This Week in the WFBL—All-Star 2010

.

End of the World: LeBron Leads Wasatch to First-Ever All-Star Victory
















LeBron soared through the jungle on his way to EBP honors.

LA GRAN SABANA (La Verdad)—Led by All-Star EBP LeBron James, the Wasatch Conference broke a 5-year curse, humiliating the World Conference by a final score of 7-2.

The combination of James, Durant, Nowitzki, Lopez and Deron Williams proved too much for the World, who were without superstar Kobe Bryant. LeBron's return to the country he called home the last two years was, as the EBP-frontrunner called it, "bittersweet".

"Bitter because I'm bitter towards the Iguanas for never surrounding me with the players I needed to win a title," the Trojan small forward explained. "Sweet because we kicked the World's trash, and I got another All-Star EBP trophy."

For the World, it was the end of a dominant era in the mid-season classic. In the two previous meetings that pitted the Wasatch against the World, the World had won handily.

"I think there's a lot of things to which we can attribute this loss," said Commissioner Barnes, head coach of the World All-Stars. "For starters, LeBron's natural jumping ability combined with the high altitude—remember, we played the game on top of Earth's highest waterfall—made it near impossible for anyone on our team to guard him. Plus we put Melo on him. That was probably a mistake.

"Secondly, Chris Bosh kept complaining about the ball being too wet, what with all the humidity and moisture up here," he continued. When pressed to answer why the ball moisture didn't seem to affect the Wasatch All-Stars, Barnes concluded that it had something to do with Wasatch assistant coach Pau Gasol, who handed out exfoliating lotion before the game. "You know, the kind that has little bits of sand or whatever in it. It's grippy."

Despite all of the "disadvantages" the World had, many believe it was the mangoes that kept falling on the court that did them in, especially when point guard Steve Nash slipped on a smashed mango and fell off the edge of the mountain, tumbling down the waterfall.

"Yeah that probably hurt us a little," said Barnes. "I bet Chris Paul wouldn't have fallen off the edge of the cliff, though."

_________

Wasatch Replacements:
Steph Curry replaced Mo Williams at PG
Deron Williams started in place of Mo Williams
OJ Mayo replaced Brandon Roy at SG

World Replacements:
Baron Davis replaced Chris Paul at PG
Andre Iguodala started in place of Kobe Bryant
Joe Johnson moved to backup SG
Josh Smith replaced Kobe Bryant at SF

All-Star Game Voting Results:

Wasatch 4 (50%)
World 4 (50%)

Week 15 EBP:

LeBron James, Rigby—4 votes (66% of vote)

________________________________________________________

Fun Facts: Feb 12-18, 2007

First-class stamp: $0.39

Average movie ticket price: $6.58

#1 Song: "Irreplaceable"—Beyoncé
#1 Movie: "Ghost Rider"

Each week, This Week in the WFBL looks back and shines a light on a moment in the WFBL's illustrious history. This week, we look at All-Star Week from 2007 (Feb 12-18). Before the WFBL was even split into conferences, the 2nd Annual All-Star Game pitted players geographically from the World and the Wasatch. New Orleans was the host city, and since the festivities happened to take place during Mardi Gras, Indiana Team Mom Regan Barnes forbid her team to participate. Turns out the World didn't need her team's help, anyway.

ALL-STAR WEEK, FEB 12-18, 2007

The World Is Enough: Bayside's Marion Leads World to 5-3-1 Victory

NEW ORLEANS (AP)—On paper, a collection of the top players from the four most dominant teams in the WFBL (and Indiana) should be able to defeat a similar collection from the so-called "lower tier" teams in said league.

Luckily for the World squad, WFBL games are almost exclusively played on paper.

And so it is fitting that Bayside's Shawn Marion, the top-rated player in the league all-season, statistically, led the World to a 5-3-1 victory over the Wasatch and the game's EBP trophy.

The game was close throughout, but when it came down to it, the rebounding of the World, along with the Wasatch's propensity for turning the ball over, led to the close victory.

"We knew we had a good team coming in," said Marion. "We had a good time, it was a pretty good weekend, and hopefully we put on a good show."

It appeared at the outset that the World would dominate, and with a formidable lineup – no player was ranked lower than 18 – it is easy to see why that would be expected. But the Wasatch, led by Twin Falls' Kobe Bryant and St. George's Gilbert Arenas, would not back down and made it interesting throughout the game, despite their lower player ranking (two players ranked in the mid-twenties).

