The Ray Allen pants scandal

Former Seattle Supersonic Ray Allen hasn't had the best of time lately on the internet as someone apparently hacked his twitter account and said some "obscene" remarks. Now this photo is floating around on ESPN.com of the Boston Celtics at Disneyworld.

While it looks fine, upon closer inspection, you'll notice Ray Allen is wearing a weird choice of pants.

Now I'm no fashion bug, but I'm pretty sure those are the same kind of pants you see being worn by Wal-Mart people at 2 a.m. in the morning when they have to make a early morning run to the five-dollar DVD bin.

Are those mom pants? I know that President Obama caught a lot of crap for wearing mom pants earlier in the year - but it wasn't so much the design of the jeans but the fact that they were hiked up around his armpits. Ray Allen seems to take the same gameplan... yikes.

Although I shouldn't be so hard on Allen as I'm pretty sure that  Casey wears the same kind of pants on the weekend.

Lessons in bad money management...

Here's what not to do with your money...

A former college friend of Brandon's - Spend all your financial aid for college in the spring quarter on a flat screen TV that ends up getting pawned off anyway after you lose your job for not working, get evicted for not paying rent because you spent all your money and wasting the rest of your money on pot.

Casey - Ooooo! A bright green Seahawks jersey for 80 bucks? I'm in!

Darth Vader - Let's put half the Galactic Empire's resources into a ship as big as a moon, only let's forget to cover up the exhaust vents. Nobody is going to find those.

Seattle Mariners - Ritchie Sexson! Carlos Silva! These are can't miss guys!

Brandon - Let's see I have 200 bucks to spare this month, I'll spend 50 of that on lattes, 50 of that on a Nintendo Wii game I'll play once, 30 dollars on Red Lobster (I don't regret this)... ooooo, is that an original copy of Waterworld starring Kevin Costner? I have to buy that....

Antoine Walker - (Courtesy of Deadspin) Well, since he bounced about $1 million worth of checks in Las Vegas you can chalk a healthy portion of that up to gambling losses. But that doesn't explain it all way. Walker was a generous friend and teammate. A little too generous. A Boston Globe investigation into the former Celtic's lavish lifstyle includes free spending, not just on himself—in 2002, he had a new suit made for every day of the playoffs so he wouldn't have to wear the same one twice—but on those in his very large orbit. Teammates say he routinely picked up giant dinner tabs on the road or would hire limos to take everyone out on the town. According to his mother, at one point Walker was financially supporting seventy of his friends and relatives.

Antoine Walker is in some financial trouble

The former Celtics star apparently saw "The Hangover" and took it to heart, literally.

Former Boston All-Star Antoine Walker faces three felony counts of writing $1 million in bad checks to three Sin City casinos, according to a report in yesterday’s Las Vegas Sun.

The 32-year-old forward, who played in 2008 for the Minnesota Timberwolves, won an NBA title with Miami in 2006. Before that season, ’Toine was traded to the Heat from the Celts, the team that drafted him in 1996.

No. 8 is accused of writing 10 bad checks worth a total of $1 million to three casinos: Caesars Palace, Planet Hollywood and Red Rock Resort, reported the Sun. Under Nevada law, gambling debts are handled as bad check cases.

I actually liked Antoine back in his days with the Celts, fun player to watch, but I guess I won't be jumping into any business ventures with him.

The Celtics continue to get older and better

With the addition of Rasheed Wallace, the Boston Celtics continue to look awesome on paper - but how this actually works on the court is yet to be seen.

Though the Celtics came away from last week’s meeting with the impression that Wallace would need time to make a decision - especially considering that he planned to meet with Representatives of four other teams - they requested expediency. That was due to general manager Danny Ainge’s continued search for free-agent talent, with both the $1.3 veteran’s minimum and $1.9 million biannual exception to spend on further frontcourt help.

Big men and backup small forward help are a priority, which explains the team’s plan to meet with Grant Hill.

Coach Doc Rivers, who lives close to his former Magic forward - now a free agent who played for Phoenix last season - acknowledged yesterday that he will soon meet with Hill.

This is one of those moves that could be seen either as brilliant or the second coming of the Allen Iverson trade. And with the possibility of the Grant Hill signing, I am now convinced that they'll be bringing back Larry Bird. Woo!

And if anyone from the Celtics is reading... might i suggest trading for... CLAP CLAP CLAP RODNEY STUCKEY! CLAP CLAP CLAP. He's use to drunk gingers in the crowd yelling his name from his Eastern Washington days, so he should fit right in at the Garden.

