Thursday, June 08, 2006

Belgian Waffles Is Mighty Fine

Da Realist:

justine henin-hardenne. no one ever talks about her, but she has 4 slams and is playing in the semifinals of the french. she already has more grand slams than lindsay davenport and as many as jennifer capriati. if she wins this year's french she will have tied venus and martina hingis and will be just one short of serena.

yet no one talks about her at all.


Gangsta D:

She's Belgian. Most people don't even know where the Hell Belgium is. What's the last great thing to come out of Belgium? Hercule Poiroit? Plus she's not sexy. Maria Sharapova's won, what, two tournaments in the past three years? One major. People actually think she's the best female tennis player. Justine needs a makeover and renounce her Belgian citizenship.

Da Realist:

to each his own. the last cute tennis player i remember (besides anna) is gabriela sabatini. (who by the way, is even more sexy now than then. i saw her in the stands watching a match recently) besides her and anna k, none of them have been that cute to me. justine's about as cute as all the other "dolls". she's blonde, petite and she speaks french. and she wins. and she has the best backhand of all the women. what more can they want?

Waldini:

Unfortunately that will always be the issue with females and pro sports. Do you think anyone would pay attention to Danica Patrick's racing career if she was a dog? Don't you think the WNBA would be more popular if more than 1% of the player base was at least average looking? Guys like T&A Period. In tennis there wear tight clothing to accentuate that. But that means nothing to the average guy watching it if the girl has a million dollar body and a food stamp face. Henin-Hardenne is a phenomenal player. But in the majority's eye she's not eye candy. Steffi Graf and Martina Navratoliva (sp?) forced people to pay attention b/c they were racking up Grand Slams like crazy

Gangsta D:

She doesn't make you wanna sell your possessions and move to Belgium. I'm not saying it's morally right, but that's just the way it works. If Jessica Alba had a backhand, she'd be "the best tennis player" in the world. Women's sports are defined by either how dope the participants are or an incredible backstory. I will agree that Gabriela was the dopest. Isn't she divorced? Who would leave her? A badass athletic Agentinian? Where do I sign up?

Waldini:

In her prime, there was no one finer in tennis than her.


Da Realist:

so what makes martina hingis so fascinating?

you're right though. winning only trumps the "lack of drama" card after you've done a LOT of winning. but isn't 5 slams enough? monica seles isn't cute, but she won like 8 or 9 slams so she's a story. same for steffi and martina navratolova. i would think 5 slams would put you on another level whether you're cute or not. but i'm not sure if that is the tennis fan in me talking or not.


Gangsta D:

Remember, Martina started to dominate as a teen. She was named after Navratolova. Incredible backstory so to speak. Plus it helps if you win Wimbledon & the US Open. Winning the Australian & French don't quite add up. Has Justine won Wimbledon? If she does, her cache will go up. What she really needs to do is leak a sex tape. think she'll get some press then:)

Da Realist:

it's no doubt that wimbledon is the most prestigious slam. if you could choose one slam to attend which would it be? i like night matches so that knocks out wimbledon and the french. i heard the australian open is the most fan friendly but there is something about raucous new york under the lights... Read more!

Monday, June 05, 2006

Frenchie

Da Realist:

i've been enjoying this once-every-other-day game schedule for all these nba series, i don't know what to do with all this downtime at night. the first game isn't until thursday...

but i DO know what to do with the days...the french open is on and it's grabbing my attention all day. look for a rematch of last year's final with nadal and federer. you can't ask for a better matchup. federer has won 3 straight majors and gunning for a fourth but is the UNDERDOG against nadal, who has won 50+ straight matches on clay including 3 straight against federer. nadal is the only person to beat federer this year.


Waldini:

NBA FInals - I was saddened that Sat was the last TNT telecast for the year. Instead of Ernie, Kenny, and Chuck we get Dan, Mark, and Mike. Big
difference

French Open - Well clay is Nadal's speciality but I am pulling for Rog. I like to view legends in the making PLUS he's a class guy. Isnt it crazy that Venus is the only American left. Damn JB you couldnt pull it out. I guess I can forgive him since he had played 4 straight days.

Gangsta D:

So who do you have your money on?

Da Realist:

that's tough. honestly i don't know. i just saw nadal beat hewitt today and mathieu yesterday. that boy has a big game on clay. federer is a once in a lifetime player so i guess i'll go with him even on nadal's favorite surface. should be an excellent match. Read more!

Puffin' On A Cuban

Gangsta D:

Think Stern really wants to hand the Larry O'Brien trophy to a smug, sh*t eating grin wearing Mark Cuban? Watch and see if Dirk gets food poisoning this week.

