Blogging Brothers

We haven't blogged in about a week now and I feel really bad that I haven't been able to share my witless and moronic thoughts to you lately. I've been training and getting ready for the NBA Draft so it's been tough to find the time.

The other day one of my friends told me about a blog written by Kevin Slowey's brother, Dan. It's called Blogonoscopy and it's pretty entertaining. He questions the interior decoration of the building that holds his doctor's office, investigates a neighbor's Transformers build, and shoots guns. I highly recommend that you check it out. Kevin also has his own blog that he updates during the offseason. If you don't know who Kevin Slowey is, eventually you will. He is a pitcher for the Minnesota Twins and he leads the team with a 7-1 record. He led the Twins to a win over the Red Sox on Wednesday and could potentially be an All-Star if he keeps it up.

If you take anything from this post it should be to go to Blogonoscopy and to go vote for Kevin for the All-Star Game. And if you don't I will kill you. Just kidding. But seriously.....

The Curious Case of Ricky Rubio

There's a lot of buzz around the young Spaniard and the upcoming NBA draft. He could go anywhere from 1st pick to 5th pick, but the general consensus is that he's a top 5 pick, and after watching his performance in the Olympics last year it's no surprise. This kid can seriously ball...and he's only 18!

His agent Dan Fegan made some noise by implying that Rubio would not agree to play for a smaller-market team such as Memphis or Oklahoma City. From Draft Express:

"Rubio doesn't want to go to Memphis, and he especially does not want to pay money out of his own pocket with that huge buyout for the honor of doing so. Fegan [Rubio's agent] wants him in L.A., and if he can't have him there, he wants him in Sacramento. Definitely not Oklahoma City. "

So he must be another Steve Francis or Eli Manning, right? Well it's a little more complicated than that...allow me to explain.

The thing with Rubio that is going overlooked is that his current club, DKV Joventut, is forcing Rubio to pay a 7 million Euro buyout should he decide to enter the NBA draft. With NBA type salary, that shouldn't be a problem right? Well he doesn't play for the NBA yet, his yearly salary with DKV Joventut is something closer to 200,000 Euro a year. He would essentially be playing for free for his first couple of years in the NBA just to pay off his debt.

So why does he not want to play in Memphis or Oklahoma City? Endorsements. In those cities, basketball takes a backseat to other local teams (Tennessee Titans, Oklahoma Sooners, etc.) so he would not have as good an opportunity to make more money to pay off that debt. A city like Los Angeles or Sacramento where basketball is primetime would result in much more money from endorsements coming in for Rubio.

So why should we feel sorry for him, he's eventually going to be a rich NBA player anyway right? Well, first of all this kid is willing to go into 7 million Euro worth of debt just to get a chance to play in the NBA when he could just stay in Spain. Rubio's huge in Spain and likely to become even more popular, as well as earning a decent, risk-free paycheck. But in the NBA, he's running the risk of getting injured in his rookie season and then having no way to pay that debt off... he's really taking a leap of faith here so I can understand why he wouldn't want to go to smaller-market teams. This is so much more different than Yi Jianlian, Eli Manning, or Steve Francis because they were just crybabies who didn't want to play at a certain city...Rubio's got a lot more to lose than those scrubs did.

So whenever Rubio gets drafted (if he does come out), I'm definitely going to be buying his jersey to help the kid pay back his 7 million Euro debt. I can only hope that once he pays it off he can help me pay off my student loan and credit card debt... maybe even Rick Reilly can write a stupid feel-good piece about it. Hear me Ricky? I'll scratch your back now but it would be totally awesome if you could scratch mine in a few years.

Grizzlies Secure the Second Pick

The Memphis Grizzlies came out a huge winner in the NBA Draft Lottery with the 2nd pick in this year's draft. But what will they do with this wonderful pick?!

Blake Griffin is a no-brainer at the number one spot. If for some ridiculous reason Griffin doesn't get picked by the Clippers, the Grizzlies would for sure take him. Griffin is a beast and would be a great fit for Memphis. Again, the idea of the Clippers not taking Griffin is ridiculous so I'm going to quit teasing myself and move on.

