Real Deal

LeBron was dancing around again, and the broadcasters were putting him on blast again.

LOL, yeah, we don't watch football. I didn't even see the play, just took a stab in the dark.

Yeah, the View New Content link is sort of similar to the Today's Active Content link you'll see near the bottom of the site. There's a difference...but I'm not exactly sure what it is, haha.

IPB 3 has everything vB 4 will have, and more. It's also more secure, better support, and many, many more updates. Invision has a leg up on anything vBulletin has done for about two years now. After some of the problems I've seen with vBulletin, I'd almost rather use a phpBB board.

...this board.

Not a chance. It's a terrible software, difficult to customize the skin, and it's less user-friendly in the ACP. There would be no way I'd ever move to vBulletin, especially after the price increase...and even then, if it was for free, I wouldn't take it. I've worked with many vB boards for a few years, coded for two and skinned for plenty, and it's junk compared to IPB 3.

Late, late whistle to ruin the kick (since the NFL is rigged, I guess), but it doesn't matter...Saints put them to sleep. Awesome, awesome win.

Wow, hell of a choke job, for sure. Saints right at the goal line. Terrible defensive effort.

LMAO, football is only rigged when games don't go your way. I guess I should be saying this after every single Raiders loss. He wasn't down. That ball was coming out. The Redskins failed because the Saints are right there with the Colts as the best team in the NFL, and there isn't much more to say about it.

I've seen cameras switch over to non-superstar players dancing on the sidelines. Ronny Turiaf comes to mind before anyone else...but then again, not very many players do it to begin with.

We didn't have a serious activity crisis? We fell to under 200 posts per day. That's about enough to shut down the board for good. If the topic isn't for you, don't worry about it. There's no harm in telling everyone how we're progressing, gearing up to reach 600-700 PPD or more.

Ingram. I'm not really sure if anyone else is close, honestly. And wow, Case Keenum, how the hell do you throw 76 passes? I didn't see the game, but I saw the pick at the end, and they said it was his third of the day? Crazy though...but yeah, Ingram all the way.

Haha, she actually didn't know much of anything about the NBA at first. Now she can run through the entire Lakers roster, Cavs, and a few starting fives from other teams...and I'm working on some history with her, gotta create a fan from scratch sometimes.

They beat a dysfunctional Bulls team, but this is the Raptors squad I figured we'd see this year, out playing defense as much as they can and taking smart shots.

Guys, you still can't discredit what Jennings did in that 55-point performance, bad teams or not, doesn't matter if Jennings was the only one scoring the ball. Keep in mind that LeBron had just one 40+ point game his rookie season (and it was 41), and it took him 62 games into his second NBA season to drop his first 50-point game. Jennings dominated Billups and Lawson in that game against the Nuggets, also. He's going to be good. As it stands, he's one or two among the rookies, Evans being the other option in that regard. Against any NBA defense, 55 is stellar for a rookie. As far as Tyreke Evans goes, he's playing very well, more consistent than Jennings. Until a full 82 games are played, I'll say both are up there. Evans will hit that rookie wall soon enough, probably deeper into the season. Everyone does.

Man, really crazy...but Jessica (my girl) just brought up Shaun Livingston. She doesn't know a ton about basketball, but she remembers seeing that clip of him busting his knee, and she reminded me of "the Clippers player that did something similar." With that in mind, I really, really hope this isn't going to be a similar situation.

Wow, that last basket was just weird, felt like Philly lost on purpose. Diaw played like he was a damn superstar, too. Someone may need to put a body on him next time. I watched the second and part of the third, when Philly was doing really, really well...figured it was done, so I started watching other games and noticed how close it was near the end, flipped it over and saw Felton close it out. Anyone else feel like Iggy's shot was going in?

Wow, so Kimbo improved his ground game significantly! Man, I'm sorry, but I was pulling for him big time. I wanted him to destroy Houston Alexander, especially after watching Houston dance around the octagon for a good three minutes...really pissed me off. Leg kick, leg kick, leg kick...and nothing more. Alexander looked scared. Kimbo needs surgery to repair those knees, though. He found himself in trouble during that third round, when that sweep (a sweep, not exactly a leg kick that did damage) took him down. Fix those knees, and Kimbo could be a very dangerous man. I thought Houston was out on his feet the entire time in the third round...dude was wobbling and barely conscious after Kimbo gave him those shots in the second.

Getting rid of the Big Cactus helped more than many believed. Once you go back to Nash's system, it turns him into a superstar point once again, and having Amare healthy helps tremendously. There was a point where I didn't think Amare would be playing much, reading that he refused to wear his goggles...but all of that changed when he slipped them on. Houston started off on fire, but they've hit thick ice. I can't really say Phoenix will be a 55+ win team just yet. I just need to see how strong they can hold through a grueling season, because that's when Nash is most tested, and this particular team needs him more than ever.

