What A Lovely Draft

In case you missed the NBA Draft that took place on June 24th, let me fill you in. There is a new class of NBA Players, the rookie class of 2010-2011… and they are looking mighty fine. Below is my list of five up and coming NBA rookies who could be delightful to watch.



5. Xavier Henry

Born in Belgium, where his father played professional basketball, Xavier Henry is a sight for sore eyes. The caramel pretty boy out Kansas may be young, but the Memphis Grizzlies believe that he has what it takes to play against the big boys. The 12th pick in the 2010 draft, Henry averaged 13.4 points per game last season for the Jayhawks, and had a total of 157 rebounds, 53 assists, and 54 steals. He’s an all around good player and great looking man.


4. Evan Turner




Evan Turner is my definition of pretty boy. Out of Ohio State, he looks like he should’ve pledged Kappa Alpha Psi during his three years at Ohio, but of course he didn’t have the time… he was too busy playing basketball. The 21 year old guard was the second overall pick this year, and was drafted to the Philadelphia 76ers. What am I looking forward to? Allen Iverson (my childhood crush) and Turner on the court together. The rude boy and the pretty boy… I like the sound of that.




3. Paul George


This 20 year old guard out of Fresno State is milk chocolate at its finest. His most notable feature other than his height is his lips. LL Cool J better watch out, George will give him a run for his money. His only notable flaws are his weight (he’s a little on the linguine side) and unfortunately he has to play for the Indiana Pacers (I hate the Pacers… even without Reggie Miller). But with all that said he seems like a pretty good catch. Last season he averaged 16.8 points per game, 2.21 steals per game, and in his freshman season at Fresno State he was named to the All-WAC second team.


2. Damion James


Standing at six feet seven inches, this dark chocolate wonder was the 24th overall pick and was in a three team trade where he ended up with the horrific New Jersey Nets. Let’s hope his average of 18 points last season will lift the Nets to win at least 15 games. Not only does the state of New Jersey have a foul odor, but their team stinks. After winning 12 games last season, they should no longer look to move to New York, save your money and build a team. James is a good pick for them, but unfortunately he’s not Lebron. If they can get Lebron… maybe they can win 30 games. As for Damion, regardless of if they win or lose, he’s a nice treat… even if he does sit on the bench for his first year. But the way the Nets are looking… he has a good chance of getting in the game.

1. John Wall

The number one overall pick is also my number one overall pick for the finest in the 2010 draft.

He hails from the great state of North Carolina, and was drafted out of the University of Kentucky to the Washington Wizards. Wall averaged 16.6 points per game, has an amazing smile and a keen sense of style. He looks like your average guy playing basketball at your nearest neighborhood court, but it’s that real aspect about him that ensured him a spot on my list. His family looked so proud as his name was called, yet Wall seemed pretty calm and collected.Hint: He already knew he was at the top of his class. The Wizards will be looking much better this year, and hopefully Wall will help them win at least more than 30 games.




By Coco Elle

My MTA Budget Proposal

Outside it’s a beautiful day in New York, but a horrifying reality for many who depend on public transportation.

Today the updated New York City Subway and Bus Map went into effect, and the new changes and cuts have taken place as planned. At 7:34 a.m. the loud speaker outside of the St. George Ferry Terminal in Staten Island continuously announced the bus routes that were discontinued and routes that have been changed.

Onto the ferry, the overhead voice of a male speaks for thirtyseconds, reminding the riders to be aware of life jackets andbeware of the stairs while docking. Lastly he states: “Thank you for riding the Staten Island Ferry.”

Known as one of the free alternatives to view the Statue of Liberty and a destination for millions of tourists every year, the Staten Island Ferry should be a goldmine for the city of New York, and its riders should be thanking God for the free trip. The city that never sleeps begs the question from me: “Why the hell is the Staten Island Ferry free?”

I have a proposal for Mayor Bloomberg and the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), here’s how we attempt to lessen the MTA deficit: Charge riders on the Staten Island Ferry.

60,000 people ride the ferry every day (not including weekends), if we charged every passenger a token of $1.00 the city would make approximately $300,000 during the week. The city charges for every other mode of transportation, also must pay the ferry crew and captain and is spending a tremendous amount of money revamping the Whitehall St. Ferry Terminal in Manhattan. Therefore, why not charge the riders?

Staten Islanders have a few options on how to get into the city:

1. Swim.

2. The $5.50 Express bus into Manhattan.

3. Driving the expressway to the Goethals and then through Jersey, etc.

4. Driving across the Verrazano Bridge for a whopping $11.00.

5. The crowded and inconvenient S53.

6. The $0.00 Staten Island ferry to Lower Manhattan.

Taking the ferry is a necessity and God-given gift to many New Yorkers, charging a nickel and few dimes may sicken some, but it could help heal the MTA’s dying budget.

