NBA Weekend
Didn’t see any of it but heard the dunk contest was bad. This isn’t the fault of the athletes. Look, unless these guys suddenly develop the power of flight there’s really no where to go with this anymore.
I will watch the all star game because…..that’s what I do. Can’t remember ever missing one.
Wordle is back in my life after getting into a dispute with Pasalon about it. We now play each other every day for a nominal sum.
A Place To Talk About Giants Baseball 
This livened up a slow sports day:
howard appeared to throw some type of bitch scratch or something. More of a claw than a punch.
the Stafford’s ASKING this girl to take their picture changes everything. And it makes Stafford look 50 X worse.
Howard’s a bitch, this is college, you can’t be losing your cool like that especially with your team watching you and following your lead. He should be suspended MULTIPLE games for that bullshit.
Wisconsin called timeout up 15 with 15 seconds left, one of the commentators said Howard wasn’t too thrilled with that. If that’s what set him off, yeah, what a crazy overreaction. Michigan plays Rutgers next, safe to say Howard won’t be on the sideline for that one.
he’s a whiner too always up and in a ref’s ear. Take your L and suss it out in locker room with your guys, not in the effing handshake line. Game is bigger than any perceived slight you got.
Howard is an idiot. What’s he going to say to a player when they punch someone???
A head coach or any coach just can’t throw punches, however lame, at other teams’ coaches, or certainly at kids. Coaches are supposed to be teachers, among other things.
There needs to be a rest-of-season suspension for that punch thrown…
ok tho, I’ve watched several angles of this. Howard seems to be trying to fade this guy in the line and he did grab his arm. Where are we with this now?
yo, either way Howard is responsible for the fallout and the escalation. I’m just saying, he got touched first
Don’t look at me…
I miss MadBum.
oh yeah. Currently siting on 19 career HRs, and 2 silver slugger awards.
He hit 9 of them in 2 seasons 2014 and 2015, when he hit .250 over 140 ABs.
He’ll be a Giant again.
I guarantee it…
Of all the major sports, basketball players look to be the worst at fighting. Just fish out of water. Saw one fight years ago, want to say it was Ralph Sampson (?) and another big man, and from what I remember, their punching looked like they were knocking on a door, it looked very silly.
well, there’s one famous exception to that rule.
Oh yes, and also Rudy Tom can add one to the exceptions list…
The only Sampson fight I remember was when he went at it with Celtics scrub guard Jerry Sichting in the ’86 Finals.
Yeah, that was probably the one. Sampson was in another fight a couple years earlier, if I remember correctly…
Wow, Sampson punched Dennis Johnson too. Good replays at 1:35, 2:15 and 3:25.
The NBA All-Star game is its usual bore-fest, but they did do a nice job of honoring the old players. I don’t get Billy Cunningham being honored as an all-time great, though. I’m not seeing that.
I think in NBA games and MLB games, in fights, players generally don’t want to hurt each other, so it makes for awkward fights. They don’t want to lose face in front of everyone, but they don’t want to end someone’s career either. It makes for a lot of goofy-looking fights.
How can people even watch the NBA All-Star game? It’s an embarrassing event.
And the real games don’t resume until Thursday. Good grief.
Hey it got good in the last quarter. Steph better bring that shot back to the real games. He was on fire
He’ll have people guarding him in the real games, though.
buzzkill. It’s fun entertainment. Go read another Beatles book.
Questlove’s Summer of Soul is on ABC now. Wow.
Saw that. Pretty cool stuff. Footage is amazing. Kareen wasn’t bad either.
I just wanted to acknowledge that I also play Wordle. It’s a game of pure luck like chutes and ladders or maybe tic tac toe is a better comparison. Yet I keep playing.
pure luck? That’s absurd. Maybe you just aren’t very good at it?
Yeah, I’ve started guessing at the Wordle game too. Last two games I’ve gotten it in 3, the game before that was a strikeout, didn’t get it. Today’s game.
Wordle 247 3/6
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Zum, I loved Billy Cunningham, Brooklyn guy (Erasmus HS) that went south to play at North Carolina and before joining Sixers. Alex Hannum took page out of Auerbach’s book (using one of best scorers off bench ala Havlicek and Frank Ramsay before him) and brought him in off bench as premier scorer behind Wilt and Hal Greer. Second season for him that team finally won one for Wilt and ended long run by Russell and Celts.
Can’t watch AS game though, or any of other stuff (slam dunk 3pt rising stars et al).
Game I was helping coach yesterday for Asian b-ball youth group, saw something I don’t think I’ve ever seen before in almost 30 years I’ve been doing this.
Our team based in Mtn. View was hosting team from SF. Both teams were shorthanded due to vacation week/Holiday, and mid 3rd quarter one of their boys (8th/9th grade) fell on his own during transition play getting back on D, landed awkwardly and stayed down after few audible f-bombs.