I can't say that Carlos Dunlap's incident really hurt Florida that much. Their secondary was picked apart by Alabama, and the Gators never found a groove against Bama's crazy defense. Ingram did have a hell of a game, rushed for triple digits...but I doubt Dunlap's presence would've altered the game's final score. Rooting for Texas now, because I wasn't so happy with Alabama's Gator chomps. As far as Tebow goes, I think he'll fare well in the NFL, probably just take a while though. Look at Vince Young and what he has done for the Titans now, after the train wreck he was in not so long ago. The NFL is a mental game as much as it is physical, and I think Tebow is one of the most mentally tough players I've seen at the QB position, tears flowing or not.

Haha, no idea Jen. Ah, oh yeah...509 posts today. Things are looking up. Loving this trend...with less personal attacks, less complications, much more intelligent discussion. Great stuff.

You didn't answer any of my questions. If Wade landed on a fallen Haslem and snapped his leg, ending his career shortly...is he a bust? I mean...let's assumed that Miami just re-signed him for six years, $120 million or more, no trade clause, invested it all for him. Does that one career-ending injury make the player that gave the Miami Heat their only championship a bust? Six seasons and that's all she wrote? This injury wasn't Oden's fault, not at all. Neither were Bynum's injuries. Oden has shown he can play very good basketball, contributing to an improving Blazers team. Bynum will be an all-star this year. Neither are busts...doesn't make sense. Now, if John Wall comes in and plays 20 games a year, hurts every bone in his body and does it running up the court, no incidents with any surrounding players...you'd have a case, but I'd probably still argue against it if Wall's numbers exceeded expectations.

Most great players are cocky. That has something to do with it. Jordan and Kobe are...not that difficult to admit it. I know this topic is going to be more about LeBron than anything, so I'll drag Magic Johnson in on it as well...one of the most humble players you can find. Did people hate Magic? I wouldn't say so...not as much as they did Jordan, and some of you wouldn't believe the Jordan hate back in the early and mid-90's, especially after coming back out of retirement. A lot of it has to do with the success, though. Problem is, I wouldn't consider LeBron that successful yet. As big of a fan I've been of his, I'm the polar opposite when it comes to the way he actually displays his cockiness. Kobe trash talks to players on the court, uses it as a motivational tool. LeBron reminds us all of his stats (using a t-shirt), shows poor sportsmanship in a playoff loss (right after he was fine with shaking hands after a win), dances on the sidelines AND on the court before/during/after the game, takes jabs at players in his comments, takes a jab at his own coach, pulled a Rafer Alston by showboating with a flurry of unnecessary dribbling moves in that Chicago blowout (and that was off a screen, so I don't even know what the hell that was for other than taunting), and it's just getting to the point where I don't know if I want to support that anymore. Garnett started taunting smaller players (mainly guards) to no end, until he busted his knee. I don't see him doing much crawling or yelling in their ears anymore. Charles Barkley made a great point once. He said that if some of this stuff was done back in the 80's, you'd eat your words. Players still do this...you saw it with Fisher and Scola in the playoffs last season, and honestly, I think you may have seen it when Haywood clotheslined LeBron James a few years back. If you're going to be cocky, that's fine...but do it away from the camera and in your opponents' ears. You don't have to turn things into a circus, because that's when you're involving thousands of fans, other opponents, coaches and even your own teammates, and that's when things get ugly.

For some reason, I have a feeling you wouldn't be saying this about Dwyane Wade when he destroyed his shoulder a couple years back. In fact, it was Wade who has played 51 games twice in a season already, 61 in his rookie year...and that's in just six complete seasons. I'm guessing Andrew Bynum is a bust as well, since he's been in and out of basketball for so long...even though he's giving the Lakers 19 points, 10 boards on 58% shooting and will more than likely be the starting center in the all-star game this year. I really don't like making an example like this, but if Kevin Durant's life ended tomorrow (God forbid), is he a bust? Not even close to one. Michael Olowokandi is a bust. Nikoloz Tskitishvili, Marcus Fizer, Robert Traylor, Rafael Araujo...busts. The selection itself is a bust if the player is injury-prone, severely injured or ill (such as Wagner and Williams), or killed...and even that is debatable, because GM's and owners are not God and have no control of a human life. If Oden was made out of glass, that knee would've popped out on its own running up the court. If Bynum was made out of glass, his two knee injuries wouldn't have come from two teammates putting their foot under his on a rebound. Injuries, death...those don't make you a bust, underachieving as a player does. It's your game that does the talking, not unfortunate incidents.

Okay, this is worse. I actually didn't really care for the dancing...didn't support it and thought it was stupid, but this is just a dumbass comment made by a dumbass player. My support for LeBron is dwindling year by year. And Adam, he was also dancing on the court, right before he shot that free throw...dancing right in the face of the away crowd. That is what caused Noah to go off on him. Can anyone tell me what other NBA superstar does stuff like this during the game? I don't even see Dwight doing it, and I've never seen Wade or anyone else, either. Not even Shaq.