Waldini:

Hey you heard Dirk had a mild case of food poisoning before last Thurs' game right? Hmm, think these stars are trying to milk playing ball while sick for more cred??

As for your original question, I got money saying Russ Granik hands the trophy (if the Mavs win) to Cuban. Did you see the way Mark mugged the photo when the West trophy was handed over, lol


Da Realist:

i think dallas is the better team so i would pick dallas to win the series. BUT i picked the lakers over the suns, the pistons over the heat and the spurs over the mavs so WHAT THE HELL DO I KNOW? Read more!

Friday, June 02, 2006

The Howitzer

Gangsta D:

Has Nowitzky finally made the leap? If the Mavs make it to the finals, is he a bona fide superstar or do they have to win it all?

Da Realist:

dude, you don't know how strange this is to me. if dallas wins it all, dirk will probably be the finals mvp. dirk. think about that for a second. think about all the finals mvp's and imagine where the german flopper would rank. ok, maybe that was too negative. but think about it, if he pulls this off, he would have done something that neither kobe bryant, tracy mcgrady, jason kidd, kevin garnett, or allen iverson has done -- lead his team to the title and win the finals mvp trophy along with it.

strange times, indeed.


Gangsta D:

True, but Dirk has been coming up big. He's been scoring AND rebounding. If he continues playing out of his mind and they win, he'll deserve it. It'll seem crazy, but at least Finals MVP usually go to worthy performers unlike Super Bowl MVPs. Dexter Jackson and Larry Brown, anyone:)

Da Realist:

but don't you think the TRUE mvp of their team (meaning the biggest difference between this year and all the years before) is josh howard?

Gangsta D:

I don't know if you can call him the true MVP. He may be the final piece that gets them over the hump, but the Mavs can't win without Dirk. I just think you have a problem with Germans:)

Waldini:

They dont win Game 6 w/o Dirk Diggler going off. As good as Howard was in the first half, Dirk carried that squad in the 2nd half. And they definitely looked like they were going to tank.
Read more!

Thursday, June 01, 2006

Hogwash

Gangsta D:

This is for our resident Razorback. Where do you stand?

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=grant/060531

Da Realist:

totally agree with this. nolan has 3 final fours, 2 title games and 1 championship under his belt. to understand how impressive that is, you must understand that fayetteville is a small town tucked deep in the hillbilly mountains of northwest arkansas with its population over 95% white. he took over for eddie sutton and made the team BETTER. the best players he ever had was corliss williamson, todd day and oliver miller, yet he sustained a level of excellence from the late 80's until i graduated from morehouse. he even beat a grant hill-led duke team in the finals in '94.

anyone else with those credentials would have a statue of himself outside of the arena, but we all knew nolan wasn't appreciated even when he was winning. put it this way... if nolan was a white man, he'd be roy williams...except roy had to go to carolina to win his title. if he was a white man, he'd be charging speaking fees to address corporations about
"motivational strategy", instead he's coaching in the backwoods of south america for some FIBA tournament no one cares about.

and i hate to say this about the new coach, but arkansas only hired him to make it look good about firing nolan richardson. and how IS that working out by the way? now, no one even cares about the hogs. when i was growing up, there were two things that made us arkansans proud -- bill clinton and the arkansas razorbacks.


Waldini:

Amen brotha Amen....

Dont you love that breakdown of Houston Nutt and Mike Tice?
Read more!

Hogwash

Gangsta D:

This is for our resident Razorback. Where do you stand?

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=grant/060531

Da Realist:

totally agree with this. nolan has 3 final fours, 2 title games and 1 championship under his belt. to understand how impressive that is, you must understand that fayetteville is a small town tucked deep in the hillbilly mountains of northwest arkansas with its population over 95% white. he took over for eddie sutton and made the team BETTER. the best players he ever had was corliss williamson, todd day and oliver miller, yet he sustained a level of excellence from the late 80's until i graduated from morehouse. he even beat a grant hill-led duke team in the finals in '94.

anyone else with those credentials would have a statue of himself outside of the arena, but we all knew nolan wasn't appreciated even when he was winning. put it this way... if nolan was a white man, he'd be roy williams...except roy had to go to carolina to win his title. if he was a white man, he'd be charging speaking fees to address corporations about
"motivational strategy", instead he's coaching in the backwoods of south america for some FIBA tournament no one cares about.

and i hate to say this about the new coach, but arkansas only hired him to make it look good about firing nolan richardson. and how IS that working out by the way? now, no one even cares about the hogs. when i was growing up, there were two things that made us arkansans proud -- bill clinton and the arkansas razorbacks.


Waldini:

Amen brotha Amen....

Dont you love that breakdown of Houston Nutt and Mike Tice?
Read more!