to see Shaq as a TV personality. This will definitely be worth watching - I'm starting the countdown until the first episode.

Witness Protection - Nike takes Dunk Tape

WHAT?!! LeBron dunked on? Posterized? I'll believe it when I see it.

It seems that I will have to go on believing that LeBron was't posterized on a dunk at his Skills Academy by Xavier University's Jordan Crawford because a Nike rep confiscated the video tapes. I mean, if you don't see the tape, it never happened, right?

I guess it was embarassing for the MVP of the National Basketball League to get dunked on two-handed by a college kid from a Mid-Major, but I think LeBron and Nike have gotten themselves into a bigger mess than if the tape had made its way to YouTube or even SportsCenter.

Now not only did LeBron (allegedly, but for real) get dunked on, but now he looks like a baby for having the tape confiscated. Add this to his walking off the court ordeal during the NBA finals and it looks like King James might not be as mature as his basketball skills would have us believe.

This whole incident could have been easily laughed off afterwards in front of a news camera or two, or saying that this kid has some real skills but instead LeBron looks a little immature and Nike looks like the CIA for taking the tape. Too bad those Men in Black memory erasers aren't real, huh Nike?