wnba…kind of the like the nba

so just like the nba, la and san antonio met in the western conference finals, and detroit met up with bos…wait, wait i mean new york (kind of close to boston, right?) in the eastern finals

Sorry Silver Stars' fans - I'm picking Becky Hammon and Co. to win it all.

and now, the two number one seeds duke it out for the title, just like the nba (and exactly like the experts’ prediction. guess mechelle voepel knows her stuff). since la lost and detroit won (opposite of the nba) i’m going to say that the west – san antonio – wins the title. any team that can beat candace parker really shouldn’t lose to anyone. but then again, when have my predictions really turned out right?

Thanks for the Memories Texas Stadium

Especially the last one. Hail to the Redskins!

Ice Ice Baby

Alright, so don’t get me wrong – I realize that I was ever foolish to think that Candice Wiggins was in any way better than Candace Parker. But that doesn’t mean Wiggins isn’t a prolific scorer in her own right, and she’ll make her mark on the WNBA just like she did at Stanford. And apparently, she already has.

Candice Wiggins – affectionately dubbed “Ice” by our favorite women’s basketball star – won the WNBA’s Sixth Woman of the Year Award, which is about as best as she could have hoped for considering Parker wrapped up the Rookie of the Year in the first game of the season. So congrats to Wiggins. This 2008 draft class will be making waves for quite some time.

wnba games need to be televised

3 lead changes in the final minute.

two rejections by candace parker with 30 seconds to play.

game winner with one second left.

THIS STUFF CAN’T BE EXPERIENCED BY READING PLAY-BY-PLAYS!!! I NEED TELEVISION

Other Shammgod EDIT: Here’s video…

We talkin’ ’bout skills

Not really related, but it's Dallas week and I needed a picture

Check THIS out: Insane catch

I think David Tyree has company. The form on this catch is perfect – stick the ball with your hand going in the same direction as its motion, then reverse direction and bring it in. It’s the sort of thing you practice for fun but never get a chance to actually complete. I think the catch is enough to get him on an NFL roster at least as a free agent regardless of his college stats. The Eagles need wideouts, whatchu think eaglesforever?

America Loves Candace Parker

The ESPN Sportsnation poll shows 43% of the US picking the Sparks to win the WNBA title among the four remaining teams. The Shock come in second at 25%, the Liberty at 18%, and Silver Stars – holders of the regular season’s best record – interestingly bringing up the rear at 14%.

What’s even more intriguing is that San Antonio couldn’t even carry its own state, losing that battle to L.A. Now, Texas really doesn’t like CA teams, so I can only attribute that to CP3′s popularity – which actually makes perfect sense. I must say, Lisa Leslie’s decision to have a baby in 2007 couldn’t have been planned better.

wait, they played college football today…

cuz i was busy watching the playoffs.

Ticha Penicheiro and the Monarchs kept their hopes alive for their second title in four years.

mike thibault – the wnba’s coach of the year – and the conn sun barely scrounged out a win after a furious liberty comeback to force a decisive game 3. the monarchs also pushed their series to the limit, taking a game IN SAN ANTONIO. for the those of you keeping score at home, the silver stars had lost only one home contest all year (an 82-81 overtime defeat to houston) so look out for ticha penicheiro and sacramento in game 3.

DPOY Lisa Leslie is back in the playoffs, and the Sparks are once again a force to be reckoned with.

in other news, lisa leslie – newly coronated defensive player of the year – and the sparks took game 1 on friday, despite an off night from candace parker (11 pts, 8 reb, 7 assists: and yes, that’s an off-night for her). granted, they played in LA so expect seattle to storm back once the series moves to key arena.

the shock took care of business in indiana against the fever, so the book is all but closed on katie douglas and indiana’s season as this series heads to detroit.

tomorrow brings game two of detroit-indiana and la-seattle. catch it all on ESPN2! (or just come here afterwards for updates)

Captain Chaos

By now, everybody’s heard what Chris Cooley did last week, and his heartfelt apology too. He’s the only dude I can think of who would study and blog in the nude. Despite that incident, I highly recommend reading his blog because it’s much better than ours. Here are a few awesome videos:

ow ow

The Redskins fantasy football draft. Nice of them to invite the rookie Colt. Best name goes to Smoot for “DC Lumber Co”.

Chris Cooley vs. Onstar. Don’t lie, you know you always wanted to do this.

Of course, Cooley’s Fantasy File

It’s hard to think of anybody else ever showing up to practice like this.

But the part everyone’s been waiting for… pictures of his new wife Christy!

She’s hot, smokin, ON FIRE

Here’s the hilarious story about how they met. Here’s another part of the hilarious story about how they met. The best part of that article is at the end:

Christy turned 21 last year (yeah, she’s a little younger than him), and to celebrate the occasion, Cooley and Christy’s father got together and did 21 shots apiece. Oh, and when Cooley gets together with Christy’s family, they do it at strip clubs.

Move over Matt Leinart, there’s a bigger playa in the NFL.

The WNBA Playoffs on…(insert cable network here)

It’s been nearly two months (July 24th is the exact date) that we’ve posted about women’s basketball not including Sarah Palin talk or CP3′s relative good-looking-ness. Forgive me if I don’t really count those, but that’s just inexcusable that a blog that prides itself on expecting great would devote this little attention to our game.

