The only L.A. we need to worry about this year, is the one in Portland...

Brutal isn't it?

For those of us who have ever tried driving the lane on a bohemeth Like Amare Stoudemire, it's difficult to land without without a bruise or a bloody nose. However, here it looks like Lamarcus Aldridge is experiencing both. But you know what else is brutal about this picture? That ball is still getting pounded through the hoop.

Growing up in a basketball family, it was inevitable that I started playing at an early age with my older brother already turning heads, and my dad as a coach. When it was finally time to play on an actual team, dad decided he wanted to start coaching me for awhile. It never ended. Even during seasons where he wasn't actually my coach, he was. I was never the largest kid on the court, but always enjoyed mixing it up with centers in the pit. But as much as I loved it, for a long time it wasn't effective. This is why my dad remained my coach for my entire basketball life. He discovered that when I got hit by larger guys, that I would get really irritated, frustrated, and more than anything, extremely pissed off. He made it his personal mission to force me to use that anger. Aggressive is the easiest way to describe it, but honestly it wasn't that nice. There were countless games where my dad would yell at me, whether he was on the bench or in the stands, to purposely make me mad. When I got mad, the caution was out the window, and I would almost become a different player. Not quite hulk status, but you get the idea. Whether I was good or not is a different sory, but the point is that I learned to use everything I have, to make everyone else use everything they have.

Now I told you that story because it's essential knowledge for the real story.

Since the year Lamarcus Aldridge got drafted to Portland, he looked like he could seriously be one of the missing links to The Blazers' success. Tall, athletic, lean, light on his feet, great shot. He looked like the ideal power forward. But he LOOKED like the ideal power forward. We all know that he still has yet to BE the ideal power forward. So when are we going to get him? I was reading Mike Barrett 's blog, a Trailblazers TV analyst, and he seems to believe that the time is now. He reported that Lamarcus had a trainer from the Blazers go to his hometown in Texas to work with him on what else? his aggressiveness. I wasn't sure if it was true, but it has been confirmed that Lamarcus has put on about 20 lbs. this offseason, mainly of pure muscle.

But why now? It's pretty rare for an athlete to simply decide he's going to make such a drastic change. Re-committments of this calibur don't normally happen overnight; it's typically something that eats away at you for awhile, before you lash out.

People always told me that I didn't belong trying to play against larger guys, because of my size. Constantly told I needed to be more aggressive, and to loosen up. My dad chewed my ass whenever I wasn't playing the way he had coached me, and the way I was capable of playing.

I don't believe Lamarcus' dad has been constantly on him to play up to parr and to get aggressive. But I do believe the people have. Coaches, family, friends can give all the suggestions they want to Lamarcus. But at the end of the day, the only thing he hears is the people. You, Portland, have finally pissed off Lamarcus Aldridge. The one thing that will always get to an athlete's head, is when their hometown fans begin to question their talent, their committment, and their heart. I think we've hit the spot. We saw a glimpse of it in last years playoffs against the Phoenix Suns. Lamarcus was, for the most part, timid in his quest to contain and out-play Amare Stoudemire. But in the game pictured above, Lamarcus had clearly had enough. It's the moment when a normal athlete is getting drilled by everyone around them, but still scores, that makes them an abnormal athlete.

This blog is noticeably late for a reason. I didn't want to post this until I was sure, for myself, that what was being said was true. Last night, I headed into Portland to watch the Blazer's annual Fan Fest. Not to necessarily enjoy the festivities, or autographs, or even to watch a good scrimmage. Personally, I was more interested to observe the players and their development after this last offseason. Specifically, I wanted to watch Lamarcus. I walked into the arena, took one look to the court, and spotted the guy in a second. He's huge. He will no longer be considered "Stretch" Aldridge. He has the size of a center. But again, couldn't be sold yet because as we've seen with him, looks just haven't proven anything. Obviously, this was just a scrimmage, but every Blazer out there was out to prove a point to everyone there. Aldridge has a big chip on his shoulder, and he showed it. He was everywhere on the court yesterday; did not-stop-moving!!! He was constantly shifting his weight on defenders, and attacking the hoop. What was most pleasing, was seeing him not only go inside, but mix it up with his shooting outside.

Portland, for what it's worth coming from me, Lamarcus Aldridge is hungry. Lamarcus aldridge is pissed off. And most of all, Lamarcus Aldridge is ready.

