I'm at a total loss to make sense of it. I can't really think of a less defensible trade. Haven't we just spent an entire season wringing our hands, trying to come to terms with the fact that Shaq is done?
And how is Shaq--with $40 mil. left on his contract after this year--the best the Suns could do for Marion? Wouldn't you rather have Noah/Wallace?
Even more extraordinary: this is what happens when you give reins to Steve Kerr?
You've got to figure Isaiah Thomas is involved somehow.
Oddly enough, that makes more sense than the trade on its own does.
Wouldn't you rather have Noah/Wallace?
The Bulls would be crazy to trade Noah and Wallace for Marion. Why would they give up what little size they have for another, albeit very talented, small forward? They're desperately trying to get bigger, not add to their already large collection of talented guards and undersized front-court players.
My (not particularly original) theory: the Suns wanted a big body to bang with Gasol, Bynum, Duncan, etc. on defense. O'Neal provides that, if healthy, and if Marion was as much of a locker room problem as people seem to think, it's also addition by subtraction. It's not an obvious win for the Suns, by any stretch, but it's not hard to imagine good reasons.
The Suns must think that this is serious addition by subtraction. All other readings are loony, unless one assumes that the team wants to match the demographics of its fans: age not race. Boy, that was cumbersome. Not even a little funny.
And pwned by Nick. Mine is a truly excellent comment: not funny and repetitive. Bow before my ability to kill two birds with one stone.
This kind of shit pisses me off. First, I'm a Cavaliers fan and all we need is ONE MORE FUCKING PIECE next to Lebron, but we can't get in on one of those ridiculous pennies-on-the-dollar trades that seem to happen EVERY OTHER WEEK in the NBA. Danny Ferry sucks.
Plus, like all true NBA fans I love to watch the Suns run, and it's gonna be painful to watch Shaq trying to move at all.
Wow, this helps me realize how truly little I care about the NBA.
Of course. I just hadn't realized how utterly illiterate I was until I was clueless about the post, before a google.
And again like all good NBA fans, I HATE Pat Riley. He's evil. And he's getting a gift.
One thing though: if Shaq is really an important piece on a Phoenix team that finally breaks through to win it all, then he'll have a claim to be up there with Jordan as the greatest ever. He'll have won championships with three different teams, and taken four different teams to the NBA finals, over 13 years. No one has ever done it so consistently with so many different teams.
we can't get in on one of those ridiculous pennies-on-the-dollar trades
As a Bulls fan, I feel your pain. It's the Lakers's trade for Gasol that's got me all hot and bothered (and not, like, at all in a good way.).
I hope Steve Nash has enough good years in him to outlast this.
A zombie-American / A vampire-American! Get the pitchforks and torches!
A follow-up on the racist SalesGenie ads. Turns out the CEO of SalesGenie's parent company, who also wrote and developed the ads personally, is (apparently) an Indian-American, Vinod Gupta. He "never thought anyone would be offended."
Uh-oh: Gupta "described himself in the interview as half-Indian and half-Jewish."
What, Indian people can't hate Chinese people? Has 1962 been forgotten so quickly?
The Bulls would be crazy to trade Noah and Wallace for Marion. Why would they give up what little size they have for another, albeit very talented, small forward?
I keep reading that the Bulls would love to get rid of Wallace, who also has a bad contract. Noah would be the price for taking Wallace in return for Marion. The Bulls could rent a star for a year or two and see if it actually makes a difference. As to size: for some reason I thought Marion was 6-10. Makes less sense now that I know he's 6-7. I can't determine of whom I was really thinking.
Maybe Bellicheck should coach Fed.
I'm trying to decide how much it's worth me to see Federer and Sampras play an exhibition at Madison Square Garden.
Turns out the CEO of SalesGenie's parent company, who also wrote and developed the ads personally, is (apparently) an Indian-American, Vinod Gupta.
I think I predicted that. Well, half of it. I guessed that the person who wrote the ad was Chinese.
23: Oh! Worth a bit, if you have the disposable income.
22. he doesn't believe in adapting to his opponent's games
i'm not really following the thread. this a tennis, thread, right?
it's worth at least $350, ballpark, I would guess.
What I really want to see is Andre and Steffi play an exhibition match, and give parenting pointers b/n games.
