Detroit Officially Re-Named "Brawl City"

Words cannot describe this, just watch:


What were you thinking?
1) Candace Parker is awesome
2) Detroit Shock coach Bill Laimbeer has a nice comb over
3) The WNBA just boosted it's number of season ticket holders ten-fold
4) Cheryl Ford can join the "Milton Bradley Club for People Who Get Hurt During Times of Madness," (see Bradley's torn ACL while arguing with umpire)
5) Shock assistant and former Piston Rick Mahorn either pushed or restrained L.A. Spark Lisa Leslie which caused her to fall. If it's the former and Leslie goes to the media angry, uh oh...
6) David Stern is behind this.

Either way, that was awesome.
In other news...

The Cubs have now lost four of five games since the All-Star break, while hitting just .206 accompanied by 13 runs, nine walks and 35 strikeouts. It's no coincidence that these games have taken place on the road. Despite having the third-best overall record in the majors, the Cubs are just 21-30 on the road, second-worst among division leaders. Thankfully I have the solution to the Cubs offensive road woes. On Mac, Jurko and Harry yesterday, Jurko spoke of a time he got wasted before a practice while trying to make the Miami Dolphins team. He was worried that he wouldn't make it through practice, but an experienced teammate told him to just focus on the fundamentals and he'll have the best practice of his life. And by golly that's exactly what happened. Problem solved.

Josh Childress is jumping from the NBA to Europe, not the other way around. If teammate Josh Smith signs elsewhere, Childress would have had a good chance to start next season, but he is taking a 3-year guaranteed contract worth over the $20 million originally expected to play with the Olympiakos of Greece. This comes as a shock to most, but you can't blame the guy. He'll be the best player on his team, earn more money than in the states and he gets to live in Greece for a few years. Despite the language barrier which will likely be troublesome, Smith will become an immediate celebrity. This begs the question, is the NBA entering a dangerous time? With the Euro's worth heavily outweighing that of the dollar, players who cannot get the big-time contracts may start heading to Europe, but it's nothing the NBA needs to be worried about, yet. When players like guard Juan Carlos Navarro and forward Bostjan Nachbar leave for Europe, it's really no big deal. When Childress leaves, it becomes a bigger issue because he's an impact player for an up-and-coming team. In reality, since this is their job, these players value money over competition and Stern can't fix the American economy. But not until an All-Star caliber players leave for Europe does the NBA really need to start fretting. Fortunately for David Stern, the one man who would be crazy enough to do such a thing just signed a six-year $111 million deal to stay in America, Gilbert Arenas.

Finally, I'd like to share my frustration with you on a yesterday's column by Jay Mariotti. Although he's annoying and has a similar case of the "screams" as Steven A. Smith, I have always thought Mariotti to be a great writer with a strong, rational opinion. Although he and Brian Urlacher publicly feuded before, this is just dumb:

"He isn't Butkus. He isn't Singletary. Which means he isn't a legend -- nor will he ever be. Brian Urlacher is a joystick attacker and tireless maker of TV ads at a time when fast and sleek sells, all the more convenient when he's the star of middle linebacker theater in Chicago. But to suggest he's an all-time great is to ignore his performance dips and off-field warts."

Clearly there is something personal behind Mariotti's opening paragraph, but this is simply inaccurate. In eight seasons Urlacher has been to six Pro Bowls and is a four-time First Team All-Pro. In 12 seasons Singletary was selected to ten Pro Bowls and was a seven-time First Team All-Pro. Optimistically, Urlacher can still reach those numbers. In terms of "performance dips," Urlacher has been the cornerstone of the Bears defense since 2000, playing in every game except the seven he missed in 2004. That year aside, he has accumulated over 115 tackles in every season and has eight (eight!) interceptions over the past two seasons. He also had 10 tackles in Super Bowl XLI, by the way. I guess I missed the boat when making commercials was a bad thing and counted against ones legacy. And in terms of "off-field warts," he definitely hasn't had the best showing, but he's never been arrested or sent to jail like other recent Bears. And since when did a players off-the-field image matter when determining onces greatness? MJ? Kobe? A-Rod?!?! Both have had their fair share of nasty events, but in the end, MJ is still the greatest player of all-time, Kobe is currently the best player in the league and once A-Rod hits his 800th homerun, no one will care if there really is a sex-tape or not. The fact is Urlacher is the face of this franchise, has been a top middle linebacker since he entered the league and when you ask a Bears fan to name the best middle linebackers in Bears' history, it's "Butkus, Singletary and Urlacher."