The NBA's All-Ugly Team

Me and the fellas over at The Big Lead got on the topic in last night's Late Night posts about the NBA's ugliest players. A lot of names were thrown out there, but here's what we settled on. Bear in mind these are current NBA players, so Sam Cassell, Popeye Jones and the like aren't included.

Point Guard - Rajon Rondo, Boston Celtics


What's not going for him:
1) Bug eyes
2) High cheek bones
3) Boney shoulders
4) Abnormally large hands
5) Wears green

AKA: Female alien.

Shooting guard - Delonte West, Cleveland Cavaliers

What's not going for him:
1) Ginger
2) Race unknown
3) Herpes mouth
4) Gross tattoos in bad spots

AKA: Ent from Lord of The Rings (thanks, commenter mrejr)

Small forward - Charlie Villanueva, Milwaukee Bucks


What's not going for him:
1) No body hair
2) Seriously. No body hair.
3) Not even eyebrows

AKA: Shaved cat

Power forward - Robert Swift, Oklahoma City Thunder

1) Ginger
2) Cryptkeeper Hair
3) Uncanny resemblance to the Flying Ginger Shawn White

AKA: Rocky Dennis

Center - Shelden Williams, Sacramento Kings


What's not going for him:
1) Excessively large forehead
2) Ears stopped growing at age 3
3) Eyes roughly 7-8 inches apart
4) Probably drank nerve tonic

AKA: Ken Griffey Jr. from The Simpsons

Also receiving votes: Chris "Caveman" Kaman, Joakim "My Precious" Noah and Adam Morrison (pre- and post-hair)

Extra Starburst help Odom sink Nuggets

Los Angeles Lakers forward Lamar Odom goes through several bags of candy every day. SEVERAL.

Check out ESPN's Shelly Smith's feature on Odom before last night's Game 5 win by the Lakers.



Odom must've ate some extra Starburst before the game because he was huge for the Lakers - 19 points, 14 rebounds, four blocks and the Lakers took a 3-2 series lead.

Postseason LOST nerdy fun

I found this today in Doc Jensen's teaser to his LOST Season 5 wrap-up column.

And as the camera pulls back, we see what we've been waiting to see since we first glimpsed that four-toed foot over three years ago... the towering, majestic statue of the Egyptian goddess Taweret.

There was a lot of Internet discussion and analysis about the identity of the statue, which was represented partially in Season 2 with four toes. The mystery stood for three seasons before an opening scene flashback of Season 5's finale, in which we were treated to a close-up of a completely in tact statue. It was Tawaret, the Egyptian goddess of birth, rebirth and the horizon.

Here's more details about Tawaret...

Early during the Old Kingdom, the Egyptians came to see female hippopotami as less aggressive than the males, and began to view their aggression only as one of protecting their young and being good mothers, particularly since it is the males that are territorially aggressive. Consequently, Taweret became seen, very early in Egyptian history, as a deity of protection in pregnancy and childbirth.

I wouldn't be a true LOST fan (nerd?) if I didn't post my theory.

Despite what the Wikipedia entry says, I don't believe the statue was destroyed sometime before 1974. There isn't proof. Instead, the statue was destroyed in 1977 during The Incident. Explaining The Incident is a debate in itself, but I believe it was the hydrogen bomb-detonating actions by the Losties stuck in 1977. Juliet apparently set off the bomb, known as Jughead, and the screen went white to end Season 5.

As the statue crumbles during this explosion, so does the protection of the pregnant women (this is something we've been made aware of the entire series). Hence all of their deaths and the reason Juliet, a miracle-working fertility doctor, was brought to The Island in 2001. The only proven storyline that corraborates by theory is that Amy berthed Horace's child (Ethan) in 1977. It seems that Juliet's detonation destroyed the statue and subsequently caused the problems with the pregnant women, which brought her to the Island. I-RONY.

Still follow? Good.

Ruminations on Magic's big win

That I did not expect. The Magic went into Cleveland and beat the Cavs 107-106, on a court in which the latter only lost twice all season - to the Lakers and on the final day of the regular season with LeBron and the starters resting.

