Starter: Ray Allen

If you follow my twitter (do it, I’m really interesting), know me personally, or were within earshot of the 02116 area code when I won my ticket, you’ll know that I had the amazing fortune of attending the Celtics/Lakers game last Thursday during which Ray Allen set the all-time record for three pointers made (though he still needs 63 more to match Reggie Miller’s record if the playoffs are included). I spent more money than I should have, but it was a perfect combination of events: Celtics vs. Lakers, Ray needing one three to tie the record, and Reggie Miller himself being in attendance as he was broadcasting the game for TNT. Since Ray is my favorite roundballer of all time, I had to go.

A lot of people are curious when I mention that Ray Allen is my favorite player, so I’ll explain why. First and foremost, he’s a fantastic player. Though he’s lost some ups, in his prime he may have been the best player pound-for-pound besides Allen Iverson, as he was not only a fantastic shooter, but an extremely quick driver and solid finisher at the rim. He has a high “basketball IQ,” plays great defense and really has few weaknesses on the court. I was discussing with a friend before the game how most three-point specialists don’t last very long because they can’t get open or play defense, and that his complete game is what makes Allen special and will likely make his record one that’s tough to top.

While I’m always hesitant to pass judgments on players’ personal lives, it seems like Ray has few weaknesses off the court as well. Every coach he’s had says he works harder than any player they’ve coached, he does plenty of charity work, and he just seems genuinely nice. I admired him on his previous teams at Connecticut, Milwaukee, and Seattle, and when he was acquired by my favorite team I was overjoyed.

After a multi-day quest to obtain a ticket, I got lucky and scored a 1st-row loge seat (Pro tip: I’ve had the best secondhand-ticket luck with ebay over Stubhub or a ticket broker). While it was in the corner, it was roughly 25 feet behind Ray’s Mom, so I was pretty happy with its location. And as you’re aware, Ray set the record in the first quarter, and the Garden erupted. The teams continued play through his tremendous standing ovation, and then when a foul was called Ray walked over and shook hands with Reggie Miller. At the end of the first quarter, he hugged Reggie, then hugged his Mom, and then his wife all while the crowd cheered their lungs out.

While the Celtics ended up losing the game, it was the best loss I’ve ever attended in person, and one of the best events of any sort I’ve been present for. Congrats to Ray. Though in typical Ray fashion, he gave this quote after the game: “It was a magical moment, being in this building. I felt a little embarrassed that there was so much attention surrounding this moment.”

He’s more focused on banner 18 than personal milestones, I’d say.

Starter: Blake Griffin

Who is he? After playing two seasons at University of Oklahoma, Blake Austin Griffin was the first overall pick in the 2009 NBA draft by the Los Angeles Clippers.

Why do we like him? Most notably, we’re making Griffin a TNIB starter for his basketball fury. A knee injury forced him to miss all of last season, and last night he made his NBA debut in spectacular fashion. Dude scored 20 points, grabbed 14 rebounds, and had four assists in his first game, which is a great stat line but doesn’t show how good he really was. Not only did he dunk over pretty much the whole Blazers team and seemed like he wanted to break the Staples Center, but he ran fast breaks like a (very large) guard. Griffin’s feel for the game is impressive, as is his willingness to sacrifice his body despite a history of injuries (he also had two minor knee injuries and a concussion in college). Unfortunately, his team lost because he disappeared in the second half. That wasn’t really Griffin’s fault, though. He disappeared because the Blazers defense played well toward the end of the game, his teammates forgot he existed and refused to pass to him, and he was clearly exhausted from carrying his team through the first half.


*Youtube videos via @Jose3030, who you need to follow if you’re on the Twitters.

Starter: Mark Dantonio

Who Is He? Can a coach be a starter? Sure! Dantonio is the head coach of the Michigan State Spartans. He’s also served previously as the head coach at Cincinnati before Brian Kelly and defensive coordinator at Ohio State under Jim Tressel. Up until a few days ago, his tenure at Michigan State had been relatively mild with an overall record of 43-34 and 1-3 in bowl games.

Starter: Carlos Delgado

Who is he? Carlos Juan Delgado Hernández is a first baseman best known for his work with the Toronto Blue Jays, who also played for the Marlins and Mets. He holds Toronto’s records in pretty much every important offensive category. He’s also 37th all-time in OPS, 29th in slugging percentage, and 30th in home runs. He attempted a comeback this year with the Red Sox after Kevin Youkilis was injured, but was shut down with a hip injury before he could finish his AAA assignment. While he had a solid season in 2008, he’s now two years removed from his last full season, and with his injuries it seems likely he’ll retire.

