Kevin Garnett is walking through that door!

Kevin Garnett won't have to work himself to exhaustion anymore.

Let's skip the small talk, get right to it:

KG to Boston is official. For Big Al Jefferson, Gerald Green, Sebastian Telfair, Ryan Gomes, Theo Ratliff, and two first round picks.

I love this trade for Minny. Big Al is ony 22 and came on strong last year - 16 and 11 on 51 percent shooting, and he may have more upside than Dwight Howard. He's The Man now. I've always liked Gerald Green - he hasn't done much, but I remember watching him once in summer league and seeing a little Tracy McGrady. He's not as big or as long, but I really think he could be a great scorer in this league for a long time. He's gonna breakout big-time next season. Bassy's garbage, and Theo Ratliff is a mummy at this point, but he's got an expiring contract that comes off the books after next year. Throw in Corey Brewer - a future star himself - and Randy Foye and you've got yourself a contender down the road.

(Post-post annex: Green did double his scoring average from his rookie to sophomore season, I just realized that. Bill Simmons' dislike for him must've been clouding my thoughts. And Gomes is a nice role player. Just wanted to add that.)

As far as Boston goes...they better win the East next year, and they should be able to compete with San Antonio and Phoenix. One future Hall-of-Famer, one seven-time All-Star who doubles as one of the greatest shooters of all-time, and another five-time All-Star who's one of the best pure scorers in basketball, all in the primes of their careers. And they're all warriors. There's no excuse for them not to win 55 games next year and make a run at the chip.

On the other hand, their window is short, and they just sold their future. In three years, Pierce will be 33, Ticket will be 34, and Jesus S. will be 35, and they'll be looking to clean house and start over again. By that time, Al will be throwing up a 24-12 every night, and G-Double will be good for 25 a night himself. So Boston looks better right now, but Minny will look better in the long run.

Mayweather-Hatton is on. December 8th. In case you didn't know, Hatton is the 43-0 (with 31 wins coming by way of knockout) junior welterweight champion from Manchester, England, considered one of the best pound-for-pound boxers in the world. He beat Kostya Tszyu in June of 2005 and Jose Luis Castillo last month.

You should be a little more familiar with Floyd. He beat Oscar de la Hoya on Cinco de Mayo. He humiliated Phillip Ndou, Diego Corrales and Arturo Gatti; he easily outpointed Zab Judah and completely outclassed Carlos Baldomir; and he defeated Oscar in a split decision that should have been unanimous. He has a perfect record of 38-0 with only one debatable victory: a unanimous decision win over Castillo in 2002, and he won the rematch without controversy. He is the sport's most gifted athlete, with world class hand and foot speed and catlike reflexes. He is a pinpoint puncher and one of the two best defensive fighters in the world (along with Winky Wright). He has won titles in five weight classes and is the undisputed P4P king.

And he'll be facing off against Hatton in a litle more than five months at 147 lbs, for his WBC Welterweight belt. This is a huge fight, two undefeated champs going toe-to-toe. Something's gotta give. How can boxing be dead when fights like this are still taking place? The heavyweight division is dead, but the little guys are alive and well: Floyd, Hatton, Judah, Miguel Cotto, Antonio Margarito, Manny Pacquiano, Jermain Taylor, Paul Williams...only Floyd has even turned 30 yet. Now, the Hatton-Mayweather fight in particular may not be that good of a fight - Hatton is moving up to welterwight, where he struggled in his only fight there against Luis Collazo last year. He really hasn't done much in this country, and he's facing the best boxer alive in his absolute prime. I predict that Hatton steps into that ring on December 8th and realizes he's not up to that level of competition, and that Floyd will get an easy points victory. But you never know. That's why you need to pay your $49.95 (+fees/taxes) and tune in to find out.

Soon I'll be posting my reaction to Bonds breaking the record, as well as my fantast football and NFL preview columns. So that's on deck.

