Unless you have been living under a rock, you've probably heard the news that LeBron James is headed back to the Cleveland Cavaliers. I welcome the news, I hated to see him go to Miami in the first place. I just hated that whole trend of superstar players deciding amongst themselves to band together in some big market city to win a title, it just set a horrible precedence for the league as a whole. Overall, I like LeBron, he's without a doubt one of the best players I have ever seen on a basketball court, he works hard, he stays out of trouble, he seems like a good family man, he's been more than willing to play for Team USA, the only mark against him in my book was the way he left Cleveland and I think the way he's going back will help to alleviate that black mark from his legacy.
That brings up the inevitable Kevin Love for Andrew Wiggins trade possibility. For some odd reason, the Cavs seem hesitant to pull the trigger on this one. IMO, that is just foolish on the Cavs part. LeBron James is 29 years old, he will be 30 by year end, he is in the prime of his career. Andrew Wiggins is 19, he is loaded with potential, but by every measure, he is a long way from being a star in the NBA (if he even ever reaches that level as not everybody is sold on his game). Why would you waste LeBron James prime years waiting/hoping for Wiggins to develop when you could pick up arguably one of the top 5 players in the league right now to play with LeBron? Let's also not forget that Kevin Love is just 25 year old, he's got a long future ahead of him. When you really think about it, it would be beyond foolish on the Cavs part to not make that deal, it seems like a no-brainer to me. I'm guessing, in the end, this deal does happen (with other parts also included obviously to match salary requirements), the Cavs need Love, the Wolves need to get something out of Love before he leaves via free agency, it just makes too much sense.
Sunday, July 13, 2014
Saturday, July 12, 2014
Two Santa Claus Theory
Are you familiar with this theory?
The "Two Santa Clause theory" started just before Ronald Reagan ran for President. It stated that since the Democrats "give" people things — unemployment benefits, Medicare, Medicaid, etc. — Republicans should "give" big tax cuts and run up the debt with out of control spending.
Then, when a Democrat is in office, Republicans can scream about the debt and force the Democrats to take away entitlements.
Sound familiar? Don't fall for it. Educate yourself please.
The "Two Santa Clause theory" started just before Ronald Reagan ran for President. It stated that since the Democrats "give" people things — unemployment benefits, Medicare, Medicaid, etc. — Republicans should "give" big tax cuts and run up the debt with out of control spending.
Then, when a Democrat is in office, Republicans can scream about the debt and force the Democrats to take away entitlements.
Sound familiar? Don't fall for it. Educate yourself please.
Friday, July 11, 2014
Thursday, July 10, 2014
AZ Tidbits
- A Bunny Ranch location in Phoenix? Why not!
- Paul Goldschmidt is the Diamondbacks lone All Star.
- Court blocks Arizona from denying driver's licenses to immigrants.
- Diamondbacks deal Brandon McCarthy to the Yankees.
- 10 problems only people in Phoenix have to deal with.
- And Touki Toussaint is off and running!
- Meet the 6 Republicans running for Arizona Governor.
- Brittney Griner & Diana Taurasi to start for the West in the WNBA All Star Game.
- Would you consider Arizona to one of the most patriot states?
- Diamondbacks deal Joe Thatcher to the Angels.
- States, like Arizona, that raised their minimum wage, are experiencing faster job growth.
- Metropolitan Phoenix is beating job growth expectations.
- Phoenix native Channing Frye is now an ex-Phoenix Sun.
- Diamondbacks pitcher Bronson Arroyo to have Tommy John surgery.
- Wasted Grain is now open in Scottsdale.
- It's kind of nice to see Doug Ducey candidate get some of his own medicine.
- 10 Biggest Myths about Arizona.
- Cardinals WR Larry Fitzgerald makes an appearance in ESPN Magazine's Body Issue.
- Top 10 Arizona high school hoops prospects can be found here.
- Water levels at Lake Mead drop to new lows.
Wednesday, July 9, 2014
Tuesday, July 8, 2014
POTpourri
- The Ugly Americans rear their heads once again.
