State of the Union and bipartisanship

It looks like less than a week after Obama - once again - reached across the aisle and offered to work with Republicans bipartisanship is dead for 2010.

This Mike Luckovich cartoon (editorial cartoonists are geniuses in my opinion) says it all.  And it reminds me that bipartisanism didn't even last until the end of Obama's State of the Union speech, let alone the end of the week.


A couple of issues highlight the Republicans' unwillingness to do anything other than say no.


One, Senate Democrats are quite willing to add money for nukes and some (limited) new off shore drilling in the climate bill in order to get bipartisan support for finally placing a cap - and price - on carbon.  That's generally how Washington works; each side gives a little, and in placing nukes and new drilling on the table, Dems are giving up a lot.  


Those measures should be enough to keep lame Dems like Ben Nelson and even Mary Landrieu happy.  And if they were ideologically consistent, new drilling and money for nukes should also get Rs like John McCain, Lamar Alexander, George Voinovich, George Lemieux, and Richard Lugar to vote with Democrats and pass a climate bill.  However, Senate Republicans are already saying they will vote against the climate bill even if it contains two of their energy priorities in it.  


But as you know, and as the cartoon and other columns in today's Sunday papers point out, Republicans aren't about legislating or meeting challenges.  Their only issue is saying no to Obama, and hoping he and the country fails.


Issue two is believe it not jobs.  Obama said he wanted a jobs bill, the public wants federal action on jobs, and bottom line who is against JOBS!  JOBS!  That used to be something we could agree on (other no brainers: the need for oxygen, stemming uncontrolled bleeding, taking medicine when sick, and saying 'you're welcome' after someone says 'thank you.').  Once again Senate Republicans and unstatesmen like Ben Nelson are to blame, saying deficit reduction is more important than spending money to promote jobs or provide tax incentives to promote new hiring.


It used to be that patriotism was the last refuge of scoundrels.  It's now the second to the last, after saying 'we need to reduce the deficit.'


Ninety-seven percent of federal spending is on defense, social security/medicare/medicaid, and interest on the debt.  Only 3 percent of federal spending is discretionary - done by Congress - for roads, parks, the arts, higher education, and everyone's favorite boogeyman, ear marks.  You can never significantly reduce the deficit by cutting discretionary spending.  That doesn't stop the scoundrels who say the deficit is more important than jobs from leading folks to believe that cutting waste in welfare or the other social services is the way to go.  They are not telling the truth.  If they were serious about reducing our debt they would either 1) cut defense and into the safety net, both politically unrealistic, or 2) dramatically increase revenue.


One way to do that is to substantially raise taxes, or bring in more revenue from increased economic activity like you know, more jobs. 


Three, I rarely quote Jimmy Kimmel but he summed up the State of the Union when he said 'Republicans pointed out that Obama has repeatedly failed to solve any of the problems they created under President Bush.'


On to bipartisanship!

Well, Carolina is back

After what seemed like years in the wilderness, Carolina basketball returned tonight in the unlikely setting of Raleigh, North Carolina.


In defeating NC State, the Heels accomplished a number of things: ended a 3-game losing streak; won their first tough road game; got back into the ACC regular season race; restored some confidence, and built up confidence in the freshman.


But all that pales to the best thing the Heels did - they looked like Carolina.  They were smart, they were poised, they were determined on defense and on the boards.  And best of all, the Heels returned to the tactic that has made them the most successful college basketball program of the modern era: they fed the post and got good shots.


Led by Deon Thompson, who clearly decided to play some inspired Tyler Hansbrough-like basketball, the Heels consistently went down low - and were rewarded almost every time.  It's hard to remember the Heels taking many bad shots.  Deon was aggressive and active, and Ed Davis looked almost as good.  After one bad shot to start the game Easy Ed got into rhythm both offensively and defensively.  


A lot of that credit has to go to Larry Davis, who only had one turnover on the road in a hostile arena.  A great bounce-back game for him in terms of decision making and shot making.  His drive for an old fashioned three-point play to seal the win was fantastic.


And his back up, Dexter Strickland, was simply an assassin. His cold-blooded three with 12 minutes left, his steals that led to fast breaks, his confident play left me giddy.


Thompson, Drew and Strickland led the Heels to victory tonight, but it really was a team effort.  That effort was most evident on the defensive end, where for a key 8-minute stretch the Wolfpack failed to score.   It was empty trip after empty trip for NC State, trips that ended in either steals - by Thompson, Strickland and one of the Wears - or blocked shots by Thompson and John Henson.  


