The "LeBron app" commercial makes me want to vomit

I recently got the Samsung Galaxy S5, and it is awesome.  But when I saw this ad last night, I found myself suddenly questioning that decision:



This honestly looks to me like a Saturday Night Live parody commercial making fun of all the ridiculous attention ESPN and other media give to LeBron James.  But it's not.  It's real.

Related: My "all the reasons why I can't stand LeBron" compilation blog

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Anyone want to bet Donald Sterling will be dead within a year?

Where are all your friends?

When NBA commissioner Adam Silver announced that he was banning LA Clippers owner Donald Sterling for life, the first thing I thought of was that his life probably wouldn't last much longer.  Three days before he was kicked out of the "club" of NBA owners (of which he's the longest tenured member at 33 years), Sterling had his 80th birthday.  When 80-year-old men are publicly shamed and have their livelihood stripped away from them, they tend to lose the will to keep going.

While these are very different circumstances, take a look at what happened with Joe Paterno.  In November of 2011 the Penn State scandal broke and he lost his job as head football coach after 45 years.  Two months later he was dead.

I really wish I'd decided to write this blog yesterday, because now reports are surfacing that Sterling has been battling prostate cancer.  It's undoubtedly a PR move to try to salvage any sympathy he can (good luck Donald), but it wouldn't surprise me in the least if he doesn't live to see another NBA season.

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I really hope "A Million Ways to Die in the West" lives up to its potential

It's extremely rare that I see an ad for a movie and think to myself "wow, that is a totally original and spectacular idea."

In all honesty though, I'm not that impressed with the trailer.  I kind of wish it had stopped at the :50 second mark before Liam Neeson showed up.  Some of the jokes are pretty dumb, and I'm a little concerned that the film will get too caught up in an actual plot, rather than just showing all the silly ways that a person could get killed.

On the other hand, how often do you watch a preview and think the movie looks hysterical, but you probably just saw all the funny parts?  It's about 1000 times easier to make a great trailer than it is to make a great movie.  Maybe A Million Ways to Die in the West goes the other way and actually saves the best comedy for the film?

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Oprah owning the Clippers? Nuttiest NBA playoffs ever? Red Sox hottest AL East team?

I can't decide what to write about today:

1)  ESPN is reporting that Oprah Winfrey is considering buying the LA Clippers.

Talk about free agent recruiting...if Oprah owned Clips, she could greet anyone who came for a visit w/ "you get a car! And you get a car!"
— Rachel Nichols (@Rachel__Nichols) April 30, 2014

Not to mention Oprah's mind control powers might come in handy as well.

2)  This has been, without a doubt, the most amazing/ridiculous/unpredictable NBA playoffs ever, and we're still in the first round...

• East #1 seed Pacers are about to be eliminated by a sub-.500 team.
• West #1 seed Spurs are one missed layup away from potentially being down 3-1.
• West #2 seed Thunder trail 3-2, and have played 4 consecutive overtime games (a playoff record).
• There have already been 8 OT games so far, the record for one postseason is 10.
• After winning 58% of the time in the regular season, home teams are 15-21 in the playoffs.
• The Pacers ineptitude means the Wizards, 44-38 in the regular season and fresh of their upset of #4 seed Chicago, will likely play in the Eastern Conference Finals. 

19 of the 36 first-round NBA playoff games have been decided by 2 possessions or less
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) April 30, 2014

3)  It may sound hard to believe, but the Red Sox are in fact playing better baseball than everyone else in their division at the moment:

Winners of 1 in a row and 6 of 10, the 13-14 Red Sox are actually the hottest team in the AL East @MLBRT pic.twitter.com/tZiB5Y2StG
— Mark Vandeusen (@LucidSportsFan) April 30, 2014

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I'm really curious to find out what it was that ruined the Pacers and Roy Hibbert

What happened to you Roy?

At one point last night the Indiana Pacers trailed by 30 points, at home, to the Atlanta Hawks.  Altanta, who went 38-44 in the regular season, is now just a game away (up 3-2) from eliminating top-seeded Indiana, and will have that chance on their own floor Thursday.

On March 4 the Pacers were 46-14 (.767), owners of the best record in the NBA.  Since that time they're 12-15 (.444).  Indiana is about to lose to the worst team in the playoffs (a club that wouldn't even have sniffed the postseason had they been in the other conference, where the 48-34 Suns didn't qualify).

Center Roy Hibbert posted 0 points and 0 rebounds yesterday.  Hibbert was an All-Star this season.  He's the first starting center to go scoreless and rebound-less while taking at least two shots and picking up four or more fouls in an NBA playoff game in over 20 years.

Last season when reserve center Jason Collins was temporarily starting for the Celtics, I wrote about his uncanny ability to pick up more fouls than points and rebounds combined.  But even career backup Collins never went 0/0 in that time.

So what's happened to Hibbert and the Pacers?  For 75% of the season they were the best team in the league, but now they've become a squad that looks like it should be in the lottery (if the Celtics hosted Indiana tonight, I honestly wouldn't know who to bet on).

Could it be the curse of Andrew Bynum?  His first appearance with the team coincides with the time their struggles began.  The most reasonable explanation is that something off the court that we don't yet know about tore this team apart.  Just a complete shot in the dark, but my guess is when we eventually find out it's going to involve Hibbert, fellow All-Star Paul George, probably a women or two (or maybe not? I'm not insinuating anything, but if it didn't it would go a long way towards explaining the sudden lack of team chemistry), and some sort of uncomfortable sexual incident.


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Sizemometer: Could the Grady Sizemore experiment be nearing its end?

When Grady Sizemore won the Red Sox starting center field job coming out of spring training, rookie Jackie Bradley Jr. was originally sent down to Pawtucket.  However, Shane Victorino's DL stint made room for Bradley Jr. in the majors.  Upon Victorino's return, Daniel Nava became the odd man out after hitting just .149 through 17 games.  But, Nava isn't going to stay in Triple-A forever.

Sizemore's batting average on the season has dipped to .208, and he's just 3 for his last 37.  Even if you ignore the blue line completely (comparing him to Jacoby Ellsbury may have been a little too optimistic on my part), it's clear the red line has begun to plateau.

Sizemore played in seven consecutive games from April 13-20, but has since been kept on the bench for three of the last seven (including back to back days on April 24 and 25).


Complete history of the Sizemometer

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Awesome Old Song of the Week: "Man in the Mirror" by Michael Jackson

It's hard to believe that we're coming up on the five-year anniversary of Michael Jackson's death this June.  I remember I was sitting in a doctor's office waiting room when I heard.  Is that going to be one those things where you never forget what you were doing when it happened?

"Man in the Mirror" came out in 1988, off of Jackson's album Bad.  I'm not certain it's my favorite of his songs, but it's definitely in the top five.  The great thing about it is that regardless of your current state of mind, it's pretty much impossible not to have your outlook improve when it comes on.

If you don't believe me, start watching and see what happens:





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