Kate Beckinsale

This post has no real purpose I just though it was high time I had a picture of Kate Beckinsale on my blog.

Askmen.com has put out their list of their 99 Most Desireable Women. I know beauty is subjective but I can't take a list with an official "Pursuit of Leisure Hottie" like Kate Beckinsale at only #74 seriously.

The NBA Draft highlights and lowlights.

First off the highlight of the night was the little pissing contest between Dan Patrick and David Stern. Patrick's "I always liked Tagliabue better" was an absolute classic.

The next best thing was when Mark Jones interviewed the Knicks fan who said Isiah was a bum and they had to get rid of him.

I like the Raptors taking Andrea Bargnani with the #1 pick. There was no clear franchise player in this draft and the Raps already have a franchise player in Chris Bosh. So taking a guy who may turn into a guy like Dirk Nowitzki is a good pick. Bargnani is going to be very popular in Toronto especially around Dufferin and St. Clair. And he'll never have to pay for a plate of pasta in Toronto ever again. And then Colangelo picking P.J. Tucker in the second round was an absolute steal. He played along side Aldridge at Texas and outrebounded him despite being 6 inches shorter. And he is a very strong defender. He'll be a great wing player for the Raps and be in the 8 man rotation right away.

Boston getting Leon Powe from Cal was another steal, I think the biggest in the draft. If not for knee surgeries he would have been a top 10 pick. He is a demon on the boards and plays big and tough in the low post. He could be another Charles Oakley type.

Tyrus Thomas is going to be a bust with that high a pick (#4). It seems every year there is a guy who rises in the draft based on his athletic ability but can't actually play, and hasn't got a clue how to play. Thomas is that guy this year. He can jump and he blocked shots at the NCAA level but he won't be that effective in the pro game where guards are a lot quicker and post guys have better moves. At some point teams have to go back to drafting actual basketball players instead of raw athletes. Guys like Jay Bilas don't help, using terms like "upside", "superior length", "hyper athleticism", blah blah blah. I'm convinced that if Larry Bird came out of college now instead of 25 years ago he would be a second round pick who has "a decent jump shot, no athletic ability and not much upside."

Speaking fo Larry Bird, it is unfair to compare Adam Morrison, the #3 pick to Charlotte, to him. I think Morrison will be a very good pro but he can't rebound (which is not really something you can teach) and he's a bad defender. The new rules will help him though. I think he will get better defensively but he will never be better than a bit below average. Charlotte will be able to hide him abit in a zone though. But he will score a lot of points. With the new hand check rules he will be able to get his shot off and he moves very well without the ball. I think Micheal Jordan had a lot to do with drafting him. Morrison has an incredible competitive streak in him and absolutely wants to take the shot with his team down 1 point and 2 seconds left on the clock. That's an attribute that you can't teach. Which is why they passed on Rudy Gay.

Shelden Williams to Atlanta at #5 was a safe pick. He'll pan out to be a solid pro but never be an all star. He'll bang bodies and be one of the better big men in the East. He reminds me of a poor man's Alonzo Mourning. Plus he looks like Ken Griffey Jr. in that episode of The Simpsons where Mr. Burn's loaded up the Springfield Power Plant softball team. Griffey Jr. drank that stuff and had that gigantic head. That's what Williams looks like.

The biggest reach of the first round wasn't Renaldo Balkman at #20 but Mouhamed Saer Sene to the Sonics at #10. At 10 you have to get a more known guy in terms of evaluation. This guy may pan out or could be an absolute bust.

Poor Renaldo Balkman. He doesn't stand a chance in New York. The pick was awful but not as awful as people think. At #20 there are no sure things so you can afford to take a bit of a long shot because the difference between the guy at 20 and 30 is not that much. But Isiah couldn't afford that risk and Balkman is going to be the whipping boy of Knicks fans through no fault of his own. He's going to be the punchline of jokes when people are talking years from now about what a disaster Thomas made of the Knicks. Isiah Thomas only has one year left in the NBA and it is going to be fun to watch him suffer through it. I think there could be a real problem at MSG this year. It's possible the Brawl at the Palace when Indiana players beat on Detroit fans will be upstaged this year. It's just going to be the opposite. I am willing to bet by Valentine's Day that a bunch of fans storm the court at MSG and pummel the shit out of Isiah.

