What's New PussyCat?

It just doesn't get any better than to see one of my buddies - I'll call him "Honeyboy" - do his thing with a Mic at a Karaoke Bar whether it be in Tokyo or Penn Station. His specialty? Elvis.

Big Hunk O' Love, Suspicious Minds, Hound Dog, All Shook Up, Return to Sender, Viva Las Vegas ... he can do 'em all.

But his favorite Karaoke song? "Take a Letter Maria." He performed it at a near-professional level one night in a run-down joint across from NYC's Madison Square Garden and the crowd roared its approval - although, somehow, as the night went on and unbeknownst to our group - the "crowd" was increasingly male and wearing feather boas. But, that's another story.

So, as you might expect, Honey's all-time fave is not Elvis. It is Tom Jones.  Yes, that Tom Jones.

I learned this when we actually met "the" Tom Jones on one of our many amazing NBA global excursions, as Tom Jones and his Band were staying at our same hotel in Milan for the '99 NBA/FIBA McDonald's Championship. Chris and his wonderful bride frequented Jones' concerts and when they did, they would immediately lower average age at the concert by 20 as they entered the venue.

So, in the spirit of the days when you would make a cassette tape of "your favorite songs of your friends' favorite music," here is my favorite all-time Tom Jones song - "What's New Pussy Cat," dedicated to the young 73 year old Jones, performing somewhere, someplace sometime soon and it also goes out to my good friend, Chris.  He is one for the ages and visions of him "doing" "Take a Letter, Maria" still brings me to tears of joy and laughter this very day.

Cee Bee - tonight, toast to your man TJ on his 73rd - and this one's for you!



TL

Ramble On... no, Rumble On.

Peace on Earth and Goodwill Towards Men.

Don't you wish you had thought of that line?

Well, if you're a law-maker in Seoul, Korea, you might have a different viewpoint and a very different motto.

How about? If I don;t get my way, get ready to RUMMMBLLLLLLLLLLE.

Check this out:



Seems that the gloves dropped after a heated debate about proposed media laws for South Korea. Here's the WSJ take on the story:

SEOUL -- The National Assembly passed three bills to modernize South Korea's media industry, including allowing companies to own both broadcast and print properties. The voting, which took place Wednesday amid fistfights and shouting matches among lawmakers, capped months of acrimony over the measures.

The bills -- which must be signed by President Lee Myung-bak to become law -- set the stage for the government to privatize its media properties, which include three of the nation's four broadcast television networks, the Yonhap news agency and 24-hour cable news channel. The government hasn't announced sale plans.

NEWS ITEM #2: What would Della Wear? "Sports Leagues Sue Delaware"

Just to be sure you saw this one... and please be sure that you realize that this story ran the same weekend that the WNBA was playing its All-Star Game at the Mohegan Sun Resort and Casino - which has a race book, not a sports book AND the USA Basketball Senior National team, composed of ALL NBA players, was training at the sports gambling capital of the world in Las Vegas and staying at The Wynn which was taking action on all sports, including the WNBA, NBA and international hoops. Also, be sure to note the last graph about Montana, too.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The four major pro sports leagues and the NCAA sued Delaware Friday, seeking to block the state from implementing sports betting.

Delaware's sports betting plan "would irreparably harm professional and amateur sports by fostering suspicion and skepticism that individual plays and final scores of games may have been influenced by factors other than honest athletic competition," the leagues and NCAA said in a lawsuit filed in federal court in Delaware.

Congress banned sports betting in 1992 while grandfathering four states -- Delaware, Nevada, Montana and Oregon -- that had already offered it. But the lawsuit argues that Delaware's plan to allow single-game betting would violate the legislation because Delaware has never offered single-game betting before.

Under the '92 law, the leagues and NCAA said, a state like Delaware may only reintroduce the kind of sports betting that it had offered between 1976 and 1990.

They also argued that Delaware's plan is illegal because it allows betting on all sports, going beyond the professional football betting program that constituted the state's brief failed experiment in 1976.

The suit was filed by Major League Baseball, the NFL, the NBA, the NHL and the NCAA. The NFL has led the effort against Delaware's plans, consistent with its long-held opposition to gambling on its games.

A spokesman for Delaware Gov. Jack Markell, Joe Rogalsky, said in a statement that the sports betting plan "will help pay for our core government services like our teachers and police and will also create new jobs in our state."

