A Trade?

Wow, a trade just happened in the JBL. That has become a bit of news lately as there hasn't been much activity on the trade fronts in the JBL. I moved Boris Diaw for Peja Stojakovic. A trade of 2 struggling players trying to find their way. Diaw was hard to let go of because I had very high expectations of him coming into the season. But then the Bobcats acquired Stephen Jackson and he's become an after-thought on offense. He still plays 30 minutes a night but barely takes any shots, doesn't pass the ball well, and has been shooting horribly. Maybe he turns it around this season but I just couldn't wait any longer.

In Peja I get another 3-point gunner who can hopefully find his form enough to (1) get into my lineup and (2) play well enough to stay there. One of my big 3 weaknesses currently is 3PT% so adding another potential shooter like Peja can only help. And if he stinks the joint up, he can ride the pine just like Diaw has been doing for the past few weeks. So I really look at this as a no-risk trade for me. Diaw wasn't getting into my lineup anytime soon anyways and Peja could help me in one of my 3 weaknesses...so this move had to be done. If Diaw was playing well he could help my ATO as he has shown he can be a playmaker. I think his good 3PT% last season was more of a fluke looking at his historical numbers. He shot 41% last season from behind the arc but is a career 33% shooter from downtown.

So why haven't we seen more trades this season? The answer, in my opinion, is easy. We have 7 teams in contention for the title right now. I'm not talking in contention for a money spot - I'm talking in the running for 1st place!! So, naturally, no one wants to make any major moves when they are so close as they stand now.

My Golden squad is clinging to 1st place but that won't last for long. I am about to be passed by Seoul in blocks (-6.5 points) and Bangkok will get me in Points (-20 points). Losing those points - which will probably occur tonight - takes me to 803.00 points. That will likely be good enough for 2nd place but I still have to worry about Juan de Fuca catching me in steals and Seoul catching me in 3PT%. So, things are getting tighter and tighter by the day.

That's why I have to try and make a move in 3-point shooting. Statistically speaking this is the category that I can move the most in. Currently, I am shooting 33.4%. If you look at my combined 3PT% of the guys now on my squad and it's 38.8%. Now, obviously it will take some time to move up but I do have the horses to shoot a much higher percentage than I am currently at.

My other weaknesses are ATO and STLS. Looking at the stats so far this season it doesn't appear I have the players to make a significant move upwards in either category.

So at the moment, I honestly see 7 teams in contention. But since we have that many teams in contention it will be very difficult for those teams to make significant trades with each other. Bangkok needs 3PT% so why would I offer that to him? Juan de Fuca needs ATO - again, why would I want to assist him in that department? These 7 teams will have to really analyze any potential trades with direct competitors to make sure it helps themselves more than it helps their rival.

So, that really leaves the top 7 teams to trade with the bottom 5 teams. Again, as I have previously blogged about, there is plenty of talent on those rosters to be had. But can the right deal be made? I think most of the contending teams are taking a very conservative approach right now because of how close the standings are.

Now, the next big question to be answered is which of the bottom 5 teams throws in the towel first? All 5 of those teams have major assets to help a contending team. Which of those teams offers up their stud for a stud-keeper first? Which contending team sells his cheap stud first? I think, as usual, there will be a chain reaction once the 1st 2010/11 deal goes down. Once the first top 7 team pulls the trigger on a major move the other 6 teams will have to react. It becomes a fun time of year for sure. We are only about 6 weeks away from our keeper-trade-deadline so things should start to take shape soon. Stay tuned...

Post Christmas Hangover

Well, the 2010 portion of the JBL season is almost here. We are just finishing up week 9 and things are really starting to tighten up in the JBL standings. We have 2 distinct tiers now. A top 7 teams and a bottom 5 teams. 700 points appears to be the cut-off for contenders at the moment. That certainly doesn't mean that the current bottom 5 teams don't have a shot at the JBL title, but it does mean that they are going to have to start thinking about how they are going to change their teams in order to start the climb in the JBL standings.

With slim-pickins being available on the FA wire the only way you can change your teams fortunes is to make a trade. I have scanned the rosters and see plenty of potential trading partners out there. For example, Boston is 1st in ATO and last in rebounds. Juan de Fuca is last in ATO and 1st in rebounds. Maybe they should figure something out?

Another key factor that is going to start to come into play in the coming weeks is the 'keeper deadline'. This is the NBA's All-Star break weekend and the deadline is the Sunday of that week. It's an easy date to remember this year but a horrible one in JBL terms. Our keeper trade deadline is February 14th! Valentine's Day. So if you want to protect a player for next season he must be on your roster by midnight PST on Feb 14th. How on earth will we be having the big trade-fest when we will be taking our wives or girlfriends or left palms out for a special evening? This could be a horrible year for last minute blockbusters in the JBL. But I have faith in this crew...faith that there will be trades on Sunday night at the deadline and faith that a could see a subpoena to be a witness at divorce court in the following weeks.

The most likely scenario around the trade deadline will be the top 7 teams pawning off their super keepers for studs from the bottom 5 teams (assuming a bottom 5 teams doesn't make the climb into contender status).

I had a quick look to see what 'chips' the top teams had to play and what 'studs' the bottom teams had to use as leverage.

Golden - he will pawn Jennings for sure...what could he bring in return? What about a young gunner like Eric Gordon? If only he played up to his potential.