Why $1.00? Simply because it sounds nice. At least is a concrete andeffective option… Unlike our brilliant Mayor who proposed what? Charging public school kids… what a bully!

By Ivanna M. Elliott

Originally posted on June 28, 2010. Reposted due to technical difficulties... Translation: Ivy sucks with computers.

Top 5 Things That SHOULD Be On LeBron’s Mind

As the free agency period begins in the NBA, there are a few things that should be on LeBron James' mind as the crown jewel of this year's class:

1. Haircut – this dude has gone long enough with this illuminati/buckwheat phase he’s been in. Honestly speaking, he looks like a bum, and when you make millions of dollars in free agency, you don’t want the talk of the town being the birds nest on top of your head.
   
   
   
   
   
   
2. Delonte West – I’m not going to go into the: did he/didn’t he thing with you. All I can say is that this is the same guy who went all Antonio Banderas on everybody’s ass earlier this year and strapped a guitar case with gun s to the back of his motorcycle. I guess I’m saying he’s capable of anything…anything!
   
   
3. Winning vs. Lifestyle – the one positive thing that has come out of free agency so far is the fact that we, as fans, get to see what type of man Bron-Bron really is. We know he’ll make a lot of money, but if he chooses the Nets over the Bulls, Heat or Cavs—yes people he can actually still go back to Cleveland—then we will know one thing: That LeBron values money and Jay-Z over winning titles. And if tha t’s the case, I feel sorry for Jersey fans; you won’t be getting a winner, just another Vince Carter.
   
   
4. Michael Jordan – no, this isn’t another token MJ comparison; but, if the King wants to step out of Jordan’s shadow he cannot expect to do so in his city. He said that, for this up-coming season, he is going to change his number from 23 to 6. It’s cool if you want to change your number dude, just don’t feed us this BS about paying homage to MJ only to turn around a few months later and play at his old stomping grounds.
   
   
5. Football – every good businessman always h as a backup plan. LeBron is only 25-years-old and could very easily make the Browns roster. Could you imagine the look on NBA Commissioner David Stern’s face? I would imagine it’d be something like this:
   
   

   

   
   Forget Mayweather vs. Paquiao, I’m trying to see Stern vs. (NFL Commissioner) Goddell.
   
   By Aaron Hilton
   

Short Sox

It's crazy how things can change so quickly.

Just over two months ago, when the season started, the Sox were projected to be a borderline playoff team that was defined by pitching and defense. Yet, today, as it stands their offense is the best in the bigs.

They lead the majors in runs, doubles, total bases RBI, slugging percentage and OPS. The Bean-town Bombers are also in the top three in hits, home runs, on-base percentage and batting average.

Meanwhile, their pitching and defense has been less-than impressive. They are in the bottom third of the majors in ERA and they are right at the AL average for errors committed as a team as well as team fielding percentage.

Somehow this change has worked for the better, the off-season acquisitions of Lackey, Beltre, Scutaro and Cameron are starting to pay dividends as the Sox have invested most of their stock in the team infirmary.

If injured players were an MLB statistic, the Sox would be all-world. Everyone and their grandmother has been hurt or injured at some point this season and the culmination of all this was this past weekend in San Francisco, when three of the Sox’ top players went down with an injury.

First it was their hottest hitter, Pedroia, who just had the best game of his career, hitting 3 home runs while going 5-5 against Colorado the previous night. Then it was new-found ace Clay Buchholz who injured himself deciding whether or not to break up a double play. I guess that’s what happens when AL pitchers get a hit nowadays—a few years ago Yankees ace Chien-Ming Wang messed up his knee running the bases in Houston; it ruined his career. And last, but not least, Victor Martinez became the latest victim for the Sox, fracturing his thumb on multiple foul tips by Giants hitters. This is the second time, the Sox’ backstop has been injured by foul tips this season--Last time he took one off his foot in Tampa Bay. Maybe he should back up a bit or something.In case you weren’t counting—and I’m sure you weren’t—that’s three Sox down in three days and 66.7% of them went down on foul tips. Vegas couldn’t even top those odds. But, somehow, the little engines that could are proving all logic wrong and continuing to persevere. Maybe we should’ve sent them to South Africa instead of Team USA.

All jokes aside, if you look up and down the Sox lineup, the changes are glaring and it would seem that the numbers are somewhat backwards. This is what the Sox’ lineup/rotation looked like on opening day:

LF – Jacoby Ellsbury
2B – Dustin Pedroia
C – Victor Martinez
1B – Kevin Youkilis
DH – David Ortiz
3B – Adrian Beltre
RF – J.D. Drew
CF – Mike Cameron
SS – Marco Scutaro
1. Josh Beckett
2. Jon Lester
3. John Lackey
4. Tim Wakefield
5. Clay Buchholz

Today’s that lineup and rotation have gone through some major re-arrangements. It’s almost like the before and after shots on a Zantrex 3 commercial, but in reverse:

SS – Marco Scutaro
LF – Daniel Nava
DH – David Ortiz
1B – Kevin Youkilis
RF – J.D. Drew
3B – Adrian Beltre
C – Jason Varitek
2B – Bill Hall
CF – Mike Cameron/Darnell McDonald
1. Clay Buchholz
2. Jon Lester
3. John Lackey
4. Daisuke Matsuzaka
5. Tim Wakefield

Somehow, the Sox have been able to make this work, they’ve lost their pre-season, projected ace, Josh Beckett. They have also lost key role players and starters like: Ellsbury, Hermida, Lowell, and even Cameron, who can’t play everyday because of a sports hernia.