And finally, the great Bill Walsh passed away yesterday at the age of 75 after a long battle with leukemia. The most influential football coach since Vince Lombardi, Walsh laid the blueprint for the NFL we see today: the scripting of the first fifteen plays to start a game and the discovery that you could run an offense based on skill, finesse, and precision are both credited to him. 29 head coaches came from his lineage, and between them they appeared in 17 Super Bowl's with 8 victories. He and his famed West Coast Offense will live on forever through them. He was classy and sophisticated and he built the 49er organization in his image. He won three Super Bowl's in ten seasons and was a genius at evaluating talent. Bill Walsh, gone but never to be forgotten.

Just a few things on my mind

Hey! It has been a while. I have a few thoughts in my head and I plan for you to read it. Starting with, Barry Bonds.

• I am one of those guys watching televised games of San Fransisco Giants games. It is very interesting waiting for this guy to beat the greatest record in baseball. I can see him doing it in Los Angeles, and I hope Dodger fans see it. Wouldn't that be a big slice of ice cream cake for Barry Bonds? If he does it there, (and I believe he has the motivation to do it there) he will be happy and retire at the end of the year.

• Who has it worst? Selig with steroids and Bonds? Stern with the ironically numbered 21 gambling referee? Or Goodell's issue with Vick? I think Stern has the most troubles. Selig can't do anything about steroids. Goodell just has to suspend Vick. Stern has to trace back all of the games in the past couple years that #21 officiated, and many teams should be upset.

• KG is supposed to be traded within the next 48 hours to the Boston Celtics according to reports by foxsports.com. Delonte West, Al Jefferson, Gerald Green, Sebastian Telfair, and possibly an expiring contract from Theo Ratliff. If I was KG, I would do it. Think about it. You have the chance to play with Ray Allen and Paul Pierce. The Celtics would be at the top of the weak Eastern Conference with the Pistons, Bulls, Cavaliers, and possibly Miami Heat. KG, if the Lakers are not going to get you, go to Boston.

• Is anybody watching The Kill Point? It is a new crime drama on Spike TV with Donnie Wahlberg and John Leguizamo. It is a story in which former US soldiers are forced to start a hostage situation in a bank after a failed robbery. Please I beg you all to watch. Try to catch up with the first two episodes somehow. Read the show schedule. The third episode premieres this Sunday at 9 on Spike. Look for previous episodes (encore presentations).

• Smush Parker signed with Miami. Miami said his size, scoring, and defense will help the team. They said his defense. Wow. The Heat are in for a surprise.

• D-Fish is back with the Lakers, and everyone should be happy. With dumped Smush, and got a great veteran and friend. Go Lakers.

To be continued...

B-Hop, Winky, Beckham, and The Crooks

Bernard Hopkins (left) and Winky Wright are no longer the fighters they used to be.

And I'm back. I was burned out like Tarik Glenn last week, but I have returned, refreshed and ready to wax unpoetically. Got some catching up to do.

Caught the Hopkins-Wright fight Saturday night on HBO PPV. It was pretty boring, two old guys grabbing and holding each other all night in a very close match between two even boxers. Two things I'll take away from the fight: Number one, I used to think Hopkins was just a saavy veteran who knew all the tricks and used them to his advantage at every turn, which I have no problem with. But after a B-Hop headbutt in the third round opened up a gash over Winky's left eye, Jim Lampley and Co. made him sound (at least to me) like a flat-out dirty fighter who just knows how to be sneaky. Almost like boxing's version of John Stockton. Made me lose a little respect for him. Number two, I was almost outraged that the judges scored the fight by such a wide margin. One judge gave Hopkins eight rounds, the other two nine. There's no excuse for a professional judge to score that fight that lopsided. I'm just some schmo who who sits up eating cherry turnovers and drinking pink lemonade all day, and even I did a better job of scoring that fight. From my couch, I had it 116-114 Hopkins, six rounds too four with two rounds even. I know it's unpopular to score a round even once in a fight, let alone twice, but that was the kind of fight this was. Nearly impossible to call. Most of the rounds could have gone either way (although I definitely think B-Hop controlled the "championship" portion of the fight, he was clearly the better conditioned boxer, had more in the tank at the end ), and if Winky had gotten the decision, I would have had no problem with that at all. Really, the most fitting conclusion would have been a draw. There was no definitive winner in this fight, contrary to what the judge's scorecards indicated.