"I may have been a little out of line when I made that 'shock the World' comment last week," said a contrite Arenas on his blog. "I was gonna try to go out there and get that EBP award, but once I realized that I was missing a lot of shots and we were losing, I figured I'd just play."

In all, New Orleans was a great host city for the annual showcase of WFBL talent. Most importantly, there were no arrests and no public embarrassments as of press time. Pundits believe that this can be owed to the fact that the hooligan Indiana Sand Dunes and their troublemaking fans didn't make the trip.

Could the game return to the Big Easy again next year?

"Who knows," said Commissioner Barnes, festooned in Mardi Gras regalia. "There is absolutely no rhyme or reason to anything we do in this league. But that's what makes it so interesting, I think."

The league takes Monday off before getting back into action Tuesday for the final five weeks of the regular season.

This Week in the WFBL—Week 14

.
Kings' Nash Finds Voice on Radio Show




















Steve Nash, live on WNYK: your exclusive home for traffic, polka music, and New York Kings basketball!

NEW YORK (AP)—Editor's note: The following is a transcript of an interview between New York City radio station WNYK and Kings All-Star point guard Steve Nash, which was really hard to type because radio talk show hosts talk fast. But it was still easier than actually interviewing Steve Nash ourselves.

Marvelous Marv: Hey, all you sports fans out there in Radioland! You're listening to "King Me," the weekly program that brings you the inside scoop on your New York Kings, right here on WNYK, your exclusive home for traffic, polka music, and New York Kings basketball. I'm your host, Marvelous Marv Martinez, and I'm really excited about our next guest. He's been a member of the Kings ever since their inaugural season, and he's been a dear friend of mine ever since he started playing well earlier this year. And now that we're able to disguise ourselves on his caller ID, he's joining us as a guest on our show. Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome New York City's favorite point guard, Mr. Steve Nash!

Steve Nash: Hello?

Marvelous: Hello, Steve!

Steve: Who is this?

Marvelous: I'm Marvelous Marv Martinez, and you're on "King Me," the weekly program that brings you the inside scoop on your New York Kings, right here on WNYK, your exclusive home for traffic, polka music, and New York Kings basketball.

Steve: The caller ID said you were my grandmother.

Marvelous: That's strange. Well, do you mind if I ask you a couple of questions?

Steve: Actually, Marv, I'm kind of busy right now. You see, I was just about to clip my toenails.

Marvelous: Don't worry, Steve, this will only take a minute. You and your Kings compadres are coming off a huge 5-4 win against the Udorn Jai-Rai, a tough World Conference foe that has been chasing you in the standings. You came into the series ahead of Udorn by only half a game, and now, thanks to that hard-fought victory, you're ahead by a full game and a half. And every win counts at this point in the season, with only a few weeks left before the playoffs. And I know you want to head into next week's All-Star break with momentum. And it's important to keep that win streak alive, which now stands at six weeks and includes wins over the Iguanas and the Sundancers. 'Cause that win streak is giving the Kings relevance and making the rest of the league take notice. And it's really nice for the fans, because they've been supporting you ever since about week three of your current win streak. And now to beat the Jai-Rai in the WFBL Game of the Week—how important was that to you and your team?

Steve: Um, very...important...?

Marvelous: That's right. And let's talk about your personal performance. Your 51 assists, 12-for-12 free-throw shooting, four steals and 12 three-pointers almost single-handedly beat the Jai-Rai in those categories, and as you know, in a narrow 5-4 victory, every single statistic counts—although, technically, I guess, they count in blowouts too, but they seem to count more in close games. Anyway, I'm sure you'd say that it was a team effort, and that no one player can do it all himself, and that Paul Pierce and Corey Maggette going off for 84 point apiece surely helped. And you'd probably want to give credit to Udorn for how hard they played to keep the series close. But how satisfying was it for you personally to have such a big series individually in one of the biggest series of the year and help your team in this way and give the Kings fans such an important win?

Steve: It was...satisfying, Marv. For all the reasons you mentioned.