He said that the state invited the NFL to sit down and share their concerns.

"They decided instead to sue," Rogalsky said.

NFL Vice President Joe Browne said that the league is sensitive to economic issues in Delaware and other states. He said that the NFL wrote to Markell on April 7, telling him the league would be willing to discuss ways to help close the state's budget gap -- "short of using our games as betting vehicles."

According to Browne, Markell responded five weeks later "that he was signing legislation that day which, in effect, uses our games as betting vehicles."

In his statement, Rogalsky also noted that the state asked for an advisory opinion from the Delaware Supreme Court.

In May, that court ruled that the state law allowing sports betting didn't conflict with the state constitution, but the justices also said, "we cannot opine on the constitutionality of single game bets."

State officials hope to have the sports betting in place for this year's NFL regular season in September.

Two of the other grandfathered states have faced resistance on the issue as well.

In 2005, the Oregon Legislature voted to get rid of its state-sponsored sports betting game, in which gamblers place wagers on NFL games, after the NCAA, because of its antigambling stance, had refused to hold basketball tournament games in the state.

Meanwhile in Montana, state and University of Montana officials are working to prove to the NCAA that the state's legalized betting on fantasy sports leagues doesn't violate the NCAA's stance against wagering on the outcome of sporting events. The NCAA has said the University of Montana should not have been allowed to host football playoff games last season because the state allows a form of sports gambling. In a recent letter to the NCAA, the state's attorney general, Steve Bullock, said that Montana's gambling laws prohibit wagering on the outcome of athletic events.

NEWS ITEM #3: Safe Bet?

Speaking of gambling, USA Basketball is on the ground in Las Vegas with their USA mini-camp and the WNBA is making the Mohegan Sun the capital of the Women's basketball world at the casino hotel resort in the CT woods, so you wonder what the opposition is in Delaware, eh?

The next thing you know, they'll be laying odds on who makes the USA team or playing a Connecticut state lottery on the WNBA All-Stars? See this question to Coach K after the second day of the USA mini-camp try-out? "Is Kevin Durant a "safe bet" to make the next USA senior national team?

"Is there a safe-bet in Vegas? I don't know about that. Obviously though, he's world-class talent with a world-class attitude. So a very unique player, a perimeter player at 6-11. I was impressed with his defense yesterday. One thing that we tried to with the last team and going forward is to have length. We may not have all the bulk, but if we have length that's a huge thing for us, and obviously he gives us good length. Q- Many of these players are 20 or 20 years old. Does help create a foundation for USA Basketball past 2012? Coach K: "That's what this is about. It's not just for '10 and '12. Some of these guys are 21, 22 years old. I mean, they might be on the teams in '10 and '12, but certainly they are the future of USA Basketball if you get them indoctrinated into this. Q- Is the talent here at mini-camp an example of USA Basketball regaining its prestige? Coach K: "I think it just says a lot for United State basketball, and the teamwork that the NBA has with USA Basketball I think is critical. It's critical. Jerry with his experience, obviously, on the board of governors and (as an) owner - this is a great growth time while Jerry is in charge. His is the most critical position." Coach K on USA Managing Director Jerry Colangelo: "He gives a certain level, a high level of respect for the program, which, if you are going to allocate resources to a program, you want to know that he resources are going to be well taken care of. And these are the resources of the NBA. When they are with USA Basketball, they need to be well taken care of. The NBA is part of USA Basketball, but obvious the relationship between the two is critical, and that's where he comes in."

Ramble On ...

NEWS ITEM: Obama digging in and actually ACCOMPLISHING major initiates:

Here's to the best POTUS in my lifetime! The WSJ today reporting,

In a triumph for President Obama, the Democratic-controlled House has narrowly passed sweeping legislation calling for the nation's first-ever limits on pollution linked to global warming.

The vote was 219-212, capping months of negotiations and days of
intense bargaining among Democrats. Republicans were overwhelmingly against the measure, saying it would cost jobs in the midst of a recession.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124602039232560485.html#mod=djemalertNEWS

NEWS ITEM:  On another note, this is a "Must" read:

The Power Game

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/eticket/story?page=090618/dchoops

NEWS ITEM:  NBA to TAIWAN:  Lost in the shuffle of the busy news week leading into the NBA Draft, the league announced it would play an exhibition game in Chinese Taipei. Here is a follow-up story on the ticket sales for the match-up between the Nuggets and Pacers.. certainly a great rivalry back in the days of the ABA.

