Dallas Mavericks Rick Carlisle Uses Ping Pong Paddle Against Cancer
He Needs You
If your playing in your garage or at your local YMCA, you probably call it ping pong but if your an enthusiast like Rudy J you refer to it as table tennis. Dallas Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle also an avid player is using table tennis to raise money to fight a pancreatic cancer.
Carlisle who in the last 12 months watched as he lost two very good friends, former Detroit Pistons coach Chuck Daly, and Indiana Pacers co-owner Melvin Simon succumbed to the disease. Pancreatic cancer is the most under-screened, but most aggressive form of cancer there is. ‘When the director of the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network, called Carlisle about participating in a fund-raising event, he instantly raised his ping-pong paddle and wanted to do something different from the typical bowling or golf fundraisers.
If you had followed Sports Grind Entertainment for some time you are well aware that the fight against cancer is something that holds deeply to our heart. So if your in the Dallas weekend stop in on the Purple Ping Pong event on Sunday at SMU’s Moody Coliseum from 1-4 p.m. Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for kids 12 and under. Ping-pong tables will be set up on the floor of Moody that will include numerous local table-tennis professionals and Olympians taking part in an invitational tournament in the center of the floor.
There will be 16 celebrity teams including J.J. Barea, Dirk Nowitzki, Jason Kidd, Jason Terry, Caron Butler. Former Rangers Jim Kern and Jeff Russell will participate, as will Olympic gold-medal winning gymnast Nastia Luiken and Carly Patterson.
BLOCK CITY: Your Victim-Troy Murphy
Dwyane Wade, you have been charged with the crime of Representin.
And the verdict is Guilty.
WTF: Steve Nash
Steve Nash Starring In Rudy J's Favorite Show: True Blood
There’s the story of when Jerry West was at West Virginia University and had his nose broken on a play. Barley able to breathe West dribbled over to the sideline and grabbed a towel to whip the blood off his face while continuing to dribble the ball only to go on to score 19 more points in beating the University of Kentucky.
We’ve already seen Phoenix Suns Steve Nash with the bloody nose when he collided with San Antonio Spurs Tony Parker and now comes the bloody lip when his mouth caught the elbow of Indiana Pacers guard Earl Watson and a tooth went through Steves upper lip in the first quarter. Nash received seven stitches; four on his upper lip and three on the inside of his mouth. Nash eventually returned to the game and finished with 20 points, nine assists, and four rebounds and went 1 for 4 from long range.
Jonathan Bender Signs With New York Knicks
Welcome Back
The New York Knicks have signed free agent Jonathan Bender, marking the oft-injured forward’s return to the NBA after a three-year absence.
The 7-foot Bender enjoyed his best season in 2001-02, when he averaged career highs of 7.4 points and 3.1 rebounds in 78 games. But injuries forced Bender to miss 172 games over the next three seasons before chronic knee pain sidelined him indefinitely in February 2006.
Bender was selected out of high school by Toronto Raptors with the fifth overall pick in the 1999 draft and was acquired by Indiana in a trade on Aug. 1, 1999. He formed a relationship with former Pacers president and current Knicks president Donnie Walsh during their time together in Indiana.
Danny Granger Out 4-6 Weeks
Hoopster
The news that Danny Granger will be absent from my viewing pleasure for the next 4 to 6 weeks when I sit and watch the NBA simply gave me the blues. Granger is one of my favorite players in the NBA today and believe he’s a hoopster and I say that with my fan hood set aside. The Indiana Pacers forward has a torn right plantar fascia. The 6-foot-8 forward, who has been slowed by a heel bruise since the preseason, now has a torn right plantar fascia that waas aggravated in the Pacers 88-72 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers on Saturday.
In 17 games this season, Granger is averaging a team-best 24.4 points to go along with 6.1 rebounds per game.
Philadelphia 76ers Seek The Help Of NHL To Help Sell Tickets
Charles Barkley Is Rolling Over In His Grave
This year the city of Phildelphia has seen some all time records for attendence of the Phillies, Eagles and even the Flyers but where is the 76ers? That’s because the 76ers are setting records for attendence but all time lows. The Sixers have the worst attendance mark in the NBA, drawing fewer fans (11,451 per home game), that even trails the winless New Jersey Nets and the often pathetic franchise of the Los Angeles Clippers.
The team is down almost 30 percent from last year, the largest year-over-year decrease in the league.
