Cerberus Turns Into Whiny Little Puppy

http://money.aol.com/news/articles/_a/bbdp/cerberus-claims-it-was-misled-in-deal/261379

What wussies. Hey, you bought an entire car company for something like $8 and an old copy of "Cracked" magazine featuring a spoof of "The Amy Fisher Story." This was after they dropped the asking price from $25 and a "Mad Magazine" parody of M*A*S*H.

Then you had 400 lawyers review the documents, then you paid the $8 in pennies and the "Cracked' had a torn front cover.

Had you ever watched the ridiculous "Dr. Z" commercials? Ya thought those were a GOOD sign for the company?

So you now are surprised when the car company loses money and want to sue alleging that the Germans somehow snookered you? Some three-headed dog from the gates of Hades.

Magic Johnson "I would not recommend Isiah Thomas again."

http://bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601079&sid=a991MrQqHo6M&refer=home

If the Knicks hired Isiah Thomas based upon the recommendation of Magic Johnson, they are insane.

1) Remember the Magic Johnson late night talk show -- Magic thought that was a good idea.

2) Magic thought he would be a good coach -- um, no.

3) Magic is (or was, reports seem to vary every day) the part owner of a competing basketball franchise. He has no incentive to make the Knicks better.

4) Isiah -- read his history post-player. It sucks. So if Magic recommended that George W. Bush get a third term as President, would Knicks management say, "OK, sounds good to me"?

Wow.

McDonald's Same Store Sales Up

http://www.bloggingstocks.com/2008/11/11/mcdonalds-same-store-sales-reflect-worlds-love-for-cheap-food/

I STRONGLY urge you to follow the link and read the comments. More than one person suggests that if McDonald's ups the dollar menu prices to $1.50 that they will never again go to McDonald's!!! One guy says he will start bringing his own sandwich for lunch.

I will officially now be extremely insensitive to the poor:

To the commenters on the above story, I have a simple suggestion -- resort to begging. If you honest to God can't afford to spend $1.50 on your lunch, just go out on the street and start asking for money. Find an old trombone in a junk yard and start playing it with a Tupperware container at your feet (the container you can likely buy at the end of someone's garage sale for a dime).

Or just explain to people who walk by -- "I cannot afford to spend 50 cents more a day than I do. Please give me a nickel." If you succeed 10 times, you got your double cheeseburger all but paid for. 11 times or 12 times you clearly have the tax covered.

My father is the cheapest person in the eastern United States. He once refused to buy an antique tomato strainer at a garage sale for 75 cents when he thought it was worth a quarter. (Dad, why do you want it anyway? "I can polish it up and sell it for $5." So why not pay the 75 cents? "It isn't worth that. She knows that." )

When McDonald's would increase prices for single cheeseburgers from 29 cents to 39 cents even MY DAD would say, "Still a good deal. Costs go up, price goes up. They have to make some money." And if there was a 29 cent sale, he would go and buy 20 and refrigerate the ones we didn't eat that night.

So I refuse to believe that there are people who have the money to buy a $1 double cheeseburger, who will forever boycott McDonald's if they raise the price to $1.50. And I call "bullshit" on those who claim they will.

Whiskey Bottle, Brand New Car -- Oak Tree You're In My Way

$56MM judgement -- http://www.jvra.com/Verdict_Trak/article.aspx?id=140408

Twolvesblog Lists and Rates McHale's 14 Years of Moves as a GM

Great job of compiling data: http://twolvesblog.com/200811241653/minnesota-timberwolves/articles/the-mchale-era-14-years.html

I don't know if this is McHale's cousin making the evaluations, but they are all generally rather favorable to McHale (see my comment on the post if it is up).

The only unkind cut I see is the bizarre ranking of the loss of Rasho Nesterovic as an "F". I mean, losing a guy who went 11 and 6 a game despite being fed by Kevin Garnett for 12 open opportunities a night isn't an F.

Rasho's title with the Spurs? They acquired Nazr Muhammed and played him 23 minutes a night and Horry 26 minutes a night while playing Rasho about 8. So, again, not an F.

Most Dangerous Cities

CQ Press (?) just came out with its annual list of 15 most dangerous cities. I will give you the list with any personal anecdotes I may have:

15. Youngstown, Ohio -- none.

14. Memphis -- I have visited Memphis many, many times, and I have been warned by someone each and every time, "Stay close to your hotel and don't go wandering around." And they are only 14th worst.

13. Miami Gardens, Fl -- none.

12. Baltimore -- I stayed about 5 blocks off the nice Inner Harbor area one time and I ate dinner at ESPN Zone and had a cabbie drive me to the hotel. He went by one of the seediest strip bar areas I have ever seen. And that was in the "nicer" part of Baltimore. The street had to have 16 police cars parked along a 3 block stretch.


11. Cleveland -- three hours before tip-off of a huge Cleveland Cavs playoff game, my daughter and I drove in front of Quicken Loans arena. No fans, no scalpers, but about 8 guys already set up to beg for money.

10. North Charleston, SC -- none.

9. Richmond, California -- none, but I believe this is the setting of "Coach Carter."


8. Birmingham, AL -- on the way from the airport the cabbie took me by two golf courses, one was immaculate and one was completely under water -- I asked why the one was completely under water, "that is where we play." Who? "My people. The black race." Um, OK.

7. Gary, Indiana -- in 1973 my father was almost run off the road while driving through Gary, Indiana. We stopped 30 miles later and the gas station attendant said, "Oh yeah, you must have looked like a good victim." Glad to see that things haven't changed any.

6. Flint, Michigan -- none, but 30% unemployment will hurt your town a little.

5. Oakland, California -- none, but I seem to recall Gary Payton being robbed at gunpoint, possibly when a wild fire was going on.

4. St. Louis -- well, I had a mediation in St. Louis and attended a basketball tourney there. I honestly never had any problem in the center of downtown St. Louis. Problem must be closer to the river.

3. Detroit -- made a wrong turn in my rental car one night in Detroit (after a Tigers game). I saw two buildings on fire and one car on fire and three police cars with lights and sirens on -- none of which was going toward the fires. I saw a sign for an Interstate highway that wasn't the one I wanted and was going in a different direction. I got on and drove 15 miles until I stopped and looked at a map.

2. Camden -- when I was 19 my girlfriend dumped me, so I decided to get back at her by visiting her hot friend Tracy (red-haired cheerleader) in the town of Atlanta, NY. She had told me 3-4 times when I was dating her friend, "You know, hey, if you are ever in town, come visit ME. You don't always have to visit HER." So I did, unannounced.

