The enterprising gents at Fear the Beard hooked up with namesake Baron Davis, offering the suggestion that some random acts of Bay Area kindness could boost his 'contract karma.' The results are something awesome.
The sheer number of San Franciscans who ignore Boom outright seems astonishing, but as a BART commuter I understand the tunnel vision down in those stations. And it's not just the Bay -- a Washington Post experiment last year found D.C. Metro commuters rarely stopped to listen to one of the world's top classic violinists, who busked at a few stations.
You'd expect Baron to be more recognizable than a concert musician, but you'd be surprised how easy it is not to look at a stranger's face when they start talking to you at random. But hey Boom!, you can buy me a sandwich! I'm hungry, man.
Elie Seckbach, the Embedded NBA Correspondent, brings his exclusive NBA reporting to FanHouse. Check back here regularly for more videos.
In this video we talk to NBA MVP Kobe Bryant about gang warfare. We also follow up on a report we did a few weeks back on LAPD's Southwest gang unit and the mean streets of South Los Angeles. Around 2:25 into the video NBA star Baron Davis, who grew up in the area, tells us why he never joined a street gang.
There are no videos, there are no pictures. But NBA commissioner David Stern participated in the Olympic torch relay in San Francisco this week, which is interesting for two reasons. The first, from the Sacramento Bee's Ailene Voisin:
My sources informed me - and it was later confirmed by the man himself - that Stern, dressed appropriately in shorts and sneakers, jogged his assigned two blocks on the course that had been altered hours earlier to avoid a potential conflict between protest groups. The very thought of the sweaty, roundish Commish - who tends toward preppy attire when not in a more formal suit - plodding along the streets of The City cracks me up. Had I been warned, I would have staked out a prime viewing spot.
(Weird.) The other thought that comes to mind: Two presidential candidates -- from either side of the aisle -- have either said they would or have called on President Bush to no-show the Opening Ceremonies in Beijing. (Bush has not made a decision yet.) Meanwhile, the commissioner of basketball in America is not only embracing the Games, but it participating in the highly controversial torch relay. It's probably fair to say standing against the Games is politically safe in the United States right about now; Stern has obvious interests in China beyond Team USA's production this summer, but it's still a fairly risky move.
It remains to be seen, however, how far Stern will thrust his league into the limelight/firing line. Team USA star Kobe Bryant has come out in support of aid for Darfur (China's role in Darfur is a serious chit in all these protests) -- can Kobe really be a face of the American Olympic contingent without some sort of inconsistency? We'll see.
The news keeps getting better for Monta Ellis. Originally feared to have suffered a major neck injury when he collided with teammate Brandon Wright earlier in training camp, he was eventually diagnosed with only having a sprained neck. And now, he's officially on his way to getting back on the court. From the San Francisco Chronicle:
A Warriors spokesman said guard Monta Ellis (sprained neck) has received medical clearance to play and that it is now up to Ellis to decide on his return date. Ellis, who experienced tingling in his arms after a scary collision with Wright in Hawaii, declined to answer questions.
I can understand if Ellis wants to take some more time off -- flirting with an injury that was not only potentially career-threatening but also life-altering must have been an extremely disconcerting, to say the least. But assuming he returns in the next week or two, he still has an excellent chance to start this year.
It wasn't too long ago that Don Nelson was hyping Marco Belinelli over Ellis as his choice at shooting guard, saying that Ellis would have to earn minutes as the backup point guard, but oddly enough, it's Ellis' injury that might help his case to start. As Nelson tells Tim Kawakami of the Mercury News, there's just not enough time to get Ellis comfortable running the point, which means he's still the leading contender to replace Jason Richardson at the two.
