Hossa Update

Good news. It sounds like Hossa's injury has been downgraded to just a sprained MCL. He will still miss at least a week, but he'll still have almost a month and plenty of games to get used to his new team before the Pens start their playoff run.

Buyers Remorse

Fuck. I hope the Penguins kept their receipt from the Marian Hossa trade. After giving up Erik Christensen, Colby Armstrong(a first round pick in 2001), Angelo Esposito(a first round pick in last years draft), and their first round pick in this years draft to acquire Hossa from Atlanta, The Penguins got a total of 10'12" of ice time out of Hossa before he left in the 2nd period with a knee injury. ESPN is reporting that he has a partially torn MCL. The critics who complained that GM Ray Shero gave up too much to get Hossa kinda have a point now.

Steelers/Blazers/Penguins Update

RIP Myron Cope: 1929-2008. The former Steelers radio announcer died early this morning at 79. Cope's 35 years in the broadcast booth was best known for his catch phrases and the creation of the famous Terrible Towel and was inducted into the National Radio Hall of Fame in 2005. Cope was such a beloved Pittsburgh icon, that when he retired in 2004 the Steelers didn't even attempt to replace his unique voice and style and instead downsized the 3-man announcers booth to just 2 people.



In 1975, Cope created the Terrible Towel by urging fans to bring yellow dish towels to the game to wave in support of the Steelers as they took on the Baltimore Colts. Not long after the Steelers began selling the golden towels with the words "Myron Cope's Terrible Towel" emblazoned on them. Since then, the sale of Terrible Towels has raised millions of dollars for charity.

Blazers

The bad news continues with the Blazers who have fallen to 29-28 by losing 9 of 12 in February and 8 of their last 9. The biggest culprit seems to be shooting, or lack thereof, as displayed by last nights 96-83 loss to the Lakers. Even without Brandon Roy(sprained ankle), the Blazers started out hot, and led by as much as 15 in the first quarter and were up by 7 at the half. But they came out cold in the second half, shooting barely 25% in the second half(36% overall). Even with the poor shooting, the Blazers were able to hang in the game by playing inspired defense and were only down 1 after 3, but in the last 5 or 6 minutes, the Lakers pulled away.

Brandon Roy will also miss tonights games against the Clippers, but my return Friday when they take on the Lakers again, this time in the Rose Garden. James Jones should also return Friday after missing several weeks with a sore knee. Jones' strong shooting(2nd in the NBA from 3 pt range) will be a welcome addition. During the Blazers outstanding December and January, Jones could always be counted on to make big shots to get the Blazers back on track when they hit a shooting slump. If they want any chance at all of making the playoffs, they're going to have to play lights out ball for the next month and a half as they are currently 5.5 games out of the final playoff spot in the West.

Penguins

Finally some good news. The Penguins have been continuing to play great puck(how come you never hear that term? If football and basketball players can play ball, I say hockey players play puck. While we're on the subject, instead of balling, hockey players puck. It's our job to make this mainstream). Despite playing without Sidney Crosby for the last several weeks, the Pens are just one point out of the lead in the Atlantic Division and the Eastern Conference. They geared up for a run at the Stanley Cup yesterday by acquiring Marian Hossa from the Thrashers yesterday before the trade deadline. The move signified to the league that the Penguins aren't looking to win a Cup sometime in the next few years, but are going balls out for it this year. They had to give up alot to get Hossa, as they sent the Thrashers Colby Armstrong, Erik Christensen, last years 1st round pick Angelo Esposito, and a 2008 1st round pick. The fact that Hossa becomes a free agent in July makes the move even gutsier as they will probably have to have a strong playoff showing if the want to convince Hossa to resign.

Hossa will add another scoring threat to already formidable Pittsburgh offense, which in Crosby's absence has been led by another young phenom Evgeni Malkin who has used Crosby's absence to show the league what he can do and with a goal and an assist in last nights 4-2 win over the Islanders, now leads the league in scoring.

Unlike last year, this years defense is also strong. Ty Conklin has used Marc-Andre Fleury's injury to his advantage as well and been playing outstanding defense. He has gone 17-4-5 in Fleury's absence and is going to make it tough for Fleury to get his starting job back if he keeps playing like he did in last nights win when he had 50 saves.

Let Levi Ride!!!

You don't have to read my entire rant here, but at least jump to the last paragraph for the link to sign the petition.

