For Islander next year....

This is the guy.

In sports news, I'd like to direct as much attention to the Bay Area as possible.

Often forgotten in the major sports markets- we don't even have one of those cool espn___.com sites yet- but damn if we aren't doing things this season. I'm saying it right now; every one of our sports teams is the dark horse to win their division, or at least make it to the playoffs (let's start small.)

The big news of course is the sale of the Warriors for the most money in the history of an NBA franchise. It's pretty cool, but I had to wonder what exactly the guy was thinking, especially considering he already has a stake in the Celtics. Isn't there a conflict of interest there? If I owned two basketball teams, I would just make all my best players go to one team and keep the scrubs on the other.

And who the hell is on this team? We got one guy who was made homeless by Lebron James moving to Miami, the best player on the Knicks, a superstar who can't even drive a power wheels, and the best rapper in the NBA.

And Andres Biedrins- quite possible the worst free throw shooter of all time, but damn if his hair isn't always looking great. Perhaps not the team you'd think to just throw money at, but they are definitely an interesting group, especially with the future 6th man of the year on the court.

The only thing holding these guys back, now that a money-grubbing owner is gone, is probably Don Nelson. I'm not throwing Donnie under the bus, but I think that, because he has his all-time wins record, he should step back and let some younger, fresher blood into the organization. A new coach to go with a new owner might be just what the team needs to be competitive this season. If your team is leading the league in points made and allowed per game, you're definitely doing something right, but also something horribly wrong.

I think what will really be telling is how much the loss of Carlos Boozer affects the Jazz. If they go down, I think that may be our opportunity for success. Also, reading this article gets me excited; basically, without Maggette, we only have to worry about one ball hog, which is usually more than enough for a team.

And with the addition of Jeremy Lin, the Warriors now have a hard-working Asian. But more importantly, Lin went to Harvard! After the string of gangsters that came through the Warriors system (Stephen Jackson, Matt Barnes) I'm excited to see some diplomas mixing it up on the squad. Not that I don't love this...

But enough about basketball, it's baseball season, so let's mention two of the greatest players of all time, Jack Cust and Buster Posey. Jack Cust, AKA the Large Legend, is the second-best hitting DH in the AL. And Buster Posey, well, I think even SportsCenter talks about him. If these guys can both keep it up, and Texas/San Diego gets hit with a heatwave, you might be seeing some Bay Area action in the post-season.

It's easy to forget that California exists, especially in the sports world, and certainly if some people make you want to forget we exist....

... but after seeing the Sharks not combust in the playoffs (right away at least) and the Raiders finally dumping JaMarcus Russell, and 49er's looking at a softer division, now is as good a time to jump on our bandwagon. Especially considering the ditch the Philly/New England wagon is sitting in these days.

It's been a long time coming for a rejuvenation of San Francisco sports, considering the fact that every one of my favorite baseball players growing up was accused of using steroids.

And now, for a word from a great Bay Area ambassador.

Crumlish's Side Job

Can Messi do it 5 times in one game though?

Fall From Grace

Where were you when O.J.'s Ford Bronco was being tailed by the 5-0? When Tiger's Escalade crashed? When LeBron made "the decision"? This moment was transcendent in sports, not once even has a sports athlete made such a big deal off the stage, let alone by simply changing teams. Yet can anyone ever really love him again?

Now I am not from Cleveland so I can not imagine how they (or the Supersonics fans) are feeling, but I am just in shock and appalled, like drinking milk out of the container to realize its now cottage cheese and leaves that sour taste that won't go away. It's not because he did not come to my team (though he would be great in the Garden), but this was not proper behavior of a "King". I will be first to agree that America is forgiving, but I see a lot of LeBronfires, and I don't see that sentiment changing soon. Yet the first sighting of Tiger Woods on the course or sign of life in his game and everything was forgotten. The reason is really quite simple, what LBJ did betrayed everything to a fan. So what if Tiger slept with 17 girls, no one really cares, that's his business. Are you that surprised Tiger isn't the best guy?, Jordan wasn't the most graceful, but how they act at home really doesn't make a fan dislike them any more or any less. What they do on the court or course is why you love them and that's why you can forgive Jordan and Tiger for all of their short comings and infidelities. But LeBron's actions "on the court" is where he came up short, leaving us all waiting on "his decision" when he knew it all along. The way LBJ, and Wade and Bosh for that matter, made this a joke. Hiring camera crews to follow them, Wade and his "New York state of mind", it was a fucking shitty MTV reality show. And if this wasn't enough it had to culminate in the most egocentric showing before Lebron had to hand his pride and become Wade's humble guest. How could we forgive a "King" that sells out and crys "HELP". To make matters worse, the "break-up" he made with Cleveland was pretty pathetic. Note to LeBron: Just screening all of Cleveland's calls was not going to make them go away, and saying fuck you, I'm taking my talents to South Beach, on national TV was no way to say thanks to the fans who loved and embraced you for seven years. I'm not saying he had to stay in Cleveland at all, but the annointed one chose to shy away from greatness. These titles, IF they get them, will be theirs, not LeBrons, and his buddy Wade will always have one more in his city. LeBron taking the easy way out, and the way these last two years built up to the LeBroncalypse will be a tough pill to swallow, and the world will be forever changed (seriously a LeBron Fathead is $17.41 a tribute to Benedict Arnold). More importantly, who could have ever thought LeBron could become so vilified so fast, nor Kobe look like an angel, but oh how the mighty can fall.

