Amazing Commentary: January 28, 2010

So much going out there in the world of sports, that I don’t even know where to begin!

We’ll save the Super Bowl mumbo-jumbo for next week, but until then, there’s still plenty of sports commentary on the other sports.

Mitch Lawrence, New York Daily News:

Fifty games? That’s it? That’s all Gilbert Arenas has to serve for his stupid and dangerous gun antics?

Arenas should hope he gets off as easily on March 26 when Judge Robert Warren tells him how much time he will be spending in the can.

In the meantime, as he sits around waiting for judgment day, Arenas can breathe a sigh of relief that he works for David Stern.

Arenas gave Stern the best chance he will ever have to solve his gun problem, once and for all. And Stern blew it.

Howard Bryant, ESPN.com:

Whatever cleansing effect Bud Selig and Tony La Russa thought might be produced by Mark McGwire’s re-entry into baseball has been hijacked by real anger from an unexpected source — his fellow former players and baseball insiders — in the weeks following his admission that he used steroids during his career. The result is a not-so-welcome fact: McGwire’s return to the game is not working.

It is, in fact, toxic.

Disparate voices around the game have made themselves heard, and their repudiation of McGwire — and by extension, the lucrative and discredited steroids era — is unmistakable.

Henry Abbott, Truehoop.com:

For Arenas, after the NBA’s suspension has been determined he’s now not getting paid at all for the remainder of this season, yet the contract weds him to a team that has distanced itself from him in every way imaginable — right down to removing his likeness from around the arena. People close to Arenas have been saying that he does not want to play for Ernie Grunfeld any longer.

The only natural thing is to assume that the Wizards and Arenas will find a way to part ways. But can they?

Tough to trade: There has been talk about the Wizards finding a trade partner willing to take on Arenas. Front office sources say they can’t imagine any team would take on his contract. Among the things working against Arenas: He is one of the NBA’s worst defenders. Synergy Sports tracks every NBA play. At the time of Arenas’ original suspension, he was rated the worst defender among the 107 players with at least 300 plays as an on-ball defender.

Rick Reily, ESPN the Magazine:

You can’t knock the smile off my face with a snowball. I am Optimist Prime. You see a recession? I see a pawnshop boom. You see global warming? I see terrific new surf spots. You see a sports world full of cheats you wouldn’t let babysit your rubber tree? I see a column. For instance …

It’s been bad news if you’re a Mark McGwire fan. He copped to using steroids throughout the ’90s, which surprised exactly three people, all of them at the Beijing Dominos Association. After all, McGwire’s younger brother (admitted ‘roids-using bodybuilder Jay) wrote a book proposal detailing all the junk he introduced to his bro. McGwire’s five-years-too-late confession was weaker than prison coffee. He insisted his usage was light and didn’t help him go deep. Please. It was like Carlo Gambino admitting he stole library books.

But it’s been good news if you’re a Ken Griffey Jr. fan. With every tearful, trembling doper who fogs up our flat screens, Griffey shines brighter. We point to his 630 home runs and say, “Not a smudge on them!” We point to his failing with age — less than 40% of his bombs have come past his 30th birthday, compared to more than 60% of McGwire’s — and exclaim, “A slugger not built in a lab!” We point to Griffey’s before and after pictures and compare them to McGwire’s or Barry Bonds‘ or Sammy Sosa’s and rejoice, “Behold! Hat size still a 7 1/8!”

Kurt, Forum Blue & Gold:

When a team is not reaching its potential around the trade deadline, there is a temptation to want to “shake them up” with a trade.

The Lakers are not reaching their potential. They are 5-5 in their last 10 games, 1-2 on this road trip. They played better against a Toronto team that plays well at home, but it was still a better overall game from them than we have seen recently. It’s one of those things I notice in baseball (not sure if the stats would back me up) — when a slumping hitter is about to break out of that, they seem to go through a phase where they start hitting the ball hard but still make outs. They drill the ball but right at the shortstop, or the centerfielder robs them of a home run. Is that where the Lakers are?

Or, do the Lakers need to be shaken up?

Thomas B., KnickerBlogger.net:

During halftime of the Dallas game, Coach D’Antoni said the only thing wrong with Duhon was that he wasn’t hitting shots (eFG% 44.8). Sure, and the only thing wrong with the Titanic was a small hole in its hull. D’Antoni mentioned Duhon’s assist to turnover rating (37.0 Ast-R), and total assist (6.7 per/36) in defense of his point. Unfortunately, Duhon’s passing numbers, while good, simply are not strong enough to make up for his abysmal shooting. Duhon’s TS% of 48.3 (28th of starting point guards) is about the same as noted brick layers Jared Jeffries (48.4) and Larry Hughes (47.4).

Matt Loede, Saints Gab:

Our friends at TMZ.com sent us the following today about Reggie Bush’s squeeze:

TMZ has learned Reggie Bush’s favorite asset will be hitting the town on Super Bowl weekend in a Vault XXL2 Limousine by Armor Horse — which is a tank/limo hybrid built with composite ballistic panels and bullet-resistant windows.

And that’s not all: Both doors on the limo are fitted with emergency gun ports — so, whether the limo is rockin’ or not … it’s best if you don’t come a knockin’.

No related posts.