Coney Islands Finest

Stephon Marbury was by far was the most talented of the modern day NYC point guards, which include Rafer "skip to my lou" Alston and Sebastian Telfair. After a brilliant half season with the Knicks after getting traded here for Antonio McDyess, I boldly predicted that he would lead the league in assists. After all he was coming home to the greatest city on earth, the basketball mecca, where he was born and raised. That prediction didn't seem that far fetched at the time. Even to this day, I think he has more natural talent than any point guard in the league, and that includes the best point guard in the league, Chris Paul. When I make that statement, people think I'm delusional. He is more talented, and had more potential than Paul, but his arrogant and surly attitude took him from being a MVP candidate to a career loser who has had opportunity after opportunity to play with hall of fame players and coaches. And each time he has ruined it by being an Allen Iverson wannabe. He is basketballs version of Manny Ramirez. Both great players, who people don't want on their teams due to their personalities and attitudes, except for one major difference. Manny is a winner. Hes won everywhere hes been, and has been a major contributor to every playoff race, and every world championship hes been a part of. Marbury hasn't won shit, and when he does, hell have to swallow his pride and accept a reduced roll, and fall in line. Steph has been a problem wherever he has been. This year was a result of all the wrong hes done coming back to bite him in the ass.

Many New Yorkers who were fans turned a blind eye to some of his disastrous team finishes to look at his pretty statistics. The run ins with coaches who were proven winners. When he came to New York we all thought if there was any place on earth where a player of his talent could redeem his career and become a hometown legend it was Madison Square Garden. A person couldn't write a better script than a kid from Coney Island coming back to play for his hometown team, in the prime of his career for one of the best point guards in NBA history, hall of famer Isiah Thomas. He feuded with coaches. With Players. He wanted to run the offense his own way, the way he did at Lincoln High in the early nineties. His me first attitude is what got him to the NBA is exactly what destroyed his career. After the losses and the alienation of teammates, he finally was given one last chance to play for Isiah, the guy who bought him here, gave him the extension, and virtually defended all his immature actions until it cost him his job. When Isiah wanted him to play defense and be more of a facilitator, to groom and lead a budding big man in Eddy Curry. To do what a real and true point guard should, and make players around him better, to put his teammates in the best position to score instead of himself. I guess Steph thought he was playing for Duane Morton at Lincoln, where he was the best player, at the point guard position, on the floor. This ain't high school. This is the NBA. A league of supposed professionals. After shitting on Isiah, he had lost his fans and his teammates, and was getting paid heavily to do so. A dream scenario quickly turned into a nightmare. Between him fucking an intern in the back of his truck out of all places, him blackmailing his strongest supporter in Isaiah, and his track record of bickering with every single coach he has had in his career was a sure shot sign his time was up.

In comes Mike Dantoni, who for the record I don't think is a good coach. His upbeat attitude is exactly what they needed after all the boneheaded moves and negativity that Isiah and Steph had bought to the organization. He surely isn't a championship caliber coach, as hes made out to be, but thus far has done a great job turning a bunch of guys accustomed to losing into positive thinkers who play to win every night. However he came in, ironically as one of Marbury's former coaches that Steph had managed to turn against him. Come to think of it, there aren't too many coaches if any, that have positive things to say about Steph. He did though say he was going to give Steph a fair chance, but he would have to accept a new role as Chris Duhon's backup. And for the first time, he was willing to do what he had to do for the good of the team. He really had no choice, being in a contract year, but he did. Coming in camp in excellent shape, and excluding that idiotic tattoo on the side of his head, really did nothing to draw attention to himself and detract from the team. He had a great preseason, and then on opening night, Dantoni benches him out of nowhere, surprising everyone from Donnie Walsh, to the fans, who actually chanted "we want Steph" during the game. Who would have thought it? He then continued to bench him for the next few games which puzzled everyone, including Walsh who believed Dantoni's bullshit of giving him a fair chance, despite him being the teams best player. After trading Crawford, he then had the nerve to ask, I repeat, ask, Steph to play. Then he offers him a starting shooting guard spot out of desperation, which Steph refused. For the first time in his career, I agreed with Marbury's decision. To begin with, Dantoni needs to grow a sack. Do you think Gregg Poppovich or Phil Jackson would have asked him. "Get your ass in the game, or youre suspended without pay". Period. He makes 22 million a season, why the hell are you asking him to go in? Pussy. Then, Dantoni knew from day 1 he had no use for Marbury. He blindsided Donnie Walsh with his decision, leaving him with no choice but to fully support the coach he just hired, even though he disagreed with the move. Finally they bought him out which is what they shouldh've done the day the coach was hired. For once Marbury wasn't looking to be the center of negative attention, and Dantoni made him into it.