Scarlets of Sports: Claudia Lampe

As typical drafts, tonight's NBA draft is no different, being over hyped and soon to be overshadowed by some new discovery in the LeBron sweepstakes. This scarlet though is not to be outdone, and I doubt you would consider taking John Wall or the Evan "The Villain" Turner over her. This weeks scarlet is Claudia Lampe, a former Bolivian Model and forward for the UTEP Miners. For a sport that typically does not provide the best eye candy, Claudia brings some decency back to a mediocre game full of fundamentals. Tonight's coverage of the draft will begin at 6:30, until then survive another day in the office.

The Sports Machine Speaks on the 2010 NBA Draft

J'ai Lancé la Merde Hors de la Décision

Koman Coulibaly, the referee in the World Cup match between the United Stated and Slovenia, needs to have a chat with Jim Joyce.  Not only was he consistently bad throughout the match, but he showed Robbie Findley a nonsense yellow card for a hand ball in the box, and he stole a goal that would have capped an unbelievable comeback by the United States. 

The hand ball called against Findley was simply wrong.  The ball did look like it glanced off of his hand, but that was only after it STRUCK HIM IN THE FACE. The contact was purely incidental and in no way should Findley have been penalized.  This would have been a terrible call in and of itself, but it is even more egrigeous due to the fact that it was Findley's second yellow of the tournament.  As a result, he will be suspended from the United States' critical game against Algeria.  Surely the U.S. will appeal the call, and hopefully FIFA officials will listen to reason and drop the yellow.

Sadly, that was not the worst call of the match. That would have to wait until the 85th minute, when Landon Donovan bent a perfect free kick from just outside the box.  Maurice Edu got away from his defender and put the ball in the back of the net for what should have been the 3rd goal for the Red, White, and Blue. However, Coulibaly, possibly driven insane by the jet-engine-decibel-level vuvuzelas, decided to whistle the USA for a phantom foul, disallowing the goal. During the play, Altidore and Bocanegra were clearly fouled by their defenders, not to mention Michael Bradley basically being given the Heimlich maneuver by his man.  If anything, there should have been a call against Slovenia.

As with the Findley yellow card, the call would have been bad on its own. Its potentially far-reaching implications, however, make it an even worse decision. The United States were denied 3 points which would have placed them atop Group C and in control of their own destiny. Now the U.S. must await the outcome of this afternoon's England/Algeria match to see where they stand. In addition to watching their own group, the United States now has to pay close attention to Group D as well. The winner of Group C plays the Group D runner up and vice versa. Group D contains the powerful German squad, Ghana, Serbia, and the Socceroos. Germany is certainly the favorite to win the group, and if Coulibaly's call relegates the U.S. to second place and forces them into a match against the Germans, the Americans, if possible, will be even angrier than they are now.

There is a lot of soccer left to be played though, so we will have to wait and see what happens. This World Cup has already seen its share of unlikely moments, the U.S. comeback against Slovenia being one of them. The Americans were already given some hope this morning, as Germany was improbably defeated by the Serbs. To add insult to injury striker Miroslav Klose, one of their best players, was shown a red card, and will be suspended from Germany's next two matches. All we can do is watch and wait to see if the universe has a sense of karma and Coulibaly's call will have a silver lining. Hopefully Coulibaly has some sense of honor and takes a page out of Jim Joyce's book, apologizing to Maurice Edu and the United States for his error, or at the very least explains the call.

Scarlets of Sports: Amy Taylor

In honor of tomorrows start of the 2010 World Cup, this weeks Scarlet is Amy Taylor, a former member of the Australian Women's 1999 World Cup team also known as "The Matilda's". To her credit, and frankly the entire teams, Taylor appeared on the cover of a nude calendar featuring the team in order to raise funds for the national team. It's athletes like Taylor that really take fan appreciation to heart. We can only hope to have more role models like Amy.

You have to love the enthusiasm of this Socceroo.