When the Legend was born

"Rajon Rondo can hold his own and then some against the overrated, arrogant, and ailing Chauncey Billups."

That should get reversed by Game 4. And OPS+ isn't a decimal.

I have to think that D'Antoni signing with the Knicks instead of the Bulls has something to do with him trying to establish his greatness. If he succeeded as the Bulls coach, we would say "of course he did, he started with the building blocks for a great team. That's what good coaches are supposed to do." But if he turns around the Knicks, won't the perception of him and his abilities go through the roof?

Christie Brinkley has seemingly defied the aging process. She still looks tremendous in her mid 50's. However, considering she's been down the aisle and divorced four times, she must be a major pain in the butt.

How about the depth of this Red Sox team? They have seven quality starters (Colon and Masterson are 6 and 7), solid position player depth at Pawtucket in Moss and Lowrie, and the two players the Sox traded for GAG-ne, Gabbard and Murphy, are key contributors for the Rangers!

Who have the Sox missed on in terms of high draft picks over the last five years? Mickey Hall and Abe Alvarez are probably the only ones and they were 2nd rounders- both languishing at AA and AAA respectively.

Long gone are the days when the Sox would waste their first round draft picks on stiffs like Eric Hetzel (1985), Reggie Harris and Bob Zupcic (1987), Tom Fischer (1988), Greg Blosser (1989), Andy Yount and Corey Jenkins (1995), and Josh Garrett (1996).

Major kudos to Mr. Wendi Nix (VP of Player Personnel Ben Cherrington), Director of Player Development Mike Hazen, and the rest of the scouting staff for the job they've done in creating a player development machine.

You have to wonder how the pundits would view a guy like Bird today. White guy, small school, all that ... I suspect he'd get downgraded for lack of "length," "upside," and "athleticism," and fall below a million one-and-done college freshmen and security-tape footage Europeans.

And yeah, OPS+ isn't a decimal (unless it's reallllly bad, I guess).

DBurba,

Jay Bilas wouldn't have liked Larry because he's not "long" enough. When I hear Bilas espouse the virtues of guys who are "long" and have "high ceilings" that tells me they are athletes who can't play basketball worth a lick and have all the common sense of Tony Allen out on the basketball court.

A good drinking game would be to do a shot of beer everytime Bilas uses the word "long" to describe a player. You'd be smashed within the first 45 minutes of the draft.

So OPS+ isn't a decimal, from what I gather. Thanks, jerks. It's finally fixed.

I never understood why they drafted Abe Alvarez. The logic - that they needed prospects who would climb the system quickly because they were so thin on talent at the higher levels - didn't hold up when you realized what Alvarez's ceiling was, as a fourth or fifth starter at best.

Christie Brinkley is very well-preserved, and she doesn't look all Botoxed, either. Those SI covers changed my worldview when I was 10 or so.

The SI Vault is the gift that keeps on giving... Yesterday I read Phil Taylor's January 1991 profile of Shaq as an LSU sophomore -- then known as "The Shack -- which was the first major space that SI devoted to him. Reading him toy with the media even as a 20 year old was quite fascinating.

I also re-read Rick Reilly's 1996 piece on Shaq written soon after he joined the Lakers. One interesting tidbit was Shaq partially blaming his poor free throw shooting on a broken wrist suffered as a child that prevents him from completely bending it back. Probably BS since I’ve never seen any of his apologists mention it, but who knows…

Physics question (non-rhetorical): if D'Antoni had chosen the Bulls, would the ping pong balls still fallen the same way? I'm not being superstitious here. I'm just saying, with D'Antoni signed on with the Bulls, we are living in a different world, and the ping pong balls don't necessarily fall the same way. If this comment is not making sense, go see Ashton Kutcher in the Butterfly Effect and then come back and read again.

Maybe, just maybe, Christie Brinkley is as sweet and trusting as she is beautiful and maybe the men she married did not deserve her love and trust....

People should be very careful about the judgements they make - would they like the same nasty judgements made against themselves?

I am surprised that you didn't know that Rick Barry was a great passer. he was THE best passing forward in the game until Bird came along.

Is it just me, or does Matt Ryan seem to have Tim Couch written all over him? BC has never produced any great NFL QB's (Matt Hasselbeck is slightly above-average, at best), he's loaded with guaranteed money before he's even taken a snap, and he's surrounded by one of the absolute worst supporting casts in history. If Matt Ryan becomes the next Tom Brady, I'll be the first to say I stuck my foot in my mouth, but until he does...hello Tim Couch 2.0

arrogant and overrated ?
the man has been the best pt guard in the east the last 5 years and
won an finals mvp. he does his job hardly ever talks to refs or opposing
players. his time is passing and he might be hurt. he has never had any
trouble off the floor. how is he arrogant and overrated???

Tim Couch. That's harsh. I was thinking Joey Harrington. I was never particularly impressed with him at BC, but it was tough to tell how many of his intercepted passes were due to having receivers who couldn't get open.

The Christie Brinkley and D'Antoni questions made my head hurt. Anyone got some Advil?

Probably too harsh on my part regarding Billups - he's a very good player, and usually clutch, though I've also seen him make some horrible decisions in big situations. His rep is exaggerated. I shouldn't have said he's arrogant, because by all accounts he's one of the nicer guys in the league. I should have said he plays with arrogance, right down to the smug look that's always on his face.

Agreed on the Masterson subject

doesn't help that abe alvarez is legally blind.