To be down by 16 and not panic speaks a lot about the Magic and teams at this point in the season. Continuing to play their style and slowly work back into it is the sign of a great team that deserves to be in its conference finals.

I wrote yesterday about the Magic holding a significant frontcourt matchup advantage and I was right. Dwight Howard is too quick for Big Z and too strong for anyone else the Cavs put on him. Only Howard can stop Howard (foul trouble). Rashard Lewis made Anderson Varajeo look slow. That guy was cold as ice in the fourth quarter. I'm not sure if he missed a shot. That game-winning three-pointer with about 14 seconds left was CLUTCH. Hedo Turkoglu was alright and did his fair share of abuse on the Cavs frontcourt.

Cleveland missed tons of open shots, something it hasn't done most of the season. LeBron hogged the ball at times last night when he shouldn't have. But when he did move the ball, no one else seemed to want to do the same thing.

Here's some other reaction around the blogosphere and news sites.

I'm taking the Cavs in 6

The machine that is the Cleveland Cavaliers is nearly unstoppable. Great team defense, clutch shooting and, of course, LeBron James. But this won't be an easy series like the Cavs had in the previous two rounds. Orlando is a very good team.

Orlando's front line will give the Cavaliers fits. Dwight Howard is simply too quick for Big Z (see how I didn't feel like writing his entire long name?), too strong for Joe Smith, and both for the perpetual flopper Anderson Varajeo.

Forwards Hedo Turkuglu and Rashard Lewis will pose matchup problems for the Cavaliers. Both are 6-10, shoot the three-ball well and can get to the hole if necessary. LeBron will likely take the duties of guarding one of these two. It'll likely be Turkuglu, who often plays point forward. You can't put the unquick Varajeo out there and away from the hoop. That means Lewis, who's more athletic than Hedo, will draw Varajeo, who he has a significant advantage on.

The Cavaliers' backcourt will win this series. Mo Williams and Delonte West are great shooters and super-quick. Magic guards Rafer Alston, Courtney Lee and JJ Redick aren't quick enough.

Cavaliers win this in 6.

Dontrelle killed it tonight

Just got home from work. Listened to some of Dontrelle Willis' outing on the radio. The guy killed it tonight - 6 1/3, 1 H, 2 BB, 0 ER. Most importantly, he gets the win. That's his first since September 2007!

It's been such a rugged road for the big lefty over the past year and a half and I'm glad he pitched well tonight. As a Tigers fan, I'm REALLY happy.

What's also impressive about this win is that Willis shut down baseball's best offense. The Texas Rangers were shut out for the first time since April 18, when they faced baseball's hottest pitcher in KC Royal Zack Greinke. Texas was 12-3 in May heading into this game.

This is the story of the baseball night. No doubt.

NBA WCF quickie

Hey everyone.

I've been really busy the past few days. I was out of town for a wedding from early Friday morning until late Sunday evening and didn't have access to the Internet. I'd do it all over again, too. The wedding weekend was wild and I caught up with some good people.

Monday was a recovery day, and compiled with work, I didn't get a chance to blog. I'm really busy today at work and just got some big-time information that'll make a damn good story tomorrow. Before I get into working on it, I just wanted to post my NBA Western Conference Finals prediction.

I wanted to do a post with analysis and support of my prediction but I'm not sure I'll get to it by the the 9 p.m. ET tip. If I can, then I will. In the meantime, here's my prediction:

Lakers in 7. This is will be a great series.

I know L.A. swept this series last season but this is a much improved Nuggets team. I think we all know that. The trade for Chauncey Billups was huge, Carmelo Anthony has accepted a lesser scoring role (but he's still lighting it up), JR Smith has bettered his shot selection and the addition of Dante Jones as a defensive stopper has been important. The front court of Nene and Kenyon Martin are healthy and Birdman is awesome on help defense.

So what's with all this Nuggets talk after I pick L.A.?

