Bill Simmons actually wrote a follow up saying that as a diehard NBA fan, there was no one happier to be wrong than he. So I'll give him a mulligan. As for the others, F*** O**
Touche! My man Calvin Murphy also disliked or advised against drafting Yao Ming. No thing like serving cold humble pies. I was always excited about drafting Yao but I liked it even more because I was tired of outsiders looking at our city as "soft" city. We showed guts by drafting him with alll the "unknowns" against all odds.
If I remember correctly, Kenny was also a nay-sayer about Ming on draft night. He somehow changed his mind after he saw Ming in the WBC. What a smart dude!
Oh, good, someone else saw that... He said: As one of the 20 diehard NBA fans left on the planet, I don't think I've ever been happier to be dead-wrong about anything than this whole "Yao Ming in Houston" thing. How do you say "Good times" in Chinese? Speaking of Yao, I love when Yao gets quoted in the newspaper through his translator, but they're always ridiculously stiff quotes like, "I talked with Steve Francis after the game, and I told my diminutive 6-foot-1 friend to be more forthcoming with the ball, and that good things would happen, that we would eventually bathe in our own success." http://espn.go.com/page2/s/simmons/021205.html
Who's the best PG ever under the triangle system? Yao Ming was the right pick. But Jay Williams was the right #2 pick too. Jay and Crawford are playing in an offense that kills their game.
WHat the F*** he's a piece of..... Non sense...wonder how he got the job guess he's try to avoid to talk about yao at all cost Jay williams? what has he done good to the bulls thus far? other than that triple double against J-Kidd just go to espn and check out this dude (dick) He's a clown man....and i mean it........ no basketball knowledge what so ever...... FedEx the donkey I really can't hold my anger anymore
This guy is shameless and he's still writing articles he should quit now man he didn't say only once...ok...people make mistakes but he said it twice.....and never say he was wrong...up to now he's one of the worst writer ever boycott dick....
I just fired off this email to Marc Stein, the senior NBA beat writer for ESPN.COM. Mr. Stein, Remember this quote from Dickie V.?? It was on the ESPN site June 21st. "I know Rudy T has made his mind up, and I love his competitiveness. But if he doesn't want to trade Stevie Franchise, he could package Williams in a deal. I still feel that Yao Ming could be the second coming of LaRue Martin, the big man who was a first-round bust of the Portland Trail Blazers in 1972. My gut feeling tells me the Rockets are making a mistake, baby, in evaluating their overall No. 1 pick. Still, Rudy T could shock America by having NBA commissioner David Stern announce Williams' name as the top pick. Then Houston would be moving toward the winner's circle." I think it's time for Mr. Vitale to fess up and admit he was wrong. Do you have any way of contacting him and asking him how he feels about Yao Ming now? Also, please advise him it is incorrect to address Yao Ming as "Mr. Ming" as Ming is NOT his last name. Thank you.
I watched a lot of Duke's games the last few years, Vitale seems to be their official broadcaster or something. His job is to push for NBA talented HIgh school kids to goto college, because the more good players in college, the better the games, and the better the games, the more money ESPN and CBS and other networks shell out for the NCAA games, which also means more money for Vitale in the long run. Vitale is nothing more than a shill for himself, and whatever network is buying his dinner on any particular night. Having said that, Jay Williams is a terrific player who is struggling right now because he is essentially been drafted as the QB for an expansion football team. Yao Ming is developing rapidly because he is a special player, while Jay is only a great one. I watched ALOT of Jay's games, he will be on Bibby's level one day, but he has a HUGE problem at the FT line, I'll bet all Rockets fans just love people with those kind of problems, especially during Championship games LoL
BTW trade Franchise? for who?? Olowonkandi and Darius Miles maybe? sheesh, what big men is worth Franchise even before this season? Vitale needs to get real
Not exactly an apology -- I was hoping for something along the lines of "I'm an idiot, I know nothing about basketball..." But, at least it is an acknowledgement Vitale: Stock's Up for Ming Dynasty "STOCK UP: Yao Ming, Mavs, Ohio State, Carson Palmer I've been surprised with the success of Houston Rockets rookie center Yao Ming lately. Yes, he was shut down by the Clippers on Sunday, but he had a 31-point game earlier in the week, plus a 20-point effort in which he went 9-for-9, leading Charles Barkley to kiss Kenny Smith's "ass" (which turned out to be a donkey). " Frickin Vitale...must of had to do a LOT of research to find out Mavs (undefeated at the time), Ohio State, and Carson Palmer are doing well.
"but he had a 31-point game earlier in the week" wow. 31. this dick just made a career high out of yao. amazing that espn hasn't noticed this.
first, there shall be no dissing of bill simmons. he's the funniest sportswriter ever and has provided so many good columns of reading one wrong opinion can't undo that. also, he admitted he was wrong. and whoever said he wasn't a hardcore nba fan, you obviously haven't read his columns, he loves the nba, which is something rare to find in sportswriters. as for vitale, he had an opinion. someone told him to write about that opinion. it now appears extremely wrong, wrong, wrong, and a little bit more wrong. however, some of y'all act like he shot a close relative or something. he's more personality than knowledge anyway and that personality has taken him a long way, so it's hard to argue with his style. not sure why i'm defending him, it just seems he's always unnecessarily hated on. maybe it's just because i like duke bball and can tolerate his blatant duke homerism. edit: although i will say his francis trade proposal was extremely stupid (maybe dumber than his yao opinion). francis for experienced help. umm i'm thinking all-star, superstar help for stevie, not just experience. also loved how he tried to force the baby in the last sentence. i may not be as experienced with using the word baby, but i'm pretty sure that's not how you do it.
This is a great thread ! I've had such a goog laugh with those articles this morning...i was laughing all the way to the grocery store...
