Way Up

--PYB sits back and lets other parties do the heavy lifting on the "NBA-is-rigged" theories. Glad to let someone else beat the drum this time....and it's 100% true. Is David Stern this arrogant? Stupid question.

--We just finished watching the Wayman Tisdale Story on NBATV. Hard enough to believe he's dead, but even harder to believe that it's been more than three years now. Chalk his surreal passing up with Walter Payton's....SOH.

--On a brighter note, the Memorial started today in Ohio and is the most pristine course on the PGA Tour. Now, with Tits Mickelson shooting 79 and WD'ing...we just have to find someone with a personality to root for.

Defensive

--A great column, one which PYB would have be proud to have penned..... instant follow on Twitter.

--Jim Leyland is money. Crank another smoke!

--Cubs win two in a row....

--Terrell Owens is reaping what he sowed over the years. Make sure to click on the links inside this link. Where was Trojan Man when you needed him? No TO in Allen, PYB will have to settle for minor league hockey from now on when in the area. No worries, the scum-watching is better anyway.

--The Omaha World-Herald says that NU football recruiting will be hot in June. Holy shit, the coaching staff will be racking up reward points at Hampton Inns and Candlewood Suites across Ohio! And if they can't sign this kid, nephew of former Husker and NFL alum Car Crash Toby Wright, they may as well just close up shop. And if you question his work ethic, fear not, just read the quote from the 17-year-old espn.com quoted for the story. At least they weren't quoting themselves this time.

--ONLY $5000 to play at Tiburon!!?? Sign us up! You'd think for 5k and the chance to spend four hours with a "Husker Legend", that these slapdicks could find a private fucking course...or at least a good one.

Spurned

--Jason Whitlock, the sportswriting world's most famous martyr, gets it right for a change and beats the same drum PYB has been beating for the last few years. Great read here.

--Another interesting read from the Omaha World-Herald. Considering it's Memorial Day, should we mention that Dion Booker must have been absolutely fucking delusional to believe he could play professional football? He one of the worst tackling safeties in Nebraska history, this side of Austin Cassidy.

--Will the Chicago Cubs end their 12-game losing streak? They're currently leading San Diego 11-7 in the bottom of the 7th inning. Odds of them blowing it are still 50/50.

All we got for now...enjoy the rest of the weekend....

Offensive

--Shawn Marion got hosed again. One of the NBA's most versatile defenders, Marion has never been selected to the NBA All-Defensive Team. Or the second team. He missed again in 2012.

This, despite raves from coaches, teammates & players across the league. Dwight Howard was selected for the first team, despite going MIA for 10 games at a time and being a self-centered wimp. Luol Deng made the second team, but didn't deserve to more than Marion. Kevin Garnett also made the second team, as apparently overdramatic sneers, cheap shots and post-whistle goaltends count as much as block and steals and shutting down opponents.

Hell, Marion even came behind the following in the voting: Andre Iguodala (apparently, it's 2007 again), Iman Shumpert, Paul George, Josh Smith (getting some blocks makes you all-defense, apparently...see D. Howard), Dwyane Wade (name), Grant Hill (what the fuck?), Avery Bradley (what the fuck?), Marc Gasol (huh?).

Another reason to laugh at almost every sports "award" these days. Not as bad as the College Football Hall of Fame, but contrived and rigged nonetheless. Apparently, we're supposed to be comforted by the fact that Ernst & Young supervised the voting.

--Nebraska dominated fellow Big 10 dinosaur Penn State yesterday in the conference baseball tournament in Columbus, blasting the Nittany Lions 12-3. So far, both NU games have been delayed because the grounds crew screwed up. Good job, Big 10! Never was one of our American Legion games delayed by a ground issue, despite playing various shithole, bumpkin towns across Nebraska, but the good folks from Ohio have done it twice in a row -- for an alleged-Division I conference tournament. Given the fact that most of the Big 10's football fields are crabgrass and mowed once every 10 days, we guess this is just a trend we'll have to get used to as NU strives to go .500 in every sport.

