Over the past 48 hours, I’ve heard very conflicting reports from credible sources about whether the Clippers will seriously entertain offers for the #1 pick. One source said definitively that the Clippers intend to pick and hold onto Griffin. Another said that the Clippers have been aggressive in their Blakephilia only to bolster what was a very sluggish season ticket renewal campaign. You’ve read the reports, so I’m not telling you anything new.
Archive for May, 2009
What Would You Give Up For Griffin?
Blake Griffin Works Out for DraftExpress
The workout took place on Tuesday:
Clank.
Clank.
Clank.
Clank.
Whoosh (the sound of an airball).
A nervous, uncomfortable feeling spreads around the NYAC in New York City as the projected #1 overall pick in the draft bricks shot after shot.
What is going on here?
Clearly Blake Griffin has something on his mind, beyond the minor pain he’s suffering in two of his fingers, a byproduct of a drill he did last week in which he had to complete 750 push-ups in 80 minutes.
The Kid They Called “Blakey”
Royce Young of the superb OKC blog Daily Thunder grew up with the Griffin brothers, played baseball with them, even rolled a house or two with Blake’s brother, Taylor, back in the day. I asked Royce to share some of his impressions of Blake, the human, and Royce generously agreed:
When most think of Blake Griffin, they think of “powerful,” “strong,” “skilled,” “aggressive,” “No. 1” or “Beast.” But when I think about him, I see that annoying little kid that used to run around and climb on everything during baseball practice. We all called him “Blakey” and everyone was always asking him to get out of the dugout.
Neil Olshey Press Conference: Audio
Donald Sterling in the Flesh
ESPN the Magazine’s Peter Keating has a lenthy piece about the sordid details of Donald Sterling’s life. We’ve discussed the balancing act Clippers fans — and sports fans in general — have to perform as die-hards for their teams, and Keating’s piece will challenge some in the Naçión to confront the sublimation all of us engage in as we root on players (and by extension, owners) who might not be worthy of our support.
Much of Keating’s report on Sterling has been documented elsewhere, but the broad context in the article is strong, and the revelations indicting. Some of the lowlights:
