victorious
Manny Pacquiao's fists were fast and furious - putting Ricky Hatton to sleep before his head hit the canvas. It was such a devastating knockout that you expected the skinny Chris Tucker from Friday to jump on Hatton and screech "You just got knocked the f*ck out!"
pacman gear
Get nike'd up for Manny Pacquiao's upcoming fight. nice site and I like the Philippine flag inspired "MP" logo.
yao says eat the head
This isn't new but its one of the funnier t-mobile spots featuring Charles Barkley, D-Wade & friends.
Still doesn't top this classic:
By the way, I caught "Year of the Yao" (2002) documentary on TV. After all these years, it was still interesting to see Yao's arrival into America.
shaq/jabbawockeez
shaq is a fool for this haha. nice moves by the big man. How orchestrated was that shaq/kobe co-mvp?
end of an era
A.I. cuts off his cornrows after 13 years. This was an era-defining look (along with the tats) that swept through the NBA and the streets. 
h-o-r-s-e
The NBA recently announced that it will hold a game of h-o-r-s-e on All-Star weekend. Will it be as good as this classic MJ-Bird McDonald's commercial?
what a game!
As hard as it is for a Ravens fan, I must give props to the Steelers for winning a memorable Super Bowl. The Iron City six-pack is complete, Obama's prediction was money, and Omar Epps becomes the youngest coach to win a Super Bowl. Felt bad for Kurt Warner and Larry Fitz - they led an improbably comeback only to have it squandered by a defense that had been locking down Big Ben throughout the 4th quarter. 
0 for 2
So much for my Ravens/Eagles Super Bowl. As a Baltimore transplant living in the Philly area, it would have been a dream matchup. Both teams had opportunities to win, but the Eagles probably feel more disgusted about their loss. I was only expecting 6 wins from the Ravens, so their run to the AFC Championship was an unexpected surprise - especially with a rookie coach and a rookie QB. Flacco throws a beautiful deep ball down the sidelines, but he needs to improve his passing in between the numbers - especially looking off safeties as he check down his progressions. The team can help him out with more offensive weapons - especially at the wideouts. The defense was solid - except for a thin secondary.
As for the Philly? This game was a microcosm of the Eagles season. Their 24-6 first half deficit mirrored their 5-5-1 start of the season, which prompted fans to cry for Reid & McNabb's dismissal. But when all hopes were lost and the final fan jumped off the bandwagon, the team rallied. 4 out of 5 wins plus miraculous help from the Texans and Raiders to just make the playoffs...then 2 playoff wins including a decisive victory over the defending champion Giants. Similarly in this NFC championship game, the Eagles rallied with 19 straight points to take a 25-24 lead. And in true Philly style ('08 Phillies excluded) the team couldn't hold the lead and lost a game that they were finally favored to win. The stat that resonates the most with long suffering Eagles fans is: 1-4 in the NFC championship. The Eagles were favored in 4 of those 5 games.
So does this spell doom for Reid and McNabb? A fed up Joe Banner reportedly made the "insanity = trying the same thing over and over again while expecting different results" Numbers don't lie: Reid & McNabb can't win the big game. McNabb has never led the team on a clutch game winning drive in a significant game. So it makes sense to demand a change right? There are a lot of big name coaches available (Gruden, Shanahan, Billick, Cowher) As for the QB, there's one problem: the alternative to McNabb is bleaker. Kevin Kolb does not impress me and there are no free agent QBs on the market. Getting rid of McNabb would set the Eagles back in rebuilding mode for years. Retool the weaponry around Donovan and give him another shot. It took Elway 14 years right?
movin' on
What a slugfest, what a win! The Ravens' improbable playoff run continues - thanks to some timely takeaways by the defense. On to the AFC championship!
how bout them ravens?!
Way to close down Texas stadium and turn the lights off on the Cowboys!
I wasn't optimistic before the Ravens game at Dallas. The chips were stacked against them in a must-win situation on the road against a resurgent Cowboys team that just beat the mighty Giants a week earlier. How would the Ravens recover after that controversial heartbreak loss to the Steelers that cost them the division? The offense had gone into a shell with Flacco looking like a shook rookie during December. Not to mention it was the final game at Texas Stadium. In the media's eyes, the Ravens were surely an afterthought with little chance to spoil the homecoming game for America's Team. Surely an overflow of emotion, hoopla and the presence of Cowboy greats would be tough to overcome.
Yet somehow the Ravens overcame. Gutsy and defiant in victory. The team played with a chip on its shoulder, - knowing that before the season, Jerry Jones specifically requested the Ravens as the Texas stadium finale opponent becaused he smelled an easy win. Ed Reed and the defense smothered Romo for 3 quarters until an unexpected offensive avalanche in the 4th. Gutsy call by Harbaugh on the fake field goal to set up the first TD. Props to Derrick Mason for playing with one arm and scoring a tone-setting TD in the 3rd quarter. Props to McGahee (where have you been?) and McClain for their back-to-back long TD runs to stop the 4th quarter Cowboy comeback.