TAIPEI – Tickets for the first National Basketball Association game to be played in Taiwan, set for October 8, have sold out in just a few days, according to event promoter NBA Asia.

Fans eager to see the preseason exhibition between the Denver Nuggets and the Indiana Pacers snapped up the tickets, which cost from 800 to 7,500 Taiwan dollars (25-235 US), from Monday to Thursday, the NBA's Taipei office said. Taipei is the seventh Asian city to host an NBA game, after match-ups in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Macau, Tokyo and Yokohama.

The preseason game at the 12,874-seat Taipei Arena is the fourth scheduled by the NBA outside the league's home US and Canadian cities. The Chicago Bulls and the Utah Jazz will meet in London on October 6. Utah will face Real Madrid in Madrid on October 8. The Philadelphia 76ers and the Phoenix Suns will meet on October 18 in Monterrey, Mexico.

The NBA to date has staged 93 games outside the US and Canada in 16 countries or territories.

NEWS ITEM:  Go Mel!

 http://tiny.cc/mel 

NEWS ITEM: Also, nearly lost in the shuffle was this gem in the Las Vegas Sun:

VEGAS and the NCAA:

By Ron Kantowski

Thu, Jun 25, 2009 -- Now that it has been officially announced that the Western Athletic Conference will join the West Coast Conference in holding its men’s and women’s postseason basketball tournaments at the Orleans Arena — at the time of Wednesday’s news conference, the cat had not only been let out of the bag, but was halfway to Barstow — I figure it’s only a matter of time until the Big Sky Conference announces that it, too, will move its hoops shindig to Las Vegas.

In addition to the WCC and WAC, the Mountain West Conference recently had the good sense to renew its contract with the Thomas & Mack Center. That means that over a 10-day period in March 2011 (provided the WCC renews its agreement at the Orleans, which should be a slam dunk) you’ll be able to see six No. 8 seeds get eliminated and their fans try to unload tournament passes on the concourse for a fraction of what they paid for them.

Talk about March Madness.

The only thing more maddening would be if the Big Sky fell on Las Vegas, too. I’m sure they could spruce up the old All-American SportPark and hang a couple of peach baskets on the wall. Or here’s a better idea: The Big Sky could play outdoors, at Sunset Park. The weather’s not all that bad during the first week of March. Northern Arizona could be shirts, Eastern Washington skins. You gotta win by two. Portland State, you got next.

The first thing I’m gonna do after I’m through writing this is call NAU coach (and Las Vegas native) Mike Adras to get the ball rolling.

After that, I’m gonna call the NCAA and ask when do we get our Far West regional, or whatever they’re called these days.

The WAC’s decision to follow the WCC into town to play some ball on the back lot of a casino property that offers sports betting — oh, the horror! — and alcohol — oh, the double horror! — seemed like the perfect time to call out the NCAA hypocrites for a crazy rule that states none of its championship events will be held in a casino, or within the boundaries of a state that has them.

Unfortunately, the state of Delaware beat me to it. Jack Markell, the governor of The First State, is locked in a no-holds-barred battle with the NCAA over Delaware’s decision to adopt sports betting. We can’t stop you from putting up the Eagles at minus 3 1/2, says the NCAA. But if you do, your beloved Blue Hens will never host another Division I-AA playoff football game. And George Thorogood will be banned from Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, effective immediately.

Delaware has hosted 22 playoff games since 1973. This is a ruling that eventually will hit the Blue Hens right between the shoulder pads, which is how the NCAA likes it.

Why do you think they even established this misguided rule in the first place? If the NCAA didn’t want to mess with Jerry Tarkanian so badly, my guess is where they play these games would be as relevant as the Rice Owls. In fact, we probably would have been awarded a Final Four without even bidding. That’s the least the NCAA could do after Las Vegas oddsmakers blew the whistle on Hedake Smith and the little point-shaving scheme he and his fraternity brothers were running out of Arizona State a few years back.