French Lick - no shortage of options here...how about Jonny Flynn? But does his value drop because of the potential arrival of Rubio? What about Blake Griffin? How will he be playing by then? Is $37 bucks a worthy keeper value? And how about Dejuan Blair?

Bangkok - This team actually has the biggest decisions to make because they have the most studs to deal with. Rick has no shortage of potential keepers and should be cashing in some of them to make a run for his 1st ever JBL title. He has Kaman, Tykere, Stephen Curry, Westbrook, and David Lee. He has to consider dealing one, two, or a couple of them if it can improve your chances of winning the elusive JBL title.

Arctic - He has Steve Nash and Kevin Love to use as bait. Both appear to be under-valued for what they bring to the table.

Juan de Fuca - Again, some great keepers here in Durant, Lopez, Speights, and Camby. He has to address his ATO and 3PT% at some point if he is going to make a run.

Chilliwack - Benny can offer up Marc Gasol, Andrea Bargnani, Terrence Williams or others as bait. If Benny is still in the hunt you can bet your nuggets that Benny will do what it takes to take his shot at the title.

Seoul - Philly Woo has made it clear that he is trying to position himself to keep up with Golden (who he thinks has the best team). Does he have what it takes? Is the Seoul team deep enough? He will have the Nene card to play when it comes time to make a move. He may be in 7th but the defending champ (and 3-time champion) has what it takes to make the right deal - despite being called a snake-oil salesman by Brussels.

On that note, what is a snake-oil salesman? The definition is below...

A product that has been proven to not live up to the vendor's marketing hype. The term comes from the 1800s in which elixirs and potions of all kinds, even ones that supposedly included the oils from snakes, were sold as a cure for everything that ailed a person.

So there...the key message that the product may not live up to the vendor's marketing hype. I guess if Philly Woo was trying to sell that Corey Brewer is gonna average 20ppg for the season...then yes, let the snake-oil flow.

But come to think of it...isn't Idaho the king of snake-oil then???

OK, back to my keeper deadline rant...

The top teams have the 'keepers' to get the bottom teams interested...so which studs do the bottom 5 teams have top pony up??

Belgrade - Marko's in a bit of pickle because his best chips to offer actually appear to be pretty good keepers in their own right. Carmelo $40, Boozer $36, and Channing Frye $1 could all be pretty valuable to a contending team. But can he get in "better" and cheaper keepers? Time will tell...

Yuma - Pat has Jefferson, Iguodala, Mo Williams, and Michael Redd all waiting to be moved to a contender.

Brussels - Tim has maybe the biggest trading chip of them all in Chris Paul. If the Brussels squad doesn't move up in the standings soon Timbo has to think about cashing in this asset. You can't tell me that teams struggling in 3PT% and ATO like Golden (7th and 10th), Juan de Fuca (9th and 12th), Seoul (8th and 8th) and Bangkok (11th and 6th) wouldn't like to get their hands on this guy. And what about Kevin Martin??? Even Antawn Jamison could be a movable asset (although he's probably a good keeper at his current salary as well).

Idaho - how long before Tuna throws in the towel? Despite Bangkok's 'scoreboard' post this morning that Idaho has no talent, I do believe there are some players of value on this team (just not that many). The 2 big names are Amare and Monta - both could help out in Seoul for example - a team that is suddenly lacking scorers. Even guys like Parker, J-Rich, and Chris Duhon have value but will Idaho be willing to part with them?? And if Tuna thinks that Duhon for Brandon Jennings is going to happen - he's dreaming.

Boston - 2 big chips to play here as well...Dirk and Wade. What super-keeper could they bring back?

Of course, in all of this, we have to remember that the team that finishes 12th will not be able to protect anyone so they need to make sure that when they sell off their assets that they don't destine themselves for 12th. At the moment, Trevor has some work to do to make the climb out of the basement.

Well, that's all for now...I think next post I'll chat a little bit about how terrible the 3PT%'s are this season. There are only 3 current JBL teams shooting over 36%. Unreal. In 2008/09 there were 9 teams above 36%!!!!

Christmas Eve...

What? No NBA games tonight?? What's going on?

And as usual, I just finished my Christmas shopping. Bravo. A few hours to spare even.

Big trade in the JBL last night...Andrew Bogut for Rudy Gay. This is a deal that could help both teams. I can argue either way who wins this deal...

Brussels gets Rudy Gay. He scores more and for $19 bucks he's quite the bargain really. 20+ ppg, 6reb, 46 stls, 24 blks, he shoots 48 FG% and 32% from downtown. OK, his ATO is a negative, but you gotta take the good with the bad. Brussels 2 weakest categories are scoring and steals and Gay fills both of those needs. And with Tyrus Thomas coming back, Brussels should be able to cover the rebounds that he loses.

Seoul gets Andrew Bogut. Seoul has had problems in the middle (much like the Golden team) with inconsistent play. Yes, Seoul loses in a few categories, the biggest being scoring, but we all know Seoul has a knack for good finishes despite a poor scoring squad. Seoul is now one of the best rebounding teams in the JBL and is technically the best shot-blocking squad as well. Seoul also marginally improves in FG% and ATO with this move.

I really think this could be a trade that both teams can feel good about...until one of them gets hurt.

I have had trade discussions with several teams over the last week or so but nothing has materialized. It's hard for me to even make an offer on players because the other teams obviously want guys off of my squad who I really don't see the need to move. Why would I trade Josh Smith? Why would I move Deng? I'm not going to offer them up in deals unless it significantly improves my team. In a way, I'm kinda lucky because I am in "tinker" mode. Unless the move is a no-brainer I'm really not forced to change the game-plan (yet).

