Kristopher Bellman's More Than A Game documentary is scheduled for release at selective theatres tomorrow.  I saw the movie about a month ago, and if I were a movie critic named J.R., I would give it two thumbs up...if I were Ebert and Roper I'd give it four. Sorry about that...just go see the movie, its good, I swear...

An excerpt from my review at the Akron Civic Theatre screening is as follows:

"If you think that MTAG is just about inner-city hoop dreams made good, or its a LeBron James documentary, you're incorrect. This is a movie about friendship, loyalty, and dreams. Its far from basketball-centric, and I believe that anyone who watches it can relate to its message.  If you think you know everything there is to know about theLeBron James / SVSM story, this movie will show you that you don't.  And if you don't think that this movie will inspire you to some degree, it will.  I heard the guy behind me talking before the movie about how he had seen it in Chicagoalready and cried.  I thought to myself, I'll probably like this movie, but c'mon...no way I cry.  And then I cried...go ahead, make fun of me, I don't care."

For a comprehensive look back at the Nike MTAG Akron Tour Stop click here.

As Cleveland waits for Shaq to announce his new Cavalier Nickname - because we don't have that much else to do - I wanted to take an opportunity to list (26) of the nicknames I could remember, or find, that O'Neal has given himself in the past.

This list of nicknames does not include referring to Eric Dampier as 'Erica,' the Sacramento Kings as 'Queens,' our transforming his name into words like 'Shaq-tastic,' or random acts of 'Shaq-ness.'

Credit Basketbawful for their 2007 post on the subject: Shaq's Top 13 Nicknames .  If you think this list is funny, you would find the detailed effort provided by Basketbawful hilarious.

In no particular order, a list of 26 nicknames Shaq has given himself in the past:

The Big Twitterer - for his propensity to tweet

Manny Shaq-iaou- Shaq Vs. Oscar De (Manny Pacquiaou)

The Big Aristotle - a reference to his greatness, which enabled him to win the MVP Award

Shaq Fu- From his rap days with Fu Schinkens

The Big Deporter- For eliminating - or deporting - foreign born players Rik Smits and Arvydys Sabonis from the 2000 Playoffs

Wilt Chamberneazy - Tribute to Wilt the Stilt

The Big eQuotatious - for deliverying consistently funny quotes or soundbites

The Big Maravich - for making (9) free throws in a row against Portland once in the playoffs

M.D.E (Most Dominant Ever)- after averaging 40 ppg in the Finals

The Big Baryshnikov - comparing his footwork under the hoop to the Russian dancer

To:  This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
From:  This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Subject:  We support you, but you have to get it together, right now

Delonte,

We have a lot of love for you in this town.  We know you've been the only player not named LeBron James to deliver in each of these past two post seasons.  We know you can guard just about any perimeter player in the NBA.  We know you can hit the three, and we love when you go so hard to the basket that it causes AC to say 'that's how you take the ball to the hoop when your from DC, Fred.'  Off the court, we think you might be the funniest professional athlete to play here, ever.  We've watched your Jim Rome correspondent piece ten times, and we have even ranked our top five favorite lines from your KFC Freestyle.  When you left camp last season, and publicly admitted your battles with depression, we were moved by your willingness to put yourself out there, and inspire as many people as you did.  As last season went on, we were happy for you, not only because it was your best season in your career, but also because it appeared you were winning those personal battles.  When you got arrested, nobody around here was mad.  We knew your battle wasn't going to be won easily.  We knew there could be set-backs. We cared and were worried about you personally, but we were still not worried about you as a member of the Cavaliers.  We knew you'd get through it, learn from it, and be better for it in the longrun.  But after you skipped practice today, we have to admit, we're a lot little worried.  You see, this is kind of an important season around here.  We haven't won a championship in forty five years, and if this season blows up in our face, and a certain someone leaves as a result, we might not win one for another forty five.  Did you see the Browns' game Sunday? So what I am saying here is this: you have to get a hold of yourself, and you have to do it today, we really need you to.  Whatever support and help you need Dan Gilbert and the Cavaliers will provide it for you, but you have to take them up on it.  This city will continue to respect you, support you, and love you, but you are going to have to respect us too.  We don't have another forty five years to wait, and we need you right - body mind and spirit - right now.  We have too much riding on this thing. 

Sincerely,

Cleveland Sports Fans   

It turns out the Barley House needed that Red Carpet afterall.  Nice showing by Cleveland last night for the Shaq party that included a guest list of Bernie Kosar, Kelly Pavlik, Dominique Moceanu, Josh Cribbs, Mo Williams, Anderson Varejao and Austin Carr in addition to the guest of honor, as well as some Akron Aero players Indians players. 

On a sidenote, it also appears there is no truth whatsoever to the rumor that Austin Carr walked around the Barley House last night, approached guys who were drinking Bud Light Lime, and told them to 'get that weak stuff outta here,' while requiring them to drink for a three-count...even though nobody would have been mad at him if he had.