Here we go again. The fucking French are tired of getting their asses kicked every year by foreigners in the Tour de France. Usually this just means that they do everything they can to implicate as many foreigners, and especially that years winner, in doping scandals with their bullshit lab work and defamatory press coverage by French newspaper Le Monde. They failed time and time again with these tactics against Lance Armstrong, and the only reason they've shut up about him is because he threatened to keep coming back and kicking all their girly French asses if they didn't shut the hell up. They managed to succeed against Floyd Landis and stripped him of his title, despite the fact that the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) admitted that the French doping lab fucked up and had no way to determine whether Landis' positive tests were legit or even if they were his samples for that matter.

This year they're taking it a step farther. Last year was perhaps one of the most doping-tainted Tours ever with 3 riders(including pre-race favorite Alexandre Vinokourov, and Michael Rasmussen, who was the overall leader when he was booted by his own team after missing drug tests) and two entire teams dropping out because of doping. It was eventually won by the young Spanish phenom Alberto Contador with his teammate and American legend Levi Leipheimer finishing third and on the podium for the first time in his career. They tried to nail Contador after the tour because his name came up in another doping investigation(a teammate mentioned him once in passing in one phone call), but a judge cleared him immediately. Leipheimer has never been anywhere close to a doping scandal and was once more poised to take a run at the title. The French know that Levi is as clean as they get, so what do they do? The Amaury Sports Organization (ASO) decides to ban his entire team(Team Astana, which he has just joined) from competing in this years Tour(or any of the other premier races owned by ASO). They claim it's because Team Astana had some troubles with doping last year. OK, so "some troubles" might be letting them off the hook, the entire team had to drop out after leader Vinokourov tested positive, but that was before Levi or Contador was on the team. In fact almost all the riders are different from last year, as well as completely new management. Team Astana has also adopted some of the most rigorous anti-doping controls of any cycling team, and spends more on anti-doping than any other pro tour team. The only thing about the team that has stayed the same is their name. It seems pretty obvious that this is nothing more than a transparent childish ploy to keep some of the best riders out of the competition. How can they honestly believe that banning two of last years top three finishers will be anything but bad for the sport. The Tour is by far the most famous of all cycling competitions and is the holy grail for any cyclist because the best of the best compete against each other. If you take the best out of the race, it's just a bunch of dipshits in spandex riding through the mountains. And how would you like to be the guy that wins the Tour without challenging those racers? Wouldn't that be a bit like a normal person winning a gold medal in the Special Olympics?

I know cycling has always been a much bigger deal over in Europe than in the US, but without the relatively recent influx of American interest thanks mostly to Lance Armstrong, there is more money and interest in the Tour de France than ever before, and now they're willing to sacrifice all that out of fear of another American whooping up on their toad eating asses. So heres the deal, check out Levi's website, http://letleviride.com and sign the petition. In fact sign it with every email address you have and spread the word to anyone else who might sign it. Will it do any good? Maybe, maybe not, but it can't hurt.

Clemens Testifies

Roger Clemens and Brian McNamee testified in front of congress this morning regarding Clemens alleged steroid use. I honestly don't give a shit about any of it, but it was on every got-dam channel this morning so I heard some of the testimony. This quote during Clemens opening statements struck me:

"If I'm guilty of anything, it's caring too much. It's being too nice

I don't know if Clemens used steroids or HGH, but at the very least they can get him for perjury now. Clemens has been accused of alot of things, but being too nice certainly isn't on that list. This is a man who said of Hank Aaron, "I wish he were still playing, I'd probably crack his head open to show him how valuable I was." Classy. picked up part of Mike Piazza's broken bat during the World Series and hurled it him as he was running to first base. Clemens claimed he had "mistaken" the bat for the ball and was just trying to throw Piazza out. Thats the best excuse you could come up with? That you thought a long cylindrical piece of wood was actually a small, leatherbound ball?

Pro Bowl recap

Hey how about that, there was a football game yesterday. Every year we get cock-teased by the Pro Bowl before being banished from pro football for 6 months. This year the NFC won 42-30 in a spectacular comeback win over the AFC. I watched exactly one play. I used to get excited about the Pro Bowl because, hey, it is football. And it's the last NFL game until August, so it's gotta be better than whatever else is on television right? Wrong. It sucks. Every got-dam year. This year though, I hit them with a pre-emptive strike and fell asleep on the couch before the game. I woke up sometime in the 3rd quarter to take a leak and got to watch Derek Anderson throw an incomplete pass before falling back asleep.