Henson had his best game as a Heel. He flowed, was aggressive and literally created havoc for State with his ball hocking and shot blocking. Henson's effort reminded me of Wes Miller coming off the bench in 2006 at Duke to take over the game during a key but limited stretch of play.


Finally, kudos to 'ol Roy for getting this team's groove back in the last 6 days.  


A great win, any way you look at it, but greater still when you see Carolina winning while looking like Carolina.


GO HEELS!


And Kentucky lost, and we beat the junior tea baggers on their home floor!

Absolutely Terrible Week

I can't think of a week that had so many bad things happen, from the serious to the mundane, in a long, long time.  We lost a beloved colleague at the Sierra Club, the Massachusetts special election, and then the Supreme Court ruling that money is speech.


Not coincidentally, the two worst weeks I can think of involve the Ronald Reagan Memorial, officially known as the Supreme Court. First they let Katherine Harris and the brother of one of the candidates decide who won the 2000 presidential election, then the High Court says money is speech and corporations have the same rights as people.  Those two events are profoundly related; do you think Al Gore would have picked Roberts to replace Rehnquist? 


I wonder if the court ruling means we are going to redistribute the wealth, to ensure that everyone's money and speech are equal. The Declaration of Independence says we're all equal, so it seems if we are sincerely interested in keeping everyone, and their speech, equal we need to start redistributing the wealth right now!


Thanks Chief Justice, or should I say Chief Comrade, Roberts. And salutations to our revolutionary vanguard, justices Scalia, Alito, Thomas, and Anthony Kennedy (who, as the swing vote, is for my money probably the biggest dumb ass in America right now).

Independents

After looking back at my post-Massachusetts post, I'm sticking with my snap analysis. Coakley was a terrible candidate - just listen to her concession speech - and arrogant in her approach to the general.  


But make no mistake - she would have been a lot better than Scott Brown.  Things got much worse yesterday with his election and now every single Republican, even moderates like Olympia Snowe, are emboldened to never work with the President.  


I'm not optimistic about the legislative agenda for the next 10 months.  Republicans will obstruct everything, and they have NO alternative to any of the proposals the Democrats have proposed on heath care or even a jobs bill.  The GOP plan for 2010 is to hope things get worse so they can pick up seats in November.  Bottom line, the grassroots of the Republican party are more interested in Obama failing than solving the problems facing the country.  When you hear McConnell or McCain saying they support a bipartisan approach - to anything - you know one thing: both of them are lying.

I hope Dems pin the loss in Massachusetts to Coakley's arrogance and NOT to a see change among the public regarding Obama or the Democrats.  

Anyway, that's my second draft.

Call the Tailor

First Massachusetts, now this!


After watching Carolina's excruciating home loss to Wake Forest, our third loss in a row, I think it's time to strip the NORTH off our the jerseys.  This year's Heels are simply NOT playing like a Carolina basketball team is supposed to play.


Once again, the Heels displayed a disheartening lack of smarts and savvy.  The Heels were killed by poor shooting; we have no margin for error so an off night by Will Grave meant a long one for Carolina.  Even after netting a few meaningless threes late, the Tar Heels shot only 37 percent.  The Heels took too many jump shots - wing players Larry Drew, Marcus Ginyard, Leslie McDonald and Dexter Strickland were a combined 7 for 30 for 23 percent - and failed to look down low enough.  Feeding the post is text book Carolina basketball, and we did not do that tonight.


But for me the defense was the biggest problem, especially our defense of Ishmael Smith. Smith is a terrible jump shooter, but for most of the game Larry Drew played him tight when he was away for the basket.  Instead of playing off of Smith and preventing penetration, Drew did the opposite.  The result is that Smith spent most of the game driving to the rack for lay ups.  Carolina basketball is above all smart basketball, and Drew was not smart in his defense of Smith.


Bad shooting and bad defense - quite a combo, but to do that at home is doubly bad.  


The defending national champs (we need some perspective here, and 2 championships in 5 years should give Heels fans some comfort when watching this year's team) are clearly suffering.  Halfway into the season Carolina still has not learned how to play Carolina basketball.  Drew is the main culprit, but no one is playing with the confidence and smarts of a quintessential Tar Heels team, including seniors Ginyard and Thompson.  


The good news is the Heels have a six-day break, time for Davis to heal but more importantly time for 'ol Roy and the coaching staff to hopefully coach up this young team.  And hopefully time for the them to earn the NORTH back on their jerseys, in time to make a run at 8 or 9 wins in the ACC and another nice run in the NCAA tournament.

