Archive for the 'Basketball' Category

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01
Jul
09

Slight Chance of Impaling Seems Like a BAD Thing

By slanch Leave a Comment
Categories: Awesome and Basketball
Tags: , ,

Downtown Spokane, Washington is currently holding an outdoor basketball event called Hoopfest where they placed mini basketball courts on the streets. This slideshow from the NY Times features some great photos and even better captions such as:

Up to 10 courts fit on a block. Downtown Spokane is not exactly flat, so baskets are sometimes slightly uphill, downhill or on the side of a hill. There is a risk, however slight, of being impaled on a parking meter. That is life on the streets at Hoopfest, the world's largest 3-on-3 basketball tournament, now in its 20th year.

Up to 10 courts fit on a block. Downtown Spokane is not exactly flat, so baskets are sometimes slightly uphill, downhill or on the side of a hill. There is a risk, however slight, of being impaled on a parking meter. That is life on the streets at Hoopfest, the world's largest 3-on-3 basketball tournament, now in its 20th year.

Check out the full slide-show for some great pictures and again, hilariously interesting captions. Two more after the jump to help whet the appetite.

[NY Times] Continue reading ‘Slight Chance of Impaling Seems Like a BAD Thing’

30
Jun
09

A Journey-Man Mayoral Doppelganger

By slanch 1 Comment
Categories: Basketball and Doppelgangers
Tags: , ,

After a successful college career Drew Gooden has bounced around the NBA some, he’s on his 6th team in 7 years and has proven to be a useful bench and role player but has never achieved any semblance of stardom. He doesn’t need to be a star though for a long and fruitful NBA career. When not sporting one of the worst beards in beard history, Gooden also shares a resemblance with New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin. Nationally known thanks to Hurricane Katrina and the subsequent coverage, Ray Nagin has also brought plenty of media attention on himself for some outlandish statements to the press. Regardless, these two men look so much alike I actually got confused putting their pictures next to one another of who was who.

Please VOTE in the poll below so that this doppelganger can become a fixture on the permanent Doppelganger page, which you can visit by clicking here.

GoodenNagin

23
Jun
09

That’s a Talented Shot

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Categories: Awesome and Basketball
Tags: , ,

In 8th grade, gym class is always full of awkwardness, if you need to change into gym clothes theres the whole locker room ordeal, then once in class there’s the whole being good or bad at sports thing, plus everyone is at the height of their own awkwardness. All in all, it’s a shit-show. For one shining moment though, Aaron Shutway, an 8th grader at Brecksville-Broadview Middle School in Broadview Heights, Ohio brushed past the awkwardness that is prepubescence and captured one moment of glory. If he were in high school he might get laid for such an act, instead, he might get an awkward cheek kiss later instead. Sweet!

15
Jun
09

Look Out for the 7-Footer on Skates

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Categories: Basketball
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PHP4A3194A497DCAWhile Greg Ostertag left the NBA three years ago he didn’t leave behind his competitive spirit and athletic nature. Now living in Scottsdale, Arizona the 7′ 2″ 300 pounder is keeping busy baking cakes, playing golf and participating in a no-checking men’s hockey league. //

“I had a hat trick,” he said of a recent game. “I go out and play hard. We try to win.”

Before a big time growth spurt, Ostertag grew up playing hockey in Duncanville, Texas, but once you get to the 7′ range it’s hard to ignore the draw of basketball. To be fair, basketball worked out pretty well for Ostertag, he earned over $48 million over his career and went to two Final Fours and NBA Finals, although never won a championship.

The NBA may have moved beyond Osterga, but he still feels the old tug. “I know I can still play,” said Ostertag, “It’s just a matter of getting back into shape. I can still play. I can put in 10 or 15 minutes a game, get some rebounds and block some shots.”

Now though, he spends most of his time playing golf (he’s a 3-handicap), playing hockey, watching his son Cody, a 6-5 sophomore play basketball and of course, there are the cakes.

“Just learning how to make the icing, color the icing, the shapes, how to draw, that’s the hard part,” Ostertag said. “I just get an idea in my head and go from there. My handwriting isn’t that great.” He’s made a number of different cakes, from a wedding cake, to a Superbowl cake, to one for his daughter’s swim team. His knowledge and love of baking came from his mother Ostertag said, “I learned from watching her, I learned how to do it,” Ostertag said. “I’ve made some for my kids for their birthdays. I made a couple for my mom for her birthdays.”

[AZ Central]

11
Jun
09

Steve Nash Makes Me Laugh

By slanch Leave a Comment
Categories: Awesome, Basketball and Television
Tags: , , ,

Phoenix Suns point guard Steve Nash was on the David Letterman program last night and was gracious enough the day before to have recorded a video while at game 3 of the Finals. You know what, off-the-court Nash is pretty hilarious, we’ve seen his skills as a filmmaker, a tandem bike-rider and now, comedy show segment host. Not too shabby.

Also, I think all 7 Knicks fans left just got giant boners at the thought that Nash would come to NY and reunite with Mike D’Antoni.

10
Jun
09

Gortat’s Tat Causes Execs to Say “F That”

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Categories: Awesome and Basketball
Tags: , , , ,

090609-marcin-gortat-200bknPolish-born reserve center Marin Gortat is expected to get even more playing time as the NBA Finals continue, being tasked with the difficult task of trying to stop Lamar Odom, but with the added playing time comes a larger lens focusing on him, something his sponsors at Reebok are a bit concerned about. Gortat, you see, has a tattoo on his calf, and the cameras seem to find it fairly regularly; unfortunately for Reebok, it’s a tattoo of Michael Jordan’s Nike logo. Last weekend Gortat received a phone call from someone at Reebok asking him to either wear his socks up higher or put makeup on the tattoo so that it wouldn’t be seen on television. 

