Perfect weekend?

In my half-drunken stupor that was an awesome weekend of Cincinnati football, I forgot to check in on my beloved Thunder.

And that's too bad, because they destroyed the Magic. You know, the guys that won the NBA Eastern Conference. Well, the Thunder beat them by almost 30 points.

So let's review:

Bearcats win!
Bengals win!
Ravens lose!
Brown are on bye (this is the closest they may come to another win all year)
Thunder win big!

Now, if Pittsburgh loses tonight, this may have been the greatest regular season sports weekend of my life

I wonder how many times I could type "Who Dey" before I've used too many characters for a title

Who fuckin' dey!

Who now remains that says this isn't a great team?

They just swept division rival Baltimore. That's right, the Ravens. You remember, they played in the AFC Championship game last season. Against Superbowl champion Pittsburgh. Who the Bengals also beat this season. And who they play again next Sunday.

At any rate, Cincinnati is on pace for a 12-4 season at the midway point. No 12-4 team has ever missed the playoffs. And Cincinnati has 4 very easy games left on their schedule (at Oakland, vs. Cleveland, vs. Detroit, vs. Kansas City), which suggests an easy path to at least a 10-6 record.

To say I'm thrilled with Cincinnati this season is an understatement. This team is going to win a lot more games than they lose. They aren't putting up top of the league stats, but I'm starting to think that's a good thing. This team wins without one player having to put up a top 5 performance.

Oh, except Cedric Benson. I cannot explain the success he's had with the Bengals. Hopefully he won't be in the Pro Bowl because he's preparing for the Superbowl!

Don't be surprised if the following Bengals (in order) make the Pro Bowl either:
Leon Hall (CB)
Carson Palmer (QB)
Jonathan Joseph (CB)
Dhani Jones (MLB) - as an alternate perhaps

Final thought - The Bengals never came close to scoring in the second half, but they still won by ten. They forced Joe Flacco to two of the worst performances of his career. This team may not put up numbers, but they win games.

I'm looking forward to the Saints-Bengals Superbowl!

Straight Cash Homey

Straight Cash Homey Dot Net is a blog that posts submitted photos of people in public wearing awful and/or obscure sports jerseys. I've been wanting to get a photo on this blog for a while, but whenever I've come across a terrible jersey I've just narrowly missed getting a photo of it. Recently, I finally got a quality shot of one. As you can see, it's a Toni Kukoc Milwaukee Bucks jersey and it made it on to Straight Cash Homey today. This is quite an accomplishment for me.

Big Baby to the NFL

According to ProFootballTalk.com, Glen "Big Baby" Davis has a serious itch to play NFL football some day. Specifically, after he becomes a super star in the NBA. I could continue to regurgitate information from Mike Florio's post, but his trademark wit was clearly on when he wrote his article, so why don't you just read that instead.

In the meantime, I've made this ridiculous Photoshop art for you to marvel at.

Slim, does this count as an NBA or NFL post?

OKC Thunder have the best . . .

You'll all be pleased to hear that the word to close the headline sentence is "mascot."

Yes, Oklahoma City Thunder mascot Rumble the Bison received an award Tuesday for NBA Mascot of the Year. Yes, the one pictured to the left.

The trophy was presented during the first quarter of their OT loss to the Lakers. The Utah Jazz Bear accepted the invitation to present the award. Video can be seen here.

So even though the Thunder's inaugural season may not have gone as smoothly as we would have liked it to, they are perfect in one area:

They have won NBA Mascot of the Year every year of their existence.

This was 'Staches first NBA post. How am I doing?

Converse SBs

Like my fellow Dank Game sneaker colleague Sean, I have lost any ambition of posting the flyest new shit in the sneaker world. In fact, I never really had that ambition in the first place. I just like to post stuff that I think is sweet. One thing that I think is pretty sweet is Converse's recent skateboarding shoes. I'm no skateboarder, so I can't comment on how they perform on the half-pipe, but I can comment on how dope they look. And let me tell you, these shoes look pretty fucking dope. Unfortunately, I can't find any information about when or where these will be released. Any help with this would be appreciated.

This is the Converse SB Revere Mid from the Converse Red Suede Series. I'm really feeling the simple design and red suede with navy trim. Check out Nice Kicks for more photos of the Converse Red Suede Series.

This is the second pair from the Red Suede Series, which are obviously Chuck Taylors. I've always liked when Chucks use the material of the shoe for the toe rather than extending the rubber sole. Check the link above for more photos of these shoes.

This is the Converse CTS Mid Navy Blue Waxed Canvas. Another nice looking Chuck Taylor. I'm definitely feeling the look of the waxed canvas. Check out Nice Kicks for more photos.

Heat split back-to-back

The Miami Heat are now 4-1, which is an encouraging start for a team many observers had missing the playoffs. They should be 5-0 if it weren't for an awful 4th quarter in which they only scored 15 points. Michael Beasley was largely absent in the past two games during the final quarter, as coach Erik Spoelstra seems to still lack confidence in Beasley when the games matter most. While it is understandable with Haslem playing strong down the stretch in the previous game against the Bulls, you can't help but wonder if Michael's offense could've helped them win the game.

Speaking of Spoelstra, sometimes his rotations are truly mystifying. At the beginning of the fourth quarter against the Suns, Spoelstra had a lineup of Carlos Arroyo, Dorell Wright, James Jones, Joel Anthony, and I think Quentin Richardson. That just isn't going to work. Maybe if J.O. were on the floor, Spoelstra might explain that he is spacing the floor with shooters, but Joel Anthony was playing center, who doesn't even come close to demanding a double team. Hell, Anthony can more or less be left open on offense. That's not how you close games as a coach.

The Heat started out strong against the Wizards last night, ending the first quarter up 31-17. While the Heat's defense has looked strong, this good start can also be credited to turnovers by the Wizards. Dwyane Wade carried most of the offensive load early in the game and the Heat also had to rely on Wade to close out the game, which is a growing concern. Wade finished with 40 points, going 14 of 26 from the floor.

Michael Beasley and Jermaine O'Neal have got to step up their offense and rebounding if the team wants to be considered even marginal contenders. O'Neal finished with 4 points and 7 boards, while Beasley had just 10 points and 4 boards. The Heat forced the Wizards to 37% shooting, but they also gave up 13 offensive rebounds.

Quentin Richardson continues to be a big addition for the Heat, especially in these last two games. His defense has been great throughout the season, but he's finally starting to find his outside shot going 5-7 from deep against the Wiz. He's also provided great hustle on both ends of the court.

Another glaring problem for the Heat that has come to light in the past two games is the point guard position. Chalmers has provided some quality offensive play, but he just couldn't handle guarding Steve Nash and Gilbert Arenas who both had big games. Carlos Arroyo couldn't even stay on the floor against the Wizards as Arenas quickly forced him into foul trouble.

Despite all of the Heat's problems, they've shot well as a team, played overall good team defense, and they're off to a 4-1 start. I'm hoping that Daequan Cook can come back soon from his shoulder injury, as he was a key factor to the Heat's success in the first half of last season. I'm also wondering what the status is on Jamaal Magloire who's yet to play after serving a two game suspension due to an altercation in the preseason with Pistons rookie Jonas Jerebko. Magloire has proved to be a serviceable center in limited minutes.