Real Deal

Kelly Dwyer is the biggest LeBron homer, and Kobe hater, I've ever seen anywhere. With that said, LeBron did have the best statistical season. I could argue Shaq at #1, but only because the Lakers won a title. But it's funny how far he dropped Kobe, like a sack of potatoes, while he was focused on a more intriguing sack (for him). He used PER as the foundation for his list, by the way...if anyone is curious. It puzzles me, though, when many say, "Yeah, he's damn right, LeBron is obviously the best," and it's those who have always thrown rocks when someone like me brings up stats in an argument, yet now they lean on stats to support theirs.

We support the players we watch, and they are paid...and you support the paychecks you get, and those are taxed. Same concept.

I think he's giving you a taste of your own medicine, Slaven.

Wow, I had no idea Nelson beat Frank Mir. I heard he used to be good, but I wasn't expecting him to be that good. See, I'm not a die-hard MMA fan like a lot of you. I loved the old UFC, the tourneys and such, and Gracie was my favorite fighter. Now I'm still watching the UFC, I like Diego Sanchez, Brock Lesnar and Anderson Silva...but I don't step outside of that box and see much of anything else, mainly because I'm still way too interested in basketball, haha. I have seen a few fights from Fedor, though...but nothing else outside of the UFC.

Yeah, I'm sick of the entire country of China supporting Yao Ming, also...and that's why I can't stand him...

Man, Raiders are getting no love! DET @ CHI CIN @ CLE SEA @ IND NYG @ KC BAL @ NE TB @ WAS TEN @ JAX OAK @ HOU BUF @ MIA NYJ @ NO DAL @ DEN STL @ SF SD @ PIT GB @ MIN

Deal, as long as you stop paying your taxes if you feel like they are too high.

I'm not so sure about that. He still dropped 61 on the Knicks, and that was in just 36 minutes, through an injured finger, 31 shots attempted. Comparing that to the 62 he dropped on Dallas in 32 minutes (back in 2006, when he scored 81), I don't know. If the Lakers suffered through devastating injuries this season, and Kobe had to give a 70, I wouldn't be surprised one bit. 81 is a different beast. I'm not sure if Kobe or ANYONE in the league right now can replicate something like that, prime or not. Just a special night.

He's not saying pay doctors more money.

You obviously don't understand what I'm saying. Re-read what I typed. I understand a Principal making more than a teacher. I understand a CEO making more than a staff manager. What I don't understand is some secretary from Amazon.com making more than a grade school teacher. What I don't understand is an athlete making $30 million a year. What I don't understand is a CEO stealing money WHILE raking in more than he is supposed to in the first place, while underpaying everyone below him. It's been going on for years.

The difference of salary between a secretary and a teacher has absolutely nothing to do with a chain of command, as neither are related to each other in any fashion. Sure, it makes sense that a Principal would earn more than a teacher, and a teacher would earn more than a substitute, but that's not what the discussion is about. Different types of jobs earn different types of money, and when you dig into it, it's to benefit the rich man. There's no way around it. The rich continue to get richer, which just forces everything and everyone else to fall into place...and that place is lower middle class, and lower class.

LaDainian Tomlinson v2

http://www.vimeo.com/6874411 Footage is from October 2nd (yesterday). Nobody here can convince me that he's fine. Not one person. After years of playing basketball with a destroyed ankle, I know exactly why he's running that way and acting like he wants to sit down.

Terry was bitten by a spider in the middle of the night, near his waist, and he had staph from it. Pretty ugly, and he was in quite a bit of pain, almost to where he couldn't work (because walking was difficult). He had to get some anti-biotics after he popped it, bled like crazy for 5-6 good minutes.

It's not about everyone making the same salary. I wouldn't want that. I'm simply stating that raises for the rich should be matched by raises for the middle class, or scrap it entirely, and the same should be applied for taxes, as income increases, so do taxes. In addition to that, salaries need to be "re-configured" somewhat. Since the NBA was brought up, we can go from there. Back in the early 1990's, a typical salary for a superstar was around $2-4 million. In 1996, Jordan's salary was boosted to $30 million a year. Today, that $4 million is now less than the MLE. In that time, I never saw salary increases on that scale for anyone BUT the rich. As the old saying goes, the rich became richer, and the poor became poorer. It's the perfect ingredient for a failed economy. I don't care about the Soviet, Indonesia, Canada, France, Mexico, wherever...the concern is the states, and trying to duplicate another country, past or present, isn't going to fix the problem we are in.

Granger is a very poor defender? I gotta disagree, more on that than anything else in this topic. Granger's perimeter defense is pretty good. He came out of UNM playing very good defense, and adjusted well in his rookie season in the pros. And the Lakers made it all the way to the NBA Finals without Ariza or Artest. In fact, I wouldn't call Ariza that good of a defensive player. His gambling paid off, but locking someone down is something he had trouble doing, against both Carmelo and Turkoglu, notably when it mattered most. The Lakers have enough up front to get to the Finals and win it all without Artest or Ariza, as long as Bynum stays healthy. Bryant's help defense has been better than his man defense because, quite frankly, the defensive lapses of Fisher and guys like Walton are negated by Kobe's help. Giving up a three here and there (which is what Kobe does) isn't that big of a deal if he's running over to disrupt a Billups three with little left on the shot clock. There is not one GM in the league that would think twice about an Artest/Durant swap, if they had Ron, even if the contracts for both were just a year long. If defense was THAT important, the Charlotte Bobcats would be world champs. The problem is, they don't have any offense, and that's the reason teams like the Mavericks and Suns have gotten to the Finals and Conference Finals, while the Bobcats struggle to win 40 games. But yeah, the combo wins it all. But an extraordinarily-potent offensive team, with good defense, will win it all before an extraordinarily-gifted defensive team, with good offense, takes it. See the 2007 Cleveland Cavaliers for another good example of this.