Looking forward, those were two future Hall-of-Famers in the ring Saturday, but both of them were obviously past their primes. Hopefully, they'll see the writing on the wall and hang it up now rather than later. Of course, that's not gonna happen. Never does with boxers. The writing will have to jump off the wall and start yelling and screaming at them before they get the picture.

A year from now, we'll see Winky in the ring again, being outclassed by Jermain Taylor in an ill-advised rematch. We'll be shelling out another $49.95 (+fees/taxes) to watch B-Hop get pummeled by some young light heavyweight, as a despondent Lampley calls the action, everyone just hoping that the corner steps in before he ends up irrevocably damaged. And that still won't be enough. With boxers, you gotta bang the point home over and over and over again.

That Team USA scrimmage was pretty competitive. And Durant looked good (22 points on 9-of-14 shooting). Put him down for 22-24 a night next year, he's gonna be better right away than people expect.

David Beckham has come to America...I don't care. He's playing for the hometown Galaxy...I don't care. He made his debut this past weekend...didn't watch it. For him to make soccer important important in this soccer in this, he'd have to be equal to Pele as a player...he's not. Not even remotely (my buddy Marlon said he isn't even one of the ten best players in the world). Look, apparently this Beckham guy is a good soccer player and the most famous athlete in the world. And he seems like a nice guy. But nobody in this country knows him or cares about him. He's not relevant here.

Now, on to the criminals:

Mike Vick = bad man. Allegedly. And now ESPN is reporting that he has been banned from training camp by Roger Goodell. Congratulations, Falcons fans: Joseph Harrington is your new starting quarterback. You must be ecstatic.

I think it's good that dogfighting has been brought to light, now that it's been exposed maybe we can put an end to it. I've read some terrible things about it. Did you know that they starve the dogs to make them more aggressive, or that they kill the losers by hanging, electrocuting, and shooting them, among other methods? It's the highest form of animal cruelty.

And I don't know what to make of this whole Tim Donaghy thing. At the very least, he's totally compromised the integrity of the league. People always joked about the league fixing games and complained about the shaky officiating; this is the worst thing that could have ever happened to David Stern's league. It's gonna hang over every poorly officiated big playoff game like a black cloud for years to come. Look what you've done, Tim Donaghy. I hope you get life in prison.

Rest in peace Big Michael Presley (1987-2007). You will be missed.

Ookie is in trouble

Well here we go. Michael Vick was just indicted for his alleged participation in dogfighting. If proven guilty with three other men, Vick faces six years in prison and over $350,000 in fines.

Oh boy.

This is now serious then it has ever become for Vick. This just ruins the Falcons season. Although he has not been found guilty, the accusations alone will hurt his image for a very long time.

This will be for Vick what Colorado did to Kobe, or what Auburn Hills did to Ron Artest. It labels you as a bad guy. When you get that label, it is very hard to take it off.

The dogfighting operation was said to have began in 2001 as Vick was drafted #1 in the NFL Draft. It was centered on a property owned by Vick which was well protected for outside eyes. Over the years, pit bulls were trained and often starved in order to "make them more hungry for the other dog". 66 dogs were originally seized by authorities, 55 of them being pit bulls. The Bad Newz Kennels purchased pit bulls to be trained as fighters, and in April 2007, 8 were killed because they were not ready to fight. One was reported to have been slammed into the ground.

Ookie, as Vick was referred to in the dogfighting world, was allegedly consulted before a wounded dog who just lost a fight, was doused with water then electrocuted. Other methods such as hanging, shooting, and drowning. Just sick.

Vick is supposed to be the face of Nike Football, and the fan favorite in the NFL. What is he now? Innocent of guilty, he is just sick now.

As a fan of Vick and the Atlanta Falcons myself, I really hope he had nothing to do with it because putting on a red Michael Vick jersey would be a shame.

To be continued...

