Spurs/Hornets preview

The hot new point guard, playing for a town that everyone wants to succeed.

vs

A player who is so great that he bores fans and opposing defenses to death. A team that has more flops than Kevin Costner. Playing in a state that gave us the Decider (Connecticut?) and Mr. Debbie Clemens.

There’s no justifiable reason to root for the Spurs anymore. I’ve rooted for them in the past if only because there is something awesome about seeing greatness in action. They’ve been amazingly efficient over the years; well coached, with players who have been together for a long time and are in it for the common purpose. And they just made a mockery of fan favorite and my NBA Championship pick, the Suns. Not only did one of the most anticipated first round matchups in recent memory not go past 5 games, the Spurs served the Suns like they were facing me in fantasy baseball.

In fact, I’ve noticed a trend recently. I picked the Giants to lose to Tampa, Dallas, Green Bay, and New England and lost. I picked the Suns to be NBA champions. And I picked the 7^th place and falling SUS fantasy juggernaut, Devo’s Dumbasses. I’m not a doctor, but I’m starting to notice a trend. So let’s go Spurs in 6 and hope that my trend continues.

Cockblock Needed!

We've all been there. You're at the bar around closing time or at a party that's winding down with some smooth music. You're having a drunken conversation(shouting match) with your boys, or are chatting up a fine 'lil chiquita. You notice out of the corner of your eye another of your buddies drunkenly, sloppily, making out with-IS THAT A MAN!? Everyone does a double take. No, its not a guy, it is a horrendously ugly woman. So grotesque that there is no humor in letting him go home with her to wake up to a terminal case of coyote arm. The "woman" in question probably looked something like this:




The shame of this kind of hook-up can never be washed off, and you could never look your boy in the eye again, knowing you failed him in your manly duty. When on the hunt, men have to look out for each other, it is a solemn obligation to prevent each other from making major mistakes. In caveman times, when a tribe went out hunting, the group wouldn't let a hunter go off by himself to eat an obviously sick, elderly and disease-ridden animal when there was healthier prey available, they worked together. And todays hunting grounds are no different. A "cockblock" is usually a bad thing, thrown by a jealous friend of the shorty you are conversing with who isn't getting enough attention or by said shorty's 6'6" 350lb boyfriend. Well, that second one is a cockblock or Aggravated Assault, depending on how many stitches you need. Regardless, sometimes a man needs to throw a cockblock to prevent a bad situation (buddy leading off second base) from getting worse (RBI and a lifetime of regret).



Now, if you haven't figured out yet, this post is directed at Dwyane Wade. Ive heard some nasty rumors about this nominally married man and who has been picking him up at the American Airlines Arena after home games. Evidently he and the skeeze known as Star Jones have been seeing a lot of each other lately. D-Wade's pathetic denial on TNT makes it pretty clear that something is going on:



Now, there are a few things wrong with this picture. First, she is horrendously unattractive, she looked better before the gastric-bypass surgery that she tried to cover up. And frankly, the least I expect of professional athletes is that the women they cheat on their wives with should be better looking than anyone I could ever sleep with. Second, this hussy is insanely annoying. I had dorm cable for a semester a few years back and "The View" was one of the few shows on it. Family Guy had it right, its just a bunch of hens clucking constantly, except that the one named Star is a huge bitch. And third, shes 20 years older than him! You are a professional basketball player Dwyane! Women throw themselves at you everyday and you are settling for a dried up, surgically mutilated piece of Grade F chop steak. Take advantage of your situation, if not for yourself, for the millions of average guys out there who would give a finger to be in your situation.

But the fault here lies not with Dwyane entirely, his teammates have let him down. Instead of kidding him about this fling, someone needs to step in(Im looking at you Ricky Davis) and hook this guy up with one of the local girls. Save him from himself Miami Heat, it is your duty.

Props to T-Bag on the research assist

Insane, Fake or Really Fucking Cool?

Shark Surfer



i'm going to go with all of the above.

