Article:The LA Sports Blog: ArmchairGM Burns 03/08/08



By: Nate Gordon

ArmchairGM Burns 03/07/08
Saturday afternoon and night featured a major NBA milestone, the NCAA basketball game of the year, a Chris Hanson (of MSNBC “To Catch A Predator Fame) sighting and as always the top quotes and tidbits of the day. So lets get this out of the way so you can go watch the Lakers, NASCAR, golf or simply masturbate in your room while your Mom goes shopping.

‘’’1 Kid – 20,000 Points’’’
Saturday night in the 2 nd quarter of a game against the NBA D-League’s Memphis Grizzles “The Kid” Kevin Garnett became the 32 nd player in NBA history to score 20,000 points. I have been a fan of Kevin Garnett’s his entire career for his professionalism, intensity and supernatural skill set. Garnett was drafted to be the face of an expansion franchise in flux and exceeded expectations. Take a look at KGs numbers and you’ll find out he is a career 20.4 PPG/11.3 RPG player and shoots 49 percent from the field. He has averaged 10 rebounds a game since 1998 and was named the 03-04 season MVP. The NBA draft rules were changed because of KG. Garnett’s success in making the jump from High School to the NBA prompted Kobe Bryant and Jermaine O’Neal to also make the jump. Their success led to a ton of high school draft bust including Dauris Miles, Kwame Brown, and Sebastian Telfair, and eventually the banning of drafting high school players. KG is an undeniable Hall of Famer and I will applaud when they hang his 21/5 from the Minny/Boston rafters.

‘’’#1 UNC make #5Duke like Lilly White’’’
While watching the UNC/Duke game last night, my friend Dave and I kept making one observation that could not be ignored. North Carolina was on another planet athletically then Duke. Duke looked more like their Men’s Lacrosse team as Danny Green raped Greg Paulus with a monster jam, tea-bagging and showing total disregard for Paulus. Ty Lawson at times literally ran circles around the Duke guards and Junior Tyler ‘’Psycho T’’ Hansbrough was so punishing that at one point Duke committed 3 back to back fouls on him. The final verdict saw the Tar Heels leave Cameron Indoor Stadium with a 76-86 victory, the regular season ACC Championship, and 10 Duke co-eds who do those slutty online webcam videos. The victory might also net them a NCAA tournament road that includes 4 games in North Carolina, talk about a game with massive post season implications. Too bad Duke Senior DeMarcus Nelson’s game and body were just like they were on 2004 draft night (and most likely 08 draft night) no where to be found.

’’’Chris Hanson – Punter or Pedophile Hunter?’’’
Naturally, when on a sports website, my brain makes sports connections. When I see the name Chris Hanson, my brain recalls a scruffy punter firing off coffin corner punts in Jacksonville. However, on ArmchairGM.com, the name Chris Hanson belongs to one man; MSNBC’s “To Catch a Predator” host Chris Hanson. Hanson, a man who truly loves his job, works hard to stop child molesters from doing their worst by doing his best. His uncanny impromptu interviews have given him cult fame around the internet and AGM is no exception. That’s why when DNL posted the link title: “West Virginia and 12 year old boys don’t mix” I knew there would be a Hanson sighting. Sure enough the jokes came out. Chris Hanson reminds me of the kid in elementary school who liked to sit and talk to the teacher during recess, always spying and snitching on the other kids. If there was a party in high school with underage drinking, count on Chris Hanson to drop the Anon tip to the 5-0. Way to work there Chris, next time I want to traffic drugs, your not invited to the coke party.

‘’’Bobbyjim45 Looks At The ’98 Home Run Chase’’’
One note I had when reflecting on the 1998 home run chase, Junior was there. While Big Mac and Slammin’ Sammy were getting all the media attention and in turn all the memories, Ken Griffey Jr. was doing what he always did; play as hard as he could. Griffey has always been that way, since he came into the majors 18 years ago. However, like most guys who break through at 19, Junior Griffey struggled through injuries as he 30s wore on. Not Sosa and McGwire though. McGwire would eclipse 60 home runs the following season and Sosa would go an unprecedented 3 consecutive seasons with 60 plus homers. However, when 2006 rolled around, Griffey sat in the Reds clubhouse preparing for another game while Sosa and McGwire, both out of the league at the time faced congress on steroid allegations. Junior has always played the game the right way, with class, dignity, work ethic and an undying love. I will always be a Junior Griffey fan and it saddens me to think that each season now may be his last.

‘’’Quotes of the Day’’’

 * Kevin Garnett Fan


 * Bobbyjim45 Makes a fool of himself by questioning Sam Cassell: “They are on fire right now... I just hope Cassell doesn't screw it all up. I don't think he will, but you can't help but be worried.” ‘’’(You kidding me Bobby? No one with gravity defying testicles like Cassell’s will blow a big moment.)’’’


 * It gets better from Bobby: “But there's always the potential problem of messing with the chemistry when you bring in a big ego and big personality like Cassell.” ‘’’(You gotta do your homework Bobby. Cassell is best friends with KG, no chemistry issues there. And Ray Allen? They played together for 2/3 seasons in Milwakuee. He is going to fit like a condom to a… well he’s going to fit really well. I think it’s time we acknowledge that Danny Ainge knows what he is doing.)’’’


 * I won’t go much further into the NFL running back thing except to say that Seatlle signed Julius Jones for 4 years and Atlanta signed Michael Turner for 6 years. The average NFL running backs career is 4.3 years. So tell me, which one of these guys is your franchise back for the next 5 years? Any takers to invest in either of these players who have already out played their positions career lifespan? No? Then why would these two teams do it? Because the NFL loves trends, and the trend of the moment is get a platoon back and make him a feature back. Not brilliant. 2 Irish scientist are not enjoying Guinness responsibly.