"Um, what the hell are you doing here?" Uh, just wanted to stop and say hi. "OK, hi." Well.........um, better get going back home. Then her mom comes out -- "Tracy, would your friend like to come in and have a sandwich and watch some football?" HM -- No, that is OK. Tracy, "No, mom."

"Oh come on -- he is 40 miles from home, let him have some lunch."

Sat and watched a game involving Mike Rozier and they mentioned he was from Camden and made Camden sound like the biggest hell-hole ever. I left at halftime. Tracy, "OK, see ya. Hey, if you are ever going to be in town, call next time, OK."

OK. Never went back.


1. New Orleans -- see Memphis, but add in the words "get murdered" "die" and "disappear" into the warnings I regularly received.


HM

Test Your Civics Ability

With this TEST

Average score by Americans -- 49%. Average score by elected officials: 44%.

This has now been posted on dailykos.com, so the average score this month is now up to almost 80%.

I got 31 of 33. I missed the philosophy question and (I am embarrassed to admit it) the last question.

HM

Happy Upcoming Thanksgiving

Minnesotans Who Can't Frigging Vote

http://minnesota.publicradio.org/features/2008/11/19_challenged_ballots/

Now, some of these candidate challenges are simply frivolous (Franken arguing that a thumb print makes the voter identifiable and therefore voids the ballot; Franken arguing that an erasing mark by his name on a ballot means that the voter intended to vote FOR him; Coleman arguing that a ballot filled out in pencil shouldn't count; both campaigns arguing that the tiniest little drop of ink in a circle cancels out a fully completed circle).

But others show that people just simply just don't know how to vote or think it is a joke.

Sad.

Now imagine a ballot where tiny "chads" of paper had to be punched out and you have Florida 2000.

HM

More Evidence That The Justice Department Is Incompetent

The Justice Department just allowed InBev to purchase Anheiser-Busch, but only if InBev would agree to sell Labatt USA.

Why? Because people in upstate NY (Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse) drink 50% of the U.S. consumption of Labatt's beer.

OK -- so much wrong here. So much wrong.

1) What is the total population of the area we are looking at here? The population is shrinking, but even using 2000 census data the Buffalo-Rochester-Syracuse metro areas only have about 3,000,000 people in them altogether. We hav 300MM peopl in the U.S., so we are conditioning a huge international merger on the beer drinking habits of 1% of the U.S. population. Mormons are 2% of the U.S. population. If they drank only Beck's beer, would this hold up the merger?


2) Labatt brewing of Canada finally made some good news in Buffalo in 2008 by moving its U.S. headquarters to Buffalo: http://www.speakupwny.com/forums/showthread.php?p=313757

Now you are making the one company that wants to move jobs INTO Buffalo sell off its Buffalo company? Thanks guys.

Labatt now says it will sell the U.S. operation to a "licensee" for three years. Um, OK.


3) People love Labatt's Blue in upstate. They also drink Budweiser. But I have no idea how Budweiser would manipulate the price of beer in upstate. Certainly they wouldn't want Bud to be the low-price brand, so they wouldn't raise Labatt's. So would people in upstate pay $7 for a six-pack of Bud?

Um, no.

They still drink Genny Cream Ale out there: http://www.creamale.com/ (note, Genny Cream is such a poison that you have to assert that you are 21 just to visit its Web site!!!!!). If you can buy Genny Screamers for half the price of Bud or Labatt, let me assure you, folks out there will do so. (Genessee Beer is actually pretty good, it is the cream ale that will cause you to lose 8 pounds the next day, sitting on the toilet with a bucket in your hands, praying for death).

I have seen rumors that the makers of Genny may actually try to buy Labatt USA. Talk about your unintended consequences.

Genny -- $11.99 for a 30 pack. Bud -- $12.99 for a 20 pack. Labatt's is around $1/bottle. So this whole deal gets held up (however briefly) so that InBev will not somehow increase beer prices to the beer drinking portion of the 3MM people in upstate (so 2.99MM people)? Um, OK.

Bill Simmons On Battle Of The Network Stars

http://sports.espn.go.com/espnmag/story?section=magazine&id=3712343

I remember it as if it were yesterday. One thing that Simmons does not note about the video is how Kaplan took an outside lane and had to run a turn and yet started dead even with Conrad. He ran 5 extra yards and still beat Conrad.

And use Simmons' time cues to fast forward to brief appearances by Lynda Carter. She isn't hard to look at.

Stocks Plummet Another 445 -- Lowest In 5 years

If you look at the chart (which often doesn't link well, I am sorry), the fact is that but for 9/11 and the start of the Iraq War, we are now reaching levels unseen since the very beginning of Bill Clinton's 2nd term in office.

That is 10+ years ago.

So.....when I was 33-34, I put money into the market which is now worth..........exactly the same amount, less inflation. I guess that the threat of deflation (ala 1990s Japan) is all we got going for us now, huh?

Rumor is that there are 2 support levels for the market: 7,500 and 5,000. If we break through 7,500 tomorrow, we have only 5,000 left. Then I guess that 0 is the technical bottom, right? I won't actually end up owing someone money FROM my retirement accont, will I?

The Moneyless -- HM

Troy Williamson -- Wants to Kick Brad Childress's Ass

http://nfl.fanhouse.com/2008/11/19/former-vikings-wr-troy-williamson-is-still-mad-at-brad-childress/?icid=200100397x1213771555x1200842851

Imagine THIS fight: the offensively clueless and impotent Childress and an athlete with the worst hand-eye coordination I have ever seen. Let's do a 3-round bout.

There is the bell for round one:

Childress stands in the middle of the field with his stupid sun hat on, arms raised to cover his mustache. He isn't moving at all. Williamson throws a wicked right hook, hits the referee square in the shoulder. Childress picks up a ball at his feet and tosses it meekly to Troy. Williamson tries to move out of the way and knock the ball down -- ends up catching it.

Childress wonders why the judges aren't giving him more points, even though he has thrown no punches.

Round 1 -- tie.

Round 2 (ding):

Williamson has now fumbled the ball thrown to him and so his hands are free to move into Childress. Williamson was an underrated run blocker as a Viking, so he grabs Childress by his shoulders and starts turning his body to and fro. Referee asks that Williamson stop (it is a boxing match). As Williamson is distracted, Childress takes out a challenge flag and tries to challenge the referee's ruling.......that went against his opponent..... In the confusion, Williamson swings at the referee and slugs Chilly right on the jaw, knocking him to the ground. It looks over for Childress. He struggles to his feet and appears ready to collapse, but Troy swings 8 more times, hitting air 5 times, the ref once, a ring girl standing nearby, and Zygi Wilf (who has run down from the stands to announce that he still believes in Childress).

