#1 CHICAGO BULLS

SELECTION

DERRICK ROSE

ANALYSIS

Great moves by Chicago to improve their backcourt. Rose should start from day one and help push the tempo. The Bulls have frontcourt athletes like Jakim Noah, Tyrus Thomas to help run with Rose and should make Kirk Hinrich and/or Ben Gordan expendable. Rose has a chance to be anything from Jason Kidd, to Darron Williams.

#2 MIAMI HEAT

SELECTION

MICHAEL BEASLEY

ANALYSIS

The correct decision for Miami but a risky one. I think Beasley is the 2nd best player in the draft and Miami didn’t need to draft OJ Mayo this high (even if they would have traded down to the #5 pick). Beasley is a extremely talented player with the potential to become a top 10 player within 5-6 years. The only question remains his desire and maturity. Does he want to be great, or does he want to be Rasheed Wallace without the temper, Lamar Odom or this generations Derrick Coleman (aka satisfy with just being very good even though he has the talent to be great?

#3 MINNESOTA TIMBERWOLVES

SELECTION

O.J Mayo (Later traded to Memphis for Kevin Love)

ANALYSIS

TOO HIGH, TOO HIGH, TOO HIGH!!!I’ve been watching Mayo since he was a junior year in high school and my opinions about his game has diminished. From a character and maturity standpoint I believe he’s ready to be in the NBA and will not be a headache or problem off the court. I reservations are all about what he can do on the court and help Minnesota. He’s a jack of all trades and a master of none. He does a lot of things very well, but nothing that stands out. He can be a solid starter for a championship caliber team (which is not the Timberwolves) but not the type of player that you build you’re team around (which should happen when you draft #3).

TRADED TO MEMPHIS: Interesting move by Kevin McHale. The word was they wanted Love the entire time but thought that selecting him at #3 was too high. The frontcourt of Al Jefferson and Kevin Love won’t win any athletic contests and it will be interesting to see them try to guard the more athletic front lines in the league, but you do have two young guys who will complement each other well.

#4 SEATTLE SONICS

SELECTION

RUSSELL WESTBROOK

ANALYSIS

ARE YOU KIDDING ME!?!?!?  Seattle was looking to trade out of the pick, but Minnesota drafted the player they wanted in Mayo. But drafting Westbrook over Bayless? Westbrook is a player I’ve been touting as the best prospect on the UCLA team since January but to have Seattle draft him that high?  Westbrook played the point when success when Darren Collinson was injured last season, but he is not a classic point guard. Huge mistake in my opinion!!

#5 MEMPHIS GRIZZLES

SELECTION (Later traded to Minnesota)

KEVIN LOVE

ANALYSIS

Now, we just hope GM Chris Wallace doesn’t turn around and trade Love to the Boston Celtics for a future first, Scott Pollard and Big Baby Davis!! Will he be Wes Unseld, Brad Miller or Sean May? Arguably the most intelligent and fundamentally sound player in the draft. My question about Love? Will he be able to maintain his weight at a level where he won’t be developing back problems at age 23? I also question his athletic ability…He’s not as unathletic as advertised, but in the Western conference he will have problems with the Amare Stoudemire’s of the Western Conference.

TRADED TO MINNESOTA: Good news is the fact that Memphis got the better player in Mayo. I still think Mayo is overrated for going this high, but Memphis will improve with the trio of Mike Conley Jr at the point, Mayo at the shooting guard, and Rudy Guy on the wing.

#6 NEW YORK KNICKS

SELECTION

DANINO GALLINARI

ANALYSIS

WHAT IS GOING ON WITH JERRYD BAYLESS THAT WE DON’T KNOW ABOUT?? Gallinari is a guy who has been scouted for years and is no mystery to those in the know. The talent is there and Gallinari does present a package that new head coach Mike D’antoni can work with. I thought Blayless would be a better fit and has a better chance to be a star, but Dino is tall, rangy, skilled and talented. Another European player trying to prove his worth in the NBA…We’ll see.

#7 LOS ANGELES CLIPPERS

SELECTION

ERIC GORDON

ANALYSIS

A basketball player who plays like a football player. Strong, strong, strong!!! Over powered people in college and showed he can shoot the outside shot at Indiana. Will be unstoppable to stop once he gets you on his hip. Was injured in college and was in a bad situation down the stretch, but he is still a top five talent in this draft. Just don’t ask him to play the point.

#8 MILWAUKEE BUCKS

SELECTION

JOE ALEXANDER

ANALYSIS

Great story and I’m glad Alexander went this high. He has shot up the draft board with great workouts and should be ready to play in the NBA this season.People say Chase Budinger is a tremendous athlete (and he is), but Alexander is stronger, meaner and plays hungrier. A hard worker he went from being an afterthought his senior year in high school to being a lottery pick. Great story.

#9 CHARLOTTE BOBCATS

SELECTION

D.J AUGUSTIN

ANALYSIS

Thought the Bobcats might go big selecting Brook Lopez, but instead went with a great college point guard who will compete with Raymond Felton. With point guard teacher extraordinaire Larry Brown ready to break them down and build them back up, the winner of the Felton-vs-Augustin match up will be able to withstand the teacher/taskmaster, Larry Brown.