Now, don't get me wrong. My beef with Dantoni was for being phony. Exiling him got rid of so much negative baggage and bickering. He just shouldn't have dragged it out so long. Why pay a guy 22 million dollars to do absolutely nothing. Plenty of people felt he was treated wrongly, but didn't sympathize with the guy because he had it coming for years. If anything, he should have been placed on the inactive list the day he flew home from that west coast trip, last season, and his teammates voted against him playing the next game. Instead, Isiah went against the wishes of the team, and in the process lost the control and respect of his players, and the rest is history.
This year he came in with the right attitude, but its a day late and 22 million dollars short. And he was punished for his past. Rightly so. I just don't like the way it was done. Dantoni was a snake and set him up. Oh well, he got paid for it. Very well. Now he's off to the Celtics to play with old teammate Kevin Garnett, and believe me, he will be on a short leash. Very short. If he screws up, his career is over. For the first time in his career, hes coming to a locker room with bonafide leaders. True professionals who wont allow anyone to destroy their locker room chemistry or the goals that are set from day one of training camp. Steph isn't a leader, and has never really been around any on any of the teams he has played for. He is a cancer who destroys the morale of the locker room. Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce wont allow that to happen, since winning is the supreme goal, at all expense, as proven by the decline in individual stats. The Celtics have their ring. If he comes in with that Coney Island high school mentality, he will be back right where he started, because they don't need him. He could help a whole lot, but they don't really need him. It also will prove that if Marbury cant swallow his pride for a championship ring and fall in line in order to win, then nobody will want to sign him. How on earth could he fuck this up? You never know with Steph. Only time will tell.

Ike and Tina- Second Time Around

My father didn't teach me many things. If anything, the things he did and the way he acted sometimes set a model for me of what I didn't want to be. However, one thing he did teach was never to put your hands on a woman. Of course there are a few exceptions, like if she kicks you in the you know where, or she punches you in your face, then a good jab to the mouth is somewhat justified. Throughout the many fight my parents had, most in my late teenage years, never once did it even get close to being physical. With the recent turbulence surrounding singers Rihanna and pretty boy Chris Brown, it makes me wonder what the hell is going on.

To begin with, at such a young age, that type of behavior is unacceptable. With Browns squeaky clean, pretty boy, ladies man image, I was completely surprised by his actions. Ive always had a serious problem with guys who used their girlfriends as personal punching bags. Not saying that I condone it, but I could understand if in the heat of the moment he slapped her to get her to be quiet or calm down. But punching her, and especially biting her, just proves that he was looking to inflict serious pain and harm to her. What kind of problems could they possibly have as A-list celebrities under 21 for their fight to get to such an ugly level. As a person who views Rihanna as a mediocre talent at best, as do many people, no way does she deserve such abuse, regardless of how clingy or annoying she could be, and probably was. As two young black celebrities riding in a Lamborghini, they both not only drew attention to themselves when they already stood out, but showed their age and their classlessness by fighting in the street. So much so that someone else called the police. Brown's career may never recover, and I hope it doesn't.

