"tell me how my ass tastes"

i think even PC will have to admit this is pretty classic. kobe's expected to have a retort video, which will consist of him scowling at teammates and complaining to refs.

True futility...

the website draftexpress ran an article on NBA draft night strategy, in which they suggest some guidelines for draft hopes/expectations. one of their points hit particularly close to home:

VII. Be Thankful that You Are Not the Atlanta Hawks (and if you are, our condolences)

The Atlanta Hawks are by far the worst drafting team in the past three decades. Even when they get it right, they get it wrong. Of the 24 first round picks they have had from 1980 to 2003, only one (Pau Gasol) became a star (the “star” label as applied to Gasol may be a sensitive topic in Los Angeles this week), and they immediately traded his rights away (along with Brevin Knight and Lorenzen Wright) for Shareef Abdur-Rahim. Their top 10 picks beside Gasol in those 24 years were Al Wood, Keith Edmonson, Jon Koncak, Rumeal Robinson, Stacey Augmon, Adam Keefe, Jason Terry, and Dermarr Johnson. Thank goodness for Augmon and Terry, but the rest, well, not what a GM dreams of getting with his coveted lottery picks. Among the other 15 drafted players in that era only Kevin Willis, Alan Henderson, and Boris Diaw distinguish themselves. Nearly half the players that Atlanta has drafted (46%) are out of the NBA or buried deep on NBA benches after five years.

The two bright spots in the Hawks draft record were the post-draft acquisition of Dominique Wilkins in 1982, and the 1983 second round extraction of Doc Rivers. Hawks fans can also point to the post-2003 draft talent and say that things are changing in Atlanta. With six first round picks in the past four drafts, Atlanta has acquired Josh Childress, Josh Smith, Marvin Williams, Shelden Williams, Al Horford, and Acie Law. Smith and Horford could end up being among Atlanta’s best picks in the past 30 years (although not really a Hall of Fame distinction). The cynic would retort that with picks 2, 3, 5, 6, 11 and 17 you had better end up with some serious talent. And when you could have had a backcourt of Chris Paul (or Deron Williams) and Brandon Roy instead of forwards Marvin and the now departed Shelden Williams, maybe you don’t have that much to crow about.

Fortunately for Atlanta fans, there will be no missteps this draft day, as their first round pick is being conveyed (perhaps mercifully) to Phoenix as part of the Joe Johnson sign and trade.

they don't even mention all of the hawks worst calls. my favorite is florida state's doug edwards in 1993, when his teammate sam cassell was still available. guy couldn't shoot a lick, was not athletic, was not that big. along with keefe, and shelden, he rounds out the most inexplicable picks they've made. i can't say the marvin pick was exactly inexplicable, but it was incredibly stupid. along with the rest of the world, i've hammered on this pick plenty, but i never saw how marvin would be more than a role player (and i'm a UNC fan). paul, on the other hand, had star written all over him in college. i pegged him as the next isaiah thomas when he was a freshman, and upon his drafting guaranteed he would be all NBA within 3-5 years. i'm not bragging about my own prescience, rather trying to point out it was obvious. but enough on that one. anyway, you can check out the full history of the draft here.

by the way, the draft is this thursday if anybody ATHiens wants to get together to watch the first hour or so. i think rose is the right pick for the bulls, barring injury he's an almost sure-fire 10 year starter. beasley may have a higher ceiling (could be a 25 pt scorer), but he also has a higher chance of flopping.

Euro 2008

Germany kicked Portugal out of the European Championship yesterday after an awesome match. The game brought back memories of the World Cup 2006 in Germany. I did not have tickets for any of the games. Fortunately though there were public viewing areas all over. The most memorable moment was the Argentina v. Germany game that Germany won in the penalty kicks. I watched it on the so called "fan-mile" in Berlin where more than a million people gathered to watch the game on 15 big screens in the middle of the city in front of the Brandenburg Gate.

Huevos asked me to post the following video clip taken by my lady friend during the game. It shows how Lehmann, the German goal keeper, safes the last and deciding penalty kick. In a newspaper report a year later, a scientist published an article that proved an abnormally high heart attack rate the day of the game. I was very very close to be subject to the study....




...after the game....




Please keep your fingers crossed for Germany in the Euro 2008. I invite every 4KS member to watch the next Germany game here in Athens with me. I think the Globe shows all the games...

John Mayer

If you need any more evidence that the ironic t-shirt moment is now over, this should be sufficient.

two sentence movie reviews:

movies i've caught of late, summed up short and sweet:

the savages - depressing, in an uninspired way. well acted, but i'm just tired of movies like this. C+.

semi-pro - same formula as all other recent ferrell vehicles (magnetic/clueless star at the top of his game, everything spirals downhill, miraculous recovery). ferrell is the shit but he needs a straight man to be at his best (a la old school). C.

the zodiac - high quality. jarhead was surprising, but this is likely gyllenhaal's best role. A-.

the kite runner - never read the book, but i enjoyed the flick. the notorious scene was pretty rough, and the crisis of conscience/courage that followed was engaging. B.

the happening - very dissappointing. i like night's stuff, really liked lady in the water [you're wrong hillary, it was a novel and interesting flick], but the acting by both leads in this one was surprisingly poor and the story didn't go anywhere. D*.


* upon further reflection i ammend this to a C-. i was dissappointed, but D is too harsh.

Kickin' ass-phalt '08

Once again, I'm keeping a blog of my travels this summer. Man, it's a long way to Montana!

http://americanrt.blogspot.com

Check it, yo.

a president the world could love.

busy getting frustrated with all this absurd propaganda implying that obama is a)a muslim and/or b)a terrorist ("terrorist fist jab"!?!), it's easy to lose track of the other [reality-based] side of that coin: that electing a man with a muslim name as US president could surely lessen anti-american sentiment in the muslim world. bush era jingoism has given terrorist an endless supply of recruitment fodder. what an olive branch to the moderate majority of muslims, that the US would elect someone with the middle name "hussein" as president. sadly obama's name (and worldly upbringing) are viewed by a big part of the populace as a fatal flaw, or at least an electoral weakness. but, in the spirit of the obama campaign, i remain hopeful.

Stipe and Huevos McGringo Unite to Save Fireworks

No fireworks, no water, can't afford gas-- it was starting to seem like the great depression in our fair city. Fortunately a number of gracious donors, including the Mr. Huevos's firm, have stepped up to save one of my favorite events of the year. The list of donors shows that the good folks of the ATH love loud noises and pretty lights as much as anybody.

maybe nader was right...

the story PC doesn't want to hear.

granted the guy is just trying to save his ass. but it is not implausible.

If anybody wasn't excited about Lakers/Celtics

Check out this footage of the two whitest players in the history of the NBA going at it in 1984. The footage is low quality, but you can still see the clothesline along with Rambis's sweet shades and 'stache. Also note Basketball Jesus playing peacemaker, as he always was in all thing Non-Laimbeer.

I feeling a Celtics victory on the way, but I'll be wearing my I Love Vujacic shirt.

CONGRATULATIONS AMERICA!!!