The one deal I see coming is Brandon Jennings. As our keeper trade deadline approaches (All Star break in February), more and more JBL teams will realize their quest for the 2009/10 JBL title is out of reach and begin to think about 10/11. They will want cheap talent and should be willing to pay the price to get it. That's when I expect some decent offers for Mr. Jennings. I realize his play has dropped off since his scorching start, but let's remember the kid is still just 20 years old and he's still learning the ropes of the NBA. He clearly has shown he can play in the league and for just $11 bucks he could be a great start to a Fantasy team in 2010/11. So, I will wait it out and see what offers come in for the kid in February.

I really have a man-crush on Tyreke Evans and Stephen Curry. Love those two guys.

I grabbed Juwan Howard off the waiver wire last night for $10 bucks. I thought he would go for more actually. I know he's 57 years old and he's a long way from being the 135 million dollar player he was in the 90's but the Blazers have no choice to play the guy. The only other big men they have are Jeff Pendergraph and Dante Cunningham - both rookies - so Howard will HAVE to play. He's not gonna put up 20 and 10 but he could be 12 and 8. His first two games have equalled double-doubles and we all know that the L-Train is a little soft when it comes to boards. So, I'm hoping Juwan can be a serviceable F/C for me (once he gains Center eligibility).

The problem with this signing and the imminent return of Barbosa will have me with 4 bench players. So, I need to make a move by Sunday. I am looking at 2 for 1 deals involving Barbosa/Diaw if possible. Will someone be willing to wait on Diaw? Maybe a big Christmas day game from Barbosa would increase his stock? Another option would be a 1 for 1 deal for an injured player...maybe get Tayshaun Prince, Rip Hamilton, or even Mike Miller. I will have to float some offers. But I am confident I can make a move before Sunday. If not, who will I drop??

Well boys, that's all for me today. I hope you guys all have a great Christmas! Spend some time with your families and enjoy the holiday season. Stay off the computer on the 24th and tell your Mrs. that everyday isn't about the JBL. All the best guys. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Week 9 - Merry Christmas JBL'ers

Well, it's Christmas week. What a great time of year. I'm so excited because I have a 6 year old who is pumped for Christmas and is excited to see what NBA jerseys he's gonna get. How cool is that? He's not asking for all these different toys or anything like that...he wants jerseys and basketball cards and sports things. Very cool to be a Dad right now.

Anyways, onto the JBL. Some interesting things going on as we move into week 9. No one is hotter than the Bangkok squad. His week 8 performances were unreal. I really like that team too. It's weird that I would like someone else's team so much...but that can be said about French and Bangkok these days. Rick and I discussed a few deals over the weekend but nothing was right for either of us...mostly because if Rick wasn't winning the trade hands down the talks went no further. I thought we could have worked forward off one of my offers...Bosh/Gordon for Duncan/Tyreke...it was rejected without a counter (I'm not counting Ridnour for Diaw).

As for the Ridnour for Diaw...why bother? Does that really help either of us? Talk about making a trade simply for the sake of making a trade.

I did have an Idaho offer of Richard Jefferson and Rodney Stuckey for Chris Bosh. Wow. I think Stuckey is a good player but him and RJ for a guy who is 24 and 11. If Idaho knows this trade is going to be rejected, why bother making it? I think it actually makes it harder for me to trade with Tuna when he throws out these ridiculous offers because I now have a hard time even sending him a legit offer. If his offers deal in reality - then what does my offer look like to him?? Frustrating.

Also, Yuma had to drop a guy this morning as he had 4 reserves. In an interesting move he chose to drop Dejuan Blair over Nate Robinson. Was this the right drop? Nate it is stapled to the bench in NY but his agent has requested a trade. Meanwhile, with Matt Bonner out with a broken hand, Blair started at center tonight for the Spurs. Blair has some upside for sure (even more if he wasn't in San Antonio). If Nate gets moved then he could produce but as long as he's sitting in NY he won't be any help to Yuma.

Also, CJ Miles is the now the starter in Utah. He has some immediate value and was actually a guy I had thought about signing for this week. I was gonna sign CJ and drop CJ (Watson). That would have been a 1st in the JBL's 20 year history for sure!

Jameer Nelson is back for Orlando tonight and I'm giving him the week to get back to full speed before starting him next week. I hope he can be a 14 and 6 guy with a good 3PT% as I am sorely needing some ATO and 3PT%. Also, Barbosa should be back late this week so that gives me another option for next week as well. As I type this blog tonight I see Jennings is shooting 5/15 shooting night so I can actually envision him sitting out some weeks if Nelson/Barbosa get hot.

Also, one other JBL owner told me of a potential plan to go all-Euro next season. I have to say...this excites me. I love a good theme team. I hope he looks into this option a bit more because if you include all those guys who weren't born in the USA this greatly expands your options. In fact, I have won a JBL crown using this method.

And at halftime, I am loving my Rose/Deng connection tonight. It's about time they start to play like that. Anyways, that's all for now lads.

The Sunday Finale

Sunday, Sunday, Sunday (do it a tractor trailer announcing voice). We woke up and needed tickets for the Bears so we called our good friends at Stub Hub and made the deal. When we first booked this trip the Bears vs. Packers tickets were $300-$400 minimum per seat. Because the Bears suck and are out of playoff contention we were able to get pretty good seats for under $200 each. We had to split into 2-2 for the best seats but this worked out just fine.

