Jim R

I know I'm in the minority here (and am a Spurs fan), but I don't think Bowen is "actively" trying to hurt people. If that were the case, he should have alot of ejections and suspensions, shouldn't he? I don't buy any argument that the league favors the Spurs, because there's simply no basis or logic in that. They're not a flashy, fun-to-watch team for most of the nation. Bowen is a very physical defender in a physical game. Maybe the best overall defender in hoops - at the expense the rest of his game (minus 3 point shooting). Being very physical sometimes results in going over the line a little, and in those particular instances, he should be held to the fire like any other player. What he does do is he gets in people's space and messes up their timing more than anyone else does. Yet he does it while rarely fouling out of games, and rarely being ejected. I think he plays hard, and is physical, and it bothers his opponent every time they play him. He gets into their head just with his presence, and they have to think about who is guarding them, so in that sense he's won part of the battle already. </fan boy glasses off> I haven't even looked at the link in Noj's last post yet, but I'll strongly disagree with the idea that Bowen is okay because he's a "physical" defender. That may be (although he's probably no more physical than most good defenders), but if we can't all agree that Bowen is a cheapshot artist (and I do mean artist, because a lot of his cheapshots are masterfully subtle), then I'd say some of us are not paying full attention.

Not really, since Bowen is actively trying to hurt people. 'Sheed just acts out like a goof. Does his acting out really affect the game or the other players in the game physically? Of course not. I'd rather have 'Sheed on my team than a bunch of automons who play the game and never show any emotions, which is what it seems the league is after. Boring. Jim, I agree with you that the league has been too heavy-handed in terms of squashing emotions. I think the infamous Pacers/Pistons/fans brawl caused the league to get more paranoid (and to some extent I can understand that). As far as my comment re Sheed and Bowen- hey, I'm not comparing the two players. I was only hypothetically comparing the objectivity of two comments about those two players. I'm not saying Sheed is dirty. You're recognizing that Sheed is a goof, but you're defending his style more than I'm willing to. You've no doubt watched and listened to him more than I have, so I won't try to sway you. I just really have never liked the guy's actions on the court.

Caron, Leslie Tris Speaker Tom Hammond

I can't buy the "Rasheed is just passionate" argument. A lot of players are passionate, but they don't make complete asses of themselves. I don't blame guys for getting animated occasionally when they're on the wrong end of a bonehead call, but come on... Rasheed is like the boy who cried wolf in that respect. You can't vigorously object to 97% (okay, so I exaggerated ) of the calls against you and expect to have any credibility with anybody. Fortunately for Sheed, he's a very talented player who can get away with acting like an idiot (like taking four steps with the ball and then running down the court flailing your arms and screaming when the refs calls you for traveling). Refs are human, and I don't blame them for making life a little harder on guys like Rasheed and Steven Jackson. That is, having a slightly shorter fuse where they're concerned. It may not be totally fair all the time, but that's life. I don't think those kind of players should get screwed by bad calls more often, and generally I don't think they do. They just get tossed more easily when they lose it- often over a call that was correct in the first place. Anyway, to me, saying "Rasheed is just passionate" is about as objective as saying "Bruce Bowen just plays hard". Btw, like I said I dig the Pistons. I felt this way about Rasheed long before he ever arrived in Detroit.

I don't know how serious you are there, but it's an interesting thing regardless. I guess I'm a tiny bit more sympathetic toward Jackson now that I've had a chance to see him in interiews (and getting screwed a few times by zebras, who no doubt enjoy screwing him by now), but overall I'd prefer that we get rid of him (if we can get something/someone decent in return... which I know would be tricky business). I'm not even close to feeling any more sympathetic to Rasheed- especially after his antics tonight. That traveling call where the replay clearly showed him dancing all over the place, followed by his crying and whining actually made me feel a little more sympathy toward the zebras, if that's possible. Watching Prince and Billups was great. Watching Rasheed made me want to see what else was on tv. He showed me no class in his postgame interview, either. Anyway, aside from that knucklehead, I like the Pistons.

I only managed to catch the final ten minutes, but it looked like Nash tried to do a bit too much in terms of shooting/scoring down the stretch. He looked exhausted, and was missing a lot of shots. He looked fantastic creating layups for others, though. Bell and Barbosa didn't get many looks when they really needed some offense (after Ginobli started lighting it up). Great game. You gotta wonder if Phoenix will have enough gas to finish game 6.

Top 3 reasons why this cover art was rejected: 3. The food is already out, yet the bag is still closed. 2. Is that bread, or styrofoam, or ceiling tile? ... and the #1 reason this cover art was rejected: 1. THREE napkins, but only ONE Oreo™ ???

Nellie was a lot more hot-tempered in the late 80s -- he used to get ejected from games quite frequently. Guy Hey, if you had to sit on the bench watching Manute Bol shooting 3's, you'd get a little irritable too.

I agree, and it's getting worse... Duncan laughing, Jackson clapping, Baron doing basically nothing (for T#1 in that game where he clapped for #2); getting T'd up for lifting his shirt, etc etc etc. Hair-trigger mania. The one image I can't get out of my head from last night is Nellie going way out on the floor to give Salvatore a piece of his mind. Nellie is so laid back lately it's not even funny. He's been so blase lately, some people have wondered if he even cares. He was even cracking jokes like crazy at the press conference after the loss... and yet the numbskulls in stripes were able to get him out on the floor screaming. Why is it so much easier to see what's going on from my couch than a ref who's only a matter of feet from the action? Oh, and speaking of flops, Kirilenko should get an emmy for his job on Matt Barnes last night.