Celtics-Magic Game Seven Log

Since I got home late for the Lakers-Rockets Game 7 and that was an absolute sleeper of a game, I decided to do a game log for the match-up between the Boston Celtics and the Orlando Magic. So here goes.

5:08 - The TD Banknorth Garden is hopping in Boston. Although I really wonder what the old, un-sponsored venue in Boston would have been like under these circumstances.

5:10 - Rondo hits a three for the first points of the game and the Garden explodes. Say what you will about March Madness but the collective experience of a home crowd in the NBA playoffs beats a half-empty football stadium any day.

5:14 - Dwight Howard gets away with a foul on Rondo. I love the collective crowd "we just saw what you got away with on the jumbo tron" noise. You know, the "awwww-AWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!" It's classic.

5:15 - Somebody might want to guard Howard. The Magic are getting him the ball now and he thinks this is the All-Star dunk contest.

5:22 - The sideline reporter lets us know that Dwight Howard apparently dreamed about hitting the game-winning three of Game 7 and missed practice because of this. If only Alan Iverson had used that excuse.

5:27 - Brian Scalabrine checks into the game, surely sending shivers down every Magic fans' back. He promptly passes up a wide open three and give it to a teammate who bricks the shot.

5:32 - What NBA coaches say during timeouts: You're passing the ball. Good job. We will win if we pass the ball.

Fantastic Xs and Os here in the NBA.

END OF 1st QUARTER - MAGIC 27, CELTICS 17

5:40 - Stephon Marbury is in the game and apparently has one speed: out-of-control. That guy looks terrible out on the court and probably could barrel over a kid on the sidelines after a game-winning shot if he tried.

5:41 - I just want to say now that Paul Pierce has been heavily underrated his entire career. He's been fantastic in Boston. And he got stabbed or shot in the face. Anyone who has that happen to them and can still play basketball, well they deserve a sticker in my book.

5:51 - I love when a crowd sarcastically cheers when a ref gives them a foul. Where else in the world does this happen. Like would you sarcastically celebrate if you worked at McDonalds and got a ten cent raise? Seriously, give me a instance where you've done this...

6:00 - 39-33 Orlando, timeout called. Momentum seems to be shifting towards Boston, and TNT just flashed the obligatory "81 percent of home teams have won games 7s" which basically jinxes the Celtics.

6:11 - Ray Allen always seems to be able to hit those "big threes" that gets the crowd really into it. He sinks one to make it 42-38 and cause pandemonium in the Garden. Orlando looks lackluster.

HALFTIME - MAGIC 45, CELTICS 38

6:34 - Apparently Orlando is employing the "let's bunch up four of our guys together in one spot and look like the Keystone Cops" defense. Boston gets some backdoor plays because of this.

6:41 - 54-50 Orlando, although the Magic aren't really playing that great of defense. The Celtics really aren't a hugely athletic team without Garnett and they certianly don't have the advantage talent wise. However, they keep finding a way to stay in this game.

6:42 - 57-50. Timeout. The Celtics apparently are taking a page out of the Gonzaga playbook and not guarding the three.

6:51 - What's it with Smirnoff commercials. They keep showing loads of guys drinking the stuff. In all my years of drinking, you wouldn't be caught dead with a Smirnoff.

6:57 - 66-61 Orlando. Rondo buries a three and you have to think Boston will have momentum going into the fourth quarter.

END OF THIRD QUARTER, MAGIC 66, CELTICS 61

7:03 - I was wrong, Orlando has made it 74-61.

7:07 - I love when TNT pans to the "celebrities" in the Boston crowd. You get shots like these...


Not so sunny and happy in Boston compared to LA. What the hell is wrong with Ben Afleck and why does he look like he's got some incurable disease from an after-school special? And why is Jennifer Garner not wearing any makeup? Ladies and gentlemen, your Boston celebrities!

7:11 - Marbury is back in the game. God help the Celtics.

7:20 - I noticed that Eddie House had "E-house" tattooed on his shoulder. Put that on the list of "things that only professional athletes can pull off." That's like one of those moves that frat house idiot would do and then always show it off at parties.

7:23 - I guess Marbury has a tattoo on his skull of his discontinued shoe line logo. That's worst that House. By the way, the Magic lead 90-73.

