It's that time of year again

Football season.

At every time this year, I'm blown away by the sport. Simply put, baseball-only season (aka Most of Summer) isn't exactly your grandpa's idea of fun....Well, I guess it is.

But whenever that first NFL preseason game kicks off, once those college camps get underway, you get to rejoice, a mixture of too much testosterone and that feeling you got as a kid when you'd go to the Toys R Us to pick up Pokemon Yellow for Gameboy.

Football is pure athleticism, pure violence. I don't care if everyone's doing steroids, long as they're hitting each other harder and running even faster than the year before...

I got to watch ol' Arizona RB Chris Henry try to jump over a tackler with another tackler clinging to his legs. On the local front, I can watch QB Matt Leinart stake his claim at the backup job and former Pitt QB Tyler Palko stake his claim to the third-string job after St. Suckabagofdicks sucked a bag of dicks.

AND Wilrey Fontenot got some play at CB!

I can't wait for Jesus to rise when Kurt Warner breaks his leg, take the starting job and pace the Cards to a Super Bowl win. I can't wait for Beanie Wells to stop smiling on the sidelines and get on the football field (NOT A JOKE!). I can't wait for everyone from USC to have a better career than Reggie I-was-good-at-being-Joe-McNight-except-not-fumbling-or-losing-10-yards-for-running-backwards Bush!

I always take for granted football season. Basketball, too, but for different reasons. Football means drinking too much and being glad you did. A paradox, but one that most dudes can understand.

Are you ready for some football?

Swimming and Baseball: Suits and Steroids

Everyone seems to be up in arms over the 'Roids era in baseball. I'm not a baseball fan. I honestly believe steroids in baseball does 10X more harm than they do in football - that's an argument for another time.

But for everyone blasting baseball players for steroids, look at it like this: Swimming has it's own "steroids" of sort - technological swim suits.

Of course, it's legal to wear them, or was until the international swimming federation decided to ban them.

But here's the deal.

Most swimmers don't like the suits. "I hope there will be a time when I can beat Michael Phelps without these suits," German Paul Biedermann said after beating Michael Phelps in a race this year. "I hope next year. I hope it's really soon."

A winner shows signs of guilt? Same thing happened in Arizona, where the coach of a new record-holder pretty much said the suit was the cause for his swimmer's record time.

What's that mean? It means that swimmers are suiting up in these things because they know they need to do it to compete with the best. And when you turn to baseball, how can we say those players don't believe the same thing?

The swimmers are using the suits as an advantage despite their distaste for them. Maybe it's the same in baseball.

The only differences in this case are that steroids are illegal in baseball. Also, steroid users can be secretive, unlike swimsuit users - one advantage on the inside, one on the outside.

But there's no difference.

So when you want to verbally wreck the next baseball star who gets caught, think about it. Their job is to win. And if they can get an advantage that is somewhat feasible, easy to hide, then maybe you would do it too.

And hell, maybe they don't even agree with steroid-use, but just like the swimmers, they need them to keep up with the rest of 'em.

Three of the Best Point Guards

If the University of Arizona is Point Guard U then the Suns are the NBA equivalent.

Kevin Johnson, Sam Cassell (for a short time), Jason Kidd, Stephon Marbury (before he went crazy), Steve Nash...

And you could find the three best on the SAME TEAM. Watch this video. It's classic Rex Chapman as well.

Okay Twitter, I give up

Call it shameless self promotion, but there's a reason for me linking to a column I wrote last week.

There, I argued that the new Arizona Wildcat Sports Network was good for two reasons: It provides coverage of all games and it takes a step into the future of media, the future of how we use Internet and television.

A general message can be taken from that column (depending on whether I wrote it clearly enough, which is questionable). That message is that people can't fall behind technology anymore. To be successful we must use those technologies and medias to our utmost advantages, especially as young people trying to find a job.

Twitter sucks. It hurts journalism through falsities, fabrication and lies, not the mention that it erases the need for journalists.

It erases that need only to a certain extent.

Websites like Twitter are also helpful to journalism, connecting people and networking information.

While it may hurt my future profession, I'm going to take advantage of it. I'm going to "follow" every person that relates to what I may write about. It's a minefield of ideas and hidden information that the media, unforunately, can't express until it's already online. But for every Amar'e Stoudemire Tweet, there could be a bigger story behind it.

Similarly to how athletes connect to fans on Twitter, us journos can connect to fans as well. What do they want to know? That's the key. We must use what is killing us to fight for the profession.

