Bill Russell: Chicken Soup For The NBA Big Man's Soul

Meet the NBA's Dr. Phil. Bill Russell gets a one on one opportunity with the former swimmer, Tim Duncan. You'll probably recall some similar interview from last season with everyone's homeboy, KG.

I'm waiting for a weekly podcast.

Look Familiar?

Just When I Was Excited For The Return Of The NBA...

...I saw this.

Oh My God.

NFL Thoughts & Frustrations

Going through the NFL games today, here are some of the things I have been able to pick up on throughout today's action.

-Eli Manning Sucks.

I called this one a little while back, and now the Giants are finally playing a decent team, and oh, look they're getting their asses handed to them. As I type, the Saints have just gone up 27-10.

Annoying Giants' Fan: Waaaahhhhh, look at Eli. He's been dynamite in every other game.

My Counter: False. He only played half the game versus the Raiders, and there were 2 pick 6s in that Cowboys game, so don't try and sell me on this Eli Manning is one of the best in the league right now. Four of their five wins came against these teams: Redskins, Buccaneers, Chiefs and Raiders. Oh, what's their combined record? 3-17. Real solid, right? Please note the Cowboys have won that same number of games, and arguably could/should have taken victories home in the Giants and Broncos opportunities.

-I'm Sick of the Redskins

Can someone please explain what happened in the offseason that changed this team that much? I mean they weren't great my any means, but they won games and put up numbers on teams. Clinton Portis is about as effective from the backfield as nature's speed bump, the manatee.

Well, Jason got benched, and Clinton bursted for his career long carry. How things change.

-Josh Cribbs Is Whatever Offense The Browns Have

Pay this guy already. I wonder how comparable the situations are between Oakland & Cleveland. I mean at least it's nice to live in Oakland, right?

Notre Dame Football is (Still Not) Back! A Follow Up

So, the game may have come down to 4 plays within the USC 10 for Jimmy Clausen and the boys, but I'm perfectly fine with where I left my assessment. My laptop battery was dying, and the cord was outside in my car.

Notre Dame Football is Back! The USC, ND Live Blog -TOMP

...from the 2nd quarter on...

In case you missed the first quarter, there was a Matt Barkley touchdown pass through a coverage on par with Lions defense, and was soon followed by a Notre Dame fake field goal that led to a rush TD. Epic stuff.

I'm still trying to get over how the east coast was unable to watch most of the Texas, Oklahoma game due to the feed in from the UConn, Louisville match up from the Big East Network. Isn't it bad enough that the NC State, BC game is being aired after that?

14:54-Barkley nearly throws the 1st & 10 pick. Shades of Jimmy Clausen circa, 2007.

14:46-Joe McKnight rips a 20 yd run on a sweep play. It has been confirmed that McKnight is still ONLY a junior, despite the odd feeling that he has been there since the Reggie Bush era.

13:50-Another 24 yd up the gut run. Notre Dame reaffirms that they are terrible on defense.

12:44-Three more points for USC. Disappointing to say the least. 10-7, Trojan men.

11:51-Notre Dame's best player, Jimmy Clausen is now 3/9 for 20 yards. Please note that the kick holder, Eric Maust, who threw the ball on the fake field goal back in the first quarter is 1/1 for 25 yards. NOTRE DAME FOOTBALL IS BACK!

10:14-We've just been informed that Matt Barkley is in the same spot now Clausen was back in '07, as true freshman starting for their programs. The biggest similarity here seems to be how bad both of these two blew as freshmen. Jimmy's freshman year he completed 56% of his passes for 7 TDs and 6 INTs for 1254 yards. Sounds like a Heisman guy to me! I'll take Chad Henne with his 25 TDs, 2700 yards and a trip to the Rose Bowl.

8:22-USC nearly fumbles, painting a horribly misleading image that the Irish are playing effectively. Their best player is Matt Barkley. Put in Mitch Mustain already. While we're waiting for the refs to confirm that this was not a fumble, I highly recommend watching the below video for an idea of when one has had too much:

7:24-The score is now 13-7, Trojans. I'm convinced I'm watching the 2 worst big name qbs in the nation. I have no clue what 3 plays the Irish allowed USC to run to get that close to the end zone.

Commercial-Saw VI!!! Lost your lunch recently?

Commercial-SNL is on tonight. It is also exclusively sponsored by Bud Light Golden Wheat. I was appalled with Bud Light Lime. I think this has gone too far.

5:34-Notre Dame bursts for back to back explosive ways. Looks like back to back blown USC coverage. They'll bounce back.

3:17-Notre Dame blows the drive and punts. Good to see them back in stride.

1:45-Holding on USC. Intentional Grounding on USC, thanks Matt Barkley. Oh, and almost a fumble from Barkley. The #1 QB coming out of high school in the nation!

:56-USC punts to Golden Ta(in)te. I think the punter just made the play of the game somehow catching a one hopped snap. Yeah, it has been that kind of half.

HALFTIME-Arkansas is beating Florida 10-7? Where is God's personal touch?

11:13-Clausen completes a pass to a WR that looks exactly like Jeff Szmardgia. Where do they find these guys?

7:29-Finally. A decent big TD play. Lovely swing pass to one of the 7 Top 10 rated WR recruits on USC for 6. 20-7 USC. It aint lookin good for the Irish.

(FL)2:59-God's second born throws a giant 77 yd TD pass. 13-10, Gators.

7:15-Jimmy Clausen was just delivered a sack lunch. Ouch.

5:18-Clausen nails Tate with a bomb. That was absurd. Super awkward celebration ensues. Jimmy really needs to work on those moves.

3:45-So, now Barkley delivers an amazing throw on 3rd and 8. The QBs have turned it on in the 2nd half. 1st and goal USC.

2:35-Another TD. 27-14, Trojans.

13:33-McKnight with the TD for USC. I'm calling it. It's over.

The Way It Was -TOMP

I can't Help but agree with Chad Ford on this one. The first NBA experience I had was watching Jordan and the Bulls go at it with Barkley's Suns, and for the love of God it was just amazing to see. Little did I know that this would be the short end of the tenure for the NBA's greatest player.

The next two years greatly shaped my sports viewing life as I lived just outside of Houston from '92-'95. That left me to experience the end of Jordan's first run and the back to back Clutch City titles featuring "The Dream, who was ironically the number 1 pick in Jordan's draft" as the Bulls were no longer in the picture.

The era felt like it was lacking, The toughness was gone, that I've seen so much of through ESPN Classic games. Note, that those games featured the Bad Ass Pistons of the 80s who lost their flair after '91.

Regardless, I was able to witness Jordan's return (as 45) back in '96 and there really hasn't been a more incredible comeback in the history of sports.

Following that. 3 more rings. Boom. You can't help but wonder what would have have happened if he hadn't been suspended for gambling in '94 & '96.

A sad story indeed.