--Someone please tell PYB why NU continues to pursue TEs? They've wasted top talent at the position for years and continue to do it w/ Kyler Reed.

--Ole Miss's new football coach is scouring the USA, preaching the benefits of moving to Oxford, Miss., and a chance to go 6-6 for four straight years! Hopefully, Bo Pinelli will keep him off the Huskers' hallowed turf in Ohio!

--An interesting story courtesy of Deadspin, if you like the NBA.

--And one more by the Deadspin folks, that talks about college programs monitoring players' Facebook and Twitter accounts. Judging by the shit we read, apparently they don't monitor that closely. That, and the fact that players were dropping tweets within 90 minutes of kickoff on a couple occasions last year. We're fine, says Bo.

All for now....duty calls!

Kings from Queens, and Queens from Kings

Some quick hitters from PYB on a busy morning.....

--Come at the King, you best not miss.....but if you come at the Queen, he'll sic Oliver Miller Jr., aka Dexter Pittman on you. Her Royal Highness mocked Lance Stephenson, then refused to give a quote about him because he was above that....then has a scrub teammate try to decapitate poor Lance. LeQueen finds new ways each day to cement his image as a pussy.

--Another Nebraska baseball season is withering and dying in Columbus as we type. Newspapers laud the seven-run comeback yesterday against mighty Michigan State. Nobody talks about Tom Osborne letting Mike Anderson linger at least three seasons too long. Sad times when the former Top 10 program measures itself on the heart shown in a near-miss loss to the Spartans. Such is life as an NU fan these days---in every sport.

--What an epic series between the Sixers and Celtics! Who won't forget game six, and its 157 total points. It was unwatchable. Once Boston was down six points, viewers knew they didn't have the firepower to overcome a lead that big. Allen Iverson showed up in the crowd and provided a spark for Philly. He's over-the-hill by seven years but would be young by Boston's standards.

--Cubs lose! Again. Nine in a row. Three in a row to the terrible Astros. Can they make it an even 10?

All for now. PYB will try to provide some coverage from this week's PGA Tour stop at Colonial Country Club in Ft. Worth.

Clueless in Columbus

The Big 10 Baseball Tournament bracket is out, and Nebraska locked down the fourth seed. The bracket itself is an abomination that rivals the ones crafted by the clueless Nebraska farmers who draw up five-team American Legion district matchups between Dwight and Utica.

First four teams play, then possibly flip-flop sides of the bracket so that the top seed Purdue Boilermakers are rewarded for surviving the gauntlet that is Big 10 basebal by playing the lowest-remaining seed. Then, the higher-seeded winner of the first round of loser's bracket games automatically advances one round further than the lower-seeded winner of the first round of loser's bracket games. Huh?

What ever happened to a simple tournament: Winner's bracket. Loser's bracket. Double elimination. No re-seeding. Has sports gotten so soft that top seeds shouldn't have to suffer the indignity of playing anything but the lowest seed remaining? Isn't that why we like tournaments---the unpredictability and the fact that every team gets its shot at the end of the year??

What more, though, can you expect from a conference that deems the Rose Bowl more than the afterlife? We've got more questions than answers on this one, but we do know one thing. We won't be watching any of the action.

Follow the Yellow, Bricked Road

Queen James and his Princess Dwyane proved Thursday that they're still in need of a heart. Who thought the heart they needed would be the oft-criticized and now-missing Chris Bosh?

Indiana dismantled Miami from the inside out, as Pacer big man Roy Hibbert slapped a 19-8-5 line in the box score. The Heat were so desperate that head coach Erik Spoelstra resorted to starting Dexter Pittman -- who is most widely known for being a poor man's Oliver Miller.

The Pacers were like Mola Ram in The Temple of Doom, except they found nothing when they reached into Miami's chest to finish them off. The Big Three, Minus One is a shell of a team with no post presence. Its two remaining stars base their games on one-on-one matchups, and are being harassed on the perimeter by able defenders who are backed up by willing big men. But just like last year's final against Dallas, the "Dynamic Duo" continues to throw up brick after brick.