Well done, Portland.

...Uhh Did What?

"Ladies and gentlemen,I'm extremely honored to be presenting this trophy tonight, and to be standing among such talent as these young men. That being said, it gives me great pleasure to introduce to you your 2010-2011 NBA World Champions, THE MIAMI HEAT!!!"

You got to watch David Stern present the trophy the other night, right? I mean you couldn't miss it, it was a groundbreaking moment in NBA history. Well hopefully you at least got to watch them in the playoffs, they were unbelievable! They swept every-single-series they played! Every game was a lop-sided blowout, and it got to the point where teams were just bowing out after awhile. There's no other way around it, The Miami Heat of '10-'11 are the greatest team in NBA history, hands down. Boston and the "Big three" mere shells of what they used to be. Kobe and The Lakers are all missing a step. And Dwight's Magic can't even pull a rabbit out of the hat.

Sound familiar? If it doesn't, it certainly should. I mean the way conversations have been going in these past several months, I'd think that this would fit right in, does it not? Too premature? Well my bad, but I just thought that since everyone wanted to play "fortune teller", then I might as well throw on my wizard hat and twiddle my fingers around a cute little crystal ball, too! So there's mine! Hopefully it's not too extreme, because I did a lot of research and put a lot of analytical thought into this one. How can you seriously bet against these guys? Here's a team that has three of the most dominant basketball players in the world, including the reigning MVP. All three have played together for who knows how many years now. The other nine guys create an unrivaled supporting cast, as well as an unbelievable franchi...okay for the love of God, can someone please stop me before i hurl on this computer screen?

I don't like rants because it just sounds like random thought that makes no sense, so I try extremely hard to defend any opinion or anything I say with some kind of backing. But every once and awhile, the raw "fan-ness" kind of overwhelms any astute, well-constructed, or professional thought I may have had. As you might be able to tell by now, this is one of those moments.

I'll make this very short and sweet: Obviously, this team has never played a season together in their entire careers. Specifically, the new "Big Three" have only played together on the U.S.A. team, and other than that, have spent their careers struggling for championships. The only one who does have one is Dwyane Wade. But wait, isn't that the point of bringing the three of them together then, to have a greater opportunity at a ring? Yeah that's definitely the point. In fact, the idea that they could even think to pull off such a move, is pretty scary. So now you have these three incredible athletes on the same team; now what? At the time that LeBron James decided to team up with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh, there were only seven players on the Heat's roster (three of which were rookies). Right now, they currently have 20 that they'll need to shrink down to about 12. Let's take a gander at the talent, shall we?

Miami Heat Roster
Joel Anthony
Carlos Arroyo
Patrick Beverley
Chris Bosh
Da'sean Butler
Mario Chalmers
Yakhouba Diawara
Kenny Hasbrouck
Udonis Haslem
Eddie House
Juwan Howard
Zydrunas Ilgauskas
LeBron James
James Jones
Jamaal Magloire
Mike Miller
Dexter Pittman
Shavlik Randolph
Jarvis Varnado
Dwyane Wade

Now, in all honesty, does that sound like an NBA Championship team to you at all? I recognize about 12 of those names. Three are all-stars, three or four have been respectable role-players, and the other five were even fill-ins on their other teams. I don't want to take away anything from The Miami Heat, because they have certainly thrown their name in the hat this off-season. But while I don't want to take away anything, I also don't want to give them more then they've earned. So what have they earned then? ..my point exactly. Here lies my problem.

All it took was one "decision" for people to start engraving "The Miami Heat" into the championship rings for this up-coming season. It's been almost four months since that day, and now you can't even watch ESPN or listen to any NBA analyst speak, without hearing about the Heat. It's pretty sad when Dwyane Wade, himself, has to come out and tell the press that "The Lakers are still the team to beat". He's absolutely right. This team has done NOTHING to be called "The team to beat" yet.

I've watched sports for far too long to believe that in one fell swoop, you can create a championship team. It doesn't work like that. Now when I say that, I'm sure you immediately start thinking about The Celtic's "Big Three" or the couple moves made by The Lakers in order for those teams to win championships. It's not rocket science people, there's a huge difference between those teams and this one. It's the fact that they were actually teams, and this is three guys who just picked up a couple others to try making a team.

On any given day, I will bet on a great team over a few great players.

