Paul Pierce Ain't No Gangsta

I did not see the game in question, but the Boston Herald is reporting that Paul Pierce of the Celtics has been fined $25,000 by the NBA for a hand gesture he made toward the Atlanta Hawks' bench during Boston's Game 3 loss on Saturday. It was identified as a possible Blood gang sign, and the league termed it a 'menacing gesture' and so they hit him with a fine.

I only have one question about this: how does *anyone* in the NBA league office know what gang signs look like? Is David Stern or Rod Thorn that well-versed in the street that they're able to identify and then categorize a gang sign? I'm fascinated by this.

Of course, Pierce denies it and says it's something he's been doing all year as a dedication to the team's 'blood, sweat and tears'. Celts head coach Doc Rivers got off this terrific quote that made me chuckle:

“I just don’t know how you interpret what something means if you don’t know what it means.”

I anxiously await Dan Shaughnessey, the uber-white Boston newspaper columnist (Shaughnessey is so white, he makes Vanilla Ice look like Flava Flav), breaking this all down for us.


---JohnnyU

This Just In: Peyton Manning NOT a Robot

This may be really old, but if so I never saw it - Peyton Manning going OFF on his offensive line on the sideline during a game. It kind of made me laugh, mostly because corporate America (and of course Peyton himself) never lets us see this side of #18.




I especially like the way big Tarik Glenn finally has heard enough and tells his QB to go sit his butt back down on the bench. Also, be sure to catch backup QB Jim Sorgi jumping in to Peyton's defense - Dude sure knows what side his bread's buttered on.

It's hard to believe that Peyton and Eli are from the same gene pool. Temperament-wise, they seem *nothing* alike.


-JohnnyU

I Hate the Dentist

I normally don't ever inject any of my own life into this blog, mostly because I figure no one's interested. But a couple days ago, I had a trip to the dentist that is at least worth mentioning.

One of my fillings needed to be replaced, it was discovered during a recent cleaning appointment, and so the dentist said there might be some decay behind the filling that "needed to be cleaned out".

A new appointment was made for several weeks down the road, and that's where I found myself on Thursday of this week.

It was at that point that I heard the two things you never (and I mean EVER) want to hear come out of your dentist's mouth:

1) "I don't think we're going to need to use any anesthetic for this!" (For the record, shouldn't this be the patient's call? My dentist said there was a new tool called the Air Abrasion - which is like a mini-sandblaster, except it's directed into your mouth - which typically isn't a great place to fill up with sand, I've found.) No drill bit, no burr.


At least according to my dentist, this technique could strip away tooth enamel and decay without the use of any type of pain-killer. What I have to say to that: well, you could do a root canal without pain-killers too, I just wouldn't want to.

That led us to the second thing that you never want to hear your dentist say:


2) "Nurse, could you please hand me that instruction book?"

Benny Hill Woulda Loved It

In the UK this week, Her Majesty's Treasury - called the Office of Government Commerce - got embarrassed when their new logo was unveiled and it was met with unintended guffaws.
I suppose no one designing the logo thought to turn it on its side, but the employees at the unveiling spotted it immediately.

What a boneheaded decision that turned out to be.

Manu is Clutch

(Photos by Greg Nelson/Sports Illustrated)

Great photo of Manu Ginobili icing the double-OT win against the Suns on Tuesday night. I don't know if that little Argentinian (he's 6'6", actually) is worth $10 million a year ($9,079,811, actually), but he does seem to make big shots when they need them.

But in this one, Shaq doesn't seem to enjoy Manu's work very much...



---JohnnyU

"Eli & Abby, Sittin' In a Tree..."

So Eli Manning got married over the weekend in Mexico? A couple of things struck me about this story:

1) I was surprised at how NICE the article was - considering that it was published in the New York Daily News, I expected to see an excoriation. Although I suppose winning a Super Bowl for a Gotham City team causes the tabloids to call off the dogs somewhat, hm? I guess so.

2) My second question is, at one point in the story, it is reported:

Some guests estimated the wedding cost Manning around $500,000, a modest sum compared to most celebrity weddings.

Seriously? $500k is a modest sum for a wedding? Just because Tommy Mottola spent $3 million on his 'storybook' wedding to Mariah Carey - so that they could pledge their unending troth to one another, and then get divorced like nine months later, does not (repeat, *not*) make a half-million a 'modest sum'.

One thing I will say is that they look like a happy, normal couple. She doesn't look like she'll become some kind of nightmare - but then, what do I know?

I thought Anna Nicole Smith would keep Bobby Trendy as her decorator forever - so I'm not so trustworthy on predicting things.

I'm Confused

This story, off of FanNation, reports that a league source is saying Brian Urlacher's agents have asked the team if they could explore a trade. Another says Urlacher is threatening to retire because of neck and back problems, a move in which he wouldn't have to repay any portion of the $13 million signing bonus he received in 2003, when he received a nine-year, $56.65 million deal.

So which is it?

Is he hurt so badly that he needs to retire? Or he wants a trade? Those two things seem to be quite mutually exclusive, if you ask me (which you didn't).

Brian Urlacher has always seemed like a fairly good guy, except for those murky circumstances around him getting involved (briefly, of course) with Paris Hilton - shortly thereafter his wife moved out, taking their 3-year old daughter with her.