- Bill Maher calls out the Wall Street loving Tea Party.
- RIP Paul Mazursky & Louis Zamperini.
- Bucks hire Jason Kidd as head coach; Nets hire Lionel Hollins.
- So corporations are people? And they have religious freedom? Alrighty then.
- Joey Chestnut defends his Coney Island Hot Dog Eating title.
- HOTTEST EYECANDY & ILUVSKINNY BITCHES are very enjoyable tumblr pages!
- The Tea Party apparently is not a fan of black people voting in Republican primaries.
- Chile releases official UFO photos. Are we really alone?
- Thomas Vanek signs free agent contract with the Minnesota Wild.
- Is "Terminus" full of cannibals on "The Walking Dead"?
- It's time to declare independence from the one percent!
- Petra Kvitova & Novak Djokovic win 2014 Wimbeldon titles.
- Where have you been my whole life Olga Katysheva?
- Carlos Correa vs Byron Buxton? I land on the side of Buxton.
- George Takai nails the Hobby Lobby decision. Be careful what you wish for.
- "Halt and Catch Fire" on AMC & "Tyrant" on FX are off to promising starts.
- Ridiculously photogenic fans from the World Cup in Brazil!
- 2014 AL & NL MLB All Star Teams named.
- Sorry Republicans, but the Obama economy far exceeds the GWB economy.
Monday, July 7, 2014
TPSG Top 10 Movies of 1993
Continuing with my look at the best movies of years gone by.
Top 10 Movies of 1993:
Top 10 Movies of 1993:
- Schindler's List - Liam Neeson, Ralph Fiennes
- Jurassic Park - Sam Neill, Laura Dern
- The Fugitive - Harrison Ford, Tommy Lee Jones
- Groundhog Day - Bill Murray, Andy McDowell
- Dazed and Confused - Jason London, Matthew McConaughey
- True Romance - Christian Slater, Patricia Arquette
- In the Line of Fire - Clint Eastwood, John Malkovich
- Philadelphia - Tom Hanks, Denzel Washington
- Cliffhanger - Sylvester Stallone, John Lithgow
- Rudy - Sean Astin, Jon Favreau
Sunday, July 6, 2014
Saturday, July 5, 2014
Kevin Love Destination?
If you haven't been paying attention, Kevin Love, despite his wishes, is still a member of the Minnesota Timberwolves. As I see it, the Timberwolves are willing to deal Love, but not for the scraps they've been offered. In my opinion, Love is a Top 5 player in the league and I think the T-wolves are right to take that stand. There are certainly some risks to holding on to him, but dealing him for scraps doesn't help the long term or short term viability of the franchise either. Worst case scenario, they hold onto him, add some bit pieces, and hope that they can make a playoff run next season, then if he still wants to go (and don't forget, he claims, or his representatives claim, that he wants out because he wants to be on a playoff team), he walks and they free up cap space to sign someone else and Love leaves $26 million on the table.
With all of that being said, I still think he is dealt by the time training camp opens. Here are the trade options as I see it, listed in my order of preference.
Houston Rockets. The Rockets desperately want to add a third star to their Dwight Howard/James Harden tandem. They appear to be focused on LaBron James, Carmelo Anthony & Chris Bosh at the moment, but if they fail on those fronts, which is appearing likely, the next best option for them would appear to be Kevin Love. To me, that's a very intriguing possibility because the Rockets have a lot of trade chips they could offer. First and foremost is Chandler Parsons, Parsons has greatly improved in his three years in the league and at 25 would be a nice building block for the Wolves. Including Parsons in any deal would call for a sign and trade as he's a restricted free agent and will probably want max money but I think it's definitely doable (keep in mind if Love leaves anyways and frees up cash for the Wolves to spend in 2015, they'd probably be looking to add someone of Parsons caliber anyways, if they could find someone willing to sign in Minnesota that is). Of course it would take more than Parsons to make a deal happen though, that's where the Rockets other pieces come into play, I would imagine that the Wolves would want Terrence Jones included to take Love's PF spot, the Rockets also own the Pelicans first round pick in next years draft (it's lottery protected but only top 3) and they just drafted Clint Capela who is a very promising young foreign player who the Wolves could stash overseas and hope to develop. That's 4 good young pieces, add them to Rubio, Dieng and LaVine and you've good a decent young foundation to build around. I would think that it's also possible that the Wolves could deal an unwanted contract or 2 to the Rockets as part of the deal (i.e. Kevin Martin, J.J. Barea, Alexy Shved, Chase Budinger, Corey Brewer). To me, if the Wolves feel they must deal Kevin Love or lose him for nothing, this would be my preferred option, so lets hope the Rockets lose out on James, Carmelo & Bosh.
