Tuesday, July 5, 2005

Ray Allen Stay In Seattle

          Ray Allen

*Ray Allen remains a Sonic.....something most people had their money on.  Although playing with LeBron was intriguing, and despite all the squabbling over the past 18 months, Allen decided to stay put.  Now that the biggest block is in place, the rest of the NBA [and the Sonics] can see their pathways clearer.  Seattle can now go after their own free agents, like coach Nate McMillian [who may decide to stay in his longtime home of Seattle now that his main man is sticking around], Vlad Rad, Antonio Daniels, Reggie Evans and Jerome James.  And, technically, the Sonics can go after some big time free agents since....right now....they are under the cap.  They could go after Michael Redd...then sign all of their own free agents. 

*Speaking of Northwest NBA returns...the Portland Trailblazers have interviewed former PG Terry Porter for their head coaching job.  Uh...Terry...you may want to steer clear of Portland for a while.  This is somewhat of a joke....but really not...is that I think the Blazers need to go after a college coach with some NBA experience [like a Calapari].  I mean, half of this team is under 23.

*RIP Hank Stram

*Add another name to the disgruntled NFL stars pile.  Shaun Alexander refuses to sign the Seahawks tender offer of 1-year worth over $6M.  He wants a long term deal and says he will sit out some regular season games until he gets it [mainly to prevent injury].  Ahhhh yes.  Training camps are set to open soon!

*Rest assured, I will be breaking down the MLB All Star Game selections sometime soon.  Hey, I got a freaking 3-day weekend and not wasting it on such trivial things right now [lol].  Got to hang out with the wife for a few days....chill at home....go to a cookout...go swimming...toss around the football...and just had some relaxing fun.  SO BACK OFF!!!!

*Despite that game being called the "midsummer classic"...really the season's halfway point is the 4th Of July.  Isn't it amazing to see what's going on in the standings??  The Dodgers and Athletics are under .500.....the Yankees are barely hovering above it....and every team in the NL East is over it.  I mean, if the playoffs started now...your playoff matchups would be Red Sox-White Sox, Twins-Angels, Braves-Cardinals, Padres-Nationals.   Yeah....San Diego-Washington.  Should be a great stretch run.  Of course, the one downer is that the smallest lead any of the division leaders have is 2.5 games...with everyone else with at least 4-game lead.  Heck, half of the leaders have at least a 6.5 game lead.

*North Carolina and Illinois will play in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge this fall.  It is a rematch of the NCAA Championship.  Or, maybe it isn't.  The Tar Heels won't have pretty much any player who actually saw minutes in that title game.  And the Illini will be without 2 of their big 3 [and Brown was a broke foot away from being gone].  And stop it with the "rematch" crap.  First, we all will know that the teams will be dramatically different.  Two, it Illinois wins that game...will it honestly take out the sting of their loss this past April??  Will Illini alums and fans call each other all over the country to celebrate that win??  Will Sports Illustrated offer up that book, DVD and special edition basketball if Illinois wins??  No.  Hype is hype...but don't kid yourselves. 

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