Thanks to last night, the Hornets are now riding their first winning streak of the season - granted it’s only 2 games - but with Chris Paul out of the line up two games is more like five or six. The very team that beat the Bees by 20 points a week ago leading up to the firing of then head coach Byron Scott, the Suns, looked like a shell of themselves last night allowing New Orleans to win by 7 despite Paul not playing and David West only scoring 6 points.

WOW!

This may not sound like much but if this team can some how keep the ship afloat while Paul is out (likely the next 2-3 weeks) then this team has a chance at making a little noise once their leader returns. Rookies Marcus Thornton and Darren Collison looked fantastic last night combining for 34 points, 10 rebounds and 6 assists, while only turning the ball over three times. The story of the night, though, was up and down veteran Peja Stojakovic who exploded for 25 points and 13 rebounds, making 7-11 three point attempts. This very well could’ve been his best game since joining the Hornets four years ago. I wouldn’t count on it happening too often, if ever again, but it was nice to see Peja earn some his money for once.

Looking at the Hornets upcoming schedule, the Bees have a chance to break even if the continue to play together with Paul sidelined. They currently are sitting at 5-8 on the season with games this week against Atlanta, Milwaukee, Miami and Sacramento. The Hornets should come out of that stretch 2-2 heading into the month of December where they only play four or five quality opponents. I wouldn’t just off the Hornets ship just yet, as the team is starting to respond to interim coach Jeff Bower and the “real” coach Tim Floyd.

I don’t play a lot of videogames. I used to, and nothing against people who play a whole ton, but I just don’t have the time nor the temper for it. I own a Wii and am the very definition of a casual gamer; yes, when I die, I usually throw the controller down and do something else. I don’t like puzzles or having to hone skills for days, months, years; I detest grinding, new game plus-ing, completion scores, and most definitely, single player.

Now, there’s something else I hate, and that’s a gimmick, which is basically what the Wii is when you really think about it. As a testament to my bony girl arms, I’ve grown sore and tired from having to waggle the batteries out of my Wiimote during Madworld or No More Heroes, muscles torn asunder from hours upon hours of virtual jacking-it. I don’t think motion control is where it needs to be at the moment, and I’ve yet to be blown away by anything Nintendo has presented concerning said “genre-defining” control mechanism.

But to the point: New Super Mario Bros. Wii is the first time I can think of where Nintendo has admitted its faults. No, it doesn’t do it outright, but instead with a subtle banishment of all things unnecessary and poorly-implemented. No waggle. No frustrating minigames. No hassle. To be truthful, there’s nothing particularly new about New Super Mario Bros. Wii other than it is, in fact, a new, and this may be Nintendo’s biggest weakness anyway: making the same damn thing repeatedly, churning out the hackneyed franchises with technological updates steadily growing further and further apart. And I won’t defend this practice, other than that it’s a swell way to make money, but at least this time they’ve approached it with a fan’s sensibility rather than lacquering on a thick coat of unnecessary bullshit and kicking it out on the streets. So unlike, say, Mario Kart Double Dash, which was submitted to the exact same lacquering I just mentioned, New Super Mario Bros. Wii is old Super Mario Bros., which, as the game will make you remember, was absolutely brilliant.

Look at this. Remember being all happy the first time you played Super Mario Bros., the first time you saw a two-player option and thought to yourself that you and Luigi could now rock the world together, only to be sorely disappointed that you had to take turns? Yeah, this game doesn’t do that. Four at a time, and that’s not all: what you think may be some cheap co-op crap quickly turns into the harshest festival of shit-talking mayhem you’ve ever witnessed, once you realize that not only can you not pass through each other, but that your friends are the most fearsome obstacles blocking your way to the fields of magic mushrooms and cash money.

This game is fun. Everything good from the Mario franchise is present here, and there’s a refreshing absence of crap characters such as Waluigi (was Wuigi too hard to pronounce?), Toadette, or, with a groan, Funky Kong. Yes, it’s essentially Super Mario World with a slightly better physics engine, multiplayer, enhanced graphics, cooler items, and nifty controls. But isn’t that what you’ve always wanted?

Oh, and the old music is back. A+.

I was shown this video of Les Savy Fav at Austin’s Fun Fun Fun Fest, which completely made me regret not wizarding my way out of work and attending the thing. With folks like Fuck Buttons, Health, Shonen Knife, The GZA, ohmigod, et cetera, full lineup here, next year, next year.

And to further harsh my mellow, I was shown this video, which made me want to purchase an undersized collegiate cardigan, watch Wendy Williams, study business, mortgage a dream home, enter politics, and then pass legislation to expunge weed culture from this planet, but said feeling quickly passed when I realized not only that the video was seven years old, but also that I was pretty high. Observe the fact that Fieldy sometimes forgets to rhyme, and that he apparently thinks dressing like a little girl is hip, the latter demonstrating that at least two out of four of the original Korn troupe have tremendous sexual problems.