Golden State Warriors. From everything that I have surmised, the Wolves would be willing to do a Kevin Love/Kevin Martin deal to the Warriors in exchange for Klay Thompson, David Lee and either Harrison Barnes or Draymond Green. While I don't like this deal as much as I'd like a Rockets deal, I could live with it, they'd get an potential All Star in Klay Thompson, a proven replacement for Kevin Love in David Lee and a still promising wing in either Harrison Barnes or Draymond Green. Problem being? The Warriors reportedly don't want to give up Klay Thompson and don't want to take back Kevin Martin's contract (although they'd have no problem dumping that horrible David Lee contract on the Wolves). The Warriors in the meantime, are reportedly offering up a deal that would include David Lee, Harrison Barnes and future draft pick straight up for Kevin Love. That is just ridiculous on so many levels that I don't feel it necessary to comment, Flip would be out of his mind to accept that deal and I highly suspect that Flip isn't out of his mind. Apparently, the Warriors feel they are dealing from a position of strength in these negotiations and feel the Wolves will eventually get desperate enough to make the deal. My thoughts on that? The Warriors are blowing a rare opportunity to bring in a bonafide superstar, that doesn't happen often, unless they budge, it's highly unlikely a deal between the Wolves & Warriors will take place.
Chicago Bulls. The Bulls were big in the chase for Love prior to the draft but seem to have moved their focus to Carmelo Anthony since free agency opened earlier in the week. So at this point, a Love to Chicago deal is in a holding pattern. Once Carmelo signs somewhere, the focus on Love could/should return, that would also include a chance of teaming Carmelo and Love together along with Derrick Rose in Chicago. I suspect that the best deal the Bulls would have to offer now for Love would center around Taj Gibson, Nikola Mirotic, Doug McDermott and either Jimmy Butler or Tony Snell in exchange for Love (and pieces?). This is really not a bad offer, Gibson is highly underrated, Mirotic & McDermott are loaded with potential and Bulter/Snell are promising young OG's. I'm sensing that Flip is not all that enamored with this potential deal though. Another positive to dealing with the Bulls, you would be dealing Love to an Eastern Conference team as opposed to strengthening another Western Conference contender.
Cleveland Cavaliers. The Cavs interest in adding Kevin Love is directly linked to LeBron James, if LeBron somehow manages to wind up back in Cleveland, you'd have to imagine they'd at least give some consideration to adding Love to their newly formed LeBron James-Kyrie Irving duo. The Cavs have the pieces to get a deal done too with Andrew Wiggins, Anthony Bennett, Dion Waiters and Tristan Thompson as bait. I would suspect that the Cavs would want to get a deal done without including Andrew Wiggins, but I'm guessing the Wolves would insist upon his inclusion in any deal. My guess is that it would take Wiggins and a couple others mentioned above plus maybe a draft pick for Love and at least one other piece from the Wolves (Martin, Barea, Shved, Budinger, Brewer). I could live with a deal like this, Wiggins' upside is off the charts and if they also got another couple young pieces along with him I suspect the Wolves would be happy. Of course, if LeBron doesn't find his way back to Cleveland there is no way in hell that Love would want to play there, so there's that.
I really haven't heard of too many other serious players in the Kevin Love Sweepstakes lately. I don't think the Celtics, Lakers or Suns have the pieces to get a deal done, and I highly doubt that Love would sign long term with Denver. I'm not sure who that leaves unless someone pulls a rabbit out of a hat.
