Doesn't get it

On one level the Clarion Content can barely stand the thought of commenting about A-Rod because every thought of the eerie superstar reminds us that the Yankees are tethered to him for nine more years!

On the other hand, sometimes the guy is so clueless that we can't bare to ignore it. He is a sociological phenomenon. It is conceivable that there is more grist for the mill to compare A-Rod's career and Brittney's career than there is A-Rod and other baseball players. He was a superstar at a very early age. That is not an excuse, but an observation. There is a certain irony in Madonna's attempted mentoring of both of them. From afar, it would appear she has much more successfully navigated the treacherous waters of fame than either of her protegees..

Anyway, A-Rod must not have absorbed all of the lessons yet, because this week past, in the brilliant glare of the steroid revelations that are washing over him, Alex had his cousin of the injections, Yuri Sucart, pick him up at the Yankees spring training opener in Dunedin. Brilliant.

Off the Charts

Yesterday in the Clarion Content Pop Culture section we blogged on a genius who called 911 on the cops who were arresting him for public intoxication in Tampa International Airport. He thought he'd show them. We thought that kind of creative brilliance would be tough to top. But, he has been challenged by Washington State University quarterback, Marshall Lobbestael.

The nineteen year old Lobbestael was discovered passed out in the cab of his pick-up truck in the parking lot of the local police station. He was charged with minor in possession of alcohol. He has been suspended from the football team. Isn't Washington State University the final educational institution who gave the world Ryan Leaf?

David Price in Durham

There is some excitement being generated about when or if David Price will next be seen in Durham. Not Congressman David Price, who is in fact Durham's congressperson, representing the 4th district of North Carolina, but rather current Tampa Bay Rays left-handed pitcher, David Price.

The six foot six inch fireballer was lights out in the postseason last year for the American League World Series representative. Price pitched to a 1.83 ERA, with 20 strikeouts in 19.2 major league innings last year. He may be a candidate for rookie of the year, but the Rays are being very careful with their young star who has only thrown 37.2 innings above the Double-A level, lifetime. This means Price might start the season with the Rays Triple-A affiliate, the Durham Bulls. Like many teams, with all the off days early in the season, Tampa has little need for a fifth starter in April and May.

Durhamanians get off your tail-feathers, get out to the ballpark and check this kid out. He looks like the real deal. (Last year at the beginning of the minor league season Durham fans were treated to the Rays all everything 3rd baseman Evan Longoria, as the team started him in the minors for financial reasons.)

Gimpy old man sidelined again

Not current shot, but a typical Greg Oden pose...

The Clarion Content hardly thinks it is too early to start criticizing the Portland Trail Blazers for what will come to be seen as the massive mistake of selecting Greg Oden ahead of Kevin Durant.

Oden, who missed all of last season with injuries, who has already been sidelined once this season, who is averaging an anemic nine points and seven boards per game, is hurt again. He has missed the last three games and it is possible he will be out for several weeks.

Should the Blazers have seen this coming? Heck the guy was slow and gimpy at eighteen! His legs aren't the same length! He looks forty years old. Yeah, they should have seen it coming. Oden, following in the immortal footsteps of Sam Bowie, won't even end up being the second or third best player in his draft class.

Durant on the other hand is averaging twenty-six points and nearly seven rebounds per game. And that is not because he is an unconscionable gunner on a no hope team. Nope. Durant is shooting a solid 48.5% from the field overall and a lights-out 43% plus from three point range this eason. He has scored thirty or more points in twelve of his last sixteen games.

The guys who will surely be better than Oden from his draft class, Jeff Green, taken 5th, and Al Horford, taken 3rd overall.

But also currently outperforming Greg Oden from the 2007 NBA draft...Wilson Chandler, Rudy Fernandez, Al Thorton, and Thaddeus Young, among others. Not so good for the number one overall pick. Oden maybe heading toward Michael Olowokandi territory.

Girardi at again

The Yankees craptastic manager Joe Girardi is at it again. After making waves and generating unnecessary controversy last Spring with his poor communications skills Girardi is attempting to repeat his mistakes.

How does presumed starting Yankees rightfielder Xavier Nady show up at spring training only to find out from the media that his job is up for grabs? Mark Feinsand reports that the first Xavier Nady had heard of what Girardi envisions as the competition for the rightfield job was when the press came to ask his reaction about it. Back-up first baseman, Nick Swisher has suddenly and unexpectedly been thrust into the mix. Smooth Joe, real smooth.

Oh and by the by, it is not like Nady should have been expecting it. Last year he posted career best numbers with a .305 average, 25 homers and 97 RBI in New York and Pittsburgh combined, after coming to the Bronx in mid-season trade. Nady is already having a tough Spring off the field for issues unrelated to baseball.

Spurs insight

The Newark Star Ledger's Dave D'Alessandro had an excellent insight into the success of the San Antonio Spurs. D'Alessandro points out that through 50 games the Spurs have yielded 969 free throws, while the average NBA squad has allowed 1,268. Wait a minute we thought Bowen and the boys were dirty physical players? Maybe they just have a lot of dramatists like Parker and Ginobli who flop. The Big Fundamental, Tim Duncan, probably just gets calls because as Spurs Coach Gregg Popovich told D'Alessandro, tongue firmly in cheek, "We're a bunch of Boy Scouts. We're boring."