I take it all back

I guess 2009 really did stink.  One year after giddily watching Obama take office it's hard not to be depressed about the way things have regressed in American politics.


There are many ways to explain the Republican win in Massachusetts tonight; arrogance by Coakley, who did not campaign for weeks after winning the Democratic primary to fill Ted Kennedy's seat; anger at the Democratic machine in Massachusetts, where Republicans have won elections for governor arguing that the Bay State needs to be a two-party state; finally, there was a consensus that Coakley was a pretty bad candidate and not nearly as charismatic as Brown.


One ironic aside.  For years, Rs complained that Ted Kennedy was an immoral and godless liberal.  Well, they just elected a dude who posed nude for a women's magazine.


But the details don't matter.  The Massachusetts Senate election will hurt Obama - and health care.  Short term, House Dems will likely pass the weaker Senate health care bill.  Long term, and by that I mean between now and November 2010, who knows how things will play out.


There is sincere anger with Obama from the left for keeping troops in Afghanistan and for not being more of a liberal.  Of course, the president gets it from both sides; the Rs think he has gone too far, though there is no proof of that at all.


I agree with Frank Rich, that the Rs are fighting so hard because they understand the country is demographically changing, and their brand is fading.  Wins like the one in Massachusetts may bolster R hopes for now, but I still think the arc of history should bend towards the Democrats.  Ideally, the Massachusetts election will remind Dems that Obama swept into office from the left.


But for the Dems to succeed in capitalizing on the demographics tilting the American electorate to the left, they will have to stand up to the Rs, tea baggers, Glen Beck, etc. and defend liberalism. Sadly, unless Paul Wellstone gets resurrected, it's hard to see that happening.


However, there is one person capable of doing that, and luckily that person is President Obama.  Let's hope this gets him more fired up and back in campaign mode.  The other good news is that the Republicans still a) have no message besides that they don't like the president; it's hard to win elections without a positive message; and b) their bench is incredibly weak, so the Dems will be running against crazies in some cases this fall.  And as Coakley found out, a weak candidate can undo huge advantages.


Finally, if employment catches up to the economy this summer and fall, fickle Americans will stop being so mad - and perhaps independents will start thinking for themselves - and reward the President for a fixing the economy.


Anyway, this is my snap assessment of the Massachusetts vote.  I'll revisit this Wednesday night to see if I made any sense.


One last word on independents.  Can we start calling them what they really are, which worst case is stupid and best case is a dilettante.  It seems to me that an independent is someone who doesn't follow politics but thinks their disengagement from the process and civic life gives them some kind of clarity of thought.  


When in truth, the opposite is true.  Since they have no core Republican or Democrat values, and they are not paying attention, they fall for the loudest or most charismatic voice.  I'm sure Obama capitalized from this in November, when his energy and vision combined with deep-seeded anger with George W. Bush to carry independents.  But it's also why 12 months later those same independents voted in a knee-jerk reaction for Brown in Massachusetts, and why others tell pollsters they are unhappy with the president.  They see the tea baggers complaining about big government and liberals so they go along.  


Like Homer Simpson (sorry for the insult Homer), there is literally nothing in their heads, no ideology or values - outside of a love for doughnuts and shitty beer - so they go with the loudest and last voice they hear.  Instead of stupid or dilettante I guess DEpendent is more appropriate.  But they are NOT independent.

When will 2006 start?

Is it panic time yet for Tar Heels fans?  Panic is probably too strong of a word for it, but for the first time since when - 2002? - there seems to be cause for serious concern.

In losing to Clemson and Georgia Tech, for the first time in years to both schools, the Heels confirmed that there are some as yet uncorrected – and major - flaws with this team.

Actually, perhaps there is only one serious flaw with one major culprit.  There are way too many turnovers, and I fear that that problem can be laid at the feet of Larry Drew.

To be certain, there are other problems: a lack of assertiveness by Deon Thompson and Ed Davis; nagging off and on injuries to a mix of players; and less than stellar play from Marcus Ginyard. 

Going into this year, Heels fans were looking forward to another giddy, 2006-like ride led by players like Ginyard and Thompson.

But this year’s team is not as competent as the 2006 edition of the Tar Heels. I’ve blogged enough about how Ginyard is no David Noel, as a leader nor as a athlete.  This year’s team also lacks someone like – or specifically – Tyler Hansbrough (Psycho T phone home!), a relentless and consistent talent who assertively carries the team.  Carolina also lacks someone like Reyshawn Terry, and athletic player who could make plays all over the floor.

