Sports Remix

Serena Williams

2007-07-02T19:59:00.000-04:00

I had the pleasure of watching Serena Williams' Wimbledon match against Daniela Hantuchova live on ESPN2. If you haven't heard the story yet. Serena went down late in the second set (after winning the first) with a strained calf muscle. She was down in pain for several minutes. A few points later, in a tie-break for the second set, the Wimbledon rain set in, allowing her to get some attention to the injury.

She came back out on the court, losing the second set in a few quick points. What happened next, however, was incredible. In obvious pain, limping around, Serena fought. The first few games went back and forth, with her serve not allowing Hantuchova to break. As the set progressed, she gained more mobility and was able to run down a few balls. Serena was obviously emotionally charged, yelling to herself after multiple points to rev herself up. Her dad raised out of his seat on every positive point to back his daughter.

Serena won the last set 6-2. She somehow managed to dominate her opponent even while she was, as many on the broadcast put it, "physically vulnerable". This was one of the most amazing sports acts that I've ever seen. The sheer emotion Serena brought to the court was enough to make tennis interesting to those who would otherwise blow it off. If you have a chance to watch a replay of this, or catch it online, do so. It's inspirational, in it's own way, but also re-affirms the idea that Serena is back, and she means business.

Yi

2007-07-02T00:31:00.000-04:00

With the #6 pick in the 2007 of the NBA Draft, the Milwaukee Bucks selected Yi Jianlian.

That was a good call.

While having Villanueva, Bogut, and Yi on the court at the same time could be a decent force, they're running into some major problems. According to ESPN, Yi's agent sent out a list of "acceptable teams" that could draft Yi. Apparently he only wants to go to teams that are in cities that feature large Chinese populations.

That's nice.

Maybe I just don't get it, but where does he get the power to say what teams can draft him? There are tons of players who wind up stuck in shitty situations. Who the hell wants to wind up in Boston? New York? Who the hell wants to be the center that backs up Ben Wallace or the Guard that backs up Steve Nash? And I'm sure Bogut, the guy who lived in Australia, was thrilled about going to somewhere with SNOW. Just because you're a 6'11", "I'm faster than Yao" package doesn't mean you get any more leverage than any other player in the league. Suck it up and play for who the hell drafts you. I'd love to see him play with the Bucks, but if he's going to be this big of a bitch about it, I hope he winds up sucking and riding the bench.

Busy day or so...

2007-06-30T03:30:00.001-04:00

It's been a busy day or so, both in the sports world and my own personal life. Anywho, a few things I plan on tackling in the next day or so: The NBA Draft, Barry Bonds, Wimbledon and Michelle Wie. Should be an interesting weekend.

NBA Draft

2007-06-28T08:06:00.001-04:00

This blog isn't going to cover the NBA alone, I swear.

The NBA draft is finally here tonight. In the ultimate bitch move that always seems to happen by sports magazines, we now officially know who the first pick will be.

Oden.

Isn't that what people have been saying since before he officially declared for the draft? Wouldn't it be funny at this point if Portland picked Durant, just to mess with everyone?

On a more important note, I'm looking forward to any of the trades that manage to go down on Draft night. I'd love to think the KG deal is hinging on trades, but I have a hard time believing that it'll be done already. You never know who will wind up trading up for certain players/trading to force their way into the lottery picks.

1 and 2 is already set...who do you guys expect to go third?

The less spectacular KG trade

2007-06-27T00:47:00.000-04:00

Go figure.

It's been a day, and the major blockbuster trade featuring KG and the Lakers is already shelved for a new possible trade with the Suns and Celtics. You can find the article here. I'm not going to say a lot about this one (other than I feel bad with Marion going to the Celtics...again, who wants to go there?), but there is one major thing that I just can't seem to ignore:

KG to the Suns?
Are you kidding me right now?
This could be that piece that gets them to the finals, that extra little edge that helps them finally knock out the Spurs. KG would be the Rasheed Wallace of the Suns (and look where that got the Pistons). Apparently, according to the ESPN article linked above, KG and Steve Nash have become friends over the course of the last few years. It would be interesting to see if the Phoenix style of basketball would change and how he would fit in with a group that seems to be incredibly tight.

What do you guys thing would be more realistic, the blockbuster or the Phoenix beef up?

Blockbuster in the making?

2007-06-26T16:10:00.001-04:00

At this point, I'm sure the recent Kobe "trade me/don't trade me" flip flop fest has caught everyone's attention. Well, it looks like his small tirades have finally kicked the Lakers into action. They're not going to trade him; they're just going to start trading everyone else to get him some veterans that he'd be happy to play with.

Enter the 4 team, Garnett to Lakers trade. The full details of the rumored trade can be found here (Via ESPN). A few things that managed to grab my attention:

Kobe and Garnett together would be interesting. It's easy to say that it would be an amazing pairing that would yield immediate results, but we're looking at two stars who have become accustomed to carrying their own teams on their shoulders. How will they work together? Will they be able to drop the mentality that they've been forced into? It's not a question of if this trade will work; grab two all stars, put them together, and you'll win games easily. But come playoffs, will it work? I'm remembering the Shaq/Kobe/Malone/Payton 4 piece that didn't quite work out.

The Lakers would never give up Bynum...until Kobe bitches about him and demands a trade. I just kind of find that funny. He's only 19 and he's already good. I can see the Lakers 1. Regretting trading him when he winds up being a powerhouse 5 years from now, and 2. Kicking themselves in the ass for sending him to the Pacers with Odom. I'm calling it right now; a Pacers/Lakers final where Bynum goes ape-shit and rips the Lakers a new one. That would be a story line that would guarantee the Finals had better TV ratings than the last. The Pacers are seething over how the last few years have gone, and I can smell a comeback brewing with the right pieces...and these might be it. And I hate the Pacers, so that's saying something.

Now, Jermaine O'neal is being pretty vocal about his dislike of the Celtics as a trade destination. The Celtics are practically begging people to trade with them, and no one wants to go there. KG straight up said he wouldn't be traded there period a week ago. Gotta love a slap in the face.

That's all for now. If this trade goes through you have to believe it'll go through some tweaks before it all goes down. I'd imagine some draft picks could get thrown in (especially by Boston), but that narrows it down to a few days to hammer this out, and that just doesn't seem resonable...kind of like expecting someone to be happy with a trade to the Celtics.

Let's get this thing started

2007-06-26T03:47:00.001-04:00

Hey everyone,

I'm just getting this thing going tonight. Expect the first few articles to pop up sometime tomorrow night. If you've got any ideas or stories you'd like me to get to, let me know. Eventually I want to get rid of this template and get something cool going, but we'll have to see. Good night, and check back this time tomorrow aight?