Blog Outsourcing: 9/27

Welcome to today's edition of Sparty and Friends.

A year ago, I spent the night in a mall alongside others stuck amidst the floods as a result of a typhoon. I walked and saw its carnage. I, on behalf of my fellow countrymen, appreciate the efforts of those who tried to chip in and help.

Walking home that fateful Sunday morning and seeing what transpired during the night, it really surprised me as to how we were caught off-guard, unprepared and shellshocked we all were. All the mud, the damage, the carnage. Good thing we were able to secure electricity that night.

I hope we learned from that experience and move on to become better prepared and better focused on handling disasters like this in the future.

Onto other things:

I'll need a miracle to beat GITC. You heard me, Aaron Rodgers? I need an aerial attack to work. And if you stall, I'll need Mason Crosby to make field goals. You got that?

Hereforth are the links:

Records are meant to be broken, but these are somewhat unassailable.

More reasons why people blame the economy. But it's also on Title IX perhaps.

We're getting closer and closer to looking like the peeps on Wall-E.

And the beat goes on for Jose Bautista.

Remember when people got scared on the possibility of OT during the NFC Title game as well as the Super Bowl? It just happened in Aussie Rules Grand Final.

Now, why would you do this?

GITC vs this girl? Who wins?

Here is an idea that might work for baseball.

The Reds have a flamethrower in their midst. Think he can do a 2002 K-Rod facsimile? They only need either a win or a Cardinal loss and they've sealed it.

Phillies seal a berth in a loss.

The Bobby Cox roadshow ends in a loss. He had earlier secured his 2500th win.

Think Ben Stiller or Vince Vaughn would be the stars of this one?

This DMC can rap unlike the other AFC West DMC. But they don't stand a candle to THE RUN DMC.

Danica Patrick making baby steps in her quest for domination.

RIP Giant Gonzalez.

David obviously did not learn from Tiger.

Finally, the Texas Rangers secure the division. Looks like their rotation is set, too.

Michael Owen saves the Red Devils from defeat. But on the other hand, Chelsea goes down to Manchester City.

Real Madrid having problems scoring goals. Not for Barca. Meanwhile, Valencia leads the Primera.

Ryan Mallett's Heisman chances are at the same tier as Jake Locker's.

Boise State did enough to stay in the chase, but what is interesting now is that Nevada is giving them an unintentional lift. They meet on Thanksgiving Friday at Reno. Meanwhile, Virginia Tech helping the Broncos out with a shutout against Boston College.

Oregon escapes with a win against Arizona State with an undefeated Stanford (fresh from blasting the Irish that had the Stanley Cup in their midst) looming in the horizon.

Ohio State and Wisconsin plaster their opponents with 70+ scores. Their Big Televen play opens next week with Buckeyes facing the Zookers and the Badgers facing the Spartans. Speaking of which, we still don't know if Dantonio is going to coach, but Don Treadwell's doing fine so far.

The Red River rivalry lost a little luster as Oklahoma's stumbling through and Texas actually losing in Austin.

Things are about to get ug(a)ly in Athens. First, they lose at Starkvegas. Then, they kick out a player.

ACLs down someone in Happy Valley and in Oxford. Knees being monitored in Purdue and Ann Arbor.

Here is the AP Poll.

How did the Twins win the division?

Cubs in no rush to find Sweet Lou's successor, but is Ozzie interested? Brenly is not.

Glad to know Blake Hawksworth is fine.

Writing on the wall for Bonderman?

Yankees end slump, take advantage of Rays slip-up.

KG is feeling good. Looks motivated, too.

At this point, the guy needs to shut up already. It's embarrassing. Makes that loss to the Rams look really awful.

Let the overhype between McNabb & Vick begin. Vick just finished assaulting cats.

Singapore really is a nice place to have a race.

Parting video: Because she made headlines on SNL after the Sesame Street issue.

TWTWTNBA: The Melo Conundrum

So, the Nuggets finally relented and decided to do the inevitable and listen to trade offers involving Carmelo Anthony. They're not going to get full value, but they'll try. Who should be trying to pry away him from the Rocky Mountains?

These are in no particular order, by the way.

1. Los Angeles Clippers. Homerism aside, they have an interesting trade chip (David Kahn's unprotected future 1st round pick. You can thank Adrianna Lima's husband). They can also dangle any combination of Chris Kaman, Blake Griffin, Eric Gordon and Aminu. In the end though, Sterling will nix it for he is Donald Sterling.

2. Chicago Bulls. Any deals that Denver would be interested in would probably involve Joakim Noah. The Bulls would like to jettison Luol Deng out of Chi-town at this point. Other than that, no dice.

3. New Jersey Nets. If this Russian billionaire is like the one that's running Chelsea FC, they will be looking for a star. They struck out on Lebron (for now), so they train their eyes on Melo for the Barclays marquee. They can trade Derrick Favors, a gaggle of big men and possibly Devin Harris.

4. New York Knicks. Because they are Melo's top choice. Unfortunately, they don't exactly have the ammo for a deal. They'll need a conduit third team in the mix.