The Ravens have played well beyond my expectations (I pegged them for 6 wins at best) and credit goes to Harbaugh, Cameron and Ryan. The vaunted defense - although not dominating - has been solid despite key injuries. The offense has emerged from the dark ages of the Billick years to involve a little razzle-dazzle (wildbird package, reverses, receivers throwing TDs) while discovering new blood in Flacco, McClain and Rice. Playoffs would be lovely and anything beyond is icing on the cake.
no mo
So long, Mo Cheeks. He's a great man and a legendary player of his time - but a mediocre coach. Nevertheless, he seems like the scapegoat for the 76ers poor play. When things go bad, the coach is the first to go. Is the coach at fault? Or has team chemistry been compromised by the Elton Brand signing? GM Ed Stefanski cited a regression in team play and a shake-up was needed to re-implement fast-break basketball. Stefanski gets a lot of credit for last year's surprising playoff run in urging Mo to play the young guys in an uptempo style. And it yielded results - and high expectations for this season.
This year's Sixers have lost their identity and have only succeeded in disappointment. Is it Mo's fault for not finding a way to push the transition game with Brand. Or is the low-post game of Elton Brand a bad fit for this team? Now, Mo has been a mediocre coach by record, but perhaps Stefanski's off season moves (signing Elton Brand and re-signing Iguodala) are not paying off and he's searching for a new coach to justify the expensive acquisitions. Elton Brand looks like a shell of himself and Iguodala is totally overrated and not worth the resigning. Can another coach make this work? Hmm, imagine Josh Smith running the floor.
pac-man
Pac-man proved again that he's pound for pound the best fighter in the world. Props to Manny Pacquiao for dominating Oscar De La Hoya and bagging $11 million in the process. He jumped up 2 weight classes and outclassed the bigger - albeit over-the-hill - Oscar De La Hoya. The outcome was not a suprise to any boxing fan, but the actual domination was ugly. Manny's speed and agility neutralized any size and reach disadvantage. Pacquiao's straight left repeatedly connected to the head, eventually forcing De La Hoya to quit on his corner stool after the eigth round with a swollen shut eye and a bruised face.
Oscar admitted that he doesn't have it anymore and hopefully he hangs his gloves up. I was a fan of the Golden Boy during the '92 Barcelona Olympics and through his wars with Mexican legend Julio Cesar Chavez. Oscar's skills fell off early in this decade, but he deserves respect for being boxing's biggest box office attraction and for being the first Hispanic American to own a national boxing promotional firm.
phinally!
I'm not a native Philadelphian, but I've been in the area long enough to understand the suffering of its sports fans. Part of the reason why I rooted for the Phillies was to shut up all the crying and whining and defeatist attitude. The other reason is that the Phillies are a bunch of likeable guys. 25 years of championship-less frustration just got released with the Phillies winning the 2008 World Series. Amazingly, the city escaped the celebrations unscathed. 
phils
While waiting in line at the post office earlier this year, I notice one of the postal workers eyeing me up and whipering to his colleague. I checked the "Wanted" signs to see if I resembled any criminals (My wife always begs me to grow my hair and one of her reasons is that many criminals in police sketches share my hairstyle. They look just like you. What if some racist cops pick you up for that? Please grow your hair!) As I approach the counter, the post office guy stares and smiles at me, "For a while there I thought you were Shane Victorino. I was whispering to my buddy that we should ask for an autograph or something..."
Why am I sharing this? I just want to give my props to the 5'7" "Flyin' Hawaiian" Shane Victorino for killin' it in the MLB playoffs. Grand slam off Sabathia in the divisional round and a game-tying homer against the Dodgers to help the Phillies to a 3-1 lead in the NLCS. And isn't Matt Stairs the perfect sports hero for Philly? He looks like every other portly middle aged plumber in South Philly.
olympics in pictures
Incredible photo collection of the Beijing Olympics. I haven't posted much about the games, but they have been very entertaining - from Baltimore homeboy Michael Phelps (I'm sick of you now) grabbing 8 golds to Usain Bolt's (I hope you're not juicin') brash dash to 3 golds/3 world records and the Redeem Team bringing USA bball back to the top. Not to mention Zhang Yimou's gorgeously epic opening and closing ceremonies which showcased a wonderful depiction of Chinese history and potential through sheer manpower and artistry.
Top 20 worst football cliches
With football season approaching, its time to break out our favorite cliches courtesy of Bleacher report.
20) “We have to take it one game at a time.”
19) “Crabtree makes a circus catch.”
18) “The other team just wanted it more.”
17) “They left it all on the field.”
16) “He’s deceptively quick.”
15) “McCoy’s going to feel that one in the morning.”
14) “They are better than their record indicates.”
13) “He has a motor that won’t quit.”
12) “He really gives 110 percent.”
11) “There seemed to be a miscommunication on that play.”
10) “We have to play a full 60 minutes.”
9) “Boeckman would like to have that one back.”
8) “They have to take care of the football.”
7) “This Mountaineer defense is going to ‘pin their ears back’ on this next play.”
6) “He has a quick first step.”
5) “The Sooner defense bends but doesn’t break.”
4) “This QB is a real gunslinger.”
3) “Arenas is a downhill runner.”
2) “Sanchez has all day to throw it.”
1) “That guy’s a throwback.”
Here are my additions:
North-South runner vs. East-West
Downhill runner
Short field
Receiver getting "good separation" from the DB
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