Houston, TX – There’s only one song playing on every juke box in the Houston Area – Elton John’s Rocket Man – in honor of LA Laker’s center Dwight Howard’s decision to sign a free agent contract with the Houston Rockets, as announced yesterday.
After a fierce bidding war among NBA teams like the Dallas Mavericks, Atlanta Hawks, and Golden State Warriors, it came down to the Lakers and Rockets in the end. Apparently Kobe Bryant’s pitch to Dwight that he should stay in LA and “Learn how it’s done” fell flatter than a pancake at IHOP. I’m sure paying no State Income tax in Texas had nothing to do with it either…
Heading over to England…
Though my favorites were already knocked out of Wimbledon, I found a little bit of motivation to write about the Men’s Finals on Sunday. Top-ranked Serbian Novak Djokovic will be playing against 2nd ranked Britain’s Andy Murray. It’s been 77 years since a Brit has won the Men’s trophy at their own tournament, so Preacher Collins will go with Andy in 5 sets. They’ve faced each other in 3 of the last 4 Grand Slam Finals so this should be a good one to watch.
And while I had thought there were no Americans left standing at the All England Club, surprisingly I came across the Bryan brothers. Mike and Bob Bryan are identical twins from California and apparently the best double’s team EVER. They face off against Croatia’s Ivan Dodig and Brazil’s Marcelo Melo tomorrow for what could make the Bryan’s the first team in history to hold all 4 major titles at the same time.
These guys have won like 90 tournaments, 14 Grand Slams, and have been #1 in the world rankings for 310 “WEEKS”! My monopoly money is on the Bryan’s. What’s their secret, you say?
Well, Bob Bryan was quoted as saying “I slept with that trophy” after his win in the 1998 NCAA Men’s Finals.
Sleeping with trophies. I’m sure many a Investment Banker and Hedge Fund Manager are nodding their heads in agreement right now.
And now it’s time for the Hero & Villain of the Week!
Hero of the Week: Manny Ramirez… Congratulations on making it back to the MLB. And I like the fact that Manny decided to donate his league-minimum salary to charity and to his church. Could this move from Taiwan’s Rhinos to Rangers’ Round Rock Express be the precursor for one of the biggest comebacks…ever?!
Villian of the Week: Kobe Bryant… For his atypical arrogance in pushing Dwight Howard out of LA. Kobe failed to bond with D12 constantly berating him until finally Dwight had enough of being Kobe’s Tonto. Although this would actually make Kobe a hero in Houston wouldn’t it?
That’s all for Preacher’s Row for now. Be safe, be kind and stay tuned for my eloquent colleague Cheesy Bruin tomorrow.
