Could It Be?

The Cleveland Cavaliers have missed out on Charlie Villanueva in free agency. I am glad about that. He is still improving and he is going to be solid, but the Cavs need an impact player. This impact player may be arriving soon and his name is Ron Artest.(photo courtesy of http://yourwrong.wordpress.com/2009/04/30/stock-check/)

Artest is a beast. He is one of the only players in the league who can guard LeBron 1-on-1 and he can hit the 3. I'm not going to get all deep and whatnot, but you need 3 stars to win in this league now, and Artest would surely shine bright in Cleveland's rotation.

WOD...
5 Rounds of:
135# Clean & Jerk x 5
Pullups x 10

Liverpool...

I don't know why I was thinking about Liverpool football today, but I was. Maybe it was Fernando Torres' scintillating move against the US defense that produced a shot and a great Tim Howard save. That must be it. Anyways, here are some cool, random tidbits on Liverpool FC (from bleacherreport.com).

• Anfield was the original home of Everton FC in 1884, but after a rent dispute, Everton decided to move to Goodison Park in 1891.
• John Houlding, the lease holder of Anfield, was left with a stadium and no team, so the board went to Scotland and signed 13 players to form the new Liverpool Football Club in 1892.
• The club's original strip was blue and white quarters.
• Liverpool's first ever game was against Rotherham Town. They won the match 7-1 with Malcom Macvean scoring their first ever goal. That game was also the first time an English domestic team had fielded a side consisting entirely of foreign players.
• After being rejected by the Football Association, Liverpool played in the Lancashire League. Their first game was an 8-0 victory against Higher Walton with John Smith scoring Liverpool's first ever competitive goal.
• They ended the season as champions, beating Everton 1-0 in the first ever Mersyside Derby.
• The Merseyside derby has the highest amount of players sent off than any other Premier League fixture.
• Liverpool were elected in to the Football Association in 1893.
• Their first professional season saw the club become second division champions and going the whole campaign unbeaten, with Malcom Maclean once again scoring their first ever goal.
• The strip changed from blue and white quarters to red and white.
• In 1901, Alex Raisbeck was the first Liverpool captain to collect the Football League first division championship, under the management of Tom Watson.
• Expansion of the South end of Anfield in 1906 created a larger stand called the Spion Kop, named after a Boer war battle of 1900 where over 300 men of the Lancashire regiment died, with many being from Liverpool.
• 1915 saw Liverpool involved in one of the sports earliest betting scandals, with four Liverpool players being banned.
• Liverpool spent eight seasons in division two between 1954 and 1962.
• In 1964 Liverpool changed their strip from red and white to the current all red that is seen today.
• In February of 2006, Liverpool ended an 85 year run of losses against Manchester United in the cup by beating them 1-0 at Anfield. The first victory over United in the FA Cup since 1921.
• In the 2007-08 season, Liverpool recorded the biggest ever Champions League margin with an 8-0 victory over Besiktas.
• In April of 2008, Forbes magazine ranked Liverpool as the fourth most valuable club in the world.
• Liverpool supporters singing ''You'll Never Walk Alone'' was featured in the Pink Floyd song, Fearless.
• Robbie Fowler holds the club and Premier League record for the fastest hattrick standing at 4 minutes and 32 seconds.
• Kenny Dalgleish was the first player-manager in English football in 1985.
• Liverpool's Xabi Alonso holds the English record for the longest goal scored from open play standing at 64 metres.

WOD...
Run 5k
100 situps

Oddly enough...

This is from the website '64 And Counting, the Cleveland Scene's sports blog. I found this to be quite interesting and kind of odd.

(photo courtesy of WFNY.com)

Posted by Vince Grzegorek:

So, in what was clearly the biggest news of this week, and will most likely go down as one of the most remembered stories of the entire year, the King of Pop, Michael Jackson, passed away at the age of 50.

Obviously, in terms of the kind of worldwide awareness that drives virtual discussion, that's pretty freaking huge. No surprise, then, that Michael Jackson easily topped Goggle's trends for June 25, 2009. "Michael Jackson died" and "Michael Jackson dead 2009" took the top two spots.

Who/what was third?

That would be one Christian Eyenga, the unheralded, unheard of pick by the Cavs in the 2009 NBA draft.

And it wasn't just the ingorant internet masses trying to figure out who he was. Even Brian Windhorst was a little clueless when it came to background information on the Congo product. Check out his two tweets after the pick.

(Hat tip to Chris Littmann's twitter)

WOD...
For Time:
Row 1,000m
45# Barbell Thrusters x 50
Pullups x 30

RIP Michael Jackson...

I went to see him in concert in 1983. The "Victory Tour". Vintage Mike. When people talk about the best concert they've ever been to, I always recall that one. Michael freaking Jackson.

For most people, one album like Thriller would cement their indelible legacy in world culture. For some reason, Michael Jackson was always measured by that great album - unfairly expected to top the effort. he was always, for the rest of his life, the guy that could never again scale that peak of genius and incredible popularity. For this, many would unfairly label him as a fading star. Maybe he was fading - but his light shone so bright, and his talent was so immense that, while fading from the mesmerizing glare that was Thriller, his evanescence was the only thing that let us view him without covering our eyes. His legacy will live, faded or not, forever.

I'm pretty sure i don't need to provide a Wikipedia link for anyone who is wondering who we are talking about.
some links:
Other artists' views
Other celebs
PaulMcCartney.com
Africa Cries for MJ

Showdown 2009

Steve Nash - 'The Player' from meathawk on Vimeo.

WOD...
Run 1 mile
100 situps
100 pushups
Then...
Sprint 50m x 6

That's right - Showdown in Chinatown 2009. This year I was on the touchline and midfield. Some sick talent came to play.
Check out Chris Bosh, Javier Zanetti, Edgar Davids, Thierry Henry, Claudio Reyna, Steve Nash, Tony Parker, Ryan Babel, Adrian Mutu, Salomon Kalou, and others...

Run a little...

WOD...
Run 1 mile
then...
10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 reps of:
45# KB Swings
Burpees

Run Fast...

WOD...
Sprint 50m x 5
Rest 1:30 each

Sprint 1oom x 3
Rest 1:00 each

Run 400m
Rest 2:00

Run 800m

100 situps
50 pullups