Blogging with the stars
One opened a recent blog entry by talking about his, uh, main private part, taking readers more inside a drug test than ever before. The other boasts of 50-point games, relives pranks and reveals news.
Thanks to Gilbert Arenas and now Chris Cooley, Washington is home to two of the best sports bloggers.
Arenas has written his blog since 2006 for NBA.com. Cooley started his own blog recently (chriscooley47.blogspot.com). As expected, it’s hilarious. And insightful.
Here are two recent snippets:
“How do I end up in a bathroom stall at the Borgata with my pants around my ankles while a man named Bill stares at my [private part]?”
And this, from his pre-draft visit with Bill Parcells in Dallas: “… the first words out of his mouth were, ‘I’ll be honest, the reason you’re here is because we like you as a special teams player. I don’t think you’ll ever be a starter in the league. We’re thinking about taking you around the sixth round.’”
On Wednesday, Cooley blogged about his recent poker party — which had more than 106,000 hits — saying, “There’s no way to get a good read on someone’s hand when the entire room is screaming the chorus of ‘Livin on a Prayer.’”
The blogs make these athletes more real. Arenas spoke in awe of meeting Beyonce. He recalled an incident with rookies Nick Young and Dominic McGuire, “They were in the house looking for me and I was across the street flattening their tires so when they decided to leave they’d be on flats.”
And, of course, there were Arenas’ predictions of 50-point games and what he would do to Duke — “probably score 84 or 85.”
They’re amusing. They’re fun. Another resident superstar, the Caps’ Alex Ovechkin, also has a blog. When we learn Russian, we’ll let you know what it says. For now, we’ll stick to Cooley and Arenas. And enjoy ourselves.
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Upon further review: And the offseason winners are …
The heavy offseason work is finished. Which leads to a question: what NFL teams have done the best this offseason?
CLEVELAND » The Browns added receiver Donte Stallworth and defensive linemen Corey Williams and Shaun Rogers.
“It wouldn’t surprise me if they win the division,” said Chris Landry, former scout, current consultant with several teams and co-host on two FOX Sports Radio shows.
Not everyone is sold.
“He’s a cancer,” one GM said of Rogers. “I’m not sure they’ve helped themselves.”
MINNESOTA » The Vikings signed receiver Bernard Berrian and safety Madieu Williams and traded for defensive end Jared Allen.
“The job they did defensively, they’re the team that matches up best with Green Bay,” Landry said. “They’re still battling a quarterback issue, but it seems like everyone in that division is.”
JACKSONVILLE » The Jags landed defensive coordinator Gregg Williams, rookie ends Derrick Harvey and Quentin Groves and veteran wideouts Troy Williamson and Jerry Porter.
“Jacksonville is ready to chase Indianapolis,” Landry said.
The GM sees their offseason as a risky one.
“I like Harvey, but not the other kid,” he said. “They look at themselves as on the threshold, but when you do that it doesn’t always work.”
Good idea, bad idea
GOOD IDEA » Crossing your fingers if you’re USC. If the NCAA indeed looks into the football or basketball programs after the O.J. Mayo and Reggie Bush messes … hello sanctions?
BAD IDEA » Trading for the Knicks’ Stephon Marbury. He’d bring cap relief in one year — at a cost. There’s a reason he’s only played in 18 playoff games in his 11-year career.
GOOD IDEA » Trading for ex-Nats Brian Schneider (.321 BA) and Ryan Church (.324 BA, eight homers), as the Mets did. If only Schneider had hit even Felipe Lopez’s weight while he was here.
BAD IDEA » Reporting that the Pats had a videotape of a St. Louis Rams walk-through before Super Bowl XXXVI when they didn’t. Ouch, Boston Herald.
GOOD IDEA » To watch what you eat at Angel Stadium. According to Portfolio Magazine, they had 732 health code violations, including “major vermin violation” and “cockroach infestation.” Yummy!
BAD IDEA » To drag Spygate out three more months only to find at the end … nothing new. Only Geraldo Rivera could build something up bigger and come up with less.
GOOD IDEA » For Bears linebacker Brian Urlacher to shut his mouth. Did you not realize your nine-year contract would soon be outdated? Have you not paid attention?
BAD IDEA » To think anyone in the American League will hit 50 homers this year. The current leader, Carlos Quentin, is on pace for 39, potentially the lowest total since 1989.
Knucklehead of the week: James Hardy » Receiver, Buffalo
If allegedly brandishing a weapon in front of his father is his idea of how to spend Mother’s Day, relatives of Buffalo Bills’ receiver James Hardy might want to avoid the next few holidays. Hardy, a 6-foot-6, 217-pounder drafted out of Indiana in the second round of last month’s NFL draft allegedly pulled a gun during an argument with his father this past Sunday, police in Fort Wayne, Ind., said. Hardy, regarded as one of the top players in the draft, no doubt fell from where many pundits had him slotted to be selected because of character issues. At Indiana, he not only was suspended for two games, but he also was arrested in 2006 for his involvement in a domestic dispute with his girlfriend; the charges were later dismissed.
On the record
“It’s just kind of the environment right now, though. They just say the craziest things. That’s what ESPN has become. ESPN, to me, is like MTV without the videos, ESPN is without the highlights.”
— New England quarterback Tom Brady ripping ESPN’s handling of the Spygate affair.
“I gave the sport all I could and took everything it could give me. I take this decision without the least bit of regrets. It is my life as a woman that starts now.”
— The world’s No. 1 ranked tennis player, Justine Henin, after announcing her retirement, effective immediately.
By the numbers
34 » Number of consecutive scoreless innings by Cleveland’s starting pitchers entering last night’s game vs. Oakland.
$60K » Value of the Mercedes given to Birmingham City 17-year old “boot boy” James McPike by star midfielder Olivier Kapo. “Boot boys” or trainees, typically get shoes or a signed jersey as a gift at the end of the season.
