A Little BS Never Hurt Anybody

Ladies and gentlemen, Bill Simmons wrote the 2nd book that I have ever read front to back...ever...in life. And it was 700 pages. With no pictures! Two things come to mind immediately: First, that reflects terribly on me now that I just read the last couple sentences aloud. And second, that is an amazing feat to keep my attention throughout an entire book. The guy should be celebrated.

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I probably need to say that the book is entitled "The Book of Basketball", which explains why I was able to go to cover-to-cover on that bad boy. Simmons also writes columns for espn.com and hosts a podcast, The BS Report, for those of us too lazy to read. He's a one-man sports empire. So it really was pretty cool to see my illustration up on the BS Report page, which is made available here for your viewing pleasure... http://espn.go.com/espnradio/show?showId=bsreport. (Halfway down on the right) And equally as cool for the shout-out he sent this very site the next day via twitter.

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Speaking of Simmons twitter post, I got a few emails as a result. The guy has over a million followers, so it was pretty effective advertising. However, I recently found a couple of BS-related emails in my spam folder, which I never, ever, ever check. I just delete, automatically. Figured it was a horrible meat, and any folder named after something so awful...nothing good comes from it. Obviously, I was wrong. So for the people out there who emailed and got no response, if you still check this blog (hard to imagine, since you probably think I blew you off), I definitely did not blow you off. Email again. I check spam now.

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So, we've covered a couple topics today. I feel better, hope you do as well. And as always, I like to close with a summary statement that effectively wraps up our time together. This week...eh hem...Thank you Mr. Bill Simmons, for your literary prowess and the fact that your podcasts are free, and kids, always check your spam folder. Good night.

Whistling Bunkers

A travesty. An outright travesty, I tell you. But before I go any further with this, I feel I must inform you, my golf knowledge....not up to par. Pun extremely intended. However, I did grade out at 100 on my golfing final exam. That's right, I took golf in college. Well, half golf...the other half of the semester I teamed with my good buddy Kelvin to form one of the most dominating and dynamic duos ever seen in the great sport of badminton. Back to my original point, my golf instructor was a man named Kwok. He stood 4'10", weighed 97 lbs. if he had a monster breakfast, and spoke very little English...but enough to award me a perfect score on the final, which was simply one swing with a driver. But it went far, and straight. Sounds like 100 to me.
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Now that you know of my extensive golf background, you understand I'm probably not that familiar with many of the nuances and unwritten rules of the game. But whatever. I'm nasty at putt-putt, and feel like I should speak on this situation. How dare the people of Whistling Straits take away the ability of Dustin Johnson....Dutch Fork's own, Dustin Johnson, I remind you...to participate in a playoff for his first major. Admitedly, I may be a tad biased since we did go to the same high school, but still. If it's 400 yards off the course, and people have stood, sat, trampled, had picnics, and in some cases slept on it...and it looks like a patch of dirt...THEN WHY WOULD IT BE A BUNKER?!? Seems a little silly to me, but then again, so does a course named Whistling Straits. My goodness.

Tales From The Couch

Yet another ESPN personality makes an appearance on The Juice. This time, it's a repeat offender. A while back, I did an illustration for ESPN Radio's "Scott Van Pelt Show" featuring Van Pelt and my guy, Ryen Russillo. (Editor's note: The picture routinely airs on ESPN2 weekdays, 3-4 pm...Check it out.) Russillo also hosts "NBA Today", an ESPN podcast that goes heavy into all things NBA. It was a natural match since my life, as it turns out, also revolves around the NBA.
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One of the regular segments on the podcast is Tales From The Couch, when Russillo sets up shop on his sofa with his remote control and notepad, and goes through the 11 or so games on Tuesday nights during the regular season. I felt the segment needed an illustration to really make it the best it can be, especially since this is a podcast and has no visibility requirement whatsoever. So dumb, it's possibly brilliant. But, I did hear the poster is making a permanent appearance at a bar his buddy owns. Actually, now that I think of it, it would probably be a good idea to give you some of the important details of said bar. But seeing as how I have neither the name or location, all I can tell you is to keep your eyes open any time you walk into a bar in the continental United States. Sound advice, regardless of whether you see Russillo and the Crypt Keeper on the wall, or not.

Gotta Be The Shoes...Or The Jet Pack

I figured it was time for a momentary break from all things LeBron and other riveting sports commentary, so that I may post some recent album work I did for my buddy, Pate. The mixtape is called "Take Off in T-Minus" and can be downloaded for your listening pleasure at www.spacehighmusic.com. Check it out.

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Also, before I leave you, I would like to draw your attention to the jet pack our friend is wearing on the front cover. You may notice that it matches the Retro J's on his feet. Just throwing that out there, because I don't believe the good folks at Nike are up on this type of Earth-shattering technology yet. I always pride myself on staying ahead of the curve. And Nike, feel free to send gear for all the free marketing I'm giving you guys...I know how badly you need it.

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That is all for this post. More dynamic sports cartooning coming soon.

The Inception of The Decision

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I knew that hour of nonsense couldn't have been LeBron's idea. It all makes sense now. That Maverick Carter sure is a crafty one. It's been a while since the last post, but I felt a need to wrap up the whole LeBron situation, considering I left you hanging as our hero was just about to decide whether he needed a new suit. Turns out, that decision was made months ago. The only real decision left was which hotel would supply the cabanas? He ultimately decided on The W, you'll be happy to know. As you may remember from the previous post, I said I was enjoying the constant updates from Bucher, Adande, and Broussard. And I was, except when the news broke that this thing was going to culminate with LeBron choosing the sweepstakes winner Bachelor style. That was my saturation point. That and Jim Gray.
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So LeBron took his talents to South Beach, then took some major hits to his "brand". Some, rightfully so, others...not so much. But one thing is for sure, Miami will not miss Dorell Wright at small forward. The NBA has a new villian..."Team Dillinger", as LeBron so eloquently tweeted. While the whole process got a little nauseating at times, it definitely ended with everyone being excited for the season to get underway. EVEN DAN GILBERT.
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(All Caps....get it? Anybody??)

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