Marvelous: And speaking of your individual effort, how gratifying was it to be named the starting point guard for the upcoming All-Star game ahead of reigning EBP and media darling Chris Paul of the hated Zermatt Abominables, whom everybody wants on their team and for whom any team would drop their current point guard—even you—in an instant? I mean, anytime you can be recognized individually for your accomplishments in this way, by being named an All-Star—that's something you always dream about and work for. But when it comes at the expense of a player whom the media drools over, that has to be extra special. Of course, team goals are the most important, as we all know. And you're surely focused primarily on helping the New York Kings lock up a playoff berth and make a run for the Concludings. But surely there must be some personal gratification at being honored in this way, given an appropriate amount of obligatory acknowledgment of the role your teammates play in making you look good, right?

Steve: [silence]

Marvelous: Steve? Steve? Are you there, Steve? Did we lose Steve? All right, which of you lousy technicians lost the phone connection? You're making me look bad! Get Steve back on the line, or so help me...

Steve: Hey, Marv. I'm back. Sorry. It sounded like your question was going to take a while, so I figured I had time to run out for just a sec and shoot a Vitamin Water commercial. But I set my phone next to a baked potato—did the potato answer your question all right?

Marvelous: No, not really, but—oh, hold on, Steve. It's now 7:47, and you know what that means! Every ten minutes on the sevens here at WNYK, your exclusive home for traffic, polka music, and New York Kings basketball, we bring you Time-Saver Traffic Reports from "Judy in the Sky" Farnsworth. Judy, how's the traffic looking from up there?

Judy: Well, Marv, traffic is at a standstill on basically every street in this sorry town. All major intersections are jammed, mostly with taxis, and I'm hearing a lot of obscenities in every language you can think of.

Marvelous: So, basically, no change from your last report 10 minutes ago?

Judy: Or from any report I've ever given in the 12 years I've worked here, Marv.

Marvelous: Thanks, Judy. We'll check back with you at 7:57. Sorry for the interruption, Steve.

Steve: No problem, Marv. That was very informative.

Marvelous: Just one more question and then we'll let you go. As you know, it was just over five short years ago that the nation of Thailand was devastated by a horrific tsunami. Millions or perhaps billions of people were killed, and billions more were left homeless. Worst of all, the Thai people were forced to face the tragedy without the benefit of a championship-contending professional sports franchise. Fate, it seems, has been merciless toward the people of Thailand—until this year, when Kobe Bryant signed with the Udorn Jai-Rai. Suddenly there was hope that the Jai-Rai could bring healing to this forlorn land. But now you and your heartless mates from New York have dealt a cruel blow to the dreams of the Thai people, robbing them, at least temporarily, of the one bright star in the pitch-black sky of their lives. If the Jai-Rai do not make the playoffs because of their loss to the Kings, then you might as well rename your team the Tsunamis, because you'll have done more damage to the Thai psyche than any natural disaster could ever do. How do you live with yourself?

Steve: Marv, that's THE MOST RIDICULOUS THING I'VE EVER HEARD! What kind of pompous arrogance inspires the sports industry to believe that having a winning team erases or even mitigates the misery and suffering caused by the 2004 tsunami? The people of Thailand need clean water and food and shelter and comfort, and we give them a WFBL franchise?!? Will the Jai-Rai rebuild their homes? Will the Jai-Rai adopt the orphaned children? Will the Jai-Rai feed the starving families who lost their plantations and their livelihood? Can the Thai people EAT the Jai-Rai? All the Jai-Rai will do is squeeze more money out of these poverty-stricken people and line the pockets of the elitists. If I hear one more sportscaster claim that the nation of Thailand "needs" the Jai-Rai to go to the Concludings this year in order to complete the healing process from the tsunami, I'm going to take that sportscaster's microphone and--

Marvelous: Well, that's all the time we have for today. Tune in next week for "King Me" on WNYK, your exclusive home for traffic, polka music, and New York Kings basketball. (Man, that Steve Nash can really be long-winded, can't he?)