The day after LeBron decided to join The Heat, my brother came flying into the room yelling "Okay, who thinks The Heat aren't taking it this year?!?! 100 bucks right now!!! It's over!!!"

...Umm me?

We've done this for the past two years now. The first year, I bet on the Boston Celtics while he bet on The Cleveland Cavaliers. Boston won. Last year, I bet on the Los Angeles Lakers while he bet on The Cleveland Cavaliers. Los Angeles won.

Are you catching on to the pattern? The Cavaliers had LeBron, Shaq, Mo Williams, and a team of spot-fillers. Boston and L.A. have great teams. They win and lose as a team. If you do not balance out the load and find a unique chemistry, you will lose every single time.

Team will always beat talent.

America's Koach

Need I say more?

To see the face of such a man, causes one's mind to fill with millions of thoughts. Sports fan or not, you dont even need a name to know who he is. I say this only because it's people like the one here, that sports become relevent to the world. Tournaments, championships, and medals become secondary. Our reasoning to play sports is suddenly for more than the hardware we are rewarded with. We can all attest to the unfortunate reality that the coaches of today, in any sport, are not always the coaches they truly should be. But for all of the negative encounters we may have had, the select few of postives far outweigh it. This is one of those positives. But don't get me wrong, this is not, in any way, casting a shadow over all of the incredible experiences we've all had in sports, because we all know those live forever. What I'm referring to is the few positive encounters in our lives, where sports has been responsible for changing us. A moment, or in this case, a person.

No coach in history has been more influential in the lives of his athletes and the people around him, than Coach Mike Krzyzewski. Object if you will, but it will all be for not. This is not a knock to any other great coach in history, it just means that he's the leader of the pack. "Coach K" has become the icon of what it means to be a coach. He has taken the role of a coach at Duke University, and turned it into the role of a mentor for people all over the world.

As the son of two Catholic polish immigrants, Krzyzewski quickly learned the value of pride and respect towards your fellow man and country. This upbringing then laid the groundwork for the man who would become "Coach K". He was once quoted saying "My ambition in high school was to be a high school coach and teacher, and that's still what I do: teach". From day one he made it very clear that he did not want to preach to anyone, he simply wanted to teach. But before being given the opportunity to coach at Duke in later years, he was living out his earlier ambitions of experiencing basketball for himself. He was fortunate enough to bond his love for basketball with his love for his country, as he attended the United States Military Academy to train to be an officer in the Army. He was then recruited by Army's basketball coach at the time, the legendary Bob Knight. After much success there, he graduated to serve three years in the military. Following his service, he began his coaching career for a military prep school in Fort Belvoir, Virginia. After a short stint there, "Coach K" started his storied journey at Duke University in 1980. From there, the rest is history. He has led Duke to postseason appearances in 27 of the 30 years he has coached there. Countless Coach of the Year awards, 12 ACC championships, 11 Final Four appearances, four NCAA national championships, and on February 13, 2010 coached his 1,000th game at Duke University. Believe me, there's plenty more where that came from. But like I said, it's never been about the hardware for "Coach K".

You would think that a man of his stature would strive only for the greatest of opportunities in his life. He has. We don't see this only because our definition of "great opportunity" and that of his, are extremely different. Through all of his incredible accomplishments, he remains walking with humble feet. He has been approached by the NBA four times now for a coaching position, all with a hefty contract to motivate. All four have been turned down. Krzyzewski has said for years and years that he would never leave Duke until he was absolutely done coaching. The latest and largest offer from the NBA came in the summer of '09 when New Jersey Nets' billionaire owner offered "Coach K" between $12-$15 million a year. K still walked away. It's commonly said that he's one coach who actually practices what he preaches. He believes heavily in loyalty, honor, and trust. Time and time again, he has proved this by showing it in his love for Duke. For 30 years he has bled royal blue during the greatest times, but especially during the worst. However, during this long relationship, he has commonly stepped off campus to offer his assistance in matters that only he could fix.