5. Philadelphia 76rs. The Sixers would be interesting if they can part with Iggy and/or Brand. Yes, Elton pretty much sucked since he left the Clips to sign that huge contract. Iggy played well in Istanbul, but he's a glue guy paid like a superstar (sort of what Rudy Gay is now).

6. Orlando Magic. They are so ridiculously deep that they can offload them onto someone and not miss a beat. Gortat / Bass would be included, as would probably Vince. Hey, they can jettison the rights to the coward named Fran Vasquez.

7. Washington Wizards. Melo grew up in Baltimore, so a hometown trip may be what he needs. He would also be relieving pressure on John Wall to become a scorer and focus more being a distributor. It's unlikely though because it will definitely involve Gilbert Arenas' contract, which is highly immovable.

8. Los Angeles Lakers. Imagine Melo with Kobe and Pau vis-a-vis the South Beach Diet of Wade, Lebron, and Bosh. They'll have to part with Odom and Bynum to do this, for starters. If Kupchak pulls this one off, God help us.

9. Houston Rockets. Given that Yao Ming is the Zydrunas Ilgauskas 2.0, Daryl Morey has some nice trade chips he can use to snag Melo (Kevin Martin or Luis Scola, but not both).

10. Atlanta Hawks. I just think that the Hawks need to shake their offensive lineup a little bit. I have a sense that there is not really much upside left and they need to fix it to compete with the upgrades that Miami and Boston conducted. A Melo-JR Smith for Joe Johnson-Marvin Williams swap could help both squads.

Blog Outsourcing: 9/20

Welcome to the Today's Edition of Sparty and Friends.

I dunno what's going on with state of education in your neck of the woods, but the interesting thing that's going on in the Motherland as of late, is that our Education Department has released a memo barring teachers in public schools (that may extend to private schools in the future) to assign homework on Fridays. The premise is that the students deserve to enjoy the weekend and that homework cuts into that time.

I would have bought the idea, if our educational system can handle getting the kids straightened out, but with all the woes and deficiencies, that puts a lot of pressures on the academe.

Then again, one could only be bitter with them getting the weekend off, something I never experienced when I was their age. Lucky kids.

In other news, the collegiate basketball final participants have been decided. The first game between my alma mater and Far Eastern University will take place on the 25th of September. We handily dispatched our Final Four opponent yesterday. Feels good. In addition, yesterday was a double whammy as my college alma mater's high school sealed their third consecutive title. Yup, the college is eager to get this guy into the college basketball scene.



Here are the Fantasy League Updates (for NFL, pending the MNF)

KWSN & Friends FFL:

Ateneo LA Clippers vs GoodJobSmackOnTheButt - 98-72 (Clip Show still has Pierre Thomas raring to go)

So Favrelicious vs Future Seahawks Death Penalty - 83-74 (So Favre still has Garrett Hartley ready to kick)

Chmuras Hot Tub Crime Machine vs Russell's Purple Drank - 96-79 (Tub has Marques Colston while Vernon Davis is taking the Purple Drank)

Name TBD vs Favre's Flip Flops - 67-103 (GITC needs Frank Gore to do a miracle)

Pigskin Pick'em

Week 2 results:

Brawny Tom had the best selection with 11. KWSN, Mikey and myself each have 10.

League Standings:

Brawny Tom has a 2-pt lead over KWSN (23 to 21). One pt. behind them is John and myself.

College Pick'em

Week 2 results:

Sparty, after laying a goose egg on Week 2, goes off with 49. KWSN has 47, while Johnny & Cabbage each have 46.

League Standings:

Patphish has 142, a slim 2-pt lead over KWSN. Trey is being trey with trey points further back.

Onto the Links!

The idea of a mercenary cheerleading outfit might just work.

This was his chance. Looks like he took advantage. Your move, Andy Reid.

Put it this way, there more lies a social construct to who you recruit. It comes with the territory. You just hope it pans out, right Urban? Meanwhile, said Gators were dispatching a woebegone Volunteers squad whose former coach lashed out a bitterness rant against another.

Football is always considered as an homage to gladitorial combat. Injuries come with the territory. Some just can't handle that.

Some people have way too much time on their hands, but this looks really cool.

Mike Singletary is very very underrated with the sound bytes, because we are overwhelmed with Rex Ryan ones.

Quo vadis, Joe Torre?

Relax, people! He has not kicked the bucket yet.

What he really means is that he really really loves beating the living soul out of the Mets.

Reasons why I have no inclination with tattoos.

Colorado pulling off their trademark Rocktober-fest.

One creative way to increase revenues.

He really left it all out on the field.

Rules that need revising. Seriously.

2 years of Beadle.

You all know what went on during the weekend, so proceed with discussions. Meanwhile's here's Dominic Monaghan and Megan Fox to send you off.

TWTWTNBA: The World Basketball Championships post-mortem

These are some of the things that we learned from the World Basketball Championships

1. Kevin Durant is ready to take the best player mantra right now. If there is any doubt that he is not among the best in the world, leading the so-called B-team to first gold medal in the tourney since Dream Team II erased all that. I think he will win the 2010-11 NBA MVP if Oklahoma City takes the next step.

2. Hidayet Turkoglu gets a bounce back year in his Phoenix debut. Nothing like playing well for your flag to rejuvenate you after a lousy season. It happened with AK-47 before.