Around the WFBL

Abominables 8, Butchers 1

Sundancers 8, Stratagem 1

SnowBees 5, Trojans 4

Gators 6, Underdogs 3

Iguanas 7, Tigers 2

Week 14 Game of the Week Voting Results:

New York Kings 2 (33%)
Udorn Jai-Rai 4 (66%)

Week 13 EBP:

LeBron James, Rigby—4 votes (50% of vote)

________________________________________________________

Fun Facts: Jan 26-Feb 1, 2009

Loaf of Bread: $2.02

Gallon of milk: $3.39

#1 Song:"Just Dance"—Lady GaGa ft. Colby O'Donis
#1 Movie: "Taken"

Each week, This Week in the WFBL looks back and shines a light on a moment in the WFBL's illustrious history. This week, we look at Week 14 from 2009(Jan 26-Feb 1). The Twin Falls Gators were once again competing for first place in the Wasatch Conference, and all season long, a certain reptilian-themed player was at the center of controversy. Week 14 gave us a unique, personal look inside the Mamba's locker. Click the image at your own risk: some things you can't un-see.

WEEK FOURTEEN, JAN 26-FEB 1, 2009

Gators 4, Tigers 4, Humanity 1

TWIN FALLS (AP)—At the beginning of the season, the Twin Falls Gators had a few goals in mind for 2008-09. While the pedestrian goals—make the playoffs, finish in first, win the Concludings, etc—are easy enough, the one that stood out as simply unattainable is the one still fridge-magnet-ed to the locker of each and every player: Keep Zermatt From the Playoffs. The top-ranked (you can preface that with, "formerly", that's for sure) Gators, fresh off a stumblingly pathetic 4-4-1 tie to last place Bayside, get their final direct shot at acheiving their goal, welcoming the A-Boms to town. They'll need help, too, with the defending champs a mere (cough) 18.5 games ahead of Richmond, with five weeks to go. But still, that's not stopping Kobe and Co. from giving it their all. "We need this win, we absolutely must have it," said Bryant. "People talk about winning a championship as the ultimate goal. I already did that. That's been done by a lot of people. But Zermatt's never not made the playoffs. So as you can see, all our focus—mine at least—will be on stopping them." "Not me," said forward Tim Duncan. "Who cares about Zermatt? I want a ring! Gimme gimme!"

It needn't be mentioned that the Mamba's goal of keeping the A-Boms from the playoffs was not only NOT attained, but it was not attained in the most horrible way imaginable. You know the history here.

2010 All-Stars Announced

.
LeBron, Nash Head List of All-Star Voting; Lopez, Melo Two of Nine First-Timers

LeBron James hopes to lead the Wasatch Conference for their first-ever victory over the World Conference in the 2010 All-Star Game, which will be held on top of Angel Falls in Venezuela during Week 16's bye week.

MARACAIBO (La Verdad)—The 2010 All-Star starters and reserves were named this morning, to much fanfare and gusto during a break in the Rigby-Maracaibo Week 13 matchup. While the big story may be the return of Iguanas favorite son LeBron James, this time as a Trojan bent on leading the Wasatch to their first ever All-Star victory, there are plenty of interesting story lines for this year's Mid-Winter Classic. Below are the voting results, with comments.









Position, Name, Team (All-Star Appearances)

Mo Williams, St. George Underdogs (1)
Deron Williams, Twin Falls Gators (2)
Rajon Rondo, Nephi Stratagem (1)



Kevin Durant, Park City Sundancers (2)
Dwyane Wade, Park City Sundancers (5)
Brandon Roy, Nephi Stratagem (1)



LeBron James, Rigby Trojans (5) * 2006 EBP
Gerald Wallace, Park City Sundancers (3)
Danilo Gallinari, Nephi Stratagem (1)

Dirk Nowitzki, Salt Lake SnowBees (5)
Carlos Boozer, Rigby Trojans (2)
Andrea Bargnani, Park City Sundancers (1)

Brook Lopez, Park City Sundancers (1)
Tim Duncan, Twin Falls Gators (4)
Amar'e Stoudemire, Nephi Stratagem (4)



Wasatch Comments: Rajon Rondo is the lowest-rated player to make the All-Star team; Nephi (that's right, Nephi) was tied with Park City for most All-Stars (4), but the recent trade with Rigby that brought Brook Lopez to the Sundancers gives the defending runners-up five All-Stars; Lopez gets the start at center in only his second season in the league; Mo Williams, Rajon Rondo, Brandon Roy, Danilo Galinari, and Andrea Bargnani are other first-timers for the Wasatch; it's a bitter-sweet victory for Mo Williams, who will be out 4-6 weeks with a shoulder injury. Deron Williams would take his place—his first-ever All-Star start, and Steph Curry will be an injury addition, representing Rigby; LeBron James and Dwyane Wade are appearing in their record fifth All-Star games, while the King is the only player in league history to start in every Mid-Winter Classic; Pau Gasol needn't worry about his complexion problems in the thin air of Angel Falls. The SnowBees center was nowhere to be found on this year's selection.


