BREAKING NEWS ALERT!!! Roger Clemens linked sexually to Bea Arthur, a Boston-area goat and an old boot on the UWS

Dude, what won't this guy fuck? I thought it was bad when he was banging 15-year old karaoke singers/future country stars. It got worse when he was reported to be stealing wives from overweight golfers. Now hes hitting on the wives of professional wrestlers. Oh yes, you're goddamn right I just linked to "The Wrestling Herald", the finest news source of our time. To be fair, he was probably just trying to use her to get to Brutus "The Barber" Beefcakes steroid connect. This guy needs to go on a long vacation to a foreign country(if hes legally allowed to leave the country!). I mean, its hard to imagine a worse week, sexual revelation wise, outside of the Spears family. Even then, its a pregnancy here, a panty-less photo there, not all at once. Anyway, I feel sorry for Roger and his family. They are good people...hahaha, I can't lie like that. This whole circus is just too hilarious, and he deserves every bit of shit thrown his way. That's what you get for being a cheater, in more ways than one.

Logic people!! A clairifcation of a section of I told you so

Due to the fact that some people are saying I somehow put my foot in my mouth in my most recent post; I feel compelled to defend and clarify the content therein. Being against a trade a certain team made does not automatically mean that you are required to predict that this particular team will lose its first round playoff series. I believed the Mavericks had a matchup advantage against a novice Hornets squad. I still would have picked the Mavs to lose in 5 to the Spurs in the 2nd round. And you know what? That would still mean the Kidd trade was a terrible one. Giving up a young talent like Devon Harris for an aged star like Kidd is only fruitful for a team like Dallas if it was able to secure an NBA title. So whether or not Dallas had won its 1st round series would have no bearing on my ultimate prediction that the Kidd trade was a bust. There, as such, is no logical contradiction in picking Dallas to win a single playoff series and also patting myself on the back for calling correctly that the trade was a bust. The playoff exit in round 1 merely allowed me to, more quickly than I expected, say "I told you so".

Who's the asshole?

MEEEEEE!

Woohoo!

Anyone want to throw this on my face?

God dammit.


Pardon me while I go jump off the Brooklyn Bridge.




Toodles!

Wow, Roger. Just. Wow.

From the Daily News:

Several sources told the Daily News Wednesday that Clemens had a relationship with Paulette Dean Daly, former wife of champion golfer John Daly.

The sources said Clemens, a married father of four, arranged trips to Anaheim Stadium for Daly - the latest woman to emerge as an alleged Rocket flame - to watch him pitch for the Yankees against the Angels. Sources also said he spent time with her in Palm Springs, California.

The pair met at the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic, a Palm Springs golf tournament that Paulette Dean Daly has been involved with for many years - including stints as a "Classic Girl," one of the beautiful women who help in ceremonial duties at the event, sources said.

"Yeah, I've known Roger quite a while and we are friends," Daly said yesterday.

She declined to elaborate on the nature of her relationship with the pitcher, but did not deny allegations from several sources that it was romantic and included financial support.

Good job Roger; getting John Daly's sloppy seconds. But that's not my favorite part of the article. Nope, this is:

Daly is still involved with the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic as an organizer of famously lavish parties there.

News reports have described Clemens as being in attendance as recently as two years ago, dancing around the party with an 8-foot-long boa constrictor around his neck.

BWAHAHAHAHAHA! An 8-foot-long boa constrictor. I like to think the mental image of this is such that I don't need to say anymore.

And just for the hell of it, this is the man whose ex-wife was taken by The Rocket:

Which of the guys in this picture would you trust to run the country?

The sad truth? Probably everyone in this picture except for:
-Dubya (no explanation needed)
-Coughlin, (have us waking up 5 minutes early to begin our day),
-Eli (Super Bowl or not, body language of Jimmy Carter), and
-Steve Tisch, the dude with the white hair directly behind Dubya(just a real creepy lookin' guy).

For what it's worth, they should've brought the trophy to the 51st State.

so ok...

I live in NYC and all but that doesn't mean I have to listen to cry baby rag fans. Look i'm sorry that you guys don't know how to actually take advantage of a powerplay and all but hey maybe instead of crying like little 8 year females, perhaps you could I don't know score a goal with the man advantage?

What about maybe trying to play like the team that sonned Pittsburgh during the regular season? The team that has more depth than any team in the East? This is the fucking playoffs people. Stop crying and man up and win the series.