What confuses me more is why these beautiful celebrities fall for these losers who abuse them. Whether its Britney with K-Fed, who is my role model (he shows how you cant be talentless, yet get rich by getting the right girl pregnant), or Halle Berry, women will lose all common sense for a smooth talker. If I was in either place, Id be giving pedicures and spoon feeding them. The reason I bring that up is that after that brutal ass whipping, she honestly is contemplating taking him back. She has her own money and fame, so why? We all know that probably wasn't the first time he hit her, it was the first time he was caught. You have to stop it in the beginning, or it just escalates to an ugly point. Women tend to make excuses and give second chances. "oh, he was having a bad day". "I provoked him". Why? Ive grabbed girls to tight and had them tell me "get your hands off me!" Brown sent her an i-pod and a diamond necklace and bracelet, for forgiveness. Who knows? The next time he might break her jaw and buy her a car. Being in love will make you do crazy things. Getting your ass whipped in Hollywood and ending up on the front pages of magazines and newspapers across the country looking like you fought Mike Tyson shouldn't be one of them. If she takes him back, she deserves the next ass whipping she gets. Its like if a man cheats. If its allowed, and all it takes is some sweet talk and gifts to rectify it, it will happen again and again. Certain things deserve second chances. This isn't one of them. The proof written, I mean beaten, all over her face.

Pansies In Phoenix

Never a dull day in the NBA. What a league. This years trend....firing coaches for not producing playoff contenders with mediocre rosters. Three come to mind that are really infuriating. Sam Mitchell in Toronto, Mo cheeks in Philly, and the last and by far the worst, perhaps ever, is Terry Porter in Phoenix. What a disgrace. To begin with I have never liked the Phoenix Suns organization since I started watching basketball 22 years ago. They remind me of the Atlanta Braves. Always loaded with high profile pretty boys. High scoring, no defense. Always silky smooth, no power all finesse. And would always crumble in the playoffs. After a dry spell (guess who was the point guard during that time?) in comes Dantoni with Nash. Where the coach's philosophy is hit the open man. Isn't that what most real ballplayers say, even in your local neighborhood park, all age ranges included. Telling a team to move without the ball and shoot in seven seconds or less is the dumbest philosophy ever. Because San Antonio or any other championship caliber team will cut all that speedball bullshit out when it counts. And did. Dantoni might have averaged 54 wins over that four year period, but they never won the 16 they needed. And never made it the Finals.

Defense wins championships, in all sports. Every single one. Period. And the high powered offense wasn't working. So then change ensues. From the beginning Terry Porter was the last person I thought would end up in Phoenix. A tough coach, known for defense. Was the same way through a great career. He played on winning teams. Maybe that's what they needed. Here we are four months later, and hes gone. I guess them being 5 games over .500 and currently as the ninth seed in the west wasn't good enough. It takes some time for a run and gun team known for trying to outscore opponents instead of defend them to change
overnight. All Star players getting paid 14-15 million a season are sitting around bitching because they have a coach who actually holds them responsible for what happens on the defensive end. Newsflash.....when you're getting paid to play, you cant choose how you play and who you play for. The old way was pretty, but it wasn't working either. Couple that with the trades they made. Boris Diaw and Raja Bell.....two career knuckleheads with nothing worthwhile to speak of in their careers were traded for another knucklehead, another flashy loser type, who like Porter was a bad fit from the beginning. What was they thinking? Newsflash, it wasn't the coaching, it was the roster. aside from Stoudemire, your three best players in Shaq, 37, Nash and Hill, 35, are old as fuck. Damn. Phoenix is a mess, as they always have been, and its just coming to light now. Terry Porter is a damn good coach. He should have been hired in Detroit instead of Micheal Curry. Instead Phoenix hired him, and ultimately blamed him for their flawed roster. They talk of Alvin Gentry being a players coach. Why has he spent more time as an assistant instead of a head coach. Player friendly coaches don't last....rarely. Defense wins rings, In all sports. And a team who is unwilling to buckle down on defense and change the loosey-goosey no defense attitude will never win a ring, The proof is in the pudding....when was the last time the Phoenix Suns won a championship. Exactly.

