Wade's wholesome image vanishing in a Flash

During the postgame coverage of the Mavericks’ impressive fourth-quarter comeback over the Heat late last night, Rick Kamla and his NBA TV colleagues were trying to pinpoint exactly when during Dallas’s 22-5 closing run was the moment where they felt the comeback turned from unlikely into reality.
Obviously, key shots from the brothers Jason (Kidd and Terry, from another mother) and—of course—Dirk Nowitzki were discussed, but everybody failed to mention that the turning point in the Mavs’ comeback took place before it even began.
It began with just over seven minutes remaining in Game 2’s final frame, when Dwyane Wade buried a corner three-ball to put the Heat up 15 (88-73). After sinking the triple in front of the Dallas bench, Wade’s celebration lingered a little longer than usual—even for the Heatles.
Casually sauntering past the Mavericks reserves and coaches, Wade’s arms were raised in what could’ve been misinterpreted as a victory salute. His basketball BFF LeBron James joined in on the fun, air jabbing Wade’s chest, symbolic of a team that had its opponent on the ropes, but ultimately failed to score the all-important knockout blow.
Much of the media and fans took notice of, and offense to, Wade’s punkish antics, and evidently so did the Mavericks themselves.
"My inner-self talked me out of doing something," said Terry about Wade’s reaction. "You don't want to know what was going through my mind at that point."
Added Tyson Chandler: “He celebrated in front of our bench. I think it angered a lot of us. We came out there and we responded. When we were down 15, we said we have to take it possession by possession. We didn't even call any plays."
Instead, Dallas used the impromptu celebration as motivation for their stirring comeback, seizing the moment to play lockdown defense and allow Terry and Notwitzki to recapture their offensive mojo before it was too late.
This wasn’t the first time in these playoffs where Wade behaved more like an eighth-grade bully than a world-class basketball star. I don’t have to remind Celtics fans of his involvement in Rajon Rondo’s gruesome elbow injury during the Eastern Conference semifinals—one that served as the ultimate turning point in the series.
It was concluded by many that Wade’s play on Rondo wasn’t dirty. In a way, it truly wasn’t, but seeing D-Wade use a smaller and scrawnier player as a human shield didn’t earn him any brownie points in the nobility department.
Events like these that have transpired over the past 12 months in South Beach have significantly depreciated the wholesome and likeable image that Wade once projected years ago. When Flash first entered the league, he was sort of a likeable underdog.
Wade played his college ball at Mid-major Marquette after growing up on the mean streets of the Windy City. He first captured the attention of the sporting masses after leading Marquette on a Cinderella-like run to the Final Four.
Then he memorably joined forces with everybody’s new favorite ex-NBA big man Shaquille O’Neal to take down the mighty offensive juggernaut (and their annoying owner, Mark Cuban) that was the 2006 Mavericks and win an improbable NBA title.
After that, Wade quickly became one of the sport’s premier players, someone who David Stern could sell to young fans as a role model. While Kobe Bryant was fighting for his freedom over sexual assault allegations and Gilbert Arenas was turning the Wizards locker room into the O.K. Corral, Wade stayed in trouble off the court, even going as far as buying his mother a church.
But the cracks in his wholesome image started showing shortly thereafter. Following a messy and highly-publicized divorce, Wade played a major part in LeBron’s now-infamous Decision, wooing he and third wheel Chris Bosh down to Miami in an under-the-table manner.
For an encore, Wade and his new Big 3 colleagues participated in a WWE-like introductory party at the American Airlines Center after the signings last summer. Something tells me the 2006 D-Wade would’ve been content with just a press conference.
It’s fascinating to watch the demise of Wade’s once-flawless reputation. Flash went from doing no wrong to having the media scrutinize even his reactions to a big shot, in what has seemed like a flash—or a calendar year.
For Pat Riley’s sake, Wade will hopefully now save the celebrating until after the game is won, or else the Heatles’ chances of winning a title this year will vanish in a Flash.

The Relationship PSA

"What is this?" you ask? Check out the post below.

Brian Bell's newest musicial relationship

When people think of Weezer, the first figure that comes to mind is the first man of geek rock, Rivers Cuomo. But let’s look past the coke-bottle glasses, sweater vests, and pocket protectors for a brief moment and focus on another integral figure in the Weez, lead guitarist Brian Bell.

It’s a shame that more attention isn’t given to Bell. His axe playing is underrated, stage presence is respectable, and wardrobe rivals that of Lou Reed. And also lost in all of this is that fact that he’s had a side project, The Relationship, going for the past few years.

While it may have taken awhile, The Relationship finally has a debut LP coming out. It’s self-titled and is debuting tomorrow (11.29) via iTunes and Amazon.com. I’ve only heard a little bit of Bell’s band, and it’s style is definitely a detour from his Weezer work.

