You ask your mom, "Please?" but she still says, "No!"

Seriously Fox, drop college football coverage for the sake of mankind. I like Tim Tebow, but holy sh** Thom Brenneman and Charles Davis. Hyperbole much? That was just pathetic...
"If you're fortunate to spend 5 or 20 minutes around Tim Tebow, you're better for it."
"That might be the first thing he's ever done wrong." after Tebow drew an unsportsmanlike penalty.
And then of course on and on about how he feeds needy leper orphans. Pathetic. Oh and nice suit Barry.
And on 3RD FREAKIN DOWN..
Thom: "Big decision time here...do you go for it on 4th down?"
Charles: "Go, go, go ,go go"

Eat It KG!!!

It doesn't get much better than beating the Celtics in Boston. I don't care if the C's are sliding or not. The Rockets played without Ron Artest those final few minutes and without that Tracy guy the whole game and still toughed out a win against the defending champs. The bench has been really inconsistent lately and not able to pick up the slack when the starters start bad. That wasn't the case Wednesday. Aaron Brooks was fantastic for all 37 minutes he was out there scoring 19 points and starting the biggest two plays of the game at the end to Wafer and then the board and dish to Landry, which ended with a Yao bucket. Chuck Hayes played some great, tenacious defense on KG. Carl Landry was Carl Landry. And Ron Artest is just a freakin' Man. But even The Man needs some help from a mohawked vagabond. How do you not love Von Wafer? Better question. How did Von play just 4 minutes in 9 games from December 16th to the New Year? In four games this month Von is shooting 56% from the field and 61% from 3-point land while averaging just over 15 points a game. Gotta keep the momentum heading in the right direction through Oklahoma City into a five-game homestand that includes that Lakers game on Tuesday.

Yeah, you really picked it up once Ron fouled out, huh Paul? 4 points in the 4th for your "Big Three". Wow, back-to-back titles here you come.

--DJ Augustin with a fantastic quote after the Bobcats took out the Celtics Tuesday: "They come in and intimidate you and try to punk you. But if you don't back down from them, they kind of fold."

--Hate the Jazz. Hate the Hornets. For what it's worth Deron Williams and Utah are now 9-2 against Chris Paul and New Orleans. If any team has had more injury problems than Houston it's Utah. Deron and Carlos Boozer have played all of two games together this season. Boozer is finally having surgery this week that will keep him out another roughly 20 games. Although it's not like they aren't getting anything out of Paul Milsap. The kid missed some time, but is back and his double-double ways keep on keeping on. His 19 straight double-doubles are the most any Jazz player has had consecutively since John (suck it) Stockton did it 25 straight games back in 1991.

--I know it was Brandon Roy who did in the Rockets in that thriller earlier this season, but no one on that team is more money late in games than Travis Outlaw. Travis knocked down another game-winner Wednesday against the Pistons. That one-point win put Portland at 4-1 in games decided by a single point.

--The Pacers have had some pretty decent scorers through the years like Reggie Miller and Primoz Brezec, but it's Danny Granger who has strung together the first three-game stretch of 35+ point games for Indiana. Last season only guys named LeBron, Carmelo and Kobe did this.

--Magic the only team without consecutive road losses this season.

--If you haven't been paying attention (and why would you). The Timberwolves have won 6 of 8 after dropping 13 straight.

Quick Hitters and Random Thoughts

--Is it more boring hearing someone else bitching about their bowl challenge or their fantasy team (not when you do it, of course, you make it sound interesting)?

--First Jennifer Love Hewitt broke up with her man. Now Matthew Broderick cheated on Sarah Jessica Parker and they're done?! I believe it was she who cried about the fact that she was dubbed the unsexiest celebrity in the world instead of treating negative publicity like a celebrity should, you know - screw you, I'm rich. All downhill for Sarah after L.A. Story.


--Rick Reilly in SI? Great. Rick Reilly with ESPN? Eh. Rick Reilly with an ESPN show? Yawn.

--HBO is showing the entire Inauguration Day goings on even for non-subscribers?! Can we get Jonah, Tim, Jemaine and Bret to serve as announcers?

--If this is the last season or if this is just the last one with Zach Braff and other key people I'm gonna miss episodes like "My Last Words". And how did it take this long for Scrubs to use Death Cab's "I Will Follow You Into the Dark"?