3. Lithuania will be dangerous in the Eurobasket 2011. Finishing third in the tournament sure made things look good for a team with only one NBA player (Linas Kleiza) on the current roster. Watch out for a future NBA player named Donatas Montejunas on that roster by then.

4. The Serbian resurgence is primed up. I still cannot get over the Milos Teodosic bomb against Spain. Turkey needed a block in the final seconds to escape with a semifinal win. Like Lithuania, they only have one current NBA player (Nenad Krstic). And after that nasty incident in Greece, they surely needed this good set of news.

5. Luis Scola. Argentina had no Manu Ginobili and Andres Nocioni got hurt in the path to Istanbul. Already known as one of the most hardworking players in the NBA, he then raised it up a notch. He averaged 27.1 pts (tops in the Tourney), 7.9 rebounds (4th), 35.9 minutes (3rd), 56.6 % shooting (5th). With all the uncertainty surrounding Yao Ming, Luis Scola can surely fill the void.

6. Playing bodes well for the upcoming NBA season. The future of USA Basketball looks really good. Youngsters like Russell Westbrook, Eric Gordon and Stephen Curry really benefited from the experience. NBA fans now have an idea on certain players who will be coming in this season, like Mozgov for the Knicks, Splitter for the Spurs, Asik for the Bulls and Erden for the Celtics.

7. Hard to argue the best game of the tourney. Brazil vs Argentina (Scola vs Huertas showdown) or Spain vs Serbia (Teodosic bomb) or Turkey vs Serbia (The Block) would be the prime choices.

Blog Outsourcing - 9/13

Welcome to today's edition of Sparty and Friends.

Yup, football fever has taken over. Already 2 200+ comment posts and another 100+ comment post for the past 2 weekends. You guys surely love your football. Especially when the writers and commenters are either a Spartan, an Irish, a Gator, a Vol, a Nittany Lion, a Buckeye or a Yellowjacket or a Giant, a Jet, a Dolphin or a Patriot. I actually missed out on the commenting madness the past two days. To prepare for this post (as I always do), I had to backread the posts and comments to set the table as to what I am going to write home on.

As for me, I watched the final regular season game of my alma mater. We lost by 2 pts, but we could have won the game with the missed free throws and a missed layup in the final seconds. However, we already secured the twice to be advantage by winning our game last September 5 against the University of Santo Tomas (the game where you saw my picture from last week's TMA). The Final Four is scheduled this week. Hopefully, I can write home something positive from that and I can relate them to you on next week's TMA.

Oh, and the VMAs took place last night, where I found this picture of someone that our newest member of the S&F team would absolutely appreciate...

Now here are the links:

Johan is shut down. We wish him well.

Mariano Rivera blows one. He's fine, people. Then again, they need to get Andy Pettitte ready already. Oh, and that came after Nelson Cruz killed them. Rafael Soriano also blew one, too.

Cheers to the Twins. They get their 4,000th win.

NL MVP race still undecided, because Albert Pujols just made his presence felt. On the other hand, Domo Arigato, Mr. Joey Votto.

Welcome to Rocktober. After they stole one from the Reds, Jason Giambi gets his 1st hit against the Diamondbacks in style. That's 10 straight. They are now creeping closer to the NL West division lead, which is a toss-up by itself, thanks to Tim Lincecum.

The BCS Cartel pressed the Buffalo Wild Wings button. James Madison answered the call.

Shoelace better start practicing Desmond Howard.

Week 1 in a snapshot.

Matthew Stafford's hurt. Not good news for the Lions.

Alex Barron blew this game. He better pack his bags.

Saw this in a tweet. Might be funny yet true: Philly coach Andy Reid muttering, please stay injured... please stay injured...

Well, at least it is not due to overtraining, right?

Tony Dungy must be the NFL pontiff.

Yup, typical Jets fans.

To paraphrase a tagline of one of the Motherland's most well-known banks, You're in good hands, with Kevin Durant. But the 12 Giant Men gave them their all.

How much do you want for Ron Artest's championship ring?

Melo to Chi-town? Probably not.

Do you still remember the anti-Peyton Manning? While the real one got battered by Arian Foster.

Bruce Pearl must have learned this from Lane Kiffin. However, he is a lovable guy, so that's fine.

Johnny might be interested in this one.

This goes with the Robert Green and that Chaouchi Gaffe gallery.

Daytona gets a hi-tech face lift from someone who has never ever been there.

Terry Labonte doing a Brett Favre.

The Tafosi celebrate the Prancing Horse's win in the Italian GP, but this might be the real reason to celebrate.

Because you need to know what is going on in the Canadian Football League.

Kim Clijsters was successful in defending her crown. Unfortunately, Rafa's quest for the career Slam is delayed.

Floyd Mayweather's still getting headlines for all the wrong reasons. Still saying Floyd's a farce.

They must have had a really really bad case of diarrhea.

Are you excited for volleyball? Speaking of volleyball, the streak ended.

Parting videos... This one came from the recent Cheerdance competition that the Motherland was focusing on yesterday.


This one came from the VMAs. This one features the Real Slim Shady.

Eminem & Rihanna - Love The Way You Lie - Live MTV VMA 2010 from Infox on Vimeo.

