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Sunday, May 26, 2002
Big Ben in NYC: Day 3  By Ben Maller New York - Yesterday was all about walking. I must have walked all the way up and down Manhattan at least that's the way it seemed. The weather was good again a little cooler in late afternoon and the wind was blowing up and down the streets. I was planning on going to the WTC site yesterday but had a change in plans and instead hit Time Square and Central Park. They just opened the worlds largest toys r us in Time Square with three floors of toys and a GIANT Ferris wheel in the middle. It was pretty damn cool I have to say. We went in there so my mom could by my little baby niece some toys. That was after we had lunch at this great BBQ place. I have to say no town has better food then the Big Apple. Fleet week a big celebration with all branches of the Military is going on this Labor Day weekend. Its cool seeing all the men and women who serve to protect this city walking around. I didn't notice all that much more police activity because of the recent terror warnings but you can defiantly feel the edge to the people here. Walking in Central Park I over heard several discussions about the situation that happened on 9/11 and what's next. I got back to my brother's place just in time to see the fourth quarter of the Celtics record setting comeback against the Nets. I don't think anyone in this town cares about New Jersey. They are the Angels or Clippers of the NY/NJ area. The Nets are in the Eastern Conference finals and on WFAN last night I heard some chick overnight host interviewing Richie Adubato the head coach of the NY Liberty. That's right forget about the Nets its WNBA Season. I have to say "The Fan" went down a notch in my book after hearing that crap. Its still the best local sports station in America. Fox Sports Radio of course is the best network in America. Today I'm going to head to downtown to pay my respects at Ground Zero. I'm not sure what else is going on after that. Also I'm hoping to catch the 2nd half of the Lakers game against the Kings. I have seen more Clipper and Laker Jersey's than Knicks & Nets jersey's in New York this week. permalink Saturday, May 25, 2002
Big Ben in NYC: Day 2  New York - It was an amazing day weather wise here in the city. 84 degrees and no real humidity a few clouds but nothing like I'm told it has been here of late. I spent the morning walking around the city with my family checking out where my sister in law Michelle works After picking up some hero's we headed down to the seaport and took a cruise all the way around Manhattan. I have to say it was one the coolest things I have ever done on my many trips to the Big Apple. You do up the East River and sneak across back down the Hudson so you get to see all of the NY Skyline on Manhattan and check out parts of the other for boroughs of Staten Island, Brooklyn, The Bronx and Queens. It was so sad to see that beautiful skyline without the World Trade Center. On the boat going around the site of the attack many of the buildings are still closed and badly damaged. Other buildings appear to be open but still have hundreds of windows out with just wood sheets in place of the wood. I plan on going down to "Ground Zero" today to pay my respects to those poor people that lost there life on Sept 11th. As for the rest of my day on Friday I came back to my brother's apartment where I'm staying in the East Village near NYU and relaxed for a few hours before going to dinner at Michael Jordan's steak house. You might ask why eat at MJ's when your in NYC? Well, number one its one of the best steak house's in America and number two its located in Grand Central Station. Me and my brother Mike split a 40 Oz porterhouse steak. Man what a great meal. I think I ate half a cow. I'm sure that's going to piss off some of you PETA nuts but that's a good thing. After getting back from dinner I saw the end of the Lakers loss to the Kings. I have to say I'm stunned. This must be part of the NBA & NBC master plan to get people to actually watch the NBA playoffs. If the role players on the Lakers don't step up they will lose this series. permalink Friday, May 24, 2002