Turns out he’d broken his arm very badly and had to be carted out and taken to nearby El Camino Hospital on stretcher. Other team only had 5 guys left and decided that was it for day and Coach wanted to be with him and family at Hospital. Hope he’s OK and recovers well enough that he can go back to school etc.
For all talk about KAT being best shooting big ever and comp to Dirk Nowitzki, no mention of sweet shooting big from distance Bob McAdoo? Led NBA in scoring 3 times, multiple AS selections and at 6 ft 9 could drill outside shots from anywhere before 3 pt line was introduced late in his career.
Still alive too at age 70.
“buzzkill. It’s fun entertainment. Go read another Beatles book.”
Oh, OK, so tell us how much of that “fun, entertaining” game you watched. And having it on in the background while you’re doing something else doesn’t count. How many actual minutes of the game did you sit there and watch? I’m guessing less than five.
I watched the first q and most of the last quarter. Entertaining. I like see all those guys out there together despite the competitive juices not really flowing till 4th Q. And watching Steph go off never gets old
“Can’t watch AS game”
Of course not. You love basketball, and that game isn’t basketball.
It’s cringefully embarrassing listening to Reggie Miller and the other broadcasters hyper-ventilate trying to act like something exciting was happening.
The irony is that those old-timer players honored at halftime played during an era when the players actually did care about the quality of play in the All-Star game, and played it pretty competitively. At least that’s my memory of it.
I just went 11 for 14 throwing pairs of socks into an open drawer from across the room.
For me, that’s basketball…
Reggie Miller could make it sound exciting.
One of the poignant things about the halftime show was being reminded which players have passed away. I’d forgotten that Moses Malone has passed away, and some others.
Lots of nice moments. One of my favorites was when Michael Jordan came up behind Jerry West and hugged him. Charles Barkley’s comment was great. He spoke with sheer gratitude about all the game has done for him.
I wish there was some kind of thing during the event for the fans to have a forum to talk directly to some of the players. The fans are such longterm holders of memories of the NBA. Man, I can hardly begin to think what I would say to Kareem. I would want it to be just right. Maybe that’s the thing. The fans would be too in awe of the players to be very articulate.
Met Kareem at the Caprice in Tiburon around 1978. My dad loved that place. Kareem was there by himself. Talked to him for a minute about Nate Thurmond and the great battles they had.
My jealousy is off the charts on that. I’m declaring you the winner of the internet today.
There is a definite strategy to Wordle. It isn’t brain surgery but it isn’t pure luck.
As far as the all star game went, it’s better than the NFL version. Which ain’t saying much, but I watched it all. Steph and Trae talking smack was fun. But the dunk contest never gets the best guys involved. They should just do the 3-pt shooting contest as the final thing,
The halftime show was very cool as they celebrated the 75th anniversary of the NBA with the 75 greatest players. Who knew Bob Cousy was still alive?
Right! And Bob Pettit! It was so cool seeing elderly players that were still alive. It made me very happy. The NBA did very well with the halftime show.
You watched the whole game? You ought to get an award for that. And I ain’t even joking.
And I’m using the word “game” very loosely.
That’s the rub, the strategy is very limited. Eliminating the most common letters in your first two guesses is pretty rote. You can amuse yourself by changing your opening word every day and playing in “hard” mode, but you’re always left with an obvious set of possible solutions, usually by the third guess.
The thing about the NBA all star game is all the guys out on the floor looked like they were having a hell of good time. Bringing in AI to talk to him during the game was really cool. I thought all the respect paid to players past and present was done really well. And it did get kinda serious by that last quarter. Seeing Rick Barry talking to Dennis Rodman was just such a cool thing to see.. And Rodman talking shit (I think) to MJ was funny as well..
Is the NBA All-Star game better than the NFL Pro Bowl? That’s a good question. They’re both terrible, but at least the NBA one had Steph making a bunch of wide-open three-pointers which had some entertainment value, I guess. The NFL Pro Bowl has ZERO entertainment value. So it shouldn’t be hard to be beat ZERO.
Should’ve got this in 3:
Wordle 247 4/6
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Looks like you were convinced that it was going to be another word with a repeat letter.
That is correct.
I can’t figure out your opening word, unless you repeated a letter that wasn’t in the solution. I’ve done that once. I’ve also seen green where there was that odd shade of yellow, and a couple of days after I switched to high contrast, I thought the blue meant the letters were in their proper place. Blue is good, red isn’t kinda thinking.
I think it was ‘Stale.’
It’s kind of interesting (to me) to check the history of NBA All Star game scores, and see that, for decades, the scores looked like normal NBA game scores, including a 111-110 score in 2001. But as the years went on, the players became less and less interested in playing any defense in the game (and risking injury), and the scores began to go into the level of the ridiculous, including these farces:
2016: 196-173
2017: 192-173
That was too much of a farce for the NBA execs, and they changed the format from East/West to having captains pick their rosters, and play the games for charity, and hopefully the players would care more about making the game looking more like a real game.