Blog Outsourcing 9/6

Welcome to the latest edition of Sparty & Friends.

It's Labor Day in the United States, and I am pleased to say that my job will allow me to have the day off today. But writing blog posts is a 24/7 responsibility for the site and the quest to provide quality content is always a responsibility all of us writers have. It always helps to have readers suggest possible posts.

Whilst college football marked its opening this weekend, college basketball for my alma mater is picking up. One more game to go before the end of the regular season. Toting a 10-3 record, they are a game behind Far Eastern University, whom they will be facing this Saturday, September 11th. Yes, that is a significant date. We lost to them in the previous round robin, but one missed lay-up was the difference.

Meanwhile, yesterday I had the opportunity to watch them seal the twice-to-beat advantage in the Final Four, albeit in a scary fashion. The special thing about this game is that I watched the game at courtside level. I somehow lucked out in getting one, which costs slightly over $7. Usually, these particular seats are always snapped up, especially when it comes to rivalry games.

The experience of watching it down there is really great. It will probably be unlikely for a repeat with the playoffs looming, but I would like another crack at it.



Hereforth are the content action:

Revis Island is ready for the upcoming season. Caretakers like Randy Moss and Brandon Marshall are to be advised.

Final roster cuts have been made, some look bad, but others look deserving.

Vincent Jackson is still a Charger for now.

Steeler Nation ready for Charlie Batch?

The Padres are on a skid. Giants catching up.

Good thing the Rangers locked it up already, because injuries are piling up, with Josh Hamilton and Cliff Lee skipping. They botched one, too.

On the other hand, Rays and Yankees are on a dead heat still, as for the Red Sox? All Sawx fans are in FML mode.

Carpenter keeps things alive, but the story is about the Rasmus drama.

Atlanta and Philly in a NL East tug-of-war.

Immediate repercussions from the Chapel Hill mess.

Things looking good for the Irish, even their TV profile.

How was it in Jacksonville State, the day after?

Cardiac Finish! Prayers were answered. Sure helps to be 6'8"



Turkey and Slovenia advance. USA plays later against Angola and will face winner of Russia vs New Zealand.

Delonte in Boston makes sense.

So Floyd "apologizes." The smart people have figured that out already. As for the Pacquiao, he shrugged it off.

Parting shot: Since it was 90210 a few days ago...

Blog Outsourcing - 8/30

Welcome to the latest edition of Sparty and Friends.

Interesting tidbit about this particular month, there are 5 Sundays, Mondays and Tuesdays.

In the Motherland, today is National Heroes Day. A holiday to commemorate the Cry of Pugad Lawin more than a century ago.

Last week at the time of writing last week's post, the Motherland was gripped in a hostage crisis involving tourists from Hong Kong. Unfortunately, things did not end well and as such, we deservedly are getting flak for it. I am just annoyed with the excessive nature of the repercussions. Admittedly, our handling situation more looked like Keystone Cops instead of CSI / Criminal Minds, but still, don't blame the ordinary person for something that he or she did not do, just because of his or her nationality. It reeks of racism.

The next day, it was all about the major major way. Fetch called it when he watched.

Tough week, but time to shake it off and on to the next one.

Hereforth are what you want to click on and weep.

Dan Johnson deja vu'd the Red Sox. And they are 6 games out with 31 left.

Manny Ramirez to the South Side. Imagine if Jay Mariotti did not have any issues to worry about.

Yovani Gallardo had a really bad day.

Well-deserved. One day will be in the Hall.

Can he save the rotation for now? Or do we need to wait for him to come back?

How do you make the Yankees hip and trendy? A simple touch of Jigga.

This story will be the white elephant in the room for as long as New York is around. I still think he is not the right fit for that job, yet.

The Reds have a hidden ace in the deck.

One more to 600.

The chase continues for San Francisco and Colorado.

Replay works.

Sure, it is not the levels of manager histrionics, but not bad.

Get well soon, Bob Feller.

And so the repercussions of USC and Reggie Bush continue.

UGA wins the Fulmer Cup.

Los Angeles Vikings, anyone?

Bill Polian is a genius of a GM.

$8 million training camp invitation.

Minor setbacks for Oakland?

Details, it is all about the details. That is always good lawyer advice.

Now we know why his stock dropped back then.

Is this the anti-no huddle rule?

Favre in mid-season form. Yup.

That's just bad football. At least it can still be corrected at that age.

Can he handle the pressure of both being in New York and being Patrick Ewing?

Day 1 highlight? France beating Spain. Day 2 Highlight? Germany beating Serbia by 1 pt.

Is Jurgen Klinsmann the next step?

James Toney was definitely Lights Out.

RIP Luna Vachon.

Mr. Nicole Scherzinger wins the Belgian GP.

Pearl Harbor again? Not exactly, but close.

Finally. 2nd win for Wie!

Flushing Meadows time. Means more of this, hopefully.



13 year-old kid dies in a race. Way way way too young.

I hate this match. I know Floyd is a chicken, but this reeks of Top Rank selfishness to the nth degree. Money talks, nowadays.

Because I like how they dance...