Round to Williamson 10-8.

Final Round:

Childress gets a tip from Adrian Peterson to just simply run straight ahead at Williamson and hope Troy gets tired. Chilly does this, frustrating Troy to no end. Chilly actually throws a jab that connects, then another. Then he feels bad about exhibiting so much offense and tries to win the round on punches already thrown. Williamson is infuriated and starts swinging wildly at Childress -- the referee runs 10 feet away. As the bell rings, Troy raises his hands and yells, "I can't believe the number of punches I just landed!!!" (not realizing that he has never hit Childress once).

Round to Chilly -- 10 to 9.

Victor -- Williamson in a unanimous decision.

Auto CEOs Appear On Private Jets.....Asking For Money

http://money.aol.com/news/articles/_a/bbdp/ceos-flew-private-jets-to-ask-for/255049


The response of one auto company PR maven? "It is required for security reasons." Security reasons? Are there hordes of people out there trying to kidnap or assassinate auto company CEOs? And if so, then if it costs $20,000 a trip to fly, wouldn't the money be better spent hiring a huge 400 pound bodyguard for $100,000 a year and a former commando for $200,000 a year? That is only 15 trips.

Wow.

Why Didn't I Ever Serve Time In Indiana Jail?

http://news.aol.com/article/inmates-accused-of-sex-partying/254335

Click on the link and watch the video for a better description. It appears that the three rather hideous looking men (one age 44, one age 17) sat in their cells and were visited by three pretty good looking female inmates (all in their early to mid-20s) who crawled through the ceiling every night to have sex with them!!!

So, you are a hideous loser sitting in jail and every single night three hot 20-ish women drop from the ceiling after midnight to have sex with you?

On an unrelated note, I am off to commit DUI in Bloomfield, Indiana -- back in a few weeks.

Kathleen Parker -- WHOA! Not Gonna Be Attending Church Rallies in the South Any Time Soon....

From Ms. Parker's Washington Post column today:

To be more specific, the evangelical, right-wing, oogedy-boogedy branch of the GOP is what ails the erstwhile conservative party and will continue to afflict and marginalize its constituents if reckoning doesn't soon cometh.

Simply put: Armband religion is killing the Republican Party. And, the truth -- as long as we're setting ourselves free -- is that if one were to eavesdrop on private conversations among the party intelligentsia, one would hear precisely that.

The choir has become absurdly off-key, and many Republicans know it.

But they need those votes!

So it has been for the Grand Old Party since the 1980s or so, as it has become increasingly beholden to an element that used to be relegated to wooden crates on street corners.


Wow. And you guys think that I am hard on the Poor Wing of the party!!

Before we go too far here, let's be plain about this -- all government is about building coalitions. You take people who apparently have no common interest and you sew them together at the edges where they have SOMETHING in common. The Rich Wing seeks a return to the days when men wore suits to picnics and no one had sex until they were 25. So does the poor wing, except they can't afford the nice suits.

(That those halcyon days never actually existed is irrelevant -- a) listen to any 1970s country song about illegitimate kids and b) look at pics from when I was 10 -- you will a) hear a lot of teenage sex, and b) see no nice suits.)

So the GOP needs money and voters, so it pieces together rich folk and poor folk and tries to tell them they are alike. The Dems piece together minorities and a lot of wealthy liberals and try to tell them they are alike. So we all do it.

Where the hand wringing reaches its worst point is when you lose. Then everyone says, "you lost because you became too beholden to [and it is always thus] "the dumb and poor" part of your party.

Look at any post-mortems on McGovern and Mondale losing -- they all include "Dems are parties of gays and minorities and regular folks don't like that."

Here is the truth -- I have watched elections pretty religiously since 1976. I have seen 9 Presidential elections.

1) Carter/Ford
2) Carter/Reagan
3) Reagan/Mondale
4) Bush/Dukakis
5) Clinton/Bush/Perot
6) Clinton/Dole/Perot
7) Bush/Gore
8) Bush/Kerry
9) Obama/McCain


They fall into categories:

Charismatic Campaigner Defeats Overmatched Opponent:
Reagan/Mondale
Clinton/Dole
Obama/McCain

No Real Good Choice -- Vote Your Heart
Carter/Reagan
Bush/Gore
Bush/Kerry

Vote the Circumstances, Not the Man
Carter/Ford
Bush/Dukakis
Clinton/Bush

So the GOP can probably look at Obama/McCain and hope that Obama falls into one of the lower two categories in 2012. Even then, he might be like GWBush and win anyway.

What I think the GOP should be most concerned about is not that a black guy is leading us, but rather that there are enormous sections of the northeast where there is NO GOP footing. I mean, in Massachusetts McCain won NO counties. None. Not one.

If you take traditional "New England" and add New York, the House of Representatives numbers are 48 to 3, Dem. All in NY (1 in my home town area which was 65% GOP when I left -- the GOP guy this year won 55-40%).

The issue could be better stated as "do we want any liberal Republicans (RINOs)"? I think that talk radio has decided that the answer to that is "no." I think that the choice of Sarah Palin over multiple more qualified GOP female Senators who were pro-choice is proof of that.

When your standard for being a Republican is "ideological purity" you have fewer qualified candidates. Rudy Guiliani basically "need not apply" for any national GOP consideration.

What are they to do about this situation? Frankly -- not my problem.

Hugh Jackman Wins People's "Sexiest Man Alive"

On the plus side -- I am only 4 years old, so if I drop 50 lbs. I am technically in the running.

On the downside -- yet another year where I did not win.

Free Throws -- Who Likes the Line and Who hates the Line?

Love The Line (go to the line a ton and make over 80%):

Amare -- 115 attempts, 82.6%
Paul Pierce -- 90, 82.2
Chris Bosh -- 86 and 81.4%
Devin Harris -- 70 and 88.6%
Iverson -- 86 and 80.0%
Chris Paul -- 70 and 85.7%
Brandon Roy -- 69 and 84.1%
The Devil -- 63 and 82.5%
Dirk -- 61 and 91.8%
Rudy Gay -- 60 and 80.0%

close but no cigar -- LeBron and Wade shoot and make a ton, but don't get to 80%


Hate the Line -- Play a Decent Amount, But Rarely Get To The Line:

Mike Miller -- 17 total free throws on the year, and plays 36 minutes per game

Jameer Nelson -- 17 and 32 minutes

Cuttino Mobley 16 free throws, 33 minutes a game

Marcus Camby -- 16 and 27 MPG

Raja Bell --- 15 and 32.4 minutes

Derek Fisher -- 14 and 28 MPG

James Posey -- 13 and 28 MPG

Troy Murphy -- 12 and 28

Boris Diaw -- 11 and 24

Ben Wallace -- 9 and 24 MPG

Corey Brewer -- 9 and 22

Josh Smith -- 7 FT, 33 MPG (only 4 games)