--Mickey Rourke as Crimson Dynamo in the next Iron Man?! Sam Rockwell in 2?!

--Excuse me the President-elect and his family were denied quarters by a certain still sitting President at, White House guesthouse, Blair House as is tradition?
I know (by know, I mean googled it) the tradition usually starts a little closer to Inauguration Day, but the kids have school. So really, an ex-Australian Prime Minister is more VIP than the incoming President. Okay, just checking.
Clooney was on Facts of Life? How did I miss that episode?

--Porn industry bailout? Whew.

--Bobby Flay Radio on Sirius?! When exactly does he sleep? It'll be a weekly call-in show with whatever you want to talk about. Remember on the old Iron Chef when he jumped on his cutting board at the end and pissed everyone off? Yeah, that was fun.


--Maybe you've heard about this basketball movie supposedly based on something that happened in the real world. Not something good like when Jason McElwain was knocking down 3s like Snake knocks down Big Boss' boys (yes I'm playing Sons of Patriots). No this involves a bunch of dwarfs? little people? midgets? playing basketball against the likes of Dennis Rodman. I'm sure I can't accurately capture the complexities of the plot so let's just rip it off of imdb: "Dwarfs playing basketball... with Dennis Rodman." Is this even worthy of a Razzie?

--That annoying Billy Mays who somehow got himself on ESPN for a football game this bowl season has his own reality show coming out on Discovery?! WTF Discovery?! 52 Shark Weeks a year already.

Rickey

Just because people were dumb enough to not unanimously vote in Babe Ruth or Hank Aaron or Nolan Ryan or Willie Mays doesn't mean Rickey Henderson should be left off anyone's ballot on his first try. He's as sure-fire a Hall of Famer as there is. You hear me Corky Simpson or is you hearing aid off? There probably will be more than just the Corkster, but the guy who writes for a retirement community paper was just one of the early ballots that got out. Oh yeah, Corky also voted FOR Tim Raines as opposed to Rickey. By the way, Ty Cobb came the closest to unanimous selection falling 4 votes short. Cal Ripken came close falling 8 votes short. As SI points out Tony Gwynn fell 13 votes shy that same year so 5 people had Cal in and not Tony. Ridiculous.
Briefly on Rickey, Rickey is obviously your all-time stolen bases leader and your all-time runs scored leader. He's also 2nd in walk all-time to Barry Bonds, 21st in hits and so forth. Ho-hum, 10-time All-Star, MVP, two-time World Series champ, and the best quote machine the sport has ever seen. You've seen them before, but let's review a few:

-In 1996, Henderson’s first season with San Diego, he boarded the team bus and was looking for a seat. Steve Finley said, “You have tenure, sit wherever you want.” Henderson looked at Finley and said, “Ten years? Ricky’s been playing at least 16, 17 years.”

-Moments after breaking Lou Brock’s stolen base record, Rickey told the crowd – with Brock mere feet next to him – “Lou Brock was a great base stealer, but today, I am the greatest of all-time.”

-During one off-season, Rickey called Padres general manager Kevin Towers and left the message "Kevin, this is Rickey. Calling on behalf of Rickey. Rickey wants to play baseball."

-A reporter asked Henderson if Ken Caminiti’s estimate that 50 percent of Major League players were taking steroids was accurate. Rickey's response was, “Well, Rickey’s not one of them, so that’s 49 percent right there.”

-A reporter once asked Rickey if he talked to himself, “Do I talk to myself? No, I just remind myself of what I’m trying to do. You know, I never answer myself so how can I be talking to myself?”

-Rickey was asked if Rickey had the Garth Brooks album with "Friends in Low Places" and Henderson said, “Rickey doesn’t have albums. Rickey has CDs.”

More Rickey? Wiki never lies so, Rickey Nelson Henley Henderson was named after Ricky Nelson and was born in the back of a '57 Chevy. He led the AL in steals every year from 1980-1991 (Harold Reynolds in a Rickey injury year). Rickey was Nolan Ryan's 5,000 strikeout victim. Rickey had 18 4-stolen base games. I think I heard once that if you just take Rickey's steals of 3rd base Rickey would still be in the top 5 of all-time.

Questions, comments or if you're ready to begin your Californication journey...