Entertainment Musings.

I hate Star Jones. If I don't like Oprah that much I sure as hell aren't going to like some wannabe Oprah knockoff. Now that she's been given the boot she will probably fade into oblivion which is best for everyone.

Can someone explain to me why Ashlee Simpson has sex appeal? I just don't see it. A couple of million to pose in Playboy? Jessica hell yes, but not Ashlee.

Not the least bit interested in Al Gore's new flick. I'd call it a documentary but I'm sure it's a documentary in the same way Michael Moore's are. And yes Al Gore fits in the entertainment category because he sure as hell can't be taken seriously as a politician.

Hockey Signings.

As a Leaf fan I'm glad Bryan McCabe has resigned in Toronto. He's a strong defenceman and a crowd favorite and busts his ass every night. Now if they can get Pronger...

As a Leaf fan I'm glad Wade Redden has resigned in Ottawa. He is the most overrated defenceman in the league and shits the bed every playoffs. On tap of that he doesn't even look like he cares when Ottawa gets bounced early every year.

I think Vancouver needs to do more than sign Roberto Luongo to get over the hump. I think they need to get rid of Markus Naslund as well. He is going to be a major pain in the ass in the dressing room now that Todd Bertuzzi has been traded.

Happy Trails Eddie!

Eddie Crane, the best TV dog ever has passed away. I hope wherever he is he is chasing sticks and taking long naps.

Baseball Thoughts.

Pedro Martinez makes his first start at Fenway since leaving the Red Sox tonight. I hope to God Boston fans are smart enough to give him the standing ovation he deserves. And I think they will. He pitched his ass off for the Sox the whole time he was there and the reason he left had to do with the front office, not the city, the fans, or his teammates. He is te most dominating pitcher of his generation and the best pitcher Boston has had in 100 years, and yes that includes Roger Clemens. He helped them win the Series and was always entertaining and always stood up and spoke to the difficult Boston press. He deserves to be cheered.

How bloody bad is the National League? The American League is 50 games over .500 in inter-league play. Teams like Boston and Detroit are just killing the NL. Even the Royals are over .500 for Pete's sake. The Cardinals are the NL Central leader and they are getting it handed to them nightly. No wonder Roger Clemens went to Houston, he doesn't have to face real times.

Ozzie Guillen is a tool. I've never particularly liked him and his fat yap is going to get him in a lot more trouble than it already has in a very short period of time.

Finally, Get Well Peter Gammons. You are the best baseball writer in the world and the game's most respected and trusted source. The game ain't the same without ya.

Baseball Thoughts.

Pedro Martinez makes his first start at Fenway since leaving the Red Sox tonight. I hope to God Boston fans are smart enough to give him the standing ovation he deserves. And I think they will. He pitched his ass off for the Sox the whole time he was there and the reason he left had to do with the front office, not the city, the fans, or his teammates. He is te most dominating pitcher of his generation and the best pitcher Boston has had in 100 years, and yes that includes Roger Clemens. He helped them win the Series and was always entertaining and always stood up and spoke to the difficult Boston press. He deserves to be cheered.

How bloody bad is the National League? The American League is 50 games over .500 in inter-league play. Teams like Boston and Detroit are just killing the NL. Even the Royals are over .500 for Pete's sake. The Cardinals are the NL Central leader and they are getting it handed to them nightly. No wonder Roger Clemens went to Houston, he doesn't have to face real times.

Ozzie Guillen is a tool. I've never particularly liked him and his fat yap is going to get him in a lot more trouble than it already has in a very short period of time.

Finally, Get Well Peter Gammons. You are the best baseball writer in the world and the game's most respected and trusted source. The game ain't the same without ya.

Two to die in final Harry Potter.

