Month: June 2011

Star cower: Considering Mayweather’s reined-in persona

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 #pause  

About two hours before Tuesday’s promotional press conference for Floyd Mayweather’s return to the ring against Victor Ortiz on Sept. 17, the fans waiting outside were privy to a bizarre scene about a block from the Hudson Theater, as a somewhat unhinged would-be rapper climbed a light pole in the middle of Times Square and wouldn’t come down.

Traffic was diverted for 20 blocks as he did pull-ups and tossed CDs to bemused onlookers. After a couple of hours, he finally descended right around the time Golden Boy ushered everyone in for the presser, reportedly of his own volition.

Maybe he was just tired of the attention.

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2011 NBA Mock Draft: Robert Jamis runs it down

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Ready for his closeup The NBA Draft is among my five favorite sports days of the year, and I’m not alone: Anybody who appreciates basketball on any level from high school to pro gets something out of it. I’ve been to three drafts, and it’s been great every time. This year, I’m ecstatic to see Kyrie Irving go at the top, having watched him play a half-dozen times in high school for St. Patrick’s.

I usually do a mock draft on the site, but this year, I’m proud to present a fresh perspective from friend of SportsAngle Robert Jamis, a Nets fan and one of the most savvy basketball observers I know.

Robert really did a terrific mock — though as anyone who’s ever done one of these knows, doing one of these amid all the rumors is like counting grains of sand on the beach, especially after the first few picks. This draft, considered very weak after guys like Terrence Jones, Jared Sullinger and Harrison Barnes stayed in school. But I think he did a fantastic job with it, and his player analysis is superb. I want to go to a Hofstra game next year with his uncles.

Check it out after the jump, and enjoy the draft tonight.

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Rearview Mirror: Weiner being Weiner at the 2005 Mets 5K

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The long and short of it

The one time I met Anthony Weiner in person was in the Shea Stadium parking lot the morning before the Trade Deadline in July 2005. At the time, he was stumping for a mayoral bid.

“It’s true,” Weiner said with an air of certitude to a group of constituents. “The Mets have traded for Manny Ramirez, and they’re going to have a press conference at noon.”

Obviously, Rep. Weiner is about as reliable with baseball news as he is with his dalliances on the internet.

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Love at first fight: Thoughts on Froch-Johnson

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In a wonderful development, my girlfriend has really gotten into boxing in recent months, becoming invested in fights I’d turn on while she studied for law school exams. It was pretty much a no-brainer, as I think anything’s better than reading that stuff, but it got to the point that she watched Bernard Hopkins-Jean Pascal two weeks ago without me.

StaredownSo when she asked me recently to take her to her first boxing match, I was like, “I guess…”

No, honestly, I was ecstatic. And I wanted to make sure to pick a fight that would properly represent the experience, and hopefully have her interested in going to more.

We ended up going to Saturday’s Super Six semifinal between Carl Froch and Glen Johnson. It didn’t disappoint — I wouldn’t term it a great fight, but it was certainly a very good one that wasn’t short on action. There was a decent helping of suspense; it was a tough fight to call live, and sure enough, one of the judges had it a draw.

There was also the requisite amount of danger; Froch outclassed Johnson down the stretch en route to a majority decision, but the old warhorse pressed him the entire fight and managed to connect flush with a couple of not insignificant right hands — one in particular, in the eighth round, that produced a satisfying gasp from the assembled masses.

But more so than the fights themselves, we enjoyed the intimacy of the proceedings — which, in all honesty, is what keeps me coming back.

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Fans or common sense be damned, Jimmy Dolan is the Knicks

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A lot of people are sending out images of Jimmy Dolan, the idiot owner of the Knicks, and Isiah Thomas today, and that’s a logical way to go. But right now, one image sticks with me.

dailynews I held on to the Daily News from the day of Carmelo Anthony’s debut against the Bucks at the Garden. The picture on the back cover featured Carmelo just kind of looking around, while Dolan claps moronically like one of those clapping monkey toys with the cymbals. Jimmy is sitting next to his wife, Kristin, a Cablevision executive who as usual looks somewhat embarrassed to be pictured with him.

It was perfect.

Anyone who had watched the disgraceful press conference earlier knew that in Jimmy’s head, he alone had brought Melo to the Garden! — as if that was some sort of endgame.

Meanwhile, it was president Donnie Walsh’s stellar ability to do his job that allowed the Knicks to collect the quality assets that not only had them competitive for once, but gave them the ability to make deals for upper-level talent. Walsh also knew he had leverage in negotiations for Carmelo Anthony, as it was pretty clear he was only going to play for the Knicks.

In one horrible All-Star Weekend, Dolan shot it all to hell. When I heard Jimmy had made the trip out to Los Angeles while Walsh sat at home, my heart sank. And Dolan proceeded to tear down several years of patience, hard work, progress and competence.

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