In-out dribble from Mars....indefensible move...AJ Price destroys Jerel McNeal, Big East DPOY...

When a school fight....should be treated like a school fight.

Video was removed.

See it here

What you just looked at is video from a Alabama State basketball tournament game Tuesday, February 17th 

between 2 high schools, Carver and Valley. A fight broke out towards the end of the game and quickly spread to

the crowd who entered the court and began fighting with the players and with each other. The game was called

on account of this fight and the State board is meeting to determine who will be awarded the winner of the game 

and go to the State championships. Many are calling for both teams to be disqualified and banned from play 

for anywhere from 1 year to permanently. I think this is foolishness. Penalize the players involved, and more 

importantly, penalize people in the crowd who entered the court. Remember the Detroit Indiana NBA fight? What 

exascerbated it? That's right, players and fans fighting each other. If the Detroit fans had stayed in the stands and had not fought the

players (or the players gone in to the stands) the fight would have been defused rather quickly, and play could

have been continued. Same here. While the players did brawl with each other, it was nothing security could not have

handled, the refs hand out technicals, and the short rest of the game continues. As far as I am concerned, all this talk

of stopping basketball in the state and these "thugs only doing what they genetically are supposed to do" and "better

let them fight each other so that their are fewer of them" smacks of ignorance and racism, no less ignorant then the

crowd getting involved with this fight in the first place. Here is what needs to happen: Anyone identified by the

video as leaving the stands to come onto the floor and fight is banned from attending state athletic functions for 2

years. In other words, if you are not a member of either team, and you entered the floor during play, out you go.

Secondly, the team that was ahead when the game was called is the "winner." This comes with a grain of salt

however, because immediately after they are awarded this win, the State should suspend players involved with

the fight for up to 10 games, including the Championship game. That should, if the events of the night went how I

think they went, cripple the team. If they can't put out 4 players to play in the championship game, they forfeit, and

the team that was waiting to play in the finals is the State Champ. While I realize this is unfair to the team waiting,

There is no other way to penalize the two teams fairly without affecting the championship game, and those players

would have been suspended anyhow. I find it interesting how it is being commented on the internet and the press.

In 2002 there was large brawl between mostly white frat boys at Auburn in the crowd during a Tiger Football game

and it was largely ignored, but a fight at a high school basketball game gets statewide attention? Interesting....while

I absolutely do not condone these events and feel that those who were involved with it should be penalized, I don't

think people should be receiving jail time and all this other foolishness people have been saying. This occured at

a school event, suspensions are there fore in order, and attendance bans for non-students. Fair enough. Sad that

it occured in the first place, though.

UPDATE: Both teams have been eliminated (double forfeit) and are now on restrictive probabtion. Charges have been

filed against spectators. LINK

The Greatest Dunker in the World.

We here at Page 3 have known about James White for years, but I am shocked that people are not aware of this man and his exploits with a basketball in his hand. I humbly present to you a dunk routine that could not be replicated by any NBA dunk contest winner dead or alive. He recently won the NBDL dunk contest (easy) and I am praying that he gets in the League and is allowed to defeat Lebron James next year in Dallas (I'll be there!).

For your viewing pleasure:

Did you see it?! Free throw line with 1 hand, followed by freethrow line windmill, freethrow line two hands, and then 

FREETHROW LINE BETWEEN THE LEGS. I defy you to find a dunk contest program better then that!

New Brand Jordan ad campaign for the Air Jordan 2009

Check out a great new blog, Ebonyisms!

I'm extremely excited and proud that my girlfriend Ebony is finally coming out from behind the curtain and is launching her blog, ebonyisms. If it is anything like her you will find it to be compelling, smartly written, and a little off the beaten path when it comes to certain topics. I really look forward to seeing what she has to say, and I want everyone to take a look and see the blog.

Look at this pass by Iverson!! Watch closely, the ball actually went between the legs of the defender 40 feet away...

Sobering...

