Stock Up/Stock Down 12/15/07
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by DRE-LO
Stock Up:
Mario Williams - 2 years ago every football diehard {including me} was scratching their head and wondering what then Texans GM Charlie Casserly had to drink that would cause him to look past the appealing picks of Reggie Bush and/or Vince Young considering that they didn't have primetime players at those positions. Now Reggie Bush, according to Saints head coachSean Payton has had a disappointing year. And Vince Young became the next victim of the Madden curse with his inconsistent play. But Mario Williams is 2nd in the league with sacks with 13 and his 3 and a half sack performance against Denver had a lot of past critics eating a mixture of crow and humble pie. Of course, it remains to be seen what happens in the long run, but it's clear that Super Mario hasn't fallen prey to the sophomore slump.
Portland Trail Blazers - Something's begun to click for the Blazers as they've won six in a row and are beginning to restore the marole after a huge downer via Greg Oden's season-ending injury. Brandon Roy is starting to become a finisher of games and Travis Outlaw has averaged nearly 19 ppg a game in the last 5 off of the bench. One could only imagine what will happen when Oden starts to play at the 5. There's a reason for excitement again in Portland.
Lakers/Warriors - I'll kill 2 birds with one stock up posting. The Lakers are finally putting together team victories with Kobe Bryant looking to pass more with increasing trust of his teammates. Andrew Bynum is finally starting to pick up the slack. And the acquisition of Derek Fisher was big for the Lakers as it gave them another veteran prescence and leader. The Warriors on the other hand, have rebounded after a god-awful start with the insane play of Baron Davis and the defensive influence of Stephen Jackson. The Warriors may have passed the Suns as the most exciting team in the NBA and may be set for success for years to come. This all culminated in a great game last night that had the feel of a Western Conference Finals game. Best game of the year so far, in my opinion.
Stock Down:
Major League Baseball - This is ground zero/rockbottom for the game of Baseball. Bud Selig's decision to fall prey to the allure of the almighty dollar and to sacrifice the integrity of the game has brought shame and disgrace beyond comparision. Everyone with a right mind knows that there are way more abusers than the 80+ players that were listed. I don't even buy the fact that they don't know who the rest of the abusers are. They know. But how good would it look if they put 500-1000 names on the list? They'd be no interest in baseball if that were to be done. They'll hardly be any interest after this. Baseball is no longer America's national pastime. Ratings are falling off every year with each World Series sweep and the increasing disparity between the AL and the NL. The new pastime is football. It's sad but true. And allow me to express my feigned surprise about the Rocket. There had to be some reason he threw the bat at Mike Piazza for no damn reason during the Subway World Series. There had to be some reason that he was breaking down physically ever other minute. The signs were there. The writing was on the wall. But we were too busy pinning the whole entire blame on Bonds to realize that. The mere fact that Bud Selig still has a job as commissioner is disgraceful enough.
Kobe Bryant - Someone call CNN!! Breaking news: The Lakers are playing as a team, winning as a team with increased morale and Kobe Bryant is... happy. His Majesty and Royal Highness is very pleased. All things are well and good. No trades are necessary. Take this with a grain of salt and move along because I'm just not convinced that when the next losing streak comes along he won't be in Jerry Buss's office screaming, moaning, wining and bitching. After all, he seems to be trying hard...very hard to convince us of how HAPPY he is.
Keyshawn Johnson - I'm not the biggest T.O. fan in the world due to his prior happenings with other teams. But T.O. is absolutely 100% on the money in this case. I can't help but roll with laughter at the brown-nosing that Keyshawn Johnson gives to Parcells on a weekly basis after their rocky relationship. Keyshawn's opinion of the Cowboys being built of Parcells is mostly true, but it would be valid if it weren't coming from a completely biased point of view. Of course T.O. took the bait by opening his fat mouth. I can't help but feel a little envy and jealousy that comes with this argument from Keyshawn Johnson. It comes across so transparently that even a 5 yr old could recgonize it.