Ryan Gomes -- 7 and 26


All-NBA "I Never Draw a Shooting Foul" Team

6th Man -- Jason Kapono -- 4 free throws, averages 24.6 minutes a game


Starters

Randy Foye -- 12 free throws in 34 minutes a night as a point guard and slashing off guard

Delonte West -- 11 free throws in 34 minutes a night at PG, proving slightly worse than Foye

Peja Stoyakovic -- 11 in 32 minutes a night as a main scoring option

Jason Kidd -- 10 free throws, despite the fact that his PPG average is slumping toward single digits. He plays 36.5MPG


And their go-to guy:

Bruce Bowen!!! -- 22.8 MPG, 228 total minutes, 1 free throw (which he missed). Maybe it was an opportunity he got off his one offensive rebound on the year (no kidding, one).

Bowen has never attempted more than 114 FT in a YEAR as a Spur, though he did have one year as a Heat where he almost attempted 2 FT a game.


Some comparisons for frame of reference? Let's think of a lily white player who never ventured inside -- Matt Bullard. And then let's think of a guy who just lived at the line -- Karl Malone.

Per 36 minutes, Bullard's best number in any year he played any fair amount was 2FT a game attempted (1992-93).

Bowen's career best with the Spurs is also 2.0FT per 36 minutes, and his current rate is..............0.2 per 36 minutes.

Karl Malone had 8 years where he averaged over 9.5 free throws a game (actual) and 5 where he averaged over 9.5 per 36 minutes (he played a lot of minutes).

Amare is currently at 9.6 per game (actual) and has had one other season over 9.5.



HM

Cuz Every Now and Then I Kick...........Out of Me

Christian Slater's "My Own Worst Enemy" goes the way of "Manimal," "I Married Dora," and "My Mother the Car."

A guy is a secret agent who gets his mind wiped clean every time he finishes a secret project! Wow. Put that down on the list of great TV plots that somehow didn't catch on: http://www.tvobscurities.com/articles/10outlandish.php


I do enjoy the music video though:

http://new.music.yahoo.com/videos/--2143972

Garnett-Bogut Altercation

Now no one wants to go back to the Knicks and Heat of 1993-99, but geez. Garnett gets a one game suspension for.........looks like swinging and missing at Bogut. Bogut gets a flagrant foul #1 because he, well, is awkward and wildly swings his arms and legs around in hope of drawing fouls?

Put them in dresses.

Devin Harris or Jason Kidd?

Traded for one another last year. So, how's it going?

Mavs: 3 and 7
Nets: 4 and 5


Kidd -- having a great year, but he just can't score:

10 games, 36.7 minutes a game, 46% from floor, 38% from 3, 80% FT,

10.4PPG, 7.1RPG, 8.2APG, 2.8SPG, 0.5BPG, 2.9TO/G


Devin Harris -- scoring up a storm.


6 games, 45%, 29%, 89%

23PPG, 4 rebounds, 6.2A, 1.0 steals, 0.2 blocks, 1.7 turnovers


Devin Harris = 25 years old
Jason Kidd = 35 years old


Negative info for each player:

Kidd - alleged wife beater
Harris -- played at Wisconsin and therefore caused millions of people to turn the channel of their TVs away from college basketball coverage.

Mark Cuban Claims Innocence RE: Insider Trading Suit

OK, sorta. His lawyer claims innocence for him.

See my comment about 65 down, posted around 2:25 p.m. Eastern.

I hope that now maybe Mark can concentrate on something other than giving advice to Barack Obama: http://blogmaverick.com/2008/11/08/pe-obamas-1st-big-mistake/

HM

"Meh" Added to Dictionary

Although the article seems to say it was invented by The Simpsons, I think it is more likely that the word became popular with the advent of Doris Burke's general presence on television (see picture).

Meh.

Randy Foye and Randy Wittman

http://blogs.hoopshype.com/blogs/videos/2008/11/17/randy-foye-we-believe-in-randy-wittman/

Foye on Wittman (after first making an odd face) "He is a great guy...." When the first thing you say about your coach is not, "He is a great coach" you know that you actually have no respect for him and are just spouting the company line.

Foye, "We are dominating teams through three quarters." Um, being up 9 or 10 through 3 quarters is pretty much worthless when every team you play takes you lightly.

Steelers Beat Chargers In First Ever 11-10 NFL Final

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/6110729.html

Surprisingly, a Chargers loss involved a missed Nate Kaeding field goal. I could not be more surprised if someone told me that Wanda Syke is gay and came out of the closet. Oh wait.

You mean the skunk from "Over the Hedge" is gay!?!?!? No man will ever get to hear those lilting loving tones from her mouth? Imagine the poor softball player/golfer who gets to come home to this: "Woman. What the HELL do you expect me to do about this PLAYBOY MAG-a-zine hidden under your damned MATTRESS!!!"


HM

Bengals and Eagles Play to First Tie Since 2002

Then it was Pittsburgh and Atlanta (34-34). This beauty was 13-13.

Donavan McNabb did not know a game could end in a tie.

Friday Afternoon Quiz

Per basketball-reference.com, among currently active players, Tracy McGrady currently has the 10th best chance of making the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame.

Without cheating, name me the 9 guys they rank above him.

Clues:

A. The guys above him account for 12 NBA titles, but most have no titles.

B. Ages of ranks 1 through 9 (in order):

1. 36
32
30
32
33
23
30
34
35

C. Paul Pierce is #11.


Prize -- special mention as basketball genius in upcoming Blog item.


HM

The Financial House of Cards

Good explanation: http://www.portfolio.com/news-markets/national-news/portfolio/2008/11/11/The-End-of-Wall-Streets-Boom#page1


Key element -- S&P and Moody's allowed AAA mortgage paper to be mixed with BBB mortgage paper and rated it.........................AAA.

How? Their risk rating calculator did not allow you to input a scenario in which home prices actually fell. All their rating scenarios assumed that home prices were to continue upward infinitely.

Please Go Away -- Ted Haggard

http://news.aol.com/article/disgraced-pastor-haggard-claims-abuse/246480

Mark Foley's return to the spotlight -- yuck.
Shania Twain -- YES!
Ted Haggard -- see Mark Foley.


Haggard is PREACHING again!!!?!?