Comcast which owns the Sixers, the Flyers, the Wachovia Center and the cable network that televises both teams is using the Flyers to help spike the 76ers numbers. Going forward when a Flyer fan purchasestwo tickets to an upcoming game, a pair of Sixers tickets will be included. The Flyers rank No. 3 in NHL attendance and has sold more than 99 percent of its seats through 12 home games. Interestingly, the ad for the Flyers-Sixers combo deal is at the very bottom of the Flyers home page but is at the very top of Sixers.com.
Overall NBA attendance this season is down two percent, but that figure is a little misleading because many teams have slashed prices for less-desirable seats or are just handing out tickets for free. The Charlotte Bobcats gave away hundreds of tickets for the team’s season opener, and earlier this week, the Nets offered two free passes to all of the team’s existing customers for Tuesday’s night game against the Indiana Pacers and still played before a half empty arena.
The San Antonio Spurs are even down 8% from last years numbers at this point.
NBA Attendance Only Down 2% Despite Economy
Est. 1946
It’s fairly earlier so don’t shoot the messenger but the numbers are out for early attendance in the NBA and despite the economy and the earliness of the season they are only down 2% from this point last year. Also the statistic is skewed by two teams, the Philadelphia 76ers and Memphis Grizzlies, who are drawing less than 70 percent.
The 76ers averaged 15,802 in 2008-’09, in five home games this season they’ve averaged 11,377, and are down more than 20 percent of capacity from last year. The Memphis Grizzlies ranked 29th in attendance last year only filling 70 percent of their arena are now only filling 66 percent, only outdrawing the 76ers. The Detroit Pistons have cause for concern, dropping from first in average attendance to 16th, falling 19.6 percent. The Spurs, a team retooled and trying to avenge their first round playoff exit rank 12th but are down 8%
Not all is doom and gloom as the Chicago Bulls are up over 100 percent of capacity after filling 97.7 percent of the United Center last season. The Cleveland Cavilers are in a similar boat, selling out each home game so far after drawing 97.3 percent last season. The Atlanta Hawks have seen significant gains, rising from 89.4 to 95.4 percent. Even the Minnesota Timberwolves fans are showing support no that Kevin McHale is ruining their team by filling their stadium by 8% more than last season.
Source: SportsBusiness Journal
Average attendances and percentage for each team:
| Rank | Team | Average Attendance | % (+/-) from year prior |
| 1 | Chicago | 21,111 | +3.3% |
| 2 | Cleveland | 20,562 | +2.7% |
| 3 | Portland | 20,350 | -.8% |
| 4 | Dallas | 19,823 | -1.4% |
| 5 | New York | 19,625 | +1.7% |
| 6 | Utah | 19,611 | -1.5% |
| 7 | LA Lakers | 18,997 | (no chg) |
| 8 | Boston | 18,624 | (no chg) |
| 9 | Toronto | 18,131 | -3.2% |
| 10 | Denver | 18,039 | +4.3% |
| 11 | Washington | 17,975 | +6.7% |
| 12 | San Antonio | 17,957 | -.8% |
| 13 | Oklahoma City | 17,882 | +.5% |
| 14 | Atlanta | 17,862 | +6% |
| 15 | Golden State | 17,827 | -5.7% |
| 16 | Detroit | 17,541 | -19.6% |
| 17 | Orlando | 17,541 | +2.4% |
| 18 | Miami | 17,421 | -4.1% |
| 19 | Houston | 17,130 | -2% |
| 20 | Phoenix | 16,771 | -9% |
| 21 | Minnesota | 16,088 | +8.2% |
| 22 | New Orleans | 15,156 | -10.5% |
| 23 | New Jersey | 14,919 | -1.4% |
| 24 | LA Clippers | 14,748 | -7.4% |
| 25 | Milwaukee | 14,636 | -4% |
| 26 | Charlotte | 14,633 | +.4% |
| 27 | Indiana | 14,439 | +1.4% |
| 28 | Sacramento | 12,422 | -.9% |
| 29 | Memphis | 12,095 | -3.5% |
| 30 | Philadelphia | 11,377 | -23.7% |
Memphis Grizzlies Sign Guard Jamaal Tinsley
Fraud
The Memphis Grizzlies signed Jamaal Tinsley, the former Indiana Pacers point guard who hasn’t played in nearly two years, the middle of the 2007-08 season, and was told to stay away from the Pacers because of his off the court distractions and his displeasure with his diminished role. He was presumably signed by Memphis to replace Allen Iverson, who is dealing with a personal issue after his displeasure of coming off the bench. That’s what I call irony.
The Grizzlies have already committed their back-court to Mike Conley and O.J. Mayo but are looking for a veteran to rain in the youngsters from time to time. In his seven seasons with Indiana, Tinsley averaged 10.4 points and seven assists. The assists average puts him seventh among active players.
