By Kevin Reavy
Inspin.com/WagerWeb.com Contributing Writer

There’s no better way to start The Sports Column than a nice NBA brawl recap.

I mean, it’s got everything:

1. The players -- naturally, the faces of the National Basketball Association -- duking it out in between NBA Cares Fund commercials featuring Carmelo Anthony and other stars curing blind people, developing vaccines for Parkinson's, and all that good stuff.
2. A random clean punch to the face -- because, to Carmelo Anthony, it’s not about whether you win or lose, but how much “street-cred” you earn in the process.
3. A ridiculous amount of ejections (10 officially) a la Major League II, when a riff between Willie “Mays” Hayes and Rick “Wild Thing” Vaughn erupted into a team-wide self annihilation.
(I promise that will be the last time I ever mention Major League II ... in fact, it’s probably best to pretend that the trilogy ended at one.)

(... Yes, in case you forgot, there was a Major League III: Back to the Minors. Sorry if I’m picking at old wounds.)

(... And at this point, whether it’s grammatically correct or not, I’m just trying to keep my parentheses streak alive.)

(On to the headlines ...)

Nuggets vs. Knicks: Gang-fight at the Garden

We’re two years removed from the Ron Artest/Stephen Jackson melee in Detroit. And I think it’s important to mention Stephen Jackson, as many other columnists seem to forget.

When Artest was beating up players and fans at a relatively good pace, Stephen Jackson was flying in on support cables, taking out cameramen, wrestling wheelchairs away from the elderly, and knocking $12 sodas out of the hands of any child within reach.

OK, maybe I’m overstating it, but it was bad.

Suspensions were handed out Monday, with Anthony being hit the hardest with 15 games.

Joey Porter Calls Kellen Winslow a (Slur)

A newspaper and Internet sweep has forced this reporter to conclude that Porter literally called Winslow “a slur in parentheses.”

AI Still in Limbo

Still no Allen Iverson trade, about a week after the 76ers announced it would be consummated in 48 hours.

And while I am impatient, I came to a realization: With Iverson, the 76ers lose. Without Iverson, they lose. And, seemingly, with whomever they bring in from trading Iverson, they’ll lose.

So, I’m not really concerned with it anymore. After witnessing Kevin Ollie lead Philly in scoring in a game last week, I’m not sure my eyes will ever stop bleeding anyway ...

On that note...

Signs of Life: Eagles Soar

The Philadelphia Eagles’ performance has been a lone bright spot on my sporting front lately.

They defeated the New York Giants, 36-22. It was entertaining -- and educational!

Early on, scholarly Jeremy Shockey pointed to his helmet after a late-hit call against the Eagles, insinuating that the player penalized should “use his head.” After all, these kinds of penalties are counter-productive to a team’s success, and Shockey’s gentlemanly reminder served not only as a goodwill gesture to his opponents and teammates, but also a shout-out to all the impressionable youth out there in search of how to play the game right.

Later on, Shockey recorded a late-hit of his own, causing a 15-yard penalty that led off a touchdown-scoring drive for Philadelphia, giving the Eaglese their first lead, teaching us all another very important lesson: Jeremy Shockey is just a &%#!@.

That will do it for this week’s Sports Column.

Until next time, enjoy the news as it happens.



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