7/23: Armed Robbery, Matt Barnes, etc.

Aloha... First off, this will likely be my last post for about a week... I'm traveling and will likely be without wi-fi/cell service for the most part... I'm looking into getting a pinch hitter or 2 (cough, Ryan), but we'll see... let's get to it...

• The home of Charlotte Bobcat swingman Stephen Jackson was robbed by armed men and his wife was held up at gunpoint early Friday morning... crazy story... she was unharmed (a blessing) but you never like to hear about these stories...
• The Lakers sign Matt Barnes for 2 years/3.6 million... this is a complete and utter steal for LA... Barnes is worth 4-5 million per IMO, and turned down more lucrative offers elsewhere... he's a capable shooter, above-average defender, and fantastic irritant to opposing stars on the wing... great get for a potential matchup with Miami in the Finals too... gives them an Artest backup, and gives them a ludicrously good rotation of Bynum/Gasol/Odom/Artest/Barnes/Kobe/Blake/Fisher
• "He's a very young and immature kid who smoked too much marijuana..." That's a DIRECT quote from T-Wolves GM David Kahn... I'm out of jokes... everyone is... he's a caricature of himself... of course, this quote was referring to Michael Beasley (who is reportedly not smoking anymore lol), and even could be true... you can't say that... you can't... hey, at least you have Ramon Sessions and Luke Ridnour signed for 8 million a year total to backup Johnny Flynn... oh.. and you spent a top-5 pick on Ricky Rubio... and you just traded your best player for picks and a trade exception... and you signed 2 euro bigs for excessive contracts... should I stop?
• The Denver Broncos signed OLB/DE Elvis Dumervil to a 6-year/61.5 million dollar deal today... that seems...like... alot? He's known for being a fairly one-dimensional pass-rusher who is undersized, but reportedly he's been improving against the run, and he's wildly productive (17 sacks last year in the first year as a 3-4 OLB)... he's a man

What to watch for this weekend... It's baseball season...

Friday

• Cubs/Cardinals - Wells/Suppan - WGN 2:20 pm
• Braves/Marlins - Lowe/Sanabia - SportSouth 7:10 pm
• White Sox/A's - Buehrle/Cahill - WGN 10:05 pm

Saturday

• Mets/Dodgers - Pelfrey/Monasterios - FOX 4:00 PM
• Braves/Marlins - Medlen/Sanchez - SportSouth 7:00 PM

Sunday

• Braves/Marlins - Jurrjens/Volstad - Fox Sports South 1:00 PM
• Cardinals/Cubs - Carpenter/Silva - ESPN 8:00 PM

Done and done...