Remember how Gilbert Arenas said he wanted to save Barry Bonds' record-breaking home run ball from going into the Hall of Fame marked with an asterisk? Well, he's upping the ante ... by offering to give Marc Ecko Barry's 715th home run ball to top Babe Ruth. From Gil's blog:
I have a real big fan in Oakland who caught the 715 ball to beat Ruth. His name is Tom. Whenever we go West, he goes from city to city and travels to watch me play. He's been doing this since I came in the league. He goes to Portland, he goes to Seattle, Golden State, Lakers, Clippers ... he just drives and goes to all of them. Well Tom's brother caught the 715 ball. He said he would give me that ball for free so I could tell Marc Ecko that he can switch out No. 715 for No. 756 and he can mark up No. 715 or whatever he wants to do with that ball, as long as he gives me the 756 ball.
Apparently this Tom fella simply wants 20 pairs of Gil's new shoes in return, which makes me think he (or his brother, I guess) is getting the raw end of the deal. If that's not enough to convince Ecko, Gil also said he's willing to sit down and negotiate (presumably money, and not several thousands pairs of shoes). If he Gil was actually serious, I'm guessing he would have already initiated contact outside of a blog entry, but hey, it makes for good copy on a Monday afternoon, does it not?
Not to be outdone in anything by anyone, Gilbert Arenas is now angling to get involved in the Barry Bonds ball controversy. How? He wants to take this controversial bit of memorabilia off of Marc Ecko's hands and keep it pristine. From D.C. Sports Bog:
"It's history," Gil began. "It's still history. I mean, the guy's a man before he's some big slugger. I mean, how you just going to take what this man's done for his career and, as another man, say 'Hey, you were accused of this, you allegedly did this, I want to take this away from you.' I mean, what if we took away your Ecko company?
Arenas says he'll offer $800,000, which would mean a $50,000 profit for Ecko. Plus he "really wants it," while the designer is just trying to prove a point. Oh, and he's afraid that this is a slippery slope; if, say, they made hyperbaric chambers illegal, someone might want to deface the shoes Arenas wore when he dropped 60 on the Lakers.
Also, the NBA's premier entertainer has vowed to stop himself before saying anything controversial, and instead let loose with the Vonage song. Just another day in Arenasland.
When he jogged out to left field, a video message was played on the scoreboard from Michael Jordan, the National Basketball Association star who has six rings playing for the Chicago Bulls. Jordan congratulated Bonds for his accomplishments.
"Hey, Barry, it's Michael Jordan," he said. "I just want to congratulate you on your historic event. I'm very happy for you. Ever since the first day I saw you in the batting cage, you've been working towards this for a long period of time. So I want to wish you and [wife] Elizabeth and that beautiful girl of yours congratulations. I'm very happy for you."
Barry's got friends ... in high places. Now, if they've already shown Joe Montana and Michael Jordan -- and it doesn't get much bigger than Joe Montana and Michael Jordan when it comes to sports -- it makes me wonder. What could they possibly have in store for 755 and 756???? A message from Babe Ruth? Satchel Paige? Roy Hobbs? How the heck can you top Montana and MJ?
Yesterday was a special day in Oracle Arena, and not just because of the Warriors' epic offense that earned them a seat at the playoff table. It was also Thunder's birthday! The celebration for Golden State's lovably ripped mascot was the highlight of the day. Yeah, there was a game going on with playoff implcations, but the crowd knew from jump what the outcome would be -- facing the Timberwolves without Kevin Garnett was pretty much a guaranteed W ... X, Y, Zzzzzzzzzz.
Thunder's birthday celebrations livened things up, as he invited a veritable "Who's Who" of Bay Area mascots to the arena. Sharkie of the San Jo Sharks, Lou Seal of the San Francisco Giants, and of course FanHouse favorite Stomper of the Oakland A's all stopped by for cake and shenanigans. But guess who else was in attendance? That's right, Thunder's BFFHarry the Hawk flew in all the way from Atlanta ... and boy were his wings tired.
Here's video of Harry's turn during the halftime "Mascot Bowling." His performance earned the loudest cheer of the day ... that is, until the fourth quarter when Adonal Foyle checked in.
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