The Good and The Bad of the Knicks

The good and the bad of the new Mike D'Antoni Knicks were on display in the week before the All-Star break. The Clarion Content was opposed to the D'Antoni hire, and we are still not convinced he is the right coach. It is against our core NBA beliefs that a seven seconds or less offense can win the NBA title. It is not that defense always wins in the NBA, but who was the last fast breaking NBA champ? The 1987 "Showtime" Lakers?

Coach D'Anonti's crazy offense produces amazing and awful results both. The Knicks gave up 144 points to the Golden State Warriors. They played no defense and they lost to an 18-35 team. It was the most points allowed in the NBA this season, that was supposed to be the awful result. The next night they were playing the lowly Clippers in LA. This was supposed to be the amazing, Nate Robinson blew up for 33 points, 15 assists, 9 boards and 5 steals. Unfortunately, the Knicks again played no defense and lost to a 13-40 Clips franchise, while giving up 128, albeit in OT, to a team that averages 94.6 points per game. Awful. It was the team's sixth straight loss heading into the break. The Knicks have talented pieces but we are unconvinced that D'Antoni's style can ultimately be successful.

We were bemoaning this to a native Durham NBA guru, saying how we don't think D'Antoni helps the Knicks possible recruitment of LeBron. LeBron believes in defense. Our pal came back with, what if the Knicks got Amare Stoudemire this week, before the trading deadline! How would the D'Antoni seven seconds or less offense look flying down the court with LeBron at the three, David Lee as the junkman four, and Amare playing center. He said, "Think LeBron might throw Amare some good passes? Maybe help him score some points? Maybe get him to play defense in a big spot?" The Clarion Content did have to take a deep breath and think about that scenario for a minute.

Late breaking news flash: the Knicks won tonight! They triumphed over the San Antonio Spurs in OT, with Nate Robinson, fresh off of his dunk contest win, having another big night. He is averaging over 25 points per game in his last five contests. David Lee had his 17th consecutive double double.

Think the Suns were a little bit happy to be rid of fired Coach Terry Porter? All they did was beat the Clippers by forty tonight and light up the scoreboard for 140 points.

Dubai

Dubai risked international uproar this week by banning Israeli tennis player Shahar Peer from entering the country to play in the Women's Tennis Association(WTA) event being held there. The WTA was none too pleased. It's president threatened to pull the event from Dubai next year.

The Clarion Content feels Dubai was playing the Islamist card or playing to the "Arab Street." Dubai is an island of wealth and exclusion unparalleled in the Middle East. It has to reaffirm its credentials, whose side it is on, more frequently because of it. There are certainly no women's tennis tournaments being held in Saudi Arabia, Egypt or Iran.

CNN reported that this event is not without precedent in Dubai, last year an Israeli men's doubles team was denied entry to the country/emirate. Dubai dubiously claimed that security precautions were behind Peer's ban. Citing a demonstration held in New Zealand during the last WTA tournament. CNN said, "In January, a small group of about 20 protesters waved placards and shouted anti-Israel slogans outside the main entrance to the ASB Classic tournament in Auckland." Please.

The players came out strongly behind Peer. CNN quoted Venus Williams in the New York Times, "All the players support Shahar. We are all athletes..."

Unfortunate

The Clarion Content has been on the case of Michelle Wie's parents and various other handlers since her debut. They have ridden her like a pack mule or a circus animal. Rather than choosing what was best for her development as a golfer, they have pressured her to become an income generator as fast as possible, regardless of what might be most helpful for her game. As we have detailed numerous times in the past this has left her psychologically vulnerable and unsteady, all show and no substance.

Yesterday, at her home course in Kahuku, Hawaii, Wie folded under the pressure again. Wie led by three shots with eight holes to play. She double-bogeyed the 11th hole, missed a 3 and 1/2 foot birdie putt on 16 and hit into the sand twice on 17 for a bogey. She finished second, three strokes back. Hopefully, she can hold her head high about the good finish, rather than dwell on another collapse in the spotlight.

Angela Stanford won the season opening tournament for her fourth career victory.

Basketball Links

Two wonderful basketball links for you this All-Star weekend.

The first is to a fabulous article by a Clarion Content fave, Michael Lewis the author of the widely acclaimed baseball analysis book called, Moneyball. It popularized a new way of running baseball franchises and ushered a new era of general managers like Theo Epstein, Brian Cashman, Mark Shapiro and Dan O'Dowd. The interesting thing is that Moneyball isn't even Lewis's best book. As we mentioned in linking to a masterful financial article of his a few months back, Michael Lewis's best book is Liar's Poker, about the excess of Wall Street way back in the 80's. This long article from the New York Times is an analysis of why Shane Battier is such an effective basketball player; why do his teams win so frequently. Lewis seeks to understand what is it about Battier's game (statistically) and persona (sociologically) that makes this so.

The other is a link to an annual article by the Clarion Content's favorite NBA writer Bill Simmons. In this annual column Simmons ranks the top forty players in the NBA by trade value. It is a lot of fun. He allows himself plenty of sarcastic asides and cultural references. He also lists the twenty-five worst contracts in the league. This is one of the surest places for Knicks fans to judge our relative improvement. The Knicks have only two of the twenty-five worst contracts in the Association, down from five last year.

*note technically Simmons didn't list Marbury by the Knicks are paying him $21 million not to play this year.