Back to the festival, it’s only eight hours away (harsh, but it’s the best around), located in a pretty cool city, and seems to attract a nice lineup. I’ve also been told that the park’s topography is pretty varied, offering some hills and inclines with which one can have fun. If I slid down a rainslick hill while Fuck Buttons bled my ears, I would be so happy.

Rodney Bradford aka One Lucky Mofo

The almighty Facebook has done it again.

Keep this in mind when you’re constantly updating to your favorite social networking sites. 19-year-old New York native Rodney Bradford’s Facebook status updates turned into much more than what’s on his mind: a rock-solid alibi after he was accused of a crime.

After confirmation of the time stamp on the update and the location from which it was entered, it became painfully obvious that he could not have been at the scene of a robbery in another part of New York City. After he had spent almost two weeks in jail, the case against him was dismissed.

Wow.

“That’s all I have to say about that.” -Forrest Gump

For the full story, read here.

So, in politics as usual, several members of Congress  are pissed about Attorney General Eric Holder’s decision Friday to try five suspected 9/11 terrorists in civilian court as opposed to military court.

Holder was accused of risking America’s security by treating the suspects like “common criminals” with a right to greater constitutional protections than they would receive in a military trial. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t condone terror in any kind of way, hell I hardly like scary movies; but isn’t that what America does? You know, giving people inalienable human rights and junk?

Holder announced Friday that five Guantanamo Bay detainees with alleged ties to the September 11, 2001, attacks, including the confessed mastermind of it all, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, will be tried in civilian court in New York. That’s when certain congresspeople got pissed.

“These terrorists planned and executed the mass murder of thousands of innocent Americans. Treating them like common criminals is unconscionable,” Texas GOP Sen. John Cornyn said in a written statement. Don’t mess with Texas.

Senator Johnny boy continues:

“The attacks of September 11th were an act of war. Reverting to a pre-9/11 approach to fighting terrorism and bringing these dangerous individuals onto U.S. soil needlessly compromises the safety of all Americans.”

I can’t help but feel like these so called terrorists are anything more than a highly organized gang. These men aren’t warriors, they’re criminals. Them attacking us wasn’t an act of war, it was a really just a, really, really, really, really bad and tragic hate crime. Countries with legitimate armies commit acts of war. And last time I checked, legitimate armies didn’t teach flying commercial jets into civilian buildings in their boot camps. Come on people…

Warriors fight wars. Criminals commit hate crimes. So yeah, I feel like civil court is just fine for them. Bringing people like that into higher courts not only legitimalizes them, but it also empowers them and let’s them know, that they’re getting to us. Which doesn’t solve anything.

You know, I miss the days when war was simple. You know, when countries fought other countries, you knew exactly who you’re enemies were, and world’s greatest military power wasn’t reduced to playing a real life version of “Team America: World Police” in 3rd world countries… yeah… the good old days.

Read the full story here

Well forget about the e-mail speculation about when New Orleans Hornets coach Byron Scott will be fired because the Bees’ management thought today was the day.

I couldn’t have agreed more!

It’s not immediately known who will succeed Scott until a new coach is hired but look for one of the “ridiculous” looking assistants to be a temporary replacement until the Hornets sign someone like Avery Johnson.

More on this as the story unfolds.

Scott needs to take a seat somewhere else.

It’s no secret when I tell you Byron Scott will be fired at some point in this season, it’s just a matter of when. Last night the Hornets dropped yet another loss, this time by the hands of the Phoenix Suns 124-104 in a game that wasn’t even as close as the score indicates. Chris Paul is on a poorly coached team surrounded by scrubs and castoffs that have no true identity and no strengths.

This is not the same team that finished 2nd in the Western Conference just two seasons ago. No, that team is long gone. As is, this is a team that will struggle to reach .500 unless something miraculous happens. What’s that miracle you ask?

Byron Scott being fired!

Go ahead and throw in all those rediculous looking assistant coaches while you’re at it.

This team has reached its peak and now is just free falling to mediocrity.

The team sits 3-6 right now with a mere three players scoring in double figures including 26 from Chris Paul, 15 from David West (down from 20 a year ago) and 11 from Emeka Okafor. After those three, Scott has already tried more line up formations than a down syndrome kid fiddling with a rubrics cube (yeah it’s that bad). Scott is blindly trying to mix and match a lineup that can compete but is failing to realize that the talent he has outside of the top three, is nothing to write home about. They’re bad. Real bad. The worst part about it is there is nothing Scott can do to move any of these guys.