ESPN's Chad Ford has the Grizz taking Thabeet in his mock draft. Thabeet could potentially be a good choice for the Grizzlies since he is a whopping 7 foot frickin' 3 inches tall. I like Thabeet but I keep thinking back about how DeJuan Blair dominated him when Pitt played UConn a few months back. The Grizzlies already have three players over the 7 foot mark so he might not be the best fit.

There has been alot of talk about the euro sensation, Ricky Rubio. He has been drawing comparisons to Steve Nash and "Pistol" Pete Maravich because of his flair and creativity on the court. He's only 18 years old which could be a good or bad thing. I'm also not totally sold on euro players. The Grizzlies wouldn't want to pick another Darko. But like most Grizzlies fans, I think Rubio has tremendous upside and I would love to see him alongside OJ Mayo and Rudy Gay.

There's no telling what will happen with the number 2 pick but I have a feeling that whatever happens, it's going to be glorious. Now I must leave you with a Ricky Rubio mix. Enjoy.

That Look Is Beat, Luis.

Luis Scola made a statement last night by putting his jersey on backwards before the Rockets played the Lakers last night. Come on, Luis. The backwards jersey is dead. Just take a look.

Nelly's music was terrible. The backwards jersey and band aid on the face made me dislike him even more. So looking like Nelly wasn't bad enough? How about looking like Marko Jaric?



I rest my case.

The Vikings Are Still Trying To Get Into Brett's Wranglers

Brett Favre is still on the radar of the Minnesota Vikings. Vikings president Mark Wilf said that they are still considering Brett Favre. Most people are getting sick and tired of hearing about Favre coming out of retirement again, but I'm kind of excited about the possibility of Brett wearing purple.

Why would I want Brett Favre playing for my Vikings? The first answer is the most obvious. Just think of how much fuel that puts on the fire of the Vikings and Packers rivalry. The Green Bay legend would be playing for their rival. I would shove that in the faces of every stupid Aaron Rodgers loving Packers fan I know.

The second answer would be that the Vikings could have success with a veteran quarterback. Back in the days of Randy Moss, the Vikings had a couple of older quarterbacks come in and have great seasons. Randall Cunningham had a ridiculous season in 1998. Jeff George followed it up with some good numbers the next year. I would feel much better with an aging Brett Favre behind center than the Rosencopter or T-Jack.

As much as I would like to see Favre in Minnesota, it's probably not going to happen. By now he probably wants to fade out of the spotlight for a while. I don't really blame him. I would get tired of Rachel Nichols digging through my garbage, too.

I do know somebody who would like to take that quarterback job, though....

Manny Ramirez Suspended for 50 Games

The Dodgers tie the record for most consecutive home wins to start the season (12), the starting pitching is decent, they have a closer who's ready to be considered elite, and there's no shortage of offense..things were definitely looking up in Mannywood. Then the bomb drops. Manny Ramirez is suspended by MLB for testing positive for...wait for it... a female fertility drug.

Wasn't expecting that.

"The officials investigated Ramirez further and found evidence that he was using Human Chorionic Gonadotropin (H.C.G.), a fertility drug for women that has been known to be used by athletes to generate the body’s production of testosterone after steroid use." - NY Times

That makes more sense. This is extremely unfortunate and saddens me to no end. I've always been an avid fan of Manny and all his Mannyness, and I really don't want to believe that he's just another juicer like Canseco and Fairy Bonds. Manny of course claimed that it was a big misunderstanding and he didn't know the drug was banned blah blah blah, he's most likely just covering his own ass but I REALLY hope he's being honest. His legacy may already be tarnished by his antics in Boston and accusations of "not playing hard" but that was all at least entertaining. Now we're getting into some serious stuff....this doesn't bode well for the ManRam. I think the Dodgers will still be sitting in a pretty good position when he does return, especially since the NL West is sketchy at best minus the Dodgers.

If Albert Pujols is ever found to be taking performance enhancing drugs, I officially give up on baseball.