I can get really bad seats on the secondary market for right around $100.
this a tennis, thread, right?
More philosophy and science fiction. The Matrix is transforming into the Big Aristotle.
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Awesome yoga breakthrough! I thought I had tight hamstrings, and that was why I did not have much success with certain postures. But my yoga teacher noticed that I hyperextend my knees very easily, meaning that I have loose hamstrings that have been locked up, and if I turn my hip just so, I can fold up and put my torso on my thigh!
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Awesome, Cala. It is so good to have a teacher with an eye for technique. I'm glad it is something you can work with now.
I am happy, because I was beginning to think I was a freak of nature with long arms and stubby legs. I realize I'm in a class filled mostly with bendy undergrads, and yoga isn't about comparing, but I couldn't figure out why I could put my hands flat on the floor when doing a forward bend but couldn't lean past horizontal on this posture.
They do seem like they should be correlated, don't they? Well, now you know to watch your knees.
I keep reading that the Bulls would love to get rid of Wallace, who also has a bad contract. Noah would be the price for taking Wallace in return for Marion. The Bulls could rent a star for a year or two and see if it actually makes a difference.
The financial side of this makes sense to me, SCMT. I just think Marion's size is a deal-breaker, especially without Wallace and Noah. Now, if there had only been a quality big available for pennies on the dollar...
Sigh.
This is all very cute, ladies, but the former enfant terrible of the blogosphere himself has established that no one does yoga.
31, 33 (by the way 33's link crashed my browser big time):
I'm not sure I follow that entirely, but you want to be a little careful if you're hyperflexible or -extendable. (This is actually a term, hyperflexibility.) I could do some surprising things in yoga, but later developed back problems, and the physical therapist said that while hyperflexibility seemed like a good thing, it's not necessarily, unless you back it up with serious core body strength stuff to protect yourself.
Not wanting to rain on the parade, just that being able to easily put your hands flat on the floor (or more seriously, your wrists or forearms) in a forward bend is a little unusual, they say.
Since I couldn't see the link in 33, so don't get the knee thing, this may all be misplaced.
What, no one watching the US/Mexico game?
Well, I've abandoned it in favor of a sport with Right and Wrong, but it does seem to be what I go back to when I don't have a real sport.
(I can put my hands flat on the floor in a forward bend. Can do it behind my feet, if I'm warmed up.)
28: Are bad seats for tennis worthwhile? No idea - I've never seen a live match, although I grew up adoring Jimmy Connor.
I will say that, if you know the game, even nosebleed seats for hockey are pretty good - seeing all the players at once makes up for less-than-optimal puck visibility. And, really, you can see a black puck on white ice from 200'.
But no idea for tennis.
What kind of shape will Sampras be in?
Well, I've abandoned it in favor of a sport with Right and Wrong
That's obviously your mistake right there.
He took one of the three exhibitions they played in Asia last year.
43: Good, that's fine. I prefer activities that aren't competitive, because there's enough of that, and I find it exhausting, like, spiritually. Compete against yourself.
Heh. No fight in all this.
Ogged, Tim has always been sick. Average-white-person sick, not cool black teenager sick.
Not wanting to rain on the parade, just that being able to easily put your hands flat on the floor (or more seriously, your wrists or forearms) in a forward bend is a little unusual, they say.
Apparently in the other (triangle) posture, when I lock my knee, that has the effect of tilting my pelvis in such a way that makes me not able to stretch, and when I (wrongly) lock my knees doing a plain ol' forward bend it doesn't cause my pelvis to tilt. Or something.
I can't get my forearms on the floor (I just tried to put them on the floor) but palms flat isn't a problem. And I'm not especially limber compared to some people.
I think this is just an astonishingly bad trade, that there's nothing to say. We're all just quietly embarrassed for the Suns. Hence, the talk about yoga and tennis (or in Megan's case, apparently some sort of Crusade reenactment society).
So I just got back from a date (which, for AWB's information, lasted about two hours) with a girl who had a yoga class just before it. As we were walking to a coffee place after dinner I noted that her backpack looked pretty heavy. She said no, it just had a blanket and some clothes in it, and I was thinking "whoa, hang on, we just met" when she added that they were for the yoga class. Of course.
I was thinking "whoa, hang on, we just met"
Not "yeeehaaaww!!!!"?
