Remember when we were all swooning over Lebron James when he was a senior in high school. During the McDonalds Slam Dunk Championship (The High School All-Star weekend attraction) Lebron showed off to the crowd more than any NBA star has in almost 10 years of “Rockin’ the Cradle” or “360 Windmillin”.
Well, I might have someone else to swoon over now. When Lebron was fancying the scouts, he was doing it at 6 feet 8 inches tall. Deuce Bello (a junior at Westchester County in North Carolina) stands only at 6 feet 3 inches, but is a giant in the air.
He’s only a junior, so we’ll have to wait until next year to see what he does. Deuce says he’s considering Kentucky, Clemson, Oklahoma State, Wake Forest and Tennessee for college, but I believe the odds are highly against him stepping foot in any of those arenas.
I’m reading this book called The Book of Basketball by ESPN Columnist Bill Simmons. He’s known as the Sports Guy, and also as one of the most knowledgeable individuals about anything NBA related. The book is like 800 pages (I’m currently at 400 and something) and it’s really hard to put down. The dude gets you so into the history of the game, the current players, the past players, the coaches…everything. I’ve gotten back out my Playstation 2 and started playing NBA Live 07 again…it’s great.
I’ve also found myself inadvertently finding NBA related segments so enthralling, that I’ve became obsessed with these two videos. The first you may have all ready seen (either I sent it to you or you’ve seen it on TV). It’s one of the NBA’s new commercial campaigns. They’ve had this one slogan (The NBA…Where Amazing Happens) for a while and have recently starting replacing Amazing with other adjectives to describe the NBA. This one segment in particular uses…Where Defense Happens…and I fell in love with it at first watch:
Pretty Dope.
Now, this second video you probably haven’t seen. Baron The Beard Davis (Black Thought’s unrelated beard brother) takes a basketball, walks around NYC listening to J Dilla and plays around with anyone he meets (it just so happens that Irv Gotti, Jim Jones, and Common are around), but it’s also D to the O-P-E. Lookey, lookey…
Baron will always be one of my favorite NBA stars (just as long as he doesn’t shave that beard).
NotDrugs.com…Where the NBA happens — with some Dope residuals;
I apologize for my absence for the past couple of days, my computer was put on the disabled list and had to go through some rehab. With a shape-up and some cortisone shots, the mac is back in action, and hence, I am as well. Let’s continue.
Even though Not Drugs is a large part of my small yet, hopefully, emerging career, it is not the only thing I do. I’m also a running shoe slinger and a freelance documentary filmmaker. Those two other positions recently met and I decided to why not have the third get in on the mix as well. Here’s what happened.
These kids are Ballers, without actually ballin'.
While at the running store that I work at, I was approached by a fellow employee to team up and produce a short documentary about a bunch of 6th and 7th graders in the Bronx in NYC who started a running club after school. To go along with just the awesome aspect of that alone, the running store (Jackrabbit Sports) and Brooks Running Shoes decided to team up and donate 25 pairs of running shoes for these kids to run properly in. So we filmed them running in their regular wear, filmed the process of these kids receiving shoes, and then filmed them running in their new shoes. Here’s the finished product (with the soundtrack being provided to us by my multi-talented compadre The Bell Drive).
If you can, donate to these kids and help them get better running clothes, more opportunities at racing, etc. With just a little bit of money, these kids can really take this running thing far.
So, last night, there was a little Game 6 action that excited the NYC crowd to the max. I was at a few downtown bars watching the game, and it was fabulous. The people were electric, screaming from the buildings. There was even a couple fighting with each other at the bar during the last 2 innings. But as soon as it came down to the final strike, the couple watched the television screen, and joined in on the celebration as Cano made the final out to Teixeira. The fight was over.
