This article has been submitted by emerging wine connoisseur Samuel Cassady.

Like in Clint Eastwood films, in the NBA Wild-West, there are the good, the bad, and the Sam Cassell (see here for clarification). The ‘good’ are the Lakers, Suns, Mavericks, Spurs, Hornets, Jazz, Nuggets, Trailblazers, and the Warriors. Some may be better than others, (Portland being on the cusp of ‘good’ because they’re an up-and-coming team) but for the most part, all of these teams are ‘good’ and have a viable chance of winning a title.Then, there are the bad: the Grizzlies, Sonics, TimberWolves, Clips and Kings round out this list. These teams are pretty brutal, and they don’t appear to be turning things around anytime soon. However, they’re not totally hopeless.

The ‘ugly’ is reserved for one team horribly out of place in the West: the Houston Rockets. While the Rockets are light-years better than the Sonics, for example, they have earned the ‘ugly’ status because they stand out so damn much (Think Sam Cassell in a Calvin Klein commercial).

While the ‘good’ Western teams are getting better by rounding out their roster with acquisitions like Jason Kidd (?), Pau Gasol, Damon Stoudamire, and Shaq (Better? Or just fatter…) and the ‘bad’ are busy securing their lottery status, the Rockets appear to be in limbo.
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This article has been submitted by motorcyclist Samuel Cassady.

The Giants won the Superbowl. I was dumbfounded after the game, and over a week later I’m still trying to digest all that beer, Delicio pizza, and the fact that the Patriots lost.

However, there now appears to be an answer: the defensive line. Apparently, the combination of Justin Tuck, Fred Robbins, Barry Cofield, Osi Umenyiora and future Hall-of-Famer Michael Strahan are all you need to win a Superbowl, and, lest we forget: beat the best NFL team ever.

In the wake of a desperate search for answers, the media surrounding the NFL seems to have found a general agreement that the Giants won because of their dominant defensive line. Question asked - solution given. It’s like chemistry! While there were obviously other factors that came into play (luck being a key variable), having a solid defensive front-four and pass rush is now en vogue.
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This article has been submitted bylawn bowling machine Samuel Cassady.

Wow, Jason Kapono can really shoot. And with a career average of 46.7% from beyond the arc, while completing over 51% of his 3-pointers in his last two seasons, Kapono might be the best ever. Reggie Miller only shot a surprising 39% clip for his career. Steve Kerr was 45.4% from 3-pt land, but when you’re talking career averages, those added percentage points become significant. And hey, nothing against Kerr, but playing on those 90’s Jordan teams must have contributed to a few more open looks (his average while playing for the Bulls was 47%).

The point being, Jason Kapono can really shoot. Heading into the All-Star break Kapono looks to defend his 3-pt competition title and if this video is any indication of his preparation and skill-set, Kobe shouldn’t even bother coming out. Yes, Kapono will once again display to the NBA world his quick release, smooth stroke, and ice-cold demeanor, making NBA scouts and GMs collectively scratch their heads as to why they didn’t scoop Kapono up for the mere 5 million per year the Raptors are paying him. That is, all but one GM.

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This article has been submitted by the boy Samuel Cassady aka White Love.

This is an editorial that feeds the wolf. It’s not statistical, it’s not politically correct - it’s probably not correct in any form - and it definitely has nothing to do with the actual art of the game. This article is not about sports, it’s about something better: it’s about the circus!

Sports gives guys (plus a few cool girls) something to think and talk about…other than sex. But what we normally end up talking about when we’re talking ‘sports’ is something far from last night’s scoreboard. Instead, we often end up discussing the side-shows that have combined to create the freak we now call ‘sports.’ Call it a male soap-opera, call it what you want, but here is some commentary that for the most part has nothing to do with sports, here are The ……..-est Players in Sports:
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Note: To try and quench your football thirst on SuperBowl Sunday, I thought The ODC could take a different route and, while everyone else focuses on the SuperBowl, we focus on providing a little hope and something of interest to fans outside of New York and New England. Plus, everyone loves Mock Drafts, and no sports topic is better for debate. So today, we bring you two NFL mock-ups. This one is from Samuel Cassady.
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Note: This article is a collaborative piece from Blake Murphy, Stu Wilkinson, Alex Pennycook, Samuel Cassady, Dave Power, Trevor Smith, Deven Hiscock, and Kyle Norton.

This Sunday while I’m deep into a medium pizza and a pound of wings ($20, Double Double Colossus Deal, what it do!) and an intense NBA Jam Session rematch with Stu (last year I defeated him in my rookie contest, this year we will be posting our box-score and a review article), the rest of the world will be watching the SuperBowl. Have you heard of it? Every television station and website (sports or not) has been covering the event non-stop for two weeks and I’ve actually made an active attempt to limit the amount of football coverage on the site to this Super Article. Upon launch of the site, I e-mailed all of our writers (potential or legit) with five questions they had the option to answer as part of an enormous SuperBowl panel. Well, here is my space- and time-saving brainchild come to fruition, with the responses of eight different writers to five burning SuperBowl questions. All the hype you need in just one article.
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Note: Sam Cassady e-mailed me this piece looking for a response, and I thought I’d throw it up here.

I wonder if Bryan Colangelo regularly sees a fortune teller…

I mean, I liked the Luke Jackson signing before Garbo got injured, but now after the fact, I love it. Like Colangelo said, Jackson is a shooter, and so with Parker experiencing injury issues and Bargnani down, we need a “shooter insurance policy.” Jackson could have nicely fit that bill if needed. But, now that Garbo is gone, Jackson becomes almost a necessity in my opinion. Joey Graham (aka The Lost) can’t really do anything well, shooting included, and Mo is in “slow-Mo” mode right now, so I think Jackson steps right on in to play. Maybe Jackson won’t start - Slow-Mo will be penciled in - but I see Jackson filling a sort of Kyle Korver role for the Raps. He steps in, hits some open shots to expose a defence attempting to double on Bosh. His playing time will mostly be determined by how fluid he is in the offense — let’s face it, the Raptors don’t really play much ‘D.’At worst, Jackson ends up being a very good PJ Tucker (I realize they are totally different players - I’m talking about overall value and potential), but at best, I see Jackson evolving into the player we should have drafted over Araujo (I’ve tried so hard to forget him, I’ve lost the spelling of his horrible name!) in 2004.
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