I would describe it as old-school bar rock, with influences from Tom Petty and the aforementioned Reed, among other similar acts. I’m not sure if this song made the LP, but here’s a number from The Relationship.

PS: Rumors are flying that Bell will be personally signing copies of the LP after both shows of Weezer’s upcoming Memories tour, December 14 and 15 in Boston.

The Black Pacific: Pennywise part 2?

To the chagrin of many punk fans, singer Jim Lindberg left Pennywise last summer to form his own band. Well that band has finally come to fruition in the form of The Black Pacific.

With Lindberg playing lead vocals and guitar, The Black Pacific is currently touring Europe with Sum 41 and the Riverboat Gamblers. While I (and many other Pennywise fans) was sad to see Lindberg leave his signature punk band behind, I have to say I’m pretty stoked about some of the material The Black Pacific has released thus far. It has lots of the high energy, political themes and aggressive guitars that punk rockers know and love.

My only gripe is that The Black Pacific’s stuff sounds eerily similar to Pennywise. Their first single “System” (check out the music video below) sounds like it could’ve easily been on the next Pennywise album.

And if Lindberg left Pennywise to release the exact same music with another band, it tells me that he must’ve had some kind of bad falling out with his old bandmates, and to me, that’s even more disheartening than hearing news of him leave Pennywise in the first place.

Song of the week: Pats get physical in victory over Steelers

So, for this week’s Song of the Week, I’m going the cheesy route. Sure, many know Olivia Newton John’s “Let’s Get Physical” as the ultra-peppy workout song that so many sweated to while burning calories back in the day.

But believe it or not, the tune is the perfect theme for describing the Patriots’ impressive 39-26 victory over the favored Steelers in Pittsburgh this past Sunday. The Steelers have always been known for being a physically imposing team, but not against the Pats.

To the surprise of many, the much-maligned Patriots defense came to play against Big Ben and company, making their physical presence felt throughout the game, especially when they knocked out WR Hines Ward from the game and when safety Patrick Chung delivered an especially-physical blow to WR Mike Wallace in the first half.

Not to be outdone, the Patriots offense got a little physical themselves. The unit had over 100 rushing yards against a Pittsburgh D that’s always stout against the run, and the offensive line kept Tom Brady upright all night. Their physical play was so impressive that the famous Blitzburgh defense didn’t register a single sack against Brady.

There’s no doubt that a big reason the Pats won on Sunday was their physicality, which was nice to see, given that the prior week they were “thunderstruck” by a physical Cleveland Browns offense.

And in today’s NFL chock-full of high-flying offense and scores that rival basketball games, it’s refreshing to know that you can still beat an opponent by flat out hitting them in the mouth.

Hold the salt: Followill judges on Iron Chef America

Can somebody please explain to me why Caleb Followill was recently a judge on “Iron Chef America”? I heard the Kings of Leon frontman liked to cook, so that was probably the biggest reason.

But so what? Lots of people like to cook. But lots of people aren’t the lead singer of one of the most popular rock bands on the planet, so it’s understandable why the Food Network went the celebrity judge route.

He actually did a pretty decent job judging the dishes of the two contestants, considering his culinary background (or lack thereof). He offered some pretty valid praises and criticisms of several of the dishes, although he seemed to have an obsession with salt on two of the highlighted meals.

Iron Chef Michael Symon tried his best to be respectful during Followill’s remarks, saying “I would never leave halfway through one of your shows.” Well, considering the mediocrity that runs rampant on KOL’s newest album Come Around Sundown, I wouldn’t blame Symon if he did.

Song of the Week: Hillis leaves Pats thunderstruck

I’ve decided to create a new blog segment called the Song of the Week. The song I choose will be based on either something going on in the world that has gotten my attention, or it will simply highlight a song that I can’t get out of my head at the moment. So without further ado, here’s the first song.

Going into this past Sunday’s game, the Patriots were riding high, and they had every right to be. After all, they had the NFL’s best record at 6-1. All that was standing in the way of 7-1 was the lowly Browns.

Little did the Pats know, the Browns had a secret weapon up their sleeves in the form of a 260-pound tank of a running back named Peyton Hillis. It’s safe to say he’s not a secret anymore after punishing the New England defense to the tune of over 180 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns in a startling 34-14 butt-kicking.

Even as the Patriot defense was putting nine and 10 men in the box to try to stop Hillis, it was all for not. There’s nothing worse in football than knowing you can’t stop someone, no matter how hard you try. And there’s no doubt that the Pats defense had no answer for Hillis at all, as he left them thunderstruck.