Big Ben Invades the Big Apple New York - I have left the west coast for a few days to spend some time with my brother, sister in law and there new baby. Flying is a complete joke these days. I don't know how business travelers do it. Leaving LAX was a battle all to itself, long line after long line with no real reason for all the delays. I figure I must be a threat to someone because while trying to pass through security in LA I was stopped and given one of those spot searches along with some 80 year old guy who also must have been a real threat. I would be all for the new security if the people running the machines had a clue to what they where doing. The flight was pure hell. A full plane with no leg room and no air to breath for 5 hours. I'll get into the horrible job Delta airlines did in my opinion at a later date. Arriving at John F. Kennedy late Thursday night me and my family that I'm traveling with all took a bus back into Manhattan. Its so freaking strange to look down at the south end of the New York skyline and not see the World Trade Center. I kept waiting for them to reappear from the sky and rise again. We could only wish that it was a David Blane magic trick. Screw those dirty rotten bastard terrorists who attacked this great city and country. I got to my brothers place around 10:30pm local time and then checked my messages. Jason "The Jet" Smith had called to tell me about Shawn Green's record day at Miller Park. Thank god for the Brewers pitching staff. I will update the webpage everyday just not the rumors and notes page daily rumor links till Tuesday or Wednesday morning of next week. Check back everyday for updates as that is subject to change. permalink Thursday, May 23, 2002
"Mighty Cheap" of Anaheim  By Ben Maller They are the Clippers of the NHL the Mighty Ducks yet again had the chance to do the right thing and they blew it like another bad Disney movie. Anaheim has been one of the worst teams in the hockey over the last few years and there is no end to them stinking up the pond. Bryan Murray did such a wonderful job coaching the Ducks to a last place finish in the Pacific Division the team they fired GM Pierre Gauthier and named Murray the new boss. Instead of hiring a coach that could have brought some excitement to this pathetic franchise Murray did the safe and more importantly CHEAP thing he hired minor leaguer Mike Babcock as head coach. I don't know Babcock, he could be a great guy but he has no business coaching this team. Anaheim had a chance to break "The curse of Ron Wilson." Wilson was the popular coach who also was able to do something nobody else can seem to do, win games and make the playoffs. Wilson was fired because he was to much of a personality and that bothered Tony Tavares who made bad decisions an art form as he lead both the Ducks and Angels into the gutter.  Paul Kariya is one of Hockey's best players yet he is stuck with the biggest joke in sports. If Gary Bettman was smart he would just contract the Ducks and let Kariya play for a team that actually wants and tries to win. The Ducks have gone to the postseason just twice in nine years. permalink Wednesday, May 22, 2002
Take The Test Barry  By Ben Maller Barry Bonds is saying again that he didn't do steroids. Bonds speaking to reporters in Phoenix before the Giants played the Diamondbacks says that his increase in muscle is from lifting, not steroids. Bonds said he is upset about the steroid suspicions because of what they lead youngsters to think about him. "I get upset because you're putting false statements in a lot of these kids' minds," he said. "That's what really irks me because there's nothing we can really do about it to defend ourselves. What are we going to do, sue every newspaper article that comes out? I mean, that's basically what a lot of us want to do." Well Barry, I have the answer for you. Take a Steroid test, if you pass I will never say another bad thing about you and neither should anyone else. Hire a legitimate company to give you a test and since you say you have never taken the drug then you will pass with no problems. Jose Canseco said that 85% of the players in baseball are doing steroids. Canseco also said that because of steroids guys are hitting 50,60 and 70 homers in a season. In other words Canseco must have been accusing Bonds right? Bonds hit 73 homeruns last season for the Giants. Barry had a response to Jose: "I don't know what Canseco's frustration is." "I like the guy personally. I just don't understand where he's going with this," Bonds said. "Players didn't do anything to Jose Canseco. We admire him as a player. We admire him as a person. Why would another ballplayer want to take shots at other ballplayers when none of us really had anything to do with this. We like him. We wish the best for him." Again Barry just take a test and when you pass you'll never have to answer these questions again. Source: AP Sports  Bonds in 1992  Bonds in 2002 permalink Monday, May 20, 2002