Yep, what are the parishioners saying here? "Come on into my church and preach about your love of meth and how something that happened to you at age 7 made you 40 years later pay to have sex with male hookers while doing meth. And how you can't control it. And how it isn't your fault! Hoo-rah!"

Yeah.....OK...... My hypothetical reply -- Hey son, we're gonna find another Illinois church. You know, one where the minister doesn't tell you right up front that he has no control over his sexual and drug habits.

Shania Twain -- Welcome Back

Mark Foley -- Internet Sex Predator Laws Never Intended to Apply to HIS Conduct

http://news.aol.com/article/foley-breaks-silence-on-sex-scandal/245345

Surprise, surprise.

I won't even go into this. But read up -- you will get a better understanding of the "spirit" of the law.

Damned Bloggers!

Sarah Palin seems to have a special place in her heart for bloggers:
Ms. Palin directed most of her media criticism at liberal bloggers, whom she twice called, “those bloggers in their parents’ basement just talkin’ garbage.”

Now, I certainly don't count myself as any significant pain in Sarah's side. I get like 30 hits a day. But let's be fair, Sarah, what brought you the most ridicule were the Tina Fey skits on SNL.
The Bloggers tried and tried and tried to get the larger media to ask you why you were a secessionist and why your minister went on actual witch hunts, all to no avail. Only SNL was able to bring you down.

And by the way -- mom won't let me live in her basement anymore. She says I am too mean to her on the Blog.

And it is TALKING garbage, Sarah. talk-i-n with a big G at the end. I have given up saying "Axe" for "ask" -- you are my age, time to start puttinG the Gs at the end of words endinG with Gs......

HM

Feel Free To Bring It In Here -- Guys Sitting on Zero Blocks

10. Beno Udrih -- 198 minutes, 0 blocked shots.

9. Jamal Crawford -- 208

8. Rip Hamilton -- 211

7. Steve Blake -- 215

6. Jameer Nelson -- 220

5. Chris Duhon -- 221

4. Mo Williams -- 240 -- imagine what Milwaukee was dealing with with both him and Redd

3. Udonis Haslem -- 253 -- a power forward.

2. Derrick Rose -- 260 -- can probably reach over 11 feet, no blocks.

1. Ray Allen -- 276 -- because he is old? Nope -- career best in a season???????? 20.

NBA Scoring Per 48 Minutes -- It Is Their Prerogative

This statistic is (as you might expect) dominated by the true stars of the game:

Parker 39.8

James 37.5

Wade 36.3

Kobe 35.3

But 5-8 have some surprises:

Danny Granger!!!! -- 33.5 (no wonder he turns it over so much)

Dirk -- 33.4

Joe Johnson -- 32.4

Ben Gordon -- 32.1

Duncan -- 32.0

Amare -- 30.8

Now, let's look at what I would call "FRUSTRATED SCORERS", guys who can really put up the points, but who can't get on the floor enough.

Criteria -- must have played 10-20 minutes a game so far this year and must have appeared in at least 3 games:

10. - Bobby Brown 23.4 (SAC)

9. -- Chris Quinn 24.2 (MIA)

8 -- Shannon Brown 24.2 (Charlotte)

7. -- Ryan Anderson 25.0 (Nets)

6. -- Rashad McCants 26.2 (MIN)

5. -- Will Bynum 26.3 (DET)

4. -- Aaron Brooks 26.6 (HOU)

3. -- Gerald Green 26.8 (DAL)

2. -- Craig Smith 26.9 (MIN)

1. -- Anthony Randolph 28.5 (GST)

Black Holes -- Players Who Will Turn It Over And Never Pass

Criteria applied: must play over 20 minutes a game, have played at least 4 games and have an assist to turnover ratio under 1 a game.

Ranking by total turnover, but assist-to-turnover ratio also given

10. Marc Gasol -- 2.8 TO per game, a-to ratio = .32 assists to every turnover

9. Dwight Howard -- 2.9 and .45 (9 assists on the year)

8. Chris Bosh -- 2.9 and .80

7. Andrew Bogut -- 2.9 and .55

6. Ovinton J'Anthony Mayo -- 2.9 and .83

5. Kevin Durant -- 3.3 and .61

4. Elton Brand -- 3.3 and .35 (7 assists on the year)


3. Chris Kaman -- 3.4 and .54

2. Danny Granger -- 3.5 and .48

1. Rudy Gay -- 3.6 and .45

Shot Blockers

Do not bring that weak shit in here!!!


1 Ronny Turiaf , GSW 2.14 blocks per game, 6.28 per 48 minutes

2 Brandan Wright , GSW 2.0 5.69

3 Chris Andersen , DEN 1.83 5.34

4 Dwight Howard , ORL 4.0 5.24 -- #1 on a per game basis....by quite a bit.

5 Brian Skinner , LAC 1.29 4.99

6 Kendrick Perkins , BOS 2.71 4.81

7 Marcus Camby , LAC 2.5 4.8

8 Andrew Bynum , LAL 2.8 4.76 -- great, the Lakers finish 2nd to Boston and then add in a guy who is getting 4.76 blocks per 48 and 2.8 actual blocks each game.


9 Tyrus Thomas , CHI 2.29 4.33 -- glad to see he has some skill

10 Andrea Bargnani , TOR 1.83 3.71 -- had I not cut and pasted it myself, I would have never believed it.


11 * Brook Lopez , NJN 1.4 3.68 -- guy is like 8 feet tall.

11 Josh Smith , ATL 2.5 3.68 -- managed to tie Brook Lopez


13 Aaron Gray , CHI .83 3.54 -- see Bargnani comment, AG does foul almost 4 times for every block.

Three of the top 13 shot blockers in the league are white!



25 Jason Maxiell , DET 1.0 2.61
26 Amir Johnson , DET 1.0 2.57 -- Pistons' 6'6" bench players? Kinda athletic.


35 Dwyane Wade , MIA 1.67 2.29
36 Ming Yao , HOU 1.71 2.28 -- About all you need to know about the defensive intensity of these two guys.


38 Aleksandar Pavlovic , CLE .33 2.14 -- only plays 7 minutes a game, but still......

40 Al Jefferson , MIN 1.5 2.02 -- can aspire to be as productive defensively as Bargnani some day. Marginally more intimidating than Kevin Love.

43 Desmond Mason , OKC 1.0 1.94 -- 6'5", still freakishly athletic


46 Shelden Williams , SAC .57 1.91 -- sadly he gets almost 4 fouls per block.



50 * Kevin Love , MIN 1.0 1.9

NBA Rookies

Top 5 Rookies in Efficiency (overall production per game, not per minute):

Derrick Rose, Michael Beasley, O.J. Mayo (Mayo, 38+ minutes a game)

Then Marc Gasol! (Memphis), Then Kevin Love.


