Good riddance

Allen Iverson has released a statement announcing his retirement from the NBA.

I know we've done a lot of A.I. bashing on this site, and if you're tired of it....too freakin bad. Here's part of Iver-lost's statement:

"I always thought that when I left the game, it would be because I couldn't help my team the way that I was accustomed to. However, that is not the case."

Does Iverson really think he's the best guy to determine his worth as a player? At what point would he actually admit he can't help a team win or play at a high level? Here's a hint - never.

A.I. was always a selfish ball-hog, now with diminished skills he doesn't have much value. He just refuses to see it.

What really bothers me is the way the media portrays Iverson. ESPN analysts call him an all-time great, and many others follow suit. I don't get it. Teams he's played for have consistently gotten better when he leaves. Did the Celtics get better when Bird left? The Bulls with Jordan? The Rockets with Hakeem?

He's shot a miserable percentage from the floor and was never a good defender. His postseason shooting percentage is even worse than the regular season, at a meaty 40 percent. Maybe he could have used a little more PRACTICE. PRACTICE? PRACTICE.

I understand he had some great highlight moments, but he wasn't a great player, I don't care how many guys wearing expensive suits on TV say he was. I would argue he's one of the most overrated players in all of sports.

This is one of the huge problems with sports media today, particularly ESPN. These analysts want to be buddy-buddy with the athletes, so they endlessly pump them up, regardless of how valuable they really are. So the ESPN guys might make a few new friends, but with me, they've lost all credibility.

Just like Iverson.

Another wrong answer

So apparently the president of basketball operations for the Knicks — the man who looks like, and will forever be known as, Donnie Walsh's corpse — is deeply involved in some 48-hour fact-finding mission about whether or not Allen Iver-lost can help his team. If you thought the Knicks couldn't sink any lower, they have. Iver-lost has become a viable option.

Let's put this into perspective. Imagine you had the opportunity to execute a business deal that would make the company a few bucks (think: ticket sales), but you also had overwhelming evidence to suggest the deal would: A) completely monopolize the company (no more cultivating young players); B) show short-lived improvements, followed by a pants-stripping downturn (the inevitable embarrassment of his departure); and C) be detrimental to your employees in both the short and long-term (impact on teammates). Would you need to think twice?

But thinking is reportedly what Walsh's corpse is up to. Only here's the problem with that: What facts aren't already front and center? Has Iver-lost been dealt to three teams since his days with the Sixers and systematically destroyed or tried to destroy them? Yes. Have his stats dipped lower than a Kardashian neck line? Yes. Has he essentially quit on two straight teams (Pistons, Grizz)? Umm, yes.

Some will argue AI is worthy of a starting spot on the Knicks, maybe even worthy of the tag as their top scorer. Fine. No argument from me, considering the team can't score or defend right now and is off to the worst 10-game start in franchise history.

But there simply comes a point when talent at a price is no longer worth it. No team in basketball should realize this like the Knicks, who've endured enough Vinnie Bakers, Steph Marburys and Stevie Franchises to torture a generation of fans twice over. So why Iver-lost? Why now? Why tarnish the franchise's reputation further, and do it only a few months before the chase begins for LeBron?

People will argue the commitment won't hurt the Knicks because it will end before LeBron, Dwayne Wade and co. spend the Summer of 2010 searching for the greenest pastures. That's absurd. The Knicks ruined their reputation already, but a union with perhaps the league's most unrealistic player could actually destroy it further. I mean, isn't this the same man who quit on the Grizzlies after three games? In what bizarro world should he play over Rudy Gay, O.J. Mayo and Mike Conley on a team desperate to rebuild? The Answer: None.

Of one thing I am absolutely certain: Walsh's corpse looks like the wrong man at what is hyped to be a crucial moment in Knick history. He drafted a stiff over Brandon Jennings. He built a team without a young point guard in spite of a 2009 draft littered with them. He has helped bury Eddy Curry a year after early reliance on Zach Randolph allowed the club to rid itself of his contract. And now Iver-lost?

Sorry to say it, Knick fans. Walsh may be the wrong answer, too.