New York's recent play isn't the only thing turning heads lately. Steve Nash gets the starting nod over Chris Paul in this year's All-Star game, marking Nash's fourth appearance.








Position, Name, Team (All-Star Appearances)

Steve Nash, New York Kings (4)
Chris Paul, Zermatt Abominables (3) * 2009 EBP
Jason Kidd, Richmond Butchers (3)




Kobe Bryant, Udorn Jai-Rai (5)
Andre Iguodala, Los Iguanas de Maracaibo (3)
Monta Ellis, Zermatt Abominables (1)




Carmelo Anthony, Richmond Butchers (1)
Joe Johnson, Bayside Tigers (3)
Paul Pierce, New York Kings (4)

Chris Bosh, Bayside Tigers (4)
Al Horford, Udorn Jai-Rai (1)
Nene, Udorn Jai-Rai (2)

Marcus Camby, Richmond Butchers (4)
David Lee, Los Iguanas de Maracaibo (2)
Zach Randolph, Udorn Jai-Rai (1)



World Comments: Kobe Bryant is gets the starting nod at shooting guard, after relinquishing the spot to Dwyane Wade a year ago for the Wasatch squad; Richmond leads the World with four All-Stars, while Udorn, with their three All-Stars, is the only other World team to nab more than two spots; this is Chris Paul's third selection, but the reigning All-Star EBP's first non-start; Carmelo Anthony headlines a group of four first-timers (Monta Ellis, Al Horford, and Zach Randolph) for the World Conference, getting the start at small forward; Three of the four PF/C backups are members of the Udorn Jai-Rai.


So what do you think? That look about right? Did your precious player get snubbed? Upset that stupid Steve Nash barely beat out America's favorite point guard for the World's starting spot? Vent in the comments!

New York Kings

.













TEAM: New York Kings
CONFERENCE AFFILIATION: World Conference
OWNER: TJ Barnes
PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE: New York Triceratops, 06-07 5th Place; New York Kings, 07-08 8th Place, 08-09 8th Place
LOCATION: New York, New York
ARENA: The Palace at New York
MOTTO: "Off With Your Head!"
MOST-HATED RIVAL(S): SnowBees, Underdogs, Iguanas

SEASON OUTLOOK

The New York franchise is now three years old, and those three years have seen a grand total of one playoff appearance and zero playoff wins. There have been a lot of variables during that span—several players have come and gone, owner TJ Barnes has increased his age by 50 percent, and even the team's name and logo have changed—but the one constant in all of this mediocrity has been Canada native Steve Nash, the only starting point guard the New York Triceratops/Kings have ever known.

Conventional wisdom would say, "Well, duh. Dump the Canuck!" But on draft day, when the Kings' turn came up, Conventional wisdom was busy doing something else, so TJ had to make the pick himself. And as the highest-rated Canadian still on the board, Nash was the obvious choice.

Nevertheless, Nash says the pick surprised him. "I really thought I had seen the last of New York. In fact, I had already put earnest money down on homes in each of the other WFBL cities, and during the final week of last season I gave all of my Kings gear to homeless kids in the Bronx. I guess that was a little premature. Now I have to go back to the Bronx and ask for my stuff back. That'll be awkward."

Also returning for another go with the Kings are guard Paul Pierce and forward Stephen Jackson. But even more exciting for TJ is the fact that he was alert enough to draft someone who shares his first name (TJ Ford), someone who shares his last name (Matt Barnes), someone whose name is really close to TJ's cousin Spencer Howes (Spencer Hawes), someone whose last name is a color (Michael Redd), and someone whose name looks—to an eight-year-old—like "Alien Invasion" (Allen Iverson). Why the other 11 teams kept passing on these players is a mystery. Goes to show how an obsession with stats can keep people from focusing on the important things, like cool names and being from Canada. With those two key elements in place, New York is poised for a deep playoff run—for sure this time.


LOGOS & UNIS

WALLPAPER DOWNLOADS
Click images to open wallpaper in window; then right click and save to desktop