When Mario Chalmers stood face-to-face with David West in pure studio fashion, Indiana laughed. When Queen James threw a cheap elbow at Danny Granger, they surely tweeted SMH, knowing this "Icon" was yellow. When Her Highness missed the technical free throw that Miami was awarded when James swung the elbow at Granger, they mocked The Queen. When Wade snapped at his coach, much to the disgust of teammates and longtime NBA veterans Udonis Haslem and Juwan Howard, they knew it was over. TKO.

PYB will root for the Pacers the rest of the way, along with the rest of America. At least those of us who hope that sports can still be more than a hype and glam and marketing machine. Those of use who prefer the game to the glitz. Those of us who'd love a San Antonio-Indiana final, just to see the best basketball and the worst possible scenario for Commissar Stern's television ratings.

Unless The Queen and Her Court cut in front of The Tin Man in the line for a heart, we'll get our wish.

Long Live LeQueen

--A familiar thing happened in Miami last night, when LeQueen James morphed from holder of the meaningless MVP trophy into Her Highness right before our very eyes. James missed two huge free throws, just minutes after going Studio Gangsta before backing down when Granger didn't and when David West appeared on the scene. Her latest failure had Twitter going wild with new monikers: LeScreen, LeBrick, LeChoke. Good stuff!

Much is being made of James not taking the final shot, mostly by those who think that the star must take EVERY shot in crunch time. A laughable proposition, considering Dwyane Wade left a tying layup short. But there's no denying that the Queen was scared and wanted no part of making the determining play. Steve Smith said it best on Inside the NBA, noting that James was not in attack mode on Miami's last two possessions, and didn't necessarily need to take the last shot, but definitely needed to make the last play.

So, the Pacers prevailed and won 78-75 and tied the series 1-1. More Queen watching to come, as the series moves to Indiana.

--Tommie Frazier got snubbed for the College Football Hall of Fame. Mark Simoneau made it, though. So did Tim Krumrie, who we only knew from snapping his leg in the Super Bowl. Whatever, obviously this HOF is a joke just like the rest of the sport has become.

--Funny story here, as it turns out that Mr. Big from Sex and the City plagiarized a blog and re-posted it on espn.com. Lord knows how many people are stealing PYB's material. Hopefully, one day, we'll catch someone so we can sue them and retired.

Not much else happening in sports.....baseball only has 100+ games to go....only four more months!

The Green Miles

--Sam McKewon and the Omaha World Herald broke another big story last night, after reading Twitter and regurgitating the information as breaking news. Ten minutes after PYB read it on our feed, omaha.com was pasting Aaron Green's transfer story on its pages. We marvel at the depth of reporting.

Anyhow, it has to be disturbing to NU coach Bo Pinelli to lose a once-heralded recruit to a better program. TCU finished 11-2 and rated 14th in 2011, a rebuilding year. They finished 13-0 and rated 2nd in 2010. 12-1 and 6th in 2009. 11-2 and 7th in 2008. Pretty impressive, and the Horned Frogs have proven they can hang with the big boys in bowl games. They also have better weed in Fort Worth than in Lincoln, apparently.

These are records that NU used to rack up regularly and only dreams of now. But hey, fans can dream about those new skybokes going up in the East Stadium.

--Tom Osborne added another notch in his belt full of astute negotiations, winning negotiations with nobody in particular to ink new coach Tim Miles to a seven-year deal. If you're counting, and count Doc Sadler's old contract, that's 17 years invested in coaches who've had one or two years of fleeting success before coming to Nebraska--and none at a high Division I level. If fired, Miles get $75,000 a month! That's $8,000+ more per month than UNL is wiring into Sadler's account, and would be a damn good YEARLY salary for 95% of Nebraskans. Jesus.

--Game seven tonight in Los Angeles. We can only fucking imagine what David Stern has cooked up, as visions of the 2002 series between the Kings and Lakers come rushing back. We're sure it's PURELY coincidental that Ron Artest's seven-game suspension ends JUUUUUST in time for the series finale. PYB called the rig job as soon as the seven-game ban was announced. It should have been 10+. Anyone betting this game has to be absolutely crazy.

