2 Minutes on the 2007-2008 NBA MVP Race

In the 2007-2008 NBA Season, the one we'll all remember for the Celtics teaming up three superstars for a run at the Championship, the contest for the MVP Trophy was just as hotly contested. The top three contestants, KOBE, GARNETT, and CHRIS PAUL all had an argument for winning. Kobe won.


No, Money Down:
This was one of the hardest MVPs to decide, as far as I could tell there was no front runner by the end of the season! Between the three, I actually thought Kobe was least deserving. What did he do? He rode that "best player in basketball" title to the MVP trophy, but that is not the definition of an MVP. In the "elevates your teammates to a higher level and is a great team player" department, Kobe didn't quite measure up. He was better, ok, better about that than years past, but still sorely lacking compared to the other two would-be MVPs. KG was everything you'd want: Great defense, firey comptietior, and still a "Can score at will guy" if need be. However, should he be downgraded because he didn't mean as much to his team as CP3 did? I'll say sure why not, Cp3 was the mvp.

DoNoUhOh:
This was an incredibly interesting MVP year. Kobe had the stats, the name, the history, the glamour. KG had the attitude, the sheer willpower, the huge improvement to the Celtics, not to mention Bill Simmons trumpeting his cause to millions every week. And then there's CP3. I have to choose him because that's how I roll. Slightly contrary. A hater of Kobe. KG had a bunch of all stars around him on a crazily stacked team that had no resemblance to the team from the previous year. CP3 all by his lonesome made his team good, a small PG playing the role of alpha dog. Nasty and nice. It feels like that was a long time ago and it worries me that Chris Paul, the man with two first names, is doomed to be on a team that isn't good enough for him to make great.

2 minutes on the San Diego Chargers releasing LaDainian Tomlinson aka Damian Thompson aka David Thomas

On Feburary 22, the San Diego Chargers released former NFL MVP LaDainian Tomlinson. Tomlinson was the No. 5 overall pick in the 2001 NFL draft, has made five Pro Bowls, holds the record for most touchdowns in a single season, and has rushed for 12,490 yards with 138 touchdowns in his career.

HighTimeForCrime:
Never in professional sports is releasing a player so cold-blooded as it is in the NFL. This is LaDainian-freakin'-Tomlinson we're talking about. Unfortunately, football fans have such a short-term memory, that it really doesn't matter what he did two years ago, or even last week for that matter. Only what he can do tomorrow. And the reality is that his ability has steadily declined. Problem is that he has refused to acknowledge it and even as recent as the beginning of last season, proclaimed himself the best back in all of football.

MoneyDown:
I think we all ended up disliking what has to be considered either the new LT or the real LT, real because he finally came out of his shell. This was the LT who was past his prime and sulked on the sidelines for two years because Darren Sproles was just the guy who ought to be on the field. We disliked LT for the same reason we disliked Hillary Clinton: a sense of entitlement: "Well I've paid my dues and I ought to get what is coming to me, I earned it!". He really came out as a seemingly selfish kind of guy, isn't that shocking? He was the posterboy of the NFL for being a team player and an overall nice guy, talk about a turn around. Throw in that Americans love a winner and LT could never get over the hump and suddenly you have a guy that no one really is bothered about having been let go.

2 Minutes on Landon Donovan aka Landinho

MoneyDown:
Landon Donovan is an extremely frustrating player to root for. You can just sense his natural talent is just on the verge of bubbling over, and there are what sports fans and commentators like to call “moments of brilliance”, but ultimately, he just does not have the confidence to get over the hump. I see now why we call him a pussy. Like Kobe or MJ, he struggles between the “get your teammates involved” method and “take over a game when you have to” method. Unlike MJ or Kobe, he never figured out how to find the middle ground between the two. He always seems to pass the ball off when he should go for it himself, you can practically see a thought bubble over his head with the words “I gotta be a team player, cause it’s not cool to be a ball hog.”

DoNoUhOh:
Seeing that photo of Landinho breaking Ashley Cole's ankle and jeopardizing Cole's World Cup changed everything. All of a sudden Landon wasn't a huge gaping pussy, afraid of Europe and the rigor of top competition. Unfortunately, I don't think he'll extend his stay. I think he'll return to the comfort of MLS and the fair weather of SoCal. And then I'll hate him again. But until then he is making me proud. See even I, full of irrational and random hatred for so many worthy athletes, am at least temporarily converted by Landinho the great American hope other than Charlie Davies and Tim Howard who remain infinitely more badass than Landon Donovan ever will be.

HighTimeForCrime:
You ever not like someone just cuz of how they look? Well that's me with Landon Donovan.

2 Minutes on Antawn Jamison

Long-time Wizard Antawn Jamison was recently sent to Cleveland in a Trade.

NobleSavage:
I will never forgive Gil for this, seriously. Because of him the Wiz lost Brenda and Caron, two great guys (Brenda because he actually tore dreads free from Etan's oh-so-smug scalp and Caron because he's awesome and the inspiration for this very blog) and now we've sent Jamison to the Cavs, our only true locker room leader. Not only that but we just gifted LeBron a championship...kill me.


