The Critical Fanatic

Critical Fanatic NBA Cleveland Cavaliers, Dwight Howard, Lebron James, NBA Playoff 2009, Orlando Magic

Gael Monfils just dropped Andy Roddick out of the 2009 French Open, and it’s effort like this that has clearly helped him advance to Quarterfinals.

The 11th seeded Monfils beat Roddick 6-4,6-2.6-3.

In the third round against Jurgen Melzer, Gael Monfils won the point of the tournament do date. Enjoy the clay goodness above.

Critical Fanatic Tennis, Video Andy Roddick, french open 2009, gael monfils

The 37 points and 14 rebounds were nice, but I enjoyed the 12 assists more than anything else. That’s what continues to separate Lebron James for the other greats in today’s NBA.

Lebron James also played some outstanding deny the ball defense late on Hedo Turkoglu — even though he ended up with 29 — to help seal the victory, and extend the series to Game 6 in Orlando on Saturday night.

I’m one of the many that is rooting for a Lakers- Cavs NBA Finals, but it’s not for the Kobe-Lebron matchup as much as it is that I just want to keep watching Lebron James play basketball this postseason. He’s averaging a mere 36 points per game during these playoffs, over 41 in the Eastern Conference Finals and I don’t even think we’ve seen the best he has to offer.

Think about that.

In the meantime, enjoy these Game 5 Lebron highlights as much as you need to.

Critical Fanatic NBA, Video Cleveland Cavaliers, Dwight Howard, Lebron James, NBA Playoffs 2009, Orlando Magic

After a two week reprieve from blogging, I’m back… but probably not better than ever. Partially a result of the man holding me down and partially a result of becoming completely engrossed in twitter. Yep, it’s true.

Mostly I was waiting for something to really get my attention, and well, Carlos Zambrano did that yesterday.

I continue to hope that someday Zambrano will grow up, at least to 18-19 years old, and become a true leader of the Cubs. He has all the talent in the world, which has carried not only himself but the Cubs fairly far. Not far enough, however.

Composure.

I’m not saying that’s the cure for 101 years of Cubs losing, but even the slightest hint of it coming from Big Z could go a long way to bring a World Series to the Northside of Chicago.

In the meantime, Zambrano does provide us with some epic comedy. Watch of Zambrano argues with the ump over a play at the plate, decides to toss the ump out himself and the beat the living shit out of a Gatorade machine.

Hey, if we can’t win, at least we better keep it entertaining and classy.

Critical Fanatic Uncategorized Carlos Zambrano, Chicago Cubs

It’s pretty obvious, Lakers vs Cavaliers is what the NBA wants and needs to happen most for ratings in the NBA finals. And as far as the Conference Finals are concerned, the Rockets and Magic would provide very little spice.

So here we go with two Game 7s over the week and the fans will be zeroed in on the officiating, because David Stern and his crew have given us no indication that they’re merely calling the games as they see it.

We’ll be tracking…

As far as the actual games, the Western Conference has begun increasingly intriguing. No longer can we be so sure the Los Angeles Lakers will advance. Even without Yao Ming (oh, and Tracy McGrady I guess), the Rockets have shown they are more than capable of overcoming adversity with an aggressive Aaron Brooks, scrappy Luis Scola and the defensive genius of Shane Battier.

So how many free throws do we think Kobe Bryant will see on Sunday. I’ll say 18 with a Ron Artest ejection just for kicks.

Critical Fanatic NBA, Video Aaron Brooks, David Stern, Houston Rockets, Kobe Bryant, Los Angeles Lakers, NBA Playoffs 2009, Ron Artest, Shane Battier

Good to see Kenyon Martin was able to take the high road in this war or words with Mark Cuban and his mother.

Mark Cuban was wrong to call Kenyon Martin a “thug” to his mother… but turns out he was also right.

Proving Cuban’s comment accurate, Martin unleashed a profanity filled tirade back at Cuban last night:

“You better walk that way. You better walk that way you faggot motherfucker. You gotta come to Denver bitch.”

Nice.

I look forward to watch the TNT Crew tonight to see if Chris Webber and Charles Barkley are equally critical of Martin calling Cuban a “faggot” as they were of Cuban  calling Martin a “thug.”

Doubtful.