I'm not going to back him up for this decision, because he needs to work with Kareem as much as he can (as Kobe just decided to work with Hakeem Olajuwon as a veteran player). However, the consistency in health and in stats, that's a different story. I understand he's been hurt, but when healthy, Bynum has been pretty consistent. That goes back pretty far, though, because since his second injury, he hasn't been healthy at all, including his playoff run. I can't call him injury prone, either, because both injuries happened due to another player's mistake. In medical terms, combined with basketball, being prone to injury means you're injured very easily and frequently. Bynum's knee injuries came from two teammates, really weren't his fault, and would've injured many big men in that same situation. There's no doubt in my mind that Bynum can produce 14/8 for a full season. He has the potential to do better, in fact, on a team that gives him more shots...but it would also be tougher to convert those shots and win games.

So, in other words, it's not based on education at all, it's based solely on profits. And that's why the country is near broke. Profits. That's where it all started with CEO's, and that's where it will all end with businesses. A ton of jobs being lost in this area are based on hard labor. Manpower, which is a company that hires workers for other companies (an employment service), went from a couple hundred or so hired to about six total, in my hometown. The funny thing about all of this is that there's also a secretary about 20 miles away that works at Spears Manufacturing, the country's largest manufacturer of plastic fittings, and she makes more than some of those journeyman electricians. Same can be said for an office manager at Sherwin Williams paint factory, who is making more than someone I know that stirs paint the entire time he's at work. Same can be said for the receptionist at Amazon.com's distribution center in Coffeyville, who is making as much as my uncle was when he was working in the shipping and loading departments. No excuses. The country is a mess because of stuff like this. It doesn't matter if the business is a grocery store or Amazon.com, it's all wrong.

Then why do teachers make as much as designers, yet some designers go to school two years less? There are teachers in Kansas that make $30,000 a year. There's also a secretary at a refinery I used to work at that makes $16/hr. and 40 hours a week, with just an associate's degree. That's $33k a year gross pay. Things need to change. They never will...but they need to.

If you're banking on a team led by Bogut, Jennings and Alexander, you may be disappointed in the end. Jennings fell off the face of the Earth for a while after those pre-draft workouts, and for good reason: he just wasn't as good as the other PG's. The potential is still there, but it's just not as convincing anymore, and won't be if he doesn't put on some weight. The likelihood that he turns into an Allen Iverson? Slim to none. Bogut is a good center, but he's not a franchise player. As far as Alexander goes...I don't even consider him a big part of this team soon. Redd needs to be dealt, yes...but how much will you get out of him now? Once a 26-27 PPG scorer, he's not giving you much other than injuries and reasons to believe he'll never be that same one-dimensional, volume shooter ever again...and while it wasn't THAT great before, it's nothing to smile at now for sure. Draft and free agency is the way to go. I'm not sure what superstars will want to ride into Milwaukee in 2010, but if you can rake in just ONE, it would boost the morale of the team and the fans a bit more, and could lead to a 50-win season in a couple of years.

So you're telling me that the Lakers have a better chance of winning a ring with Artest than they do if they swapped him with Durant? I think Durant would be the better second or third option, let alone primary option. To me, the gap between Ron and Kevin's defensive abilities isn't as large as the gap between their offensive abilities, and that's why Durant takes it for me. As far as Granger goes, he's almost as good as Artest defensively, and his offense is much better...so, truthfully, I COULD put Granger ahead of Durant, even. I'll say this much: if we want to consider defense as important as an offensive superstar, Artest beats out everyone on this list besides LeBron James. And in that stance, Bruce Bowen (if still playing) would be a top five or six. I can't say any of that is true, though.

At least he has put on just enough weight not to fracture his foot multiple times, and be a true "puss" by not being able to play for an entire season. And obviously, that's not what I truly feel about Yao Ming, but your comments are a great way to spark that debate pretty quickly, and make people hate you even more.

Murder can affect the country. JFK?

Probably not, but why do they act like it? Did you see Kimbo's loss to Nelson? His stand up wasn't even good, let alone his pathetic ground game. But, to no surprise, Kimbo looks to be making his way back to the show, after a freak injury from one of the others. Is the UFC that desperate?

So it's a simple job? Going to college for four years and planning for your oil rig is a simple job. Give me that every single day of the week. I'm a computer technician, and I'm glad. I get paid more per hour than my dad, sometimes, who is an electrician, but my ass doesn't sweat or work like he does...and I'm thankful for that...just don't agree that I should be making more. Rich tycoons don't deserve half of the money they make. Hell, teachers go to college for 5-6 years, and they bring home $30-50,000 a year, and they do MORE than the oil tycoon. It's the business that they are in. These guys that work under them, like slaves, do the dirty work, while the tycoons hire/fire, spin their pencils, and worry about projected earnings and profits at the end of every month. Good for them. Tough, tough life they have.