Major League Baseball All Time home run hitters:

1. Barry Bonds 762*

2. Hank Aaron 755

3. Babe Ruth 714

4. Willie Mays 660

5. Ken Griffey Jr. 611

6. Sammy Sosa 609*

7. Frank Robinson 586

8. Mark McGwire 583*

9. Harmon Killebrew 573

10. Rafael Palmeiro 569*

11. Reggie Jackson 563

12. Alex Rodriguez 553*

* Serious allegations of steroid or illegal substance use/admission/use of later banned substance/failed steroid test.

Is Ken Griffey really the ONLY clean hitter from this list in the game still playing?? Really sad...

Ladies, I mean no disrespect, but this is one of the funniest Videos I have seen in a long time...I know you all don't drive like this but....

Some Funny NBA Pics...feel free to comment on their absurdity.

For Real?! What is Nike doing??

I am a huge Penny Hardaway fan. So imagine my shock when I stumbled across this photo taken last week at the Knicks-Cavs game. You know who that is. So what does it mean? And did Nike spend 2 grand just to sit him there for the game?!

Freestyle Breakdown Episode UNO:Sorry, I had to share this...Jay-z Freestyle from Hot 97 (2006) Click links for further info...lol

Video

I been crushin the building since Izod socks
I'm so independent sh.. i might buy Koch
I might not stop
Places to cop, 76 floors you can call me the Doc

Inspired by Boesky, got my chariots of fire
Everybody took shots, hit my body up, I'm tired
Build me up break me down to build me up again
They like "Hov we need you back so we can kill ya a** again"
Hov got flow, though he's no Big and Pac, but he's close
How I'm 'posed to win? They got me fighting ghosts...

Same sword the knight you they gon' good night you with
Sh.., Thats only half if they like you
That aint even the half what they might do
Dont believe me ask Michael
See Martin, see Malcolm
You See Biggie, see Pac, see success and its outcome
See Jesus, see Judas, see Caesar, see Brutus
See success is like suicide
Suicide is a suicide
If you succeed, prepare to be crucified
Media meddles, ni..as sue you, you settle
Every step you take, they remind you, you ghetto
So its tough being Bobby Brown
To be Bobby then, you gotta be Bobby now
Now the question is, "Is to have had and lost
Better than not having at [all]?"

Everybody wanna be the King then shots ring
You layin on your balcony with holes in your dream
Or you Malcolm X'd out, get distracted by screams
Everybody get your hand off my jeans!
Everybody look at you strange say you changed
Uhh! Like you work that hard to stay the same
Uhh! Game stays the same the name changes
So its best for those to not overdose on being famous
Most kings get driven so insane
That they try to hit the same vein that Kurt Cobain did
??No dangers, so shameless??
Invited to the inner sanctum of yo chambers
??Low chained em as the enemies approach??
So raise ya draw bridge and drown em in the moat
And the Spirit I'm evokin
**Mumbles ** Hold on...

Everybody screamin they want the old Hov
But the new improved Hov hit like Albert Pujols
Everybody wanna hear me talk that money like Phil Rizzuto
But my mind is on Pluto
Bills that I do fold, i now invest on
Tryna find some loopholes in the IRS
As where I used to have a few h*** I am just
Concentrating on makin a new Hov through sex
I've awaken just in time to school those putos
Tryna follow in my shoes with jewels froze
Better adhere to this text 'fore you go
Broke, spendin more than you've accrued on silly baguettes
I know silly begets, silly you'll learn on your own
At least my conscience is clear, I'm no longer steering you wrong
Aint nothing wrong with baguettes after you get a home
Take care of your home, you can go back and **Ugh!**