I made this New York Yankees 2009 World Series Campaign Playlist a couple days ago. You should definitely download that and take a listen to the new hip hop that’s been blasting through my speakers, and hopefully on repeat through yours in the near future. Here’s a preview, and a song that I think fits the Yanks Championship well, from Detroit native Royce Da 5′ 9″
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New Money
And that’s not all I have for you. I’ve been working on a few Not Drugs apparel designs, and I have THREE to give away to you. But here’s the catch. The ticker tape parade for the Yankees is tomorrow. Then after tomorrow, is the weekend. So there’s 3 days of celebrating the Yankees 27th world series. I want you to send me a picture of you celebrating the victory, in whatever way you think is appropriate. I, along with my fellow staff will judge witch celebration will be worthy enough to deserve a free Not Drugs T-Shirt. Send all pictures to Letham@NotDrugs.com. Make sure your celebration is unique, should include as many people as possible, and involve whatever it is you think the New York Yankees (and Not Drugs of course) would be proud of.
Get the pictures in as soon as you can, we’ll post the winning pictures next week.
My apologies for not getting this up sooner (as in last night). I had a little too much post NYC Marathon fun and haven’t gotten around to posting this until now.
Congrats Meb. First US winner of the NYC Marathon since '82.
But anyway, I have for you (because of the Yankee win last night) what I like to call the NY Yankees 2009 World Series Campaign Playlist. It’s a list of new music that I’ve been jammin on for the last couple of weeks. Lemme know what you think of it.
And as always, and hopefully for the last time this year, Let’s Go Yankees.
The new movie about Lebron James’ high school team, called “More Than A Game”, basically follows the starting five — Lebron, Dru Joyce, Romeo Travis, Sian Cotton, and Willie McGee — through the St. Vincent–St. Mary High School Fighting Irish basketball season.
They are said to be the greatest high school team ever. The highlights in the movie are ridiculous, because Lebron is doing things most NBA players in their prime couldn’t do. But I don’t know if this is too much too soon. I’m all about Lebron (believe me, the free agent hype around him after this year has caught me because I would love to see the King in a Brooklyn Nets jersey) but the past two years have been completely centered around Lebron, and this movie just adds to it.
First we had that Spike Lee joint about Kobe Bryant’s game, which I didn’t watch and never really planned on watching, and now we have a theatrical release of Lebron in high school.
I’ve seen the trailer, read about the movie, and don’t really see what the big whoop is about. Watch for yourself and let us know what you think….
I woke up this morning to perform my daily routine: Read the New York Times, ESPN, and Pitchfork online, mess around/walk in circles in my room(mental organization) and take a shower.
However, during today’s routine, I found something disturbing in my skimming and scanning.
Buffalo Bills’ cornerback Leodis McKelvin had his house vandalized after the Bills 25-24 loss to the New England Patriots on Monday Night Football. Obscenities were written on his front lawn, as was the score from that game?
Really, Buffalo? Really? Like I don’t have to catch constant shit from people for being a fan of the Buffalo Bills, now I have to take shit because the people of the town are bat shit crazy, too?
Sports teams lose. Some lose for a while. Some lose for a LONG time. Buffalo, New York falls into the third category. However, in sports, like a number of things in life, it’s all about your ability to take a hit and keep on going. Someone has disgraced my hometown by not being able to take a hit any more.
Moreover, someone took out their DECADES of frustration with an ORGANIZATION on Leodis McKelvin…who has been on the team for 2 years. Who is 2 years older than I am.(22) Really?
I’m a fan of loyalty…not even a fan, I truly do believe in it…but, I’m done with you Buffalo. Thank you for being DRUGS.
Michael Jeffrey Jordan is being inducted into the Basketball Hall Of Fame on Friday September 11. To mark the occasion ESPN.com is posting videos of Jordan’s top 23 moments of his career along with accounts from the men who played with and against him. I can honesty say I’ve never heard more sincere words of respect and even awe from one athlete talking about another let alone from basically every other player of that era. That’s why you know MJ was the greatest. That’s why he’ll always be “The Man”.