All right start your guessing. J.K. Rowling has said that two main characters will die in the final installment of the great series. Though it may make sense to make Harry himself one of them I don't see it. I think his girlfriend Ginny Weasley will certainly be one of them. Or perhaps Ron Weasley. I don't think Hermione will be one of them either but all bets are off after they killed Professor Dumbledore. I would also be reasonably sure that Harry is finally going to take care of Snape. I need to end this right now before I can't stop. I can't wait for the book though. Anyone want to make predictions on who gets offed?

Hockey Notes.

I like the Bertuzzi for Luongo trade. I think Vancouver needed to shake up the lineup and getting rid of Bert was a good start. Bringing in one of the top three goalies in the league doesn't hurt either. We'll see if this trade wakes up Markus Naslund. I think going to Florida is great for Bertuzzi. He clearly needed a chnage of scenery and playing in a place without much focus on hockey like Miami will be good for him. If he was traded to Toronto or Montreal it would have been disastrous for him. I hope he responds because he was a force a few years ago.

The anti-NHL awards are very funny and appropriate. Kudos to Burnside for rippin' on Muckler for thinking depending on Hasek was a good idea.

I like the Leafs pickup of Andrew Raycroft. I think he will bounce back and have a good year for the Leafs. They made a pretty good run at the end of last year without Belfour and Raycroft is an improvement over who else the Leafs had. He is also a cheaper alternative than Jiggy from Anaheim or Nabokov from San Jose. Raycroft can keep the net warm for Justin Pogge for the next couple of years.

I don't know what to make of Chris Pronger trying to get out of Edmonton. I think his timing was good as far as trading him. His value couldn't be higher right now after the playoff he had. He will be able to fetch a couple of front line players in return. It's still got to be cruel to Oiler fans though. Just when they have some success after landing a big name guy like Pronger he wants to move back east. I'd love to see him in Toronto but I don't know that the Leafs have enough to give for him or that Ferguson Jr. is smart enough to pull it off.

A Big Thumbs Up to Alexander Ovechkin who decided after winning the Calder Trophy to attend the draft and announce Washington's first and second round picks. Then he hung around with the drafted players and signed autographs for people in the stands. That is first rate marketing. The NHL needs a lot more of that.

NBA Finals and other basketball thoughts.

Congratulations to the Miami Heat on winning the NBA title. They also helped me look good when I picked them to win in 6 games. That made me 15 for 16 in the playoffs and I think I may retire because I will never do better than that. The Mavericks can whine all they want about referees, the league out to get them, whatever. The reality is they didn't step up and execute in the fourth quarter of tight games. And Dwayne Wade did. There's your difference.

I personally didn't care much if Pat Riley won another title but I am very happy Alonzo Mourning won his first. I have been a big fan of Zo since he was a freshman at Georgetown. He is the toughest guy in the league and was the key to game 6. Here's a guy who had multiple career threatening medical ailments but kept fighting to get back and played his ass off every time on the court. I think you can make a strong case for him being the best undersized center of the past 20 years.

Here's another reason I like Shaq. He willingly acknowledges that the Heat are not his team. Not many other superstars, which Shaq is not, at least on the court, anymore would do that and gladly take to being "Robin to D Wade's Batman" as that twit put it to him the other night.

Is Dwayne Wade the best player in the NBA? It's an interesting argument and I say it only comes down to him and Kobe. We know Kobe has a killer instinct and now we know D Wade does too (though he did miss those two fre throws at the end of game 6). He just kills you with a smile on his face. Kobe plays better defense than Wade but Wade is more adept at getting his teammates involved. But Wade also has better teammates than Kobe. I'm sticking with Kobe for now but ask me again at the end of next year. As for other players in this argument I say the only other two I would give consideration to are LeBron and Tim Duncan, the guy everyone always forgets. Steve Nash may be my favorite player and the 2 time defending MVP but is not in the top 5 players in the league. Sorry Phoenix fans but it's true. MVP isn't the same as best player. If it was, Jordan would have won 12 MVP's.