The good news is that four out of five freshmen – Dexter Strickland, Leslie McDonald and the Wear twins, at least Travis – are getting better.

But most importantly, we don’t have a point guard like Bobby Frasor.  We’ve been spoiled by Raymond Felton and Ty Lawson in the last 8 years, but don’t forget how great Frasor was at running the point in 2006.

Carolina basketball is about playing smart and playing hard.  Though he averaged less than 7 points a game Frasor – the son of a coach – quickly figured out how to run the Tar Heel offense.  Run, run smart, feed the post, move the ball around – do that and you get a good shot.

Unfortunately, Drew still struggles with running a Carolina-style game.  He will eventually figure it out, and he has in games against Michigan State and others this year. But until he consistently does this team will be up and down, from game to game and half to half, sometimes from one TV timeout to the next.

Even though he had 9 assists against Georgia Tech I imagine most of those were not to Thompson and Davis but to the wing and players like Will Graves. The Greensboro junior had a great game, but not just in shooting 3s; he played a total floor game, with good passing and playing defense. Graves seems to be rounding into a legit Tar Heel. Perhaps he will become this year’s Ray Ray?

Back to Drew, who made a number of shaky and un-Tar Heel like plays yesterday, none bigger than his failure to get the ball from Davis with a minute and half left and Carolina clinging to a one-point lead. A point guard has got to, GOT TO, come back and get the ball from a big man. That failure cost Carolina an important possession and helped give the Yellow Jackets the game.

More frustrating than losing is losing when not playing smart, Carolina basketball (go get the ball from Davis!). That was the biggest frustration with the Doherty era; he thought he had to change a philosophy that worked. Fine tune it, sure, but Doherty discarded smart basketball. Roy and Felton restored that, but we are regressing this season.

It sounds like ‘ol Roy and Drew are equally frustrated, and Drew II can turn it around soon. Drew is good. I just hope it happens soon, by Wednesday.

GO HEELS! 

A few random notes

• It’s worth following Bobby Frasor, who is playing professionally in Bulgaria, on Twitter.  His address is BFrasor.
• Felton and his Charlotte Bobcats are quietly putting together a good season.  The Bobcats are 19 and 19 after yesterdays shellacking of the Phoenix Suns.
• Evan and I got to watch the Wizards defeat the Sacramento Kings last night.  Sean May was inactive, but it was still nice to be in the same building with a Star Heel. When will his pro career take off?
• One last thought.  I and others need to stop looking back at 2006, a team with no expectations and therefore no pressure.  This year's team needs to find it's own way and forge it's own identity free of homages to recent Heels teams.

One last Arenas post (but with a Krugman shout-out this time)

I think Gilbert Arenas was incredibly stupid, way to glib about guns and DC gun laws, and probably should have his contract terminated.  But should he go to jail? No.


It's interesting that one of the many backdrops to this story has been hearings held by the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission (chaired by Greek-American Phil Angelidis) regarding bank bail-outs, the mess on Wall Street, and the culture that led to the recent financial meltdowns.  For a more articulate take on Wednesday's hearing, check out Paul Krugman's recent op-ed.


If we're looking to send anyone to jail it should be from Wall Street.  To my knowledge not a single Wall Street banker, etc. has been held responsible for losing trillions of dollars of wealth, wealth from average Americans' pension funds, retirement and savings.  All these losses could have been prevented with more oversight, more responsibility, and more accountability.


If we're looking to send someone scofflaw to jail I say look on Wall Street, not in the Wizards' locker room.*


* Though Javaris Crittendon looks jail-eligible for actually waving a loaded gun in the locker room.  I also believe he once interned at Goldman Sachs, so he'd be a two-fer.

Blog backlog

Lots to post about in the last four days: Carolina basketball, Mark McGwire, and perhaps Gilbert Arenas.


Carolina


After a nice win in Chapel Hill on Sunday against a semi-respectable Virginia Tech squad, the uneven Heels looked as bad as they have in a long time in losing to Clemson on Wednesday.  Perhaps nothing can make a team look younger than a road game in a hostile arena.  And that certainly came true in Clemson.