In this day and age when all the hype is about breaking athletes down and assuming guilt from guns to ‘roids, I’d like to take a minute to remember one of the great sports heroes, well, ever. Ken Griffey Jr. was a model everything. He’s probably the last pure, 5-tool baseball player that could truly do everything on the field better than anyone else and who you just knew (knock on wood) was doing it clean. He had a crystal clear record off the field and a smile that could (and did) sell just about anything. Basically he was the second coming of Willy Mays in an era where he could really be marketed. In case all you remember is the video game, it went a little something like this back in the day:
And you know you’re big when you get a cameo with the Fresh Prince:
Heck, even in his dwindling years the man could still sell anything, even the state of Ohio!
Griffey isn’t dead, or even retiring, but with Plax about to get locked up and new steroids stories breaking every month, I wanted to cheer everyone up with a bit of a look back at a Sports Star who really did it right.
Letham over there, he tells me I want too much. I want everything. That’s not too much. At least I don’t think so.
I’ve been watching this Jamaican Usain Bolt, fly about the World Championships in Berlin. He’s broken his own world records (from the ‘08 Beijing Olympics) in the 100m and 200m sprints, and just took a third gold in the 4×100m relay.
People say he’s the best ever.
Last year everybody was all about Michael Phelps. “He’s the best Olympian ever!” “He’s the best athlete ever!”
And I say really?
I want to know who is the best athlete ever. (side note: I’m not talking team sport athletes. There’s no way to quantify the athleticism of Jordan, Favre, Pele, Russell, Federer, Kobe, A-Rod, Pujols, the list goes on. It can’t, more so, I won’t. Not yet.)
So let’s get to it.
My main measurement is how greatly these athletes have depreciated their event’s record. That seems like the best way to compare how they have affected their sport’s history.
Other things to take into consideration: age; number of championships competed in.
Things considered negligible:
Technical-ness. Swimming is all about techniques, small hand & feet adjustments in stroke. But so are fast-twitch events such as 100m & 200m. The ornate details fade in both sports, as the distance increases.
Usain Bolt (6ft 5 inches, turned 23 yesterday) currently holds two individual world records, the 100m and 200m dashes.
Bolt has also lowered the 100m WR from 9.74 to 9.58, a 1.642 percent change. Usain here, he’s lowered the 100m record more drastically than anyone ever before.
Bolt has lowered the 200m WR from 19.32 to 19.19, a .672 percent change.
What’s wild? Michael Johnson, who previously held the 200m record, and still holds the 400m WR, reduced the 200m WR by over 2%. For Bolt to equal what Johnson did to the 200m, he will have to run 18.93. Shoot.
He ran more faster in a 200 than anyone else has.
Michael Phelps (6ft 3.5inch, 24) currently holds three individual world records (we’re not counting relays, remember), across two disciplines: 100m Butterfly, 200m Butterfly, and the 400m Individual Medley(fly-back-breast-free).
In the 100m fly, Phelps has taken the WR from 51.76 seconds down to 49.82 seconds. This is a 3.748 percent difference.
In the 200m fly, Phelps has taken the WR from 1:55.18 down to 1:51.51. This is a 3.186 percent difference.
In the 400m IM, Phelps has take the WR from 4:11.76 down to 4:03.84. This is a 3.186 percent difference.
Phelps, statistically, has done a lot more. Now there’s a couple things to look into:
1) Swimming records are broken much more frequently. All of the records are from 2008 and 2009, except for the 1500m freestyle, from 2001. The records in track & field span rather smoothly across the last two decades.
2) Competitions.
Phelps has competed in, and dominated two Olympics & three World Championships.
Bolt has competed and dominated one Olympic Games and just finished his first World Championship. Difference: track requires, oh how do I say it, more physical maturity. While Phelps was raking in golds at 18, Bolt won a number of titles in his youth, including being the youngest person to win the 200m Junior title, at the age of 15.
The decision?
If they both retired today, Phelps wins. It’s impossible to compare medal counts, because there are so many more swimming events.
So Winn, what do you think Bolt needs to run to set the bar even?
If Usain Bolt breaks 19 seconds in the 200m, and 9.3 in the 100m, he will be the best implement-less, individual athlete, performance and comparatively speaking to have ever walked the earth.