Look I used to respect Rangers fans but after crying about the officiating in game 3, you've lost all respect for me. Fine, you got screwd in game 1 and game 2 you had a goal but don't you assholes watch My Name is Earl? Karma will hook you up but only when you stop acting like middle school cheerleaders. I mean yea the refs totally jobbed you last game. I mean look at all those 5 on 3s you had? But hey it's okay because the Penguins totally dominated you guys on Tuesday. I mean they outshot you all to hell and didn't look dead and buried until Ryan "No Talent Fagstache" Hollweg got involved.

For the record, sell me your tickets for Game 4. I have some sweeping to do!

Buzz Bissinger show's he's as hip as Loverboy.

Careful what you wish for...

Looks like the entire Penguins team will be pulling a Marty and not shaking Sean Avery's hand upon conclusion of this series later this week. The Spleenless One is going to be sidelined for the remainder of the playoffs, which for all intents and purposes means the next 2-4 days. It's kind of a shame too. You never root for injuries to decide a series, if only because it would have been better to see Avery taste defeat in person. Feel better Spleenless One, so that next year I can tell you to die without worrying about whether I crossed a line.

One last question, does Vogue hire spleenless interns?

White Boy hates to say he told you so...But he told you so!

(By White Boy South Bronx)

I predicted that the Shaq trade would be a disaster for Phoenix. I argued that the Kidd trade was devoid of logic. I prognosticated that the Lakers trade for Pau Gasol would prove to be amongst the best trades in the storied history of the Los Angeles Lakers.

Yes, I totally messed up by picking the Mavs to get past the upstart Hornets in round 1. However, that incorrect playoff series prediction serves to further support my bashing of the Kidd trade. Kidd is old, slow and a shell of his former self. Though I don’t think Dallas would have fared appreciably better with Devin Harris in Kidd’s stead, the Mavs clearly were not any better WITH Kidd in the lineup.

Speaking of guys who are way past their primes, Shaq is an average player at best in his current state. His free throw woes aren’t so charming when he is struggling to score 15 points a game are they, Steve Kerr? When watching this debacle of a 1^st round performance by what appears to now be Mike D’Antoni’s former squad, it became abundantly clear to me that the Suns could have used a fast defensive stalwart who can drain a three and finish as well as any frontcourt player in the association. Gee that sounds a lot like, I don’t know, Shawn Marion. This was a horrendous move by the novice GM and former NBA sharpshooter Kerr.

Finally, Kobe and crew are loving life out in La La land thanks to a brilliant trade which landed star big man Pau Gasol. His addition allows Phil Jackson, (Chief Triangle, as Jeff Van Gundy once referred to him) to run Tex Winter’s triangle offense. Odom is an ideal 3^rd option on a title contender and Gasol is an ideal 2^nd option. Kobe is continuing his evolution as the 2^nd greatest 2-guard of all time. The Lakers are set for the next 5 years. The only question is how many titles this club will win.

-White Boy South Bronx

H.G. Bissinger hates the 1st Amendment.

Did anyone else see H.G. Bissinger on the Costas Now show last night? It was a discussion of sports media, and it included round tables of how sports is seen, how sports is discussed, and how sports is written. For the sports writing segment, you had a panel of H.G. Bissinger, Deadspin founder Will Leitch, and Braylon Edwards, who stood in as token athlete. H.G. Bissinger began the discussion almost as classily as I began this title. He comes in, and attacks Leitch because to paraphrase, what Bissinger does, is art. What Leitch does is bullshit.

Uh, wrong. You write about sports, H.G. You write about a diversion. You write seriously about something that is nothing more than a hobby for 90% of America. You don't save lives, you don't even make other people money. (aside from your editors) And frankly, now that a new type of journalism is sweeping the country, you're not able to compete. Sorry, but them be the breaks.

So my question to real/professional sports journalists is this: Did you ever really feel that you weren't on borrowed time? Didn't you think that you were playing with house money, watching sports for a living and writing about it? You got to spend your livelihood watching sports, going to championship games, meeting celebrities, and now you're being called out on the bullshit of your job. Thanks to Bill Simmons (who was eerily silent on the issue last night), Deadspin, Kissing Suzy Kolber and the thousands of other blogs out there, (which we, admittedly are extremely late to the party) sports journalists are now being kept honest and having their bullshit called out. Sorry guys, them be the breaks. If anyone has video footage of this discussion, please send it to devothadude@straightupsports.com.

Either way, I'm done with H.G. Bissinger and anything Friday Night Lights related. Elitist asshole.

