THE RETURN

                                                       


No, not of blog posts here. No one gives a damn about that. This is about the GLORIOUS return of the flat top haircut. More specifically, on the basketball courts of this nation.See Exhibits A, Iman Shumpert on the left, and B, Nerlens Noel on the right, and just really soak it in. The world hasn't seen a resurgence of the hair tower of power since the golden years of Patrick Ewing and Kendall Gill (although Shump is looking more like he rolled out of Kid N Play).

I, for one, could not be more excited. I can only intuit that this means a banner year for the NBA, and a NY Knickerbocker's championship banner (he said with the slightest, and saddest, but of hope in his voice). Cheers to you Flat Top. And welcome back.

'Nuff Said, Featuring Amare

My buddy sent me the above link. The following is my e-mailed response, verbatim. 'Nuff said.

So much to love about this video. Amare had nuthuggers while Hakeem has shorts below his knees. The bug sunglasses. The fact that there is something that exists called STAT TV. Just epic all around.

CLASSIC Amare!

Is It Linsane Not to Match?

UPDATE: The New York Times is now reporting that, as of 4 PM today, the NY Knicks have essentially decided to not match the Rockets' offer.


In one man's opinion, well not just one as there's Stephen A. Smith (wait am I about to agree with Stephen A. Smith. *Shudder* Momma. I feel so cold. What's happening? Were the Mayans riight??), it is not, in fact, linsane.


First and foremost, for a Harvard guy of (apparently) good, moral, Christian upbringing, it is hard to believe that Lin was stupid enough to take Jim Dolan's assurances that the Knicks would match back to the Rockets in hopes of getting more money. I mean, don't get me wrong, in general this is a smart business move to leverage whatever information you have in order to further solidify your position and get more money. ShaoLin, however, was dealing with Jimmy Dolan. So go ahead and throw "general situations" out the window. OF COURSE, Dolan was going to take that personally as a breach of trust. He's a selfish, solipsistic man-child. Further, it backfired. Lin made no more money, I believe the offer actually went down from a balanced $28 million with $9 million a year, the Rockets just went the "poison pill" route and backloaded his contract in hopes that the Knicks would not match because of that monstrous $14.9 million (or whatever) third year. This would put the Knicks far over the cap in Lin's third year and cost them an additional, roughly, $35 million in luxury tax penalties under the new CBA.


Despite Bill Simmons' opinion, I don't think a ton of the actual Knicks fans care that much. Casual fans surely will be disappointed (only so many players have caused people's moms to comment on the Knicks; "How 'bout that Jeremy Lin, huh?"), but they'll also move on within a couple of days. Sure, Linsanity was an exciting run, but it was also a run primarily under Mike D'Antoni. There is no guarantee that Jeremy would be anywhere as good under Woodson's ingenius(ly repugnant) continuous Carmelo Iso, especially considering what a turnover machine Lin was. Unlike Jason Kidd, Lin doesn't have the cache to direct Melo; as any Knicks fan saw on more than one occasion last year. Simply put, the sample size was far to small to dedicate this type of money to the kid. As much as I despise everything about Dolan, and despite how much I distrust the front office to do anything that makes a semblance of sense, I cannot blame them from deciding against making what amounts to a $40 million gamble. And, yes, I hear y'all saying that worst case scenario is that Lin gets traded in the 3rd year as an expiring contract but who says that will work out. And who are the Knicks going to get in return so that the contracts work out? The league's love of expirings does little to take away from the gamble. 


If it's true that Lin is gone, I wish him all the luck in the world. He seems like a good dude and a hard worker, so I'd like him to succeed. But all the screeching from various sectors about how this is more Knicks front office ineptitude, or that Knicks fans should switch allegiance to Bk if Lin isn't resigned (ahem, pump thebreaksGrantland, ahem), needs to stop. If nothing else, you are not really a Knicks fans if you can't let front office ineptitude roll off your back like so many rain drops off a duck's and just hope for the better. And if Lin IS back. Eff it. Kidd's going to mentor him and we'll figure out year 3 later. Woot. Let's roll into '12/'13 'Bockers.


At worst, I can just continue to nourish myself on the Jimmy Dolan haterade. 

In recent days, two people briefed on the Knicks’ deliberations said it was unlikely the team would keep Lin. Yet both cautioned that the decision was not final and would ultimately be made by one person: James L. Dolan, the Madison Square Garden chairman.

Either way, win-win for me.


UPDATE: For a conflicting but still astute take on the now confirmed decision to not match the Rockets' offer to Lin, check out Jay Caspian Kang over at Grantland. We both agree though, wholeheartedly, that Jimmy Dolan, like many trust fund babies, sucks at life.


IMAGE: NBA.com

Cuomo Out to be the Millennial Candidate in 2016?

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, with the support of Mayor Palpatine Bloomberg and Police Commissioner Kelly, will request the the legislature decriminalize the possession of small amounts of marijuana in order to mitigate the disproportionate affect the city's "stop and frisk" policy has on young minorities. The possession of less than 25 grams of marijuana would be a violation, almost like having an open container, rather than a misdemeanor; i.e., you get a ticket rather than going to jail. Clearly this is a good policy but does not do enough to counter the many problems with stop and frisk and certainly does nothing to fight marijuana's ludicrous classification as a schedule 1 drug. Nonetheless, I like what Governor Cuomo is doing here. Whether he meant to or not, he's clearly differentiating self from "No Soda Nanny" Bloomberg in how he is deciding to leave his NYC legacy.

When one considers this latest legislative move by Cuomo in light of his push for the recognition of gay marriage, it is hard to believe that Governor Cuomo is not setting himself up for a 2016 run as the candidate of the mostlikely newly economically powerful and more mature millennial generation. It is a beautiful political play as, between his continuously rising favorability numbers and the support of the Bloomberg/Kelly duo, he's basically bulletproof here. State GOP can attempt to call him soft on crime, but that is pretty hard to pull off when you have the Mayor and the Commish in your corner. So he has no political liability and gets to ease off of another law that millennials find ridiculous... illegality of marijuana. Impressive anyway you look at it.

I actually hope Cuomo does run as he seems to be really cutting his teeth as Governor and I think he'll be ripe by the time 2016 comes around. He has strong political ideas and ideals and I know many a millennial who will support his sensible policies.

Quick Mini Rant:

Please indulge me briefly. Or don't and just stop reading here. It's my rant and I'll do what I want to. How EFF'N RIDICULOUS is it that marijuana is still considered a schedule 1 drug? Just so we are all on the same page, here is the DEA's definition and examples of a schedule 1 drug:

Substances in this schedule have a high potential for abuse, have no currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States, and there is a lack of accepted safety for use of the drug or other substance under medical supervision.

Some examples of substances listed in schedule I are: heroin, lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), marijuana (cannabis), peyote, methaqualone, and 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (“ecstasy”).

Really? REHHEAAALLLYY? Take a look at that list and please tell me which one doesn't belong. And which one of those is the scientific name for cocaine again? Oh wait, it is not on there because it is a schedule 2 drug because of it's medical benefits! Please read this whole rant again. We can have medical cocaine, but not medical marijuana without state DEA's, ostensibly with the implicit okay of President Obama, busting things up. Because that make sense.

UGH... I need to go smoke a joi pack of cigarettes and nail back a fifth of whiskey. Legally.

Image: NY Daily News