The World Basketball Championships 2010 Preview - Group D

The World Basketball Championships are coming to Turkey next week. As such, here is a simple basic layman's check on each team participating.

Canada - Neither Steve Nash and Samuel Dalembert are available for the neighbors up north, but recent Knicks draft pick and Syracuse alumnus Andy Rautins (also known as Canada coach Leo Rautins' son) will be manning the playmaking and shooting chores. UConn alum (and someone who played in the Motherland recently) Denham Brown as well as two current Gonzaga Bulldogs in Robert Sacre and Kelly Olynyk join in the cause. Joel Anthony is also around to be the resident veteran big guy. It shows you how bad Jamaal Magloire has been when his lesser known teammate makes the team.

France - Tony Parker (and Eva Longoria), as well as Roddy Beaubois and Ronny Turiaf will be skipping the tournament. Led by the ballooning Boris Diaw, French basketball will revolve on whether Nicolas Batum will take the scoring cudgels and act like his teammate in Portland, Brandon Roy. Air France's brother Florent Pietrus is also playing, as well as a couple of San Antonio draft picks in Nando De Colo and Ian Mahinmi (who has moved on to Dallas). And, no, Frederic Weis is not on the team, so we will not be seeing this highlight again.

Lebanon - The other major thorn in the quest for the Motherland's Olympic qualification. Best player is Fadi el-Khatib, a scoring machine. They have a couple of Americans in Matt Freije and Jackson Vroman to bolster the ranks.

Lithuania - Only one NBA player is on their roster in Linas Kleiza, but they have a few NBA-caliber players on it. They will be hosting the upcoming Eurobasket next year, so this will be a good preparation for them. It will be wishful thinking if they would wear this, too.

New Zealand - The Tall Blacks' most well known asset is veteran benchwarmer Sean Marks. But he is not playing this time. They will be relying on veteran guard (and former Wisconsin Badger) Kirk Penney and Pero Cameron (who was an all-Tourney team in the ill-fated World Basketball Championships in Indianapolis)

Spain - Best team in Europe. No Pau for the Euro champs? They have his brother, Marc, in. No Jose Calderon? They brought it former Jazz PG Raul Lopez (once thought to be John Stockton's successor) to replace him and then hand the keys off to Ricky Rubio (you may proceed with your Kaaaaahhhhhnnnnnn! right now). They also have the most expensive second round pick ever (Sergio Llull), two guy who had a cup of tea with the NBA (and should be back there) in Jorge Garbajosa and Juan Carlos Navarro, and the guy who should consider this to be his try out for all other NBA teams (Rudy Fernandez).

Top 4: Spain, France, Lithuania, Lebanon

The World Basketball Championships 2010 Preview - Group C

The World Basketball Championships are coming to Turkey next week. As such, here is a simple basic layman's check on each team participating.

China - Still no Yao Ming, so it will be up to Yi Jianlian, the prodigal son Wang Zhizhi and Sun Yue to carry the cudgels. But admittedly, Yao makes this team go and he will be missed terribly. Unless they have something good in the pipeline, the Middle Eastern teams might end the Chinese reign in Asia.

Cote d'Ivoire - They shocked the continent by finishing 2nd in FIBA-Africa. If they pull off a win in this division, that would definitely be a shocker.

Greece - FIBA has made their decision. However, the Greeks are still in contention with the talent they have from top to bottom. Former Jeff Van Gundy benchwarmer Vassilis Spanoulis is the playmaker, with their bigs providing size. Their shortest player is just 6'4". They also have former Gator Nick Calathes. They are the San Antonio Spurs of Euroball.

Russia - No Andrei Kirilenko, but they still have their American PG and Russian passport holder JR Holden. They also have Viktor Khryapa and Sergei Monia who have had NBA experience. And Knick fans, here is your shot of getting to figure out Timofey Mozgov. Jayhawk fans would also want to know that Sasha Kaun is also on the team.

Puerto Rico - If they are getting on track, they will need as much as they can from their two NBA guards in JJ Barea and Carlos Arroyo. They also have former Cane and Clipper draft pick Guillermo Diaz who can light it up. Peter John Ramos and Daniel Santiago make up their size and Nuggets forward Renaldo Balkman can defend. Unfortunately, Arroyo bromance buddy Larry Ayuso was bumped off the team for Diaz.

Turkey - The hosts won't be having Mehmet Okur and former Wolfpack guard Engin Atsur, but the home crowd would be pumped up to know Hidayet Turkoglu will be leading the team. He could surely need a redeeming effort after that horrible year in Toronto for the newest Phoenix Sun. Omer Asik and Semi Erden will tag team the minutes Memo will vacate. Ersan Ilyasova is an emerging star for the Turks after his breakout season with Milwaukee.

Top 4: Greece, Russia, Puerto Rico, Turkey

The World Basketball Championships 2010 Preview - Group B

The World Basketball Championships are coming to Turkey next week. As such, here is a simple basic layman's check on each team participating.

Brazil - Nene will not be participating, but the 14th-ranked team by FIBA will be led by the Brazillian Greyhound, Leandrinho Barbosa. Barbosa will be the latest finding for the Nash Effect in Toronto. To compensate for Nene's absence will be a tag team of Sideshow Bob (Anderson Varejao) and Tiago Splitter, who's finally making his NBA debut this season with San Antonio.