7:32 - How is Marv Albert looking younger these days? Herbalife? It's like the Curious Case of Benjamin Button and in about three years he's going to look like Bob Costas.

7:35 - Doc Rivers takes out Pierce and Allen. This game is Ova!

ORLANDO 101, BOSTON 82

Lebron James is licking his chops now.

JustSON the Numbers: NBA Playoffs Game 7

Since this Sunday will feature two separate game 7's in the NBA Playoffs I thought I would focus this edition of JustSON the Numbers on the history of game 7 in the NBA.

When the Houston Rockets and Los Angeles Lakers tip off at 3:30 pm eastern time on Sunday May, 17th in Los Angeles on ABC it will mark the 103rd game 7 in NBA Playoff history.

The Boston Celtics and Orlando Magic follow up that game at 8:00 pm eastern time on TNT in Boston marking the 104th game 7 in history. In this seasons playoffs there have been two game 7's that both took place in the first round and both ended with the road team losing. Boston defeated the Chicago Bulls and the Atlanta Hawks defeated the Miami Heat.

Unfortunately for both Houston and Orlando history is not on there side. In the previous 102 games the home team holds a big advantage with 82 wins and only 20 losses. The lone bright spot for Houston is that the last 3 road teams to win a game 7 have been from the Western Conference and 2 of the last 3 have taken place in the Conference Semifinals, which happens to be this round of the playoffs.

Houston has won 2 road game 7's in the past, once in 1981 against the San Antonio Spurs (who were the last team to win a road game 7) and then again in 1995 against the Phoenix Suns. Houston is also playing the Lakers who have just once been on the losing end of a game 7 that they hosted and that was back in 1969 against Boston. Los Angeles does carry a 13-8 record in game 7's all-time, while Houston has a 5-3 record in the deciding game.

The Magic will be facing the Celtics who have a 20-5 all-time record in game 7's. A ray of hope for Orlando is the fact that Boston has lost 3 times at home in a game 7, in 1973 against the New York Knicks, again in 1982 versus the Philadelphia 76ers and most recently in 2005 while hosting the Indiana Pacers. Since the Magic have only been in the league since the start of the 1989 season they haven't had much experience in game 7's going only 1-1 in the deciding games.

The numbers don't lie, it will be a big task for either the Rockets or the Magic to pull off road victories on Sunday. It seems like we will be one step closer to seeing a repeat of last years NBA Finals when the Celtics beat the Lakers, but that is why they play the games. Maybe the Rockets will beat Kobe Bryant and the Lakers (Kobe has disappeared in game 7's before, Phoenix anyone?) and perhaps Dwight Howard and the Magic can pull off the upset in Boston.

I guess myself and everyone else will have to tune in on Sunday to see if the two road teams can do the unlikely.

If anyone has any requests for this column let us know. I don't discriminate, no matter the sport or the stat.

Big Baby Gets Shoved by Big Baby

This is ridiculous! There is some backlash coming from Orlando following the buzzer beater shot made by Glen "Big Baby" Davis in the Boston Celtics game 4 victory on Sunday over the Orlando Magic. No this has nothing to do with the shot beating the buzzer either.

You see after Davis made the shot he reacted like almost any NBA player would and ran down the court to celebrate with his teammates. Well if you have ever seen Glen Davis he is not the most svelte or agile person on a basketball court, so as he was running he had a decision to make, either run over the ref (by the way his reaction was priceless, he looked like a guy who just missed getting hit by a runaway truck) or go around him to the sideline. Well unfortunately for 12 year old Nicholas Provetti he took the way of the sideline and shoved young Nicholas. Video here

Now of course the father of Nicholas, Ernest Provetti was demanding an apology (he has since backed off). He emailed the NBA about this and said Davis was acting like a "raging animal" and also said "How do you like to be a 12-year-old and see a raging lunatic coming at you?"

Yeah I have to admit after reviewing the video it really looks like Davis is trying to injure this kid (anyone picking up my sarcasm?). I bet Davis was waiting all game to get revenge on this kid who was probably heckling him about his weight.

The way I see it is you as a fan accept responsibility for where ever you are in the stadium, if I'm sitting court side I fully expect and accept the fact that I might get a lap full of some NBA player who dives out of bounds to save a loose ball. If I'm at a baseball game I'll be watching out for a foul ball, even football or soccer I could get hit by an errant shot or throw (still hoping for this even though they don't let you keep them).