I think Dallas blew their best chance for a title. The Spurs will be better next year with Duncan and Manu Ginobli healthy and the Suns are going to be unstoppable if Amare Stoudamire comes back at 85%. If Amare is healthy the Suns have to be the favorite.

All right, I like Mark Cuban and I think he is great for the NBA. He is a great promoter and takes every opportunity to meet with local media everywhere he goes. He's even been on Off The Record with Landsberg a few times. But I have to agree with my man Jason Whitlock that Cuban needs to be suspended. You can't go around acting the way he does when he loses it and expect it to go unchecked. His publicly ripping the refs, and yes they were not great in this series, can't be good for the league when it comes from an owner. His passion for the game is great but his over the top antics are not.

Can the fiasco that is the New York Knicks get any worse? Larry Brown likes to move around a lot and his ego is massive but the bottom line is the guy can coach. He took the Clippers to the playoffs twice for God's sake. That alone warrants his Hall of Fame status. There was no way in hell he was going to last under the ego and ineptitude that is Isiah Thomas. Thomas has made his post playing career a complete disaster to the point that he is the most hated person in NBA circles by the rest of the league. His reputation is completely destroyed and he will finally be held accountable now that he is coaching the awful roster he is 100% responsible for putting together. The Knicks will lose 55 games next year and he will finally be fired. Then superfan Spike Lee can make a horror movie based on Isiah's reign with the Knicks.

If the Raptors don't trade the number one pick in the draft, and I still would like to see it happen, they should take LeMarcus Aldridge from Texas. He'll be a solid pro for the next 12 years.

Phoney Phil Does It Again.

Watching the U.S. Open this afternoon was great. People will say Phil blew it on the 72nd hole, which he did, but you knew he wasn't going to win it after he hit that stupid ass 4 wood 2 feet out of the rough on the 5th hole. You knew that even if he was going to the last hole with a 10 shot lead he was going to find a way to blow it. It sure was fun to watch though. It's not a coincidence that 2 of his 3 majors have been at Augusta where there is not much strategy involved, just bomb the ball and make putts (and Tiger plays the same way which is why 6 of his 10 majors have come at Augusta and St. Andrew's) It's too bad we didn't get to see that sheepish ah shucks grin of his though, he didn't have the stones to talk to NBC after the collapse.

It was painful watching Colin Montgomerie on the last hole. The guy has put up with a hell of a lot of abuse from American fans through the years and it would have been nice to see him win. Hopefully he has the confidence to to finally win one at the British Open next month but I think that was his last great shot at a major.

Congrats to Geoff Ogilvy though. He made all the shots he had to down the stretch to win his first major. At age 29 I doubt it will be his last. I just hope his next won will be remembered for him winning, not someone else blowing it.

NBA Final Preview.

I'm having a hell of a good NBA playoffs this year. I've picked the winner in 13 of 14 series (I missed the Cavs beating the Wizards in the first round). The final is going to be very tough though with dallas having home court advantage.

Dallas Mavericks vs. Miami Heat

It's tempting to go the route of going with the team with the best player. In this series that is Miami and Dwayne Wade. Yes, Wade is better than the Mavs Dirk Nowitzki because Wade can play some defense while Dirk couldn't defend a pot of Earl Grey at high tea. But Dirk is playing phenomenally right now and the rest of the team is feeding off of that. Meanwhile his teammate Josh Howard is turning into a superstar on national television. This guy does everything and he is the reason this series is so tough to call. Both teams go about eight deep and all eight contribute to their team. The Mavs will look to run more and the Heat will try to take advantage of the fact that nobody will be able to guard Shaq in the paint. The Mavs will realize though that Shaq can still run a bit and has a lot left in the tank. He is playing like this is his last great shot at the title and and other guys like Gary Payton, Antoine Walker and Alonzo Mourning can help redeem their reputations a lot by performing well. Then there is Heat coach Pat Riley. After submarining Stu Van Gundy at the start of the season he knows he has to win this. On the other side Avery Johnson has done a great job coaching the Mavs and instilling some defensive intensity in them. Jason Terry and Devon Harris will play well but I think the Mavs are a year away. I think as well as Shaq and Dirk will play this is Dwayne Wade's coming out party, not that he hasn't had one already. The Heat know this may be the last chance for a lot of their roster and their coach and that urgency will carry them to the title.

