Sports Archives

If you're the squeamish type, you definitely don't want to click here to see the horrible knee injury suffered by the Clippers' Sean Livingston last night. Wow.

From Celtics Blog:

"Multiple sources (including WEEI) are reporting that Dennis Johnson has died from a heart attack today. "

This makes me incredibly sad.

One of my favorite Larry Bird quotes went something like this, "I don't have to take the last shot. But if I don't, the ball better be in the hands of DJ."

Wikipedia quotes Bird as saying Johnson was "the best I've ever played with".

He was just 53 years young.

R.I.P.

It's NBA trading deadline day! W00t. Let the deals commence! Actually, with the whole Oden / Durant thing still up in the air, I don't think there will be many deals today. The two players most likely to be traded, from what I have read, are Mike James and Mike Bibby, who might be dealt for each other in a three way deal sending Drew Gooden to Sacto. It'll be interesting to see if the Kings move Bibby, if only because they are in D.C. tonight to play the Wiz and I might get to go into a locker room where someone has just been traded! Developing...

Also, I think the C's will stand pat this year, unlike the last three years. Although it appears Delonte West has traded his (psycho) girlfriend for a woman to be named later.

The Sports Blogger Happy Hour was a rousing success last night. Lots of people showed up and I got to put quite a few faces to blogs, which is always nice. I'm too lazy (and busy) to link to everyone that came, so hopefully someone else will do that for me. The Bog has been promising a post on last night's events, so I'll update this when it's online. Also, my Moo Cards were a big hit last night. Best.

D.C. United got their season off to a great start last night. Can't effing wait for the game at RFK on March 1st!

Veronica Mars, not canceled (yet). If they take this show off the air I'm seriously going to be so pissed. Everyone has told me that Tuesday's episode was great (Ms. Smith sent me a text while I was at the game that said "best. Veronica. ever.") so I can't wait to finally watch it tomorrow on my DVR. So until then, breathe not a word! Thx to Chromewaves for the original link.

So Kings game tonight, Middle Distance Runner at 9:30 Club tomorrow and real content next week. Promise.

More meetings and such today at work, so head over to DCist where I recap the hilarity that ensued after the Wizards took down the Timberwolves last night. Or if you prefer your writing well thought out and less obtuse, check out the Bog's coverage of the same story.

PS - Come drink with us tonight!

The D.C. Sports Bloggerati will be holding court tomorrow at the Rhino Bar in Georgetown from about 7 p.m. until whenever. Come one, come all.

Updates may be sparse today. I'm on the back end of an office move and have a ton of work to do. I do hope to get my photos from my weekend in NYC developed later today, (that's right, FILM!), and hopefully Flickr will stop acting weird at some point and I will be able to upload them without having them turn into someone else's photos. I'll post a full recap when I have some time.

Also, I missed all the All Star shenanigans over the weekend, so I'll have to read Mr. Irrelevant's coverage and catch up. I DVR'ed the dunk contest, so I can't wait to see this. Like woah!

Major propers to Henry Abbot over at daily read True Hoop. ESPN just bought his site. From now on Henry's work will be appearing on their bandwidth. Someone over at the Worldwide Leader is paying attention.

Apparently they spend their time on shooting contests and wager five figures on the outcome. Full story here, via the always awesome Washington Sport Bog.

Wizards v. Lakers tips off in 12 minutes and 24 seconds.

Ruh roh. It appears that Bobblehead Jarvis Hayes is just as injury prone as the real thing. Well, at least Antawn Jamison doesn't need surgery. He's still out at least three weeks though.

Congratulations to Caron Butler, 2007 NBA All-Star. Looks like all that campaigning paid off.

In other news, Paul Pierce is set to return in about a week. I'm all for getting Oden or Durant, lord knows we need them, but losing 13 in a row is unacceptable.

Also, Rod Dyachenko, traded back to D.C. United. Rock!

I don't read ESPN.com much anymore, mostly because I find this site is more entertaining and gets me my sports fix just fine. And if the "World Wide Leader" keeps this crap up, I won't be going back for quite some time. I can't say I've ever loaded their homepage and thought to myself, "You know what this site needs? More ads! The video player in the right well just isn't enough. It would be great if they started putting ads right in the news headlines! That wouldn't be obnoxious at all. " If only I needed a new MP3 player...

There was a, howyousay, "miscommunication" over on DCist about the Wizards game last night, so here's my recap for you to enjoy on my bandwidth. All the better to rub it in to all my Detroit peoples.

Richard Hamilton. Rasheed Wallace. Chris Webber. All names from the Wizards past that went on to bigger and better things with other teams. All three were at the Phone Booth last night with the visiting Detroit Pistons trying to reclaim their share of first place in the Eastern Conference and avenge last Saturday's loss. It was not to be, however, as Washington raced out to an early lead they would never lose and sent the Pistons back to Deeeeetroit with a 104-99 loss. It wasn't all roses for Washington though. Antawn Jamison went down just over six minutes into the game with a sprained knee after landing awkwardly following a fast break attempt and did not return.

Without #4 in the line-up, head coach Eddie Jordan inserted Calvin Booth to play alongside of Brendan Haywood and Caron Butler. But he wasn't afraid to go small either, and did so late in the game, matching up Butler, Jarvis Hayes, and Etan Thomas against Wallace, Webber and Antonio McDyess for much of the fourth. The small line-up didn't hurt Washington on the boards, in fact, they out-rebounded Detroit by one. The Pistons never really took advantage of their height along the front line, as evidenced by the 36 points in the paint scored by each team. Instead of going to work down low, Webber and Wallace just kept bombing away from the outside.

DeShawn Stevenson did his part to make up for Jamison's lost production, scoring 15 points on 7-8 shooting. Booth provided five rebounds and lots of hustle in his 20 minutes. Agent Zero led the Wizards charge with 36, while Butler added 13 points and five steals. After eight assists and five rebounds in the first half, I thought Arenas might be in the running for a triple double, but he finished with "only" seven boards to go with his final tally of 11 assists. Chauncey Billups led five Pistons in double figures with 24 points. The newly signed Webber only managed six points. He was the only Detroit starter not in double figures.

As of press time, Jamison's condition was unknown, although Coach Jordan said he would undergo an MRI today and would not make the trip to Toronto tonight to take on the Raptors. A prolonged absence would be a big blow to an already thin front line. Jamison, you may recall, hurt his knee two weeks ago at home against the Celtics.

To their credit, the Wizards are staying positive and focused on what they need to do in Toronto tonight against the Raptors. "We have to come out and play more focused," Stevenson said. "That's a guy averaging 20 points per game, so you're going to miss him tremendously, but other guys have to step up and try to play that role." Jarvis Hayes agreed, "It's some big shoes to fill, offensively and defensively, but we have the personnel to keep the ship afloat."

The Wizards, at 27-17, once again have the best record in the Eastern Conference. A few more W's would also wrap up the Eastern Conference All-Star coaching job for Jordan, something the team is very aware of. "That's something that we as a team strive for," said Hayes. "Not only are we trying to get the best seed in the East, we're trying to get the accolades that go along with that. Not only for the team, but for the city."