Worker Morale

Just a few thoughts involving my co-workers. Before I was hired at my current job, I was told that a majority of the people are anti-social, unfriendly, and just flat out cornballs. Being that I have been in situations like that in the past I went in with an open mind, determined to make friends, not just to talk at the water cooler with, but to do things with outside the office. I love doing different things with different people with different interests. one thing i learned in college is not to judge people by their appearance or because they don't share common interests. A year in, and all the prior negative opinions were understated. primarily, I talk to women all day. Most are in relationships, with kids, so instead of me feeling like a ladies man, I feel like one of the girls. An older brother. The guys who are in my age range, excluding one or maybe, and i mean a strong maybe, are anti-social. I offered to hang out and get drinks after work, even pick up the tab, and got nowhere. They might party and hang out, just not with me. Reminds me too much of high school where people had their own cliques and couldn't expand their mind and heart to get to know someone new and different. What makes it worse is that i get corny lame excuses and blow off lines. Who ever thought Id be dying to hang out with another guy instead of answering questions about these women's relationships like I was Dr. Phil. Oh well I love my girls....okay girlfriend!

As for the rest, there are still people after all this time that I cant even get a "good morning" out of. People who talk about me and others through e-mails they THINK I don't have a way of seeing. Communication looking at a monitor instead of looking in a persons eyes. People who look down on people because of their seniority and higher positions. Keep in mind that I never look down on any person who works an honest job for a living. Whether they are serving fries or mopping floors, most people do what they have to, not what they want to. They could be selling drugs to one of your kids or sticking you up after you leave the bank. I could hold a door for someone and not get get a thank you. That goes past being snobby, and goes into ignorance and just being flat out classless, office or no office. Oh well, you don't go to work to make friends but to make money, and clearly for the first time, I really wont. Oh well. People put more effort into their work when they like and respect the people they work with and for. When my time comes, Ill create changes. Or just change jobs. Well see what comes first.

The Curse of A-Fraud aka A-Roid aka Asterisk Rodriquez

Ive been waiting for years to write at length about MLB's golden pretty boy
Mr. Alex Rodriquez. He has the sweetest swing, the prettiest stats, and definitely has the sex appeal to make the ladies scream. Even some guys, not all gay either. Ive watched the so called "Evil Empire" crumble before my eyes as management went for the big names instead of getting quality players, and now we look at Boston as the model franchise, the way they used to look at us. For starters, I used to hate when fans of other teams would constantly complain of the Yankees trying to buy championships, since it was far from true, at that time, though it certainly is now. To begin with, the "Bronx Bombers"are the richest, most prestigious organization in all of sports. Rich in tradition, history and pride. The Los Angeles Lakers and Boston Celtics are in a distant second. They make the most, so they certainly could spend the most. How many people do I know that hate the Yankees with a passion, yet still own a Yankee hat? or hats? Anyway, the yanks from about 1996-2001 were steamrolling baseball. They had the right type of players, team guys who knew how to win, and excelled in their roles without having to be superstars. Players who grew up in front of our eyes into marquee players such as Mariano (the best closer EVER), Jeter, Posada, Pettitte. Players who stepped up to the opportunity out of virtual obscurity. Scott Brosius, who I would take over A-Rod any day batted .203 the year before he came to the Yankees and won the World Series MVP. Paul O'Niell ,who played in Cincinnati....enough said. David Wells,who was an above average pitcher, went on to have a Cy Young caliber season.. Then the greed set in. Roger Clemens, coming off his second straight Cy Young award in Toronto, became available, and Stienbrenner traded Wells for him, despite the Yanks winning their second straight title, winning 114 games, and Wells going 18-4 including the first perfect game since Don Larsen in the 50s. Guess it wasn't enough. They went on to win two more titles and then is when the Evil Empire really began.