Prediction: Heat in 6


Other NBA notes....

The Pistons need to stop whining about their coach. They are the ones who wanted Larry Brown gone and were more than happy to play for Flip Saunders all year. If they didn't step their defensive pressure during the playoffs that is their fault not Saunders. And it's not Saunders' fault Rasheed Wallace was utterly useless against the Heat. This team just wasn't good enough to beat Miami. They should drop the arrogant attitude they showed all year and get someone on the front line who can put the ball in the hoop consistently.

My Raptors own the number one pick in the draft and I want them to trade it. There is no franchise player in this draft and I think they can trade down to the eight or nine spot and still get a good player. They would still be able to draft Point Guard Marcus Williams out of UConn in those spots and let him run the team for 12 years. He is the perfect fit for them. He is pass first, plays tough defense and likes to take the big shots. In trading down they could also get a proven front court player to add depth to Chris Bosh and Charlie Villeneuva. They could then take a run at a strong shooting free agent like Peja Stojakovic (who loves Toronto and the large European population there). That puts them in the playoffs next year for sure.

Thoughts and Musings.

I went to see The Davinci Code the other night (I will review it later, though I was disappointed in it). Why do they play those ads before the movie starts that tell people not to sit at home to watch movies and tries to get them to go to the theatre. News flash people I AM ALREADY AT THE THEATRE. Somebody needs to take marketing 101 over again.

I thought occurred to me the other day when 17 arrests were made in Toronto over the weekend. The 17 people locked up were potential terrorists with plans to target Canadian buildings and people. Would these arrests have taken place under Paul Martin or the Liberals in general? And if they had, would they have been so public? I think the Liberals would have done everything they could to make the arrests quietly to ensure the rest of Canada that we would never ever have dangerous people in our country (said with sarcasm). Just a thought.

Although Michelle Wie failed to qualify for the Men's US Open it was certainly entertaining to see her try. That's kind of what I'm worried about though. Is she going to become mere entertainment by trying to beat men, which she will never do, or is she going to try to win consistently on the LPGA tour? So far she has yet to win an LPGA tournament and I think her career would be better served if she figured out how to start winning tournaments consistently against women. Once she has started to do that, by all means, try to beat the men, but until then concentrate on winning women's majors, not The Masters or US Open.

Comedy Central will be releasing the final episodes of The Chapelle Show on July 9. For whatever reason you believe, Dave Chapelle decided to walk away from the show. It's really too bad because the first two seasons of this show were absolutely hysterical. He pushed the envelope with his social commentary through hilarious sketches and his banter with the audience. That is what made to show so damn good. I mean, when your first sketch of the first show is about a blind black white supremacist you're off to a great start. Which is why I found it ridiculous for him to suggest, as he did on Oprah, that he was doing skits that he felt were "socially irresponsible." It makes me sad to think that a guy like Chapelle would submit to the politically correct police. I just don't buy that excuse.

Stanley Cup Prediction.

Carolina Hurricanes vs. Edmonton Oilers.

Canes in 6. I'd give a breakdown of the teams but I won't be watching a minute of it so I won't bother. Can anybody give me one good reason why the Cup final has to start as late as June 5th? If the NHL can't take themselves seriously why the hell should anyone else?

Golf Notes.

Is it just me or was Phil Mickelson a hell of a lot more likable and fun to watch when he was blowing majors? I kind of liked him before because watching him melt down was great to see. Now I honestly can't stand him. He has always been a smart ass, but now he is just an arrogant goof. No wonder everyone on tour hates his guts.