As the trade deadline fast approaches, it’s easy to think that the Sox will go out and sell the farm to keep this going. But, if it wasn’t for the farm system, they wouldn’t have been able to turn such a glaring negative into a positive in the first place.

Right now, the best thing for Sox fans is to stick to filling up Fenway Park and let Theo Epstein do what he’s always done, find a way to field a winning team. Isn’t it ironic how the only spot where the Sox haven’t suffered a major injury—middle relief—is the only real weakness that they’ve shown heading into the deadline?

The fact of the matter is, the Sox are fine. They have about a week or so until the all-star break and soon afterward, the every day guys will return to form. Ellsbury should return before the postseason and by mid-August the Sox should have back Martinez, Beckett, Pedroia, Cameron (full-time), and Hermida.

It’s now just a matter of continuing to think positive and squeeze all the talent they possibly can out of overachievers like Nava and McDonald.

By season’s end, the Sox should be dealing with the best problem a team could possibly have: having too much talent on one team.

By Aaron Hilton

I Wish I Was A Little Bit Taller

Top 5 Players Under 6-feet-tall:

1. Tim Lincecum – This guy has dominated the NL since his second season, winning back-to-back NL Cy Young Awards—2008-’09. Standing at just 5’11 and 170 lbs, Lincecum is one of the biggest rock stars in the bigs. His long, flowing hair and slight frame only add to the wonderment of his unreal ability to dominate opposing hitters; some of whom are upwards of 6’4 and 230+ lbs. He even throws like a rock star, a herky-jerky delivery that he somehow repeats over and over for an entire, 32-34 start season. He’s like the Mick Jagger or Stephen Tyler of baseball.
   
   
2. Ichiro Suzuki – Ichiro is one of the most likeable players in the majors and has been trapped on a less-than-spectacular team—the Seattle Mariners—for his entire career. He was a star for Orix in Japan before coming to the MLB in ’01—a year in which he nearly swept every award winning AL Rookie of the Year, a Gold Glove, and the AL MVP. His 262 hits in ’04 set a Major League record for hits in a season and that year he led the big leagues with a .372 AVG. Not showing any signs of slowing up, Suzuki is and has been one of the best players in baseball history.
   
   
3. Dustin Pedroia – All his life, Pedroia has dealt with doubters and nay-sayers who questioned him every step of the way to the big leagues. His rookie year, Pedroia got off to a slow start, hitting just .182 in April; however, he never hit below .299 in any month for the rest of the season and was named AL MVP. In just his first two years with the Sox, the second baseman has won a Gold Glove, Silver Slugger, Rookie of the Year, and an AL MVP award all to go along with a World Series ring. Even though he is slight of stature, it’s hard not to notice the ‘little guy’ with a big bat and even bigger swing.
   
   
4. Prince Fielder – The Fresh Prince, as I like to call him, is an absolute monster at the plate. The big guy batted .288 with a mammoth 50 homers in just his second year in the big leagues. He might just be the only guy in the majors, other than Gary Sheffield, that swings harder than Pedroia. His stature alone—5’11 268 lbs—is enough to give pitchers nightmares; however, his Winnie the Pooh type demeanor has made him a lovable giant. I mean, the guy is a vegetarian who weighs more than nearly every other big slugger in the majors and can hit the ball around the rings in Saturn.
   
   
5. Chone Figgins – I always pronounce his name wrong—it’s pronounced SHAWN—but he has got to be one of my favorite non-Red Sox players in the MLB. He can play every position on the field, shit, he can probably even pitch with that gun he has on his right arm. And he’s probably one of the fastest dudes on the infield in the majors; he has turned his career as a utility man into a big contract as an every day second baseman for the Mariners. He might not be living up to his numbers out there in Seattle, but, honestly, who is? After Cliff Lee, that team is doomed, you have reports of Griffey catching a snooze in the clubhouse, and they will probably trade Cliff Lee who is in just his first year as a Mariner. I give him a pass this year, in light of all that he’s done before then; this guy is definitely a gamer and deserves to be on this list.

* Honorable mentions – Dan Uggla, Brian Roberts, Miguel Tejada, Adrian Beltre, Brandon Inge, Russel Martin, Rickie Weeks, Nick Punto, Brett Gardner, and Shane Victorino.

by Aaron Hilton