The Association

The Sarge Report: Rockets Fans Sprinting for the Exit

By The Sarge

Can you say BANDWAGON FANS!!!!!!

After an impressive 22 game win streak, which ended last night against the Boston Celtics, the fans of the Rockets showed their true colors... and sprinted for the exit.

Since they were losing by 20 points they filed out of the stadium faster than Sam Houston chased the Mexican army back to Mexico.

I think it is pretty pitiful that the Rocket fans could not wait till the end of the game and give their team the applause and congratulations that they deserved by winning 22 games in a row. Instead they showed how CLASSLESS they actually are and cared more about beating the traffic out of their arena. Is Houston a big enough city to have traffic?? That is a good question.

I know if my team won 22 straight games I would wait till the end of the game and cheer for them and say thank you for the incredible winning streak.

I think it was best said by Lakers postgame radio host Matt “Money Smith, that the Houston Rockets fans should be ashamed of themselves (for leaving early) and it shows their true colors.

Also, Memo to you Houston Rocket fans out there WHERE WERE YOU BEFORE THE WIN STREAK STARTED?????

The Sarge (or Encyclopedia Bri-Danica from the public access airwaves) is a frequent commenter, Madden trick-play specialist and longtime friend of The Association.

The Sarge Report: Will the Suns or Mavs Miss the Playoffs?

The Sarge (or Encyclopedia Bri-Danica from the public access airwaves) is a frequent commenter, Madden trick-play specialist and longtime friend of The Association.

Since the Trade deadline has passed, should the Suns and Mavericks be worried about making the playoffs? Both teams are closer to the 9th spot than they are to the top spot in the West.

Let’s start with the #6 seed, the Phoenix Suns, who got blasted the other night by Denver, the current #9 seed. Since the overpaid and overweight Shaq have come to Phoenix the Suns are just 2-5 and are fading quickly. Shaq first stated when he got to the suns that he would evolve to their game but a few days ago he said they should change to his style of ball. Note to Steve Kerr: Shaq is not only in it for himself, but also for the alimony that he has to pay to his ex-wife. The Suns are also in trouble because 3 of the next 4 games include San Antonio, Utah, and Golden State -- all playoff teams right now. I guess Marion meant more to the Suns than they thought.

Now for the #7 seed Dallas Mavericks, losers of 4 of their last 5 games, all 4 of which were losses to playoff teams. This trade though is looking similar to that of the Suns. Jason Kidd is old and cannot match up against the younger, quicker guards in the West like Chris Paul and Deron Williams. Dallas however has a much easier schedule coming up than the Suns do. They only play one team from the West over the next 5 games. Jason Kidd is still talking about his old team the Nets and not quitting them. It is amazing how pro athletes DO QUIT on their teams if they're unhappy and want a chance to play someplace that looks better to them than their current situation. I think both players here -- Shaq and Kidd -- did quit on their old teams, and both did what they had to do go get out.

The bottom line is this: both trades were made because the Lakers got the steal of the century, and the fact that San Antonio is still as good as ever. But It would be pretty Ironic if one or both of these teams missed the playoffs due to these trades, which are looking more and more to be hurried and meaningless.

The Return of the Sarge Report: Lamar is Gutless!

By The Sarge

Kobe Bryant had a very unusual triple double last night, 39 points 10 rebounds and 11 turnovers. I will be the first to say that all of those turnovers were not his fault with special thanks to Kwame “brick hands” Brown and Ronny Turiaf.

That being said Lamar Odom was the reason why they lost the game last night. With 8 seconds left in the game he leaves Tayshaun Prince for a wide open 3 pointer which I could have made since there was nobody within 15 feet. To make matters worse, on the Lakers out of bounds play the ball goes right to Lamar. He made a great pump fake to lose his defender and has nobody in his way to the rack but Chauncy Billups. So what does he do? He pulls up for a 20 foot shot which goes 18 feet. WHY DID HE NOT MAN UP AND TAKE IT STRONG TO THE RACK??? At the very least he gets fouled.

After the air ball you see Kobe walking off of the court Pissed off and just shaking his head.

To make matters worse the Lakers post game callers had the Lakers trading Kwame and Lamar to the Memphis Grizzlies for Stromile Swift and Paul Gasol. You have to love Laker fans trying to make a great trade for them. If the Grizzlies make that trade I think that I can run a basketball team better than the current GM.

The bottom line is the Lakers SHOULD of won that game and if not for the GUTLESS Lamar Odom they would have won.

Here's a picture of the game winner.

The Sarge (or Encyclopedia Bri-Danica from the public access airwaves) is a frequent commenter, Madden trick-play specialist and longtime friend of The Association.

The Sarge Report: History Supports Extreme Tanking

By The Sarge

The Celtics' losing streak stands at 18 in a row. Whether they are truly the worst team in the NBA, the worst coached team or they're simply tanking for the top draft pick, history proves that they are a sure lock for winning the lottery.

