"They're Trying To Put Me In A Box"

Stephon Marbury continues to outdo himself. I never would have thought I'd write about him twice within a span of a couple of days, but I can't resist. In case you haven't heard, he recently did a 24-hour straight show on Ustream, which was as loony and contradicting as you could have hoped. If you missed the stream (like I did), here is a great site that transcribes most of the action along with links to the actual video. Some of my personal favorite lines:

"I’m going to set up a foundation for the world. I’m gonna take the money and start building cities all over the world. I’m a comet. My man told me I’m a comet. I said “I’m a comet?”

"We don’t have Ustream doing the feeds. They’re just doing the feeds."

It's truly mindblowing stuff. Enjoy.

Humpty Dunkty

LeBron James sat on a wall,

LeBron James had a great fall,

You admitted you smoked pot,

Stored the dunk tape to rot,

Can all The King's advisers,

And all The King's men,

Put LeBron's reputation back together again?

P.S. - Don't worry LeBron, its not like you got accused of rape or anything, you'll bounce back (now concludes The Hoops Manifesto's Daily Kobe Bryant Bashing Comment).

Staring At The Sun

I know this is my second video post of the day, but I couldn't pass up the newly uncovered LEBRON GETTING DUNKED ON VIDEO!!!! Like I said previously, everyone gets dunked on and LeBron and Nike just made this a bigger deal than it should have been. So, without further ado.

Crazy Is As Crazy Does

We all should count our blessings and be thankful for the presence of Stephon Marbury in the basketball universe. No, not because of his on-court exploits - I've always felt his nickname "Starbury" was pretty ironic. No, we all need to give thanks and praises for Marbury's too numerous to count crazy, bizarre quotes. The man was at it again this week, making a rambling appearance on Ustream, whose highlights you can read here. My personal favourite from this latest monumental appearance: "Can I rap? Yeah, I can rap. But I don't. Rap is just fast talking".

As a tribute to the endlessly entertaining man known as Starbury, I wanted to post THE GREATEST INTERVIEW DONE BY AN ATHLETE OF ALL-TIME. If you've already seen the video, it is worth checking out again. Make sure you watch it in full. Reminds me of a punch-drunk boxer trying to give an interview. I especially enjoy when he talks about kissing his sister.

I Still Love You

I've been real busy doing some articles for the upcoming Athlon NBA preview, so I haven't had much time and energy for any meaningful posts on this here blog. Just wanted to let you that you are not forgotten and a more substantial post will be coming in the next few days. Until then, enjoy this video of the Dream 10 Welterweight Grand Prix finals straight from Japan.

Feets Don't Fail Me Now

Not surprisingly, it was announced today that Yao Ming will probably miss all of next season after undergoing foot surgery. Not surprising, but still disappointing news for Rockets fans and the millions of Yao supporters worldwide.

I called for the Rockets to cut ties with Yao and Tracy McGrady ages ago (well, maybe not ages), and this certainly hasn't changed my stance. Yao still has $34 million left on his contract when you include the player option he has for 2010/11 and the Rockets should do all they can to get out from under his enormous shadow. While the Rockets won't appear to be very compassionate buying a guy out of his contract while he is injured, they need to worry about fixing their franchise. McGrady and Yao are two huge albatrosses weighing the franchise down, and they must do all that they can to rid themselves of them. Yao wasn't reliable enough even before this latest setback and even if he is able to get back on the court, it may only be a matter of time before the other shoe drops (in this case, the other foot breaks).

This is eerily similar to what happened to another legendary NBA big man, Bill Walton. The Big Redhead was one of the greatest college players of all-time and was on his way to being the same in the pros until fragile feet zapped him of his powers. Basketball is so demanding on your feet it's surprising more players don't have problems with their puppies (maybe today's high tech shoes really are worth their money). In Yao's case, his size probably compounds the problem, as each time he leaves the floor his feet take the brunt of the impact of his 300-plus pounds as he lands again.

While I'm no doctor, I have serious doubts whether Yao's feet will ever be trustworthy enough for him to be a considered a franchise player. The Rockets can't afford to wait around a year or even two to see if he is able to make it back. Its more than just a burden on their salary cap - it is also an emotional burden for everyone involved in the organization, including Yao. The waiting and hoping that he will be healthy again puts too much pressure on both the player and the organization. They weren't winning any titles with Yao anyhow, so the time is now to cut ties and start rebuilding their franchise.

And on more cheerful note, if you haven't heard the stories of the adventures of Mike Miller and his pet monkey, then you need to right now.

Fight Night Round 4 Review

I stopped being a boxing fan quite a few years ago. I enjoyed the sport back in the days when every Mike Tyson PPV was an event due to his boxing, and not biting, skills. Plus when my hometown hero Lennox Lewis ruled the roost I obviously paid attention. But the million different title holders in a million different weight classes and the rise of MMA pretty much squashed any enthusiasm I had for the sweet science.

So it was with a little trepidation that I popped in a copy of Fight Night Round 4 on my PS3 to review. The fact that I love the UFC Undisputed game made me even more doubtful that Fight Night would be able to hold my attention for long. As is usually the case, my concerns were unnecessary. Surprisingly, I love Fight Night as much as I love UFC Undisputed, perhaps even more. When I played an earlier version of the game years ago I found it difficult to master using the joystick on the controller to throw punches. Now it seems so natural, I can't imagine button mashing instead. You want to throw a right jab, you push the controller up and to the right. A right hook, you hook the joystick up and to the right. Pretty simple stuff.

While the graphics aren't as good as UFC Undisputed, they aren't bad either. Most of the classic fighters that are in the game look pretty realistic, and if you want to create your own fighter you can even upload photos onto the game - nice touch. As you probably know if you've seen the commercials (or from the box for the game) Fight Night allows you to do "dream matchups" pitting some of the sports legends against one another, regardless of weight class or era. So if you've always wondered who would win, Tyson or Ali, you can now find out (sort of, in a virtual way).

My favourite part of the game is the legacy mode, where you create your own fighter and try to rise through the ranks to become a champion. Or if you can't be bothered to create your own pugilist, you can use one of the legends in the game, with their skills stripped down, and try to bring them back to the top.

After playing Fight Night Round 4 for a while you will feel like you've actually boxed for 10 rounds. My eyes are bleary and my thumb sore as I attempt to write this post.

Grab yourself a copy here:

Amazon.com - PS3: Fight Night: Round 4

Amazon.com - XBox: Fight Night: Round 4

Amazon.ca - PS3: Fight Night Round 4

Amazon.ca - XBox: Fight Night Round 4

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