Breaking news for the break o' day

And you wondered if there’d be any news this week?

Of course there will be. And where else would you find it, couched in the most entertaining of terms? No place other than here, that’s where.

So ….

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I fear for the future of the Internet.

Yes, folks, tickets for the big intrasquad game in Ottawa go on sale online today and if that doesn’t blow this whole thing up, I have no idea what will.

I got the word very, very, very early this morning – proving once again that the giants of the media relations industry never sleep – that at 1 p.m., at the Carleton Ravens site --- goravens.ca – tickets are out there on a first-come, first-served basis.

They’re $20, up from last year if I recall, and the money goes to “the charity selected by Carleton University’s department of recreation and athletics.”

Me? I’m hoping they consider The Home For Wayward Beat Grunts as a possibility.

See ya there.

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All right, now that we’ve got the earth-shattering news out of the way – I’ve got 1:08 in the sellout pool – time to shift gears to the second installment of “Breaking Down Divisions And Don’t Hold Anything I Saw Against Me Until I Revise It After Training Camp.”

(Catchy title, no?)

Anywho

NORTHWEST DIVISION

TONY BOCK/TORONTO STAR

Portland has that Oden fellow among their crop of youngsters.

What happened

Well, here’s what, according to the player movement thingy at nba.com (and if it’s wrong, don’t blame me).

A boring summer

Ricky Rubio and the Minnesota aside, this really was an uneventful summer as far as player movement goes. Player retention? Hell, yeah, a lot of that. Player movement? Not so much.

Where trouble lurks

How about Utah? A whole lot of that player retention stuff was the Jazz keeping just about everyone and I cannot imagine Jerry Sloan will have an easy job keeping everyone happy, especially the Boozer-Millsap conundrum and who to play more.

Of course, if it becomes a serious issue and players complain, Jerry just might smack one in the head, give him a concussion and that’ll solve the problem for a while.

Who, or what, are they?

Yes, the Timberwolves have a million or so new guys but, really, do they have a team? It’s not like they added a bunch of grizzled veterans to get a young team on the right track.

Do they play fast? Or do they rely on Al Jefferson coming back fully healthy? Are they small or are they big?

A rookie point guard, a new coach. Trouble lurks.

Under the radar

Okay, so we all love Portland ‘cause it’s a good team of young players who’ve had some success.

And they might have made one of the more significant moves that nobody noticed when they signed Juwan Howard.

All I know about Howard is that last year, when his very young Charlotte team was making a small playoff run, Larry Brown was telling anyone who’d listen that the addition of Howard in mid-season, with his veteran presence and personality, was the most significant move of the year.

Things to do in Denver when you’re not dead

Nothing, it seems.

The Noogies were good last year and would appear to be good this year because they really didn’t do much.

Dahntay Jones was okay, Linas Kleiza never really found a role so they won’t be missed; Aaron Affalo and Ty Lawson? Big whoop.

Guess they don’t mind the status quo.

Best story to cheer for

Shaun Livingston, right? No idea how it works for him in Oklahoma City, I just hope it does.

Best addition, playing category

Howard aside, I really think Andre Miller has a chance to really, really help the Blazers. He’s calm, knows his role will be to make sure Brandon Roy has space to operate – and the ball when the game’s on the line – and that seems to me to be just a very good fit.

Imagine …

Hedo in Portland.

What’s it all mean?

This might be the best division in basketball. Seriously. With Portland, Denver and you can never count out a Jerry Sloan team, I can’t hazard a guess right now which is the best team.

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Speaking of wayward beat grunts, anyone pay attention to the Blue Jays on TV last night? No, seriously, the game was on TV; yes, they are still playing. I’m flipping down the dial to get to this dance show you may have heard of when what do my tired eyes see but Alias Smith And Jones sitting in those grand poobah seats along the baseline being interviewed during the game.

Ah, I remember when Eric and Paul were just the local equivalent of Wilbon and Kornheiser; now they’re high-falutin’, fancy-seat-sitting, being-interviewed-on-TV bigwigs.

Hope they remember the little people they trod on during their meteoric rise to worldwide prominence.

Or something like that.

I kid, though. Two nicer guys you’ll never meet and if they got to sit in the fancy chairs and remained in them for 11 innings, they deserve something.

Not sure what. But something.

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Ever try to give a reluctant 12-year-old cat a pill for a wee paw infection?

Never knew a seven-pound thing could be so recalcitrant.

She could be a Leave.

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Raptors? They did nothing yesterday of note, I’m presuming everyone went to the driving range to work on their games for the big charity slice-and-hook fest later this week.

Wish I could tell you more, like what my tee time is but it seems they forgot to let me know.

Silly people.

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Oh yeah, I remain steadfast in my support of Debi Mazar but, I gotta tell you, that Kelly Osbourne cuts a mean rug.

I’m seriously waiting for the night Ozzie storms out of the audience and attacks Bruno. Now, that’ll be reality TV!

Comments

[Peter]

Hi Doug,

When is your next "live Blog" going to happen? Will there be anything in the pre-season? or are you going to wait for the actual season?

Thanks!

Blogger's note: We are right now in the process of formulating plans; I expect we'll do more than a few during the pre-season

[Brandon]

Hi Doug,

I'm concerned the new jersey nets are going to take another one of our franchise players. The stars seem to be aligning for Lebron and Bosh (or Wade) to go there this summer with the Russian billionare buying the team and financing the arena. The nets have alot of good young talent and cap space now and they are moving to a new arena in New York. This is very bad news for the Cavs, Raptors, and Heat. I'm even thinking of moving to Brooklyn now.

[petro]

Lorbek was on fire vs. Cro. Single handedly beat a decent Cro team. But look who was covering him... after all these years Croatians still trying to figure out what defense means. Slovenia is fun to watch. Was inspired by the young Serbian team... very disciplined for such relative "inexperience". Their coaching staff did a great job scouting the Slovene attack. Was hoping for a Cro/Serb semi. Some awesome games in the Adriatic League... nothing like those rivalary's. I will be in Cro next summer... will be the first time since you know what broke out in the early 90's. Would be easy to have a beer in T.O. but much classier to have one "na More".