"Yeah, well, look at me up in here." (Season 4)

This scene always makes me think (and reminds me to do everything I can to stay out of trouble). Can you imagine being in your mid-30's and knowing that you're gonna spend the rest of your life in the can, never again to step outside the confines of a prison? Well, Wee-Bey lives with that reality everyday. Avoiding the death penalty by confessing to numerous murders (including some he didn't commit, in order to shield other members of the Barksdale organization), Bey is serving consecutive life sentences in the pen. And in this scene, Wee-Bey, the consummate soldier, seems to regret for the first time on-screen the deeds that put him in his position. And after listening to some real talk from Bunny Colvin, his son Namond's teacher and a former police major who explains to him that his offspring is not built for the game and attempts to adopt him, he moves to get his child off the corner by taking him away from his lazy, no-good mother. He doesn't want his son to end up like him. There are too many people in real life that are in the same position as Bey, and they all serve as motivation for yours truly to continue walking the straight and narrow. Prison scares the hell out of me. Literally.

(Post-post correction: Watching a re-run of this episode on HBO, I just noticed something: the person who posted this video on YouTube inexplicably cut out a little dialogue of Wee-Bey telling D'londa that his word still carries much weight and can reach her no matter where she is. If you're very observant you may have noticed it, the scene gets a little bit choppy at the point it's left out. It was irrelevant to the point I was making, but I still thought it was something I should point out, just in case you noticed it, and if you didn't, just so you know. See you on Monday.)

"You're a soldier, Bodie."

If the clip didn't make it clear enough for you, if what McNulty told him at the end of the bench scene didn't make it obvious, I'll put it in black and white for you: Bodie Broadus was the game. He embodied it. Fearless, loyal, smart...he was the game. And he went down the only way he knew how, on his corner, gun blazing, dying for what he felt was his, for what he was, for what anyone who ever accepted being walked into a vacant house to be murdered wasn't. Once the s--t was on, his boys ran for their lives. Bodie wouldn't.

"This ain't about ya money, bruh." (Season 3)

In the end, Stringer Bell was a little too smart and cunning for his own good. He played Omar (legendary stick-up artist, the one with the trench coat and shot gun) and Brother Mouzone (Avon's Muslim muscle from New York) against each other in an attempt to eliminate Mouzone, who was protecting Barksdale territory by interfering with the work of Prop Joe's (Joe and Stringer were co-founders of the New Day Co-Op, a partnership between Baltimore's most powerful drug dealers) dealers, terrified by the mere presence of the peaceful-looking assasin. Joe threatened to boot String from the Co-Op if the Mouzone problem was not handled. Naturally, String turns to the art of deception, and tricks Omar into believing that Mouzone was responsible for his lover and partner-in-crime Brandon's (yes, Brandon; no, not a female named Brandon) death (in reality, he was murdered by Barksdale hitmen in retaliation for the robbery of one of the organization's stash houses in season 1). With this misinformation, Omar tracks down Mouzone in his motel room and hits him with a gunshot to the stomach, then aims for the fatal head shot; but before he fires, he realizes through the words of Bow-Tie that he has been duped. Later, he and Mouzone team up and go after Stringer. With a tip from Avon (who has no choice but to cooperate in order to quench the Brother's thirst for revenge and, thus, maintain his standing with his Big Apple suppliers), Omar and Mouzone ambush String at his development site and kill him, as you see above. Notable because Stringer was one of The Wire's major characters, very popular, his death the show's equivalent of Christopher Moltisanti getting whacked on The Sopranos. The most memorable and important scene in the show's history.

"There go a life that had to be snatched, Avon." (Season 3)

Avon Barksdale and Stringer Bell were like brothers. They grew up together, took over West Baltimore together, ran their criminal empire together. Blood couldn't make them any closer. But you see, Avon's beloved nephew, D'Angelo, was also family, his sister's child, and Avon cared for him like a son. Problem is, D was looking at twenty years after being caught by the police while attempting to haul in drugs from New York. And with that prospect (along with his stated desire to leave the game for good and start his life anew) clogging his thoughts, he nearly flipped once and behaved coldly towards Avon in prison, attempting to seperate himself from his uncle, his family, and his past. Afraid that D would turn snitch and bring down the entire organization, Stringer was forced into action. Going behind Avon's back, he arranged for D'Angelo to be murdered and for his death to be made to look like a suicide. Stringer's manipulation goes unbeknownst to Avon until this scene, when he finally confesses to his friend the hard, hurtful truth. A life had to snatched, and String snatched it.