New Soldier Field was built in 2003, inside the original walls of the Stadium built in 1924. With just 61,500 seats it is now the smallest stadium in the NFL. But it has history, great site lines, and passionate Bear fans. I mean really, if you were going to pick an NFL rivalry game for the Bears who would it be? The Packers of course. And honestly, that could be one of the biggest rivalries in all of the NFL and maybe one of the top 10 rivalries in all sports.

When we first arrived at the Stadium I couldn't believe how foggy it was....oh no, that's just the barbeque smoke from the 30,000+ tailgaters!! Awesome.

The new stadium is built right inside the old concrete walls so the history of the building is still evident.

Our first half seats (for Shaun and I) were on the Bears sidelines at about the 25 yard line. Luckily for us the Packers were on fire early and spent most of the 1st quarter in our end. Actually, the very first play from scrimmage for the Packers was a 65 yard TD run by Ryan Grant. I thought that was an early sign it was going to be a blowout. Didn't happen...thank goodness. I was also lucky enough to have a hot blonde sit down beside me. She was with her boyfriend and they had the beers going and the flask of something that smelled a lot like gasoline. Anyways, she was chatty, flirty, and pretty darn good looking. We had decided that we would switch seats with Ben & Trev for the 2nd half so Benny would have the pleasure of looking at this chick. Little did I know what would happen. I should mention the one negative about Soldier Field...the bathrooms. There aren't enough. The guys bathroom is so small that the lineups spill out onto the concourse level and it literally takes 30 minutes to take a leak. I missed almost all of the 2nd quarter waiting to take a leak - good thing they have TV's everywhere so I could witness the Bears make a game of it.

Our 2nd half seats look like this....we were now on the Packers side at the 20 yard line. That being said, the 1st half seats were much better because you had a view of the whole stadium. From the 2nd half seats you couldn't see the big screens because of the over hang. Anyways, the Bears briefly had a lead at 14-13 and looked like they could play spoiler. But then Cutler reverted to his bad habits and threw a couple of bad picks and Green Bay survived with a 21-14 win. The weather co-operated and the temperatures were right around 0 degrees. The experience was a blast...unlike any other sporting event I have attended. When the Bears make plays you are high-fiving everyone around you. Everyone is friendly with you...maybe because they are all wasted. But you all become part of this Big Bears family and everyone has a blast. Good times I tell ya.

Now, what I found out after the game was that my hot blonde friend (who I sat beside in the 1st half) was actually all over Benny. She was chatting him up, rubbing his leg, and even trying to make out with him. She was telling Benny about how many Packers she'd screwed and how Mark Chimura pissed the bed on the night they hooked up. You know she's telling the truth when she confesses that Chimura is a bed-wetter. She gave Benny her email address (which because of my job I now know who she is) and she even called her Mom and let Benny talk to her Mom. Apparently all of this attention she was giving to Ben didn't go over with her somewhat aggressive and larger boyfriend. Benny thanked me for the warning...hey, I had no idea she was gonna try and molest him...I'm pleading ignorance my friend. Anyways, the Bears game and experience was incredible...and if you are ever going to see a Bears game...get 200 level Media Club seats...awesome.

That night we went back to the United Centre to check out the high-flying Hawks. I have to say what a different customer base for the Blackhawks compared to the Bulls. (No kidding Sherlock). Surprisingly fellas, we didn't see any black guys watching the 'Hawks. And there were no Corporate suits there either...we're talking die hard Hawks fans. The building is loud and they love their Hawks. The team is young and fast and very easy to like. They destroyed the Lightning 4-0. Poor LeCavlier didn't know what hit him.

Our Sunday night ended in a pub just down from our hotel where we pounded back some beers, ribs, and hot wings.

Our wake up call for Monday morning was 5am Chicago time and we were on the plane at 8:15am flying home to Seattle. Benny was flying back to Halifax through New York. Before we left we reminded Benny to make sure he had his gloves. He had tried to lose those babies at least 4-5 times and we were there to save the day.

We landed at SeaTac around 11:30 and we left the airport at noon and I was actually home picking up Ryan from school at 3pm. Nice driving and border lineup. Sometime that afternoon I texted Ben to see how his day was going...his texted response was this....

1) Sitting at Wolfgang Puck chatting with Dave Andreychuk

2) left my gloves in the cab

Oh Benny.

Anyways, those were the highlights of the trip - at least the ones I could remember and felt like typing about. It really was a great time and the best sports roadie I've ever done. Benny and Trev - thanks for the memories - it was awesome.

So...how do we top it???

And what's going on in the JBL???

Who will make the next big trade?

What will Seoul do with that mediocre squad?

Will he really trade Lebron?

We have 3 distinct tiers in the JBL right now...

French and Golden are the in the top tier...but under 900 points (as of Dec 17th at 4:47pm PST)

We have 5 teams in the 700's and we have 5 teams between 400 and 600.

So, what does that mean?? I'll tell you..it means we have a tight race and no one is out of it.

Who makes the next big move in attempt to save/change their teams' fortunes?

Which big name player gets hurt next and could change the landscape of the JBL?

We're at the 1/3 mark of the JBL season and it looks like this will be a great battle all year...

Saturday in Chicago...

Saturday in Chicago brought us more adventure, more food, more frolicking and more fun. In the morning we set off for the Willis Tower (formerly known as the Sears Tower). This bad boy is something like the 2nd tallest building in the world and the 5th tallest structure in the world. Up we went to the 103rd floor about 1450 feet off the ground. We couldn't have asked for a better day as we could literally see for miles!

