Shaq Wants Kobe to Win 4th Ring

Twitter is a wonderful thing for bloggers. Celebrities and athletes have embraced Twitter quickly and the microblogging site allows them to voice everything - what they're doing, a teams schedule, inside news and their thoughts and opinions. One of the first athletes to Tweet was Miami Heat center Shaquille O'Neal. "The Real Shaq" had something nice to say about a foe he usually is spewing acid at.


OK, so he said he'd say it only today but still. I don't think that kind of sentiment was expected of the big man. The Lakers host the Magic in the 2009 NBA Finals, where Kobe Bryant will look for his fourth ring as O'Neal alluded to.

POLLS: People Do Like Spring/Summer

RECAP: Yes, people miss football. Two people actually are counting down the days to September. However, a majority (60%) enjoy football but also like the downtime the spring and summer bring, whether it is to focus on baseball or the intense NBA/NHL playoffs, May through August is a more serene time in the world of sports. Thanks to the 10 readers that voted!

NEW: This week's poll centers around Phillies SP Jamie Moyer. Despite having three wins to his credited this year, the ageless wonder has had three bad performances in a row. Does it have to do with his quest for win 250? Has his age gotten the best of him? Will he rebound? Voice your opinion in the new poll on the right side panel.

Voting ends May 25th.

POLLS: Patriots Favored for XLIV Title

RECAP: So the readers have spoken. With all the changes during the offseason, and with new draft choices now in the fold, the readers believe that the New England Patriots - the juggernauts of the 2007 season - will reign supreme in February 2010. New England received four votes. The two Pennsylvania teams - the Eagles and Steelers - finished tied for second and each garnered three votes. The New York "Football" Giants got one vote to finish fourth out of the listed teams. One visitor did believe that the Super Bowl XLIV winner did not appear among the list of choices.

NEW: It's the offseason, for real this time, for football - both professional and collegiate. However, the NHL and NBA playoffs are in full swing and the baseball season is just over a month old. So here's the question... does the late spring and summer periods do enough for you, sports-wise, to be content. Or do you love football so much that you just count down the days until that season opener? Vote on the right side now!

Poll ends Monday, May 18th.

Baby Name(s)

So I was bored today and caught the story about the most popular 2008 baby names and decided to take a peek at the government site that has the full top 1000 name list. While just skimming over the names, I came across an interesting back to back combination of baby names...

Btw, he should be suspended for tonight's game.

YouTube Watch: Where Will Amazing Happen This Year Parody

For those of you that watch a network that shows the NBA (or probably just watch TV at all), you've probably seen the "Where will amazing happen this year?" promo commercial for the NBA Playoffs. Basically, they dramatize plays with the big stars of the game with the black and white color and music. Anyways, my friend tipped me off to these (in my opinion) hilarious parodies of the commercials. The music is just perfect for these videos...I won't divulge in any more details...check them out for yourself! Even if you're not a basketball fan, I'm sure you'll like it. The first video features Zach Randolph while the second one stars Jeff Foster...Enjoy!

We Did It!!!!!!

Elation! First time I've felt that emotion in quite some time and it feels good. Tonight, my New Orleans Hornets won their first ever division crown in franchise history with their win over the Los Angeles Clippers. Frankly, I knew they had the potential to be good, but to win in a division with the San Antonio Spurs, Dallas Mavericks and Houston Rockets is one helluva task, and they did it. If CP3 does not win MVP, he will be robbed. Yes, Kobe has been phenomenal this year, but he's doing it on a Los Angeles team that is supposed to, and always wins every year. The Hornets have struggled year after year and this year, Chris Paul led them to the top of the hardest division in the hardest conference. While it's nice to celebrate now, the playoffs loom and boy are they going to be crazy. Even if you're not a huge NBA fan, these Western Conference playoff matchups have to excite you. If you were to rattle off all of the first round matchups at the beginning of the season, one would think that they could all be potential Western Conference Final matchups (with the exception of New Orleans series because not many saw their immense potential). Every game is going to be a battle. Whoever makes it out of the Western Conference absolutely will deserve it, hands down. So yes, while we need to prepare for the playoffs, tonight is a well deserved evening of celebration.

Yayyyyy!!!!! Go Hornets!!! I <3 CP3!!! (Credit AP with pic)

The longest minute of their lives

Not since the 1982-83 season have two NBA teams had to replay portions of a previous game, but on March 8, the Atlanta Hawks and Miami Heat will have to replay the last 51.9 seconds of their previous meeting, which was originally on December 19.

The reason for the replay is a foul that was erroneously attributed to Shaquille O'Neal with 3:29 remaining in the fourth quarter. The foul was supposed to be called on Udonis Haslem, but instead the scoring table gave it to O'Neal. The game eventually went to overtime, where Shaq picked up another foul, which the scoring table called his sixth. It should've only been his fifth.

The Hawks were leading 112-111 with 51.9 seconds left on the clock when the foul prompting O'Neal to exit the game was called. Atlanta went onto win 117-111. The replay will take place before the teams' next meeting on March 8.

In 1982, the San Antonio Spurs challenged their 137-132 double overtime loss to the Los Angeles Lakers. The challenge was upheld, and San Antonio went on to win in the replay, 117-114.

Basketball Games I've Been To

Though I haven't been to nearly as many basketball games as I have football games, this still is a nice list. Unfortunately it is devoid of any NBA experiences.

• January 11, 1997 - Villanova vs Miami (FL)
• February 1, 2003 - Syracuse vs Pittsburgh

Syracuse went on to become the 2003 National Champions.

• December 7, 2003 - Lady Lions vs Texas
• January 22, 2004 - Lady Lions vs Minnesota
• January 24, 2004 - Syracuse vs Pittsburgh
• February 29, 2004 - Lady Lions vs Purdue
• March 27, 2004 - Lady Lions vs Notre Dame (NCAA Tournament Sweet 16)

Lady Lions superstar Kelly Mazzante and me after the victory over Notre Dame in the Sweet 16 of the 2004 Women's NCAA Tournament (Hartford, CT).

• March 29, 2004 - Lady Lions vs Connecticut (NCAA Tournament Elite Eight)
• December 5, 2004 - Lady Lions vs North Carolina
• March 20, 2005 - Lady Lions vs Liberty (NCAA Tournament First Round)

Kelly and me at the Lady Lions game versus Liberty in College Park, Maryland for the first round of the 2005 Women's NCAA Tournament.