Weekend Basketball Recap

I have been a huge fan of All-Star Weekend for a long time. Some of my favorite moments were Dee Brown in 1991...

Craig Hodges dominating the 3-point shootout...

And Vince Carter in 2000...

Jebus, what happened? Now you get a 2:00 shot clock (unless you involve the guy from The Black Eyed Peas, and stuffed animals) and as many attempts misses as you want, until you finally make it on your 8th try, thereby eliminating any actual applause. This year was no different. Blake Griffin only had to tie his shoes to be handed the title Saturday night. I wonder if Vegas took bets on either:

1. Justin Bieber winning the fan vote for MVP of the "celebrity" game. 
2. Blake Griffin winning the fan vote for the dunk contest.

I have personally vowed to never watch another celebrity game as long as people like Rob Kardashian and Bieber are involved. I remember T.O. and Master P actually playing. Now.....sigh

The Rookie/Sophomore game was what I thought it was, and I let them off the hook...

There was less defense in this game than at Charlie Sheen's pharmacist, and only slightly less scoring. The Rookies won 148-140. Yada, yada John Wall had 22 assists. Demarcus Cousins didn't kill anyone*, and Greg Monroe was his solid self. He scored 14, had 8 boards, and 3 assists. The sophomores.....played too. There was a pretty solid dunk though.

Saturday was predictable. I didn't watch the Player/Old Timer/"girl"** competiton. I stopped watching when I heard the teams:

1. Atlanta
2. Chicago
3. Los Angeles
4. Texas

One of these things is not like the other,one of these things just doesn't belong. Stephen Curry won the least dribbles in 30 seconds contest over Russel Westbrook.

A quick break from NBA action. In the Baylor women's game, Felisha from Friday dunked. She didn't look 6'8'' in the movie, but it came out back in 1995. What? Brittney Griner is not the same person? Hmm....

Felisha from Friday

Brittney Griner from Baylor

Sorry, back to the NBA. So Serge Ibaka dunks from the free throw line (for real, not like Jordan or Brent Barry who were a step inside the line) and gets a 45. Blake Griffin jumps over the hood of a car*** and gets elected Mayor of Butte, MT? I get that this is a popularity contest, but if David Stern is going to keep it this way, force LeBron, Kobe, Durant, et al to participate. I mean seriously, how many people had heard of Jevale McGee or Serge Ibaka before last night? I bet 82% of America expected Balki Bartokomous from Perfect Strangers to come out....

I'm sorry, but

Is far superior to



Ok, NBA. You win this round.

*-That we know of.

**-"She" was on team Atlanta...
***-Well, a KIA anyway

Lions sign Erik Coleman

The Lions signed veteran safety Erik Coleman to a 1 year deal yesterday. Despite the impending labor situation, it's nice to see Detroit sign a potential starter. Coleman and Delmas would be a pretty good set of safeties. Now if only Patrick Peterson could land here. This could also lead to Spievey moving back to corner if need be.

Coleman was a fifth round draft pick out of Washington State in 2004. He spent 4 years with the Jets and the last two with Atlanta, so worst case, h
e brings a winning attitude. Best case, he turns into a Troy Ploamalu/Ed Reed hybrid and wins the NFL MVP award. I said best case, not most likely case.

Miguel Cabrera Arrested for DUI

The SEMS curse continues. ladies and gentlemen. Less than a week after making him the top overall draft choice, Miggy was arrested for DUI in Sarasota, FL. I don't get it, I really don't. He's making 153.3 million dollars over 8 years. You can't afford a cab? There are no Metro Cars down there? You didn't learn your lesson last time?

I understand alcoholism is a disease. I get that he will have setbacks once in a while. But to pull out a bottle of Scotch right in front of a police officer? Really?

Did he really pull out the "Do you know who I am?" line? Sigh. Let's hope this is finally a wake up call for Cabrera. He is far too talented to waste his talents. If Cabrera is going to be a distraction, the Tigers' season is over before it starts. Shit.

2012 Michigan Recruiting

My early look at 2012 Recruiting is up over at MSG. So go read it. Seriously, GO!!!!

The "Official" SEMS Fantasy Baseball Team

Since it's a scientific fact that everyone cares about my fantasy team, I have decided to regularly update a team for the website. I just concluded the draft, and am fairly happy. The league is a mixed league, 10 team, 6x5 (add OBP). We start C,1B,2B,3B,SS,IF,OF,OF,OF,UT,UT for offense. SP,SP,SP,RP,RP,P,P,P,P for pitching and we have 6 bench spots and 2 DL slots. I drew the #1 overall pick, and got called a homer when I passed on Pujols in favor of Cabrera. I really think Martinez will be the difference maker, along with Pujols' contract concerns. Here are my draft results...