This is how the unmovable salaries are looking for the Hornets:

Morris Peterson- 2 years remaining @ $5.8 million per

Peja Stojakovic- 2 years remaining @ $13.392 million per

James Posey- 2 years remaining @ $6 million per

Darius Songaila- 2 years remaining @ $4.5 million per

Emeka Okafor- 5 years remaining @ $10.797 million per

The rest of the guys on the team are semi-movable but would return no true value. The best trade bait the Hornets have is in David West who is still due three years @ $9 million per, but the Hornets would insist that any team that wants West would have to take on one or two of the guys above. Hilton Armstrong could give a team some cap relief since this is the last year of his deal with a shade under $3 million owed to him. In short, the Hornets hands are tied when it comes to moving most of the guys. They would be reluctant to do anything with West since the team still looks at him as one of the top forwards in the conference. What they fail to realize is that the undersized forward is not among the elite. In fact he’s far from it judging by his play to start this season.

Along with firing Scott, here are some of my ideas towards improving this team in the short term:

First off, package a deal to the Chicago Bulls for Tyrus Thomas. It’s common knowledge the Bulls want to trade Thomas’ expiring contract (worth right at $5 million) and the Bees could stand to get a little bit younger and athletic. The thing is, the Hornets would have to part with West. To make this work the Bees would try to give up Peterson and would have to take on some more salary. That’s where Kirk Hinrich comes in (making $9.5 million for the next 3 years). Hinrich could serve as a great backup point guard and could also see time playing the two-guard along side Chris Paul. The Hornets would shed about $600,000 worth of salary for this season but would save roughly $6 million long term. The trade makes the Hornets instantly better on defense and gives the team two guys that can play substantial minutes by only giving up one guy. I’d pull the trigger on this deal!

Let’s try another trade. This one takes on a tad less talent, but still sheds salary and gives the team more flexibility heading into the ever so important summer of 2010. The Hornets trade West, Posey and Armstrong to the Miami Heat for Udonis Haslem (expiring @ $7 million) and Quinton Richardson (expiring at $8.7 million). The Hornets would have both players off their books by season’s end and would save more than $33 million in the long run. The team would take a hit in the talent category until season’s end, but would have enough money to go out and sign a marquee free agent over the summer like Chris Bosh or Lebron James (I could picture Lebron in a Hornets Jersey, can’t you?). Why would the Heat do this trade? Well it makes the Heat better right now. The Heat weren’t able to land Carlos Boozer or Lamar Odom in the offseason and they know that in order to keep Dwayne Wade happy they have to build a solid team around him. David West might be the guy the Heat need to resign Wade. This one is a little more likely to happen than the first.

Are you starting to see a trend here? We’re going to have to give up players to get players and outside of trading Paul, West is the guy the Hornets must trade in order to compete.

Of course, for any of this to happen the Hornets must rid themselves of Byron Scott. Many people are predicting him to be canned by Thanksgiving. I think it might take a little bit more time than that considering Hornets owner George Shin is illiterate and still doesn’t quite know if we won the game last night or not (we loss George, now go back to sleep). Scott will be out of here by mid-to-late December. Mark it down in the books. The likely replacement will be New Orleans native Avery Johnson (although I would prefer a guy like Brian Shaw).

Let’s make this fun. How about we turn this into a contest? I want YOU to e-mail me the date you think Byron Scott will be fired on or around. If your within 5 days of the date, I’ll mention you in an upcoming sports column in Tiger Weekly. Fair enough?

My e-mail is:   joshssports@gmail.com

Sammy!?!? Is that you?

Dominican baseball great Sammy Sosa has garnered a lot of attention as of late off of the field rather than on. Recently he spoke to Spanish station Primer Impacto regarding the dramatic lightening of his complexion.

Sosa, who is Dominican born claims that he suffers from Vitiligo, the same disease of the late Michael Jackson, and attributes his new look to a special skin moisturizer.

 ”I’m doing well, doing well, thanks to God. … I use a cream to keep my skin smooth and soft. I apply it before I go to bed. When I was playing for Chicago all those years, I was in the sun a lot for 1 o’clock games. The flashes (from the cameras) also made my skin look lighter.”

That sounds kind of so so, Sosa. While playing a time intensive game such as baseball during the height of sunny days can do a lot to darken the skin, as well as predispose him to a lot of different skin defects such as vitilgo, I feel that professional baseball would be well aware of this and expect players to take cautionary measures.

When asked about Jackson and whether he was following in his footsteps, Sosa replied, “Not at all, I respect him very much. I’m not a racist. I’m not like that. I’m just a happy person.”

Sosa has also been seen sporting green contacts, which he attributes to, “trying something new.”