I'm getting courted by the bosses,
The Edgars And Doug Morris-es-es
Jimmy I's and Lyors-es its
Gotta be more than the choruses
They respecting my mind now
Just a matter of time now
Operation: Takeover Corporate
Makeover offices-es-es then takeover all of it
Please may these words be recorded
To serve as testimony that i saw it all before it
Came to fruition, sort of a premonition
Uncontrollable, hustler's ambition
Alias, SUPERSTITION, like Stevie
THE WRITINGS ON THE WALL, like my lady, right BB
Saw it all before some of yall thought I was crazy maybe
Like a fox I'm cagey, Ah Ah!
The more successful, the more stressful
The more and more I transform to Gordan Gekko
In the race to a billion got my face to the ceiling
Got my knees on the floor please Lord forgive him
Has he lost his religion, is the greed gon' get him?
He's having heaven on earth, will his wings still fit him?
I got the Forbes on my living room floor
And I'm still talkin to the poor, ni..a I want more
TIME's most influential, was impressive
'Specially since, I wasnt in the artist section
Had me with the builders and the titans
Had me right with Rupert Murdoch
Billionaire Boys and some dudes you never heard of
Word up on Madison Ave, is I'm a Cash cow
Word down on Wall Street homie, you get the cash out
IPO Hov no need for reverse merger
The boy money talk no need to converse further
The baby blue Maybach like I own Gerber
Boardroom I'm liftin ya skirt up

The Corporate Takeover....

The most amazing Full Court Press in America

Please tell me you all saw Duke-Clemson last night. Please. You didn't? Well in a nutshell, Duke got destroyed by Clemson 74-47, with several monster dunks by one Trevor Booker, including the best one, shown in this post's picture and also here for my video demanding readers:

This is all besides the point, though, because Duke COULD NOT HANDLE A FULL COURT PRESS.

The formerly #4 team in these United States of America could not deal with, handle, or break a full court press from the Clemson Tigers.

Completely panicked, unable to concentrate, rushing passes and dribbling in to traps, they looked like a high school team playing in their first real tournament. I have never seen a team so flustered against the press, and I am even more flabbergasted by the fact that Duke is normally always well prepared. This is something that is so basic, and something that these guys should have learned

back in High School or basketball camps. You break the press by good passing. I saw several plays on sportscenter where Clemson was able to apply wonderful pressure to the ball handler, and simply force stupid passes. I mean, I saw a play where Duke threw bad inbound passes. Unexcusable at this level. This is one step from the NBA! I was shocked that a Coach K team would be so bad, and his post-game press conference made me feel sorry for

what is going to happen to his guys at today's practice. Suicides and press break drills for all! According to the box score,Duke committed turnovers the first two times it saw the press and had three in the opening four minutes. All told, the Blue Devils finished with 16 turnovers to seven assists. Another huge reason Duke was destroyed was that Clemson did not allow them to drive and kick, as they have effectively done all season. In essence, Clemson's man to man defense was so good they were able to put one defender on the ball handler and not double to compensate for any penetration, effectively nullifying Duke's ability to kick the ball for wide open 3's. It also certainly didn't help that Duke shot around 30% from the field for the game.

This was the most lopsided loss suffered by Duke since the 1990 NCAA title game vs. UNLV. I guess we will just have to wait and see if Duke can learn from this and bounce back, or if this is a harbinger of things to come.

Take a look at my next game purchase...I'm so hype about this one! Fight Night 4 with MIKE TYSON!!!

The two greatest National Anthem renditions EVER...along with a personal favorite you may not have seen....

Below are (in order) the top 2 greatest National Anthem renditions ever in the history of the world.

Pre-recorded or not, they SANG.

After getting an email, I have decided to add a couple I might have 

overlooked. Definite Honorable mention to:

And:

Here is a rare rendition that still gives me goosebumps by one of the greatest groups of all time, 

Grammy winning Oakwood Alumni Take 6:

And, just for full disclosure, possibly the WORST rendition ever:

Monday morning Quarterback: Asking the tough questions about the Superbowl...

Great Superbowl! Enjoyed all 30 minutes of the second half. I must say, Jennifer Hudson is now squarely in second place for all time renditions of the Star Bangled Banner, only being edged out by Whitney Houston. Anyone catch President Obama's short interview with Lauer before the game? That must be unprecedented, also pretty interesting that he wasn't trying to play the middle of the road on who he was picking to win, considering the entire Steelers organization basically canvassed and supported his election bid in the state of Pennsylvania, while the other team was the home state organization for his rival. No brainer, huh? Overall I thought the commercials weren't as good this year as previous years, although I thought there were some pretty notable ones, including the etrade babies with one of them singing "broken wing." 