Now just because he hasn't coached in the NBA, does not mean he hasn't coached their players. Most notably, he was recently called upon to coach the Men's 2008 U.S. Olympic basketball team. Understand that before his arrival, their team had been droughting for several Olympics. Once known as the "Dream Team", they became known merely as just another team. After many years of frustration and disappointment, it was time to set things straight again. Basketball is America's sport. But when other countries start playing it too, it's kind of hard to continuously "walk to the podium". The team that had apparantly lost their way, were found by "Coach K". From this point it was no longer about being the "Dream Team" again; it was simply about being the "Redeem Team". As per his record, "Coach K" quickly made this about more than getting gold again. He was hired right after their 2004 Olympic embarrassment, and decided to start the 2008 Olympics right then. Before making a team, he made it very clear that anyone who was going to play for team U.S.A. was going to commit to a four-year preparation. This caught the attention of the most elite players in the NBA. The most dominant, athletic, and independent players became a team about their country. Through those four years, "Coach K" made these players not only bond together, but gain a sense of liberty and pride in what exactly it was that they were playing for. At a team photoshoot, Krzyzewski recalled seeing Kobe Bryant in the dressing room putting his jersey on, and seeing him break in to tears staring at his jersey. By the time the 2008 Olympic games came around, it was simply about fixing the reputation of the Unites States, on a basketball level, but on an internationally social level as well. They won the gold that year. And because of Coach Krzyzewski, won the respect and admiration of the world as well.

Through everything "Coach K" has done in his life, he has continued to constantly give grace and love to everyone around him. His biggest goal has never been to win countless championships, and countless medals, and countless Coach of the Year awards. The biggest goal in the life of Coach Mike Krzyzewski has simply been to teach.

...We're listening, coach.

Favre the Favor

Fa-vor [fay-ver] . Noun. (1): Friendly regard shown toward another especially by a superior.

I have complete confidence that you already knew what a favor was. But I'll bet you had no idea that it's typically only considered a favor, when it's given by someone superior to yourself, did you? Minor detail, but it's a handy piece of information when discussing Brett Favre's "last season".
Some of you are die-hard fans of his. Most of you can't wait for his ankles to shatter. Personally? I'm no die-hard by any means, but I do have eternal respect for any athlete who loves a game as much as Brett Favre does. Frustrating as it may be to watch him pull an NFL "Jordan", you must understand why people like him simply can't stay away.

When you play professional football for 19 (about to be 20) years, you become accustomed to a certain way of living. When you have expectations and requirements of you for that long, it's impossible to try functioning without them. You always need somebody to depend on you. As a quarterback, you are the architect and executioner of every play in every game. You are responsible for knowing how to use the football and everyone around it. And when you start 309 consecutive games at this position, you don't stop, ever. On top of the fact that this has man has never missed a game in his 19 year career. You can hate his team, his style, or even him in general; but you may never hate his passion.

You might hate to admit it, but Brett Favre is one of the last few remaining football players in the NFL with the fierce passion that he does. People like Brett dont have "other plans". To Brett, football is life, and it's his only plan. Questionable as his methods may have been, his inability to walk away is a very rare quality. It's not about the fame, not about the money, it's not even about championships. It's simply about the game. Anyone who's ever played with Brett can tell you this. At 40 years old, he is still one of the best quarterbacks in the game, today; without question, of all time. So knowing this about Brett, why the constant hesitation to return? While we can all sit back and say that Favre can still get it done, it's far more important that he knows that he can get it done.

The two (ALMOST three) times he has retired, it has been due to doubt of his own abilities. You might be thinking "Why would he doubt himself? He's Brett Favre". Like I mentioned before, he needs to remember that he's Brett Favre. This process is what sets Brett apart from every other player in the NFL, because he would never disrespect the game of football by playing when he no longer can. He loves football this much. He would never disrespect the NFL, The Minnesota Vikings, or all of you fans by giving anything less than above average. This year, it took his Minnesota teammates to remind him.

"...it's not about the touchdown passes and the wins and losses and stuff:'could you do it just for the guys?' 'It elevates the whole locker room, the whole community, the whole state, you just being there. Would you do it for the guys?'"
-Ryan Longwell

This question, alone, is all it took for Brett to snap out of it. His impact is not just on the gridiron or in the huddle, but in the locker room and all the way up to your psyche. He knows this. After announcing his decision for this year, he said that he believed he owed it to his teammates to give it one more shot. Finishing out the season one win away from the superbowl, The Vikings went home hungry. They tasted it right before the "bowl" was pulled away from the table. But does Brett really owe anything? Maybe. However, it seems to be common belief of his teammates that Favre would honestly be doing them a huge favor. And they're absolutely right.

Fa-ver [fay-ver]. Noun. (1): Friendly
regard shown toward another
especially by a superior.