And hey, in the past week, about 60 percent of my 41 pageviews on this amateurish blog have been referred from Twitter.

Enough bitching about it.

Like my Summer Wildcat column says, I'm going to accept these new medias and turn what could be against me into what can help me connect to readers, and likewise, uncover story ideas that would have otherwise been unnoticed.

Pie charts are pretty cool

Frankensteining the worst NBA player

Chris "Birdman" Andersen's hair- Okay, I've gotta admit, it is cool hair.

Amar'e Stoudemire's Eyes- What other player has missed a third of a season for eye surgery?

Drew Gooden's Octopus beard- Enough said. Check out the tongue as well.

Robert Swift's finger nail polish- I apologize for making this joke over, and over and over. . .

Brian Scalabrine's body- Note this is the majority of my worst basketball player ever, which says something about my opinion on B-Scal.

Shawn Kemp's junk- You can look at this two ways: 1) Highly contagious or 2) good for the future talent of the NBA

Penny Hardaway's knees- They're (like) the bees knees (i.e. easily broken).

Grant Hill's ankles- C'mon I know he's been healthy, but they DID ruin a potential hall-of-famer type career.

Yao Ming's feet- Sad, sad and more sad. As confucious said, "Small feet on tall man is like large tree on skinny trunk." I made that up, but you get the point.

(VERY CLEAR) Post-Draft thoughts

Another NBA draft, another year until my usual stone-face expression becomes one of glee. Let's review the draft without distraction and without poor sentence structure (typing, screwing around with the dailywildcat.com website and watching the draft made my draft-blog a little rough).


Home-town Buffet, as in, everyone is taking advantage of the Suns
I grew up a Suns fan. Loved them, trusted their ownership, oh, Robert Sarver, Robert uh, did you, oh no don't do that, oh it's on fire, PUT IT OUT, PUT IT OUT!

Yeah. Even when things were ugly in Phoenix (see 2003-2004, Stephon Marbury trade, firing of Frank Johnson) there was always trust in the ownership to right the ship and quickly for that matter. Suns fail to meet expectations, the owners shipped out the expensive Penny and Stephon duo and completely rebuild the next year. And by rebuild, I mean they made one of the biggest turnarounds in NBA history.

That's what Steve Kerr and Robert Sarver cannot do. First of all, they need to decide whether they're blowing the ship up or not. They toy with trading Shaq and Stoudemire, then don't, then do, then...were they "punk'd" when Stoudemire was supposedly was a done deal to Golden State for a few players plus Stephen Curry?

Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic may have jumped the gun. However, it wouldn't surprise me that there was a plan in place to do the Curry-Stoudemire trade and either Golden State backed out or is attempting to play the Suns. It wouldn't surprise me if Kerr failed to seal the deal in one way or another -- if the Suns were really hoping to take Jrue Holiday over Earl Clark, which is what Coro is questioning on his own blog. Scary to think that the Suns would take Holiday that high, in my opinion. It's also scary to think they could mess up on taking the point guard they actually wanted.

In the spirit of Kerr-hating, Let's go Hawks!

I'll take two fish taco's please

Fish is exactly what was on the menu for the Rubio's. Minnesota took the youngster despite the risk Rubio wouldn't show. In the end, Minnesota must deal with finding someone willing to give away a worthy talent for an unproven one. Quite the pickle and pickles don't belong in tacos.

I really think Rubio is the crown jewel of this draft. Blake Griffin will be a stud, but Rubio has the potential to be the next Nash. The simple entertainment value of Rubio is worth millions. Hell, I want to watch him.

Parity
An overused term but necessary. This draft has maaaybe three or four guys who can be stars (Griffin, Rubio, Jennings, Curry). The rest...solid role players, but nothing to scoff at. Gerald Henderson, Ty Lawson Hansbrough...they are more like solid second-round picks, but some of the solid second round picks are also solid second round picks (Budinger, Blair, etc.) What am I saying? Not a lot of star power, but a lot of glue guys.

Draft-Day
The ESPN guys aren't my favorite basketball announcers. That honor goes to TNT. It was predictable, and in that way it was funny, except for Mark Jackson and Dick Vitale. So I guess it was just a few guys who were funny. Jay Bilas of course spouted compliments about every college player in the draft. Fran Frascella did the same for the foreigners. Luckily, Jay didn't have the opportunity to talk about anyone's blessed wing-spans, as Tyler Hansbrough has anything but an exceptional standing reach.