Bringing the NHL back down to Earth

I don't know what our policy is on posting stuff from The Onion but we probably don't have one. Most likely we should abstain from such activity, if not merely to uphold the high journalistic standards of SUS, then to keep me from posting every funny article and video I see. Regardless, I felt this video must be shared, if only to remind the hockey fans among us of our place. Cheers!


NHL Star Called Up To Big Leagues To Play For NFL Team

You know...

your life might suck right now. You might be knee-deep in finals. You might have been scolded by your boss for not doing his job. Your girlfriend might have dumped you. Just remember no matter how bad shit is right now at least you're not this guy:



Thanks for the powerplay and the game you jackass!!!!!!!!! Now enjoy your press box seat for the rest of the series.

Oh and shave your fagstache!!!

Why SUS hates Jason Kidd

Recently BH asked me why we, SUS hate Jason Kidd. Frankly, the fact that I, editor-in-chief and benevolent dictator of SUS say that we hate Jason Kidd should be enough. But to justify the 'benevolent' in 'benevolent dictator' I'll explain.

When Jason Kidd came to New Jersey, he was the best thing to happen to the Nets since they joined the NBA, many moons ago. (all apologies to Drazen Petrovic) He, Kenyon Martin, Richard Jefferson, Kerry Kittles and Todd MacCulloch/Aaron Williams/Jason Collins turned the Nets into an obscenely exciting team to watch, even for those like myself who like to talk NBA more than watch.

Most of the credit goes to Jason Kidd, but it was something of a perfect storm that made the Nets so dominant: a stellar draft by GM Rod Thorn that brought in RJ and Jason Collins, a solid coach in Byron Scott, K-Mart's most healthy 3 year stint in the NBA, ditto for Kerry Kittles, and a watered down Eastern Conference that made it easy for the Nets to dominate the East. But make no mistake about it, they would've been no more than an 8 seed with Jason Kidd. This team was athletic enough 2-5 to keep up with Kidd and play fantastic transition basketball.

And for three years, the Nets were great. Two NBA Finals appearances, and their season came to an early ending in the Eastern Conference Finals against Detroit in '04, but they could've won the series had a few breaks gone their way. And that's when it all began to fall apart. The Nets let K-Mart go to Denver, (where in Thorn's defense, K-Mart spent most of his contract on the injured list. I almost cried when K-Mart left, but this was absolutely the right move) and they struggled for half the season. Jason Kidd then demanded that Scott be fired and be replaced by Lawrence Frank, the Nets young assistant. And because the franchise went as Kidd went, they acquiesced to his demands and brought in Frank. Frank came in, and the team played well enough in the 2nd half to get the 8 seed.

But not before they traded for Vince "The Gutless Wonder" Carter. Granted, when the Nets got The Gutless Wonder, they didn't give up 10 cents on the dollar as much as 10 lira on the dollar. (All you econ guys insert your own 'dollar is falling' joke) They gave up 'Zo Mourning, his kidney, and a handful of other worthless pieces. But the important thing was this: in spite of how the Carter trade rejuvenated the team, it signaled an important transition in the Jason Kidd era.

The Nets, in the span of half a season went from having Kenyon Martin, a beast who was like Charles Oakley on defense but had the offensive game of a poor man's Amare Stoudamire, to Vince Carter, who was famous for choking whenever the opportunity presented itself. Not to mention that since VC had not penetrated the paint since the Clinton Administration, the Nets had become a half court offense with a point guard who was all-world in transition. They continued to win, but the team didn't have any heart. Me personally, I stopped watching once they got rid of K-Mart. The Gutless Wonder didn't do it for me.

And fast forward to this year when Kidd demanded a trade. The team was underachieving, given all of the talent that they allegedly had. Now, I'm not a doctor, but when a team collectively underachieves for a few years in a row, isn't that the fault of the coach? And wasn't this coach handpicked by Jason Kidd?

So what did Kidd do? Did he hold a press conference to announce to apologize to Evan Roberts and the other 4 Nets fans for bringing in a sham of a coach? (No.) Did he take out his anger on his wife? (Uh, maybe. Though apparently she hits back like a mofo. That's another story.)

No, he demanded a trade. This team just wasn't achieving like they could.

Oh really? Ever think that YOUR coach is the problem Jason?