The really cool thing about this tower was "The Ledge". Years ago they built these little glass boxes off the side of the building. So, they are about 4 feet out from building and of course have a glass floor. So, you can literally walk out and look straight down, 1450+ feet, to the road below. What a great idea!! Oh my goodness. If you are afraid of heights, at all, this was a test. I thought, no problem, piece of cake, then my legs stopped working. I literally had to pick them up and walk myself out. Here is a picture of my feet looking straight down. Also, I am proud to say I peed at 1450 feet - and if you don't count airplanes then I have peed from a higher than you (unless of course you have been to the unfinished tower in Dubai).

After our visit to the Willis Tower, which was amazing, we took a cab over to a little restaurant called Smoque BBQ (www.smoquebbq.com). I found this place while watching one of my favorite Food Network shows - Diners, Drive-In's, and Dives. This place is all about barbeque. We had sausage, hickory smoked chicken, brisket, pulled pork, fresh cut fries, beans with brisket and 'slaw. $40 bucks to feed all 4 of us. This was one of our cheaper meals. And, as you can see in the picture, our personal trainer had a diet coke to balance out all the meat!

Our evening game was the Celtics and Bulls. 3 months ago when we bought tickets for the game the prices were ridiculous. In hindsight, we should have waited to see how shitty the Bulls would be and we could have had much better seats for the same price. As it was, we were 3rd row, center court, upstairs. Pretty good seats but not the same experience as the night before. Prior to the game, Trev and I had our picture taken with the team. :)

And of course I had my picture taken with the legendary monument built in Michael's honour.

This was the view for the Saturday night tilt. The game was competitive for the 1st quarter. The Appetizer (Brad Miller) was again on fire in the 1st quarter and played some inspired defense on a Rajon Rondo drive...basically assaulting him on his way to what he thought would be an easy lay-up. A flagrant foul was called and that really woke the Celtics up. KG was a beast and all the Celtics had good games. At halftime, the lead for the Celts was only 6 or 7 points, but the 3rd quarter they opened up to about a 17-18 point lead. From there, the 4th quarter was garbage time and we cheered for Brian Scalabrine to get on the scoreboard (no such luck).

The Celtics are a fine tuned machine. They have very few flaws and exposed every weakness the Bulls have (which are plentiful). After the game we took off to a Brendan Morrison recommended Japanese place called 'Japonais' (how appropriate). We were definitely the most under-dressed group in the place but man did we enjoy the views. The girls in here were all decked out and in some cases their boobs were hanging out. Awesome. Plus, it's fun to type 'boobs' - try it. We asked our waiter to have the chef make us some dishes so we could try a variety of things from the menu. We had 7 dishes in total. On 6 of the 7 my immediate response was "That's the best tasting dish I've ever had." Incredible food. For anyone whose eaten at Tojo's or other fine Japanese restaurants - I think this has them beat.

Near the end of our meal Paul Pierce and lady-friend entered the restaurant. They sat at a table behind us about 10 feet away. Trevor had a perfect view of them. Apparently, she was quite smitten with Mr. Pierce and she pretty much straddled him in their cozy little booth (built for 6 people).

And of course, as we left the restaurant Benny forgot his gloves again. This was the 2nd or 3rd time he had dropped them (once in the mall too) and we kept recovering them. Trev held on to them until the next morning for safe keeping...and the whole cab ride home and getting back to the hotel - Benny didn't even know they were missing. Oh Benny.

Trev and Shaun capped the night off by visiting one of the local "dance" establishments. Well, a few hundred dollars and a couple boners later...nope, not gonna fill you in...

Saturday in Chicago was amazing...stay tuned for the final day in the Windy City where the boys visit Soldier Field and check out the Canucks competition...

Chicago - My Kind of Town!

OK, it's been a couple of days now and I have had a chance to come down off the emotional high that was Chicago. Thought I should update the blog. I can't believe it's come and gone. It was awesome. Everything about the city that we saw and did was amazing. The sporting events, the city, the people, the meals, the classic hotel...all amazing.

So, let me summarize...

• Thursday morning we left at 6am from Port Moody. It was me, Trevor, and another friend of mine Shaun. We got down to SeaTac in good time and (9am ish) and decided it was time for some bevvies. We of course decided that screwdrivers would be the best option. Breakfast also sounded like an idea so I ordered up an omelet with some crab and shrimp. Normally, this might sound tasty, but I had forgotten that I was in a restaurant in the AIRPORT! So, the combo of eggs, shrimp, vodka, orange juice, and coffee had my stomach doing circles! With about 25 minutes before we boarded the plane I spent some time in the local shitter trying to make myself puke. The other end was working just fine - I was able to purge my bowels of a soupy like substance that would have made the soup-nazi proud. I was still green as a Celts jersey when I boarded the plane. I immediately located the nearest bathroom on the plane and prepared all 3 barf bags in my row for the inevitable puke fest at 32,000 feet. I was able to catch some Z's on the plane and ultimately my stomach issues subsided. That had the potential to be the worst start to a roadie ever.

• We arrived at our hotel, the Ambassador East to find this 1938 gem of a hotel. The rooms were tiny and hadn't been upgraded in a long time. We had some masking tape on the drywall in our room and the grout in the shower looked like my handy work. Ben and Trev's room was -32 upon arrival and they quickly cranked the heater to 80 degrees in hopes of warming up the ice box. My room was so small that the 2nd bed was actually butted up against the door opening. Crazy and classic at the same time.
  