Why is he a starter? Besides being one of the top hitters of all time, “Del-got-it” is a peace activist and has stood up for what he believes. He protested the use of the island of Vieques as a bombing target by the U.S. Army, and opposed the occupation of Iraq. He stayed in the dugout during the singing of “God Bless America” to protest the latter—and of course was booed when the Blue Jays visited New York*. While this is noteworthy in and of itself, the most interesting fact is that Delgado wasn’t particularly outspoken about why he wasn’t standing—his own teammates didn’t even know he was protesting until he gave an interview about it. While this may not be the best way to gain publicity for one’s cause, it shows that his beliefs were really genuine and there was nothing self-serving about his protest, as is so often the case. In a world of entertainers who take any excuse to gain publicity, it’s refreshing to see someone so subtle.

*It’s worth noting that the singing of “God Bless America” during the 7th inning of every game in Yankee Stadium is one of the more ostentatious displays of “patriotism” around. I have no problem with national anthems, but “God Bless America” isn’t one—it’s a show tune written in 1918 which didn’t become popular until 1938. As freedom of religion is one of the foundations of this country, forcing people to stand and listen to a song with religious lyrics during the 7th inning stretch, which should be reserved for “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” is something I have little patience for.

**Photo courtesy of Andrew Klein via Creative Commons License

Starter: Lou Piniella and His Man Tears

It’s been awhile since we’ve been on Man Tears watch here at There’s No “I” in Blog. There just hasn’t been too many notable Man Tears moments in sports. Well, Lou Piniella retired as manager of the Chicago Cubs this week and brought the Man Tears with him. As a Seattle Mariners fan, I’ve always been a fan of Lou. Some people find his arguing annoying and distracting (IAN!), but I’ve always thought it helped fire up his team when they needed it. And some of those Mariners teams were so bad we all wanted to be out there screaming, throwing bases, and burying home plate with him. When he left Seattle for Tampa Bay, we respected him for wanting to be with his family. Now that he’s doing the same, we can only respect his wishes to be with his sick mother. I and the game of baseball will miss him. Now, here are the Man Tears from his press conference:

Starter: Andre Miller

Who Is He? Andre Miller is the crazy-haired point guard for the Portland Trailblazers. At 34 years old, Miller is the leader of the Blazers’ thirtysomething-threesome (comprising Marcus Camby and Juwan Howard, 36 and 37 respectively) that has brought leadership and stability to a very young and very injured team.

Why Do We Like Him? Miller started this season with a question mark. No one was really sure how he would fit in with the young Blazers, especially in an offense that likes to slow down the pace of the game and where the ball almost always goes through Brandon Roy, and those concerns seemed to be validated when Miller and coach Nate McMillan had an argument after a mid-season practice, presumably about Miller’s lack of playing time. I assume Miller’s anger came, justifiably, from playing behind Steve Blake. Then the Blazers went and got all broken, losing Greg Oden, Joel “Vanilla Gorilla” Przybilla (I have to mention his nickname at every opportunity), Travis Outlaw, Nicolas Batum, Rudy Fernandez, and even Brandon Roy to injuries. Not all of these injuries happened at the same time, but a lot of them did. During this time, Miller took his consecutive games streak—which, now at 604 games, is the longest active streak in the NBA—and kept playing at a consistently high level. He’s done everything the Blazers have needed him to do. With Brandon Roy out, Miller took control of the offense and even dropped 52 points against the Mavericks, which you’ve probably heard about. I also like a point guard who can post up on any defender.

All this stuff is great, but here are the real reasons we like Andre Miller. We like that he takes “jump” shots where his feet never leave the floor, but that he can elevate if he really wants to (see the dunk below that shocked everyone watching). We like his out of control hair (more pics here and here). Because I’m a wordnerd, I also love that his high school, Verbum Dei, is referred to as “The Verb.”

Starter: Jake Delhomme and His Mantears

Who Is He? Jake Delhomme was the quarterback for the Carolina Panthers, and now he’s not. That’s really all you need to know about him.

Why Do We Like Him? Well, we don’t really like him a whole lot. In fact, we’re pretty much indifferent to him, but we reserve our “benchwarmers” designation for people who totally suck. Since we don’t dislike him that much, we wouldn’t feel very good making him ride the pine. Plus, he used to be a pretty good quarterback. Sure, it was a long time ago, but I’d trust 2003 Jake Delhomme to run my offense. That was the year he led the Panthers to Super Bowl XXXVIII and even had them on the verge of winning until their “idiot kicker” basically handed the game back to the Patriots. Plus, he earns some points for the way he handled his recent press conference and discussed his release. Not only did he openly answer questions about his 18-interception 2009 season (still less than Jay Cutler…), he also now faces the 2010 NFL off-season in man tears. After playing as poorly as he did last year, answering questions about that season couldn’t have been easy, but he admitted, “I played not to make a mistake,” which doesn’t work in the NFL. He also said the line, “If you have any questions, I’ll be happy to babble out an answer for you.” That alone makes him a little more likable. For Oregon State Beavers fans (like myself), Delhomme’s departure means former Beaver Matt Moore will likely be the Panthers starting QB going into the season. Here’s video of Jake Delhomme’s man tear-filled press conference. The waterworks start right away.