#10 NEW JERSEY NETS

SELECTION

BROOK LOPEZ

ANALYSIS

I like his brother Robin as a better NBA prospect, but Brook is no stiff. He is a legit seven footer with a huge wing span, can score inside, has a mean streak (I guess?!?) and has some intelligence (he did go to Stanford). My concerns are his lack of athleticism and how well he can adapt against the big, physical men of the NBA. But if your going to draft a dud, draft then big!!

#11 INDIANA PACERS

SELECTION

JERRYD BAYLESS(Later traded to Portland)

ANALYSIS

ABOUT DAMN TIME!!! Indiana just became the big winner in the first round. I thought Bayless is a top three talent (right behind Rose and Beasley) in this draft and think he will be an all star within 5 years. He’s a great athlete, hard worker, plays with heart and intensity, is intelligent and plays for a coach in Jim O’Brian who is a guards coach. Bayless and TJ Ford will make a small backcourt (anybody want a broken down point guard who constantly gets himself in trouble with the law? Jamal Tinsley just became available) but they will be exciting.

TRADED TO PORTLAND: I said it before and I’ll say it again. I think Bayless is going to be an all-star and future top 15 player in the league. Portland has done a great job the last two years getting great young pieces to build around. A team that features a starting five of Bayless, Brandon Roy, Travis Outlaw, LaMarcus Aldridge and Greg Odem should be competing for NBA championships within three years.

#12 SACRAMENTO KINGS

SELECTION

JASON THOMPSON

ANALYSIS

First senior taken in the draft, Thompson selected at #12 might have been a stretch. Thompson might be ready to play in the league sooner than the other big men who are projects, but how good will he be a few years down the road. Sacramento needed some inside strength (and no, Spencer Haws does not count for strength) and muscle along with a point guard, so with this selection, I put my trust in Geoff Petrie.

#13 PORTLAND TRAILBLAZERS

SELECTION

BRANDON RUSH (Later traded to Indiana)

ANALYSIS

If he stays, what does this say to Martell Webster? I hope you’re renting!! I can’t believePortlanddidn’t trade this pick because it seems that the entire roster is filled with young players. If Portland keeps this pick, Rush will provide depth at the shooting guard and small forward position.

TRADED TO INDIANA: Rush adds some athleticism to a team that will have Troy Murphy, Mike Dunleavy Jr. and Roy Hibbert. It don’t get much slower and unathletic as that. Rush can play the shooting guard and small forward position and should be the only player on the current roster that can keep up with newly acquired T.J Ford.

#14 GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS

SELECTION

ANTHONY RANDOLPH

ANALYSIS

STRANGE INDEED?!?Didn’t Golden State acquire a skinny yet talented post player with great athleticism last season in Brandon Wright? Randolph is a small forward trapped in a the height of a power forward. He has talent and potential to do very good things down the line but I wouldn’t be surprise if we’re not looking at this generations Brad Sellers.

#15 PHOENIX SUNS

SELECTION

ROBIN LOPEZ

ANALYSIS

Excellent selection by Phoenix. The Suns are trying to revamp their team to make it more defensive oriented and tougher and in Robin Lopez they had a great fit. Who cares that his offensive game is his weakness!! With Amare Stoudemire in the post, Robin doesn’t need to be an offensive threat (HE WOULDN’T GET THE BALL ANYWAY!!) and in playing with Steve Nash, just get to the rim and wait for the pass and DUNK IT!!Playing with Shaq also can’t be a bad thing either. He’ll get some minutes when Shaq takes his 20 games off because of injury.

#16 PHILADELPHIA 76ERS

SELECTION

MARREESE SPEIGHTS

ANALYSIS

Rollin’ the dice are the 76ers with this selection but the talent is there. He was a player who should have done better in college with the skills he possessed but let a freshman be the man this season in Nick Calathes.

#17 TORONTO (MAKING PICK FOR INDIANA)

SELECTION

ROY HIBBERT

ANALYSIS

My boy, big Roy is a big big man!! With the trade of Jermain O’Neal toToronto, the Pacers needs someone who can clog the middle and the 7′2 Hibbbert will do just that. I don’t think he has what it takes to be a starting center on a really good NBA team (even a mediocre one) and I wonder how he will fit in a backcourt with the speed of Bayless and Ford. Hibbert makes George Mikan look graceful but he is a hard worker who has improved every year.

#18 WASHINGTON WIZARDS

SELECTION

JAVALE MCGEE

ANALYSIS

COME ON ERNIE!!! JaVale McGee at #18 when Darrell Authur is still on the board!?!? McGee is still a few years away from being a  decent player, but the Wizards need someone now!!! When the college basketball season started McGee got some great pub when he played well against North Carolina and Tyler Hansbrough (Hansbrough, a marginal pro AT BEST!!) and throughout the season, but fell during the workouts for NBA teams.

#19 CLEVELAND CAVALIERS

SELECTION

J.J HICKSON

ANALYSIS

Has anybody gotten in contact with LeBron to see what he thinks about the trade? Cleveland needs help now but there are no real options at this selection to make them better next season.Hickson is an undersized power forward and I would have looked at improving my backcourt bydrafting Mario Chalmers. Of course with LeBron’s blessing!!

#20 CHARLOTTE BOBCATS (DENVER FUTURE PICK TO CHARLOTTE)

SELECTION

ALEXIS AJINCA

ANALYSIS

Played in the France pro A league and was not that productive. A true project with a 7′8 wingspan. Will probably have to spend another three years overseas (he’s only 20) before he is ready to make any type of impact. Worked out well for several teams.

#21NEW JERSEY NETS

SELECTION

RYAN ANDERSON

ANALYSIS

WHAT IS GOING ON WITH DARRELL ARTHUR!?!? Ryan Anderson is a nice player and can stretch the defense with his three point shooting, but what’s the difference between him and Nick Fazicias from Nevada last year? With every team that bypasses on Arthur, the better he looks. I can’t understand how Washington or New Jersey couldn’t find a place for him.

#22 ORLANDO MAGIC

SELECTION

COURTNEY LEE

ANALYSIS

The best player available where the Magic need to improve the most (even though I don’t know how much longer Rashard Lewis can play play forward). Lee is a player who will make any shooting guard on the Orlando Magic expendable. He’s strong, fundamentally sound and can provide outside shooting.

#23 UTAH JAZZ

SELECTION

KOSTA KOUFOS

ANALYSIS

A bigger version of Mehmet Ohur (along with longer and more athletic version). The great thing about this selection is Utah will be set with Okur, Boozer and Milsap for the next few years while Koufos matures, learns the game from the great Jerry Sloan and fills out. Koufos would have been potentially a lottery pick coming out of High School and would have been a top 5 talent if he would have stay another year at Ohio St.

#24 SEATTLE SONICS

SELECTION

SERGE IBAKA

ANALYSIS

I have no idea who this guy is, and neither does half the scouts in the league. A lot of mock drafts had Seattle selecting him, but for myself I don’t see why. In a few years this player could become a player but if your going to take a risk, why draft Ibaka and not Arthur?

#25 HOUSTON ROCKETS

SELECTION

NICOLAS BATUM(Later traded to Portland)

ANALYSIS

Houston is in need of some athleticism so I was surprised when Batum was traded to Portland. Yes, I realize he plays the same way as Tracy McGrady and he didn’t perform well these past few months, but I crave players who are excellent athletes with great potential.Batum is just 19 years old and could have spelled McGrady at least 10 minutes a game during the regular season to keep T-Mac more ready for the playoffs.

#26 SAN ANTONIO SPURS

SELECTION

GEORGE HILL

ANALYSIS

Well at least they didn’t draft a European player that would never step foot in the United States for the next five years. Hill should be an adequate back up Tony Parker in a few years and play the two position. I’m not going to say much about this pick because-#1 I don’t know that much about George Hill and #2-I didn’t know much about Tony Parker, and how did that turn out?!?

#27 NEW ORLEANS HORNETS

SELECTION

DARRELL ARTHUR (LATER TRADED TO MEMPHIS FROM HOUSTON AND PORTLAND)

ANALYSIS

It was the Kidneys that made Arthur fall so low!! New Orleans decided they didn’t need anyone in the draft this year so they kept no one. Arthur is a player who will be look upon in a few years as a steal if he can answer any medical question that caused him to fall.

#28 MEMPHIS GRIZZLES

SELECTION

DONTE GREEN 

ANALYSIS

Great value for this pick. Every year a player who everyone thinks is going to be a top 10-15 or 20 pick starts to fall and a good/ great team gets a player late in the draft. Now Memphis is not a great team and Green is not yet a great player, but hardly anyone thought Green would fall this far.

#29 DETROIT PISTONS

SELECTION

DJ WHITE (Later traded to Seattle)

ANALYSIS

White was traded to Seattle for theirtwo second round picks. My thinking is that President Joe Dumars is looking to make some huge moves through trades and wants as much space and flexibility to get it done. None of the players drafted in the 2nd round by Detroit (Walter Sharpe, Trent Plaisted and  Deron Washington) will probably wear a Pistons uniform for a while/ if ever.

#30 BOSTON CELTICS

SELECTION

J.R GIDDENS

ANALYSIS

Giddens has the athleticism and talent to be a player in this league. The only problem is he had serious knee injury at Kansas and couldn’t behave himself off the court. A decent gamble considering where the Celtics were drafting and the maybe the professionalism of Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett will have a positive effect on him.

 

I’m a guy who enjoys the game of baseball. Not as much as basketball or football, but I would rather watch (or listen to) a baseball game during a summer afternoon or evening than any other sport.

But with 162 games, the regular season is just to long to follow closely from start to finish.  From the end of the NBA finals in June to the start of College and Pro Football the first of September (only 67 days away!!) I need other sports and sporting events to keep my sport juices flowing.

Living in Las Vegas, I have the opportunity to watch the NBA summer league here in Vegas as well as the best high school basketball players play at the huge AAU tournaments sponsored by Nike and Adidas. I especially enjoy having a chance to watch the AAU tournaments and see some of the future stars of college and the NBA (as well as scouting the next Georgetown Hoya). Had a chance to see Greg Oden, Mike Connelly Jr., Kevin Love, Eric Gordon, Derek Rose, Brandon Jennings (when he was a freshman), O.J Mayo and Bill Walker play in the high school gyms all over Vegas and it has been great.

As far as professional sports every year I look forward watching Wimbledon and any UFC or boxing event. Add in the all star game as well as other things on the periphery.

This summer I have found something that has captured my attention and I have found I’m really enjoying this. This sport features great athletes of extraordinary skill, tremendous heart and passion, great flair and beautiful scenery. Yes, believe it or not, I’m very much enjoying the EURO CUP!!

The passion that these countries have for their teams is incredible!!! These people live and die with each and every move they make!! I’ve never seen anything like this in the US!! Whatever country wins this tournament, it’ll be like a national holiday!! Image the joy and jubilation if the Philadelphia Eagles win the Super Bowl and times that by a THOUSAND!!! Image the Chicago Cubs winning the World Series and multiple that by a MILLION!!! That’s what you’re going to get when one of these countries win this Euro Cup.

I must admit I have never been a soccer fan. In fact my slogan of “Soccers’ for suckers” go back as far as my sophomore year in high school (yea, that long ago!!). I have always dismissed the sport and completely ignored anything having to do with the game.

But starting off watching the 2006 World Cup and learning more about Ronaldinho and Michael Ballack, Zinedine Zidane and my favorite player Thierry Henry. And that World Cup started the turn in my attitudes and thoughts about the game.

I am definitely rooting for the Turkey national team. After watching their two games against the Czech Republic and Croatia I am a huge fan.  That team actually had me watching the hold game and I was into it!! I’ve never done that before when it came to soccer!! Without question, the best soccer game I’ve ever saw. Yes, that’s how much of a neophyte I am when it comes to this.

 

Now I will say this is the perfect time for me to enjoy this sport and learn more about it. I realize why the majority of the world loves this game. And while this game they call “football” will never come close to replacing American football, basketball, baseball, tennis and MMA in my love of sports. I have come to truly come to highly respect these incredible athletes and the skill they have.

And speaking of the beautiful game. I defy anyone of you reading this post to find me another sporting event where you can find women who are more beautiful than the females who are in the stands!!! Beautiful women from all of these European countries just looking as fine as they can be!! And when the World Cup comes back around…LORD HAVE MERCY!!! It don’t get any better.

Let me introduce you to the future Wendell Wallace!! I have no idea who she is, what her name is, what she does and I don’t care!! That women is the most beautiful creature I’ve seen since I saw Ola Ray in the music video THRILLER  with the original MJ, Hallie Berry gracing the screen in Boomerang and Selma Haydek was switching across the street in Desperado.

THE FUTURE MRS. WENDELL WALLACE

 WHAT BANK TO I HAVE TO ROB TO GET A TICKET TO BRAZIL?!?!?

WHEN IT COMES TO THE FUTURE MRS WENDELL WALLACE, AS THE GREAT O.V WRIGHT, PERCY SLEDGE AND OTIS REDDING ONCE SANG,

IF I WERE THE SUN WAY UP THERE, I’D GLOW WITH LOVE MOST EVERYWHERE. I’D BE THE MOON WHEN THE SUN GOES DOWN, JUST YOU LET YOU KNOW I’M STILL AROUND…THAT’S HOW STRONG MY LOVE IS!!

Let me start by saying that none of these players would be on the squad if I were running things. I don’t believe that professional basketball players (not just NBA players) should be eligible to play in the Olympics. I think it hurts the NBA when its best players have to make this kind of commitment. It doesn’t give them the opportunity to rest during the off season (Kobe is only to get a few weeks off before going to train for Beijing) and it takes them longer to recover for the season. In some cases, these players never recover during the season and are running on fumes when the playoffs start.

Another issue that needs to be addressed is the responsibility and risk the owner takes when these players represent their countries in these games and tournaments during the off season. If LeBron James, Dwayne Wade, Yao Ming or Dirk Nowitski get seriously injured during these Olympic games the owners still has to pay these players their salaries. Think you would be happy if you owned the Los Angeles Lakers and you saw Kobe Bryant tear his ACL against Angola. Your still on the hook to pay his $21 million dollar salary as well as saying goodbye to any chance you had in repeating as Western Conference champs. If I’m Jerry Buss I’m already in a foul mood that Kobe won’t get surgery on his finger because he wants to participate in these Olympic games.

Let’s not avoid the real reason why a lot of these NBA superstars are playing in these games. Do a lot of them want to represent their country and win the gold medal? No question!! I’m not going to doubt any of these players who say they want to represent their country and will play hard for the red, white and blue. But I will also argue that it is just as/more as/ slightly less than important that they expand their brand and themselves to a worldwide market. What better way to sell yourself and whatever your representing than the Olympics and a country with over a billion people. Nike and LeBron are already huge in China and you don’t think a player like Dwayne Wade along with Adidas don’t see numerous opportunities to raise their profile? If I’m representing Chris Paul or Dwight Howard, I’m doing all I can to shove my client down as many throats as I can.

Before I give you my squad, my head coach would be Greg Popovich (If he would commit) or Nate McMillan. Both are fantastic NBA coaches and are much better than the group of college guys they have leading the team now.

THAT BEING SAID, HERE ARE MY STARTING FIVE FOR TEAM USA

POINT GUARD

JASON KIDD

Has size, strength and experience that will prove helpful, not only to his teammates bit also the coaching staff.

SHOOTING GUARD

KOBE BRYANT

Best player on the planet. Can play multiple positions and can provide scoring, outside shooting and excellent defense.

SMALL FORWARD

CARMELO ANTHONY

Has been the best player for the past few years. Will not have to carry as much of the scoring load ith Kobe on the squad. Will play anywhere from shooting guard to power foward. Will look for a better Olympics experience after having his confidence destroyed by Larry Brown.

POWER FORWARD

LEBRON JAMES

Should be the most versatile player on the team (and in the tournament). Will play both foward positions as well as some point forward and shooting guard.

CENTER

DWIGHT HOWARD

Superman should be one in this tournament. Will have to make the adjustment of defending out on the floor with the European big men but will have no equal on the boards.

THE RESERVES

Chris Paul, Deron Williams, Dwayne Wade, Michael Redd, Carlos Boozer, Tyson Chandler, Chris Bosh

 

!7 high schoo girls from Glouchester High School decided to get themselves pregnant…on purpose. Listen to my thoughts and opinions about it.

Wow, talk about depressing, disgusting and pathetic!! In another case of, “what in the hell is the matter with this society”, there is a story coming out of Glouchester Massachusetts about 17 teenaged girls became pregnant on purpose!! None of the girls are over the age of 16.

This incredible act of lunacy and stupidity started with about 6-7 girls in the sophomore class who decided it was a great idea to get themselves pregnant.

These idiots told the School Superintendent that they made a pact to get pregnant and raise the babies together. They were quite estastic when they became pregnant and it was reported that they gave each other high fives after learning of their pregnancies.

You might be asking where are the boys who got them pregnant? Well, we haven’t got to that yet, but we know one of the females got pregnant from a 24 year old homeless man!!! Can you say statutory rape!!!

In fact their were other girls who tried to join this ignominious club of losers, and when they found out they weren’t pregnant, seemed more upset than the girls who got pregnant.

I’ve always said that there are to many young people today that are just plain stupid. And one of the problems adults have is we don’t say that when it needs to be said!! We’ve let these jack-ass child psychologists, these scum bag lawyers and these  A-holes known as politicians tell us how to raise our children. We can’t spank them when they need a spanking, we can’t properly punish them when they need to be punished, and we don’t hold them accountable for their actions when they do wrong.  When did it become wrong to tell the truth to a child? When did political correctness come into play in dealing with children? When did we become scared of our children?

There’s a great line a good friend of mine said and its so appropo when thinking about this issue…You don’t need to take an IQ test to be a parent. If you did that would solve a lot of problems right off the bat. The parents we have raising our children today are ill-equipped, ill-prepared, to immature, to ignorant, to lazy and just plain to DUMB!!! In a society today were sex, violence, and mature themes are everywhere and the avenues to get to them so much easier, parents who have the skills, fiances, intelligence and want to raise respectful, decent human beings have a challenging chore.

As adults, we have failed them miserably!! In the pursuit of not wanting to her their feelings, we have allowed a generation to kids to become walking, breathing brain dead losers!! And this is the generation who are going to be running the country and taking care of me when I’m old?!?!? Damn, all of a sudden Toronto or Vancouver sound like great places to enjoy my golden years!!!

Now I realize not all of the people who were born after 1989 are in that category. There are millions of families who do the right thing, raise their children well and are grooming them to become outstanding Americans. They should be applaudedfor that. But when I see stories lke the one in Glouchester Mass, and other examples of teens doing stupid things (All teenagers make bad decisions or mistakes. These are the acts of true morons!!!), I have to ask myself…When will this all end?!?

READ THIS STORY FROM REASONSONLINE.COM

The teenage oral sex panic began in the late 1990s. It is in some ways a part of the Clinton legacy—more specifically, the Clinton-Lewinsky legacy. It was Clinton’s most famous line (“I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Miss Lewinsky”) and the subsequent debate on whether receiving oral sex qualified as “sexual relations” that produced the apparently shocking disclosure that a lot of teenagers were not only engaging in oral sex but regarding it as not quite sex.

Worse: According to press accounts, America’s young Monicas weren’t just having oral sex; they were having it in circumstances that would raise Hugh Hefner’s eyebrows. In July 1998, The Washington Post ran a front-page story with the headline, “Parents Are Alarmed by an Unsettling New Fad in Middle Schools: Oral Sex.”

Its main example was a scandal in an Arlington, Virginia, school, where a group of eighth-graders would get together for parties at which boys and girls paired off for sexual activities that eventually progressed from petting to oral sex. There were also a couple reported instances of public fellatio, on a school bus and in a hallway, that reached school authorities “through the student grapevine.”

From here, it was only a short step to tales of “rainbow parties” where several girls wearing different colors of lipstick would take turns servicing a boy until their lipstick traces formed a “rainbow” of rings. In 2003, this peril was explored by Oprah herself, with the help of Omagazine feature writer Michelle Burford, who interviewed 50 girls, some as young as 9, and painted a frightening picture of kiddie debauchery. “Are rainbow parties pretty common?” inquired a rapt Oprah, to which Burford replied, “I think so. At least among the 50 girls that I talked to…this was pervasive.”

Burford did not say whether the girls had told her they themselves had attended such parties, or if they had simply heard rumors. Nor was any proof produced of what was actually said in those interviews.

All these stories invariably depicted the oral sex as almost entirely one-sided, with girls giving and boys receiving. “One more opportunity for male satisfaction and female degradation in the name of adolescent sexual curiosity,” harrumphed Baltimore Suncolumnist Susan Reimer. In this familiar script, feminists saw girls as victims of male dominance, while conservatives blamed feminists and Clinton, whose bad example supposedly sent kids the message that fellatio was OK.

Now the “rainbow party” tale—which has never been substantiated and may well have originated with that Washington Post story—has become the subject of a novel, Paul Ruditis’ The Rainbow Party, published last summer by Simon Pulse, a young adult division of Simon & Schuster. While conservatives have widely denounced the book as yet another excrescence of our licentious culture, its message actually seems to be one of almost old-fashioned moralism: The girl who plans the party is humiliated when hardly anyone shows up, then punished with a gonorrhea infection to boot.

Ruditis’ novel has prompted a new round of hand wringing. On the Fox News Channel’s Hannity & Colmes, radio psychologist Judy Kuriansky asserted that teenagers had been telling her about rainbow parties for years on her show, and assured the shocked hosts that yes, those parties really were going on. “Unbelievable,” sputtered Sean Hannity.

Unbelievable, indeed. For one, as Caitlin Flanagan points out in a lengthy review essay in The Atlantic, the different colors of lipstick would almost inevitably smear and destroy the supposedly sought-after rainbow effect. Besides, a boy would have to be a sexual superathlete to complete the circuit. The “current oral-sex hysteria,” Flanagan writes, “requires believing that a boy could be serviced at the school-bus train party—receiving oral sex from ten or fifteen girls, one after another—and then zip his fly and head off to homeroom, first stopping in the stairwell for a quickie to tide him over until math.”

Unfortunately, while Flanagan—who has recently drawn attention with her tart, often thoughtful critiques of feminism—starts on a skeptical note, she turns around about a third of the way into her sprawling, nearly 9,000-word tract and succumbs to the hysteria. She dismisses the tales of orgies and rampant anonymous blowjobs as nonsense, noting that she has been able to find only one verified account of a girl performing oral sex on multiple boys at a party. Yet she thinks the reality is bad enough.

“We’ve made a world for our girls in which the pornography industry has become increasingly mainstream,” Flanagan writes, “in which Planned Parenthood’s response to the oral-sex craze has been to set up a help line, in which the forces of feminism have worked relentlessly to erode the patriarchy—which, despite its manifold evils, held that providing for the sexual safety of young girls was among its primary reasons for existence. And here are America’s girls: experienced beyond their years, lacking any clear message from the adult community about the importance of protecting their modesty, adrift in one of the most explicitly sexualized cultures in the history of the world. Here are America’s girls: on their knees.”

What is the basis for this Wendy Shalit–style outburst? A study by the National Center for Health Statistics and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, released in September 2005, that found 25 percent of 15-year-old girls and half of 17-year-olds had engaged in oral sex. While the survey did not include children under 15, the report noted that in a survey several months earlier, only 4 percent of adolescents 13 to 14 years old said they’d had oral sex. (Did any of this represent an increase from the past? Probably not: A Child Trends analysis of data from surveys of unmarried males ages 15 to 19 in 1995 and 2002 found no significant changes in reported rates of oral sex experience.)

While Flanagan talks about sex “outside of romantic relationships,” the September 2005 study said nothing about the context in which these activities took place—casual encounters or steady dating.

The study did say something about one aspect of the alleged oral sex craze, something that contradicts conventional wisdom. Girls and boys, it turns out, are about equally likely to give and to receive. Actually, at least among younger adolescents, boys overall reported more oral sex experience than girls, but both boys and girls were more likely to report receiving oral sex than giving it—which suggests a lot of respondents are fibbing.

This finding was so counterintuitive that some “experts” chose to disbelieve it: Joe McIllhaney Jr., chairman of the Medical Institute for Sexual Health, told The Washington Post he doubted that girls were really enjoying oral sex: “I’d like to know a whole lot more about the pressure boys put on girls.” Others, such as James Wagoner of the reproductive health organization Advocates for Youth, argued that the new data subverted the stereotype of boys as predators and girls as prey.

How does Flanagan deal with this information? By refusing to deal with it. Throughout the article, she assumes girls are only the givers, referring to “this strange new preference for unreciprocated oral sex” and even speculating that girls, ill-served by our modesty-unfriendly culture, have taken to giving oral sex in order to keep their own sexuality protected from male encroachments. (Boys, Flanagan adds, aren’t vulnerable to the emotional repercussions of sex the way girls are, so as a mother of boys she has little personal concern about the oral peril.)

Are some kids having sex too soon, and with too many partners, for their own emotional and physical well-being? Almost certainly. But the majority do not inhabit the sexual jungle of worried adults’ imaginations. The teenage fellatio craze exists mainly among adults. To those in the audience who are not worried parents, it provides both sexual and moralistic thrills; it plays both to the prurient fascination with teenage girls gone wild and to the paternalistic stereotype of girls as victims. It does very little to help either adolescents or their parents deal with the real problems of growing up.

It is now game on!!! Roger Federer is the five time defending Wimbledon champion. He is the greatest tennis player since Rod Laver. He has been the most dominate athlete in the world for the last two years (yes, I finally give that mantle to Tiger Woods). And yes, I am bias because he has been my favorite athlete for a few years now.

I read today that Novak Djokovic was pronouncing the demise of the great Roger Federer. Oh, he didn’t come right out and say it in a disrespectful, demeaning and careless way. What he was saying, without saying it, was the dominate, unbeatable Federer is dead!! The man that used to win matches just by walking on the green grass of the All England Club, giving the crowd performances of gracefulness, beauty and unapproachable  greatness is something of the past.

In speaking about his one sided, embarrassing defeat at the French Open, Djokovic, who did beat Roger in the semi-finals of the Australian Open (when Federer was battling mono) said, “Some things are changing. I think he’s a little bit shaken with that loss and mentally he has been struggling in the last couple of months. It’s normal to have ups and downs after four years of absolute dominance on the men’s tour. New names are coming, fresh talented players who believe more they can win against him and I am one of them. Suddenly he is worried a little bit.”

Now yes, in losing the first two Major titles of the year and having losses against players like Marty Fish and Radek Stepanek is not a usual thing for Federer. And even if he wins the last two major championships of the year (Wimbledon and the US Open) along with the Masters cup, he wil finish short of the unbelievable accomplishments of the past few years.

But let me say that he is far from finished and should be considered the favorite to win his sixth consecutive Wimbledon championship. Until you have defeated the champ on his best surface you are still the king, and Federer has earned that respect.

Yes he has not won a major this year, but he has continued his streak of reaching the last 16 grand slam semi finals. He reached the semi final of the Australian Open being less than 100% and reached the finals of the French Open. Yes he got humiliated by Nadal and quit in the third set, but I don’t think losing to a guy who may go down as the greatest clay court player of all time is a major sin.

What is the bottom line? The grass is to Roger Federer, like the Boston Garden was was to Larry Bird and company during the 1985-86 season…Unless something strange happens, never bet against greatness!! Nadal played Roger tough last year and looked like he would win on several occasions. But Federer showed something that many people didn’t think he had…Mental toughness. He will need that with the young, hungry sharks smelling blood.

This will be the most difficult defense of his Wimbledon championship ever. Nadal has proven he can bring his clay court game to the grass. Djokovic already has a win against him in a major this year and is playing with confidence. Andy Roddick still has a serve and volley game that can make him dangerous despite coming into the tournament injured. But my money says my man gets it done. Novak, you open your mouth, be prepared for Fed-Ex express!!! You asked for it!!

 

On the ladies side, you know who I’m rooting for!! My girl Jelena Jankovic, the sexiest women’s athlete going today (in MY opinion!!). She had a great French open, losing in the semi-finals to Ana Ivanovic in three tough sets. She withdrew from a warm up tournament because of injury, but should be ready for Wimbledon.  

She is currently ranked #2 in the world (Ivanovic is #1) but she is far from the favorite to win Wimbledon. Maria Sharapova (career 4-1 vs Jenela), Ivanovic (6-1 against my girl) and even the Williams sisters (Jankovic actually has a winning record against them 7-6) are the favorites to win the tournament. If Serena can come in close to 90% healthy and stay focus and determined, she should win this thing!!

In the end, I still have to root for my girl!! Will she win? Probably not…But if she can make to the semi-finals, losing to one of the big guns, I will be happy.

I hope the Mets players are proud of themselves. I hope Carlos Delgado, Carlos Beltran, Billy Wagner and the rest of these underachieving losers are content about what they did. Congrats fellas on Willie taking the fall for your half hearted efforts through the past 162 games…Make sure you keep your heads up and spirits high when you collect your paychecks.

Every situation in sports, when a team is not getting the job done, the first person to go is always the manager or coach. The old adage of you can’t fire the players might be true, but this is a case where you hate that players have guarantee contracts.

The New York Mets fired Willie Randolph the other day after the Mets stumbled out of the blocks to begin this season. Its obvious they still haven’t recovered after collapsing down the stretch last September where they lost a seven game lead with 17 games left to play.

Now did Willie assist in his own demise with his asinine comments about criticism towards him being bias because of his race? No question about it. Bringing up that excuse, defense or discussion at a time when your employers are paying you to lead their franchise, is as close to being a fireable offense as there is. Randolph was frustrated no doubt, but to drive in that direction was a horrible decision. 

Was his managing style a bad fit for a group of lazy, shiftiest, defensively challenged players who only seem to care on the first and fifteenth of every month?  Absolutely!! Randolph learned under the guide of Joe Torre, a manager who won multiple world series championships with an even keel low keyed approach.

Randolph was similar in temperament but didn’t have self motivated leaders who prided themselves on giving maximum every time out for the good of the team. It’s easy to have the temperament of a Joe Torre when you had/have Paul O’Neil, Scott Brosius, Derek Jeter, Tino Martinez, Bernnie Williams and Andy Pettitte as your leaders.  

When Randolph took over the Mets, they were a team that had won 71 games the year before. Under his guidance, the Mets improved each year he was the manager and was a game short of making the World Series a few years ago. Overall, Randolph has won 54% of his games in New York and he had to constantly deal with injuries to key components to his pitching staff and everyday lineup. On top of that, we had to oversee a mismatch in personalities within the clubhouse. Is Randolph going to remind anybody of John McGraw or Joe Torre? Of course not…But he is also not the worst manager in the league and deserves another chance to manage.

The employee who should be placed on the same hot seat that eventually burned Randolph, is the man who put this ragtag team together. In the pecking oder of blame, after the manager comes the general manager. And with a payroll of $137 million dollars (ranks only behind the Yankees) finishing the season with 85-90 wins should not get it done.

GM Omar Minaya did an excellent job keeping the Montreal Expos competitive with a shoe string budget years ago. But since coming over to the Mets, he has made questionable decisions from a personal standpoint.

He paid Carlos Beltran, a good player with exceptional skills, $18 million dollars based largely on a good playoff series.  He gave Carlos Delgado $16 million dollars when his skills were on the decline. And gave Pedro Martinez $12 and an extra year on a contract (four years) when most teams were hesitantabout giving him two years. Not mention the acquisition of Billy Wagner and the inability to have decent arms at the back of the rotation.

Willie is no longer around for the Mets to blame when things go wrong. Unless things go in a different direction, Omar will be next to go.

Let the bodies hit the floor, let the bodies hit the floor. I have no idea who sang that song, but I can’t think of another song that would be more perfect to describe what I saw last night in Boston…Well, maybe taps!!!

The Boston Celtics put on a devastating performance Tuesday night embarrassing the Los Angeles Lakers 131-92 to win their 17th NBA championship. If this was a boxing match, the Celtics would have knocked out the Lakers early. In fact the Lakers would have still been layed out on the floor through the off season. It was truly an embarrassing performance by Los Angeles who many people thought (including myself) would win the series. They showed no heart, no guts, no pride and no fight as the Celtics drained three point shots after easy baskets, manhandled LA on the boards, and physically and mentally beat them up.

Los Angeles showed they had too many flaws to win a championship. Their defense was horrific throughout the series allowing the Celtics players to go to the hoop with glee and impunity. Boston, who many times looked offensively challenged throughout the eastern conference playoffs, scored 97 points or more five of the six times in the series, including a 131 point explosion in game six.

The lack of mental and physical toughness the Lakers showed was also alarming this series. Kendrick Perkins, Leon Powe, Garnett and P.J Brown totally destroyed the combo of Lamar Odom and Pau Gasol, showing those two to be no match.

Tonight Boston would have beaten every NBA champion this decade. Ray Allen was unconscious from three point range, Rajon Rondo played like a hall of famer, the Boston bench could have beaten every team in the NBA except the Celtics first team and the Boston crowd was so loud, people could hear them from the shores of the Pacific to the tip of Florida.

You have to feel happy for Ray Allen, Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce. I thought they would be part of the Allen Iverson, Dirk Nowitski, Steve Nash, Jason Kidd, Tracy McGrady group of players who were unfortunate enough to have to play at the same time as Shaquille O’Neal, Kobe Bryant and Tim Duncan.

In particular I am very happy for Garnett. Before this season, Garnett was best remembered for opening the flood gates for high school players to head straight to the pros, and signing the contract that cause the NBA to lockout for part of the 1998-99 season. He also had the reputation of being a great player who couldn’t lead out of the first round let alone leading it to the championship. Many pundits predicted he would play the remaining productive part of his career toiling in obscurity out in Minnesota. And indeed, Garnett was starting to become irreverent, being laped by Tim Duncan and other great stars.

But as of June 17th, Garnett is a champion, the backbone of a team that won over 80 games total this season. When being interviewed after the game, all the emotions and elation of bearing the brunt of losing, disappointment and lost expectations bubbled to the forefront. He has finally droped all that baggage and unshackled those chains. He is finally free from those ghosts. He is a champion!!

Who ever would have thought that the most dominate athlete in the world today would be a golfer? The world of professional sports are filled with athletes who are fast as lighting, have physiques most humans can never attain,and do things with a ball, bat or glove that the rest of us can never imagine.

But while our sporting history has put athletes such as Jack Johnson, Jim Thorpe, Babe Ruth, Jack Dempsey, Jessee Owens, Joe Louis, Jackie Robinson, Jim Brown, Sugar Ray Robinson, Muhammad Ail, Wilt Chamberlain, Willie Mays, Hank Aaron, Michael Jordan, Bo Jackson and Deion Sanders on the mountain top of greatest athletes ever, golf has produced one that is right up there with them.

Tiger Woods is every beast of a competitor that Bill Russell and Jim Brown was; fierce as any fluries of punches Dempsey or Louis ever threw, and just as breath taking as any Willie Mays catch, or Babe Ruth swing.

In what had to be one of the greatest sporting events over the past 10 years, Woods, battling a knee that had seen surgery only a short time ago, came back from defeat twice, sinking clutch birdie putts on the 18th hole to win his third U.S Open title. In defeating Rocco Mediate in an eighteen hole playoff that wasn’t decided until hole number 19, Woods enhanced his legacy and overall greatness.

Mediate, playing the role of Rocky, doing his best David verses Goliath impersonation, did not cower when Woods looked like he was going to pull away early on. Rocco made back to back birdies late in the match to take the lead and indeed the gallery was rockin. It was time for a heroic performance from a champion and Tiger delivered.

In the year of 2008 we may see other individuals reach a level that would be comparable to what Woods did this past weekend.