Josh McRoberts Is Still In The NBA?

As I predicted, kind of, the Pacers would get another white boy on the team by the end of the night. I predicted that it would either be Kosta Koufos or Joe Alexander, but it turns out to be Josh McRoberts. Yep, the same McRoberts that should have went pro out of high school, but went to Duke and collected dust for two years and watched his draft stock plummet. He spent last season with Portland, but mostly on their D-League team roster.

The Pacers obtained McRoberts as a “throw-in” with the Jerryd Bayless/Ike Diogu for Jarret Jack/Brandon Rush trade. I didn’t find out that McRoberts was even involved until I was looking around on the internet and his name was mentioned last.

Josh McRoberts “could” end up being an average player in the NBA, but I am not sure where he will play. He still has one more season of D-League eligibility left, that’s always an option I guess. He grew up in Indianapolis and played at Carmel High School, where he won basically every National Player Of The Year awards you can win. One could assume that with him coming back home, he might be relaxed and play up to his potential.

He has been linked, in the past, with Lauren Conrad from “Laguna Beach” and “The Hills” fame. She is in the picture above with him, but she was too ashamed to be photographed. Sadly, I would also use something to cover my face if I were to ever be in a photograph with Mr. McRoberts…ask me this time next year and I could change my opinion.

A Sports & Entertainment blog that focuses on absurdity in sports, snarky banter, updates on Tim Tebow’s virginity, and decent sports gambling advice.

Song Of The Day – Abba (Take A Chance On Me)

Abba….that’s right! “Take A Chance On Me” is the Song Of The Day for one reason, the NBA Draft is tonight and plenty of teams will take a chance on players and sadly most won’t pan out. Mike & Mike In The Morning likes to play this song a lot around NFL Draft and NBA Draft periods and Greeny and Golic do a little chair dance. I wish I had a camera and I would post a video of me doing a chair dance, ’cause I’m sure it would equal about a million uniques views…minimum.

Abba has always been a guilty pleasure of mine, you try being in a bad mood while listening to “Dancing Queen,” “Waterloo,” or this song. Try it now, play this video and try and hold a frown, it’s impossible.

Here is the video for Abba’s “Take A Chance On Me.”

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Predictions – 2008 NBA Draft

The NBA Draft is Thursday night and like everyone else, I’ve made my predictions. I am getting ready for the horrible suits, the draft picks making David Stern look like Verne Troyer, the analysts faking amazement, a foreign guy being selected in the 2nd round that no one knows, and the New York Knicks making a mockery of the entire process. The talent in the draft is very deep this year, so I am looking for a lot of trades.

1. Bulls – Derrick Rose, Memphis , PG – I don’t see any other scenario that the Bulls will not select Rose. Unless some offer comes available that they can’t refuse, Rose will be back home in Chicago.

2. Heat – Michael Beasley, Kansas State,PF – I know the Heat have been baiting the #2 pick out there to tempt a trade. Whoever ends up trading the Heat for this pick, will pick Beasley. If the Heat decide to keep it, look for either O.J. Mayo or Jerryd Bayless’s name to be called.

3. Twolves – O.J. Mayo, USC, G – Minnesota was unlucky during the Lottery draft, but they could end up with something really nice here. Mayo is a scorer and will help distribute the ball to Al Jefferson, who is bound to have a break-out season.

4. Sonics – Jerryd Bayless, Arizona, G – Bayless is one of those names that is on the rise the week before the draft. He did well in the individual workouts

5. Grizzlies – Eric Gordon, Indiana, G – I was a huge fan of Gordon at the beginning of the college season last year, but then he fell off. I know he had a wrist injury that bothered him, but I think he has a bit of an attitude and didn’t take to Dan Dakich after Sampson was dismissed. He could end up being a Gilbert Arenas-like player, but he could also end up being Shawn Respert.

6. Knicks – Danilo Gallinari, Italy, SF – I know there is history between D’Antoni and Gallinari’s father, but it would be hard for the Knicks to pass up on Russell Westbrook here too. Gallinari would be playing David Lee’s position and we like Lee a lot.