Perhaps they should change Davis' nickname to "Big Bully" and give the father of Ernest Provetti the "Big Baby" nickname?

Riders of Rajon

Don't hate Rajon Rondo.

After handling the Chicago Bulls in game seven, the Celtics are moving on to the second round of the NBA playoffs with an interesting series against the beleaguered Orlando Magic. And I'm starting to feel the Rondo-hate ride start to roll in.

During the epic Bulls series, which will go down in history as the best first-round playoff series that didn't involve a team making the finals that year, I got plenty of texts from my friends about how they didn't like Rondo.

And Rondo's foul on Brad Miller in Game 5 of the series brought an outpouring of "that should of been a flagerant!" and then when the guy shoved Kirk Hinrich into the scorers table... people we're about to put him in same category as the Cobra Kai Dojo in "Karate Kid."

All we were missing was Doc Rivers telling Rondo to "Sweep the leg!"

You know what? I love it. I love that Rondo is playing physical basketball. It's certainly been effective hasn't it?

And I can't believe I had to do this, but a week ago I actually had to defend these points... (a) Rondo is among the better point guards in the league and (b) he would start on other NBA teams.

I could go into detail about why Rondo is worth it but there's already enough people writing this point about Rondo. For all you haters out there, take off your college basketball glasses (they're not in season anymore) and understand that this guy brings so much to his position it's not even funny. He can run the offense to a tee, obviously play defense (proor Bwad Miwller's Bwusted Lwip), create his own shots and rebound. And his top speed is somewhere around the speed limit in the state of Montana. It's insane. 

With exceptions being  in San Antonio, Phoenix and New Orleans, every NBA team would absolutely love having a guy as multi-faceted as Rondo on their team.

Stadiums that shouldn't have been replaced...

Boston Garden Built 1928, Demolished 1997- The historical epicenter of NBA basketball for many years this was where the great Boston Celtics dynasty was built, and that could have been largely due to the building itself. Also hosting the Boston Bruins, the 15,000 seat arena was built with neither hockey or basketball in mind, it was built for boxing with the intent of allowing every person to be able to get a close look at the action.

This of course resulted in the seats being right on top of the players and the playing areas, giving it a very intimate and intimidating atmosphere. And speaking of atmosphere, there was no atmosphere in the garden, so a fog would develop over the ice during hockey games and it reached 97 degrees during the 1984 NBA Finals, and players were given oxygen to fight the heat.

It was rat infested, the electrical system occasionally failed and visitors lockers room were horrible. However, it hosted 16 Stanley Cup Finals and 20 NBA Finals and that may have had something to do with the fact that fans in the last row of the stadium was still close enough to the action to get the opposing coach to flip them off (true story) for their heckling. In Boston Sports lore, this is Holy Ground - and yet they had to tear it down for a brand new, soulless arena. What a shame...

Chicago Stadium Built 1929, Demolished 1994- Believe or not, Chicago Stadium is the breeding ground for Arena Football... kinda. Due to weather conditions outside, the first NFL playoff game was played inside its walls in 1932 on an 80-yard field.

While original capacity was 17,000, the record for an NHL game was set inside the stadium when over 20,000 people watched a Blackhawks playoff game in 1982. That record stood until 1996. The place was mammoth, and featured an grand organ that was played during hockey games which gave fan noise a loud ringing noise.

And they had plenty to cheer about when Michael Jordan and the Bulls brought some NBA Championships to Chicago. The grand scale of this venerable arena was the perfect backdrop for the budding years of the best basketball player ever.

How attached were fans? When CNN broadcasted the stadium's demolition, they showed footage of Blackhawks and Bulls fans crying.


Spokane Coliseum Built 1954, Demolished 1995 - While the Spokane Arena is probably one of the best things ever to happen to the Lilac City, there were plenty of memories to be had in the Coliseum. Affectionately called the "Boone Street Barn" many Chiefs fans were born in this building as the team really rose to prominence in the 5,400 stadium.

Ironically though, it was the Chiefs who lobbied for a new stadium but even team owner Bobby Brett expressed the opinion that he didn't want to see the Coliseum torn down. If it were still standing today, it would have provided Spokane a wonderful mid-sized arena with plenty of character and history to go along with it.

Foxboro Stadium Built 1971, Demolished 2001 - So it may have been one of the worst stadiums in the NFL, according to some (probably team owners), but Foxboro Stadium had plenty of memories. It was the site for the infamous Snow Plow Game, home of the Patriots during their mid-90s Super Bowl Run with Drew Bledsoe and the last game played in the place was the Tuck Rule Game which was a stroke of luck that allowed the New England Patriots to become the dynasty that they are today.