Disappointments so far: Greg Oden, Eric Gordon, Joe Alexander, Russell Westbrook

Surprises so far: Ryan Anderson (6'10" white guy, Nets), DeMarcus Nelson (GSW), Darrell Arthur (MEM), Mario Chalmers (Miami), Marreese Speights (PHI).


Shown a huge upside already: Luc Mbah a Moute (Milwaukee), Rudy Fernandez (Portland).


Guy I Like, but Whose Minutes are declining -- Jason Thompson (Sac Kings).


HM

Comparing the Vikings and The Timberwolves

Players:

Absolutely no comparison. If the Vikings want a player, they go get a very good NFL level starter (Jared Allen, Bernard Berrian, Pat William, Madieu Williams). If the Wolves need a player, they sign 35 year old Kevin Ollie.

Edge Vikings 7-2 (10 being the best)


Coaching:

Well, this is a tough one. Who sucks worse, Randy Wittman or Brad Childress? Both have horrible trouble evaluating talent (Wittman prefers Telfair to Foye; Chilly thinks TJack is a good NFL QB). Neither appears to have any idea how to run an offense and both look like complete buffoons on the sidelines. Childress has underachieved with a lot of talent in a league where it is easy to improve your record. Wittman has never been close to a .400 coach and he really shows no signs of understanding what the hell he needs to do to have a competitive team.

Edge Vikings 2-1


Organization:

Well, they both suck.

Edge Even, 3-3


Cheerleaders:

Vikings have better looking cheerleaders overall

Edge Vikings 8-6


Winner -- Vikes 20-12


Vikes -- tied for first place.

As Any Bills Fan Will Tell You..........

wide right (pictured) really, really hurts.

I guess Packers fans could commisserate with old Florida State fans today: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wide_Right_(Florida_State)

Super Bowl Prediction After Week 10

Giants 9, Tennessee 7


AFC Title Game: Tennessee 6, NY Jets 3

NFC Title Game: Giants 45, Carolina 10.


HM

Tony Parker -- Not Best Ever Point Guard Scorer (With Trivia question 75% of the way through)

Parker torched the Timberwolves for 55 points last night. Greatest ever scoring effort by a PG????????

Um, no -- Iverson and Gilbert Arenas both had 60 in a game.

Iverson and Arenas have had multiple 50+ games, and Jamal Crawford (probably not a PG, but small) had a 50+ game.

TRIVIA QUESTION:
Since 1986-87, there has been one other PG to put up a 50+ game.He did it on January 14, 2005 while playing the off guard (Nick Van Exel manning the point).

Who was he?


Overall, some wicked stats in the NBA last night:

A. Stoudemire
49 pts, 11 trb, 6 ast

T. Parker
55 pts, 7 trb, 10 ast

L. James
41 pts, 9 trb, 6 ast

D. Wade
29 pts, 7 trb, 6 ast

T. Prince
27 pts, 9 trb, 3 ast

R. Jefferson
32 pts, 3 trb, 9 ast

K. Martin
33 pts, 1 trb, 3 ast

B. Gordon
31 pts, 3 trb, 5 ast

C. Paul
22 pts, 5 trb, 11 ast

J. Calderon
24 pts, 4 trb, 8 ast

African-American

Most players in the NBA are "African-Americans," meaning that their ancestors came to the United States (generally as slaves) from Africa.

As explained here:





Africa is a CONTINENT and not just one single country.


FYI.

Randy Wittman -- Playing With Fire

Randy Wittman is a terrible coach. I think that statement needs no clarification or explanation. Stop right there.

But what Randy Wittman should realize is that his ongoing feud with PG Randy Foye will expedite Wittman's departure. Randy, recall how last year Scott Skiles got the boot because he felt that he needed better players than GM John Paxson acquired? Recall that?

Kevin McHale had Brandon Roy drafted and traded him for Foye and basically nothing else ($1MM cash). So he obviously believed that Foye was a better player than Roy, or at least filled a bigger need for the Wolves. He was, most likely, completely wrong. But this is not the time to press that issue, Mr. Wittman. You need to find a way to co-exist with Randy Foye and get him out onto the court as a productive player. Mr. McHale isn't going to come out and say, "Yeah, Randy Foye sucks, huge mistake there! Whoa, what was I thinking!?!?"

Playing Sebastian Telfair and/or (egad) Kevin Ollie instead of Foye will only piss off McHale more and more and more, and you may be home watching Josh Harnett on TV on Pearl Harbor Day, absent an NBA job.

Hoops -- Women of Hoops

If you both were available, would you go out of your way to have relations with........any of the following 6 women? (I am not making this easy).

1) NBA sideline guru Michelle Tafoya.

Would you...........?

#2) WNBA power forward Swin Cash?

Would you......?

3) Former WNBA guard Jennifer Azzi?

Would you?

#4) 6 foot 3 inch Candace Parker??????

Would you...........?

#5) 6 foot 5 inch Lauren Jackson?

Hoops -- Good Looking Or No?

If you both were available, would you have relations with..........

6) The traitorous Becky Hammon? (#25)

More On The Wonderful Palin Clan

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/11/5/103734/750/732/654234

Key elements: 1) there is way more than $150,000 in purchased clothes, $20-40K of which went to Todd's clothes. Some of the purchased clothes have been "lost" -- wonder what charity is going to auction off THOSE clothes??? "Here we have the hanger for a Hugo Boss size 42 long suit, estimated value $4,000..........."

2) She wanted to speak during McCain's concession speech!!?!?!?!?!??!?! Oh my lord.

Well, in a state where they elect a multiple-count convicted felon, I guess basically anything goes.

A Response to My Final GOP SPAM E-mail -- God Must Support Barack Obama

I received about 200 SPAM e-mails from GOP friends and acquaintances over the course of the campaign. 95% of it ugly smear tactics. Awful, awful stuff.

But on election day, I got this e-mail asking that I be part of a "prayer chain" to ask God to elect John McCain and Sarah Palin:

Last minute....but not for God....He is listening and will continue to hear us. Be blessed, dear ones.

Comment -- he is listening, and decided to cast his vote for Obama.


Please pass this prayer on right now on behalf of John McCain. Please start prayer chains immediately for the election. This election can be turned around for the glory of God if we will stop worrying and get on our knees !!!

Comment -- that is what Jim Baker told Jessica Hahn.

How many people can you pass this on to ???

Comment -- Answer: none.