The last three teams that have lost 15+ games in a season have ended up with the number 1 overall draft pick. Here they are along with the player they tanked for drafted:

2001-02 Houston Rockets (Yao Ming): Rudy T was the coach of the Rockets and they lost 16 games in a row on their way to a 28-54 record. The players on the team were: Cuttino Mobley, Steve Francis, Kenny Thomas, Glen Rice and Crazy Eddie Griffin.

2002-03 Cleveland Cavaliers (King James): The Cavs were coached by John "Just Say No" Lucas (8-34) and Keith Smart (9-31). They lost 15 straight games and finished the season 17-65. Some of the players on the team were: Ricky Davis , Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Carlos Boozer, Smush Parker (damn, he even sucked then) and Dajuan Wagner.

2003-04 Orlando Magic (Dwight Howard): The Magic were coached by Doc Rivers (1-10), the NBA's official tank expert, and Johnny Davis (20-51). Their losing streak extended to a stunning 19 straight on their way to a 21-61 record. Some of the players on the team were: T-Mac (who pulled a Pierce was injured), Juwan Howard, Tyronn Lue, Crazy Drew Gooden and Deshawn Stevenson.

Obviously the C's are tanking to get the #1 pick in the draft and the opportunity to get Greg Oden, who is a man among boys in college. (I submit the Paul Pierce "injury" and Doc Rivers' employment as evidence for tanking.)

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought the purpose of a draft lottery was to prevent teams from blatantly losing.

The Sarge (or Encyclopedia Bri-Danica from the public access airwaves) is a frequent commenter, Madden trick-play specialist and longtime friend of The Association.

The Sarge Report: Roadie to Utah vs. Denver

By The Sarge

Frequent commenter, Madden trick-play specialist and longtime friend of The Association, The Sarge (or Encyclopedia Bri-Danica from the public access airwaves) took some time off from a business trip to Salt Lake City of all places and went to Friday night's Utah Jazz - Denver Nuggets game. Here's his report:

I want to thank Craig and Brett for letting me write about last night's game. This is my first trip to the Energy Solution Arena. First I want to talk about the arena before I talk about the fantastic game I saw from the fifth row last night:

First Impression: I will say that the arena is constructed very well and the fans are right on top of the court. The energy was fantastic, but it was a little overkill. Every time the Jazz made a basket the whole arena stood up and cheered like it was the NBA finals.

Banner Crazy: The Utah Jazz still have the banners for being the Midwest DIVISION champs. They have a banner for the year Karl Malone won the MVP as well as a banner for John Stockton being the all time assist Leader. I have a question what happens when someone else gets that honor; will they keep the banner up or take it down?? I almost forgot to mention the retired numbers. The one I think was somewhat funny was Jeff Hornacek, did he do anything but shoot???

Arena Entertainment?: The pre-game and time out antics are very Utah-ish as well. First the Mascot drives a motorcycle onto the court and revs the engine to get the crowd into frenzy. During timeouts I have never seen so many basketballs and little squishy balls get sot into the seats, but the funniest was the halftime show. Since Utah is all about Family values and having 5+ kids per family, 4 brothers faced off against each other (seriously!). The 2 teams had to stack YELLOW PAGES at half court; the winning brother combination had at least 15 yellow pages stacked at center court. The announcer made 1 final announcement; he mentioned that there was 4 other siblings’ in the family as well for a total of 8 kids. GOOD GRIEF…..

The Kirlenko T-Shirt Toss: Speaking of some time out antics, the show must go on sort to speak. Right before halftime Andre Kirlenko went down with what turned out to be an ankle sprain. As he lay on the floor in a heap, the fans were treated to some free merchandise, which was a little strange to me. The players who were on the floor were all concerned about Andre and as he hopped off of the floor a ball almost hit him as it got sent to the upper deck.

Now for the game: I was impressed about all of the offense that both teams showed but the Nuggets in my eyes have more talent than the Jazz do and neither team will go anywhere in the west because they do not play defense. Utah didn’t win the game, rather Denver lost the game by missing easy shots and not rebounding on the defensive end in the 4th quarter.

George Karl called both of his star players by their nicknames A.I. and MELO. I thought that was a little strange. They worked well together and scored at will. They totaled 70 points between them and Camby added 21. What happened to the rest of the team?

Melo was always smiling all the time during the game both at the referees and at the fans but he is an amazing talent he makes moves so easily and freely. In my eyes if they play just a little defense they can make some noise in the West, but not until then.

Now for the Jazz; do you know who the fans adore? Rookie guard Ronnie Brewer, who had an unbelievable dunk on a rebound which sparked the Jazz comeback. Carlos Boozer had 25 points and 19 rebounds, he was an animal and he is a BIG man up close. The Jazz hit every free throw down the stretch to seal the victory in a very inspiring game. TNT missed out on not having this game as a national televised game in my opinion.

Travel with the Jazz: One last thing about the Jazz, you can but tickets to travel with the team to go to Denver to watch them play the same Nuggets. You get to watch them practice and have dinner with the coaching staff which I think is pretty cool. Also you get to visit the Fox Sports Net studios and watch the game from the Fox Sports net studios. Plus which is the most important you get to meet the players at the practice and have them sign autographs.

If you want to watch the jazz I would recommend coming to the game because you are right on top of the action and the fans are really into the game.