Obscure Spotlight: Deivi Cruz

SBM Exclusive: Sports Doppelgangers, Volume 62 – Explaining the Indiana Pacers

Throughout the length and breadth of this NBA season, all we heard about was this vaunted race between the Miami Heat and the Indiana Pacers for the coveted #1 seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs.  For 62 games, the Pacers looked like a championship team waiting to happen. The Pacers were 18-2 in their first 20 games, which included wins over play-off teams such as the Chicago, bulls, Memphis Grizzlies, Los Angeles Clippers, and the West’s #1 seed, the San Antonio Spurs. The Circle City Five reached the 62-game mark sporting a  46-16 mark, which was good to keep them 3 games ahead of the Heat.

But then the wheels came off. Over the last 20 games of the regular season, the Pacers limped to a 10-10 mark, including a 36-point ass-hammering by the Spurs, and a 20-point manhandling at the hands of the very same Atlanta Hawks who look to be taking command of their first-round series with Indiana.

So, what the hell happened? You can get as many different answers to that question as people you ask.  So, I’ve taken it upon myself to offer something you won’t get anywhere else on the web: A Doppelganger-based explanation as to what is wrong with the Indiana Pacers.

1) Luis has been a “Firework”

While there are several theories as to who isn’t performing, you can’t apply any of them to Luis Scola. Unfortunately, you can’t say the same for his doppelganger, Russell Brand. That’s because nobody has given a shit about Brand since he stopped sticking his “firework” into Katy Perry.

2) The Disappearance of “P-Mac” George

I’m not sure why it took until now for me to realize the resemblance between the Pacers’ Paul George and Tracy McGrady, unless it because George lately has been playing like T-Mac, and not the NBA All-Star McGrady was in days gone by. Paul George has been basketball playing more like today’s T-Mac, who is now pitching for the Sugar Land Skeeters in the independent Atlantic League.

3) The Island of Dr. Hibbert

Say what you will, but at some point in the last month, Roy Hibbert went from a potential All-Star center to the chuckling Cosby-esque Dr. Julius Hibbert from The Simpsons, except the doctor never got stuffed twice in one game by Kyle fucking Korver.

4) You Can’t Spell “DissaPPointment” without “P”

Face it, the letter “P” doesn’t bode well for championship hopes. The last time the Pacers won a league title was in 1973 when they topped the now-defunct American Basketball Association. 60 miles to the northwest of Indianapolis lies Purdue University, which despite having won more B1G Ten titles than any other school has yet to win a national championship. Then there’s the Pittsburgh Pirates, who since their last World Series win 35 years ago have only managed four first-round play-off losses.

Obscure Spotlight: Vincent Brisby

Obscure Spotlight: Mark Redman

Rants From the Palouse: My Mariners Home Opener Streak Ends at 22

The Seattle Mariners are my hometown baseball team, they have been since the day I was born and they will continue to be until the day I die. No matter how many 101-loss heartbreaking seasons the M’s put me through, no matter how many times some no body pitcher throws a perfect game against it, this franchise will always be my hometown team. That’s just how it is when you grow up with a father who’s first baseball games were with a franchise that only existed for one year.

I wish I could tell you I remember my first baseball game, but I can’t…because I was merely four months old at the time. It was the Mariners’ home opener that year (April 16, 1993) — that season was also the second time in franchise history that the team finished with a .500 record — and I went to the next 22 home openers; without missing a beat, despite the fact that I go to school 300+ miles east of Seattle.

The Worst Teams Of All Time Part 46. The 1988 Baltimore Orioles

jsportsblogger

This series of articles will celebrate (or laugh at) some of the worst professional sports teams of all time. I will focus on teams within my lifetime so expect the worst from the 1970s to present day.

In blackjack, 21 is a good number. If somehow, you are dealt an ace and a face card or a ten, you win! Plain and simple. If you’re dealt a 21 in Las Vegas, you’ll hit the jackpot. But in 1988, 21 was a bad number for the Baltimore Orioles.

This SI cover says it all.

To start the 1988 season, the Orioles lost 21 consecutive games. In other words, the Orioles needed 22 games before finally recording their first win of the season. It went downhill early and it never went uphill for the rest of the year.

The warning signs were there at the close of the 1987 season, where the…

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Obscure Spotlight: Robert Person

The Worst Teams Of All Time Part 45. The 2013 Houston Astros

jsportsblogger

This series of articles will celebrate (or laugh at) some of the worst professional sports teams of all time. I will focus on teams within my lifetime so expect the worst from the 1970s to present day.

The most shocking statistic the Houston Astros posted in 2013, is that they actually had a six-game winning streak. The least shocking statistic the Houston Astros posted in 2013 is that they ended their season on a 15-game losing streak. To put it bluntly, the 2013 Houston Astros sucked!

Granted, it wasn’t like the Astros were any good in previous years. In 2011, the Astros finished with a record of 56-106. In 2012, the Astros continued to play terrible baseball by going 55-107. But the Astros achieved the impossible in 2013. They were even worse than in the previous two seasons, finishing with a pathetic record of 51-111, the worst record in franchise…

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SBM Exclusive: The BLAST-CAST – Volume 14: Remembering Ralph Wilson

On Tuesday, the NFL lost an important figure, and the story simply isn’t getting the coverage it deserves. To fix that,  Ryan Meehan from East End Philadelphia and J-Dub from Dubsism take a look back at the contributions made to the NFL as we know it by the former owner of the Buffalo Bills, the late Ralph Wilson.

Click here to listen to or download the Blast-Cast (MP3 format)…The Blast-Cast is also available on Itunes; just search “SportsBlogMovement.”

Obscure Spotlight: Bo Outlaw