Let us pray. Father, in the name of Jesus, we come to You right now asking for a miracle in this election. Lord, we lift up to You right now Senator John McCain and Governor Sarah Palin. Lord, we ask that You would just wrap Your arms around them and their families at this critical time. Father, we ask for miracle upon miracle in this election. We know that only You can turn the tide of evil in this election.

Comment -- Great, surprise, surprise. When your opponent is winning an election there is a "tide of evil." If God is all powerful then I suppose that he wouldn't have allowed the "tide of evil" to grow up to the point it had. And by the way, McCain campaign manager Rick Davis said McCain was basically tied in every single battleground state -- so...........was a flat-footed tie a "tide of evil"? Or was the "tide of evil" how full of shit Rick Davis is/was?


Father, as we await the final days of the election, we ask in complete faith that You would allow the truth to be known across this land.

Comment -- prayer answered.

Lord, we ask for forgiveness for putting You last...

Comment -- ???

Father, please heal our land and homes, allow us to have another chance to love You the way you should be loved.

Comment -- prayer answered.

Lord, we ask specifically for John and Sarah's health, wisdom, words, actions and their campaign staff.

Comment -- too easy, I won't take the bait.

Lord, we lift them all up to You now. Father, we also specifically ask for the voters in many states who are battleground states. Lord, please convict the hearts of voters in Florida, Pennsylvania, Indiana, Ohio, Missouri, North Dakota, Virginia, Nevada and Colorado.

Comment -- Rick Davis must be REALLY hurt by this one. Where is Iowa? Minnesota? New Mexico? Our polls show us............oh shit, never mind.

This is like me praying to God as a 20 year old guy with no girlfriend and asking, "And please in particular convict the hearts of the really GOOD LOOKING girls who are not already in relationships."

Father we beg for every electoral vote.

Comment -- wow.

Lord, we lift all of our needs up to You now. In the name of Jesus we claim victory in Your name.

Comment -- good, cuz you didn't get any other victory.

Lord, we pray for Your will to be done in a mighty way...we know that this election can and will glorify You! Father, place the man you would have to lead our country in a Christian way on November 4. We love You, Lord. We await Your holy miracles... In Jesus' Name we pray, Amen.

Comment -- Conclusion: God is an Obama supporter.

Send this on to as many people as you can think of.....let it reach every corner of America. Get on your knees for this election....Pray for God to send a REVIVAL across this land. Christians, its time we get on our knees....talk to people, speak up....we've been silent too long.

Comment -- Yes, cuz the evangelical Christians in this nation have been pretty inactive in GOP circles over the last 30 years. Time for them to speak up.

Just Thought I'd Share -- HM.

Coleman Wins..........For Now

With only one precinct left to report, Norm Coleman wins by about 760 votes: http://www.kare11.com/news/elections/races/results.aspx?raceID=2

Worst. Candidate. Ever.

No wait, that title probably belongs to the Dem. candidate in Oregon who is losing despite a 56-44 Obama state...............

No wait, maybe that title bleongs to Mike Begich, who is about to lose to convicted felon Ted Stevens in Alaska. Maybe Begich can challenge Stevens' vote -- you know, the one he cast for himself (Alaska bars voting by convicted felons).

Intrade Says...........Coleman Is Charcoal Grilled

Bids on Norm Coleman to win Senate????????? 19 cents on the dollar. http://www.intrade.com/jsp/intrade/trading/t_index.jsp?selConID=471500

Those missing precincts must be in Minneapolis and Duluth. IF so, Stuart Smalley better wash Barack Obama's car for a year when he gets to Washington.

Coleman-Franken -- Down to the Wire

Minnesota's Ted Stevens/Mitt Romney combo, Norm Coleman, currently leads Al Franken by about 12,000 votes late at night with about 16% of precincts not reporting.

If Coleman's lead holds up, it will be part of an awful night for Dems in Minnesota. Despite Obama's tremendous ground game and his 54-44% win (so far), Dems will lose two Congress races to GOP crazies (MN-3 to Eric Paulsen and MN-6 back to Michelle "Tail Gunner Shelly" Bachmann).

In addition, both of my school levies are being voted down while it appears I nevertheless will pay a higher sales tax to support hunters and fishermen and artists (three voting blocks that consistently vote down sports stadium funding, but are happy to feather their own nests).

As I write, CNN shows Coleman up 8,000 votes with 13% of precincts not reporting. Some of those are in Hennepin and St. Louis counties, traditional Dem strongholds.....Franken may not be dead yet.

Obama Kicks McCain's Ass

Once again, I underestimated Obama's appeal. I thought that squeaking above 300 electoral votes and winning 51-49% would be a good night. As I write this at 11:45 Central Standard Time, he is already at 338 EV and looks like he is headed for 349 or maybe more.

According to CNN's exit polls, Obama tied with men and won women 56-43 http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/results/president/.

By the end of the night, I think Obama will end up winning something like 54-45 (California will be a huge ass kicking, as was New York -- my old home state giving Obama a nearly 2MM vote advantage).

Obama wins every age group except seniors 65+. He wins blacks and Hispanics. He ties for the Florida Hispanic vote.

In short -- it was an awful beat down for Palin & Co.

So how did McCain manage to stay so close in the overall popular vote? White evangelicals. They showed up in mass and just absolutely destroyed Obama in the states where they are a big voting block. Remember how Obama looked good in Georgia? Um, no. But maybe Mississippi, right? Um, no. Run through McCain's winning states --- http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/results/president/ They are primarily double-digit whippings of Obama....once again proving that where they don't like Obama..........they REALLY don't like Obama.

The big event of the night was the easy win in Pennsylvania and the surprise early call of Ohio. Obama came out of the blocks and stumbled badly in Virginia (while people in the know realized that the Dem districts always report late, that provide little solace for nervous Democrats). The Ohio call was probably premature and the hand wringing about Virginia was definitely premature -- Obama isn't even up 100,000 votes in Ohio right now but leads by 120,000 votes with far fewer votes cast in Virginia. Obama was winning by 100-200K votes all night in Florida but no one would call THAT state. But Ohio? Sure. Done.

Obama has made the West REALLY blue by adding NM, CO and NV, and there is little doubt that he could have added AZ if it weren't McCain's home state. Montana is currently too close to call. By adding Ohio, if he wins Indiana (where he is ahead and the voting is all but over), Obama has made it possible to drive from Maine to Minnesota without ever going through a Red State.

If NC stays in line for Obama (he is up 40,000 votes with 1% not reporting) you can also drive from Maine to North Carolina without going through a Red State. You could then take a boat into the Atlantic Ocean to Florida...........now once again a Blue State (despite having 400,000,000 "Primative Baptist Church" franchises in the state).