Well….
2019: 178-164
2020: 157-155
2021: 170-150
2022: 163-160
A little better than 2016 and 2017, I guess.
I could be wrong, but I think it’s BF’s birthday today!
Happy birthday, dude!!
Older and a half-inch shorter. That’s the way getting older works.
Hope your back has been feeling better.
thanks. I actually feel fantastic.
Yes, Happy Birthday Flav!
HB and many happy returns!
I got Wordle in 3 today so that’s something but the guy I play for cash got it in 2! Some birthday this is turning into
mm seeing Britney Eurton all dressed to kill at Track this weekend was cool, right?
What about Medina Spirit DQ ruling–also cool, no?
And Howard suspended for rest of regular season — 5 games.
yeah saw that. In his apology, to fans/program and to assistant guy he hit, no mention of Wisco’s head coach, whom he told “I’ll remember that” about timeout and whose hand he refused to shake in line. That’s when Wisco coach grabbed him yada yada.
3 for me, too, hope the evening brought you some birthday worthy grub and spirits.
Happy birthday, Flav!!! Hope it’s a good one. Glad the back is feeling better.
Happy b-day there, Craig, may it be a great “new year” for you…
Great. Now Wordle has me thinking. Always a dangerous thing. Over here, do I see *today’s* wordle later than you, or do I see the new day’s word before you? Such existential questions torture me sometimes.
Because the software runs entirely on the user’s computer, I’m guessing you see the new puzzle before we do.
If this was something serious and lucrative, I could make some money with my “insider knowledge” …. Craig, how big are your bets with PaSalon? 🙂
I reset the time zone on my device to a part of the world just east of Greenwich, and Wordle responded by giving me access to the next day’s puzzle, even though the clock hasn’t struck 12 here yet.
Wordle 248 2/6
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Good one James. Three again for me.
Wordle 248 3/6
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Happy Birthday Craig!
Happy Birthday, boss…
…
Medina Spirit stripped of Kentucky Derby win. Mandaloun wins.
What happens to the folks that bet Mandaloun to win?
nothing from what I read in NYT. There is class action suit being brought by bettors. Baffert does forfeit purse I do believe.
of course nothing. Do you know how impossible it would be to unpack all those bets, straight win, exotics, etc?
See 1968 (Dancer’s Image/Forward Pass)…
Great interview btw Baggs and Yaz (new dad) in Athletic. Among other things, said Giants will miss Posey’s even keel everyday leadership in clubhouse. also that getting beaned by LHP made him uncomfortable last season and altered his approach. This when Baggs challenged him to explain drop off from 2020 and 2019, and said he has been working off machine to make adjustments.
FYI–thrill is now on twitter
the crazy thing about Baffert is that he’s ineligible to run horses in Kentucky meaning his Derby contenders are out of luck. Messier would win the Derby for fun if allowed to run. I can’t believe his owners are sticking with Baffert.
Think they will?
I don’t…
They need to switch him to a new trainer before the SA Derby and I’m not seeing any indication that they’re going to do that
I think the idea of Wordle is to get it right and there is definitely an element of luck involved when it comes to getting it within say the first 3-4 tries.
Are you a genius if you get it in on the first guess? (did that once)
And there are times when more than one letter fits in your final square and it turns into something of a guessing game. Or you can take a stab or two early on and dig a big hole for yourself.
Well, just another way to kill a few minutes…
That pretty much sums it up for me.
You got it on the first guess? That’s 1 in 158000
Is it really?
Yeah, happened once.
I think the word was “pride” of all things…
They need to switch him to a new trainer before the SA Derby and I’m not seeing any indication that they’re going to do that
Only one shot at the big one.
Gotta do it.
Baff would understand.
They toss jockeys out when they feel like it…
He’s banned at Belmont too right?
i believe so, yes
when I’m not watching b-ball on weekends I watch horse racing on TVG. Did they say anything about Baffert ruling yesterday? Coverage of him over there is pretty benign. On HRN site where I check out entries/results at SA, there was a column with 280 comments on him and most said DQ was right thing to do.
he’s absolutely suspended through like June 15th I think the date was. Owners are gonna have to make a decision quick
Will Clark sure did have a sweet swing, barreled up some many pitches!
Opening day to his career taking the King of Strikeouts HOF Nolan Ryan speaks volumes, and reading the lips of another HOF Greg Maddux and launching a Grandslam was epic,and of course his game winning hit off of Cubs goofy reliever Mitch Williams to win the NLCS! Still picture that searing line drive to center that almost decapitated Williams head..,It was a beautiful moment in time..
Will’s hit vs cubs the highlight of my baseball life up to that point!
Yep, that was pure bliss.