General manager Chris Wallace said the Iverson situation was not a factor in the decision. Liar. His signing could have come four years from now it’s not like general managers where banging on the Tinsley family door asking whats he’s been up too.
Coming out of Iowa State University, Tinsley was originally drafted by the Vancouver Grizzlies with the 27th pick in the 2001 draft and from I saw I thought he had game maybe be some type of Tim Hardaway clone, expect he turned out to be a fraud Tinsley.
Tyler Hansbrough Acting Class
If you don’t know the name J.E. Skeets and The Basketball Jones consider yourself introduced, Skeets (especially, since he also writes for Ball Don’t Lie) and Tas have the Internets best NBA commentary show around, hands down. If you still don’t take the time to get familiar with Skeets then it’s your lost and a major one at that.
The Goon Presents 83 Players From 36 Countries
Est. 1946
David “The Goon” Stern’s 2009-10 NBA season starts tomorrow night with 83 international players from 36 countries and territories on official rosters (active and inactive), matching the record of international players on opening night rosters (2006-07). Twenty-seven of the 30 teams have at least one international player. Boston Celtics, Indiana Pacers, and the Los Angeles Clippers are the only teams without an international player.
The Milwaukee Bucks roster features the most international players with seven. The Charlotte Bobcats, Sacramento Kings and Toronto Raptors each feature five international players. Omri Casspi (Israel) of the Sacramento Kings, Jonas Jerebko (Sweden) of the Detroit Pistons, and Hasheem Thabeet (Tanzania) of the Memphis Grizzlies are representing their countries for the first time on an NBA roster. France has the strongest representation with a record ten players.
At the end of the 2008-09 regular season, the NBA featured 77 international players from 33 countries and territories on team rosters (both active and inactive). In comparison, the NBA had 36 international players from 24 countries and territories in 1999-2000.
“Godfather” can try and take his game to London but when talking global the “The Goon” is got that talk on lock.
Stephen Jackson Says He’s Done, Get Him Outta There
Spit On Your C
Golden State Warriors captain Stephen Jackson has confirmed that he has requested to be traded to a playoff contending team pronto and has provided a list of such clubs.
“Um…I don’t think I’ll be a Warrior next year. I’m looking to leave…at this point, I’m 31 years old. I have four or five years left, I want to be in a situation where I can continually be in the playoffs and get another ring. So that’s where my mind is at now.”
Jackson specifically mentioned Cleveland Cavaliers, any of the three teams in Texas and the New York Knicks as the teams he’d like to play for. I personally didn’t get the memo that the Knicks where a playoff team. It’s a good thing he chose to sign a $28 million dollar extension in November guaranteeing him: $8.4 million in 2010/11; $9.2 million in 2011/12; $10 million in 2012/13
In nine seasons he’s played with the New Jersey Nets, San Antonio Spurs, Atlanta Hawks, Indiana Pacers and the Warriors. But in the past five years Jackson has been charged with felony criminal recklessness and a number of other misdemeanors, including assault, disorderly conduct, and two counts of battery.
Glad to hear just three years removed from the playoffs, two years of missing the eighth seed but two games and nine months after signing your $28 million dollar extension you want to leave.
Reggie Miller Stalking Millionaire Wife
Leave Her Alone
Reggie Miller enjoys the ladies, but apparently he’s been enjoying the married ones. Miller was given a very public dressing down. A banner warning ex-NBA star Reggie Miller off married women was flown over several southern California beaches this weekend. It is not known who forked out for this expensive warning but it comes after Miller allegedly pursued his neighbour Ali Kay – who is engaged to designer Diane von Furstenburg’s son Alex.
According to a restraining order, that was never filed, Miller, who played for the Indiana Pacers, met Ms Kay at a party in July last year. In March of this year he then bumped into her at a grocery store, then waited outside for an hour until she left, before following her up a motorway. He also allegedly harassed her by phone, including sending her 53 text messages over the course of less than four hours.
When confronted by von FurstenBerg, according to the complaint, Miller turned threatening:
“He said he had friends with guns. He implied I would get hurt if I didn’t stop questioning him on his inappropriate pursuit of my fiancée and his attempts to subvert his efforts.”
“I was very upset about Reggie’s behavior towards my fiancée. I think people in Malibu share my views that being a famous basketball player should not provide some sort of shield against inappropriate behavior.
I am sorry something about Reggie Miller of all people saying “he has friends with guns” is utterly hilarious to me.
Leave Me Alone