And so Jason Kidd gave up on our team and brought his career full circle to the team that drafted him a while ago, the Dallas Mavs. Now, this is the 4th trade that Kidd has been involved in. Here's my question to you, SUS nation, how many great players who are among the greatest of all time at their position (top 5? top 10?) were traded 3 times over the course of his career? He was traded from Dallas because he couldn't coexist with Jamal Mashburn and Jim Jackson. He was traded from Phoenix because in addition to long walks on the beach and sunsets, one of Kidd's hobbies included beating his wife. And now he's traded because he wanted to play for a winner. So sure, you can justify each move in its own right (except for Phoenix, asshole) but as a whole? As great a teammate as he is on the court (and there may be no better in the history of the game) he's a real dick to the home fanbases off the court.

And that's why I smile when I see Chris Paul going Plaxico Burress on Jason Kidd's Al Harris.

Moose,Hawks and Penguins oh my!

Yes this is a lame title but I couldn't help but notice the three things making me happy in the world of sports tonight all have animal monikers. A quick explanation of each of these is put forth below

Hawks- G-d bless you Atlanta Hawks. I know you won't actually beat the dreaded Celtics in this first round series but I appreciate that you have taken the arrogance and smugness away from Boston sports at least for a few days. I thought my Giants completely ruining the ending of the "perfect season" would be enough to humble New Englanders but apparently not. I can only hope that the 36 win Hawks taking 2 of the first 4 from the Celts will make progress towards this end. Big props to Josh Smith, Joe Johnson and Mike Bibby (obnoxious cross on his arm and all) for more than competing with a team that completely has you out-maned.

Penguins- I am both a very casual Islanders fan and an even more casual NHL fan. However, I can't help but hate the Rangers. Whether its the complete disregard for all things decent and human by Sean Avery or whether its the pretty boy softee persona of Jarimir Jagr, I just can't stand these guys. I think my Rangers hatred reached a boiling point when Ranger fans had the gall to predict their team would somehow beat the mighty Penguins in their best of seven Eastern Conference Semi-finals series. The Penguins have 2 of the best 5 players in the sport and the Rangers, while they have a great goalie, are outmatched in every other facet of the game (not bad for a hockey novice, huh?). So far the Penguins have beaten the Rags in a game where their own offensive style dictated the flow of the contest winning 5-4 in game 1; and beat the Rangers and Lundquist at their own game in game 2 by winning a 2-0 defensive struggle. Go Igloo!

Moose- I have to give some credit to the primadonna, Madonna Mike Mussina. He has only given up 4 earned run over 12 innings during the course of his last two starts going 2-0. Tonight he showed rare guts giving up only 2 total runs over 2 innings in which there were at least 2 in scoring position with less than 2 outs. He got some big strikeouts, pop-outs and K's over a workman like 5 inning 2 run performance tonight. Although he has no prayer against Manny and the Sox, Moose is showing that he might be a serviceable 4th starter against every other opponent the Yanks face in the AL this season. Btw, to any Mets fan who I offended with my scathing commentary about your much maligned 1st baseman, I will not pretend that my 1b is not also huge bust and waste of space. I can't wait till his 225 average and 7.5 40 speed leaves this off-season. Oh and boo all you want Met fans I support you. Delgado is the Met's Giambi except Giambi actually is nice to the fans. Oh, that reminds me; thank you WFAN for spending all of the last 2 days on this issue. It's not like there is the NFL draft, the Rangers playoff run or the Yankee's star catcher going on the DL to talk about.

Because the enemy of my enemy is my friend...

Congrats to Byron Scott for allegedly winning NBA Coach of the Year.

And similarly, congrats to Jason Kidd, who will most likely be able to honor his tee time reservation for this Saturday.

SUS weighs in on the Clemens issue because all quasi-sports blogs are legally required to

So according to the Daily News:
Roger Clemens carried on a decade-long affair with country star Mindy McCready, a romance that began when McCready was a 15-year-old aspiring singer performing in a karaoke bar and Clemens was a 28-year-old Red Sox ace and married father of two, several sources have told the Daily News.

Am I the only one who remembers Lurleen from the Simpsons? Same exact story. But at least Homer had the decency to make sure she was 18.

An open letter to Jason Kidd:

I'm glad the Nets were able to send you to a place where you have an opportunity to compete for a championship. BWAHAHAHAHAHA. Sucker.