Not "yeeehaaaww!!!!"?
There was a bit of that, too, but at that point I wasn't really sure how enthusiastic I was about her.
I can tuck ny feet behind my head. I'm competing against my ligaments!
I can tuck ny feet behind my head. I'm competing against my ligaments!
I'm competing against my ligaments!
Sure, that's what you're doing.
If only... It's helpful for BJJ (that's not a typo).
but at that point I wasn't really sure how enthusiastic I was about her.
But now how enthusiastic are you about her? Are you competing against your ligaments?
Competing against ny ligaments? There are too many people doing pilates and yoga in ny. Compete against Elgin, ND, ligaments.
but at that point I wasn't really sure how enthusiastic I was about her.
On preview, I'm just echoing 62.
So?
Stevie Nash. Stevieeee! Come back to the Mavs! They don't care about your playoff destination in Phoenix! We're sorry about the mistake we made but we want you back!
But now how enthusiastic are you about her?
Quite. The coffee part of the date went better than the dinner part.
Are you competing against your ligaments?
I don't think so, no.
We need to find the blog where Teo's date's write about him.
Is it the blog where people use apostrophes correctly?
Quite. The coffee part of the date went better than the dinner part.
Hey, yay! I'll drink to that.
Apostrophe use aside, 67 makes a good point. I really should stop doing this.
Someone needs to commit to tracking this alert.
I cannot put my feet behind my head. I tried, and my hips said, you can do that, but we make no promises about whether your leg stays in the socket.
On the political commentary from uninformed Canadians front: shivbunny says he would vote for Obama, "and he'll probably be assassinated within six months." So then I told him about the burn shit down idea, and he agreed that was funny and a likely consequence of assassination. He also can't believe Obama won in the South.
He also can't believe Obama won in the South.
Does he not know that there are lots of black people in the South?
67: We need to find the blog where Teo's date's[sic] write about him
Yes. It was more along the lines of "when he was born, in Georgia, would they have let him use the same washroom as white people, let alone the same campaign?"
74: Go for it! Your hips are bluffing.
I had hip dysplasia as an infant and had to wear a sling. They're probably not bluffing, or at least, they know what they're bluffing about.
You'll never know the joy of besting your ligaments in one-on-one combat with that attitude.
I should enlist Megan's support. Which is Right, and which is Wrong?
The anterior sacroiliac is right, the sacrosciatic is wrong.
Has anyone seen an ACL? I think mine sproinged off somewhere.
I can put my palms on the floor in a forward bend without any real problems, or can sit down and reach forward and wrap my hands around my heels, and I don't have a particularly flexible back at all. Reasonably flexible hamstrings for high-kicking s/avate purposes (although that's more about dynamic than passive flexibility) but I definitely don't have hyper-extendible joints.
A couple of minor injuries mean I'm less flexible now than a year ago [can only kick to head height on some kicks when thoroughly warmed up] so need to get back into regular twice-daily stretching.
Hamstrings give me the most problems of anything. My hips are wide open -- I can push my knees to the floor in butterfly (feet together, knees out). But sitting on the floor with my legs in front, I can rarely grab my feet, and doing it how you're supposed to (with your low back scooped and shoulders back) I can hardly get over at all.
I'm on a yoga blitz right now -- six times in the last seven days as part of a 10-day unlimited offer. Before that I'd gone about ten times in the prior year.
I am also eating a tofu burger with watercress, feta cheese and ketchup and drinking cabernet, just in case anyone needs to make fun of Californians.
My lower right leg grew bigger than my knee expected it to, and thus my knee complains rather vociferously when called to heavy labor. There's a term for this which I do not know, despite my knee shouting it when I was halfway down the Andes. Unfortunately, it was in knee-language, and I was halfway down the Andes for fuck's sake. What do you want me to do, knee, teleport to Mass General? Suck it up bitch, said I, which it did.
P.S. I enjoy hearing about teo's failed dates. Photographic evidence indicates a handsome devil to be present, and said devil's failures make mine bearable.
teo's plenty handsome, but he needs to work the devil angle more IMHO.
It's a truism that going downhill is harder on knees than going uphill. That's a bad thing to find out when you're above the tree line and the weather seems to be going bad.