Did anyone watch the final play? Warner hikes the ball, the pocket collapses, he scrambles to his right and up to get more protection, and is hit in his throwing motion. Here is the video clip, unfortunately the NFL doesn't have an official youtube video for the play. 

The biggest question on my mind and everyone I know is, why wasn't the play immediately review and the game halted?After the recovery by the Steelers, there is a 1 minute 48 second gap before the Steelers kneel the ball. According to Mike and Mike this morning and a USA Today quote from VP of Officiating Mike Pereira, “We confirmed it was a fumble,” said Pereira. “The replay assistant in the replay booth saw it was clearly a fumble. The ball got knocked loose and was rolling in his hand before it started forward. He has to have total control.” 

Two main things I have issue with here: Why weren't the officials on the field involved with the review of the play in the Superbowl?! The booth upstairs apparently can review a play without the ref's involvement? And secondly, why, if it was being reviewed, Why on earth did it take such a short period of time? A play like that, the game should be halted, and the network should at least have known or been notified what was going on so that the official review banner could have been put up on the score at the bottom of the screen so people would at least understand what was going on, it looked quite shaky. I have heard a lot of Steeler fans saying it wouldn't have mattered if they had ruled it incomplete, and I laugh at that statement. Ha Ha. After assessing the penalty for unsportsmanlike, it would have been 15 yards from where the ball landed, so the Cardinals would have had 5 seconds on the clock (stopped) to run a play from around the 30 yard line. What an opportunity! It would have set up to be either a superbowl preserving defensive stop or an all time game winning touchdown. From looking at the video I can't tell that Warner didn't have control of the ball as he was bringing it forward to throw it, the ball even squirted out of his hands during the hit from his arm's forward momentum. How was that not reviewed and called a fumble? The official NFL rule book states:

"Note 1: When a Team A player is holding the ball to pass it forward, any intentional movement forward of his hand starts a forward pass. If a Team B player contacts the passer or the ball after forward movement begins, and the ball leaves the passer’s hand, a forward pass is ruled, regardless of where the ball strikes the ground or a player."

Also, from Wikipedia:

A challenge can only be made on certain reviewable calls before the two minute warning and only when a team has at least one time-out remaining in the half. When a coach decides to challenge a call, he throws a red flag onto the field, indicating the challenge to the referees. Up until the 2005 season, coaches could also signal a challenge via an electronic pager, now used only by the replay assistant.^[7]

The referee has 60 seconds to watch the instant replay of the play and decide if the original call was correct. The referee must see "incontrovertible visual evidence" for a call to be overturned. If the challenge fails, the original ruling stands and the challenging team is charged with a timeout. If the challenge overrules the previous call, the call is reversed with no loss of a timeout.

After the 2-minute warning of each half, and in overtime, reviews can only take place if the replay assistant, who sits in the press box and monitors the network broadcast of the game, determines that a play needs review; coaches may not challenge during these times. In those cases, the replay assistant will contact the referee by a specialized electronic pager with a vibrating alert.

Take another look at the video. Pretty close. DEFINITELY close enough that a full formal Official Review should have taken place!! Show it on the jumbotron, allow all the viewers to see it, and let the officials who were closest to the play help in the decision making. I realize the booth upstairs have 1080P monitors and can zoom in and such, but I have those capabilities too. And I zoomed in on all the network feed replays and looked, and it was very close. Just for review's sake, here is the video from the Tom Brady forward momentum tuck rule game. Look at his control of the ball and how the ball moves compared with Warners. I think Warner was actually hit sooner in his throwing motion, but I think his throwing motion had already started forward as contact from the defender was made. Therefore, a fumble. My point is that this game was so much better then it's ending. It should have been settled on a defensive stop or amazing catch on the final play with time running out, not a flag.I would love to know what you think. I will be updating this post as any new details emerge. EDIT: After reading a lot of people's feelings, I think that the tuck rule should be amended that once the ball is past the point of being thrown for a pass, that is, the front of the ball is pointing down at the ground, if it is popped out, it's a fumble.