The Heels looked very good down the stretch against Virginia Tech.  After a tight first half where Malcolm Delaney scored 20 points for the Hokies, the Heels came out the second half with much more intensity.  Injured starter Marcus Ginyard helped but the clamps on Delaney, and the Heels' back court took over down the stretch. Larry Drew II made good decisions, got Ed Davis and Deon Thompson some nice looks, and hit a nice three with the shot clock running down. And Will Graves was perhaps even better. The Greensboro junior hit three 3-pointers, rebounded, and played his best and most complete game as a Heel.  


Dexter Strickland bounced back from a terrible game against College of Charleston to carry the Heels in the first half.  He was aggressive but didn't rush things, a zen-like balance hard to achieve but key to playing basketball and especially point guard at Carolina for Roy Williams.


Unfortunately, Strickland was the only Heel to show up against Clemson.  It's a pretty bad night when a freshman is your most composed - not best but merely composed - player.  The worst part of this loss - and there were many bad parts - was the play of Carolina's veteran players.  Ginyard, Thompson and Drew each had 5 turnovers. That's 15 turnovers from players who are supposed to calm their younger teammates, make plays to stop runs from the other team, and lead the comeback. 


We knew this young team would be raggedy, especially on the road.  But most Heels fans also expected some Noel-like leadership, and that has not happened yet. 


Mark McGwire


I don't want to say much on McGwire.  I have no respect for any player who juiced up.  But unlike players like A-Rod, Andy Petite or evan Barry Bond, who seemed to take steroids or PEDs for a relatively short time, McGwire took steroids for 10 years.  Ten years! 


McGwire was quoted as saying he regrets playing in the steroid era.  Dude - if you took steroids for 10 years you WERE the steroid era.


What a scum bag, another scoundrel to add to the incredible list of All-stars/scum bags: McGwire, Bonds, Petite, Clemons, Sosa, A-Rod, Manny Ramirez.  I wonder if Hall of Fame voters will vote in guys like Bonds and A-Rod since they probably did not take steroids for more than a few years, but I hope guys like McGwire and Clemons never get elected.


Wizards


The Wizards continue to stumble, but that's nothing compared to Gilbert Arenas' problems.  As you probably know, Arenas was charged with a felony gun possession, has plead guilty and reached a plea agreement.  He is scheduled to be sentenced on Friday and could receive a 5-year sentence, though jail time is unlikely.


Pleading to a felony does make it unlikely that Arenas will play again this season, and also makes it easier for the Wizards to void his $110 million contract.  


Arenas is not a thug, just stupid. However, Javaris Crittendon , the other player in this drama, does appear thuggy.  The Post is reporting that in response to Arenas' bad joke Crittendon DID pull out a loaded gun, and cocked in the locker room.  Did that moron actually think he needed to be ready to shoot a teammate in an NBA locker room?  


I'll end on a more positive NBA/Carolina note, actually two.  Antawn Jamison is playing great lately, though the Wizards are 1-2 without Arenas.  I don't want the Zards to trade him, but if they do I hope he goes to the Lakers, Celtics or Cavaliers so he can win a title.


And speaking of Cleveland, 2005 alumnus, 8-20 survivor and national champion Jawad Williams is finally getting some playing time for his hometown Cavaliers.  With Jamario Moon injured the last four games, Jawad has averaged 18 minutes and 8 points while shooting 41 per cent on threes.  

Last Arenas Post?

Another great piece in The Post this morning, this time by Dean Smith biographer Sally Jenkins, about Gilbert Arenas.  She points out, among other things, how Gilbert failed to step up and is even disconnected from his own limbs; Arenas' tattoo of 'Black Rushmore' features two black leaders killed by guns: Martin Luther King and Malcolm X (the other leaders depicted are Nelson Mandela and Obama).  


I don't think Arenas is a thug or bad, just incredibly incredibly stupid.  And like many athletes/celebrities/etc. stupefyingly out of touch with the real world. But Jenkins goes farther to posit that not only is he cut off from the real world, for instance ignorant of things like DC's (appropriately) strict gun laws and insensitive to the  gun violence rampant here, Arenas is out of touch with himself.


Either way, like David Stern said he is unworthy of playing in the NBA.  


I also commend the Wizards of fining four of their younger players - Nick Young, Andray Blatche, JaVale McGee and Randy Foye (who should have known better, the other three seem pretty immature compared to him) - for clowning around with Arenas when he pretended to shoot them during intros in Philadelphia the other night.  Young players - and young people - need to get the message about guns, especially in DC.


The suspension could lead to Washington and the NBA voiding Arenas' contract, so he may have played his last game as a member of the Wizards, probably for this year at least.  