With all of that being said, I still think he is dealt by the time training camp opens. Here are the trade options as I see it, listed in my order of preference.
Houston Rockets. The Rockets desperately want to add a third star to their Dwight Howard/James Harden tandem. They appear to be focused on LaBron James, Carmelo Anthony & Chris Bosh at the moment, but if they fail on those fronts, which is appearing likely, the next best option for them would appear to be Kevin Love. To me, that's a very intriguing possibility because the Rockets have a lot of trade chips they could offer. First and foremost is Chandler Parsons, Parsons has greatly improved in his three years in the league and at 25 would be a nice building block for the Wolves. Including Parsons in any deal would call for a sign and trade as he's a restricted free agent and will probably want max money but I think it's definitely doable (keep in mind if Love leaves anyways and frees up cash for the Wolves to spend in 2015, they'd probably be looking to add someone of Parsons caliber anyways, if they could find someone willing to sign in Minnesota that is). Of course it would take more than Parsons to make a deal happen though, that's where the Rockets other pieces come into play, I would imagine that the Wolves would want Terrence Jones included to take Love's PF spot, the Rockets also own the Pelicans first round pick in next years draft (it's lottery protected but only top 3) and they just drafted Clint Capela who is a very promising young foreign player who the Wolves could stash overseas and hope to develop. That's 4 good young pieces, add them to Rubio, Dieng and LaVine and you've good a decent young foundation to build around. I would think that it's also possible that the Wolves could deal an unwanted contract or 2 to the Rockets as part of the deal (i.e. Kevin Martin, J.J. Barea, Alexy Shved, Chase Budinger, Corey Brewer). To me, if the Wolves feel they must deal Kevin Love or lose him for nothing, this would be my preferred option, so lets hope the Rockets lose out on James, Carmelo & Bosh.
Golden State Warriors. From everything that I have surmised, the Wolves would be willing to do a Kevin Love/Kevin Martin deal to the Warriors in exchange for Klay Thompson, David Lee and either Harrison Barnes or Draymond Green. While I don't like this deal as much as I'd like a Rockets deal, I could live with it, they'd get an potential All Star in Klay Thompson, a proven replacement for Kevin Love in David Lee and a still promising wing in either Harrison Barnes or Draymond Green. Problem being? The Warriors reportedly don't want to give up Klay Thompson and don't want to take back Kevin Martin's contract (although they'd have no problem dumping that horrible David Lee contract on the Wolves). The Warriors in the meantime, are reportedly offering up a deal that would include David Lee, Harrison Barnes and future draft pick straight up for Kevin Love. That is just ridiculous on so many levels that I don't feel it necessary to comment, Flip would be out of his mind to accept that deal and I highly suspect that Flip isn't out of his mind. Apparently, the Warriors feel they are dealing from a position of strength in these negotiations and feel the Wolves will eventually get desperate enough to make the deal. My thoughts on that? The Warriors are blowing a rare opportunity to bring in a bonafide superstar, that doesn't happen often, unless they budge, it's highly unlikely a deal between the Wolves & Warriors will take place.
Chicago Bulls. The Bulls were big in the chase for Love prior to the draft but seem to have moved their focus to Carmelo Anthony since free agency opened earlier in the week. So at this point, a Love to Chicago deal is in a holding pattern. Once Carmelo signs somewhere, the focus on Love could/should return, that would also include a chance of teaming Carmelo and Love together along with Derrick Rose in Chicago. I suspect that the best deal the Bulls would have to offer now for Love would center around Taj Gibson, Nikola Mirotic, Doug McDermott and either Jimmy Butler or Tony Snell in exchange for Love (and pieces?). This is really not a bad offer, Gibson is highly underrated, Mirotic & McDermott are loaded with potential and Bulter/Snell are promising young OG's. I'm sensing that Flip is not all that enamored with this potential deal though. Another positive to dealing with the Bulls, you would be dealing Love to an Eastern Conference team as opposed to strengthening another Western Conference contender.