Mets Fans: Stop Booing Carlos Delgado

We all know that Carlos Delgado is old. He had been in a slump for awhile. I listed him as one of the main problems on the Mets just a few days ago. All of that being said, I never thought it was a good idea for the fans to be booing him after every single at-bat.
I'm happy because the Mets won 2 of 3 from the Braves. I'm happy because the team had great starting pitching in those two games. The bats finally came alive. Most importantly, Carlos Delgado had 2 home runs today.
When asked for a Curtain Call by those same booing fans, Carlos stayed in the dugout. Ron and Gary thought that he made a mistake by not taking the bow. I didn't. The fans didn't deserve it. Carlos was celebrating with his teammates.
Maybe the next time they want something, the fans will play nice beforehand.

They can still boo Aaron Heilman though. At least for now.

Devo vs. White Boy, who ya got?

So White Boy and I made a bet about Jason Giambi.

The over/under is .220 batting average. I got the under, White Boy has the over. $.50/batting average point.

Who ya got?

(Current batting average: .177)

Some thoughts from the NFL draft

I didn't watch a whole lot of sports this weekend. But I turned on my tv around 7pm Saturday night and this is what was on:
1. The NFL draft, 2nd round.
2. Beginning of Habs/Flyers
3. End of Yankees/Indians (national game)
4. An NBA game of some sort. Probably the Lakers game, I don't know, I didn't watch.
5. Beginning of Nats/Cubs
6. Beginning of Orioles/White Sox.

6 events. Wow. I love this time of year. Some thoughts from some of the events this year:

The NFL Draft.
I didn't watch most of the round, but kudos to Goodell and the NFL, forgoing the ad revenue in favor of a somewhat shorter and more compact draft.

My favorite part of the draft: while most draft picks celebrated being picked Malcolm Kelly had a "Fuck! Really?" look on his face when he found out he was picked in the same round as Devo Thomas by the Skins. I'd feel that way too if I were Kelly, having to compete with at least Santana Moss, Antwaan Randle-El, and Thomas.

As far as the Giants' draft, while I have a complaint or two, am I even allowed to complain about our draft? By now, everyone knows about the role that the'07 draft picks had in the Super Bowl win. So we really can't criticize Jerry Reese can we? Damn.

So the Devils suck, the Yankees suck, and the Giants are great. Up is down, left is right, and I'm scared. Hard-core anomie, as BH and Mahatma would say.

But in spite of Reese's untouchable job status, let's critique the draft anyways. I love the Kenny Phillips pick. I need to get in touch with my Floridian cousins and get their opinion of Phillips, but I'm ok with it. In spite of Miami's recent avalanche towards mediocrity, I still trust their players more than any other program. I was waiting with baited breath for Dan Connor to fall to the Giants...and then angry when they drafted the dude from USC. Speaking of the USC dude, this is a conversation I had with my dad today:
Dad: "Apparently the Giants think Corey Webster's playoff success is a fluke."
Me: "And we don't?"
Though my guess is that our first two picks were basically used on safeties. Neither Sammy Knight, James Butler or world class sprinter Michael Johnson are going to light it up anytime soon. And we have enough skill at cornerback between Sam Madison, Aaron Ross, and trivia-question-answer Corey Webster to hold our own at least for the next season.

So Mario Manningham in the 3rd round and Andre Woodson later? It's great value, but both are positions of strength. The Giants potentially have Plax, Toomer, Smith, Moss, Tyree, and '07 preseason stud Michael Jenkins in addition to Manningham. I guess this means that Moss and Jenkins may be getting cut. Good riddance to Moss. And as for qb's, it's between David Carr, Hefty, Anthony Wright, and Andre Woodson for the final two spots behind Eli Manning. That said, Manningham and Woodson were both 1st round picks in mock drafts at various points. So I'll take them.

My predictions: Moss, Jenkins, Hefty, and Anthony Wright are cut. It's a shame too. Wright was very solid in the Mark Madsen cheerleader-in-uniform role in the playoffs.

As for the rest of the draft, it looks like our only need, which is to say only thing that we didn't have bodies for, was outside linebacker. And as for that, we picked Bryan Kehl. Never heard of him. But it looks like he and lil DeOssie are competing for the outside linebacker spot next year. Interesting...