7. Clippers – Russell Westbrook, UCLA, G – The Clippers are in need of a point guard and this seems to be a pretty good fit. They need someone to distribute the ball to a healthy Elton Brand. If Bayless is still here, I could see them taking him or moving up to acquire Bayless.

8. Bucks – Joe Alexander, West Virginia, SF – I know the Pacers would love to have Alexander, but he will not fall to #11. Alexander is a high-energy guy that should play well with Andrew Bogut and Yi.

9. Bobcats – Brook Lopez, Stanford, C – I know Kevin Love is still available, but Lopez would fit with Emeka Okafor a little better. The duo of Okafor/Lopez would be a defensive show every night. I could see them being a David Robinson/Tim Duncan-like duo defensively, but I can see the Bobcats trading this pick since they already have a roster full of young guys.

10. Nets – Kevin Love, UCLA, PF – I know the Nets really like Brook Lopez, but Love isn’t bad for a consolidation prize. His offensive skills could stretch the defense and help Carter and Jefferson get some much-needed points in the paint (We know those boys like to dunk).

11. Pacers – Kosta Koufos, Ohio State, C – The Pacers could be stretching a little with picking Koufos this high, but like him, from what I hear. He had some really good workouts and he finished the season strong for Ohio State with being named NIT MVP. This also fills the “white boy” quotient for the Pacers.

12. Kings – Roy Hibbert, Georgetown, C – The Kings would like to move Brad Miller to PF and by drafting Hibbert, it would help them solidify their front court. In the Western Conference, it is important to have some big bodies clogging the lane, Hibbert is wide enough to cover it himself, as long as Stephen Curry isn’t driving to the hole.

13. Blazers – Anthony Randolph, LSU, PF – The Blazers are not going to keep this pick, so I am picking Randolph to go at the #13 spot. A team that can afford to let Randolph sit on the bench of spend two seasons in the D-League will jump up and pick him. If the Blazers actually keep this pick, they will most likely go International and pick Alexis Ajinca from France. They already have a roster full of young big men and they can wait a few seasons before he comes to the U.S.

14. Warriors – Mario Chalmers, Kansas, PG – By picking Chalmers, the Warriors are saying bye-bye to Baron Davis. They are in need of a point guard since it is very unlikely that Davis will re-sign with the team.

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O’Neal Traded To Toronto – A Pacer Fan Critique

Jermaine O’Neal was traded to the Toronto Raptors for T.J. Ford and the #17 pick in the NBA Draft tomorrow night. O’Neal has been asking for a trade since Isiah Thomas was fired as the Pacers head coach. Last off-season a rumor swirled that he was going to the Lakers for either Lamar Odom or Andrew Bynum, but the Pacers wanted both of them and the Lakers didn’t move forward with the trade. The trade with Toronto could be a good thing for the Pacers, only if Ford stays healthy and the player selected at #17 can step in right away and help the troubled franchise.

Jermaine O’Neal hasn’t been the same since he was involved in the “Palace Brawl” a few seasons ago. After he served his suspension, he wasn’t the same on the court for the rest of that season and last couple years he has been out with various injuries. He is due to make 20+ million each of the next two seasons and the Pacers were smart to make a move for a point guard. Indiana needed to either make a move and trade for a point guard or draft a point guard (who would have either been D.J. Augustin or Russel Westbrook). Augustin is in the same mold as their current point guard Jamaal Tinsley, he can make plays, but either have a consistent jumpshot, same could be said for Ford. The different between Tinsley and Ford/Augustin is that they haven’t been a team disruption off the court. Tinsley will still end up on the team ’cause he has a large salary, but with Ford starting and Tinsley coming off the bench, their backcourt could be pretty nice.

