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And Now....The Rest Of The Story

Elton Brand became a Philadelphia 76er yesterday, the first day teams were allowed to sign free agents. Since that time I've heard Brand called some of everything. A thief, a liar, a snake, and a few other things that would not be appropriate for family entertainment.  When Brand opted out of the final year of his contract with the LA Clippers, he made it quite clear that he was doing so in an effort to force the Clippers to bring in another star--and allowing them salary cap space to do so. He was looking for a committment to win from the team.  He also stated publicly that he would be willing to take less money to make that happen.  And that he had every intention of re-signing with the team.  The Clippers responded the very next day by obtaining a verbal committment from Baron Davis of the Golden State Warriors.  Brand was said to be instrumental in making that happen.  Suddenly the Clippers became the story in LA.  Their fans, as well as a new generation of "bandwagoners" began spouting the "P" word--but it's the Clippers, remember.

Missed It By That Much

Did I call this one or what?  Last night marked the 43rd edition of the NBA draft.  There were actually very few surprises for me--just confirmation. I predicted this months ago, and have written about it twice. Most recently last week (http://www.fannation.com/blogs/post/207179) In the unlikely event that Clay Bennett or another member of the Seattle Supersonics front office happens to drop into fannation, I would like to award them the 2008 NBA Draft Durrell Award.  Congratulations guys, you've earned it. Who's driving this bus? Seattle has 3 centers averaging a COMBINED 6 points and 7 rebounds a game, and with the 4th pick in the draft, they take Russell Westbrook? Westbrook is solid, athletic, and smart, but Seattle needed a point guard like they need affordable housing. Even more amazing was the fact that Kevin Durrant stood and applauded the pick. The Sonics were 20-62 this year. It's my guess Durrant will stop applauding by the 1st week of November.

A Comedy Of Errors

This Thursday will mark the 2008 NBA draft.  After a year of research and analysis, 30 teams will attempt to acquire the next Kobe Bryant. At this point, the only sure thing appears to be Michael Beasley and Derek Rose. (not necessarily in that order)  Now given the fact that  the "experts" are wrong a lot more often than they're right, it's interesting to hear the justification for their choices--and second guess them.  I'm always intrigued by the guys they seem to have missed.  How was Carlos Boozer still available at number 35? Or Michael Redd at number 55? Would you believe Samaki Walker and Todd Fuller (who?) were drafted before Kobe?

J.A.R. (Is Back!)

I've been busy lately and couldn't get to Just Another Rant. But now I'm back.

A few weeks ago, the MLB and its umpires were getting some heat. There was a stretch of maybe five days where three homerun calls were blown. Two of them were at Yankee Stadium (one blown call for the Yankees and one for the away team, who happened to be the Mets). So I'm going to try to bring this group back with another J.A.R. This week, I'm ranting on instant replay in baseball.

Fannation Examination

What is your favorite page link on the Fannation homepage?

A) Home

B) Truth and Rumors

C) NFL

D) College Football

E) MLB

F) NBA

G) College Basketball

H) NHL

I) Fantasy

J) Community