In all, I’ll just go on record to say, it’s the new Millenium. Humans can change just about anything they want on their bodies thanks to science and modern medicine. Sosa, coming from the Carribean, most likely has much more moderate views about racism and black identity than many black Americans may have; the Carribean is a very racially and etnically mixed place. Besides that, few places have had the amount of racism, racial prejudice, and racial stratification between black and white than the good ole US of A has through out the years.

Although racism is dying (thank God) there are still social stigmas and forms of identification that comes from a person’s skin color. Being that Sosa is pretty much a baseball deity, many children and other impressionable minds may look up to him and this dramatic change in appearance would probably be confusing at best.

But at the end of the day, that just may not be his concern. It’s Sosa’s body, Sosa’s skin, Sosa’s money, and Sosa’s miracle cream (which he may be a spokesperson for soon) and he can do with them as he please. He may actually have something wrong with his skin. If that’s the case, I think we should get out of his now seemingly straighter hair.

There is always unseen and latent consequences to everything we do but at the end of the day, he probably really just wants to try something new. You know, like actually stopping a taxi after 6 pm.

Read More

You really start to realize that you’re getting older when the sports icons that you admired growing up are getting older and have diminished skills. Ken Griffey Jr was the guy I looked up to in the 1990’s. He made baseball fun to watch, he made baseball cool. Now the aging slugger is just barely hanging on after a career of ups and downs - and now he is signed on for his 21st season after a semi-productive 2009 with the team that made him a star.

Last season Griffey cranked out a respectable 19 homers, with 57 RBIs with a measly .214 average.  Jr has managed to stay healthy the last couple of seasons after playing the previous eight years with Cincinnati battling a whole assortment of ailments that without a doubt kept the slugging lefty from breaking every home run record and building on his stardom that captured the hearts of every young baseball fan growing up in the 90’s. Sitting at 630 home runs right now, the logical thought would be for him to approach the 650 mark, but a very slim shot at 700.

But who cares how many homers he belts out this year? I know I don’t. I don’t mind seeing him barely hit over .200. Just let him play as long as he wants to. He’s the last piece of a childhood for many now twenty and thirty-somethings out there. Its going to be really weird when the guys like Jr, and others like Shaq and Kevin Garnett start retiring. Our guys will be gone. New kids will come up and we’ll no longer be younger than the athletes we admire. It’s a strange feeling.

Keep it up Griffey. Play until you’re 50 (he’ll be 40 in a couple of weeks) or play longer. I might not have seen any of your games last season, but I enjoy hearing your name and don’t want to picture the MLB without Ken Griffey, Jr. in it.

Though this is my first contribution to the TW Hookup blog, there is something far more important to discuss than myself. Fly Eyes.

Popularized by Scottish electro/house/80’s-feelgood musician Calvin Harris, Fly Eyes are a set of enigmatic spectacles completely bedazzled lens-to-lens in Hobby Lobby rhinestones. Upon sighting a pair, you’ll probably think of Kanye and his familiar Shutter Shades, and upon putting the glasses on, you’ll be absolutely blind. Like Flava Flav’s neck-cracking wall clock piece or the aforementioned Shutter Shades, Fly Eyes are pure fashion, no function.

Now you may be wondering what the purpose of Fly Eyes is. Some who put them on are confounded and irritated that someone could make such a useless and limiting accessory, while others are entranced by their silvery array of Elmersed-on jewels. Is Harris making a commentary on avant-garde fashion that forsakes functionality for confused media publicity and shameless self-promotion? Or is Harris totally lost on himself, existing in the nebulous cloud of hipster irony that somehow criticises and fetishizes its own ridiculousness? Describing this state of mind and style is difficult, but maybe Harris himself can help us out with this most insightful instructional video.

So Harris seems to treat the Fly Eyes with a fairly substantial level of humor, far from the likes of, let’s say, Kanye, who rocks his Shutter Shades amidst the serious, almost malicious, cityscape of the Stronger vid. And as for Flava and his pendulous timepiece, well, as a utterly goofy hypeman, anything he does needs no commentary.

I’ve no clue what to really think about Fly Eyes other than that they seem to fit well with Harris’s brand of over-the-top fashion disco, and to anyone familiar with his tunes, you’ll most likely agree. His first record, I Created Disco, is so utterly corny that it seems impossible to believe he put any amount of seriousness into the thing, even given the fact that we live in a world where Steven Seagal’s “Talk to my Ass” was mixed and cut to a record.  For people, such as myself, who are attracted to shiny objects, Fly Eyes are quite interesting to look at in their own right, which explains why I made a pair for myself. A few hours later and reeking of superglue and spraypaint, I too was blind to everything around me, and quite fashionably so.