Thursday, June 5th, 2008
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With the NBA finals starting this week, and everyone in the media (rightfully) talking about the importance of the LA / Boston match up, I decided to do something a little different (but equally important) for my first post here: A list of the top-5 NBA players who kind of look like their mascots. I’m sure that the sports media will agree that this story is of equal significance to professional sports as two of the greatest legacy teams ever facing off in the NBA Finals.
1. Chris Bosh :: The Toronto Raptors
This one is hard to do justice with just an image. To really appreciate Chris Bosh’s dinosaur-likeness, you have to watch him play. He’s got a fierce ability to slash to the basket and an overall bird-like demeanor (and anyone who’s seen Jurassic Park knows that automatically links him with the Velociraptor).
2. Adam Morrison :: The Charlotte Bobcats
I could talk about his aggressive jump shot, his ability to claw to the hoop or his wild ball-handling, but only one word really captures his bobcat-like appearance: whiskers.
3. Bryant Reeves :: The Vancouver Grizzlies
What NBA fan could forget Bryant “Big Country Reeves”? Not since Bill Wennington has professional basketball seen a real-life mountain-man take to the court. He was Paul Bunyan in basketball shoes. And though his size makes him a sure-fire contender for a bear look-alike contest (he’s 7-feet, 275-pounds), it’s his down home, back-country style that really captures the true spirit of the grizzly.
4. Baron Davis :: The Golden State Warriors
April, 2007: The 15 teams of the Western Conference descend upon you. The hard-nose, leave-it-all-on-the-court play of the Warriors point guard in the 2007 playoffs proved that like King Leonidas, Davis wasn’t afraid to stand against the mighty, top-rated Mavericks–the true embodiment of a warrior. The sweet beard helps too.
5. Mark Cuban :: The Dallas Mavericks
OK, I know this one is a little bit of a stretch considering Mark Cuban isn’t actually an NBA player. But, even though he doesn’t actually put on a uniform every night, Cuban’s animated sideline antics and his off-court dealings make him just as much of a player in the league as any athlete. He also bears an eerie resemble to a young Mel Gibson in the movie Maverick.
Tags: Jesse Carey, mascots, NBA, nba players, players
Posted in NBA, Visuals, fandom, sports | 9 Comments »
Wednesday, May 28th, 2008
I teased this last week, and now the time has come to start unveiling the writers who will be joining me as contributors on the site.
When I decided to expand the blog, I targeted writers who I respected for their writing skillz, the books they had authored, the average number of greens they hit in regulation, the connections they had, the number of bible verses they had memorized, and whether or not they could beat the crap out of me.
The Oceanic Six Authors that made the cut are money, and I look forward to collaborating with them to make Prayers For Blowouts a better experience for you, the reader. Some of them will post more than others, and that’s okay by me. I’ve not given them a mandate for how often I’d like them to contribute, I’ve only asked that when they have something to vent or ramble on about sports, that they do it here.
I decided to introduce the writers to y’all alphabetically, so here’s the first two. I’ll share two more on Thursday, and the final two on Friday. Please join me in welcoming them to the team.
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Jason Boyett is a writer, father of two, fanatical flyfisher, fantasy baseball aficionado, and long-time Chicago Cubs fan. Thus he has learned to live with both unbridled optimism (in March, April and May) and hopeless despair (the rest of the year). Jason blogs at jasonboyett.com and the Junky Car Club, and he’s the author of several books including Pocket Guide to the Bible, which you totally should buy for a crazy reduced price here. In his lifetime, Jason has played organized soccer, volleyball, basketball, softball, and flag football. But he plays none of them very well. He’s well-rounded in the most mediocre way possible.
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Though his day job as a Producer for CBN.com and a stint as the former Managing Editor of Relevant Magazine have afforded him minimal time to pursue a career as a professional athlete, Jesse Carey is a regular at Virginia Beach YMCAs where he is known for his blistering hook shot, overly-aggressive boxing out and ability to win the head-game that is three-quarter-court men’s indoor basketball, even when the score board tells a different story.
He’s a fan of the Orlando Magic (he lived in Central Florida after college), New York Jets (his wife is from New York) and the Washington Nationals (the adopted Major League team of his hometown of Virginia Beach). Though he pulls for Duke in NCAA basketball, he would abandon all ACC loyalty to see the ORU Golden Eagles make it past the first round.
His favorite athletes are: Kurt Rambis (and really anyone who wears goggles to basketball in), Dwight Howard, Steve Nash, Joe Namath and Lance Armstrong. He is known to sacrifice his body, his dignity and even long-standing friendships to win a pick-up game.
When it comes to fantasy football, Jesse is not afraid to orchestrate back-room, multi-team, late-night, mildly-complex/sometimes-shady blockbuster trades. Under no circumstances will Jesse ever kick it away in a game of Madden, and he always goes for two, no matter what the logical score outcome dictates the right decision is.
To email him your concerns, complaints, favorite trash-talking quip using the word “pain” (“Next stop on the pain train …” or “Check your value on the Mercantile Pain Exchange”) or interesting fantasy football trade stories, send him a note at jessecarey@hotmail.com.
Tags: Jason Boyett, Jesse Carey
Posted in site news | 1 Comment »