The big question is, will the Nuggets be able to play past the distraction of Chris Andersen's absence, as he's the target of a Crimes Against Children investigation for apparently telling a groupie slut to get lost after he asked for ID after she flew to Denver to get drilled. Girl's mama got pissed when Andersen refused to pay for her Amazon Wish List. Classic! Aim high, white trash! This story, of course, is a paraphrased version of Birdman's lawyer's version.

--We'll get another game seven Sunday in Memphis between the Grizzlies and Clippers. LAC couldn't close out a gritty MEM squad, as Chris Paul and Blake Griffin jogged around listlessly during the first half and couldn't get over the hump in the second half. Maybe they knew Fuehrer Stern had the game rigged....the referees, after all, did call a technical foul on the Clippers' Reggie Evans for exchanging a simple high five with Griffin. True story.

--Finally, in a gripping tale of redemption, Queen James is reportedly going to win his third MVP in four seasons. Who gives a shit? Is there a more overhyped and over-argued and more meaningless award in sports? Except the Heisman Trophy, of course. Let's all get ready to laugh at the Queen again when she pisses it down her leg in crunch time over the coming weeks....

Enjoy your weekend.....as the NU baseball team tries to nail down that elusive Big 10 series win against the mighty Minnesota Golden Gophers....

What, Me Work?

--PYB has the solution for this hack....just hate everyone like we do, and you'll never be accused of favoritism. Somehow, he digs a deeper hole each week and finds a new low.

Keep in mind that if he doesn't have it, he "doesn't have time to be calling and searching for it." Did you forget? Reporters aren't supposed to have to work for a living.

--Late add to this post, but an interesting compilation of numbers and facts by Lee Barfknecht that shows us how far NU Athletics has fallen. The glory years are 15+ years behind, as this link masterfully pinpoints, and nobody is holding TO accountable.

Hand Jobs

--PYB took some shit from some unnamed folks who think the NU basketball program was right in dismissing Erick Strickland's desire to come back and help his alma mater in any way he could. "No experience, HUGE mistake, arrogant assumption." They said.

Well, apparently, bringing back NBA vets is good enough for North Carolina but not good enough at Nebraska. Roy Williams may be an awful game coach, but he knows the importance of tapping his program's proud tradition and recycling a new generation of young talent into UNC's pipeline. It will pay off for years to come. In fact, Williams was the one who sought out Hubert Davis, who like Strickland, had no coaching experience.

Strickland sought out NU and was one of the few players who was around when the team was winning and one of the fewer Huskers to have an NBA career. But TO couldn't find a place for him. Right now, any honest assessment would rank his tenure as athletic director as below average.

--PYB favorite Eldrick Woods logged a trunk-slammer in Charlotte. Despite being only SIX shots back after round one, ESPN force-fed us highlights of his entire 18 holes and nary a clip of the three co-leaders who shot 65. Our only thought on his weekend flameout: since when did Woods start wearing elastic-waistband pants? Is his body already decaying that badly from his previous steroid use?

--Did you see the latest groundout by 19-year-old phenom Bryce Harper? If so, fret not, ESPN will show it 50 times this morning?

--The Nebraska baseball team needs a sweep at Indiana this weekend, a doubtful proposition. They're not good enough to play consistently. Another Top 10 program that Osborne let fade into bolivion.

--The New York Post's Mike Vaccaro is hip to Amare Stoudemire's game. The self-anointed STAT says all the right things, just like in Phoenix, but provides no substance to his words. No defense, no rebounding, and the all-too-certain blunder that's just around the corner. As we predicted, NYC won't be as cordial as folks in the desert and see right through his bullshit.

All we got for now...got a 60-mile drive for this morning's tee time!

PYB

PYB was going to offer its own recap of the first weekend of NBA action but decided to leave it up to someone much more talented. An artiste. This one's for you, Mouse.....

In the meantime, we're going to go knock on a piece of wood and hope nobody else gets hurt....and not one of those pieces of balsa, either!