• Our first night we went to Hugo's Frog Bar down the street. We geared up with long johns, gloves, coats, etc and walked the 3 blocks in -20 degree weather. Awesome. We ate and drank our faces off. Our appetizers were frog legs, escargot, oysters, etc...followed by monster steaks. We washed all of this down with Sam Adams. With a $400+ bill on the 1st night we had started the trip off with a bang. It should also be noted that Benny almost forgot his gloves at the restaurant. Thankfully, Trev remembered to grab them. Remember this for later...
  


• Upon arriving back at the hotel in the wee hours of the morning Trev and Ben noticed their room has only warmed up slightly. Oh well, I guess it takes awhile to heat up a hotel room.
  


• When Friday morning came around I went over to see the boys and find out our schedule. When they opened the door I found Trev and Benny fully clothed like they were going on an adventure to the north pole. Both had their coats and hats on. Why? Because their room was still -20. I guess the heater wasn't working after all. A quick call to the front desk and a visit from the local maintenance guy revealed the filter was shot and they had been blowing cold air around for the last 10 hours. Nice. Anyways, the boys had the better of the 2 rooms as it was bigger and had a cool peak of Lake Michigan from one of the windows.
  


• 
  


• We headed out for the Magnificent Mile (Michigan Ave). This is the main street of downtown Chicago that has hundreds of shops/stores/malls/restaurants. Amazing area. Filled with people. It was still quite cold and we walked a lot so we were a bit frosty after awhile.

• We shopped and I spent hundreds of dollars adding to Ryan's ever-expanding jersey collection. For Christmas, he will be getting a Garnett, Nash, and Chris Paul under the tree. Later, I would also add a Derrick Rose to the pile to go with the Kobe jersey we had already bought for him


• For lunch on Friday we went to a local Italian place called Giordano's. They advertise that they have the best deep dish pizza in Chicago. We took them up on the offer. We also saw CJ Watson eating in this place. We had to wait 30 minutes for a table (at 1pm) but it was worth the wait. While we were waiting for our lunch in came Anthony Morrow but the wait was too long for him so he want across the street to some other Italian place. Obviously Morrow and Watson aren't that close because they never acknowledged each other (or maybe they didn't see each other). Anyways, our deep dish pizza was big and outstanding.

• Our first game of the trip was Warriors vs. Bulls. Just walking into the United Centre was amazing. The history in that building. Awesome. The banners hanging from the rafters. Wow. Plus, we had 8th row seats behind the Warriors bench at the free throw line.

• Unreal. How impressive and cool the whole experience was finally hit me when they Bulls introductions came on...the music, the intro, the announcer and the crowd made the experience surreal. Hard to put into words really. Maybe I'll add the video of the intro's later...yeah, good idea. Anyways, the game was good. It went to OT with the Bulls eventually pulling it out 96-91. What did I take from the game? Many observations...


• Brad Miller gained a new nickname from our crew...the appetizer. He was the Bulls offense in the 1st quarter getting 12 pts and 7 rebounds. His stats for the game, 12 pts, 13 rebs. So, he set the stage for the rest of the night with his big start. Nice call Benny, the appetizer.


• Radmanovic's jump shot could bring rain.


• Deng is not a focal point of the Bulls offense...which is strange considering he's their leading scorer. Watching the game I didn't think he was anything special until I realized he had just put up 21-6-6. He just gets his points here and there, on broken plays, offensive rebounds, or wherever. Quiet player but really effective.


• Rose is not a natural leader at all. He doesn't say a thing on the court or in the huddle. That being said, none of the Bulls exhibited much confidence in their games. They constantly passed up open shots once Rose had passed to them. No wonder his assists are down.


• Monta Ellis is fast. Very fast. No wonder he turns the ball over so much...his mind cannot keep up with his body.


• Mikki Moore has the skinniest legs of any man alive and they are probably even skinnier than Calista Flockhart's.


• Hinrich is a whiner. Every call he complains or walks away in disgust.


• Del Negro should be fired. The offense has no flow to it at all. The guys really have no idea what they are running...they need a leader.
• After the game we went to the Chicago Chop House for steak. It should be called something other than steak because what we ate was like no other steak I had ever tasted. Amazing. 60 day aged Kobe prime rib he said. I asked for a steak knife and the waiter laughed at me. His look screamed of "son, you are a fool". He was right, I didn't need a steak knife to cut through this buttery velvet medium rare piece of heaven. Oh my. I guess it should be good for $89 dollars. Awesome food, awesome atmosphere. Afterwards, we waddled outside, found a cab and headed back to the hotel. As we exited the cab, again, Benny dropped one of his gloves. He was doing his best to lose them. We kept saving the day.
  

Well, that's a little bit of what happened the first 2 days in the Windy City...I'll do more about Saturday and Sunday tomorrow night...ciao for now.

Gibson's Steakhouse...

The 18oz bone-in ribeye steak....so big I ate it by hand...and couldn't finish it.





This was the key lime pie ordered for the table...it was tiny.



9:30am - Chicago
-15 degrees outside...
off for breakfast and to hit the Maginificent Mile...let's see what the shops of Chicago have to offer.

Meat Sweats....