Tiger Woods is going to win the US Open. A lot of people think he won't be ready physically or mentally but he will be sharp as a tack after the death of his father. First of all with Tiger it's always mental. If he is 100% dedicated to winning he will win, even if he is only 50% ready physically. He is that much better than everybody else and he wills puts home when he needs to. He will want to win this for his Dad. And with the final round falling on Father's Day there is no way he is going to lose it this year.

Baseball Notes.

The Detroit Tigers have to be the surprise team in the Major Leagues this year. More people would have picked them to be 19-37 at this point of the year then the 37-19 that they are. A lot of the credit has to go to manager Jim Leyland, for my money the best manager in the game. They also have a great young pitching staff that is going to get better as the year goes on with Pudge Rodriguez guiding them along. They have played a soft schedule so far but the key to getting to the playoffs is beating up on the weaker teams on your schedule. They are going to give the White Sox a run right 'til the end.

Albert Pujols going on the DL is a shame. I was looking forward to seeing what kind of numbers he was going to put up this year. I think he had a legitimate shot at the all time RBI record. In my opinion, the RBI record is harder to get than the home run record especially if you are hitting a lot of home runs like he was. The reason is that your teammates have to be on base in front of you to drive them in. A solo shot is only 1 RBI. And when he has guys on base he is going to get walked a lot. Pujols is without question the best hitter in baseball but he is not the best player. I can't call a first baseman, even a great one like Pujols, the best player. I still say that honor goes to Alex Rodriguez. But if ARod has another bad playoff run I'm taking the title away from him.

Barry Bonds isn't hitting as many home runs as he was before because his knees are completely shot, not because of going off 'roids. To swing the bat effectively involves pivoting your hole body through the swing. It's similar to a golf swing which is why no golfers play with a bad knee. Barry just can't get through the ball the way he did two years ago which is why he is hitting a lot of balls to the warning track but not out. Grab a bat and try swinging without pivoting fully. It ain't easy.

The Houston Astros signing Roger Clemens to that ridiculous contract is insane. They say that Roger brings a winning attitude and is a great team player. So if Roger is such a great team player how come he negotiates a contract that allows him to leave the team or stay home whenever he is not pitching on a road trip? Because the only person Roger cares about is Roger that's why. The Astros won't make the playoffs this year and Clemens knows it. The reason he didn't sign with the Red Sox, Yankees or Rangers is because the American League has teams with better offenses and his ERA would be a lot higher in the AL and he wouldn't win as many games. He is a great pitcher but he is very overrated. To call him one of the three or four best pitchers of all time is laughable. If he'd spent half as much time in the gym as he did at the buffet table his last few years in Boston maybe I'd change my mind, but I don't have him as the best pitcher of the last twenty years. I would take Greg Maddux, Pedro Martinez, and Randy Johnson over Roger any time. He's racked up big numbers due to his longevity similar to the way Nolan Ryan did, another overrated Texan.

Ricky's Going to be Just Fine.

Ricky Williams didn't have a great debut for the Argos but he is going to light up the league. This is actually the only reason I will actually have even hint of interest in the CFL this year. The league has never had a player of Williams' calibre in the prime of his career. Doug Flutie was a great CFL quarterback but he was hardly the perennial NFL Pro Bowler Ricky is when he's not suspended for being stoned.

On that note Toronto is a great place for Ricky to be. He can smoke dope and everyone will leave him alone. And he is going to love having Pinball Clemons as a coach. Though I don't think Joe Theissman will be at too many games. Joe really needs to learn to shut his yap. Every time the camera is within twenty feet of him he makes an ass of himself.

It's interesting how full of shit the rest of the CFL is over Williams going to the Argos. They can complain all they want publicly, but you know damn well they can't wait for the attendance boost they will inevitably get when Toronto comes to town.

My final thought on this subject is actually why I can't stand the CFL. They have absolutely no clue what they are doing with regards to public relations. They say they are thinking of changing their rules to uphold NFL suspensions because they are worried about their image in the future. But they aren't worried abut their image now? But don't worry if they change the rule, they will change it back, then change again and again.