April 2008 Archives
Crank THAT, LeBron!
Soulja Boy. This dude just isn't going away, is he? (and, for the record, that's not me wanting him to either--this video is hilarious!)
Apparently not because it looks like DeShawn Stevenson is planning to sit Soulja courtside tomorrow night when the Wizards host the Cavs back in Washington. Yaaaaaaaaaah...
The Sixty Million Dollar Man
I've heard Steve Nash is big into the "green" movement. Hybrid cars and such. Partnerships with the Arizona Power Company and Canadian company BC Hydro. Real into the environment. Like we all should be.
But he's taking it next level with his new sneaker, the Nike Trash Talk. In fact, he's the first athlete to wear a recycled, high-performance shoe. The shoe looks exactly the same as his previous shoe but is put together with pieced-together scraps of leather and synthetic leather waste. The sole is made of ground-up rubber from a shoe recycling program.
Anyway, because we're always striving to make our readers recognize the importance of "going green" a little bit more (if you haven't already, check the March issue!) I wanted to make sure I got this video up today--Earth Day. The clip is produced by Meathawk, the production company Nash recently started, and is based on the old television series "The Six Million Dollar Man" and Nash's tendency to take spills on the court.
"I have such a passion for watching films and now, that passion is being transferred into filmmaking. After starting my own production company, Meathawk, this seemed like the perfect time and place for me to make a short film to increase environmental awareness through the promotion of Trash Talk," Nash said through a statement.
Enjoy. Also stars teammates Amare Stoudemire and Raja Bell.
The Takeover
Let the games begin. With the NBA Playoffs in full force, there's only about a month left before the WNBA season kicks off. That would draw crickets most years, but today both adidas and Gatorade announced that they have inked endorsement deals with Los Angeles Sparks player Candace Parker.
What does that mean for the league? For one, Parker is a star. Officially. And, for two, there's going to be a real presence surrounding her that's been absent from the women's league. Commercials. Events. Billboards. You're looking at the LBJ of the WNBA. Get excited.
Again...
Is it fair that Manu Ginobili keeps on racking up sixth man of the year awards?
Oh, George
What the? I coulda used a little more explanation from the ABC crew on this one...
THINK I GIVE A FUCK WHAT THE LOS ANGELES TIMES SAY?!!
Okay, this isn't Prodigy's wildly entertaining blog (located over here), but it does have more to do with music than sports.
Before you go any further, let's take a few seconds to listen to the official "Kobe Bryant for MVP" theme song together:
Ah, wasn't that...yeah.
The circus surrounding this year's NBA MVP has gotten pretty old pretty quickly. (Seriously, why can't Kobe just be thismuch more likable. Or go back in time and return the mic to its rightful owner. Would make this whole discussion easier, no?) But because VIBE's November NBA predictions are failing remarkably short (I take responsibility for the Bulls to the NBA Finals pick), I figure we need to get something right. Anything at all, really. So here's my (basketball-related) pitch...
Chris Paul is a lot of things to a lot of people. To Tyson Chandler, he's the perfect teammate. To paraphrase some classic NBA Jam commentary, that guy couldn't buy a bucket before he teamed up with CP3 (again, trust me, I'm a Bulls fan). To Byron Scott, he's a career savior. Is that really the same guy who got chased outta New Jersey after 2 NBA Finals runs? To New Orleans, he's a hero. Who's moving to Oklahoma City now? And to VIBE (and just about any other non-Lakers fan out there) he's the MVP of the league. Few guys can match this guy's intensity on the court and good-natured personality off it (peep him rocking bowling gear in our May issue if you haven't already). If not for his 21.1 points-11.6 assists average, then for the simple fact that this guy out-Bruce Bowened Bruce Bowen last month and ended his streak of 500 straight games by getting the guy suspended for a cheap shot (check the video below).
But here's my real pitch...
Do you guys hear what I hear? I listened to Kobe Bryant's rap album on the train last night and....WTF!? Who approved this? I loved A.I.'s "40 Bars" just as much as the next guy, but was there really a time when someone thought this would heat up the streets? The only positive thing that came outta that frisbee was one of my favorite ESPN Page 2 lines ever: "Next time Tyra Banks starts thinking she's Oprah, someone remind her she sang on 'K.O.B.E.'"
Now, to be fair, I swear I saw CP3 rocking a Young Money chain in an issue of ESPN The Mag a few weeks ago. But when I asked Jordan Brand about a possible Chris Paul/Lil Wayne collabo ('cause, as you know, Wayne doesn't exactly discriminate when it comes to who he hops on the mic with) they confirmed that, "They have a mutual appreciation for each other, obviously with their great love of New Orleans as a connection. But [as for] working on anything together, no, they are not." Whew. So in a close one...CP for MVP.
Just as long as no songs come outta it.
[Disclaimer: If you're a betting man, I also had UCLA winning the NCAA Tournament. And then Memphis once they beat UCLA. Just saying...]
Brucey B kicks it with CP:
King Kobe?
Okay, I'm late on this. Way late. But Kobe Bryant did something I actually liked last week! He jumped over a freakin' car! Well, sort of.
(Brought to you by the supporters of "Chris Paul for MVP.")
Sneak Attack
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Truth be told, I'm more excited for the battle of the Candaces tomorrow night (Stanford and Wiggins versus Tennessee and Parker) than I am for the men's finale tonight. The men's side has seen more than its fair share of blowouts during the last three weeks, my beloved Blue Devils got knocked out in the second round and two of the last four teams (UNC and UCLA) bowed out without putting up much of a fight. So I'm more than willing to put off the college hoops talk 'til next season.
But at least Memphis and Kansas will be wearing some cool sneakers when they take the court in San Antonio tonight. Generally, I get confused by the concept of "team" sneakers. In high school, for a variety of reasons, they never seem to be customized enough, never seem to be the right colorways and almost never feature team logos or anything extra. In college, they tend to at least match the unis but don't look any different than the next team with the same school colors. But adidas finally hooked up 7 teams at this year's NCAA tourney, including Kansas and Memphis, with the real deal: the adidas Team Signature Pro Model series ($100; shopadidas.com), featuring team colorways, team logos and a simple, effective design that actually makes them look like team kicks as opposed to 12 pairs of sneaks that the coach was able to cop for the team at a discounted price.
If you're watching the game tonight, look out for 'em. And look out for the Tigers: Memphis 77, Kansas 65.
And, oh yeah. Look out for me blogging more than once every six months from now on, too. Enjoy the game.
