Foil in the Oven: Sometimes We Like To Watch Videos

Before we move on, I need to speak about Michael Beasley once more. I really do believe he was the best player in the draft. Even as I saw the Bulls taking Derrick Rose, I felt like they were making the wrong move. Beasley is going to step in and make an impact right away. On top of that, as the analysts alluded to, the Bulls already have a lot of money invested in that back court. As you can see here (warning, you may throw up when you actually see Larry Hughes' contract charted out year by year), they have Kirk Hinrich, who is a pretty damn good point guard, locked up for the next four seasons. I'll really never understand why people soured on Beasley so much as the draft approached, but I was glad to see that the Heat had the sense to make the right call.

Speaking of salary cap situations, I had to look up the Knicks also just for fun. A lot of Knicks fans think that D'Antoni was brought in to suffer through this season and then to work with a team that management would build for him once they got some money off the books. Well, anybody that thinks Eddie Curry is opting out of this money is fucking crazy. As long as he doesn't eat himself to death like Pizza the Hut, he's going to be there for the next three seasons. Look at Zach Randolph's money too. God that hurts. Did I mention that the Jazz have the Knicks first round pick in 2010. No wonder those fans were so angry.

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I was really hoping that Darrell Arthur would fall to the Celtics at 30. I never expected it heading into the draft, but once we hit about pick number 24 I started to become optimistic. Obviously, we missed out. After that I was really hoping for Mario Chalmers or Chris Douglass-Roberts (hats off to the Nets for getting Douglass-Roberts at 40. Who would have thought?). The JR Giddens pick threw me off completely, but now I feel pretty good about it.

- Giddens is a senior, which means that he is more likely to have an impact right away. This is a big plus in my mind.

- Jay Bilas had great things to say about Giddens as a player, but mentioned that his drawbacks are that he has had some issues off the court and that he has been hard to control. I think sometimes we all need to remember (and this was the case with Beasley as well) that these guys are young. Think about your college days and the people you knew who are perfectly good and professional people now. What kinds of things may have come out about them heading into the draft?:

"well, we've heard that this guy and a friend crushed up a large bag of salt and vinegar chips and dumped them all over a Dead River pizza. No word as to what caused such hunger"...

"apparently an e-mail with very sketchy photos of this person putting on a glove were accidentally sent to the entire college administration".....

"apparently this guy would occasionally have too much to drink and would then run around the college dining hall waving an American flag"....

"We've got photos of this guy...humping.......a keg......in public....during the day.".....

"We hear that this guy actually boarded himself in a room with four other guys, leaving only small openings for pizza delivery, and the five of them drank an entire keg before forcefully breaking through the barricade that they had created. All this in just under twelve hours. Pat Riley is concerned."...

The point here is that I'm not surprised that many of these guys need to mature. Imagine being a 19 year old college student and having scouts probing into your personal life.

- They said that Giddens has been hard to control even as a teammate and player before. If he does step out of line, I have a feeling KG will handle it.

- Giddens played at Kansas and New Mexico and had great stats in college. Also, here is a video showing Giddens freakish athletic abilities (dunking in warmups at Kansas and New Mexico and also in dunk contests):


sick.



So, I feel pretty good about the Giddens pick. There seems to be a lot of upside there, and I think drafting guys that are relatively old makes sense given the Celtics current state. Overall, the Celtics scouting team has done a great job under Danny Ainge, and I trust them on this one.

What struck me even more, and really gave me the energy to write this post, was the announcement at about ten minutes to midnight that the Celtics had acquired Billy Walker from the Wizards for cash considerations. I had almost gone to bed, and I'm really glad that I stayed awake to get this news. Walker is a great fit for the Celtics. He has been described as an explosive athlete that will be able to provide a lot of energy off the bench in limited minutes, which is exactly what the Celtics need. When I heard Bilas talking about him after Washington took him I thought "god, that guy sounds perfect for the Celtics", and then it happened. If things work out right, this Celtics squad will have a lot of young talent and they will be very deep.

Here he is, Billy Walker:



again, sick.


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There have been a lot of rumors swirling around over the past week or so about Mike and the Mad Dog (Sports Radio WFAN, New York) splitting up. The pair have maintained that this is not true, and that their recent issues are natural in a partnership that lasts for roughly 20 years.

They aren't totally convincing. They have cited the fact that they are under contract as proof that they are not splitting up, but this indicates to me that a break up is somewhere in the future. This would be a crushing blow to sports radio. I always imagined these guys staying together until they retired, teammates for their whole career. Bill Simmons and Jack-O touched on it in the most recent BS Report and, along with doing great impersonations, made some great points. To hear Mike Francesa or Chris Mad Dog Russo doing radio with new partners would just be wrong.

I truly believe that Mike and the Mad Dog is the best spors radio show out there. One of the greatest things about being a Giants fan is that I was able to get the experience of listening to them pretty regularly. I'll be honest, I'd rather listen to them discuss the American League West than listen to anything on the Big Show or Dennis and Callahan. Really, unless it's Mikey Adams or Dale and Holley, I could take or leave WEEI. For now, let's all hope that these rumors of their split are truly rumors and nothing else.

Now, some Mike and the Mad Dog Videos (and I can assure you that if they do split up, this site will have a lot more of these for about a month):

1) I've posted this tons of times, but it never gets old. Here is Mad Dog going on his famous rant about Pacman Jones. Love it.


2) Here's Mad Dog Russo again with an even better rant after the San Francisco Giants were eliminated by the Marlins in '03, just like in '97(note, he is a huge SF Giants fan):


3) Here is a video of both of them (Mad Dog Russo on the left, Mike Francesa on the right) in classic form ripping Brian Cashman for apparently never shutting up during their interview with him (they have Cashman every week).


4) Finally, a guy calls and asks Francesa why he wasn't on Letterman with Russo. Seems like no big deal, but if there is a riff you have to wonder if it isn't related to this in some way. It seems like Russo is more popular (on Letterman several times). Just the fact that there are tons of Russo videos out there and far fewer of Francesa says it all. But, to hear them together for a whole show is to really be enlightened. Russo is crazy and Francesa is always overly calm. Somehow it works. It wouldn't if they were separate. Anyways, here's the clip: