Fantasy Football: Burns So Good.

With a 2-year-old taking up most of my time on the weekends, and another one on the way, I’m seriously considering retiring from fantasy football this year.

Then again, I could just pull a Brett “Flip-Flop” Favre and find myself starring in one of the three fantasy drafts my friends are talking me into this weekend.

But, after struggling to find a running game, or a passing game for that matter, the past couple of years, I don’t know if I have Favre’s kinda heart this year.

Add in all that Favre, Michael Vick and Plaxico Burress drama, and I’m actually starting to get sick of football already, which is blasphemous I know.

In fact, the only thing that usually gets me through an entire season of fantasy is bagging on my players on this blog (BG does this very well, too), and changing my team name at least once a week to reflect how lame NFLers can be.

For example, in 2005 I named my team the Whizzinator Warriors after Minnesota Vikings RB Onterrio Smith got busted at the airport with the infamous “Whizzinator” – a fake penis contraption that was designed to help dopers pass drug tests but backfires and puts your dumb ass in the news and on waivers more often than not.

So this year, I’m definitely not playing unless I come up with a good name. Here’s what I’ve come up with so far. Vote on your favorite in the poll at right, and I’ll pick that name if I decide to play:

• Whizzinator Warriors 5.0 – A throwback in honor of the Smith, actor Tom Sizemore, bodybuilder George Spellwin and American Gladiator Jonathan Byrne, all of whom have been busted with the Whiz.
• Favre from Good – Speaking of the Vikings, people can’t seriously be considering Favre as a starting fantasy quarterback this season, can they? My first thought was Favre’s Flip-Flops, then I saw everyone on the Web already lists that one. 40-year-old Viking is pretty good, too.
• Philly Beagles – Yeah, I’m sure the Vick angle will get beat to death (no pun intended, again) this year, too. But I’m still pissed Michael Vick went to my Philadelphia Eagles, and is just waiting for my boy Donovan McNabb to go down. Freaking brutal. I hope Donavan has an MVP year and never once leaves the field: unless it’s on his team’s shoulders after the Super Bowl. Has anyone suggested the ConVicks yet?
• Bust a Cap in dat: Kneecap? – I know, Burress shot himself in the thigh, but it’s not like anyone’s going to remember exactly where he got shot the next time we see him on the field. How do you shoot yourself in the leg? And go to jail for two years for doing it? Didn’t Plax learn anything from Cheddar Bob in 8 Mile. Maybe that should be my team’s name: Cheddar Burress. If only he played in Green Bay. Cheese Head Burress has a nice ring to it … but nobody but me and Slim Shady would get it.
• T.O.B.A.S.S.C.O. (Terrell Owens Be an ASS Co.) – As a Philly fan, this one has a special place in my heart (some might call it heartburn), and it’s my early favorite.
• Team CrabFree! – Man, the 49ers are going to suck this year, again.: And I’m starting to feel really bad about getting our boy Beau C 49ers’ home opener tickets as a wedding gift, but what are you going to do?: When they sign Crabtree, I guess you could always change the name to We Got Crabs!
• Droppin’ Deuce – Yeah, these are getting cruder by the second. But that’s fantasy football for you. I have to admit, I’m still surprised Deuce McAllister is still looking for a home.

Don’t like any of these? Offer up your suggestions in the comments section, and I’ll consider ‘em. In fact, if they’re original, I use it, and if I win my league, I’ll give you a portion of the winnings.

UPDATE 8/23: So I decided to go with Team T.O.B.A.S.S.C.O — Terrell Owens Be an Ass, Same Said for Chad Ochocinco. Word.

Wish you were here. ... View from the GoPro Hero at good ol' A-Beach.

Well, the dog days of summer are here, and there hasn’t been a whole lot that’s inspired me to post of late.

So on Saturday, I decided to bail on the A-town second-hand smoke – courtesy the Santa Barbara/Cruz wildfires – and hit the beach with my new GoPro Hero waterproof digital camera.

As our dozen dedicated followers know, we here at The Bias occasional take a break from blogging about Manny and Co. to review cool gadgets like the GoPro Hero.

As many surfers know, there’s a real shortage of worthwhile waterproof cameras out there. And until a couple years ago, waterproof digitals were unthinkable. Too expensive. Too big. Too damn dangerous in the impact zone.

Stoked.

Enter: The Hero.

It’s fairly inexpensive as far as digitals are concerned (about $200). It’s small enough to strap to your wrist or mount on a helmet (for you mountain bikers and reef kooks). And the thing takes solid photos and surprisingly good video – considering you’re in choppy, blown-out surf half the time in Cali. these days.

I could go on and on about this thing, but I’ll let the video do the talking. And yeah, I’m on a long board, because the surf’s about as big as that camera (did I mention it’s less than 3 inches wide but holds nearly an hour of video or 2,000 photos on the 2GB SD card). Sick.

Pembertonian’s out there too, on the banana board, which explains why he hasn’t posted on The Bias in months.  Bum.

See a photo gallery on the jump.

A-Rod? Is that you in there?

In honor of the latest members of the MLB’s PEDebacle, roid-ragin’ WCBias.com presents its new and “better enhanced” All-Steroid Team.

(Don’t forget to compare this list to last year’s first-ballot Hall of Shame class.)

The second edition consists of the who’s who of players linked to performance-enhancing drugs, according to a rash of media reports, the latest leaks of the 2003 flunkies (Manny and Papi), not to mention personal admissions and the good ol’ Mitchell Report.

Last year’s starters, who have since been moved to reserve status, have been crossed out for the newest class of PEDers.

Outfield

• Lenny Dykstra Manny Ramirez
• Barry Bonds
• Sammy Sosa

Infield

• Rafael Palmeiro Mark McGwire 1B
• Brian Roberts, 2B
• Miguel Tejada Alex Rodgriguez, SS
• Matt Williams, 3B
• Ivan Rodriguez, C
• Jason Giambi, David Ortiz, DH

Pitchers

• Andy Pettitte Roger Clemens, SP
• Eric Gagne, RP

Reserves:
(All but Canseco named in Mitchell Report)

• Gary Sheffield, Jose Canseco, David Justice, Gary Matthews Jr. OF
• Benito Santiago, Paul Lo Duca, C
• Wally Joyner, Chuck Knoblauch, Troy Glaus, IF
• Mo Vaughn, DH
• Kevin Brown and John Rocker (just because they’re both such nice guys), Rick Ankiel (use to be a pitcher, couldn’t throw a strike to save his life, disappeared for a cycle second, now he’s back in the Majors as a power-hitting OF? Hmmm, wonder how that happened?) and Brendan Donnelly (replacement player + steroids = ‘roid ragin’ Major League reliever), P

That’s it. Congratulations to all of the new members of the WCBias All-Steroid Team. We’ll see you again at this time next year, when 2010 hopefuls Albert Pujols, Josh Hamilton, Ryan Howard and Carlos Beltrán see if they can’t make their way into the hallowed halls of shame.

Never in my life did I think I’d become a Tim Wakefield fan, but this Bud’s for you Wake. You’re the only one left in the game who I know is real — 65 mph on the Juggs gun don’t lie. Keep chuckin’ them Wiffle Balls yo. You’re all we got.

David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez. Brokeback "mountains."

Shocking news out of the East Coast: Big Papi is a Big Cheat!

Who would have thought big ol’ David Ortiz tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs in 2003 – just in time to lead the Boston Red Sox to their first World Series in a trillion years?

Who’s next, Albert Pujols? No way! LeBron James? You’re crazy. Dwight Howard? Not Superman.

Hey, at least people almost care about MLBers doing it. One day the rest of the sports world will start caring. And one day someone will actually test for HGH, then we can relive this whole PEDebacle all over a gain. Awesome.

In the meantime, I’m totally flabbergasted. Speechless. Can’t believe it. Can: function: no longer: somebody: get: me: some: female: fertility: drugs: quick.

Sorry if I’m over it, but this steroid chatter is old hat – kind of like that dusty, sweat-stained 1988 Dodgers World Series hat of mine.

Come on Manny, get the Blue Crew back there yo.

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention, Manny Ramirez reportedly failed a drug test with Big Papi in 2003, too, even though he swore up and down he’d never failed a test before (after his latest failure). Circus baby, circus.

“You guys want to talk about the game, what is happening now, we can sit down and talk for two hours,” MannRam said prior to Thursday’s game. “If you want more information, call the union.”

What a gamer.

Atta boy Manny, always focused on the task at hand. Just think pennant baby.

What’s wrong with the media? Can’t we just focus on the game people? Who cares if sports has gone to shit: and no numbers are legit: 20 MVPs*: 8 Cy Youngs*: and there’s no integrity, not to mention authenticity, in sports anymore.

We want wins. We want home runs. We want the Incredible Hulk, in dreads, hitting bombs for our home team.

“Me and David, we’re like two mountains,” Manny added for the circus. “We’re going to keep doing good no matter what … Only God is going to be able to move those two mountains.”

And this was six years ago anyway, when only 104 Major Leaguers tested positive for performance enhancers.

Just because MLB and every other major sports league still doesn’t test for HGH, doesn’t mean these guys are still doing it.

These guys are “mountains!” Freaking “mountains!” baby! Can’t be fazed!

Yeah, these guys are “mountains” all right: from a far maybe, but when you finally get up close to ‘em, nothing but mirages in the desert.

I’m over it.

“Absolutely filthy.”

That’s how ESPN’s Baseball Tonight crew described Jonathan Sanchez’s no-hitter tonight.

And while we don’t write about the San Francisco Giants that often on The Bias, we had to give a tip of the hat to Sanchez, a kid who was 2-8 coming in to this start and wouldn’t even be on the bump if not for an injury to The Big Unit.

Yeah, only at The Bias can you have a Big Unit and Dirty Sanchez reference in the first 60 words of a post.

What, you prefer the lame headlines AP and Co. are going to come up with?

Giant Start by Sanchez

Giant No-No (yeah, Yahoo just posted that one)

Giant Feat (ESPN), followed up by a grand headline on its story page: Sanchez makes most of opportunity

Really, you’re hiring away the best sportswriters and newspaper columnists in the country, and you come up with Sanchez makes most of opportunity? Who’s writing this crap?

Not that ESPN and Yahoo are the only guilty parties for lame headlines. In fact, the Sports Network and Fox Sports win the ESPY for the lamest headline of the night, copying ESPN and Yahoo’s brutal heads. Sports Network ripped off Giant Feat. Fox ripped off Giant No-No. Not that we expect anything less from the boys over at Fox.

Clever, guys.

MLB.com’s headline? A Giant Among Men

SOMEBODY DON’T USE THE MASCOT IN THE HEADLINE! PLEASE! (Thank you, CBS Sportsline, for your San Francisco Treat, it was a nice change of pace!)

But at least the League’s site had something on the no-no.

Not sure if the Chronicle even publishes anymore, but their Web site isn’t doing so hot either apparently. AN HOUR after the game, the Chron homepage still had nothing on the No-No. (But the Chron had a link to last night’s gamer, writing about how Tim Lincecum was the Giant who would be making a run at John “The Count” Montefusco’s last no-hitter. How classic is that? Hearst Communications Inc. ain’t doin’ so well in the communications department these days.

Stupid newspapers. I guess breaking news stops at 8 p.m. Then again, Baseball America didn’t have anything either. Must have been vacationing in Canada, covering hockey or something. Nice work boys!

At least SI freaking tried: The Stuff of Legends, which is good because SI doesn’t have the balls to say Dirty Sanchez, but it gets at his stuff being legendary for one night. That’s the story. For one night, he wasn’t a washed up lefty who the Giants were shopping and getting ready to trade/demote. And now he’s going down in baseball lore, even if he doesn’t start another game.

Then again, SI blew the score in their photo caption, so what can I say?

Maybe I shoulda stuck around in sports journalism, it appears y’all need some freaking help.

So we’ll stick with Dirty Sanchez, because dude was straight up filthy tonight.

No hits, not walks, 11 strikeouts, first no-hitter since 1976 – meaning the Giants went my entire lifetime without a no-no until tonight.

And he did it with his old man in the stands, the first MLB game his father had attended. Seriously, does it get any more storybook than that?

Well it coulda. Sanchez was one booted ball away from a perfect game, which would’ve been the Major’s first since The Big Unit’s.

Then again, Sanchez was also saved by one of the better defensive plays of the day – Rowand’s sick catch in deep center to secure the second out of the ninth inning.

Once he made that catch, you knew that no-no was a reality. And you knew it was time to starting thinking about the best Giant … headline, or head on over to rip off ESPN.com and Sports.Yahoo if you weren’t even that clever.

Dirty. Dirty.

OK, so it's my favorite channel. But EastSidePN really pisses me off sometimes.

The Fourth of July might be gone, but the fireworks remain in the NBA.

Yeah, that’s such a lame AP-style lead. I would’ve gone with something like, “You can’t spell Fourth of July Weekend without W-T-F,” but that would upset the wifey when this blog post gets RSS’d into her Facebook page. Oops. Hopefully that didn’t make the first 140 characters.

But am I wrong? This offseason, particularly this past weekend, was a crazy one: with Mean Green ‘Sheed to the Celtics and bizArtest to the Lakers.

It seems like every other day I’m hearing the “experts” on EastSidePN rattle off take after take about who the “new team” to beat is. Not that we should bang exclusively on ESPN, cause it appears SI doesn’t even know what it’s doing these days – Economy promises to restrain offseason moves.

Well, if this is “restrained,” I hate to see what’s going to happen when/if this economy ever bounces back. In the meantime, here’s who ESPN has had as the favorites so far this offseason:

June 23: The Spurs are title contenders out West again! San Antonio deals for Richard Jefferson.

June 26: Cavs are Beasts in the East!! Shaq to LeBron Land, err Cleveland.

Later that afternoon: Hold that thought, Orlando is the Beast out East!!! Magic get Vince Carter.

July 1: Detroit back in the title hunt again!!!! UConn Huskies Gordon and Villanueva add bite to Pistons.

July 2: Lakers are in trouble if they can’t resign Ariza!!!!!

Later that afternoon: Artest to Lakers. Los Angeles favored to win next three titles!!!!!!

July 3: Forget Carter, he’s old and couldn’t defend BSlim, and Turkoglu is signing with Portland anyway!!!!!!!

July 4: Oh wait, did we say Turk to Portland!!!!!!!!? We meant Turk to Toronto. Ooops. Our bad. You expect us to check out sources?

July 5: All bets are off, Rasheed Wallace agrees to sign with Celtics!!!!!!!!! Boston, an East Coast team we should note, has to be the favorites again.

July 6: Wait a minute, Kidd just signed with the Mavs !!!!!!!!!! …

Give me a freaking break. The teams to beat haven’t changed. In fact, I’ll take the last three NBA champions (if healthy) in that particular order, as I always do.

1. Lakers
2. Celtics
3. Spurs

Until somebody knocks the Lakers off, they’re the favorites, followed by the veteran squads in Boston and San Antonio – especially if those teams avoid injuries. I’ll buy in to the Cavs when they actually make the Finals: and then win a game. They’re still 0-for in that department. Until then, save up for a LeBron Knicks jersey: or pray Shaq finds the fountain of youth somewhere in the Buckeye State.

P.S. On another note, you’ll be noticing some updates to WCBias in coming weeks, including lame stuff like polls, sharing functionality and all of that, so do us all a favor and use it: pass it on to your friends, if you have any. Spread the West Coast Love so Pembertonian isn’t wasting his time writing for another dying outlet. We’ve even got a freaking Facebook, Twitter and MySpace page if you can believe that crap.

What, does AP's photographers work for the Dodgers too? Guess everyone does love Manny. Welcome back indeed. You definitely make it worth watching MannRam.

The other day Pembertonian was giving me crap, calling me a “homer” because I was talking about how much I love my job while he wallows in the self-pity that comes with working in the newspaper biz.

It was the first time in a long time someone could actually call me a homer, because if you’ve read this blog, as a dozen people have, you know I hate pretty much everything. Yeah, not a glass-half-full kind of guy.

Hate the town I live in. Hate the high school and college I went to. Hated pretty much every job I’ve had until now. Heck, I hate myself.

If I played in the XFL, I’d be “B Hate Everybody.”

Speaking of hate, I hate TV “journalism” and morons that broadcast a lot of our sporting events.

Fox, Homer love them some Manny.

We already knew Homer was a Manny/Isotopes fan, but how about the crew at Fox Sports Net/Prime Ticket or whatever they’re calling it these days? Public Enemy No. 1, Manny Ramirez comes to the plate for his first at-bat since being suspended 50 games for failing a drug test, and FSNPT’s ace cameramen couldn’t find any negativity at Petco. The 10 signs they showed, all hearted Manny. Welcome back Manny. Missed you Manny. You da Man Manny.

Same thing in his second and third at-bat, nothing but cheers and Mannywood signs.

Yeah, that same San Diego crowd that threw syringes at Bonds had nothing but love for Manny – yeah, and I love reading boxscores of WNBA games.

While we’re being all positive like these idiots on our televisions, let’s take a second and reflect on how awesome life on the Left Coast has been the past couple days:

• Manny is back.
• Phil Jackson is back.
• Ron Artest is crazy wearing purple and gold.
• Sarah Palin is out.

The Worm and The Artest have a lot in common. They're both crazy.

Really, does it get any better than that?

But just so you know I haven’t lost my glass-half-emptiness. Is it just me, or does this Ron Artest move scare Laker Nation? RK, your thoughts?

Kind of reminds me of another wack-job defensive/rebounding headcase the Lakers signed a few years ago.

Yeah, how’d that work out?

Only in Mannywood baby.

Happy Fourth to all the WCBias peeps!

Remember the old comic book character Man-E-Faces? That split personality remind you of any other blue, super-hero-like characters by the same name?

So Manny Ramirez is set to return Friday after his suspension for using female fertility drugs – they don’t allow that kind of stuff in California any more.

It’ll be interesting to see what kind or reception he gets around the Majors, from opposing players, fans, media, etc. But that’s not what I’m most interested in watching, because, well, we’ve been through with dozens of players who used performance enhancers and will see it probably a hundred other times in our lives.

I’ve said it before and will say it again, until they rid the game of HGH, and at least test for it, you can’t point the finger at just Manny – because I guarantee a majority of the players in the major American sports are on the stuff. Manny just happened to get caught with his pants down, using a female fertility drug to counteract what the PEs do.

I mean, who doesn’t want to get their female fertility on anyway? Heck, my wife’s probably on the stuff, pregnant again despite the fact we have a two-year-old running the house like she’s a She-Ra The Princess of Power or something.

Speaking of He-Man/comic-book spinoffs, it’ll be interesting to see which of the Manny Faces shows up this weekend.

Like the old He-Man friend/foe and comic book character Man-E-Faces (of The Ordeal of Man-E Faces fame), whose head switches from robot, to human, to monster without notice, Manny has been known for his split personality over the years.

1. There’s Happy-Go-Lucky Manny, who led the Red Sox to their first World Series in a trillion years, took the damn Dodgers to the postseason last year, and was mashing this season before the fertility Gods struck down on him.
2. There’s Disgruntled, I Hate Boston Manny, who refused to run out fly balls or hustle in the outfield in his final weeks with the Red Sox.
3. There’s Fertility Manny, worried about the size of his boys instead of his boys … in … umm … Blue?
4. There’s Disappearing Manny, who, when suspended, disappeared and was nowhere to be found much of the time.
5. There’s also Albuquerque Isadope Manny (3 for 10, HR, 2 runs during Manny being Minor week), farming it out with everyone from the Rhode Island ‘Roid Ragers and the Idaho Injectors, to the Delaware Dingleberries.

The Dodgers, who have been one of the NL’s best teams this season, are hoping for No. 1, obviously, not that Manny The Dodger Dingleberry doesn’t have a nice ring to it.

Could you imagine how good this team would be if Manny were to pick off where he left off?

But is that even possible?

Users like A-Roid (now known as MIA-Rod), HG(iambi)H and What Would J.C. Romero Do? (I don’t know, maybe beat up a fan?) all struggled in their return after it was leaked that they had taken PEs.

There are just too many questions, too many hecklers, too much drama that surrounds the return to the field. But, if anyone could shrug that stuff off, you know Manny could.

His, Manny Being Manny attitude and ability to remain oblivious to the outside world could just work to his and the Dodgers’ benefit this season.

I guess we’ll find out which of the Mannys we’ll be faced with starting Friday in San Diego … Next T-shirt coming to a WCBias near you? FREE JUAN PIERRE!

Worthy of the NBA's Top 50.

Slam recently announced its updated list of The New NBA Top 50 players, which brings on some interesting names and drops off a few legends from the NBA at 50 “Greatest NBA Players of All-Time” list – which was unveiled some 13 years ago.

In honor of those fallen greats, WCBias brings you the “Greatest NBA Players You Shouldn’t Forget” Team.

(For the record, these guys were replaced by some pretty darn good players on Slam’s updated list, which includes Allen Iverson, Bob McAdoo, Dennis Rodman, Gary Payton, Jason Kidd, Kevin Garnett, Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Steven Nash, Tim Duncan, Dominique Wilkins and Walt Bellamy.) I think you can question the addition of Dennis Rodman, and then whittle that list of guards (A.I., GP, JK and Nash) down to two to keep James Worthy, Pistol Pete, Robert Parish and Sam Jones or one of the other legends on the Slam list. I’m also not sure on the old editions of McAdoo, Wilkins and Bellamy (is that Bill’s brother?), but all in all, it’s a pretty solid list by the guys at Slam.

That said, here’s a closer look at those NBA legends who didn’t make this year’s Top 50 Greatest Players, but shouldn’t be forgotten:

1. James Worthy

Somewhere, Chick Hearn is rolling in his grave. One of the few West Coast players on this list, we should point out, the original “Big Game” James set the stage for guys open-court fliers like Dominique and now LeBron. And he did it the right way, playing for one team, the Los Angeles Lakers, from 1982-1994 – also known as the Showtime Era. The goggled one had 16,320 points, 4,708 boards, 2,791 assists and, more importantly, three titles in 1985, 1987 and 1988. Sure, he was on some good teams, but he’s got as many NBA Finals MVP’s as Kobe (1) and five more NBA All-Star appearances than Rodman (2).

2. Sam Jones

Speaking of titles and dedicating yourself to one team. How is Sam “The Shooter” Jones not on there? Guy won 10 NBA Titles in his 12 seasons with the Boston Celtics. Enough said. Oh wait, “he played with Bill Russell” (12 titles) you say. Well, Kobe also played with Shaq, and nobody has a problem with him being on the new list. Even with Russell on his team, Jones managed to score 15,411 points and was known as one of the most clutch … if not the best … guard of his generation.

3. “Pistol” Pete Maravich

Like Barkley, Malone, Stockton and Co., he never won and title, but defined the guard position in the 1970s after a record-breaking career in college that saw him set the D1 scoring record with 3,667 (despite not having a 3-point line). How good was he in the NBA? Well, good enough to be traded to New Orleans for EIGHT players. That’s an entire team yo. He finished with 15,948 points and 3,563 assists in his decade in the league.

4. Robert Parish

Hobbled by injuries over the years, The Chief still managed 23,334 points, 14,715 boards and 2,357 blocks – now that’s an NBA career (1976-1997, which means he was a rookie a year before I was born and played until I was two years out of high school. Crazy). On top of the numbers, he was an NBA All-Star nine times and won four titles with the Celtics.

5. Nate Archibald

As painful as it is to mention another Celtic, Archibald was as well-rounded a player as you’ll fine in his day – becoming the only player in NBA history to lead the league in both scoring and assists during the 1973 season (at least that was with the Kings that year). His lone title came in 1981 with … guess who? … the Celtics. He was also the NBA All-Star MVP that season and was named to the Hall of Fame exactly 10 years later after a career that netted 16,481 points, 2,046 rebounds and 6,476 assists.

6. Bill Walton

Like Pistol Pete and some of the others on this list, Walton is better known for what he did in college because of a laundry list of injuries suffered at the pro level. But he made the NBA’s Top 50 because he was an NBA MVP in 1978 and a two-time NBA champion (1977, 1986). But are 6,215 points and 1,034 career blocks enough to get you on today’s Top 50? Obviously not. Maybe it’s because of his announcing skills.

7. Bill Sharman

Sharman was another talented all-around athlete (and a Celtic), who actually spent five years in the Brooklyn Dodgers farm system. In fact, he was called up to the bigs in 1951 but never played – but he was part of the bench that was ejected for arguing with an umpire Sept. 27, 1951, becoming the only player in major league history to never play in a game but get ejected from one. That’s my kind of guy. And he’s a USC grad, so he’s got that going for him, on top of playing in eight All-Star games and becoming one of the first guards to shoot better than 40 percent. He is one of three players enshrined in the Hall of Fame as both a player and coach.

8. Dave Bing

Kevin Johnson isn’t the only one getting political after his playing days. Bing, a Democrat, was elected mayor of Detroit in May. On top of winning all kinds of citizen awards during and after his career (Pistons, Bullets, Celtics), Bing was the Rookie of the Year in 1967, All-Star Game MVP in 1976, and finished with 18,327 points, 3,420 rebounds and 5,397 assists in his career.

9. Dave DeBusschere

DeBusschere was the Dennis Rodman of the 1960s and 70s for the Pistons and Knicks. Known for his physical defensive play, the power forward averaged 16.1 points and 11 rebounds over his 12-year career, which included eight All-Star appearances and six trips to the All-Defensive First Team. He helped the Knicks past the Lakers (gulp) for NBA titles in 1970 and 1973.

10. Hal Greer

If anything, Greer should make the team for his sick free-throw attempts, which today would be known as a “jump shot.” Maybe Shaq and Dwight Howard should consider leaving their feet on their free-throw attempts. Couldn’t hurt. He also averaged 22 ppg in 1967 to lead the 76ers to the NBA title and played in 10 consecutive All-Star games, amassing 21,586 points, 5,665 rebounds and 4,540 assists in his career with the Syracuse Nationals/Philly Sixers.

11. Paul Arizin

“Pitchin’ Paul” spent his entire career with the Philly Warriors (1950-62) and left the game as the third-highest scorer of all time with 16,266 points. And while you’ve heard similar tales about MJ and Ted Williams, you probably did know Arizin was cut from his high school team as a senior (and never even played ball as a prepster), and he lost out on some of his best playing years because of military service. Arizin joined the Marines during the Korean War (1952-54). He had led the league in scoring in 1952 and returned to do so again during the 1956-57 season. When the Warriors decided to San Francisco in the early 1960s, Arizin opted to retire rather than head West – leaving the highest scoring average for a retired player on the table (21.9 ppg). It’s OK Paul, we won’t hold it against you.

12. Reggie Miller

Wasn’t on either list, but thought he should be recognized … shouldn’t he? The Indiana sharpshooter never won the big one (thanks to MJ), but dang did he kill Spike Lee and the Knicks in the playoffs. Guess we should also point out he’s the all-time NBA leader in 3-pointers (2,560), 12th in points (25,279), seventh in free throw percentage (88.8%) and seventh in games played (1,323). And you want to talk about clutch? Dude’s the all-time leader in playoff treys drained (320), not to mention those eight points in 8.9 seconds against the Knicks in ’95.

Not convinced these guys should be in the Top 50? Well, how about the Top 60 NBA Players. Combine the NBA list and the Slam List and you have the Top 60 Players in NBA History, which would be tough to argue with. The list is attached as a PDF.

I have a feeling Kobe, DFish and Co. were drinking better than us this past weekend -- not that Moose Drool Ale and $10 stoggies are a bad thing.

Now that the dust, champagne, confetti and rioting has settled, let’s look back at some thoughts from a weekend in Vegas, my 32nd birthday (I’m feeling really old after this one) and, oh yeah, the Los Angeles Lakers winning the NBA Finals in five games over the Orlando Magic:

• I might not love Derrick Fisher as much as ESPN Radio’s homerish crew of Mike Tirico, Hubie Brown and Dr. Jack Ramsay, but damn did that dude save the trip and the birthday. I don’t think I went to an ATM once this weekend thanks to the dough we bankrolled off those bombs he hit in Game 4.

• Speaking of sportsbooks, a look at the favorites to win the 2010 title: Lakers favored at 5-2, Cavs at 3-1, Celtics 5-1, Orlando 7-1, Denver 12-1. Thirteen teams are 100-1, including three from Calif. – Golden State, Sacramento Kings and the Los Angeles Clippers. Time to shake your moneymaker Lambo and get some dough on them Clipps.

• Speaking of Vegas pros, where’s Lakers sixth man Ryantific’s contributions after this victory?

• What a difference a year healthy Trevor Ariza and unhealthy Kevin Garnett make.

• Who was the second best team in the playoffs this year? Thuggish Ruggish Nuggets get my vote.

• Anyone in the media going to ask Phil Jackson if he’s going to return next year? I know he’s under contract, but dude admitted he wasn’t himself this year and that this was a “learned” group that he didn’t exactly have to coach up. Big Phil’s got 10 rings as a coach, passing Red, dates a former Playboy model who is also the owner’s daughter, and has a cabin near some of the best fly fishing waters the world has to offer in Montana. What more does he have to prove?

• Kobe Bryant had plenty to prove during these Finals. And he proved worthy of the Finals MVP, even though he didn’t have his best series.

• What a great year and a half it’s been for Kobe. First MVP, gold medal, Shaq-less NBA title, Finals MVP. Awards aren’t everything, but they tend to be nowadays when trying to decide who’s the “greatest.” On a side note, did you know George Mikan, Jerry West, Elgin Baylor, John Havlicek and Rick Barry never won MVPs? Crazy stuff.

• Is Kobe’s legacy that much greater now that he’s won a title without Shaq? In this day, maybe. But dude’s one of the greatest to play no matter what. Just think of all those great players who never won titles (Barkley, Ewing, Malone, Stockton, Iverson, Kidd, Nash), and Kobe’s got four!

• At the same time, let’s not forget Michael Jordan Kobe Bryant had plenty of help from Scottie Pippen Pau Gasol and  Tony Kukoc Lamar Odom and Steve Kerr Derrick Fisher this time around.

• So this one is a big one for Kobe. Those three with Shaq were largely because of Shaq. After all, Shaq won all three of those Finals MVPs, and also helped D-Wade and the Heat win a title a few years later (look at where the Heat were before and after that).

• Either way, you have to have experience and a big man (or in this day of centerless teams, a power forward like Gasol or KG or Duncan) to win an NBA title.

• Orlando has it’s big man, so the difference this year was clearly the experience (which is always key, especially for 32-year-old, broke-ass bloggers in Vegas). Kobe (31), Fisher (34), Phil (older than Yoda) had it. Dwight, whoever their starting point guard was on a given night, Stan VanG didn’t.

It’s nice to see being old pays off from time to time.