Starter: LaDainian Tomlinson and His Man Tears

Who Is He? LaDainian Tomlinson is the formerly awesome former San Diego Chargers running back. I say formerly awesome because in recent seasons, LT seems to have slowed down a bit, undoubtedly a consequence of playing such a demanding position at such a high level for most of his career. Running behind his Darth Vader mask, LT has racked up 12,490 yards (8th all-time), 138 rushing touchdowns (2nd), and 153 total TDs (3rd). Needless to say, he’s been pretty good. He’s also looked pretty damn fly in the Chargers’ powder blue throwback jerseys, but really, those jerseys make everyone look good.

Why Do We Like Him? Despite his tendency to disappear in big games (see: any Chargers playoff game), I’m making him a starter for those career numbers, the Darth Vader mask, the powder blue unis, and man tears. On Monday, LT was released from the Chargers, the only team he’s played for during his nine-year career, and last night he held a press conference that seemed to be part farewell to Chargers fans and part announcement of his availability to other teams. I believe he’ll get a shot on another team, but I’m not sure he’ll be as effective as he seems to think he’ll be. However, that’s not why I’m writing about him.

The real reason: man tears of course! There’s no way we here at There’s No “I” in Blog would let any man tears go by unnoticed. During his press conference, LT broke down and let the waterworks flow, and he seemed genuinely upset to be leaving San Diego. You can watch part of LT’s press conference here. Finally, I’m making him a starter because of this awesome commercial directed by David Fincher (Se7en, Fight Club, Zodiac). I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, that’s just an amazing one-minute exercise in storytelling.

Starter: Shaun White

Who Is He? Shaun Roger White is the snowboarder you have already heard of, and maybe the only one you’d heard of before the 2010 Winter Olympics (unless you’re into snowboarding and/or saw Louie Vito on Dancing with the Stars). He’s the guy with the mane of red hair that There’s No “I” in Blog editor extraordinaire Rachel described simply as “gorgeous.” As of last night, he’s also the guy who won another half-pipe gold medal in one of the rare live Olympic broadcasts NBC has provided.

Why Do We Like Him? Shaun White is one of those exceptional athletes who single-handedly elevated both the public awareness and skill level of his sport. Just as professional golfers had to change the way they golfed and conditioned when Tiger Woods whooped all their arses when he showed up on the PGA Tour, snowboarders know they have to work their board-riding backsides off just to compete with Shaun White, and if he does lose a competition, they better be ready because he’s going to commit himself to making sure that doesn’t happen again, as he proved last night.

After a recent loss, White went to his private half-pipe and perfected the Double McTwist 1260, which he performed in his second run last night even though he had already secured a gold medal. We like him for putting on that extra special show, especially after cameras caught him amped up and seemingly overwhelmed, saying, “I can’t ride like this” after finding out he locked up the gold. We also like that he wants his Double McTwist 1260, which can be described as flying in the air, spinning, flipping, rocking the house, kicking ass, and taking names, as the “Tomahawk,” the name of  a 30 oz. steak White demolished as easily as his competitors. Of course, we also love awesome nicknames. With nicknames like “Animal” and “The Flying Tomato” because of his redheadedness, how can we resist?

And if you’d never seen him before last night, just know that he’s been schooling people on snowboards and skateboards since he was 11.

*Photo courtesy of bfishadow via Creative Commons License

Starter: Clay Buchholz

Who Is He?
Buchholz was drafted in the supplemental round of the 2005 MLB draft by the Red Sox, famously with the compensation pick for losing Pedro Martinez. He shot through the minors in a dominant fashion, striking out 311 and walking just 68 in 244 innings between 2006 and 2007, then threw a no-hitter in just his second major league start in September of 2007.

Buchholz has a solid fastball, a great changeup, and when he can locate it, one of the nastiest 12-6 curveballs since Tom Gordon. While he struggled in his first full major league season, he showed much better composure last year. For ten starts from August 8 to September 24, he had a 2.37 ERA and allowed just a .572 OPS against. He followed that up with a very strong (ultimately losing) performance in game three of the ALDS against LAAAAAA. He looks to be the team’s #5 starter going into the season, though there is a bit of a logjam with Tim Wakefield also pronouncing himself healthy and ready to pitch.

Why Do We Like Him?
Clay was a disappointment in his first full year. It’s hard to tell what a player is feeling from his body language, but Clay looked panicked when he would let runners on base in 2008, and would often rely too much on whatever pitch he felt most confident in that day. In 2008, he allowed a .720 OPS with the bases empty, but this ballooned to .987 when there were runners on.

Last year, Clay was a different pitcher. Not only did he pitch better with runners on than with the bases empty (.716 OPS v .738), but he also seemed more confident and composed on the mound as well as in interviews. This year, he has added 15 pounds to his lanky frame, which should help him maintain his stamina and harness all of his immense talent.

Plus, my mom likes him and thinks he is cute after watching him pitch one game with me.

Animation courtesy of www.pensionplanpuppets.com.