Well, it's 11:30pm Chicago time and I am at the Ambassador East hotel in downtown Chicago watching the Orlando vs. Utah game from my 1938 hotel room. What are you doing? We just got back from Gibson's Steakhouse and I am suffering from the meat sweats. We had frog legs, escargot, mussels, goat cheese, oysters rockefeller, 18oz rib-eyes, asparagus, salad, and crawfish macaroni and cheese...oh and Sam Adams. What a meal. What a night. We walked the 4 blocks down to the restaurant in -20 degree temperatures...man it was cold. But so far, it's been a truly amazing experience...

More tomorrow...I'm tired after getting up at 5am so I'm gonna hit the sack...tomorrow we're gonna hit the Magnificent Mile and take in the Warriors and Bulls...oh man, what a day.

Chicago Here We Come...

Well, at 6am tomorrow morning we set off for the Seattle airport. At just after noon we'll be on our way to the Windy City...well, it could now be officially called the Chilly City with the temperatures hitting close to -20 at times this week. But good news, the forecast is for anywhere from 0 to -10 during our 4 day stay...So, here's the itinerary...

Thursday - Travel day. Arrive in Chicago at 6:25pm
Dinner is planned for http://www.hugosfrogbar.com/

Friday - Warriors vs. Bulls
Lunch at http://www.smoquebbq.com/

Saturday - Celtics vs. Bulls

Sunday - Packers vs Bears at 12:00
Sunday - Lightning vs. Blackhawks at 7:00pm

Monday - travel day - arrive in Seattle at noon and drive home...should be home for dinner.

I will do my best to post our adventures on here...
I think this could be one of the greatest boys roadies ever created...
How will it ever be topped?
Will Boston, Golden, and Chilliwack be able to hook up on any trades?
How much weight will I gain?
Who will have the nastiest gas?
Keep checking in to the blog for updates...

Down Goes Oden...

So, is it official? Is Greg Oden the modern day Sam Bowie? I mean it's bad luck and all but the comparisons have to be there. Portland could have had Kevin Durant. Could you imagine? For many fantasy teams, losing their starting center could be a big problem...lucky for French he already has Camby. Plus, he had Chandler on the bench and now just spent $43 bucks on Joel Pryzbilla. He has 3 guys who can play. Was $43 too much on Godzilla? Yes, yes it was. But not because Joel can't produce...he should be a 6 and 10 guy with lots of blocks over the rest of the season - but because in January Joel and Chandler will be on the bench and Blake Griffin will be the 6th forward in French's starting line-up. As good as a season as Oden was having (12ppg, 9reb, 48 blocks) this injury really doesn't affect the French team too much (in my opinion). Having Blake Griffin coming back in 3-4 weeks should more than make up for Oden's loss. French, you'll be OK.

Anthony Randolph went for 28 and 13 tonight with 5 assists (zero TO's), 1 STL, and 1BLK. So, is this the breakout night that gets him consistent minutes moving forward?? Probably not.

CJ Watson gets 17 points tonight. Maybe me signing him won't turn out as bad as I thought.

Dahntay Jones is gone from Golden. He's averaged 16ppg so far this season in 20 games and I am dropping him. Hmm. Wise move? I don't know. He's just so inconsistent. He will get picked up next week (waiver wire restrictions will have him getting signed on Wednesday night). Teams lacking scoring punch should be all over this guy. I know he's not the sexy pick but he still starts and can have value. Look for Idaho, Boston, Yuma, and Seoul to be all over him.

How many more games go by before Mickael Pietrus finds a JBL home? 22pts tonight with 4/8 from downtown.

I signed the youngster DeMar DeRozan tonight. Why? Well, my son Ryan loves the guy. We watch a lot of Raptors games together and he loves that DD tries to dunk everything. The fact that he he's freakishly athletic and seems to be getting better each game is encouraging. Plus, he starts and plays 4 games next week. So, is it Double-D for 4 games or Eric Gordon for 2 games??? Hmmm, tough call.

With my trip to Chicago coming up Ryan has asked for numerous jerseys to add to his already large collection. Whose jerseys does he have so far???? How about this collection for a 6 year old...he has Brandon Roy, Greg Oden, Rudy Fernandez, Iverson, Lebron, Nash, Bosh, Lewis, Earl Watson (classic white Sonics bought at the last Sonics game ever for $10 bucks), Dwyane Wade and I think I'm forgetting someone....Anyways, guess whose jersey Ryan wants me to buy when I'm in Chicago....Marco Bellinelli. I don't get it but somehow Ryan has a man-crush on Bellinelli. Go figure. I told him it might be difficult for me to find a Raptor jersey in Chicago, let alone a Marco Bellinelli Raptor jersey. Tops on Ryan's Christmas list is Kobe Bryant, Kevin Garnett, Dirty Dirk, and Derrick Rose. I think I can locate those in Chi-town.

Oh, guess who woke up tonight....Boris Diaw. 28 pts on 10/12 shooting with 5/6 from downtown. At least he can still play. I was about ready to give him up for dead. I know he was on my bench tonight - but this has at least given him a 2nd chance now for next week. Heck, even Erick Dampier was OK tonight with 12 rebs and 4 blocks. Not sure I can squeeze him into my lineup next week though.