Weller kicks some ass

I gotta post this hockey action from last night. Craig Weller of the Phoenix Coyotes is a fucking bad ass. Watch him drop 3 guys in under 5 seconds.

I'm taking a break

So it wasn't dream. It actually happened. We saw Eli fricking Manning outplay Tom Brady and Tom freaking Coughlin outcoach Bill Belichick IN THE SAME FRICKIN GAME!! And it was in the Super Bowl against the un-freakin-beatable New England Patriots!! If I was the 1972 Dolphins, I would send invites to your annual "still undefeated" party to Manning, Tyree, Burress, Umenyiora, Strahan, and Tuck. Oh yeah, don't forget Brady, Belichick, and Rodney Harrison. Check out the Reebok perfectville commercial for another take.

One other thing I forgot to mention yesterday. What the hell was Jeremy Shockey doing up in a luxury box during the game? I understand you're hurt and can't play, but shouldn't you at least be down on the sidelines cheering? I guess if my coach gave me an option I'd be up in the box with the chicks and booze too, but I don't think this helps Shockey's image as a bad teammate.

Even with everything that happened in that game, there is one play that still has me shaking my head in disbelief:



Wow. Not bad for a guy that only caught 4 passes all year. This will go down as the greatest catch in Super Bowl history. You have no idea how painful that is for me to say either, since it takes that distinction away from Steeler great Lynn Swann and his catch(es) in Super Bowl X against the Cowboys. I couldn't find video of just the catch, but it's at about the 6'40" mark in this one:



Wow. If that doesn't tell you why Swann got the MVP that game, check out his sideline catch at the 4 minute mark in this one. Or the game-winning catch(4'10")

Anyway, now that football is over, I'm taking a little break from regular posts. I'll still throw up the occasional updates on the Blazers/NBA and the Penguins, and I'll start getting some NCAA action in there too, but for your daily dose of ridiculous shit, you're gonna have to go elsewhere. I'd recommend Kissing Suzy Kolber, Deadspin, and With Leather. Also don't forget about the boys over at Buster Wants to Fish for a little change of pace.

New recommended site

I just came across the Pro Football Talk site. I'm not sure how good it is cause I haven't read much of their stuff yet, but they've got a "Days without an Arrest" counter(on the right side). That alone is worth checking out once a week or so. It's currently at 4 days(way to go NFL!). I wonder what the record is.

Super Bowl Commercials

Overall not a great year for commercials. They've just gotten too hyped and companies are trying too hard. Instead of new creative shit, everyone just goes with the old overdone stuff that we see every year because they're afraid to take any risks. Those are fine for regular commercials, but in the Super Bowl, I want to see some creativity. Talking/dancing animals? getting a little boring(vicious breast-feeding badgers are still funny though). Getting hit in the nuts? OK, so that's still funny, especially when its Justin Timberlake. Carlos Mencia? Never was funny.

Budweiser Rocky Spoof

I like this one, but they should've also used the scene where Rocky climbed a 30,000 foot mountain in the Rocky IV training montage.

Audi Godfather spoof

Another pretty solid movie spoof. The only problem now is that next year we're gonna see 18 shitty attempts to copy the classic movie spoof

Doritos mouse trap

I think this was my favorite. I kept waiting for the guy to end up getting his hand caught in the trap going for the chip, but then BAM! a giant mouse comes through the wall and kicks his ass. Good stuff.

Pepsi with Justin Timberlake

See? celebrity nut violence is always funny

And while we're on the subject of commercials, very few will ever compare to the Office Linebacker commercials from a few years back. Here's an extended version:

And 1

As in 18 wins...And 1 loss. It's a shame that the basketball company already owns the rights to the 'And 1' phrase, or I would totally copyright that shit and make a truckload of money selling t-shirts and bumper stickers and those kick-ass combination keychain/flashlight/bottle-opener's. The Patriots went from being potentially the greatest team in NFL history, to being the answer to a trivia question. They are the first team to ever rack up 18 wins in a season WITHOUT winning the Super Bowl. They could've literally lost 8 regular season games and made the playoffs. They are the team that lost to Eli Manning in his first Super Bowl. That's right, THAT Eli Manning. In just his 4th year in the league, a guy that has been known more for throwing picks in big games and collapsing every December engineered a 4th quarter comeback with less than 3 minutes left to beat Tom Brady and the unbeatable New England Patriots. Eli became the second of the first three quarterbacks taken in the 2004 NFL Draft to win a Super Bowl(our boy Big Ben was the first, Philip "Douchebag" Rivers is still waiting for his ring).