On the Toronto side of this, you have a GM in Colangelo that is used to winning. He plays a faster style of basketball and Jose Calderon seems like a better fit at point guard. The front court of Chris Bosh and Jermaine O’Neal will give the Eastern Conference a migraine. Toronto takes on a huge contract for the next two seasons, but with the addition of O’Neal, if he stays healthy, can cement a playoff spot next season.

I’m not defending Larry Bird as team president, but I have faith that the moves he is making is going to eventually make sense. I admit that the Harrington/Jackson to Golden State for Murphy/Dunleavy still makes no sense, but Jackson was a distraction and they had to package Harrington with him to send him packing.

The color barrier may be broken this year if the Pacers pick another white guy with the #11 or #17 picks tomorrow. I think that Joe Alexander or Kosta Koufos are on their radar, but it isn’t certain that Alexander will be there at #11 or Koufos will be there at #17. If they pick either one, they could actually put a five white guys on the floor at once. Jeff Foster, Travis Diener, Troy Murphy, Mike Dunleavy, and either one of the draft picks. As “America’s White Boy,” it would be a proud moment in white boy history. I am not sure what is up with Bird, but before he came in, the only white boy on the team was either Rik Smits or Detlef Schrempf (Austin Croshere was around, but I choose not to remember his tenure). Larry Bird is down with the white boy and I my friend, am down with Bird.

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Fresno State Has A Baseball Team

When I think of Fresno State, I think of Trent Dilfer and the Jerry Tarkanian. I never associate the school with winning championships, well except the 1998 women’s softball championship (I had to actually google to find that). They won the College World Series tonight against Georgia, 6-1. The Fresno State Bulldogs were 47-31 and had to win the WAC tournament to even make the playoffs. In NCCA Men’s Basketball terms, they were this year’s Mount St. Mary’s, but instead of losing to North Carolina in the first round, they won the whole thing.

Fresno State was actually listed in the Pre-season Top 25, but they started out the season losing 12 of its first 20 games. Injuries plagued them this year and they underperformed, well until the last month when it really counted.

Congratulations to Fresno State, I would have never thought the college could do something that would trump Jerry Tarkanian chewing on a towel.

Everyone Back In The Pile!

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Song Of The Day – War Tapes (Mind Is Ugly)

Here at America’s White Boy, we love emails, love them! We especially love emails from record labels, I still have many record label friends from my time being a music journalist, they are good people. We received an email from Katy from Sarathan Records, an Indie-label in Seattle (we love west coast indie labels). She viewed a few of our “Song Of The Day” posts and thought that we may like a band on her label called War Tapes. We checked them out and yes, War Tapes gets our nod of approval.

War Tapes have toured with Smashing Pumpkins, The Bravery, and currently, Tiger Army. Katy described them as “Interpol meets AFI with a dose of The Cure,” I love all three of those bands. I would also like to add that they sound like Alkaline Trio’s side project, Heavens.” I like their gothic undertone, which is probably the Matt Skiba-esque vocals from the War Tapes lead singer.

We already get a lot of press releases from music labels, but I always read them and love checking out new bands, so keep the emails coming.

Here is the video for War Tapes “Mind Is Ugly”
If you like what you hear, Sarathan Records is giving away a free download of War Tapes “Dreaming Of You”…Click Here to go and download it. Also, check out their Myspace Profile…until next time America.

A Sports & Entertainment blog that focuses on absurdity in sports, snarky banter, updates on Tim Tebow’s virginity, and decent sports gambling advice.

Fantasy God – Ian Kinsler

Today is a sad day here at America’s White Boy, I lost out on the waiver wire to get Ian Kinsler. A team in my 10-team mixed league named “Jay Bruce Is A Baseball God” was higher up on the waiver food-chain and snagged him from me. Ian Kinsler is a top-3 2nd baseman and I’m not sure what could have possibly happened to the fantasy owner who released him mid-season, but I almost got lucky.

To update everyone on the status of my team, I’m currently in 3rd, but there is a 10 point gap between the 1st/2nd place teams and I. I needed Kinsler to really make a push. With Furcal out for the Dodgers, my stolen bases are hurting and Kinsler could have helped me with stolen bases, average, home runs, and total bases.