Cut it Short

The 2007 Home Run Derby was a waste of time for me to watch. I mean, no Barry Bonds, no A-Rod, no Miguel Cabrera, no anybody.

The most anti-climactic moment of the derby was when Big Papi, David Ortiz, gave Vladimir Guerrero a bat made out of some kind of "special wood" out of a "special box" and the next few attempts by Vlad ended up in outs. WOOT. What a great bat switch.

The derby wasn't anything like last year. For one, score for the final round was Vlad, 3 Alex Rios, 2. Was that great or what? The first round is the most exciting round because all the players have some sort of stamina.

The MLB needs to cut it short. It is too long. The players work so hard to get out of the first round, then they have nothing to give later. And the whole Kenny Mayne in the bay thing was hilarious because nothing came there. In the whole derby, no balls hit the water. Good thought, but nice try.

I think if you did it like the NBA Dunk Contest, have four really great power hitters. Have A-Rod, Pujols, Howard, and maybe Bonds. Two rounds, more home runs. BINGO! We have have excitement.

Think about it Selig.

Also, can anyone believe Dan Patrick is leaving? WOW.

To be continued...

"The game ain't in me no mo'." (Season 3)

Cutty, the 40's-looking bearded dude who absolutely nails this scene, was a legendary gangster who once popped a guy, then dialed 9-1-1 and told the coppers: "I just shot a n---a, come get him." About to be paroled after a 14-year stint in the can, he was approached by Avon and Wee-Bey (all three serving time at the same prison) about a possible job in the Barksdale organization upon his release, and given a package of narcotics as a little homecoming present. After a brief period working as part of a landscaping crew, he eventually decides to take Avon up on his offer and becomes part of an effective soldiering duo along with Barksdale enforcer Slim Charles. Soon, however, it becomes obvious to Cutty that the game is no longer in him. In his jailyard meeting with Avon, he seemed less than enthused about the job tender. At one point in the meeting, after Cutty implies that his fourteen years in the pen have taken their toll, Avon queries, "But you still a soldier, right?" and is met with pure silence from Cutty, causing the drug lord to worry that the joint may have broken the old-timer. The culmination of Cutty's change comes during the botched hit on two of rival Marlo Stanfield's young dealers, in which he had a point-blank shot at the boy but couldn't bring himself to pull the trigger. But by being man enough to stand in Avon's presence and confess that he blew the shot on the kid, then basically retire from the game right then and there, knowing full and well the risk he was taking (just look at his eyes when Avon lets him know they're all good, he's damn near shocked), he ensured that the respect he had garnered over the years would remain intact. A man in his time, a man today, a man, period.

The Wire

Starting tomorrow, I'll be posting some of my favorite clips from The Wire, undeniably the best show on television, and the subject of one of my earliest posts. I'll have a different clip each day next week. Consider them my favorite five that are available on YouTube, in chronological order of when they happened on the show. But before we get to them, here's a little taste to get you ready:


"Where the f--k is Wallace?" (Season 1)



Where the f--k is Wallace, D'Angelo's young protege, former friend of Bodie and Poot? Dead. A loose end that had to be tied up.


"N---a is you takin notes..." (Season 3)



This is just funny. Why the hell would you take minutes on the kind of meeting these crooks are having? Freakin' Shamrock, what a moron.

Stephon Marbury HIGH AS HELL

Just watch. And enjoy.

Mabuhay!

Great hospitality, great food, great times!

Hey Wilson's World readers! (Wait... readers... nevermind...) Well if you were wondering why I have not posted in two weeks is because I was in the Philippines! It was my first time there and it was truly an experience I won't forget. I am as wide awake as the guy in your work place that does not stop drinking coffee so I will try to get some sleep. Now I know what jet lag feels like.

Anthony, I am back!!!

To be continued...