Manning played nearly mistake-free football(even his one INT was more of a fumble by Steve Smith than an INT. The pass was perfect) and looked calm and confident in the pocket and on the sideline. Meanwhile Brady, looking like he was up til 6 am partying with his bloodshot eyes and red face, was getting his ass handed to him by the unstoppable pass rush of Justin Tuck, Osi Umenyiora, and Michael Strahan, and spent most of his time off the field sulking on the bench with his head down. If you didn't know who was who and tried to identify the quarterbacks on the sideline by reputation alone, you would never have guessed that that was the guy who had just won 18 straight games, was dating a Victoria's Secret model and had a baby with a Hollywood actress. You never would've guessed that the guy on the other sideline was the pouty, less-talented baby Manning, who has been routinely criticized for his lack of leadership.

I never thought I'd see the day when I was giving Eli Manning kudos for being the Super Bowl MVP, but there you go. But as good as Eli played, especially in the 4th quarter, lets give credit where credit is due. The MVP belonged to the defense, most notably the 3 defensive ends. Without that defense, Eli could've had 5 4th quarter TD's and they still would've lost by 14 points. Even while rushing 5 or less most of the time, the Giants sacked Tom Brady 5 times. The Patriots offensive line had only allowed 21 sacks ALL YEAR. Justin Tuck had two sacks, 5 tackles, and a forced fumble. Osi Umenyiora had 3 tackles and a fumble recovery. Michael Strahan added 2 tackles and a sack. None of those number take into account the other 10 or 15 times that Brady got knocked down after throwing a pass. I wouldn't have had a problem with David Tyree getting it either. That 3rd down catch on the last drive was one of the most amazing catches I've ever seen. I am still in shock that that actually happened.

Perhaps the best part in my mind is that Bill Belichick lost this game. This is the man who is supposed to be one of the greatest football minds of all time. The word Genius is thrown at this guy without hesitation, yet in the third quarter he let his ego get in the way and it potentially cost him this game. I'm the last guy that will give a coach shit for going for it on 4th down, but that was a flatout horrible call. 4th and 13 from the 31 and you go for it? A field goal gives you a touchdown lead. You can't tell me a 48 yarder is out of Stephen Gostkowski's range. That was just Belichick being too cocky. He was the coach for the undefeated New England Patriots, playing against Eli Manning and the New York Giants. He thought he was unbeatable and was going to prove it once and for all. Unfortunately, he didn't prove it, and when the dust settled, those three points he passed up ended up being the margin of victory for the Giants. One game sent you from being tied with former Steeler coach Chuck Knoll as the only coach to win 4 Super Bowls(serves him right, Belichick doesn't deserve to be mentioned in the same sentence as Knoll). You went from being one of only 3 other teams with 4 Super Bowl rings(49ers, Cowboys, and the Steelers) to still being on the kiddie table list of teams with 3 wins. Which, by the way, thanks to their win on Sunday, now also includes the New York Giants.

So how'd I do on the betting side of the game? The Giants win put me at 8-3 overall picking the playoff games. The prop bets ended up paying out nicely as well:

Giants +12 over Patriots - W: Ha Ha...Suck it Boston
Combined total over 54 points - L: Wow, not even close on this one
Coin Toss Tails - W: I told you tails never fails
Giants win coin toss - W: hells yeah, things are looking up
No on all the pregame pundits picking Patriots to win - W: This was a close one, but Frank Caliendo, the one guy who wasn't an ex-football player or coach knew what was up
National Anthem takes under 1'42" - L: So technically I lost this one, but you wanna hear the best part? I accidentally hit the wrong button and bet the over. I was fucking pissed off, and while I'm watching Jordan Sparks sing it, I'm getting a little more confident everytime she holds a high note an extra beat. It was still way too close to comfort, but then she took like 20 seconds alone on "land of the free, and the home of the brave" to hit the over on this one. Sometimes it's better to be lucky than good.
Joe Buck mentions Peyton Manning over 5.5 - L: I don't think he mentioned his name once during the game, but there were plenty of camera shots of him. Looking back I bet the wrong way on this one. I should've known they wouldn't talk much about Peyton because they wouldn't want to take the spotlight of little brother Eli. Live and learn I guess.
Tom Petty opens with "I won't back down" or "running down a dream" - L: American Girl? Fuck you Tom, these two teams have been battling for 5 months to get here and you honor them with some sappy-ass song like American fucking Girl?
Tom Petty lights up a joint during halftime - L: OK, no surprise here, but at 100/1 odds, it was worth a shot. Can you imagine if you actually won money on Tom Petty lighting up a joint during the Super Bowl? I would be telling that story to everybody I met for the rest of my life.
MVP thanks coach first - L: Technically this bet hasn't settled yet, and I couldn't hear Eli's speech, but I think it was teammates. And rightfully so, the defense won that game.
Giants score first - W: Nicely done Eli
Giants score last - W: Not the way I expected it to play out, but a wins a win
First score is a FG or Safety - W: So pretty much the first 10 minutes of this game went as perfectly as possible for my bets. Giants pick tails and win, go down the field and score a FG. I was 4-0 just like that.
Total FG's over 3.5 - L: The overall lack of scoring cost me here
Patriots don't convert a 4th down - W: If you had told me that Belichick would attempt 2 conversions I probably wouldn't have made this bet, but it worked out.
Manning doesn't throw an INT - L: Steve Smith owes me money on this one. That ball hit him in the hands and he just handed it to Ellis Hobbs
Amani Toomer - total receiving yards is an odd number - L: I blame the refs on this one, they gave a horrible ball spot on one of his catches in the 4th quarter
Wes Welker total receptions over 7.5 - W: easy win here, Welker tied an NFL record with 11 catches
Lonest reception either Plaxico Burress or Jabar Gaffney - L: Kevin Boss got the award for this one.
Patriots have the most turnovers - Push: Steve Smith dropping that pass into Hobbs hands cost me again. DAMN YOU STEVE SMITH!!

So there you have it, 9-10-1 on the picks(10-9-1 on the actual bets though thanks to that Jordan Sparks fuckuplucky mistake) for the week. For the playoffs overall I finished dead on .500 with a 14-14-1 overall.

Super Bowl Betting Extravaganza

Super Bowl weekend. The last weekend of football until next fall(unless you count the Pro-Bowl, but I don't). I'm sure you've heard all the analysis you can stand by now...Patriots are gonna win in a blowout, Patriots are gonna win but the Giants will keep it close, Giants have a chance for an upset. Then there's the QB talk, Eli Manning has finally arrived, is Brady hurt or not, oh look, someone proposed to Brady, blah, blah, blah. We've had two weeks of this shit, lets get to the good stuff.

The Super Bowl is one weekend where you don't have to know shit about football to lose money gambling. Hell you don't even have to care about football, you can bet on just about anything you want. Yeah you can bet on the game itself(I'm taking the Giants +12 over the Patriots*), if you think the Giants can win it outright, you can lay a bet at +375** for them to win. You can bet on the combined final score(I'm saying over 54). But you can do that for any game. You can also bet on plenty of stats-based bets, but those are boring(mine are listed below). This is the only weekend you can bet on the crazy stuff though. Why wait until the end of the game, lets bet on the coinflip. I've got a foolproof system...Tails never Fails(-105). It rhymes, how can it lose? And you know what, I'm taking the Giants to win the coin toss(-105). But why even wait until the game starts? Do you think the entire Fox pregame crew will pick the Patriots to win? I say no(somebody's going out on a limb and taking the underdog), so I'm betting they don't(+130). What about you American Idol fans that tuned into Fox to see the commercials. Guess what? Idol Alumn Jordin Sparks is singing the National Anthem. How long do you think it takes her? I say it's less than 1 minute 42 seconds and I'm putting my money where my mouth is(-115). I know you're thinking that's a stupid bet, but you've got to look deeper. Jordin is still young and not real famous yet, so she's gonna be a bit nervous. You always rush speaking and singing things when you're nervous. If she was a more established prima donna, you'd want to take the over. Not only would she be more comfortable with the crowd, but she'd probably throw a little personal flair into it like a extended high notes and other shit that would eat up extra seconds.

What about during the game? How many times do you think the camera shows Archie Manning? Vegas has the over/under set at 6.5, but I'm not betting this one. I think Peyton being at the game will take some of the spotlight off of Archie, but they may be sitting close enough together that they're both in the shots. Too many variables for me. But I do think that there is gonna be plenty of talk about Peyton Manning, so I'm taking the over(line at 5.5) on Peyton mentions by game announcer Joe Buck(-125).