Clifton:

The Game

Last night’s game had a finish reminiscent of last year’s match between the Pats and Giants. The only differences were the absolute lack of discipline or defense, and instead of ONE helmet-clutching play, we were rewarded for sticking through this penalty-ridden game with a number of unforgettable plays. You could say that the difference between victory and defeat for the underdog Cardinals was the difference between one yard and a hundred. In his three appearances, Kurt Warner has put up the greatest statistics at his position in SUPER BOWL HISTORY. He owns the records for most touchdowns and most yards, among records he set this year for a single postseason. He completed 31 of 43 passes, and threw three touchdowns for nearly 400 yards—an incredible, MVP-type performance…if you win. But his errant throw at the goal line was the difference between victory and defeat for his underdog team. You can’t even think to pour dirt on a guy who’s been such an incredible story, and had such a great season. But I can’t remember a single Super Bowl where anon-game-winning field goal or tackle at the one yard line—you know, a play at the END of the game—was ultimately what decided the outcome of the game.

Quite honestly, my gut told me that the Steelers would pull out that fourth quarter victory. It just proved to me even more that despite it not being a Christian principle, the concept of Karma is both real and prevalent in sports. It’s not ironic that after a century of bullying, the Yankees are the ONLY team to lose a 3-0 lead…or that they lost it to the Red Sox. It’s not ironic that every time Kobe Bryant loses an NBA Finals it’s because whoever he plays against has mastered the concept of “team basketball.” It’s not ironic that a team that was caught cheating for recording other teams’ plays illegally then went on an 18-0 season only to lose in the Super Bowl to a team that seemed to rise up solely to defeat them—as now the Giants…kind of suck.  It’s not ironic that Jose Canseco is still broke after writing a tell-all book that garnered millions.

And it’s not ironic that in a game where two teams ultimately deserved to win, the victory went to a team with a great coach, great ownership, and the fans who the majority of hadn’t just bought their first team jersey two weeks ago (yes, the bandwagon was enormous, especially IN Arizona). A Cardinals win would’ve been nice to see, but a Steelers victory…well let’s face it…we got to see Obama beat McCain in something else—it was awesome!

So congrats to everyone involved, especially Coach Tomlin/Omar Epps (a la Sports Guy), the youngest coach to ever win a Super Bowl. And if you’re a Kurt Warner fan, enjoy him in the next few weeks while you can, cuz on Sunday he sounded a biiiiit like this guy I used to like who plays for the Jets…

 

The Commercials

Because I know diddly-squat about marketing, my own personal test of commercial greatness is: “Which ones do I remember the next morning?” And I remember 3:

3. Dorito’s “Crystal Ball”

It wasn’t great, but it made me laugh because it was goofy, random, and unexpected. If you can’t be great, shoot for 2 or 3 of those, and I’ll be happy. After all, those are the reasons why Zoolander and Napoleon Dynamite are saved on my computer.

2. [Insert beer company’s name here]’s “I’m good.”

Every year, you’re gonna get at least ONE great beer commercial (personally, I find that few of them have Clydesdales in them…I hate those).

This one was mainly for guys. Bowling balls to heads, electrocution that shoots a man off the roof, and a double-golf swing to the face—you can’t ask for more. You want at least ONE commercial that makes you groan. This was the one. I still think it might’ve been funnier if one of those times a guy had burst into tears, seen his friend’s faces, sucked it up once and THEN tried to say “I’m good.” I mean, I needed someone to represent my demographic. But it was still really funny.

1. CareerBuilder’s “You might need a new job. As a rule.”

This commercial was funny…then it got funnier…and funnier, until by the end I was clapping. Maybe I’m in the minority, but I found it hilarious. Whoever they hire to do their commercials is extremely stupid, and I hope his/her marketing firm expands to do more commercials. In years past, they’ve waged war with office supplies, and performed all sorts of crazy feats. This year, they made a pseudo public service announcement. I think over time, this commercial will be less funny, but yesterday, it couldn’t have been better.

 

Many people would of course argue for the 3D stuff, but I wasn’t wearing the glasses at the time, so I didn’t care. And in 3D-less vision, watching Ray Lewis dance in a leotard is both disturbing and bizarre.