SEMS
1.	(1)	Miguel Cabrera (Det - 1B)
2.	(20)	Ryan Zimmerman (Was - 3B)
3.	(21)	Félix Hernández (Sea - SP)
4.	(40)	Buster Posey (SF - C,1B)
5.	(41)	Jason Heyward (Atl - OF)
6.	(60)	Hunter Pence (Hou - OF)
7.	(61)	Alexei Ramírez (CWS - SS)
8.	(80)	Drew Stubbs (Cin - OF)
9.	(81)	Yovani Gallardo (Mil - SP)
10.	(100)	Dan Haren (LAA - SP)
11.	(101)	Max Scherzer (Det - SP)
12.	(120)	Howie Kendrick (LAA - 1B,2B)
13.	(121)	Aubrey Huff (SF - 1B,OF)
14.	(140)	Carlos Quentin (CWS - OF)
15.	(141)	Jonathan Sánchez (SF - SP)
16.	(160)	José Valverde (Det - RP)
17.	(161)	Miguel Montero (Ari - C)
18.	(180)	Leo Núñez (Fla - RP)
19.	(181)	Brandon Lyon (Hou - RP)
20.	(200)	Fernando Rodney (LAA - RP)
21.	(201)	Kevin Gregg (Bal - RP)
22.	(220)	Michael Cuddyer (Min - 1B,3B,OF)
23.	(221)	Jhoulys Chacin (Col - SP,RP)
24.	(240)	Tsuyoshi Nishioka (Min - 2B,SS)
25.	(241)	Wade Davis (TB - SP)
26.	(260)	Edwin Jackson (CWS - SP)

Overall, I'm fairly happy. I stuck to my fantasy baseball drafting rules, which are:

1. Don't pay for saves. I rarely draft a guy like Papelbon,Rivera,Bell, etc.. since saves are so easy to come by at the end of drafts, and closers tend to ebb and flow. 2 years ago, no one had heard of Marmol,Brian Wilson, or Heath Bell.
2. That said, stock up on as many late closers as possible. Saves are the one category that are only earned by 30ish players. I know there are a few "vulture saves" by a middle reliever here and there, but closers get 98% of saves, and each team only has one. This makes even lower level closers valuable, and trade bait for later on.
3. Backup as many positions as you can in the draft. With 2 Utility spots, an IF spot and 6 bench spots, I like to leave the draft with at least 2 players per position. That's why I draft guys like Nishioka and Cuddyer. Multiple position eligibility. There is nothing worse than having to drop that young starter you feel might break out soon, or the minor-leaguer who is murdering AAA and should be called up any day, just because your 2B will miss 3-4 weeks with a tweaked groin, and you have no backup.

Don't draft speed only guys early, if at all. Guys like Juan Pierre, Brett Gardner, Michael Bourn all contribute tons of steals. They also were available on the free agent wire last year. As the guys at Razzball say, SAGNOF. Steals/Saves Ain't Got No Face. It doesn't matter where they come from.

With all that said, a few areas concern me. I have some young guys that may regress a little from last year. Posey,Heyward, Chacin, and Scherzer could be great or horrible. I need to be able to flip a few of these closers into something. I don't want to end up wining the saves category by double digits, and fall short in other areas by a  small margin. I also worry about the innings max, which is 1900. I have already put in a waiver wire request for Jesus Montero, dropping Wade Davis. I thought he had been drafted already. If he's up by May, he could win AL ROY by a wide margin.

I will do at least monthly updates on waiver moves, and standings updates. I will probably make a separate post if/when I pull off any trades.

Hold on to Your Hats

So the Lions made a major announcement yesterday. None of my predictions were accurate. They announced that the preseason games would be shown on ABC in 2011. Yawn. They really needed to hold a press conference to announce something that 8 people care about? This just in, the Lions are changing the ketchup at all food stands from Hunts to Heinz. All official Lions t-shirts will be switching from Fruit of the Loom to Hanes Beefy Ts.

So once again, the Lions make a big fuss over practically nothing. April 28th can't get here soon enough.

Fuck You Mark Steyn

I don't have time to deal with all the "anonymous" comments, so here ya go...