The Daily Grind

-Remember the NBA Draft Live Blog coming tonight. Should be a great time.

-Shawn Chacon apparently attacked Houston GM Ed Wade during a meeting. He has been suspended indefinitely by the team after he had to be pulled off of Wade with his hands allegedly on Wade's neck. Obviously there is no excuse for Chacon's behavior, and with his performance he will be hard pressed to find work for the rest of this season. But, it seems like general managers and players often have incredibly tumultuous relationships. The Doug Mientkiewicz circus in 2005 comes to mind. The Red Sox were trying to pry the 2004 World Series ball for Doug (I'm just writing "Doug" from now on, you can't stop me), and Doug refused to give it up. When Doug came to Boston in 2005 with the Royals, every interview he gave got on the subject of the ball. Doug always changed the conversation to denigrating the Red Sox management, talking about how Red Sox GM Theo Epstein constantly berated him, calling him a "rental player."

It seems like its a tough professional and personal relationship between players and GMs. The managers have to talk the players up, encourage them, tell them how great they are. There are exceptions to this, like Ozzie Guillen and Lou Piniella. But, for the most part Terry Francona represents the norm. But GMs, I feel like need to take the players down the peg, in order to drive down the price. GMs need to sit at the negotiating table with players, and convince the players that they are not as indispensable as they may believe themselves to be.

-The Heat are selecting Michael Beasley. I know there are a lot of different offers out there. I don't really buy any of them. I know a Marion-Beasley-Haslem front court is undersized, but it is dynamic. The team is still looking for a starting point guard, but Kirk Hinrich or Chris Duhon should be available in a trade after the Bulls select Derrick Rose.

-I just want to take a few moments to talk about a blog much better than our own. If you love baseball and don't read Joe Posnanski's blog. Well, you don't really love baseball. That is harsh, but I feel like it's true. Joe looks at baseball from an angle that find very refreshing. Joe loves the game now, and celebrates it. He loves to talk about the stat-driven game that baseball seems to be now. Also, and this is what really makes Joe special, he has reverence for the game as it used to be, without being like David Halberstam (RIP) and treating sports fans of my generation as if we don't get it. As if we don't remember or haven't experience baseball in its purest form. "You don't remember my day when I had to walk five miles in the snow to watch the Dodgers or Giants!" Anyway, Joe's got great stuff, check it out.

-I am paying very close attention to the #30 pick tonight for the Boston Celtics. Danny Ainge was quick to note that the #60 pick in the current format has never made an NBA roster, so I'll ignore what is currently slotted as the Celtics' second pick. But, the Celtics have a chance to grab a real impact player at #30 to replace the outgoing Tony Allen. Othella Harrington, Anderson Varejao, Trenton Hassel, Marco Jaric and David Lee have been some of the more successful 30th overall picks of late. MARCO JARIC!!! Okay, these guys aren't world-beaters, but there is reason to believe the Celtics could get a good player. Devon Hardin (California) and Ryan Anderson (California) are some names I have been hearing at #30 for the Celtics. I feel like they need more help at the shooting guard position. I professed yesterday in the space my love for Courtney Lee out of WKU. I still really like him for the Celtics, and as a foil for Ray Allen. I do believe PJ Brown will be back next year, maybe not to start the year, but he will be back. Until then, Powe and Davis can hold down the backup duties.

-Don Imus is a clown. That is my comment. I think he should retain his job. He used to be the talk of New York City, an omnipresent name in radio. But now, despite his huge salary, he is a laughing stock. His latest comment, I have no doubt, was intentional, designed to draw attention to his much less successful new show, and he succeeded. Good for him. I didn't listen then. I don't listen now.

-I'm out for now. We'll make with the videos. Look forward to seeing a bunch of you tonight... NBA Draft, motherfuckers...

Miscellaneous Video of the Day:
Dumb Gas Prices Music Video
A classic example of people falling flat on their face trying to get famous for making a silly video in the YouTube era. Don't watch the whole thing, I didn't. It's just a cautionary tale.

Old School Rap Video of the Day:
Kurtis Blow- If I Ruled the World
Members of my generation probably remember this hook best from Nas and Lauren Hill's song of the same name. This is really old school! Rick Rubin is skinny, and his beard is not unkempt. The beats, the record scratching... So fucking raw. I love it.