Oddly enough, this is not hoops related, heck it's not even a ball that does or doesn't bounce, but yours truly has done another column for the fine folks at AOL Sports Canada. The subject? The goalie everyone loves to hate... Ray Emery. It's interesting how he gets booted out of the league for doing less than Sean Avery, but I don't touch on that in my piece. I'll use the intro that they put in front of my piece to speak on it. Feel free to rate, hate, vote, comment or what have you, thanks.
For Ray Emery, an underdog that no one is betting on to come out on top, a successful return to the NHL would be sweet redemption. But to quiet his doubters, the new Philadelphia Flyers goaltender can’t rely purely on his physical skills. Mentally the decisions and choices he makes on and off the ice, as opposed to the catlike instincts he utilizes in the net, will be far more important, writes Duane Watson.
Every time I see NBA players on late night television it's hilarious. Why? Likely as they generally have some great writers to make sure it's as funny as it should be. We all remember Chris Bosh on Jay Leno during last year's playoffs, this year Jimmy Kimmel steps up. With an NBA version of the Dating Game pitting Amare and Grant Hill of the Suns against Dahntay Jones and Chris Andersen of the Nuggets, it's The Team Mating Game in a battle of who knows their teammate better.
No need for me to break it down any further as you can just watch, but could you just imagine Kobe hosting SNL and doing some funny skits? Could he ever let it go for once and just have fun?
Rajon Rondo has elevated his game this year, particularly in the NBA Playoffs. Proving he belongs in the discussion of the league's elite point guards, we now have an idea on why he's so fast. Rondo is the first NBA endorsee for Red Bull energy drink.
Despite the New York Knicks successfully winning the 8th pick overall in the NBA Draft Lottery last night, rumour has it they will not be drafting Stephen Curry as previously reported. The 6'3" guard's draft stock has recently plummeted due to new developments. A New York Knicks insider, speaking on condition of anonymity explained that concerns stem from Curry's off court activities and not the apprehension of his stature as an undersized shooter.
"We think Stephen is a great kid and an exceptional scorer but he really can't rap", he goes on to say. "If this were Utah or Minnesota even, this may not be an issue. However we're talking about New York city, the birthplace of hip-hop." While I wasn't aware that Curry's rap skills were even in question, I was directed to his little dalliance with the M.I.C. on Davidson's "I Love Commons" a remake of Asher Roth's "I Love College."
Curry is easily the worst rapper on the song, making everyone else in the video come off like Eminem and Jadakiss. With two simple verses he's cemented his place as the worst rapping basketball player ever beating out Kobe and Cedric Ceballos. Former NBA coach and ESPN analyst Jeff Van Gundy agrees, "My man the Notorioius B.I.G. must be rolling in his grave right now" he says. "I've been down with hip-hop for a while, and that has to be some of the worst bars I've ever heard. New York won't stand for that, not when you have guys like Hova and Jim Jones sitting courtside at the Gardens."
Representatives for Curry were unavailable for comment.
The first time I saw these online I was going to post, but I've obviously been quite lazy lately. After seeing them again over at Kix And the City, I was reminded how "flavourful" these are. Yes that's a part of my lexicon, only because of these shoes, I never dug the Alife X Reebok "Ball Out's" as I thought they were a bit much, but sign me up for a pair of these. The new Nike Hypermax Tennis Ball, doesn't have the flywire but they've replaced it with extra flavour. There should be text on the bottom of the soles saying "Don't tread on me."
Not to throw disclaimers about like CP3 tossing alley-oops to Tyson Chandler, but I love Nike. For the most part, I love their kicks, their marketing is always on point and they don't joke around with the technology and R&D they put into their products. However, their recent campaign with the current and previous league MVP's is pretty much gar-bage. After seeing the first spot I felt they did little to capture the personalities of these two guys. I mean, maybe that was Lebron 5 years ago and possibly Kobe 5 years from now, but that's still being extreme. Yeah it's puppets and while the excessive chalk was funny, it all got tired after the first 30 seconds. I let things slide the first time as the swoosh got a pass on the strength of their previous track record.
Now, there's another spot with the two marionettes, if the puppetry looks familiar it's the same work you've seen in Kanye West's "Champion" video, (which I still believe is a Nike commercial). With this new Three Rings commercial, it leads me to believe there is a series of spots with Nike feeling their two posterboys will be facing each other in the NBA Finals. Not a radical idea, although the Houston Rockets seem to have missed that memo, maybe there's still time to create a Chris "Birdman" Andersen puppet?
What baffles me most is how much Nike has missed the mark here. While hardly funny, they are nothing like their real life counterparts, and don't need to be. But they could have played into some of their characteristics and made it more comedic. Or it could have been stronger if they actually voiced it, yet I'm actually surprised these were even approved. Especially in light of Kobe's alleged creative control demands on the Spike Lee directed Kobe Doin' Work documentary.
Who signs off on these? Lebron came off better in this one, yet Kobe looks like a clown, or better yet the Cookie Monster. I mean really, Jim Henson must be rolling in his grave right now.
Oddly enough, this is not hoops related, heck it's not even a ball that does or doesn't bounce, but yours truly has done another column for the fine folks at AOL Sports Canada. The subject? The goalie everyone loves to hate... Ray Emery. It's interesting how he gets booted out of the league for doing less than Sean Avery, but I don't touch on that in my piece. I'll use the intro that they put in front of my piece to speak on it. Feel free to rate, hate, vote, comment or what have you, thanks.
