Once again, I’ve failed to update this for a while. And this hardly constitutes an update, but I’ll just throw up some links to some stuff I’ve done at IJS lately with a promise to check in soon with a non-sports post that has been floating around in my head for a while.
Anyways, here are my Mateen Cleaves and Morris Peterson pieces I did recently, pretty proud of both of those. Read the rest of this entry »
Yeah, so June’s almost over and I haven’t written anything here for a long time. My July resolution is to do more writing on my own, so hopefully more stuff will be up here soon. In the meantime, here’s some cool stuff from both the Flint Journal and It’s Just Sports that I’ve been working on, just to prove it hasn’t been total laziness on my part and that I actually do still write:
Interviews: Brandon Carr, Kevin Tiggs, JaVale McGee, Rich Rodriguez, John Beilein, Curtis Granderson, Rick Mahorn
Best of the Worst: Counting down the worst Detroit athletes of the last 20 years. We’re halfway through the Lions now. The Tigers are complete.
New York Times: Jack Kerouac, true fantasy baseball player.
Joe Posnanski: I think it’s safe to call Posnanski the most passionate and smart baseball writer. Perfect combo of stats and just love for the game.
The Assimilated Negro: Debunking the whole “Sasha Grey is really smart” theory that Rolling Stone, among others, bit hard on.
Nieman Journalism Lab: Layouts of modern newsrooms.
Detroit Free Press: This may qualify as saddest thing I read this week, but Joe Dumars has finally realized, after trading the third best point guard in the league, that Rodney Stuckey is not a point guard.
Another in a series on potentially perfect NBA starting lineups devoid of superstars.
First becoming a NBA fan during the Bad Boys era, I have a certain fondness for physical basketball, which inspired the All-Brutes team for the last Perfect Starters post.
But defense can be more than just physicality. In fact, some guys who are thought of more as finesse players because they play on bad defensive teams actually create all kinds of havoc for opponents.
I’ve been doing some Lions stuff at Bleacher Report. Check it out if you’re so inclined:
The Detroit Lions are Already Better Than You Think
Why Don’t Detroit Lions Fans Really Know Calvin Johnson?
Why be a Detroit Lions Fan? The Matt Millen Era, Of Course
What is Reasonable For Lions Fans to Expect Out of Kevin Smith?
Scott Linehan Will Have a Productive Offense in Detroit Without Stars
Andrew Sullivan: Being against torture doesn’t make you supportive of terrorism. That should go without saying, but obviously it doesn’t.
ESPN.com: The epic tale of Chauncey Billups, the most disrespected franchise player in NBA history.
Flint Journal: I’ve always believed the pornography shops/strip clubs in Flint should be a regular beat … I’d read those stories.
Yglesias: Thoughts on a free market professional sports industry.
Talking Points Memo: NYT columnist Maureen Dowd borrows a paragraph from a TPM post, forgets to give credit.
Jay Rosen: The Tucson Citizen tells blogs to fuck off. Technology is so scary.
Another in a series on potentially perfect NBA starting lineups devoid of superstars.
The last group of assembled NBA talent would have played beautiful, finesse basketball based on precision passing, moving without the ball and always making the right play on offense.
These guys just want to beat you up. Both styles are effective, but this team, I believe has a much more legit shot at winning in the postseason. Let’s face it, the facilitators are kind of soft.
Another in a series on potentially perfect NBA starting lineups devoid of superstars.
We kicked this little “Perfect Starters” project off with a team of four no-conscious shooters, along with Tyrus Thomas to do everything they don’t do.
What about the opposite? What if we had a group of five guys who specialize in setting up other guys, but all share the same fatal flaw of not looking for their own offense enough? Would someone eventually shoot? And if they did, would they always be in the perfect position to get their shot off?
Congress Matters: Alberto Gonazlez’s response to the torture issue doesn’t bode well for the future of democracy.
Ta-Nehisi: Responding to Joe the Plumber: “Much as the racist demagouges of yore convinced themselves that highest aim of black maledom was to bed their fugly-ass daughters, Joe the Plumber is convinced that the highest aim of all queerdom is to spend some time with his snotty-nosed brats.”
Deadspin: Maybe Selena Roberts deserves some criticism for her A-Rod book (although I don’t know because I haven’t read it and probably don’t care to). But Jason Whitlock is an opportunist and kind of a lunatic, so good work calling him out, A.J. Daulerio.
Metro Times: Law enforcement holds grudges against reporters who do their jobs? I’m shocked … The Michigan Messenger has a recap of the case and reaction as well.
Big League Stew: This is a couple weeks old, but is perhaps the most awkward (and hilarious) reporter/athlete interaction ever.
Dating back to my NBA Live 95 playing days, I’ve always thought of myself as the perfect talent evaluator. Not necessarily individual talent, but collective talent.
The basic point of this little series I have in my head is to make a recurring feature of starting lineups full of non-superstar players who perfectly compliment each other.
It’s easy to say, “Kobe and LeBron would be a perfect tandem.” Finding a perfect team for J.R. Smith on the other hand …
Here’s my first stab at this. I believe this team is just crazy enough to make perfect sense on the court — again, no superstars, but they still have everything.