Pistons thought they could just show up, and the Bulls shot 72% in one half. Weird game. As for the W's, they looked really tired, they got too emotional and careless, they didn't deserve to win, and Utah was better in this series. AND... that Bennett Salvatore crew really sucks. Derek Fisher played out of his mind... but I still wouldn't want him back.

I wonder if anybody (outside the league office) still thinks this rule is fair as written. The whole Bowen thing is a joke. The number of people (including players and coaches) who are still saying "Oh, he just plays hard- get used to it" is astonishing. Go Warriors.

Pie Traynor Alistair Cookie Swedish Chef

Yeah, that announcement was made months ago. Thanks for the reminder... not sure how long it's going to take for the CD to appear. I hope it gets some distribution/attention... it's fantastic music. I still want that Austin City Limits video, if anyone comes across it.

... 6 TO's tonight, all by himself, plus a bunch of missed shots followed by the usual crying to the refs. It was Baron (ouch, worst game I've seen him play in a long time), and JRich that lost it for us, though. Utah played great- Boozer is a beast. I'm sure Nellie's going to harp on "It's not over yet... we're going to show up and play", but they better be ready to play better (how about making a few FT's for starters ). I wish Derek Fisher would turn the goddamn ball over against us, the way he did when he played FOR us.

Fred Lebow John Bowle Joe Blowe

I'm in full agreement with you there — and I wouldn't say that your description is an overstatement! I've always had a soft spot for Brownie's Paris recordings. In fact, I happen to like them quite a bit more than his polished work for EmArcy. Brownie's playing on "I Can Dream, Can't I?" — it's one of the few times where I actually want to listen to the master take immediately followed by the alternate takes ... on repeat! To my ears, it's rawer Clifford Brown, while still beautiful and (yes) innocent. This is such important music (I'm thinking of 1953 Paris recordings) — it should really be honored by at least a Mosaic Select. Strange that these recordings were originally released by Vogue, then licensed by Blue Note, then licensed by Prestige, and now are under the BMG umbrella ... and still don't have a permanent home in the U.S. market! I've still got this version, a 3-CD set from 1993. Hard to believe the more recent BMG version is OOP too.

I was just watching a Norton Buffalo / Roy Rogers video at YouTube ( ), and thought I'd up this thread. Still looking for that Austin Ciy Limits video...

The #8 seed schmoes did their thing tonight. Feels good, but it's still just one win. If they blow them out again in game 4, then maybe I'll give them a chance of taking 2 of the last 3... but it will probably be less than a 50% chance. Damn, we should be up 2-1 and in the driver's seat. I heard during tonight's telecast that the league has dismissed any idea of punishing Bowen. If true, I'd say they're either blind or gutless. Anyway, I haven't found any official news story quoting the league office on the matter. I did find this, which is such bullshit. What a boneheaded spin they put on the whole thing... Bowen's just "playing hard", and he's not going to "back down"... as if consistently kicking people in a cheapshot manner has anything to do with "playing hard". How often do you see guys getting kicked in the achilles by a player who is totally beaten for a dunk? One look at that kung fu move on Wally Szczerbiak says it all. Any 12 year-old who goes to YouTube can see that Bowen is a dirty player.

Cool- I was hoping someone would solve this. Merci Beau Couw! I was going to guess Eugene Wright.

Has he ever been suspended? I'd say he deserves that at the very least. Looking collectively at the multiple examples of his bullshit at YouTube is a definite eye-opener.

Wow, that's unbelievable. I didn't realize that kickboxing had merged with basketball. There are a bunch of videos showing dirty plays by Bowen, but that one stands WAY out above the others. Anybody know how long ago this one occurred? I wonder what punishment was doled out on that. Some of the other videos show an aftermath (scuffles, refs conferring, etc), but I'm surprised this one didn't. I had heard about Bowen's reputation for stepping in beneath people to cause ankle injuries, but I didn't realize how many times he's done shit like this.

Jerry Rice. Touchdown Receptions, Career: 197 (2nd place: 130 by Chris Carter) Jerry Rice - NFL Records

Wow, I don't know. It looks like his head does dip a bit at one point, but regardless, you can look down with your eyes without tipping your head forward. I hadn't even heard about this until just now, but looking at that clip, it looks borderline dirty to me. Sticking his right foot out that far just looks unnatural, especially when he was totally beaten on the play. Reading about Bowen's earlier fine just makes me that much more suspicious.

That says it all. I have an urge to whine and moan at length about how the W's gave this game away, but things happened in this game that put things in perspective. That Dee Brown injury was scary, and I just hope it won't prove to be serious in the long term. As for DFish, I never really liked him as a player when he was with the Warriors, but he is by all accounts a great guy, and I wish him and his family the very best also. As for this game, I'll just say that I think we gave away our chances of winning this series tonight. Even if we take two at The Oracle, I don't think Utah is going to leave the door open for us again like that at their place. We really could have stolen game 1, but tonight was nothing less than a gift. Maybe Biedrins can give Pietrus some tips on FT shooting.

Ziggy Zippy Ziffy