Croatia - Led by former NBA guards Roko Ukic (formerly Toronto, now with Fenerbahce) and the once dubbed as the J-Kidd successor Zoran Planinic (formerly New Jersey, now with Khimki Moscow), the Croats might not be the best former Yugo republic in this division

Iran - They still have the core of the team that beat China for the FIBA-Asia title (granted they beat a home team without Yao Ming), the Motherland has hired away their then-coach Rajko Toroman (who led Iran to their first Olympics) to pull off the same magic, this time in our quest to qualify for London 2012. Obviously, they will be led by their NBA player, Hamed Haddadi.

Slovenia - The sleeper team in this division. No Beno Udrih, but Goran Dragic, ostensibly either as Steve Nash's successor or future Euro stud, will be quarterbacking this core group. Bostjan Nachbar (former of Houston and currently with Efes Pilsen) as well as Primoz Brezec will be around to chip in. Why sleeper? They finished 4th in the last Eurobasket.

Tunisia - FIBA World Championship debutantes and we really have no idea who they are really. They finished third in the FIBA-Africa last year.

United States - Most of the key cogs from the Redeem Team are not participating. With the exit of Rajon Rondo, the roster of the final 12 is set as follows:

G - Chauncey Billups, Stephen Curry, Eric Gordon, Derrick Rose, Russell Westbrook.

F - Kevin Durant, Rudy Gay, Danny Granger, Andre Iguodala, Lamar Odom,

C - Tyson Chandler, Kevin Love,

Considering the nature of rosters out there, they should have gone with a 25-and-under team (as suggested by Bill Simmons) with the core of the Redeem team (Kobe, Lebron, Wade, Melo, Dwight) + the young studs of the league (Rose, Curry, Durant, Lopez twins) instead.

Speaking of which, my ideal US lineup should be:

C - Dwight Howard, Brook Lopez, Robin Lopez

F - Lebron James, Carmelo Anthony, Kevin Durant, Josh Smith

G - Deron Williams, Chris Paul, Stephen Curry, Kobe Bryant, Dwayne Wade

Starting 5: Paul, Bryant, James, Anthony, Howard.

Top 4: United States, Brazil, Slovenia, Croatia

The World Basketball Championships 2010 Preview - Group A

The World Basketball Championships are coming to Turkey next week. As such, here is a simple basic layman's check on each team participating.

Angola - Honestly, the only thing about Angolan basketball I remember is what Charles Barkley said. However, they are the basketball superpower in Africa, with a FIBA ranking of 12. Yup, even better than Nigeria.

Argentina - We all know there is no Manu (who really needs a break from year-round ballin' at this point), but they have a solid team still with a revitalized Carlos Delfino, Luis Scola, Fabricio Oberto and Andres Nocioni (although he is hurt) leading their NBA contingent. Oh, and they are the top-ranked team in FIBA.

Australia - Known as the Boomers, they are the dominant team in FIBA Oceania. Their best player is also their youngest player, Patrick "Patty" Mills. He and David Andersen (recently traded to Toronto from Houston) are the only NBA players on the roster, because Andrew Bogut has not yet recovered from the injury he suffered. Ranked 11th in FIBA.

Germany - No Dirk Nowitzki and Chris Kaman for this tourney. But the 7th-ranked team in FIBA have Tibor Pleiss (the OKC draft pick this year) and Gonzaga's Elias Harris.

Jordan - ranked 38th in FIBA, the team has a naturalized American in Rasheim Wright. They are one of the biggest stumbling blocks in the Philippines' quest to return to basketball glory.

Serbia - Fifth in the FIBA rankings. By now you have seen the clip. Ironically, Nenad is their only NBA player.

Top Four teams: Argentina, Australia, Germany, Serbia

Blog Outsourcing - 8/23

Welcome to the to the latest edition of Sparty and Friends.

Right now, I am annoyed because some idiot decided to hold Chinese tourists hostage. Not only because he endangered their lives, but also the fact that the Motherland will be getting bad PR and a bad image, something we really do not need right now. The odd thing about it was that the night before, HBO here was showing The Taking of Pelham 1-2-3. Life imitates art, perhaps.

End rant. Need a positive thought.

Weird stats being normal is the in vogue thing, nowadays. This year, baseball has had lots of impressive pitching performances as of late. Perfect games, no hitters, one hitters, a pseudo-perfecto, the works.

The same thing, sort of, is going on in the English Premier League.

Chelsea has had two straight 6-0 scores. Arsenal just pulled off one feat like that. Shows you how impressive the top football franchises have been in England. Also helps they have financial capability and an ownership group willing to spend for it.

Time for the links:

Geekery in pitching.

Philadelphia is already getting returns on the Cliff Lee deal. Not what they had in mind, though.

The St. Louis Cardinals are fading for him, that must be the reason, right?

At least it was silly string and not a bucket of water.

Maybe the best news to come out of Oakland.

These homers were amazing, but did not exist in real life.

When he comes back or not, it does not really matter, for them anyway. But another team with a similar injury does.

Strasburg is done. He'll be back by spring training.

