Stinkface Chronicles: A Lament

O! Acursed Clippers we feel for thee. Not a mere five days after one of the inspirations for this young series, do we see No. 1 overall pick Blake Griffin go down with an injury -- a stress fracture of the kneecap -- no one could prevent or see coming. Which is downright Clippers-ish.

(OK, so maybe it could have been prevented if the NBA played fewer preseason games.)

We feel partly responsible for this, for it was another Griffin stinkface that landed him on the shelf in the Clippers' anti-trophy case. The dunk was mighty. Griffin's kneecap was not.

View and wince with all of us (Mike Dunleavy Sr., the Clippers organization, Clipper Darrell) who will miss this young man for the next six weeks attacking the rim as if it owed him money.



Not convinced that dunk was worthy of a place in The Stinkface Chronicles? Not amazing enough? Looked kind of plain? Fret not, unless it's ridiculous Photoshop work in an ad, the camera does not lie.

Matt Watson, NBA editor here at FanHouse, sent an IM (or was it an e-mail, does it matter as long as it was brought to our attention? I think not.) with the photo and one important word: Stinkface!



Just take a look at David West, two time All-Star for the New Orelans Hornets. He's a man who will enter his seventh season with the Hornets, and on occasion, has probably, while walking to get beignets at the Cafe du Monde on Sunday morning, caught a whiff of the aftermath of Bourbon Street from a Saturday night. And look at his face. That's 1,000 Bourbon Streets. Griffin, judging by West's facial expression, is not faking the funk.

Then there is West's teammate, Devin Brown, No. 23. The look on his face speaks volumes as well. Instead of a full-out stinkface, that's more of a "What was that?" look, almost as if Griffin was being rude. Maybe Brown had the whole sequence -- the block, Griffin running the floor, the dunk -- on his mind.

Finally, there's DeAndre Jordan, in his second season out of Texas A&M, a Big 12 rival of Griffin's alma mater, Oklahoma. Jordan saw Griffin in college and then saw him every day in practice and in the preseason. Look at his face. It takes a lot to break the monotony of the familiar and even he can't contain his amazement.

Alas, that is the reason for our lament. We'll have no No. 1 for at least six weeks.

Yet, we still have our inspiration and reasons to smile. The season begins tonight and soon, 1,230 games will follow. We are sure to have more thrills like this as the season rolls along and The Chronicles less to lament and far more to celebrate.

Got a suggestion for The Stinkface Chronicles? Leave us a note in the comments below.