Cleveland Cavaliers. The Cavs interest in adding Kevin Love is directly linked to LeBron James, if LeBron somehow manages to wind up back in Cleveland, you'd have to imagine they'd at least give some consideration to adding Love to their newly formed LeBron James-Kyrie Irving duo. The Cavs have the pieces to get a deal done too with Andrew Wiggins, Anthony Bennett, Dion Waiters and Tristan Thompson as bait. I would suspect that the Cavs would want to get a deal done without including Andrew Wiggins, but I'm guessing the Wolves would insist upon his inclusion in any deal. My guess is that it would take Wiggins and a couple others mentioned above plus maybe a draft pick for Love and at least one other piece from the Wolves (Martin, Barea, Shved, Budinger, Brewer). I could live with a deal like this, Wiggins' upside is off the charts and if they also got another couple young pieces along with him I suspect the Wolves would be happy. Of course, if LeBron doesn't find his way back to Cleveland there is no way in hell that Love would want to play there, so there's that.
I really haven't heard of too many other serious players in the Kevin Love Sweepstakes lately. I don't think the Celtics, Lakers or Suns have the pieces to get a deal done, and I highly doubt that Love would sign long term with Denver. I'm not sure who that leaves unless someone pulls a rabbit out of a hat.
Friday, July 4, 2014
Top 20 Favorite Instagram Pages
Here are my Top 20 Favorite Instagram pages:
- Ashley Sky - @ashleysky
- Svetlana Bilyalova - @bilyalova_sveta
- Galinka Mirgaeva - @mirgaeva_galinka
- Anna Vyacheslavovna - @anyuta_rai
- Jen Selter - @jenselter
- Laura Cremaschina - @cremaschina
- Michelle Lewin - @michelle_lewin
- Caitlin Rice - @caitlinricefit
- Renee Somerfield - @reneesomerfield
- Alexandra Markina - @markina
- Lisa Morales - @misslisamorales
- Amia Miley - @realamiamiley
- Adrianne Curry - @adriannecurry
- Paulina Gretzky - @paulinagretzky
- Luci Ford - @luci_ford
- Laura Gordon - @cttchickentuna
- Olga Filchenkova - @olgafilchenkova
- C.J. Miles - @cjmiles8ig
- Brianna Frost - @thebriannafrost
- Laura Michelle Prestin - @missprestin
Thursday, July 3, 2014
Wednesday, July 2, 2014
AZ Tidbits
- LeBron James & Carmelo Anthony to the Phoenix Suns?
- The Phoenix Coyotes are now officially the Arizona Coyotes.
- 3 Sun Devil hoopsters find NBA Summer League homes.
- Apparently jaywalking is frowned upon in Tempe.
- Could Glendale host World Cup games in 2022? Certainly.
- Arizona Coyotes buy out Mike Ribeiro's contract.
- Mexican law enforcement helicopters are apparently firing into Arizona.
- Did you feel that 5.2 magnitude Arizona earthquake.
- All Arizona Coyotes draft picks here.
- Centerfold's Cabaret is still one of my favorite places in Phoenix.
- Did you know that the second largest religion in Arizona is Hinduism.
- The Arizona Coyotes obtain Sam Gagner in trade.
- Top 10 Ways to be a Complete Cheapskate in Phoenix.
- Phoenix sued for curbing pension spiking?? WTF?
- Solar companies sue over new rooftop solar tax in Arizona.
- Prominent Pot Researcher abruptly fired by the University of Arizona.
- Why is Mary Rose Wilcox opposed to legalizing marijuana.
- Yet another reason not to vote for Christine Jones.
- Grand Canyon University is stepping up it's basketball schedule next season.
- The Best and Worst free agent signings in the Arizona Coyotes history.
Tuesday, July 1, 2014
USA vs Belgium
USA vs Belgium today in the 2014 World Cup from Brazil!
How can you not love Will Ferrell? USA! USA! USA!
***Edit: Final Score: Belgium 2, USA 1***
How can you not love Will Ferrell? USA! USA! USA!
***Edit: Final Score: Belgium 2, USA 1***
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