08/13/2008 - Cleveland, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Cleveland Cavaliers landed some offensive help for LeBron James in the backcourt on Wednesday, as they picked up point guard Mo Williams in a three-team trade with the Milwaukee Bucks and Oklahoma City.
The Cavs acquired Williams while parting ways with guard Damon Jones and forward Joe Smith.
Jones will land in Milwaukee, along with former Oklahoma City point guard Luke Ridnour and swingman Adrian Griffin. Oklahoma City will receive Smith and Bucks forward Desmond Mason.
A five-year veteran, Williams averaged 17.2 points, 6.3 assists, and 3.5 rebounds per game for the Bucks last season. A second-round pick by the Utah Jazz out of Alabama in 2003, the 6-foot-1, 185-pound Williams has five years and $43 million left on a contract he signed last summer with Milwaukee after posting similar numbers in the 2006-07 season -- 17.3 points, 6.1 assists, and 4.8 rebounds per game.
"Acquiring Mo strengthens our nucleus of players for both the short and long term," said Cavaliers general manager Danny Ferry. "He is entering his prime NBA years and will be part of the foundation of our future success. Mo is a player that excels as a traditional point guard, but also brings an extra dimension with his scoring and versatility. His ability to push the tempo, get inside the lane, shoot from the perimeter and distribute the ball will be very valuable for us."
Jones, a 10-year vet, averaged 6.5 points and 1.9 assists per game for the Cavs last season.
Smith, sent to the Cavs by the Bulls in the massive trade that also sent Ben Wallace and Wally Szczerbiak to Cleveland last season, averaged 10.1 points and 5.2 rebounds per game between both clubs. The well-traveled former No. 1 overall pick out of Maryland has career averages of 11.9 points and 6.9 rebounds in 13 seasons with the Golden State Warriors, Philadelphia 76ers (twice), Minnesota Timberwolves (twice), Detroit Pistons, Bucks, Denver Nuggets, Bulls, and Cavs.
Mason, an eight-year vet out of Oklahoma State, scored 9.7 points and added 4.3 rebounds per game in 59 contests with the Bucks last season.
Ridnour tallied 6.4 points and 4.0 assists per game last season for the former Seattle Supersonics.
Griffin, a nine-year vet, averaged 1.9 points and 1.7 rebounds in 22 games with the Bulls last season. Chicago traded Griffin to Oklahoma City in February.
<< A's OF Sweeney placed on disabled list
Oakland, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Oakland Athletics placed outfielder
Ryan Sweeney on the 15-day disabled list Wednesday with a sprained right
thumb.
This is Sweeney's second trip to the DL this season, having been out of acti
<< Padres claim Falkenborg
San Diego, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The San Diego Padres claimed pitcher Brian
Falkenborg off outright waivers from the Los Angeles Dodgers, the club
announced Wednesday.
Falkenborg, 30, appeared in 16 games for the Dodgers this sea
<< Giants shake up roster
Houston, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The San Francisco Giants made a host of roster
moves on Wednesday.
The club purchased the contracts of catcher/infielder Pablo Sandoval and third
baseman Ryan Rohlinger from Double-A Connecticut and recalle
<< Mariners part ways with Vidro
Anaheim, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Seattle Mariners released Jose Vidro on
Wednesday.
The decision came after they designated the designated hitter for assignment
back on August 5.
The 33-year-old batted .234 with 11 doubles, sev
Rangers' Hamilton leaves game to be with pregnant wife >>
Boston, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Texas Rangers outfielder Josh Hamilton
left Wednesday's contest with Boston to fly back to Texas to be with his wife,
who is going into labor.
Hamilton was 0-for-3 in the game before being replaced
Michaels, Pirates leave Reds feeling blue >>
Pittsburgh, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jason Michaels belted a two-run homer to
lift the Pittsburgh Pirates over the Cincinnati Reds, 5-2, in the middle
contest of a three-game series at PNC Park.
Brandon Moss also homered and Paul Mah
Report: Instant replay just around the corner for MLB >>
Washington, DC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Major League Baseball is close to
implementing an instant replay system to determine disputed home run calls, as
reported on MLB.com Wednesday.
MLB's general managers voted 25-5 last November
Mets clobber Nationals behind huge third inning >>
Washington, DC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Daniel Murphy clubbed a two-run homer and
added an RBI single, as the New York Mets -- aided by an eight-run third
inning -- cruised to a 12-0 win in the second test of a three-game series
against
Trash talk has a place in every competitive endeavor (except baseball; those stirrup-wearers are too busy chewing on their sunflower seeds and their “supplements” to worry about what their opponents are doing).
Fantasy sports is no exception. Any intelligent discussion of the subject would probably start with a thesis statement or a definition of terms. Thankfully, this won’t be an intelligent discussion.
Let me just say that I am happy to take a place in this space alongside my talented colleagues, even our commissioner. (You should see how she bleats like a demented paper boy about league fees on our fantasy site).
Trash talking, I would argue, is primarily about amusing your friends, their sheeplike demeanors and sloping foreheads notwithstanding. The best place I have found for football trash talking is at www.SportsAlarm.com.
Beyond the entertainment factor, though, I would recognize that the sophomoric ritual has one advantage, when properly applied. It magnifies your fantasy triumphs and mitigates your fantasy failures by transforming the eventual point total into an afterthought. Winning makes it seem like your opponent really is a “truss-owning, lapel-pin-wearing nitwit.” And in defeat, trash talk can be the air bag to break the fall from your hyperbolic heights. “The plug-necked yahoos on your team,” you can say, “will be sacking groceries by the end of the season.”
The best trash talk, in my view, is layered and nuanced. And it doesn’t focus only on your opponent’s team. It picks apart your opponent. The idea is to create a shock-and-awe-scale blizzard of nonsense, and the goal is to make your opponent drop his hands from his keyboard in exasperation.
What team does your opponent root for? Accuse a Giants fan of having a Joe Namath pillowcase. Where’s your opponent from? Give a look of concern no matter his reply, then say, “I’ll try to type slower for you next time.” Is your opponent into politics? Label everyone a tax-and-spend corporate shill.
Cap all that with a liberal application of irrelevance. For instance, don’t just conclude by saying your opponent is a “twerp who drafts like my grandmother.” Say that your opponent is a “sweater-wearing, eyebrow-plucking twerp who drafts his team about as well as Zsa Zsa Gabor gave acceptance speeches at the Oscars.” By the time your foe makes sense of that, his starting running back will have had puppies.
But what about you? Hmm? Recall a memorable slam? Have a tried-and-true technique? Know someone who seems impervious to insult? Take a moment and tells us about it. Put together some (fit-for-publication) thoughts. You won’t be too busy returning phone messages from your friends, I’m sure, to reply.
In addition to the trash talking, the Sports Alarm has a huge gallery of high resolution pictures of beautiful women and models in bikinis. The most popular models are: Lindsay Lohan, Carrie Underwood, Alessandra Ambrosio, and Paris Hilton.
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