News and Notes

-Chris Webber has been signed by the Detroit Pistons after clearing waivers at 2pm. The over/under for the first time he bitches about his role, the offense, the coaching, or his injuries is set at 2 weeks. We at I*Heart*Celtics also wonder when he will start hanging out with his old Ann Arbor buddies! We heard that folks around town were programmed to just give him cash whenever they saw him.

I am pretty sure that Webber and Crazy-ass Tyra Banks aren't still together, but who cares. Check out this clip anyway. Or this one. They're both instant classics. What's the deal with athletes dating crazy-ass women? Tyra Banks? Antionio Daniels' wife? Doug Christie's? Ex-Mrs. Kidd? Cra-a-a-azy...

-In other news, the Orlando Magic recently tried to talk to Fran Vasquez, their lottery pick a couple years ago that totally bailed on them. He just signed a four-year deal with an Italian club. That's gotta hurt. To revisit, let's go back to that draft... here it is courtesy of the best website other than this one- Basketball Reference.

Pick	Team	Player	College
1.	Milwaukee Bucks	Andrew Bogut	University of Utah
2.	Atlanta Hawks	Marvin Williams	University of North Carolina
3.	Utah Jazz	Deron Williams	University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
4.	New Orleans Hornets	Chris Paul	Wake Forest University
5.	Charlotte Bobcats	Raymond Felton	University of North Carolina
6.	Portland Trail Blazers	Martell Webster
7.	Toronto Raptors	Charlie Villanueva	University of Connecticut
8.	New York Knickerbockers	Channing Frye	University of Arizona
9.	Golden State Warriors	Ike Diogu	Arizona State University
10.	Los Angeles Lakers	Andrew Bynum
11.	Orlando Magic	Fran Vasquez
12.	Los Angeles Clippers	Yaroslav Korolev
13.	Charlotte Bobcats	Sean May	University of North Carolina
14.	Minnesota Timberwolves	Rashad McCants	University of North Carolina
15.	New Jersey Nets	Antoine Wright	Texas A&M University
16.	Toronto Raptors	Joey Graham	Oklahoma State University
17.	Indiana Pacers	Danny Granger	University of New Mexico
18.	Boston Celtics	Gerald Green
19.	Memphis Grizzlies	Hakim Warrick	Syracuse University
20.	Denver Nuggets	Julius Hodge	North Carolina State University
21.	Phoenix Suns	Nate Robinson	University of Washington
22.	Denver Nuggets	Jarrett Jack	Georgia Institute of Technology
23.	Sacramento Kings	Francisco Garcia	University of Louisville
24.	Houston Rockets	Luther Head	University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
25.	Seattle Supersonics	Johan Petro
26.	Detroit Pistons	Jason Maxiell	University of Cincinnati
27.	Portland Trail Blazers	Linas Kleiza	University of Missouri
28.	San Antonio Spurs	Ian Mahinmi
29.	Miami Heat	Wayne Simien	University of Kansas
30.	New York Knickerbockers	David Lee	University of Florida

Mind-boggling. Although, I don't think the Spurs should get off the hook for drafting Ian Mahinmi. Who the hell IS that?!? Wikipedia to the rescue! Apparantly, according to the highly reputable website, the Spurs don't think he is "sufficiently 'big'". Lord only knows what THAT's supposed to mean. They could, of course, have taken Wayne Simien or David Lee, who are the same height as Mahinmi... whatever.

Look at all the good players that were passed over by the Magic, who'se 2005 draft HAS to go down as the worst draft ever. At least Darko showed up! Keep in mind that Ryan Gomes was taken in the second round (along with Monta Ellis) and I'd say he's at least in the top 10 most productive players from that draft, probably in the top 5.

-Did anyone hear about the ref that was suspended for flipping the bird and cursing at fans? Neither did I. Apparantly, it happened.

NBA referee Rodney Mott appealed a three-game suspension and denied a fan's allegations of misconduct.

The league suspended Mott without pay three days ago for allegedly directing an "obscene gesture" and "inappropriate language" toward a fan following Miami's 93-90 win at Portland on Jan. 7.

These refs are animals, I tell you. ANIMALS.