Here's why I'm taking the Lakers. We know what to expect from Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol (most of the time), Lamar Odom and Derek Fisher. They can score and they've got the veteran presence. The X factor is Andrew Bynum, who it seems is rounding back physical and, more importantly, mental shape. If he's on for 16-18 and 8-10 every night then L.A.'s got this. But if he struggles like he did at times against Houston, then a Denver team in the NBA Finals would not surprise me.

Out of town

I'm out of town until late afternoon or early evening on Sunday afternoon. I've got a buddy's wedding that's about 5-6 hours away and I'll be away from the computer.

Don't forget to add me on twitter - TheNickWest.

Have a great weekend.

Is this Rajon Rondo?

Boney shoulders, high cheek bones, bug eyes, abnormaly large hands, wears green.

The guy can ball but I can't help but think he looks like a female alien.

LOST season finale

What a great finale. In LOST fashion, we get some answers but even more questions. This is why the show is beyond great.

Great post over at The Big Lead and the comments are informative, too. I post as NDub.

The season-long thread at SportsJournalists.com is here. Page 56 is where we started talking season finale. I post as NDub there, too.

Doc Jensen's recap at EW.com is also up.

Don't forget to add me on twitter - TheNickWest. I'll follow you, too.

Watch Atlantis launch

I'm sort of a space geek. I really enjoy learning about what's out there. I watch a lot of History Channel, Science and Nat Geo.

So, I'll be paying attention to this: NASA will launch the shuttle Atlantis today to send astronauts to repair the 19-year-old Hubble Space Telescope, which delivered us some beautiful pictures recently.

If you're at work or can't get to CNN, here's a live Webcast of the launch.

How does this guy keep getting work?

Keanu Reeves is about to develop a split personality as the star of a modern retelling of "The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde," according to Hollywood Reporter.

Reeves is one of the worst actors I've ever seen. If it wasn't for the flashy special effects and unique storyline of The Matrix series, this guy's career would be nothing. Speed was OK. I'll give him that. But have you seen some of his recent trash? How about "The Day the Earth Stood Still?" Did you really enjoy that movie?

:30 mark.



Your planet?

Breaking : Manny suspended 50 games for MLB drug violation

This is true, according to the L.A. Times. Dodgers announcement coming later today. Yikes. Apparently it's performance-enhancing drugs.

Manny Ramirez is now the second high-profile player in four months to rock the MLB world with a drug scandal. The other, of course, was Alex Rodriguez, the only player in the league who makes more money than Manny.

Manny Ramirez has tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs and will be suspended 50 games starting today, The Times has learned.

[...]

Ramirez is expected to attribute the test results to medication received from a doctor for a personal medical issue, according to a source familiar with matter but not authorized to speak publicly.

The Dodgers informed triple-A outfielder Xavier Paul this morning that he was being promoted to Los Angeles.

With the suspension taking effect with tonight's game against the Washington Nationals at Dodger Stadium, Ramirez will not be eligible to return to the team until July 3.

This is huge on so many levels. I'm definitely surprised by it. After five years of drug testing, players are still getting busted. Don't they learn? Most of them have been minor leaguers, but Manny is one of the biggest big-leaguers. He's one of the greatest hitters in baseball history and has made a Hall of Fame career. Could it all be tarnished by one positive drug test?

I'll let today's events unfold before passing judgement.

LOST - 5/6 discussion

Great thread over at The Big Lead about LOST last night.

http://thebiglead.com/?p=13971

I'll probably post my ruminations and theories later.

EDIT: The EW.com recap is up!

Hey, hey

How's everyone? So I checked a recent traffic update from Sitemeter and realized I'm getting a decent amount of hits. A lot of them I'd bet are residual from older posts that got some hardcore linkage. But I take comfort in knowing that some posts here in the past have been picked up by larger blogs. It means if I keep writing then I'll likely get picked up again.

I'll pretty much write about whatever. You'll get a heavy dose of my passions - sports, media, my favorites, etc.

So, here goes another start to Construda.

I started to tweet today - twitter.com/TheNickWest. (no period, obviously). Follow me and I'll add you to my following list.