I think the Pancakes and Thurmans are ready to move a bit over the next few weeks. Trevor's team is getting healthy and depending on what Iverson brings to the table they could start to move. He'll have Wade, Dirk, Iverson, Turkoglu, Mayo, Okur, Artest and others ready to contribute and should have Tayshaun Prince in a couple weeks as well. He's a long way behind in certain categories but there are still 17-18 weeks still to go. Chubby recently brought in Mo Williams, Manu Ginobili, and Mike Dunleavy in hopes of jump starting his struggling squad. They should help and maybe if Michael Redd can get healthy they could move up too. Kevin Love's return to Minny has helped Big Al and he could be ready for an increase in stats too. We'll see.

So, both these teams have made some major moves over the last 7-10 days...and that leaves Idaho sitting there in neutral. What moves will Tuna make in attempt to get things moving? Tuna's 16 guys deep - it's just that they are all role players. He's got Josh Howard and Kevin Marting waiting in the wings - but how long can he wait? Another 3-4 weeks before they are back and he could be in a really big hole. Rumours are that Portland will look to trade Andre Miller once December 15th rolls around (earliest he can be traded). Would that help his stock??? I guess it depends on where he lands. Maybe the Blazers look to trade him for another big man to help out in the middle?

Anyone else wondering why Arctic signed Eddy Curry? Maybe the bigger question is why Arctic still has Eddy Curry on his roster?? Curry is hurt yet the Circle Jerks are keeping him. Why? Crikker knows Eddy's a big fat tub of goo right? Good to see the Eddy Curry line is still intact with this guy (you know the one, where you take Eddy's Assists + steals + blocks and add them up and see if they equal his total turnovers - it's called the "Eddy line"). Eddy's line this year for him = 0 assists/steals/blocks compared to 11 turnovers. Well done Eddy.

Monta Ellis played all 48 minutes tonight and started at Forward. Could you imagine if Ellis got Forward eligibility??? Crazy. And look, Moped Ellis had only 7 turnovers tonight. Good for him. That's 44 turnovers in his last 7 games.

Prior to tonight's games I offered Seoul Boris Diaw and Dahntay Jones for Shawn Marion. It was obviously rejected.

Going to throw this out there....not sure Vinny Del Negro is the coach of the Bulls when we get there next Thursday. They looked horrible vs. the Raptors tonight. I think Vinny's in trouble.

Who's in the lead for Rookie of the Year now? Tyreke or Jennings? I think Tyreke may have passed the youngster. Another 21-7-6 for the Sac King tonight. He's very impressive. I think the Kings should trade Kevin Martin and get another young talent (a #1 pick) to build around. Then, if Sacramento fails to get a new arena, Seattle jumps up and steals this team and moves them north. Suh-weet.

That's all for now...have a good night.

The Barbosa Blitz...

With Belgrade dropping Leo Barbosa last night we could have a free agent bidding frenzy for his services...

Why?? Because of the value he brings as a 4th or 5th guard every week.
I will say that he's off to a slow start but he's still averaging 11ppg, 48% and 40%, and 28/16ATO. And he should get a bunch of steals once healthy. He also plays for the Phoenix Suns...yes, those are the Suns who are 2nd in the league in scoring (behind the Nuggets). I see a whole bunch of JBL teams that should be fighting to win his services...

Golden - Barbosa would be a great 5th guard as he can shoot 3's and provides good ATO.
Juan de Fuca - desperate for ATO and 3PT%
Idaho - needs some quality back court help
Seoul - another guard for a forward-heavy team
Boston - another option from a high scoring team is always a good idea.

I am still wondering why Belgrade made this move....
With Barbosa injured he could have stashed him away on IR for a few weeks. Instead, he has opted to sign Bellinelli (who appears to be getting less minutes these days). Maybe Belgrade is hoping Triano is going to move DeRozan out of the starting lineup and move Bellinelli into it. However, Belgrade now has 4 bench guys and no one is injured on his team...so someone will have to be dropped in the next 24 hours. Who will it be??? Maybe the best thing he could do is buy back Barbosa???

So what will the winning bid be for Barbosa. Considering guys like Krstic went for $61 dollars and Martell Webster went for $40 bucks - could be see a big bid right here?? Yuma has the most Free Agent money remaining but Golden, Seoul, and Juan de Fuca all have good amounts of cash left to bid as well. I see a very big bid winning his services.

My previous post this morning was about how I really need 3 categories....3PT%, STLs, and ATO....well guess what, Barbosa fits all those categories...

Let the bidding war begin....

Saturday Morning...

Well, it's been another rough week for the Golden Showers squad. 2 more injuries to deal with this week as Gordon and Aldridge have missed games. Add in the fact that Jennings now shoots 6/20 every night (just like I initially expected) and it's tough to make any ground. Oh well, there isn't much I can do at this point because a lot of other teams aren't willing to part with any guys right now. What could solve some of my woes??? Well, considering my 3 weakest categories are 3PT%, ATO, and steals - I could use a good 3PT shooting PG - but those don't grow on trees. Maybe I have to wait for the return of guys like Gordon and Jameer Nelson.

I signed CJ Watson last night. I know, I know, why?? Well, it's simple, if I'm going to be in Chicago to watch the Warriors next Friday - I need to cheer for someone on that team. Enter CJ Watson. He's actually played 4 good games in a row so it might not be a totally wasted week. Of course, by next Friday he could be the 12th man based on how the Warriors operate.

French continues his strong play and has opened up an almost 100 point lead. Well done. That team is very strong. And the Wack continues to get better and he's still missing guys (Biedrins) so that doesn't bode well for other contending teams.

We need a good JBL article...or a good podcast...or a trade involving Seoul...
sorry, not much time this morning...
That's all for now...