I can't even remember a Van Gundy moment. Usually, he is good for a few pop culture lessons, but his so-seriousness made him bland. Oh, and Stu Scott only made a fool of himself multiple times.

Overall grade: C+

NBA Draft Blog

Sure, it'd be fun to be in NYC for the NBA draft, rubbing shoulders with future NBA players...but it's funnier to listen to these goofballs on the TV. Unfortunately, we won't be joined by Stephen A. Smith and his cheese doodles. Can we trade him for Mark Jackson's subtle bitching about Shaq?

Anywho, LET IT ROLL!

Pre-draft notes:

-My, my, my Mark Jackson and Shaq must have some bad blood between Shaq's anti-Jack tweets and Marc's hating comments...

-"It's a very rowdy group tonight," David Stern said.

-Stern's dry humor is great.

-Let's see Steve Kerr trade Amare to G-State and pick Jordan Hill at No. 7. Then, let's take Brandon Jennings at 14. Then, let's trade our two second rounders for a late first and take Chase Budinger. What do you get? Steve Kerr's resignation!

-Excited for another evening of Bilas getting hard for every UNC and Dukie along with Fran splooging every time Ricky, Rubio, Ricky Rubio or "I'm going on a Rubio's run," is said.

AND HERE, WE, GO!

No. 1-Clippers piiiick...ah, hell ya know. Blake Griffin.

No. 2-Ricky Rubio sounds like he hasn't gone through puberty yet. Likewise, David Stern's crackly voice sounds like he's in the middle of it. Thabeet to the Grizz. Solid pick. If they develop their young roster, they'll be a scary team in a few. Oh, get a coach too.

No. 3-OKC "SEEElects" James Harden. This makes sense over Rubio because they already have Mr. Westbrook. Their roster is super talented.

-I think Ricky is on his Facebook or something. Also, I'm glad nobody is dressed ridiculously thus far...

-TYREKE EVANS IS NOT A FUCKING POINT GUARD!

- Quote of the day: "I'm Ricky Rubio...I'm not like..."

-Woh, Andy Katz, good thing you didn't go on air to tell us T-Wolves would go Rubio then Curry. Johnny Flynn is aiiiight.

-Speaking of Flynn, you can't help but be impressed with all of these guys personalities. SO CHARISMATIC!

-Let's go Hawks! Let's go Hawks!

- Knicks fans are quite aroused! Oops, no Steph Curry for you! NO SOUP FOR YOU! Love it. He's a better passer than many think, just because he was forced to score at Davidson.

-"Warriors suck!" chants. Take that as a compliment Steph.

No. 8-Jordan Hill to the Knicks. Heard they badly wanted this pick and it makes sense. D'antoni's poor-man's Amare Stoudemire. NYC crowd's booing is just going to motivate the guy. He seemed a little hurt and disappointed during the interview.

No. 9-Duuuurmaaar Deronzan. He's silky smooth, athletic but does he have that killer instinct needed to be a big-time player in Toronto? I have yet to see it.

No. 10-NOOOOO!!! Brandon Jennings to Milwaukee. Man, he is failing at being a big city boy!

No. 11-Terrence Williams, one of my favorites. He's Joe Johnson without a jumper. Anyway, Stu Scott just told Terrence that even though he never watches ESPN, he has to now because they're showing his highlights. The result of this comment...dead silence. Way to go Stu!

No. 12-Good, I'm glad Henderson went here. The Suns can't waste their time with a guy who can only jump and has a terrible feel for the game. Even Jay Bilas admitted this, and it's why Gerald will never be good -- it's way too late to get a feel for the game.

No. 13-Tyler Hansbrough IS overrated. He is like Troy Murphy without the shooting range, athleticism, height, length. . . you get the point.

-Suns are up. Expecting the worst, I'm going with Chase Budinger...

No. 14-Suns take Earl Clark. Bad or good...I don't know. Kind of seems like Lamar Odom or Boris Diaw -- incredible talents, poor efforts. But I have a feeling the excitement is yet to come...

-Ugh, Dicky Vitale is so obnoxious.

-Okay, well I'm done blogging/bitching about every pick. Steve Kerr is on! Pretty much admitted the suns are rebuilding. Fun stuff, I guess.

No. 17- Dear Minnesota, you need to pick people who will shoot and stuff. I can't wait to see some of those ol' "NO I WANNA PLAY POINT GUARD" fights from elementary school, except it'll be coming to an arena near YOU! OK, so they'll probably trade him, but it's fun to dream isn't it.

