Category Archive

Did anyone see the dunk contest?  Dwight Howard caught an alley oop thrown from behind the backboard, jumped off two feet from well beyond the dotted, caught it with one hand, and was so far above the rim that he threw the ball down into basket.  And all this while donning a Superman cape.  The slow motion showed his cape flapping and his head like 3-4 feet above the rim, and he threw the ball down through the rim.  It was absolutely crazy. 

Found a good website for roots reggae fans, Roots Archives.  I just took home my Swing Easy Studio One comp.

In a battle of the Beasts of the East, the most hyped NBA game so far this year turned out to be one of the best of the young season. 

Pistons just finished beating the Celtics 87-85 on two Billups free throws with 0.1 seconds left.  I watched every second of the game from the opening tip to the final buzzer.

Lindsey Hunter provided an early 4th quarter spark with five points and two steals as the Pistons finally took the lead for the first time since early in the 1st quarter and after trailing by as many as ten in the second half.  Billups came in the game after a Celtics timeout and went to work on the Celtic’s young point guard Rondo or whatever his name is (although Rondo was killing Chauncey in the first quarter).  Mr. Big Shot just couldn’t be stopped though- he finished with 28.  Boston hit back to back threes in the final minute, and after Billups turned it over with five seconds left, they had a chance to win it but Pierce missed a jumper and Rasheed got the rebound and called a timeout with 1.7 seconds left, setting up Billups on the line after he pump faked his man and drew the foul.

What a game!  I have to give to the Celtics, though - they looked as good as advertised.  My hope is that Boston plays Cleveland in the playoffs before either team plays Detroit.  Miami and Chicago right now aren’t even close to making the playoffs if the season were to end right now, but that may change - although I’m shocked both teams are playing so bad.  In the West, the Spurs are looking good as always and the Mavs and Suns are right there too.  My two favorite teams out West are Golden State and Denver, so I try to stay up for them if ESPN or TNT shows them on the late game.

I’m an NBA junkie and tonight was like the ultimate fix.  Plus my favorite team of all got the W.  DEEEEETROIT BASKETBAAAAAAAAAAL!!!!!  The Pistons also have the best house band - remember when I wrote about The Sun Messengers?

Just watched the Golden State-Utah Game 4. Baron Davis had one of the nastiest dunks I have ever seen. Turned the corner, went straight at AK-47, rose, cocked the ball and just stuffed it in the basket right over his head. Oooo, it was nasty!

Golden State is fun to watch. Their crowd is way into it, and they play a very entertaining style - with four guards on the court most of the time just running and gunning. Plus they have Jason Richardson. J-Rich, the two time NBA dunk champion, said this about Davis’s posterizing of Kirilenko:

“That would have to be the greatest dunk I’ve ever seen with my eyes in person. It was like he put his whole body in the rim”. 

I agree.  Golden State is now officially my team out West - I actually dislike most of the West teams and I hate how everyone thinks they’re somehow far superior to the East.

The Pistons are peaking right now. It looks like they’ll finish the sweep on Sunday against the Bulls and then play the Cavs. LeBron always scares me, but I think he just doesn’t have enough help yet to compete for a title. I think they’ll win in five or six and then face San Antonio for a rematch of ‘05. And the Spurs are the one team that the Pistons don’t want. I’d much rather see the Suns. The good thing is that the West will beat each other up while the Pistons will coast, be rested and confident.

Oh that dunk was nasty!

Watch it here. Forget about records for a second. I don’t care if you’re not a basketball fan. Just watch.

Detroit’s The Sun Messengers, are the official house band of the Detroit Pistons, and will be getting the crowd fired up tonight for their first playoff game of 2007 against the Orlando Magic. What a gig-they get to do-it-up in front of 20,000+ cheering fans 41 times a year, and get court-side seats to see the best team in the world (that’s right-I am a huuuuge Pistons fan).

But what did they do before they scored this dream job at the Palace of Auburn Hills?  Well, they happen to be a damn fine band, on the Detroit jazz scene since the early 80s.

The LP pictured above is The Sun Messenger’s first, put out in 1984 on Sun Sounds records.  It shows off a variety of styles, but this is not put-you-to-sleep jazz, it’s booty-shaking jazz.  Especially Side One, with the Soweto inspired track Unidentified Exotic Dancer and the funk-break track Tubob Rock.  Side B begins with a great ska-jazz protest tune called No War, ala Rico with heavy trombone riffs.  It ends with Damn Slam, which sounds like a modern Louis Jordan big-band dance song.  Both songs on Side B feature old-time Detroiter Russell Green, whos trumpet wailing reminds me of New Orleans’s Kermit Ruffins.

We had another copy of this LP in our store, but it just sold recently.  Check The Sun Messenger’s website for info on how to buy their latest releases and check ‘em out the next time you’re at The Palace!

: Tobob Rock

: No War

(I apologize for the bad sound quality of these samples.  I’m working on it)

Sonny Cox was once a wailing saxophone player in Chicago in the 60s, recording this album on the Cadet label.  He then apparently got into coaching high school basketball after his career was over, leading Chicago’s Martin Luther King high school to three state championships.  He was recently honored was one of Illinois’s 100 Legends of the IHSA basketball tournament.

From Peoria’s PJ Star:

After a few minutes of relatively innocuous chat, former Chicago King coach Landon “Sonny” Cox warmed up when talk turned to ingredients necessary for a state champion - three of which he won (1986, ‘90 and ‘93). “I’ve always said you can’t win a state championship with midgets,” Cox said after being honored as one of the 100 Legends. “You’ve got to have athletes, too. You can’t win the Kentucky Derby with a donkey.” … Speaking of Cox, Sonny once paid bills by making sweet sounds through a saxophone. His biggest album was the 1966 release “The Wailer,’’ which fetches $12.99 even today at Cousins Vinyl in Detroit.

Sonny, pictured in upper left row with the 1986 AA Illinois state chamionship team.

Kind of a cool thing for an ex-saxophone player to do after his career is over.  I bet he would be fun to hang out with and listen to stories.  And I thought it was neat that we were mentioned in the Peoria PJ Star newspaper.  We’ve got a promo copy for sale as mentioned by the article, actually for just $12.00.