I went out to Madison, Wisconsin this weekend to visit my brother and came away from the trip in full belief that I like everything about that town except for the drive...We had breakfast at Einstein Bagel this morning and on my way in Ralph Nader walked right past us...no lie...I didn't say anything to him though, but my Dad did.  He went with 'Hey Ralph, thanks for your help with the Corvair, I had one.'  Mr. Nader just looked at him in response, smiled, and nodded his head.  It got me thinking though, on the long ride home, that what I should have said is 'Hey Ralph, we need your help in Cleveland...with the Browns.'  There really isn't a group of consumers in more of a need for a high powered advocacy campaign than Cleveland Browns' season ticket holders...I feel terrible for those people.  As far as the Cavs go, I decided that I'm cool with the number four power ranking .  There is really no need to wear that number one ranking into the season...I like the idea of the Cavaliers rumoring to be interested in signing another guard.  They could use one, that's what I was getting at last Monday with the Stephen Jackson post, and while I just raised the question, and don't really want to see the Cavs move say a Z for Jackson, picking up a Tyronn Lue or Bobby Jackson for nothing but a few more dollars out of Dan Gilbert's pocket seems like a no-brainer type move, all Delonte West stuff aside.  For another part of the trip I was still trying to figure out what Channing Frye was actually thinking when he decided to wear that sweat suit with the fanny pack for his appearance in the 50 ballers drunk with random chicks post from earlier this week...I was also happy for Ron Harper and Anderson Varejao because even though they made a couple cameos in the post, they didn't look as bad as that, or as weird as Matt Harpring did. Thats all for now.  I did have issues with the Magellean navigation system on the ride back as well, but that's a topic for another day. 

If Stephen Jackson didn't get hit with a $25,000 fine last Tuesday for publicly requesting to be traded to Cleveland - as well as a handful of other teams - he just might have chimed in this week with a 'so what's up Cleveland, how about now?'  Admittedly, I didn't read too much into the comments he made to Dime Magazine back in August when he first made them.  But then again, back in August, Delonte West was still rolling with hot sauce in his guitar case bag. 

Amar'e Stoudemire does not believe the Cavaliers' addition of his former teammate makes them the team to beat in the NBA.  In the latest edition of Sports Illustrated, Amar'e sat down with Dan Patrick for his regular column, 'Just My Type.' 

A transcript of the exchange is below:

Dan Patrick:  Is Cleveland the team to beat now that LeBron has Shaq?

Amar'e Stoudemire:  No, I think the Lakers are still the team to beat.  Especially with Ron Artest.

Now I don't think it is necessarily surprising that he said the Lakers are still the team to beat, because, well, they are.  However, typically athletes don't answer those questions as definitively as that.  A response I'd expect would be, 'they are certainly better with Shaq, and I would rank them right up there in the top 3 to 5 - not naming any of those other 2-4 teams - and ending the comment with something like, however the Lakers are the champs and still the team to beat.  But he didn't say that.  He just said no, and his team just traded Shaq, and there've been rumblings out of Phoenix that Shaq was a bad teammate, some say Nash wanted him out, and they didn't make the playoffs with Shaq, so take the comment however you want.

There are some Cavalier fans who claim that the summer of promotion LeBron James' has embarked upon is a sign of complacency for the NBA's most recent MVP.  They think he should be in the gym working on his game.  They don't think he should be on a worldwide tour promoting MTAG, writing a book with Buzz Bissinger, plastering his face all over news outlets like GMA and the Daily Show, as well as making after school special appearances with the President of the Kanye West fan club.  

And I am going to guess they are not big fans of the most recent news that LeBron James is scheduled to play himself in the upcoming comedy Fantasy Basketball Camp.

However, I can't disagree more. 

This is the best thing to happen to Cleveland since Commodore Perry won the Battle of Lake Erie. 

Standing 6’1” tall, out of Spokane, Washington, there isn’t an argument anywhere that claims John Houston Stockton is anything but a first ballot Hall of Famer.  As such, he was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame this past weekend, along with David Robinson and Michael Jordan.  Which got me thinking, will John Stockton be the last short, white, American-born, Basketball Hall of Famer ever?  Ummm…yeah, looks that way.

In seeking to investigate this theory, we compiled two lists:

1. A list of the best American born whiteboys currently retired and not in the HOF.
2. A list of the active whiteboy ballers that fit this description.

The criteria used were pretty straightforward, but I’ll explain anyways:  These lists includes players who are white, born in the United States, not already inducted into the Hall of Fame,  and stand 6’6” tall or shorter. 

These lists do not then include Steve Nash (6’3”) from Canada, Manu Ginobili (6’6”) from Argentina, or Ricky Rubio (6’3”) from Spain.  It also does not include players like Chris Mullin (6’7”) - who is not in the HOF yet for some reason – because, while he is white, and was born in the US, he is not short.  Lastly, it does not include some obscure guy from the 50s who hasn’t gotten into the HOF yet, but somehow ends up on the ballot in 2012...you pretty much had to be in the league at some point during the careers of the most recent HOF inductees.  The lists are as follows:
 

Best Short, White, American Born, Basketball Players, Not in the HOF (Retired):