Thoughts on Chris Andersen's New Contract

        Why did the Nuggets sign Birdman for five years? He is already 31 years old and years spent taking drugs have taken a toll on his body. He’ll be a legit back-up for two more years. then he’ll be done. Five years 26 million? Why?

        I do agree with re-signing him. He had to be re-signed. He is a fan favorite and a dynamic player. He draws in fans. All he does is dunk and get monster blocks. Who wouldn’t want to watch a player like that?

But five years? Stupid. In a few years the Nuggz will regret this. 

        I do however, have big expectations for the upcoming season. The addition of Lawson is a bigger deal than people think.

        I think he can be a good player and him giving a break to Chauncey will be huge. Plus you have to watch out for the players with tons of skills who get drafted low because they are “too small.” Lawson will be out to prove everyone wrong and I believe he will. He plays hard and is already a good, smart player. 

        Having Billups as a mentor will make him much better. He’s mature, seasoned, and a winner. I think he is a great addition. And with all the scorers on the Nuggets, all he needs to do is distribute and knock down open shots. And if he can get into the lane it will be easy to dump it off to Nene of K-Mart for the score. 

        It will be good for him to grow on a team like that. They are good enough for him to make mistakes and still be okay, while keeping his confidence up because they will be winning. 

        I look for the Nuggets to at least make the Conference Finals again. I think they can beat everyone, save possibly the Lakers. 

The Lake Show

        I think Artest does make the Lakers better. He plays hard and I believe he can fit in. He was fine in Houston being the third guy and he should be fine again.

The Spurs

        The Spurs will be an interesting team, though. (For the first time in a while. Holy crap these guys are boring!) The addition of Jefferson and the pick of DeJuan Blair will make them an interesting team to watch. They should be good. Blair will be a premier player in the NBA. I think so at least. He is already good. 

        Oh and his knees are fine. He tore his ACL in high school. Big deal. The guy didn’t miss a single practice in two years at Pitt. I think he can stay healthy. 

        With Duncan mentoring him (I love mentors) he should be able to develop. It really is the same situation I just described with Lawson. Different position, but behind a veteran all-star on a good team. I like their chances.

Everything's all a Twitter

        Why would anyone Twitter? It’s an invention that’s already been invented. It’s like one little aspect of Facebook, the comment space, without the other aspects.  

        But it makes people feel connected. It feels good to be part of the online community. And it’s another group of friends. A group you’ve never met and probably won’t meet, but you still know them.  

 

        And depending on how much they lied, you may know them very well. 

        I don’t understand our need to be connected. But it is there. I have no idea why. But people like to be a part of something. Usually something bigger than ourselves. 

        That’s why most people play sports. To be part of a team. part of something bigger than themselves.  

        That’s why we join clubs and churches. That’s why we joined Twitter. It’s another group. Another team.  

        People feel good when they feel like, as part of the team, they helped someone in Iran to get their message out, or followed Nick  Barnett to help him raise money for charity. 

        So join the Twitter team. It’s fun and often interesting. It’s a look into people’s lives you can’t get unless you actually hang out with them (the internet is taking the place of actual human interaction.) But that’s ok. Because even though we aren’t connected, we really are.

Follow me on twitter. www.twitter.com/jacob_dunn

America's Team

        Why does ESPN do this? 

        Now they are on a new campaign to find America’s Team. Umm... It’s the Cowboys. As much as it pains me to say it. And Titletown is Green Bay. Stop messing with these historic nicknames. We understand what you are trying to do. Get ratings and update these older nicknames. Don’t. 

        Sports fans (real sports fans) LOVE sports history. That’s why we got mad when we found out the guy (Barry Bonds) who broke our historic home run records was a cheater. We love history and most of us hate when people mess with it. 

        Unless the history is real. We embraced Michael Phelps because we didn’t think he was a cheater. And ignore the marijuana. That doesn’t factor into this convo. Fine. We embraced him. Maybe not anymore. But we did. So we can embrace the changing or making of history. But not when it destroys older history. We hate that. 

        So stop with your attempts to get the casual sports fan interested in your network. Or don’t stop. But go at it differently. Don’t hurt the diehard fans to get to the casual ones. Please. Just stop.