Kenyon Martin Should Be Suspended After Making Profanity-Filled Homophobic Slur Towards Mark Cuban: Video | Sports Rubbish.

Critical Fanatic NBA Kenyon Martin, Mark Cuban, NBA Playoffs 2009

I am a proud Chicago Cubs fan, but not always proud of my fellow fandom.

Cubs fans have a unique ability to jump all over a player who is struggling, which is counterproductive to reaching the end goal they desire. So not only are they impatient, they are also not very smart (and yes, likely drunk).

Professional athletes are not exempt from being booed and harassed. There’s a time and a place for that. But fans should also acknowledge that most players when struggling would benefit from the support of their home fans. They know they’re letting the team down. They know they are disappointing the fans. They do not need to here your boos to try harder to reverse their performance.

Yet Cubs fans continue to boo more than ever before and not even for extended slumps… but simply being off for a day.

On the flip side, Los Angeles Dodgers fans are making the most of a bad situation caused by Manny Ramirez. By all accounts, Juan Pierre has failed to reach the expectations set for him upon his arrival in LA. He’s been critized, called out by the local media, you name it.

But now, with a great deal of pressure resting on Juan Pierre’s shoulders, asked to fill the void left by Ramirez, Dodgers fans have immediately devoted their energy to fully supporting Pierre.

They’ve actually begun selling JuanPierreWOOD t-shirts, mimmicking the MannyWOOD marketing efforts that have been a huge success in the city.

The result?

In the last 4 games Juan Pierre is batting .563, driven in 4 runs, scored 4 himself, and stolen 2 bases. Not exactly making up for Manny Ramirez, but Dodgers fans will gladly take this from Juan Pierre.

Booing is knee jerk stupidity. Support is effective.

Critical Fanatic MLB Chicago Cubs, Juan Pierre, Los Angeles Dodgers, Manny Ramirez

Yep, it’s come to this. I’m writing about hockey, actually expressing some genuine interest in the NHL Playoffs.

There’s nothing I hate more in sports than a fair-weather fan. The type that routes for the Cowboys, Celtics and Red Sox… a combination that makes little to no sense. Or then there’s the Michigan football fan, but Duke basketball fan. What spineless bastards.

While I’m still going to rip myself for this, I am now committed to the Indian. As a fan of every other Chicago team not named the White Sox, I feel that while still very much fair-weather, it’s only natural that I join the thousands of other first-time Blackhawks fans in the city.

The Chicago Blackhawks are headed to the Western Conference Finals, likely to face another member of the original six, rival Detroit Red Wings.

It’s true, I’ll probably be watching hockey next week. Weird.

Critical Fanatic NHL, Video Chicago Blackhawks, Detroit Red Wings, NHL Playoffs 2009, Patrick Kane

You’d think Glen “Big Baby” Davis would have a soft spot (pun intended) for little fat kids. One can only imagine how rotund Davis must have been as a child.

That’s why it wasn’t the buzzer beating 21-foot shot that was so surprising (and stunning, it was), but his stiff arm to the poor (ok, rich), fat kid in the first row before Davis unleashed a Happy Mother’s F-*%*(#( Day rampage back down the court.

Got to about the :55 spot in the video to see the child abuse. Karma’s a bitch, Big Baby.

Critical Fanatic NBA, Video Boston Celtics, Buzzer Beaters, Glen Davis, NBA Playoffs 2009, Orlando Magic

Nice little Sunday of golf ahead… if you have the time. I usually find myself pulling for Tiger Woods when he’s in contention, but today I’ll be rooting for Alex Cejka in the final round of The Players Championship.

You’re probably wondering ‘who the hell is Alex Cejka, and are you sure you’re not getting him confused with the NHL playoffs?’ I see your point.

Bob Harig of ESPN had a nice feature story on Cejka yesterday and despite all the pressure of the Players lead, Cejka kept his composure throughout round three and drilled a perfect approach shot on the 18th to ensure he’d take a five shot advantage into the final round.

Only one problem ahead. A guy named Tiger Woods. He tends to have an impact in final pairings. But Cejka seems capable of not only beating Tiger up, literally, but handling whatever pressure comes his way.

Either way, a nice little Sunday of golf ahead. Better than watching the Cubs bullpen.

Critical Fanatic Golf, Video Alex Cejka, The Players Championship 2009, Tiger Woods