No. 18-Hawks take Jeff Teague, who will just replace Acie Law in the rotation. That's a joke, because Acie Law wasn't in the rotation. Get it?

-I like this year's draft theme, but that being said, I don't like the UNC orgy going on.

-"pcooperbass (6:35:28 PM): the jazz didnt take budinger
pcooperbass (6:35:32 PM): he must have FWB"



-For those of you who don't know, that's "Friends With Benefits."





-HAHAHA Victor Claver to the Trailblazers. I'm a big fan...no, not really. I have no idea who the fuck he is.



**With Victor Clavar going No. 22 and Blake Griffin going No. 1, it's the first time in the draft's history that two ginger's have been drafted in the first round**



-Just kidding, maybe.



-azcentral.com is reporting that Stephen Curry is going to the Suns in a blockbuster with Amare Stoudemire...More soon, I hope.



No.24-And Israelis are in attendance! Omri Casspi to Sac-Town. Fran says Sacramento better have some good falafel. Kevin Johnson needs to get on that.



No.25-Poor David Stern has to pronounce some tough names. Rodrigue Beaubois from Guadeloupe! Luckily, not from Guadalupe, Arizona. He looks sleek, not powerful. Tony Parker much? Going to Dallas for BJ Mullens.



-I must say. Chase Budinger isn't as good as Rodgrigue? Some of these teams are crazy and I'm utterly confused because I was hearing that Chase's workouts weren't hurting him. Odd. Jay Bilas really must hate Chase. He's not even on his Top 5 available at this point.



-Taj Gibson is an undersized defensive talent, but being picked this high is odd considering he is just like Jaokim Noah.



-Remember that time Brandon Jennings came outta the back room to wave to the crowd? I think I was stumbling around college publisher editing that story when it happened. That's typical Jennings. Refusing to show up and making you think he's a jerk, then just popping in to make you believe he tried to get there and just failed. A rocky start to an already rocky person.



By the way, Jennings doesn't seem to fit in Milwaukee. He wants the spotlight, yet he strays away from it so much. See, Italy over University of Arizona, No Green Room over Green Room and now Milwaukee over NYC,NJ,LA,PHX, etc.



-This poor Memphis fan ESPN showed on TV has no idea who DeMarre Carroll from Missouri is and has no idea why he's screaming with excitement.



-Video clip of the night. Roy William's wife (I think) excited for Ty Lawson being drafted by the T-Wolves, followed by Roy's frustrating explanation of why something is fishy...he was the third PG drafted by the Wolves. His wife loses the excited face as Roy puts up three fingers.



-Stern's reaction to a "Da-vid Stern" chant: "Hello there!"



-Course you like Wayne Ellington, Jay. How is he better than Chase face? Tell me. TELL ME!



No. 29-Toney Douglas' highlights include a #32 hitting a jump shot. Toney Douglas is #23. Soz ESPN!



-I'm glad Alando Tucker's wobbly bowling pin got some air-time on the NBA Draft.



-Also, it's being reporting that Stat to G-State is very likely and that Stephen Curry will head the Suns way. Interesting.



No.30-Man, Christian Eyenga to the Cavs! David Stern pretty much gave up and shuffled his way out for this last pick. Couldn't he have just done two more minutes of false excitement!?! He got to meet Christian Eyenga! Geez. Anyway, Christian has got some hops.



No.31-Jeff Pendergraph nets a No. 31 pick. He'll be a good garbage-type player. And by garbage, I mean rebounding paint player. Traded to the Blazer's for Spanish Chocolate. Interesting. They now have Frye, Bayless, Diogu and Pendy. More reason for disgruntled Suns fans to follow Portland.



-Man, the NBA draft is just like a party.


"We have another trade." **The crown erupts**



I can't imagine how many drunk people are there and how much fun they're having. Collectively, the fun levels seem unmatched by anything.



-Pendergraph isn't bad, but before Dejuan Blair of Pitt? Really? Totally forgot he was on the board, so I'm commenting now.



-Fran on Jonas Jerebko: "His dad married a woman in Sweden, not a bad move Stu."



-Sorry got distracted...not really, but the fun is ending. Either way, I always enjoy me the Patrick Chewing commercials. WHATS UP RYAN? *dunk* OOPS.

-David Kahn of the T-Wolves on whether he was a point guard: "Only at the Jewish community center, Stu."