So let’s talk about the playoffs.

THE FAVORITES:

San Antonio had the best record in the league and is an odds-on favorite to capture the franchise’s first title. The Silver Stars seamlessly regrouped following the Olympic break, and everyone’s favorite Russian national is ready to bounce back from a disappointing conference finals exit-on San Antonio’s homecourt-to the Monarchs. If the Stars make it out of the West, look out – they went 14-0 against the Eastern Conference this year, including a 2-0 mark against…

Becky Hammon and Katie Smith look to lead their No. 1-seeded teams into the Finals

The Shock. The 2006 Champions would love to erase the memory of their runner-up finish in 2007. The offensive tandem of Deanna Nolan and Smith is fearsome and Cheryl Ford and Taj McWilliams-Franklin pose a formidable threat on the boards. Detroit has recovered well (5-1 to close season) from a four-game nosedive leading into the break-capped off by a double-digit loss to the Silver Stars-and have perhaps the most experience of any Eastern Conference squad. And for a feel good story, McWilliams-Franklin holds the title of “Most Deserving Veteran to Never Win a WNBA Title”, or at the very least, is one of the frontrunners for the crown.

THE DARK HORSE:

But while the experts peg both conference leaders to meet for the title, we love to offer dissenting opinions. And the media should know better than to count out any team that has Candace Parker. The presumable Rookie of the Year after leading the league in rebounds at 9.6 a game (2 rebounds more than the next best rookie Sylvia Fowles)-no easy task since her frontcourt

Can CP3 complete the trifecta in 2008? The experts say no.

mate Lisa Leslie also pulled down 8.9 per contest-and shouldering the offensive burden for the third-seeded Sparks with 18.5 points per game (also the rookie leader and 5th best league-wide) is even on the shortlist of MVP candidates. But it should come as no surprise after she led the Lady Vols to a repeat national championship on a dislocated shoulder and picked up an Olympic gold medal as a top reserve on Team USA. This may be one of Leslie’s final shots at a third ring, but will Parker tire after playing nearly twelve consecutive months of competitive basketball? My guess is no, but you’ll have to excuse the homerism.

THE FIELD:

Defending champion Phoenix finished last in the ultra-competitive West and failed to make the playoffs, but former champions Seattle and Sacramento both look to add to their hardware. While a win for the Storm would be sweet redemption after Force 10 bought the team to keep it in Seattle, championship hopes are slim following the season-ending surgery of Lauren Jackson. If Sue Bird and her clan of veterans can make a run, though, it would be a great story for the WNBA. Neverthless, both the Storm and the Monarchs look to be outmatched in the opening round.

Out East, Mike Thibault is one of the best coaches in the league but has to bring home a championship to women’s basketball titletown in Connecticut. The Sun have the experience-and the heartbreak, having lost in the Finals twice in 2004 and 2005-but did rank in the bottom

It looked good for the Sun in a 87-61 win over the Sparks July 24 – but will Connecticut advance to play the Western Conference champion?

half of the league in points allowed. The Liberty are getting better fast but look to lack the weapons to compete with the Shock should they upset Connecticut. And the Fever may be lucky to still be playing after eking out a .500 record with wins in three of their last four games.

THE PICK:

Los Angeles. Parker picks up the triple crown as the Sparks gain redemption for the Lakers’ finals embarassment and CP3 solidifies her position as one of the best to ever play the game.

Disagree? Offer your opinions in the comments section.

Shelden Brown Hates Running Backs

So apparently this blog hasn’t died yet. And apparently “dived” isn’t a word. Meh. I wasn’t always a noob at grammar.

Monday night’s game features another great NFC east clash, between the eagles and cowboys. It seems like announcers/analysts/random dudes are always talking about the great rivalries of the NFL. I dunno. I don’t really buy that stuff in terms of professional football – so many guys change teams and move around to the point where it becomes hard to form true rivalries. I can definitely see it in college football, but not so much in the NFL. I kind of wish this Eagles/Cowboys game was a bit later in the season. I feel pretty good about the Eagles right now – Donovan’s looking healthy, Desean “badly needs a nickname because fraction and action aren’t gonna cut it” Jackson had an explosive debut, and the Eagles D was solid in the 1st game. Then again…this was against the Rams. A Rams fan I know summed up their season very nicely: “we’re really bad.” Tony Romo and the cowboys looked great in their debut, although Cleaveland’s probably overrated too. What’s with his goofy smile at the end of this commercial? Why is he throwing around eagles player? It’s alrite though..Dawkins is there to get that sh@# out (btw..what’s convention for using symbols in swear words?).

But here are the main youtube videos for this post: Shelden Brown absolutely destroys Steven Jackson in last week’s game. Brown plays his zone defense perfectly, and I have no idea how Jackson held onto the ball.

So I’ve gotta link Brown’s huge hit against Reggie Bush in the playoffs from a couple of years ago. This was one of the first plays in the game (I think). Idk how the announcer kept his cool there…I would have exploded.

Moral of the story – good luck to Marion Barber and Felix Jones on Monday night.