Ian Kinsler has been a sleeper in the past. He has always been the #2 or #3 guy on the team. This year, Josh Hamilton and David Murphy have broken out to have great seasons so far and Kinsler is staying consistent and will end the season with a little over 20 home runs, around a .300 average, and near 30 stolen bases. He should make the All-Star team, unless guys like Brian Roberts, Dustin Pedroia, or some team that needs at least one All-Star selection bumps him out.

Little known fact, Ian Kinsler is Jewish, and so is Ryan Braun. This could be the time in my lifetime that there are two Jewish ballplayers on the All-Star team in the same year. Hank Greenberg and Sandy Koufax are probably the two best-known Jewish baseball players, but Kinsler and Braun could end their careers in the same breath as those Hall of Famers.

A Sports & Entertainment blog that focuses on absurdity in sports, snarky banter, updates on Tim Tebow’s virginity, and decent sports gambling advice.

Song Of The Day – City And Colour (Comin’ Home)

Dallas Green is probably best known as the lead singer of the band Alexisonfire, but that could change soon. His side-project, City & Colour, released their second LP, “Bring Me Your Love,” and I’m loving it. It’s such a huge change of pace from the fast and aggressive Alexisonfire style, C&C is the calm, more folksy, singer/songwriter style.

Their second single, “Comin’ Home,” has hit the airwaves and should be a hit for Dallas Green. Vagrant Records has a history of taking chances on bands and has had great success. Dashboard Confessional and Saves The Day have both found success on the label and City & Colour should do very well.

Here is the video for City & Colour’s “Comin’ Home.”

A Sports & Entertainment blog that focuses on absurdity in sports, snarky banter, updates on Tim Tebow’s virginity, and decent sports gambling advice.

It’s Been Too Long My Friends…

I just wanted to post a picture of Katy Perry, I still have a crush. Anyways, it’s been too long since I last posted, I’m in the middle of a lot of things and I have had zero time to work on it. I’m in the middle of moving the national headquarters of America’s White Boy to another apartment, plus one of my roommates had to pay her court fines (don’t drink and drive, folks) and she isn’t going to pay the internet bill. So until mid-July, I am stuck using very inconsistent wireless internet. Instead of posting a thousand new posts about things that I would like to talk about, I am going the cheap route and throwing you some bullet-points.

– The Cubs are still awesome
– Whoever the Bulls pick #1, they will wish they had picked the other guy
– Apparently Asian pitchers are never taught to run the bases (Yankees are finding out the hard way)
– If Chris Lofton goes undrafted, it’s a shame
– Rajon Rondo is a beast
– Glen Davis should always keep his shirt on
– Rocco Mediate isn’t a pool cleaner
– Kobe knows how Shaq’s ass tastes
– Carlos Zambrano can feel pain
– Lou Pinella and Ozzie Guillen will put out a rap album and it will be better than the last Jay-Z album (not hard to do)
– Katy Perry shouldn’t marry the guy from Gym Class Heroes, she must not have gotten the memo of my availability
– The new Alkaline Trio album is very good
– ESPN Fantasy Focus Podcast is my new addiction (they read an email of mine last week)
– I did not receive a million dollars from Vince McMahon of the WWE
– Jay Bruce isn’t curing cancer
– Jermaine O’Neal will be traded before the NBA Draft, Pacers will still be bad
– During the NBA Draft you will hear multiple comparisons of European prospects are the next A) Dirk Nowitzki B) Pau Gasol C) Tony Parker, but in fact none will be.
– No one watches the NHL Draft (I actually attended last year’s, so sad)
– Price Fielder, Bartolo Colon, C.C. Sabathia, and Sidney Ponson can win a tug-of-war contest against the entire Tampa Bay Rays 40-man roster
– Gemma Atkinson is a one-percenter
– Kevin Garnett either thanked ‘Sota, as in Minnesota, or he thanked ‘soda,’ which would lead me to believe that he loves Barq’s Root Beer, A LOT!
– Frisky Dingo is hilarious (Boosh!)
– I still don’t know why Soulja Boy and Ice T are yelling at each other, it’s like watching Dustin Diamond yell at one of kids on “Josh & Drake”
– The Josh Hamilton for Edinson Volquez trade will go down as one of the most evenly balanced trades this decade

On a personal note, please let me give everyone a word of advice. Never sign a year lease with two females, they will hate each other within 6-months, the last 6 months will leave you scared of women, annoyed, and without internet.