MoneyDown:
OK, it's a bit late but NOW I'm really getting the whole "end of an era" feel with this latest Wizards trade. I definitely identified Jamison with the Wiz more than any other player. Gil was way too streaky. Speaking of Gil, I don't like him. I cannot stand behind him in this instance at all. He just plain screwed up and he's an idiot. There have been far too many "Just when I thought DC Sports could not get any worse..." moments in the past year. It's terrific how fickle we sports fans are, a beloved player and city's favorite son going to a rival suddenly renders him a despicable person that we should all loathe.


HighTimeForCrime:
What is there to say? He was the heart of our team, the only guy in pro sports I've ever heard of teams saying "yea, we should trade him for less than he's worth because we want to see him win a championship." Well that's the kind of guy Antawn was...and that's also the kind of shitty situation he was in. That being said, I hope Lebron suffers a career-ending injury because I don't want the Queen to win a championship.

DoNoUhOh:
Our glue guy. Gone. I'm happy for Jamison to be honest. I'm glad he got out. I'm glad he still has time to win. He deserves it. Always classy, always impressively good, never given enough credit for being such a unique player. But he's going to the Cavs. Why the Cavs?! Of all the teams he has to go somewhere where I can't root for him. It hurts. That hurts. I'm going to miss these Wizards, zany and underachieving but always interesting and exciting. Yeah they were depressing this year, and last year, but I bonded with them. They were my Wizards. And now I don't even know who James Singleton is. I'm not sure how to feel right now.

The Seven Player Trade Between the Wizards and the Mavericks

On February 13 the Washington Wizards and Dallas Mavericks completed the first trade of the trade deadline season. The Mavs got Brendan Todd Haywood, Caron Butler and DeShawn Stevenson. The Wizards got Drew Gooden, Josh Howard, Quinton Ross and James Singleton. These two teams are in very different places with the Mavs trying to push themselves over the top to compete in the West and the Wiz trying to start a painful rebuilding process.

2 minutes on the 7-player Wizards-Mavericks deal by HighTimeForCrime

That's it. The end of an era. Ironically, my first post in over a year comes the day after this blog's namesake is traded from the team. I wish him well. He wasted 3 years of his prime on a team that could never take it to the next level. If we were looking for salary cap space, we've got it. We're thinking about the future now, but it just hurts because we have officially moved on. Trying time to be a bullets fan, but it's always about the journey anyway.

2 Minutes on the wizards trade by Money Down:

I was not even aware of this trade and looking it up, it seems very convoluted and it is difficult for me to make a sound judgement on it. If it is based towards rebuilding then it's good. The Wizards seem kinda fucked. Although I don't understand trading Caron, he is our best player, if it's not Jamison. I'm going to have to see what the others say. Haywood never really lived up to his potential, he started to but I'm not sure if he sustained that, I wouldn't be surprised if he didn't. Did we shop Gilbert? Can you trade a player that is currently suspended? I'm sure someone would want him (nice, shootin' Tex).

2 minutes by DoNoUhOh:

The end of an era. A glorious era by the dissappointing standards of the Washingtong Wizards in my lifetime. Our star is suspended indefinitely for breaking gun laws and simultaneously killing our ability to rebuild. Our rock, and the namesake of this blog, is now in another uniform. I'm happy for him. I think he will do well on the Mavs and I'm glad he has a chance to win. I think this will push his game to a new level. I'm happy for my boy Brendan Todd as well. I actually think he is the key to the trade. He can guard big men and randomly score. And he can rebound and block. He's an asset. A, dare I say, underrated asset. Thank you Etan Thomas and your pulled out dreadlocks for making Brendan Todd a man, a man who will end up crushing the Lakers come playoff time.

2 Minutes is Back! Vince Carter.

2 Minutes Is Back!! Topic for 2/14/10, Happy Valentine's Day Everyone:

Vince Carter just dropped 48 I saw in a game. What do we make of him? Like him? Will he actually be a factor when it counts down the road? Or will he disappear like he always does?


-Money Down: VC is the quintessentially bad athlete of this era (tho Wilt Chamberlain wasn't much differnet way back in the day) it's all about me me me and then he craps out when it really counts. I think some athletes can be like that AND still win and also be good teammates. It's tough to do all of that, but Vince Carter doesn't seem like a great teammate. That being said, he might be one of these (like Randy Moss) who will actually be a tremendous asset once he's on a great team, so I can see him helping out the magic in the playoffs. Really, I strongly dislike the Celtics and the Cavs even more, so if it comes down to those top three in the East, I pull for VC and the Magic all the way.

Two minutes on Vince Carter from DoNoUhOh:

Vince Carter is a bitch and always has been. His recent outburst for Orlando is just another example of the reason why the concept of Vinsanity is insanity. It is merely a microcosm of everything there is to hate about Vince Carter. Talented, excited, athletactular? Absolutely. But he disappears frequently, at will, just as he has for the beginning of the season. This is the man who signed a max contract with Toronto after running Tracy McGrady out of town and then proceeded to quit on the team and the city. It is one thing to not have the killer instinct to be the franchise. I'm cool with that. But if you sign a max contract you god damn better go down swinging. It is reprehensible to simply quit on your teammates and your city, especially when the city is so fucking cold.