Mike Hampton is not the answer for the problem that is Arizona pitching.

Interesting factoid on Lou Pinella: He's 0-5 in all of his final games with teams.

One more year for Vin Scully. Hopefully, the Dodgers have a better product by then. Starting with Rod Barajas.

Haynesworth messed with the wrong guy. He's screwed.

Apparently, they are still bitter with the defeat in the Superdome. Meanwhile, here is a sick throw that a guy like Favre would do.

And the sad case of Jayson Williams continues.

Kevin Durant saves the day, but a lot of work to do for USA basketball.

Delonte gets suspended. No word regarding Nenad's, though. But he's sorry.

They have been dangling him for trade offers since forever.

The true AL contenders won yesterday. Yankees, Rays, Twins, Rangers.

Why the Pittsburgh Pirates like the way they are.

Typical J. Edgar Hoover stuff for them to do. Not surprised.

The AP Poll came out.

HuskerDawg must approve this means of maximizing opportunity.

I'll believe this news when I see it, Michigan.

Bristol weekend sweep by Kyle Busch.

I thought this only happens on Cougartown.

Is this like the legitimate version of the Overtrained Athlete's Syndrome a.k.a Brian Cushing excuse?

You think we would be in the all-Unathletic-looking team?

This would be the last thing Jay Mariotti could be writing or talking about for a while. Very ominous, too.

If you thought Lebron's one hour madness was too much, what about the three-hour spectacle by Jason Whitlock?

Why slow and easy is the better approach.

I know you'll try this in the future.

At least we know someone is watching the LPGA Tour.

Is Roger Federer ready to put some space between him and Tiger?

Oh, and here are the 6-0 romps:

Here's some positive vibe to start the week.

Blog Outsourcing - 8/16

Welcome to today's edition for Sparty and Friends.

I hope we all have a great week ahead. Yesterday was the Feast of the Assumption as well as my younger brother's birthday. I thought to myself that I would have a great day today.

Unfortunately, that may not be the case.

It was around 230 in the morning when I suddenly woke up due to the power going out. I thought to myself that it might be due to maintenance from the Electricity Provider. I tried to go back to sleep, but obviously, it is not easy to rest when there is no fan to keep you cool.

A few hours later, I woke up and there was still no power. I had my breakfast and word got out that there was another reason why we had a power outage. So I decided to go out of the house and see for myself what exactly happened. I brought out my camera and took pictures of the scene.



Not yet done. Here is another one.



So some truck somehow dragged 7 posts down early this morning. Not a good way to start the work week. So I had to go to the office 7-8 hours early to fix the post for today.

End rant. Now onto the links, because that is what we all love to see. Plus, we all need some positivity around here.

Hellboy gets the Rays closer to the Yankees, whose lead is trimmed to now a single game.

Rangers also take advantage, by bringing the heat on the Red Sox. But given the control they have on the AL West, they can afford to be cautious with any injury concerns, like Rich Harden and Nelson Cruz.

Giants add a bat, but the Padre bats take advantage of the Freak.

And another no-hitter nipped in the bud, but not of his own doing.

Strasburg giving Harper advice on something that he went through the wringer for.

Reds back on top again with a little assistance from the Cubbies.

This is not the year of the Tiger(s). We all know about Le Tigre, Now, there is implosion in the Motor City even BEFORE T-Mac is in town.

Speaking of Le Tigre, controversy in the Whistling Straits. Check this email discourse.

I think Corey Pavin has made his decision on this already. He's keeping the world and especially Jim Gray in the dark. Celebrity Death Match in the making.

Week 1 is in Jax. Odds for Friar Tim to start look good now that Brady Quinn is who he really is. Maybe he should go the Glenn Coffee route.

Looks like the end is finally near for the final piece of the Greatest Show on Turf.

We're all rooting for you, Stafon Johnson. Tweet him your get-well-soon wishes @stafon13. While we're at it, get well soon to Jerry Jones.

Things are already getting ugly in upstate New York.

Madden '11 was just released. The Madden curse finally caught up with Larry Fitzgerald. As for this year, well...

Just when you thought Larry Bird made the right choice in taking a risk, this happens.

The first bad press in Miami that did not involve LeBron. Probably involved Ricky Williams.

Post-script from the 2010 Basketball Hall of Fame induction.

Melo's indecision simply means he will be out next year.

Team USA down to 13. World Basketball Championships in 2 weeks. Worth noting that there are missing elements up and down the roster. Watch out for the preview when it comes.

What's new on the Kovalchuk to the Devils front...

If you want to know the early season college basketball tourneys...

Possible Greek poaching of the Buckeyes.

If you win races, sponsors will come.

The English Premier League is now in full swing. Chelsea with an awesome start, Liverpool stumbling and Manchester United raring to go again. More details can be found here.

Could the tie be yesterday's news?

Kurt Warner screwed Trent Green again.

You still remember The Boz?

Cycledan is a MAMIL.

Because some people have too much time on their hands.

At least, it was only beer.

Care to get inked like they do?

Erik Spoelstra's back in the Motherland, but did not really speak much about the King and Chris joining his crew. Instead, he focused on teaching the locals how they do it in South Beach, and revisiting his roots.