And of course the West Coast is just owned by the Dems, Obama winning by 10-20 points in every state. Drive all of the way down PCH, baby, all Blue.

HM

Seth Grahame-Smith Presents 7 Reasons for McCain Landslide Victory!

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/seth-grahamesmith/7-reasons-mccain-will-win_b_140557.html

The Largest Relevant Movers On Intrade as of This Post

Good Omens for McCain:

NC Repub to win -- +7.9% increase
West VA Repub to win -- 6.8% increase
Georgia Repub to win -- 5.0% increase
SC Dem to Win -- 6.8% decline
Indiana Repub to Win -- plus 4.5%


Bad Omens for McCain:

MN Repub to win -- decline 6.6%
VA Dem to Win -- plus 6.9%
VA Rep to Win -- decline 5.1%
Ohio Dem to Win -- plus 7.8%
PA Dem to Win -- +3.0
ND Dem to Win -- +3.1
Ark Dem to Win -- +3.6
Colo Repub to win -- decline 4.0
NH Repub to win -- decline 2.9


PROOF THAT THIS MARKETS STUFF MAY NOT BE "ALL THAT" For Prediction Sake:

Montana Dem to win -- decline 3.6%
Montana Rep to Win -- decline 2.9%
Florida Dem to Win -- plus 2.9%
Florida Rep to Win -- plus 1.1%

Oh My Lord

More Republicans feel that Sarah Palin was the proper choice for Vice President than feel that McCain was the proper choice for President.

I am just speechless. But this does tell you that Americans live in vastly different worlds. Go to www.dailykos.com and read the recommended diaries (with comments) and the go to www.freerepublic.com and read their breaking news diaries (with comments).

You will quickly see that 30% of Americans hate all things GOP and 30% really, really, really hate all things Dem. So the middle 40% decide. And these middle 40% don't care much for Palin. But those living in the Free Republic world love her.........anyway?????

As GOP Maven said earlier today, It's Not Over, but I don't see how you could really believe that Sarah Palin was the right choice for VP.

Intrade Gamblers Just Killing McCain

http://www.intrade.com/?request_operation=main&request_type=action&checkHomePage=true

McCain currently trading at 12+ to 1. Franken up to above 55% chance of winning.

Some fun things to watch on intrade.com if you are so inclined:

1) Senate races. Franken/Coleman is the tightest one, but we also have North Carolina and Oregon.

2) Pennsylvania -- McCain desperately needs Pennsylvania. It is his only true hope to win. Right now intrade gamblers are smoking him 90-9. Ouch.

3) Greater than 100% states -- often an indicator that someone has some inside info they are hoping comes in is that the state's combined averages add up to more than 100%. Example: New Mexico. As I type it is 95-10% Obama. That tells me that someone stubbornly believes New Mexico isn't going Obama. Nevada -- 103%. North Carolina -- 106%.

So people have strong opinions on those states.


4) Reaching 25% support. If Intrade shows 25% support, that proposition has a reasonable chance of happening. What do I mean by "reasonable"?

OK -- say we are looking at Iowa, which currently sits 92-6%. Is it "reasonable" to see a McCain win there? If you are sitting at a Texas Hold'em table with a pair of 2s versus a pair of Aces and there is one card to flip, your chances are about 5%. So, no, not reasonable.

But suppose

1. McCain holds: 6-4 of hearts

2. Obama holds: Ace-6 of diamonds.

3. Flop comes: Ace of hearts, Ten of clubs, 7 of spades.

McCain is way, way behind. But the turn comes:

4. Five of hearts

At that point McCain can win the pot with any heart. His chances are around 25% or so. He has some reasonable hope and Obama is sweating a little (murmuring "F this" under his breath).

So look for the 25% likelihood on intrade and follow those races.


HM

Sarah Palin Fans Will Enjoy

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHg5SJYRHA0


GOPM

It's Not Over

For my McCain Supporters Out There!!!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E6s8C2DvfGo


GOPM

Pistons Deal Chauncey for Iverson

http://www.mlive.com/pistons/index.ssf/2008/11/pistons_to_trade_billups_mcdye.html

Antonio McDyess is also said to be headed to Denver, but rumor is that Denver will buy out his contract and he will re-sign with Detroit.

1) I am amazed that Billups is only one year younger than Iverson. I would have guessed AI at 36 and Chauncey at 30.

2) The league should not allow teams to trade a guy to make a trade work and then allow that team to re-acquire the player that same season. This is a sham. So let me get this right? McDyess is a really, really good 7th-8th man. The Nuggets don't need him? Here is their roster: http://hoopshype.com/salaries/denver.htm What? Is Juwan Howard that much in need of PT that you don't keep McDyess?

The deal is clearly this -- "We want to trade AI (one year $21MM) and Chauncey (a thousand years left on his deal at $12MM per), but the only way we can make it work is to pretend to give you McDyess. So if we trade him you have to cut him and give him back to us."

This isn't a trade. It is a scam. Couldn't they acquire the rights to Joe Kleine and/or Keith Van Horn and include those guys in the deal as well???

Overall Grades:

Denver -- C -- they weren't going anywhere with AI and I think Chauncey is a better compliment to Melo.

Detroit -- C -- they dump Billups' seemingly endless contract and get immediate cap relief for next year, but now they have basically no identity. I assume they dump Chauncey to play Hot Rod Stuckey, but then they can't play AI with Stuckey and not play Rip Hamilton.

Detroit now in the market for LeBron? Is Detroit even a minor step up from Cleveland? Certainly not a step up for Wade to leave Miami.

HM

Keith Olbermann Spoof

Affleck's best work since "Hollywoodland" or "Good Will Hunting."

If you watch Olbermann, you know it is spot on perfect.

Gamblers Starting to Break Hard Against McCain

If you look here or here you will see that the gamblers(aka "investors") are starting to jump ship on McCain. A few days back his chances to win the election got up to around 17%. As I write this, you can buy a "McCain to win election" share at intrade.com for.............11.2 cents to win a dollar.

9 to 1 to win. I have monitored these political markets before and I think that I have seen some 4 to 1 shots come in, but never a 9 to 1 shot.

The good thing, I guess, for McCain is that a numbers geek like Nate Silver at http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/ has McCain at a 6.3% chance to win, up from as low as 3% a few days ago.

The map pictured above shows Nate Silver's computer's #1 most likely scenario for a McCain win. It is basically 2004's map with Obama prying away only Iowa. Iowa plus New Hampshire plus New Mexico plus Nevada would give Obama 269, enough for a tie and an eventual likely win in the House of Representatives.

If you want a fun interactive map that you can click on to see various scenarios, go to http://www.270towin.com/