A Sports & Entertainment blog that focuses on absurdity in sports, snarky banter, updates on Tim Tebow’s virginity, and decent sports gambling advice.

Song Of The Day – The Color Fred (Don’t Pretend)

Fred Mascherino is best known for his work with the group Taking Back Sunday. In late 2007, he released the debut album for his side-project, “The Color Fred.” Needlesstosay, after some success with The Color Fred, he left Taking Back Sunday to focus all his time on the new project. The album “Bend To Break” is doing well and should be touring this summer in support of the album.

The Color Fred is calmer than his work with Taking Back Sunday. He is the lead singer and in TBS he was best known for yelling backing vocals. I think he has something new and refreshing with his new band and I expect some good things in the future.

I think it’s about time for Taking Back Sunday and the former members who left for Straylight Run to do something soon. Taking Back Sunday has a huge audience and Straylight Run’s last album didn’t do very well at all.

Here is a live performance of The Color Fred’s “Don’t Pretend.”

A Sports & Entertainment blog that focuses on absurdity in sports, snarky banter, updates on Tim Tebow’s virginity, and decent sports gambling advice.

Song Of The Day – Rains (Liar)

Rains is a band from Northern Indiana that is bound to do something great in the music industry. They make great story-driven music and they are great guys, a rare combo in today’s scene. They have been recording with the band Evans Blue in Toronto and should be releasing their second album within the calendar year.

I’ve known them for most of my life and they are going to be touring with Ra this summer. Their tour goes from Milwaukee, WI to Jacksonville, FL. If you would like to hear more from Rains, check out their myspace page HERE. They have well over 1 million song plays and get to know them know them before they make it big.

Here is the audio for Rains – “Liar”.

A Sports & Entertainment blog that focuses on absurdity in sports, snarky banter, updates on Tim Tebow’s virginity, and decent sports gambling advice.

Chicago Finds A Coach, Finally

Vinny Del Nego was named as the coach of the Chicago Bulls. It was a long search for Chicago with names like Doug Collins and Mike D’Antoni being lead candidates at one time. D’Antoni took the job in New York and Doug Collins didn’t seem like he wanted to coach. The hire of Del Negro makes sense, but only in Chicago. The Bulls and Bears both have a long history of giving coaches their first chance. They didn’t give him a long contract (2-years) and they didn’t have to pay a huge amount to him, a classic Chicago move. He has never even called a time-out in the NBA as a coach, but for some reason I think that Del Negro will be helpful with some front office decisions, as well as coaching.

I remember when Del Negro was a player in the NBA, he kind of reminded me of Steve Nash. He was never a prolific scorer, even though he had a nice 3-point shot, but he was get in the paint and dish the ball. His style would translate in today’s game more than in the 90s when he played. I found an old youtube video of him, my favorite part is him dishing it off to Will Perdue. If anyone could make Will Perdue look good, it would be Del Negro.I have a few words of advice for Vinny Del Negro. I’m not sure if that hairstyle is going to fly in the NBA. I don’t know how to describe it, but it is blow-dryed and parted in the middle. Looks like he uses the shampoo that gives him extra body. I would lose the hair-dryer and maybe invest in some gel. He kind of reminds me of Fredo Corleone, the weaker brother in the Godfather movies. I hope he doesn’t get whacked in a boat like poor Fredo.

A Sports & Entertainment blog that focuses on absurdity in sports, snarky banter, updates on Tim Tebow’s virginity, and decent sports gambling advice.