A lot of people get stuck in exotic yoga positions and have to be medically untangled. If you don't call the doctor soon enough, you end up spending the rest of your life with your foot behind your head --you sometimes see these people begging in India. In some neighborhoods EMTs have to get special training in unhooking yogis and yoginas -- this is an unfunded liberal mandate. EMTs don't like to do this because it's not a big-ticket emergency and these kinds of people don't tip. Running the red lights with the siren blowing and running up the stairs barking orders, are still fun, but these guys have to make a living.
Ogged's mom told me all this.
89: A lot of people get stuck in exotic yoga positions and have to be medically untangled.
I can tuck my feet behind my head.
At least one person in this community can top that.
I think that if the Bush people were smart they'd rename Waziristan. It's just too Doctor Suessish to be scary, like Fuzzy Wazooland or something.
my younger sister was a really flexible girl, she got selected into ballet and contortion classes, there were people going to the schools and doing the recruiting thing
but my mom said it's dangerous, if she'd choose ballet, she have to go to Russia to the ballet school and how she will live there alone, 8 yrs old? and contortion is though fascinating they have to retire early and you are a pensioner in your twenties, who wants that?
so now my sister is an economist, her friend who became a contortionist, performed all over the world, lived in Israel and now in England, i think teaching yoga something
i'm so talkative, sorry i'm not adding that value thing at all, really, who wants to know bits of information about my life
just enjoy to chat may be, even if unilaterally
sorry i'm not adding that value thing at all
You had a sister who was recruited for contortionist school? That's commenting gold! Value at its most added!
sorry i'm not adding that value thing at all
I'm not sure what you think the other people here are adding, but your story was actually pretty interesting, with that frisson of missed opportunity.
Contortionism seems to be a Mongolian specialty. The Cirque de Soleil features some of them.
Twenty four hours later, this trade still makes me queasy. And it's going to make it harder for me to watch Suns' games. It's one thing to gawk at a car crash, and it's another to do it when you like the people in the car. Ugh.
One thing this news made me realize is that I haven't watched a single NBA game this season.
One thing this news made me realize is that I haven't watched a single NBA game this season.
I blame BPL. I don't actually watch a ton of games myself, but this has been a great season, and it's only going to get better. Everything is so up in the air.
What kind of shape will Sampras be in?
He's winning everything on the senior tour, and, as w/d notes he took one match of three off Fed in China. His serve is as fast as it ever was, faster than Fed's. He hit a lot in the upper 120s. And it's still impossible to read.
That said, I think it's clear Fed dialed it down a notch in Asia. With the recent loss against Djokovic, I don't think he'll do that again.
I'd love to see the match. I got to see Sampras-McEnroe last summer, and it was a lot of fun.
98 gets it exactly right.
Do I care about this? No...not in any way.
What kind of shape will Sampras be in?
He's winning everything on the senior tour, and, as w/d notes he took one match of three off Fed in China. His serve is as fast as it ever was, faster than Fed's. He hit a lot in the upper 120s. And it's still impossible to read.
That said, I think it's clear Fed dialed it down a notch in Asia. With the recent loss against Djokovic, I don't think he'll do that again.
I'd love to see the match. I got to see Sampras-McEnroe last summer, and it was a lot of fun.
You know, I love the wandering nature of Unfogged threads on the whole, but it means I get stuck have to read through a boring thread about basketball and tennis because I know there's probably gold in them thar hills somewhere.
Forget the Google alert on teo's dates. I want an Unfogged asterisk.
An interesting PR email from BoDog: "Odds on Phoenix Suns to win the Western Conference Pre Trade 5/2 Odds on Phoenix Suns to win the Western Conference Post Trade 2/1. Odds on Phoenix Suns to win the NBA Championship Pre Trade 4/1. Odds on Phoenix Suns to win the NBA Championship Post Trade 7/2."
Found this on espn.com's Tr/eHo/p NBA blog. Some professional oddsmakers, at least, seem to believe that Shaq makes the Suns more competitive.
gee, i'll never learn to change the verb forms
about missed opportunities, my sister is pretty tall, 170, and she was good at playing basketball at school and not that graciously miniature and thin, i can't now picture her doing contortion, though depends may be on the training of course, may be with their special training she would have become a miniature athlete or a ballet dancer
but it's strange to think how one's life could be so different if you choose one or another pathway