Thursday, May 21, 2009

WORST FASHION TRENDS IN SPORTS


After watching a high school baseball game this weekend I noticed a trend that was quite disturbing; players were wearing their baseball hats with FLAT bills. When I was growing up this was not acceptable. You curved your hat or looked you like a dork. The curved bill looks stylish, helps keep sun out of the corners of your eyes and allows you to narrow your focus. This new flat bill trend is only one step away from baseball players wearing mesh hats or their hats on sideways. Yet, the flat bill is everywhere (sometimes people will not even take the price tag off the flat bill hat). As an old school guy that didn't like to get beat up for looking stupid, I just don't understand these new fashion trends.

Top 5 Worst Sports Fashions

1. Long Sleeves under basketball uniform



2. Baseball Flat Bill



3. Basketball arm sleeve



4. Personalized eye black



5. Golf Visor


Monday, May 18, 2009

ULTIMATE "INLIER" - Moses Malone


Bill Simmons first coined the term "inliers" is his hilarious article-email exchange with best selling author Malcolm Gladwell called "Curious Guy" (a must read). He called an "inlier" as an athlete that if in another era could have made a huge impact. He tabbed Larry Holmes and Nick Faldo as "inliers" because if they were in another era they may have reached total stardom...like Ali or Palmer. Once I finished reading Simmons three part article, I started to think about "inliers". In fact I have the perfect "inlier"...ME (okay only if I was in an era where short, weak, somewhat athletic guys ruled sports maybe)...no the perfect "inlier" would be MOSES MALONE.
Moses came along in the wrong era. When Malone was at his peak he was in the unfortunate shadow of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Hakeem Olajuwon. Moses was stuck behind Jabbar and his showtime Lakers most of his prime years. If you put Moses in the league today everybody would know his name for years to come. If you bring up the topic of great centers of the 80's you automatically get Jabbar and Olajuwon and few would mention Malone. Well lets take a look at his accomplishments during this time period:

1) Between the years of 1978 and 1987, Malone was 1st team or 2nd team All-NBA 8 times (the times he finished 2nd team he was behind Jabbar 3 times and Olajuwon 1 time)

2) He is a career 20 points and 12 rebound guy (Jabbar was 24 ppg and 11 rebounds)

3) He led the league in rebounds 6 times during that period (Jabbar only 1)

4) He won 1 NBA title...against guess who? Jabbar

5) He won the finals MVP against... guess who? Jabbar

6) He led the league in minutes played and free throws made twice each (Jabbar and Olajuwon never did that)

7) In 1981 he was a 30 points and 14 rebound guy.

8) He is in the Hall of Fame (many may not even know that)

Moses Malone was as dominate as any center in the league. The problem was that he didn't win 4 NBA title like Jabbar did in that span nor did he have the "Sky Hook". Jabbar didn't pass the torch to Malone in the late 80's as the best center like you would expect. Instead the claim to the best center went to Olajuwon. Malone was sandwiched between Jabbar and Olajuwon for the best years of his career. Jabbar and Olajowon are on every ones mind when it comes to great centers that played the game while Malone is the forgotten warrior. He is a true "inlier", put him in another era and we may be saying Moses Malone..."you the man".


Sunday, May 17, 2009

CLASSIC CHUCK - Where did you go?

Okay I have had it...the ankle injury...is there no way to stop it:

Headline: Ankle injury always a pain for Williams
Headline: Walton out with injured ankle
Headline: Chandler sits out with ankle injury
Headline: Yao Ming's Foot Injury Breaks Houston Rockets'Dream
Headline: Howard leaves playoff game with ankle injury

Nothing worse then watching the star player limp to the bench in a playoff game with an ankle injury. It is painful, humiliting (it doesn't matter how many muscles you have) and ackward (you can't go down gracefully with an ankle injury). Some of the best doctors in the world can't help if you go down with an ankle injury. So what can we do? Well, players could tape up more or wear a clumsy ankle brace but both of those might limit a player's movement. So we need to be proactive. Lets start with the shoe. Get rid of the expensive LeBron IV, Jordan XX3 and Kobe I. Lets go old school and make every player wear the classic:

CHUCK TAYLOR ALL STARS

Back in the day when the Converse Chuck Taylor All-Stars ruled the basketball world you never heard of an ankle sprain. You never saw Wilt Chamberlain or Dr. J getting ankle injuries. When you wore your Chuck Taylors you could do anything. You could score 100 points and not get hurt, you could dunk from the free throw line and not get hurt. The Chuck Taylors are the answer to our playoff woes. Can you imagine what Dwight Howard would be doing if he sported the black Converse high tops. No more ankle injuries just production with his Chuck Taylors on. Let's rid the NBA of ankle injuries and in the process bring back a classic; the Converse Chuck Taylor All-Stars.

Top 5 Classic Basketball Shoes

1) Converse Chuck Taylors All-Stars








2) Nike Air Jordan I









3) Nike Air Force I











4) Addias Superstars












5) Reebok Omni Lite Pump