(On a side note, one of those collegiate players who participated in the drills played an integral role 24 hours later in beating the top team in our conference, knocking them off the unbeaten ranks. If he owes it to Coach Spo, we owe it to him as well.)

Because the Phanatic has nothing on this guy:



And I miss watching this show:

TWTWTNBA: Roster-Fillers

Well, another week has passed: here are some more FA transactions...

Carlos Arroyo stays with the Miami Heat: Because they merely need another stopgap cheap guard at this point. With Wade and Lebron having point guard capability, all they need from their guards are their shooting and their defense.

Eddie House to the Miami Heat: Great. Another shooter who will feast on open opportunities with Wade, Bosh and James getting the focus and attention. The Heat have somehow developed the lineup of shooters that will always have the license when open as well as bigs who just need to defend, score garbage points and block shots.

Jason Williams stays with the Orlando Magic: He decided to take demotion as a third-string point guard instead of the possible minutes in South Beach. He must enjoy his home, then.

Matt Barnes to the Los Angeles Lakers: Because you can never really have enough defensive players around for the good of the team. We all remember the antics Barnes had against Kobe last year, but having him guard your opponent would surely take the pressure off Kobe, off Lamar and off Ron.

Raja Bell to the Utah Jazz: After the dalliance with the Lakers, Raja Bell is merely staying true as a nemesis to Kobe Bryant by signing with Jerry Sloan and leaving Kobe on a lurch. He replaces Wesley Matthews in the rotation.

Shannon Brown stays with the Los Angeles Lakers: With this signing, the roster of the defending champs is pretty much set in stone. He will not get as many minutes as before, given the new Laker acquisitions,

Von Wafer to the Boston Celtics: He would be immediately be plugged in to where Tony Allen used to be. All I remember about him was that he can go off when he gets the minutes. Remains to be seen if he can defend the way Tony did against Kobe (which was one of the most underrated things that happened in the Finals)

Quentin Richardson to the Orlando Magic: He is not Matt Barnes, but he can surely try on the defensive end. However, he fits the shooter's profile that Stan Van Gundy likes, so it is a probable upgrade. In addition, at the time, it was insurance in case JJ Redick exits.

Tracy McGrady to the Detroit Pistons: A broken-down T-Mac in need of fine-tuning. Will the Motor City refurbish him?

Linas Kleiza to the Toronto Raptors: Will be asked to step in to the minutes that Hedo used to log in with the Raptors. He sort of fits the international profile the team currently has.

Dorell Wright to the Golden State Warriors: Because the Warriors need to have a small forward on the team, and with how their salary looks right now, he's probably their top FA option at that point.

Rasual Butler stays with the Los Angeles Clippers: As a Clipper fan, was pleased with the deal as he was their best shooter and stepped up when the situation needed (i.e. Baron and or Eric was not playing well)

Brian Cook to the Los Angeles Clippers: A big man who can shoot from the outside. He's just a filler at this point, considering Kaman and Jordan will hog the minutes at pivot.

Ryan Gomes to the Los Angeles Clippers: He puts less pressure on Blake Griffin to immediately contribute.

Richard Jefferson stays with the San Antonio Spurs: After the bizarre opt-out he exercised, he wisely re-signed with the Spurs. Hopefully, he would be able to bounce back after near career lows last season. He will still remain as the fourth option in the Spurs offense.

Tyrus Thomas stays with the Charlotte Bobcats: will be the effective third wheel after Stephen Jackson and Gerald Wallace. He sort of fits what the Bobcats want from their frontcourt.

Matt Bonner stays with the San Antonio Spurs: Before there was a Brian Scalabrine, there was a Matt Bonner. Pop likes what he can do, so he is sticking around.

Al Harrington to the Denver Nuggets: Because they needed a big man with some oomph offensively. Now with Chris Andersen needing surgery, they need depth at the position.

Luis Scola stays with the Houston Rockets: He's the lunch-bucket style hardworking player the Rockets personify after Carl Landry got traded. Very smart and heady, too.

Kurt Thomas to the Chicago Bulls: He'll be the chief back-up to Joakim Noah. Nice physical low post defender that Thibs would use against the likes of Dwight and the O'Neals.

Josh Powell to the Atlanta Hawks: He's serviceable as a big man, considering he was the third big option. Unfortunately for the Hawks, that could have been Shaq.

Shelden Williams to the Denver Nuggets: Basically will be doing what Johan Petro did in his stay in Denver. Then again, Candace Parker would be a better fit for them.

Theo Ratliff to the Los Angeles Lakers: Will simply replace Josh Powell in the big man rotation. You may say he is Andrew Bynum insurance, but at least, he isn't called the expiring contract anymore.

Shaquille O'Neal to the Boston Celtics: If signing Jermaine O'Neal was not enough for Perkins insurance, this does. Now Doc has a lot of tools to work with in the front court. He may be able to keep KG fresh. Shaq might be able to help develop Kendrick Perkins' game. You can bet with all the veterans out there, they can keep each other's egos in check.

Rasho Nesterovic to Olympiacos: Stephen A. Smith's favorite player has decided to go back to Europe, replacing Josh Childress, who's now at Phoenix. In all likelihood, he will finish his career in the continent.