Why was it one of the worst stadiums? Because it was build cheaply, meaning that their were bleacher seats instead of individual premium box seating, no luxury boxes and no fancy locker rooms. Meaning that the fans that showed up to the games were true fans, not the corporate Disneyland crew that shows up to Patriot games now at Gillette Stadium, leading to many criticisms about the atmosphere at those games.

Sure it wasn't pretty, but it was a 60,000 seat snowbank that allowed fans to be fans. New England couldn't overcharge for tickets and therefore the real fans got to go to the stadium. Patriot fans long complained about their digs until it was finally gone and now they've lost something special forever.

Mile High Stadium Built 1948, Demolished 2002 - Originally built as a baseball stadium, Mile High was one of those weird multi-use stadium that worked well. Mainly because they didn't host a major league baseball team until the 90s, and mainly because the Denver Broncos provided so many memories in the place.

The high altitude, combined with the home field advantage of 76,000 fans was pretty tough for visiting teams to overcome. I know, watched many Seahawks teams go kaput there. The playing field would actually shake from fan noise and movement during games.

One of the grandstands could move so it could host baseball and when the Colorado Rockies were formed, Mile High set an all-season attendance record of close to 4.5 million that will never be broken.

While Invesco Field has tried to recreate that shaking effect, it's just not the same as the Broncos lost a certain mystique when they moved out of Mile High.

Memorial Coliseum Built 1960, still standing - The Portland Trailblazers have since moved into the state-of-the art confines of the Rose Garden, which is a marvelous facility, but there's still a special spot in Portland fans for Memorial Coliseum.

Due to its somewhat small size, just under 13,000, the place had quite the record for sell-outs when it came to Blazer games. However don't tell opposing teams that the crowd was small as Rip City has some of the most electric fans in the NBA.

Still a great facility, lets hope Portland doesn't tear it down. And what about the Blazers playing a throwback game there?

What's going on in the world of Hoops

It feels like its 1984 again. Not only have I gained so much weight from blogging that my basketball shorts are now "short shorts" but the Lakers and Celtics are the two best teams in the NBA. And it's not even close, it's those two teams beating the brains out of everyone else and then there's Lebron moonlighting with the Cavaliers.

Sound familar? Sound like the exact same conditions that a certain Bulls dynasty came to be? Hmmmm.

And how are our newly beloved Portland Trailblazers doing? Well let's take a look.

They're 15-10 so far this season, coming off of a embarrassing loss to the lowly LA Clippers, who picked a perfect time to suck - with the Lakers being so dominant there's no way anyone will pay attention to the JV LA squad.

Washington product Brandon Roy is doing his thing, averaging 22 points per game and five rebounds. While the big guy that everyone expects to be the savior of the Rose City is averaging eight points and eight rebounds a game.

Then there's LaMarcus Aldridge and Rudy Fernandez - they've been having what you might call a pretty good season. Averaging 17 and 11 points respectively. It seems that the rise of the Portland Trailblazers might go a little quicker than expected.

In the world of college basketball, we've got a mixed bag.

Gonzaga gets its first defeat of the season and my prediction of a possible No. 1 ranking goes to hell.

Washington State defeats Montana State in Seattle after being blown out by Gonzaga last week. Good for them, nothing says NCAA Tournament like beating a Big Sky team.

At least they blew out the Big Sky team they were playing, Washington barely squeaked by Portland State. They seem to have trouble with teams for the Rose City as early in the year they lost to the University of Portland (of the WCC).

Now the Huskies will play Eastern Washington, who is coming off of a vacation in Hawaii where they lost by 20 points to the Warriors. No matter though as they're still one of the pleasant suprises in college basketball this year. This will be a good test against the Huskies, who could be either really good this year, or disappointing.

Should I talk about the Thunder? Nah, didn't think so.

Epic Video: How fitting is it that Glen Davis' nickname is Big Baby

Glen Davis isn't crying because Kevin Garnett chewed him out during a time out, he's crying because somebody spilled grape juice on his favorite blanket.

Local ties to NBA championship

More Northwest ties to winning. Brian Scalabrine, a graduate of Enumclaw High School was on the inactive roster of the NBA champion Boston Celtics.

See the article here.