At the news conference, WAC Commissioner Karl Benson said this Delaware situation combined with other facts, such as that most of the membership of the fine, upstanding Pac-10 now accept advertising dollars from tribal casinos, may shed new light on the NCAA’s silly argument that playing basketball in a casino will cause one’s arm to fall off and his dog to die.

“That issue is going to be vetted out,” Benson said in mentioning the consternation of Johnny-bet-lately states such as Delaware and Montana and New Jersey to the playoff ban. “The NCAA hasn’t backed off the issue. But perhaps the NCAA membership recognizes how thin the margin is of what is OK and what isn’t.”

The state of Oregon wanted to institute a sports lottery a few years ago but when the NCAA raised its heavy hand, saying that Portland could forget about hosting the Far West regional in a few years’ time, Salem backed off like the guy guarding Kobe Bryant. The Rose Garden got its regional this year. Two of the luxury suites were sold to tribal casinos. One was used to entertain its high rollers.

Nobody’s arm fell off. Nobody’s dog died.

My prediction is that one of these days, like when the gambling industry makes it an offer that would make the $6 billion it received from CBS for its basketball tournament rights look like Clark Kellogg’s chump change, the NCAA will back off, too.

They’ll say you can have the Far West regional in Las Vegas because, frankly, our big shots like to drink martinis and visit gentlemen’s clubs on the company dime, too, and that’s hard to do in Salt Lake City or Boise.

And then we will tell them you can stick your regional, and the restrictions about betting on them, in Pocatello or anywhere else the sun doesn’t shine, because we’re already making money hand over fist by having college basketball fans over to watch them on TV in our sports books.

As one of the city’s movers and shakers told me Wednesday, Las Vegas doesn’t need events. Las Vegas creates events. The opening weekend of March Madness at our betting parlors is just one more example of our business acumen and the tourist’s tax dollars at work.

So I’ll take Northern Arizona and lay the points. Especially if it’s cold and windy outside.

How about some Steph;

Basketball Hall of Fame exhibit is touring in Las Vegas

NEWS ITEM: The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame has a great exhibit touring Las Vegas. Check it out in another blog about Las Vegas vacations:

http://vegasvacationblog.com/2009/06/26/official-basketball-hall-of-fame-exhibition-now-open-in-las-vegas/

Pan Am ... or bust?

JULY 14 - Took a quick ride down to the Philly area on Friday to meet with the USA Basketball staff to help prepare for the upcoming USA Senior National Team training mini-camp, to be held in Las Vegas July 20-22.

The USA Basketball contingent was in Haverford, PA to prepare a team of top collegians for the Pan Am Games, which are now on-going in Rio, Brazil.

Here is a take on the try-out from CNN SI.com's Seth Davis:

Last weekend in Philadelphia, 30 of the top college basketball players in America came to Haverford College in hopes of becoming one of the lucky dozen who will get picked to play for the U.S. at the Pan American Games from July 25-29 in Brazil.

Think about that for a moment. Every one of those guys is the best or second-best player on his team. In high school, each was the best by a long shot. All their lives, they've been stars. Yet there they were, scrapping and clawing just to get a jersey. It was unfamiliar territory, to say the least.


"I can't even think the last time I had to fight like this," said Indiana senior forward D.J. White, who will enter next season as one of the favorites for Big Ten player of the year. "I made my varsity as a freshman in high school. The only other sport I played is baseball, and that was Little League, where everybody plays."

I had a slightly different take on the trip and two things jumped up:

1. I respect and agree with Georgetown's Roy Hibbert's decision to stay in college and play a fourth season of ball with the Hoyas. He needs to improve his game and grow stronger in order to be a top-notch NBA prospect. Even then, he will need some time and some very good coaching to make it at the NBA level.

2. The Pan Am Games team for the USA, which hasn't won a gold since 1983, will need to play at a very high level to attain that goal this summer. I really hope they can do it.

The college kids assembled at Haverford College, will need to gel as a team and will have to do that in short order. They will need bigtime play from the smaller guard corps and they will need to 'hit some shots.' Now there's a real news bulletin, eh? Villanova's Jay Wright will have his work cut out for him. However, he is a top notch coach and will get the team to play at its best.

I believe Jay IS a very good coach right now, and can be a GREAT coach as he gains more experience. If I were at the helm of an NBA team, I would consider him for a head coaching gig in a NY minute.