How Much Bling On Your Ring?

Deadspin linked today to a piece on Hoopism where every NBA Championship ring is shown by team.  It's incredible to see how they went from incredibly simple to works of art starting in the 1980s.  The Lakers' 1987 ring is the first to really be iced out but what is also of note is how the following ring war was waged.  (Say that five times fast.)

1981: The Boston Celtics add green around their singular diamond, the first team in history to do so.

1982: The Los Angeles Lakers add purple around their diamond to keep up with their rivals in Beantown.

1983: The Philadelphia 76ers add red just to fit in with the kids at the lunch table.

1984: The Celtics say fuck this and add a shamrock around their diamond, daring the next team to do the same.

1985: The Lakers, lacking shamrocks in their team logo, use the Larry O'Brien trophy on their rings.

1986: The Celtics play the shamrock card once again, this time adding the O'Brien trophy to the ring with a shamrock in the background.

1987: The Lakers use five diamonds representing their five NBA Championships since moving to Los Angeles then follow that with a singular diamond surrounded by a purple field with a perimeter of diamonds, essentially the "I have infinity plus one!" argument of NBA Championship rings.

Quote Of The Day

 As a kid there was one person above all in my house.  A man who could perform miracles, turn something into nothing, make you appreciate what you were feeling and seeing.  That man was Joe Montana.

I still revere him to this day even after finding out he played college football at the epicenter of everything dark and evil in the world. Today's quote of the day comes from Joe Cool himself.  Trailing in the fourth quarter of the Super Bowl with 200 ticks on the clock left, Montana turned to Harris Barton and gave him words of inspiration:

"There, in the stands, standing near the exit ramp.  Isn't that John Candy?"

Player Wives

Come on down, Jennifer Utley!

She sort of looks like Olivia Wilde, a compliment of the highest order.  Chase really has it made if you look past his gimpy knee: a World Series ring, a couple of pennants, many dollars in his bank account(s), legions of adoring fans sporting his name, and a smokeshow of a wife tagging along for the ride.

I hope you blow out both knees, Chase.

Eyeopener - The Canucks Are Scumbags

-The Vancouver Canucks came into game three of the Stanley Cup Finals having won the first two games while making it seem as if the series would be a breeze.  Then Aaron Rome leveled Nathan Horton in a hit that evoked different responses depending on which dressing room you were in (and one I thought was exceptionally dirty and dangerous) and the B's woke up.  Boston hung a great eight on the Canucks in an 8-1 win that saw Bruins up the ante in physicality and Vancouver fall apart, especially Roberto Luongo.

-Congratulations to Bob Stoops and the Oklahoma Sooners on their national championship!  The Sooners fought long and hard all season, suffering a set back in only their last game of the season at the hands of the Southern Cal Trojans.  That won't matter though as USC has to vacate it's 2004 BCS National Championship as punishment for using Reggie Bush, an ineligible player.

-Hand down, man down!  Mark Jackson is the new coach of the Golden State Warriors, a team known more for its offense than its defense.  Jackson figures to be a defensive ninded coach who will need to change the culture in the Bay Area to have success so expect to hear Jackson yelling "Hand down, man down!" frequently this coming season.

-Dirk Nowitzki needs a little support from time to time.  Some times he turns to his wife and sometimes he turns to his teammates.  And while Dirk's wife seems to be bringing the goods day in and day out:

Jason Terry and Co. hasn't been in the finals.  Dirk called out Terry yesterday, a move a little surprising from such a quiet superstar.  Considering the source, it might just be what the Mavs needed to even the series tonight.

-The MLB Draft was yesterday, bringing to the forefront a group of names you won't care about for another five years.  We'll let the pros at MLB.com explain who is who and what is what.

-Nails will be behind bars.  Lenny Dykstra, financial guru turned felon, was arrested on charges of grand theft auto and drug possession as well as a slew of related charges.  He is jailed on $500,000 bail.

We Took A Mental Day Off

We needed a mental day to ourselves yesterday so we didn't post, hope you didn't miss us too much.  We're working on the Eyeopener as we speak!