No on to the halftime show. If I were Tom Petty, what song would I open with. It's gotta be either "I Won't Back Down" or "Runnin' Down a Dream." I'm going with "I Won't Back Down"(+500). Actually fuck it, I'm also laying a wager on "Runnin' Down a Dream"(+400). The beauty of this one is that they're both paying better than +200 so as long as it's one of those two, I come out on top. I'm also laying down a very small wager saying that Petty lights up a joint during the halftime show(+10,000). Surprisingly, thats also the same odds that you'd get betting that Britney Spears streaks during the game. How are those the same odds? Don't you think that there's a much better chance of Petty smoking a doobie? Wait, what the hell am I saying. If Britney wasn't in the middle of an extended "vacation" at her local psych ward I'd totally lay money on that. She's in what Bill Simmons calls the "Tyson Zone" in which nothing she could do would surprise you. As far as I'm concerned there are 3 lifetime members to the Tyson Zone. Mike Tyson(of course, it's his Zone), Tom Cruise, and the latest member is our very own Britney Spears.

The big one is always who will the MVP thank first. There are the obvious choices: God(+250), family(+200), and teammates(+200). The odds say the Patriots are gonna win, which means the obvious choice for MVP is Tom Brady. I don't see him as a big God man, and he's not married so I think family is out. You could go with the underdog and say he thanks no one(+600), but that's a long shot. Teammates is probably the safe bet, but at only 2/1 odds, it's not a good value. Given everything thats happened to the Patriots this year and the way they all stood by Belichick during the Spygate scandal, I'm betting on coach getting thanked first(+500).

Here are my other bets:

Giants score first(+140): Since I'm betting they win the toss, I say they go down and kick a field goal right off the bat
Giants score last(+135): Probably playing from behind, so they'll score and then Patriots run out the clock
1st score will be a FG or Safety(+160): Going with the value bet here
Total FGs by both teams - over 3.5(+150): The Patriots D is good for at least 2 stops in the redzone, so we only need 2 more from either team
Patriots don't convert a 4th down(+135): I don't think this will be a close enough game where Brady has to convert a 4th down late to stay in the game. Beware if they win the toss though, Belichick wouldn't be afraid to go for it on 4th to get the first score.
Manning doesn't throw an INT(+180): He hasn't thrown one yet in the postseason, so I'm taking the value bet here
Amani Toomer - Total receiving yards is an odd number(-105): Why not, I say 47 yards
Wes Welker total receptions - over 7.5(+125): He won't have many yards, but he'll have 8 or 9 quick catches when Moss is getting double teamed
Longest single reception in the game: We're gonna do another double bet. Plaxico Burress(+400) and Jabar Gaffney(+700)
Team with most turnovers - Patriots(+240): Again, sometimes you gotta take a chance on the value bets.

So there you have it. The No Doubt About It, Can't Lose, Way Kick Ass Copperhouse Retirement Plan.

One more side note. If the Patriots lose, you can blame the Boston Globe for jinxing them by pre-selling "19-0: The Historic Championship Season of New England's Unbeatable Patriots". I can't believe I can't bet on how long it takes some Boston masshole to burn down the Boston Globe offices if the Patriots lose. That's just un-American.

*Note: 5 out of 5 doctors recommend NOT following this advice. If you value your money at all, you should seriously consider NOT betting on the advice of an anonymous internet blogger.
**If the odds are listed as a positive number like +375, that means for every $100 you wagered you'd stand to win $375, plus you'd get your original $100 bet back. If it's a negative number like -105, then you'd have to risk $105 to win $100 plus your original $105 back. Of course you can also bet in much smaller increments, like $10.5 to win $10 or something.

Brandon Roy: All Star

Blazers star and reigning Rookie of the Year Brandon Roy managed to pick up first NBA All-Star appearance in just his second year. The selection makes Roy the first Blazers All-Star since Rasheed Wallace in 2001. While there is little doubt Roy has played like an All-Star this year in leading the surprising Blazers, it was still a longshot that he would get enough votes to get a spot ahead of other talented Western Conference guards like Deron Williams, Baron Davis, Tony Parker, and Manu Ginobili. I guess the iRoy Campaign worked.