“They called and said I had to do something about it, but that ain’t going to happen. I’ve been wearing it 4-5 years now, and it helped me get to the NBA,” said Gortat. “They didn’t say anything about it when I signed the contract, so it’s not going anywhere. I don’t think they are paying me enough to take it off.”

090609-gortat-tattoo-200bknConsidering that he’s a semi-scrubby backup center, it’s doubtful that his deal with Reebok provides much in the way of spending money, so there probably isn’t much financial incentive there for him.

“I’ve heard from other people that even other players, if they don’t know my name, they know I’m the big white guy with the Jordan tattoo,” Gortat said. “I like that. Reebok will have to get used to that.”

Now, me, I’d like to be known for my play on the court, but sure, being known for a tattoo works too…

Meanwhile, Nike must be loving this, they get free publicity and they don’t even need to toss any free sneakers at Gortat. Win-Win.

[Fanhouse]

05
Jun
09

Bill Laimbeer is a Man of Many Talents

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Categories: Awesome, Basketball and Television
Tags: , ,

laimbeerBill Laimbeer is best remembered for his days as one of the Detroit Pistons Bad Boys, but today spends his time as the head coach of the Detroit Shock. However, unbeknownst to most people, Laimbeer, while in high school had a pretty awesome summer job; he served as a Sleestak on the original Land of the Lost TV show in the 70s.

“I was the original Sleestak because the costumes were molded out of my body,” said Laimbeer, whose 6-foot-11 frame was what the producers wanted. “That was the TV show, this is the movie.”

“It was a great summer job. The entertainment business pays a lot of money. It was fun. You know, like I said, it paid well and you got residual checks, too.”

While the acting part wasn’t too difficult, Laimbeer did say that there was one major drawback, the suits themselves. “It was a wet suit with scales put all over it, and the mask was hot,” he said.

The actual filming involved little on Laimbeer’s part, “We’d just put our costumes on, go to our spots and stand there,” he said. “We weren’t very mobile, so we didn’t walk around any. We didn’t even make any noise, it was all dubbed in.”

Despite winning two championships as a player and three as a WNBA coach, Laimbeer said that to this day several times a year fans come up to him wanting to talk about Land of the Lost. It’s pretty awesome, almost cool enough for me to forgive him for fighting Larry Bird. Almost.

[Detroit Free-Press]

27
May
09

Shaq Says “Bring it on”

By slanch 3 Comments
Categories: Basketball
Tags: , ,

prd_lg_142The Big Aristotle, Shaquille O’Neal has been a voracious user of Twitter, becoming in the process one of the most popular people on the useless service. Always one up for some competition, Shaq sent this message to Lance Armstrong, “I challenge u to a race any time any place, it’s time someone challenged u.”

Lance replied back “Alright Shaq, you’re on. To quote the great Ricky Bobby, ‘Bring it on trying to bring me down.'”

I only see Shaq winning if he gets to ride his dope motorcycle.

Ever one to seize an opportunity, Shaq also challenged Danica Patrick to a race, somehow though methinks he wouldn’t fit so much in an F1 car…

[AZ Central]

25
May
09

Don’t Stop Believing

By slanch 1 Comment
Categories: Awesome and Basketball
Tags: , ,

During the end of the channel 5’s newscast on Friday night the news team seemed despondent, the Cavs were about to go down 2-0 to the Orlando Magic and it looked like Cleveland’s hopes for a title were being dashed in an instant. Someone forgot to remind the folks at channel 5 that LeBron wasn’t done.

I love the reaction of the woman anchor who clearly is not that into sports but has gotten into the excitement even though she has little idea what’s going on. Then there is the male anchor who says,”Someone took the shot” Hey newscaster guy, his name is LeBron, he’s the most recognizable athlete in Cleveland history. Learn it.

22
May
09

Cavs Fan Alone in the Ocean

By slanch 1 Comment
Categories: Awesome and Basketball
Tags: , , ,

1263_12429991225Two and a half years ago, Patrick DiLalla left Maine in a small boat named the “Plumbelly,” since then, he’s been sailing the world almost completely by himself. The Cleveland native was joined by his brother Charlie after Patrick’s trip across the Atlantic, sailing around the Caribbean. Being huge Cavaliers fans, Charlie brought along a satellite radio so they could listen to the playoff games together.

Charlie says it was a real comfort and delight to be able to listen to their hometown broadcaster thousands of miles away in the middle of the ocean, especially when you’re in a small boat in rough seas.

After traveling 600 miles with his brother, Charlie had to go back to work, but he left the radio for Patrick to enjoy. Now, as Patrick finishes his journey back to where it started in Maine, he can listen to his hometown broadcaster call the games as, presumably, LeBron takes the first step to truly becoming King.

Consider me jealous of his worldwide sailing tour.

[WTAM]

22
May
09

Eat it Kobe

By slanch Leave a Comment
Categories: Awesome and Basketball
Tags: ,

I like it Chauncey, well played. Any ime Kobe can look like an idiot I’m in.

Also, I often forget that Billups first name is Chauncey because he’s always just referred to as Billups. What a silly name.

[Hoop Doctors]

21
May
09

LeBron’s Son is Good at Basketball

By slanch Leave a Comment
Categories: Awesome and Basketball
Tags: ,

Sure, LeBron James is only 24 years old, but he’s also a Dad, and he sometimes brings his son to work. Here is LeBron James Jr., shooting some hoops with dad, this kid is already better than me.

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