The Wizards starting turning the page last night, removing all Arenas-related merchandise from the Phone Booth and taking down the banner with his name and the caption "Character, Commitment, Connection."


Lucky for the Wizards, they have one player who does epitomize those values, the under appreciated Antawn Jamison.  The Star Heel addressed the crowd prior to last night's game and vowed to 'make this one of the most respected organizations in the league.'  He then backed it up by leading the Wizards to a stirring, 
come-from-behind win over the Orlando Magic, and finished with 28 and 11.  


NBA-favorite player Brendan Haywood also stepped up, playing Dwight Howard to a draw with 18 points (6 for 6 from the line AND the field) and 15 points and a block.


Jamison is Carolina class all the way, and the kind of stand-up brother who could actually lead the Wizards out of the wilderness.  As they did two years ago, when Arenas was out for the season but Haywood was healthy, one can easily see the Wizards come together and make a run to the playoffs.  Their staring five is now Foye, Mike Miller, Caron Butler, Jamison and Haywood, with Earl Boykins, Blatche, Young and Fabricio Oberto coming off the bench.  That's not a bad line up, perhaps one not good enough to scare Cleveland or Boston but certainly one good enough to finish in the top 8 of the weak Eastern Conference (how weak? The Charlotte Bobcats are currently the 7th seed). 


So with Jamison leading the way the Zards could - could - end up turning a horrible and embarrassing season into something positive. 

Terrible Loss to Corrosion of Conformity Tonight

Without Marcus Ginyard and Will Graves the Heels looked incredibly young and inexperienced in losing to Bobby Cremins' College of Charleston tonight. Carolina is not very deep at guard; tonight it showed that our perimeter game has no margin for error, and having Ginyard and Graves out was too much for the Heels to overcome.


It was also a road game, but that's more of an excuse.  The lack of development by Carolina's wings is the big story, for the season thus far and for tonight's loss.


Leslie McDonald had some nice moments, and turned out to be Carolina's third leading scorer.  Then again, with Carolina up 3 with :30 seconds left all that good work was undone by his bad final - and missed - shot.  Drew hit a big 3 late, but made lots of bad decisions throughout the game. Dexter Strickland had a terrible game from any perspective: bad passes, not moving his feet on defense, ill-advised shots, and blown lay ups. Justin Watts made Will Graves look like David Noel, shooting the ball every time he touched it - whether he was open or not.  


But our guard's biggest crime was forgetting to get the ball down low.  When Carolina did, late in the second half, Ed Davis and Deon Thompson were unstoppable. Then we forgot that Carolina basketball means going down low, started making mistakes and taking bad shots, and CoC hit that big three at the end to send it to overtime.


A disconcerting loss any way you look at it, but perhaps not as disconcerting as the fact that 15 games into the season some of the young Heels are actually getting - and playing - younger.  Let's hope Ginyard and Graves - especially Ginyard - return for Sunday's ACC opener versus Virginia Tech.  And that Drew and Stickland mature quickly in practice between now and Sunday.

Arenas, and ESPN looks back at the top players and coaches of the 2000s

I don't have much to add to the completely embarrassing news about Gilbert Arenas.  Tracee Hamilton sums it up pretty well in today's Post.


Talk about the "Curse of Les Boulez" - times two in this case.


One, how embarrassing for a team that used to be the Bullets, a name the late Abe Pollin changed over disgust with gun violence especially in DC but also over the assassination of Yitzak Rabin, to have guns waved in their locker room.  Guns apparently drawn in the locker room by two professional athletes.  Pretty pathetic.


Two, the lame Wizards are now stuck, really stuck, with Arenas.  There is no way they can trade Arenas in an attempt to jump start a team off to a 10-20 so they are on the hook for the remainder of his $110 million contract.  That contract was the original reason he was tough to trade, but who would want a guy who brings - and may wave them around - guns to the locker room.  


Finally, this instance obviously raises serious concerns about Arenas the person.  His professionalism, dedication, and maturity are all in question.  I guess I need to give him and Javaris Crittendon the benefit of the doubt; maybe guns weren't drawn. But either way, Arenas is damaged goods - and I'm not talking about his repaired left knee - and the Wizards are stuck with a player who is NOT the professional and leader they thought they had when Pollin signed him to that mega contract three years ago.


To paraphrase Chief Justice Earl Warren, after reading about man's defeats you can read about man's triumphs at the link below on the best of college basketball in the last decade: Looking back at the top players and coaches of the decade.