Mariano throws a 3-2 fastball to Luis "57 HR one hit wonder" Gonzalez in Game 7, and he singles up the middle much to every ones surprise since for the last three years we had become accustomed to the Yanks pulling out the close wins. Mariano was as close to a sure thing, so Yankee fans thought they had it in the bag. I watched them celebrate in disbelief as Tino went into retirement. The off season bought us Jason Giambi coming in the prime of his career. The next two years they crumbled, and in 2004, they made a move that might have us sitting around like Red Sox fans waiting to win a championship for 86 years. A-Rod, who had turned down plenty of money to play for contenders such as the Mets and Mariners, chose the Texas Rangers and their $252 million, despite them being perennial doormats in the AL West. After filling up the stat sheets on last place teams, he began to whine about not playing for a contender, even though it was by his own doing. He wanted to win so bad, but no one heard him offering to take a pay cut. So leave it up to the Yankees to grant him his wish to not only play with a bunch of winners, even though it didn't show in the individual stat sheets, but to get every dime of his money in the process. And while George chased him, Boston got a premier pitcher in Josh Beckett, and we let the heart and soul of our pitching staff in Pettitte skate off to Houston. I thought to myself this pretty boy better be good, because the Yankees were a bonafide dynasty while he was racking up MVPs in Texas. It was greedy, since we had one of the best shortstops and clutch performers in Yankee and baseball history in Derek Jeter. We actually had him switch positions and play third just to get him in the lineup. What an A-hole!
No more "the curse of the Bambino". Now, "the curse of A-Rod"

Then came the infamous 2004 series against the Red Sox. I sat in a bar after about ten shots of Jack laughing as then Yankees held a huge lead in Game 5. I thought it was over. By the time I got home they had surprisingly lost. Then they went on to squander the serious and was known as the "biggest choke in the sports". Our $250 million dollar third baseman batted a whopping .258, with the bulk of his hits coming in the first three games. After that Stienbrenner went on a spending spree, passing on young talent such as Albert Pujols, this generations Manny (without the drama), and overpaying for aged superstars such as Randy Johnson. Clemens a 2nd time. Pavano. Kevin Brown, looking for a quick fix. The list goes on. Over the years Alex racked up two MVPs, but when the postseason came, he played like a rookie. Him hitting under 40 HRs with his salary is unimpressive, but Yankee fans would be willing to overlook it if he performed in the playoffs. Last year, he chose to opt out of his $252 million contract, since it wasn't enough. I had to respect Hank Stienbrenners stance of if he opted out, then negotiations would be over. Then after seeing no one was willing to pay that much, he came back begging to the Yankees. Being as greedy as they had been for so long, they took him back giving him more money. How could they pass up those stats? While we chased him, Johan Santana went to the Mets, while we stuck with Phil Hughes and Ian Kennedy. Why would Anaheim cough up $350 million for a player who disappears in the playoffs? Boston won it all, so why would they add that much pay for someone they watched buckle under pressure. Then between him, the strippers in Toronto, his divorce, his fling with Madonna and whoever else, and now his steroid usage has tarnished his already dirty image. The Yankees have him signed for another nine years. Hes no different from Barry "Balco" Bonds, which is what made him appealing to the average fan, since he appeared to be a natural. To think the time he tested positive he was in a filthy clubhouse that had Jose Canseco, Juan Gonzalez, Ivan Rodriquez, and of course Rafael "Pointer" Palmerio. Lets just hope he mans up and tells the truth. Giambi did, and baseball booed him for a while, but eventually it blew over. If he lies, well be talking about this for years like with McGwire, Clemens, and Bonds. Now the next name to pass Ruth that wont have an asterisk next to it might be Manny. Or Griffey. Unfortunately, both of them will have to play until they re about 47. But as i was told in the past, you cant buy championships. As the last 8 years have proven. And unfortunately we could dump hundreds of millions into the payroll, as long as Alex is on this team we will be cursed. He has a Stephon Marbury-like cancerous effect on any team. The one thing he had on his side was that he was clean, unlike Barry. Sometimes character super cedes talent and stats, and when the Yankees realize that is the formula to success, like they used to, then and only then could they return back to the prominence and excellence they held in the late 90s....and Red Sox nation holds currently.