The 5 people currently annoying me most

This list is always subject to change, and it's hard to narrow it to just 5, but I did my best:













5. Skip Bayless, ESPN - When did having a contrarian view on every single topic become a talent? If I walk outside in the pouring rain, turn to my friend and say how much I enjoy being out in the sun, will I be famous? Bayless called Lebron James overrated, defended Andy Reid's decision that Mr. Woo addressed, and once even called Tom Brady a more dominant athlete than Tiger Woods (no, I'm not kidding). Literally nobody likes this guy, but I guess stirring feelings of unbridled hate in people is a talent.

4. Joba Chamberlain, NY Yankees - He's really gotten on my nerves from the day he came up. I can't stand his post-strikeout routine, his dirty hat or his face in general. Add that he plays for the Yankees and that I've heard rumblings that he's an arrogant guy and Joba snakes to No. 4.

3. Tony LaRussa, St. Louis Cardinals - This overmanaging blowhard gets my blood boiling. Tony, batting the pitcher 8th doesn't make you a genius. I was at a Mets-Cards game this season when LaRussa used five pitchers in the 6th inning of a game he was losing 4-0 in the middle of the summer. No one loves to get his fingerprints on the game more than Tony, and no one has received more undue credit for a team's success. Pitching coach Dave Duncan is the brains behind the operation.

2. Allen Iverson, TBD - I know I already posted about A.I., but with each passing day he annoys me more. He just can't let go of the image he has of himself as an all-time great player (which I don't think he ever was)and makes a mess wherever he goes. Iverson should retire and join up with a men's league somewhere, I'm sure the team from Joe's Hardware won't mind if he hoists 40 shots a game.

1. Brett Favre, Minnesota Vikings - Mr. Buckner always gets on me for this, but I'm sorry, I root against this guy harder than anyone. The sad thing is he used to be one of my favorite athletes. Part of what drives me nuts about Favre is the ridiculous obsession ESPN has with him, but I think Favre plays into that by confiding in guys like Chris Mortensen. ESPN treats Favre like he's Michael Jordan or Tiger Woods, but I'm not sure he's even one of the top 10 QBs of all-time. The retirement nonsense, the way he slyly threw the Jets under the bus shortly after signing with the Vikings and his need for attention puts him at the top of my list.

Deja T.O.

W.F. Slinger (who we promise will post his own stuff eventually) with some thoughts on the newest Cowboy diva.
There are your bad guys and then there are your bad team guys. I know nothing about Dallas Cowboy wide receiver Roy Williams as a person, but I now know all I need to know about him as a teammate.

Welcome to the Zach Randolph/Allen Iverson/Terrell Owens/others like them Club, my friend. You are officially a loser.

Don't believe me? Then check out this story from ESPN.com, which makes Williams sound selfish, stupid and delusional.

Williams pretty much blames quarterback Tony Romo for his own lack of production since coming over from the Detroit Losts last year. Despite playing like a bum and having other bums like Miles Austin and Patrick Crayton completely outplay him, Williams maintains he's the teams No. 1 receiver. According to him, "I'm the No. 1 wide receiver, but things are just going No. 2's way."

Maybe that's because you stink. Doesn't this sound like the rantings and ravings of another wideout in Dallas? Just last year, T.O. was making wild claims about how Romo didn't throw him the ball enough and that the quarterback and tight end Jason Whitten were somehow conspiring against him by coming up with their own plays.

Last I checked, Romo has better things to occupy himself with in hotel rooms when the team travels on the road.

It's a shame because I used to really like this guy. He played for Permian High School (made famous by the legendary book "Friday Nigh Lights") in Odessa, Texas, where his freakish talent earned him one of the simplest, but great nicknames ever: The Legend.

At the University of Texas, he provided the best highlight material of any wide receiver since Florida State's Peter Warrick and was even ranked No. 1 on Mel Kiper's Big Board at one point before being drafted No. 7 in the 2004 NFL Draft. After showing some early brilliance (82 catches for 1,310 yards and 7 TDs in his third full season), even while playing for the sorriest professional team of the past decade in Detroit, Williams has basically been an injury-plagued disaster ever since.

And now, on top of bringing Dallas down (a good thing), he's killing my fantasy team (dagger). Too bad Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones doesn't play in my fantasy football league. Then I might be able to dump "The Former Legend" on him like the Lions did for a first, third, and sixth round pick in next year's draft.