Western Conference:   Los Angeles at Sacramento – Game 2 (Lakers lead 1-0) * Each of the last six times the Lakers won Game 1 of the conference finals it went on to win the series. Overall they have won 18 of the 20 series (18-2) in which they are victorious in Game #1 of the Western Conference Finals. * A win tonight would give Phil Jackson his 150th career post-season victory. * The Lakers look to extend their NBA playoff record 12-game road winning streak tonight. They haven’t lost a road playoff game since Game 5 of the 2000 NBA Finals against the Pacers. * In Game 1, the Lakers shot 67 percent, hit three 3-pointers, forced five turnovers and scored 36 points in the first 12 quarter. * L.A.’s Derek Fisher has converted 52.0% of his three-point attempts (45-87) in his last 20 playoff games. * For all the talk about the Kings' great home-court advantage at raucous Arco Arena, they have a 3-3 playoff record at home. and 4-0 on the road. The Kings had the NBA's best home record during the season at 36-5. * Blazer Coach Rick Adelman decided against removing swingman Hedo Turkoglu from the starting lineup in favor of guard Bobby Jackson for tonight’s game. Turkoglu was scoreless, missing all eight shots he attempted in 29 minutes in Saturday’s loss in Game 1. Jackson had 21 points in 25 minutes in a reserve role. permalink
Rocket Fix?  By Ben Maller David Stern is up to his old tricks again. The Houston Rockets somehow ended up winning the NBA Draft Lottery. Accoring to the odds the Rockets had an 8.90% chance to get the top pick. The NBA needs Yao Ming to have a good career from a global marketing stand point. Remember Stern often says his dream is to have NBA teams oversea;s. Houston is team that already has a good backcourt in Cutino Mobley and Steve Francis, they have nothing in the middle. More than anyother team in the lottery the Rockets are most likely to draft the Chinese center. Consider These Facts: 1.) The Chinese population in Houston is the fourth largest city in the United States. 2.) Steve Francis' grandma was really good at Bingo. (According to Bill Worrell, Rockets TV guy) 3.) The Rockets move into a new arena in two years and need to sell tickets. It makes sense that the NBA would "place" Ming into Houston at the start of his career. P.J. Carlisimo of NBC who happened to work Ming out a few weeks back said he's a "Mobil Shawn Bradley." Would you take Bradley No.1? Of Course not. Jay Williams is the best player in the draft and the Bulls are sitting pretty to get him with the 2nd pick in the draft. A backcourt of Jalen Rose and Jay Will would give Chicago a chance to turn things around quick. The Clippers should trade there first round picks and a forward to the New Orleans Hornets for Baron Davis. permalink Sunday, May 19, 2002
Big Ben's "Insider Notes"
Eastern Conference Finals:   Boston Celtics at New Jersey Nets – Game 1 * Boston won 3 of 4 meetings with the Nets and is the only team to win twice at the Meadowlands this season. * No matter who wins the New Jersey-Boston series it will mark the first time since the 1977-78 season that a team that failed to qualify for the postseason the previous year will make it to the NBA Finals. The Seattle SuperSonics lost to the Washington Bullets in the Finals. That year was also the last time that two teams who failed to make the playoffs the previous year met in the conference finals (Seattle vs. Denver). * Celtics are in the Eastern Conference finals for the first time in 14 years (1987). They won the last of their record 16 NBA titles in 1986. * The Nets earned their first trip to the Eastern Conference finals since joining the NBA in 1976. Before this season, the Nets had made it out of the second round of the playoffs only once (1984) in their first 25 years in the NBA. * Boston is 73-57 under Jim O’Brien, who took over for Rick Pitino in the middle of last season. * Paul Pierce has been all but unstoppable against New Jersey, scoring 32, 48, 30 and 36 (26.5 ppg) in 4 games this season. * With Jason Kidd, the Nets went 52-30 this season after going 26-56 in 2000-01. * Kidd has averaged a team-high 21.3 points per game against the Celtics this season, as well as 10.8 assists, 9.8 rebounds and 2.5 steals. * Only the Lakers held opponents to a lower shooting percentage this season than the Celtics' 42.5. New Jersey, though, was close behind at 42.9. Source: Stats Inc permalink |
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