Highlights From The '50 Most Worthless Players In The NBA' List

These days, sports themed lists are a staple of a good sports blog.  Bleacher Report is one of the sites out there that uses them quite often.  Their '50 Most Worthless Players in the NBA' is pretty interesting for a few reasons.  Out of the 50 players on the list, there are exactly seven that I've never heard of, and are still in the league mainly to fill a roster spot.

I was surprised to see that one Blazer did make the list.  Some quick thoughts I had while reading through the list:

1. DeSagana Diop.  I don't think they ranked the players, I think they just listed them in no particular order, but DeSagana Diop is the first player you see.  I can't help but think that Diop almost came to Portland along with Gerald Wallace in the trade with the Bobcats.  Now that's a scary thought.  The state of the Blazers could actually be worse than it presently is, if you can believe that...

Blazers Ranked As The 31st Best Franchise Of Them All

ESPN just came out with their annual "Ultimate Team Rankings", where they use a formula to rank franchise on various factors about the team.

The ranking system is quite detailed, and whoever worked on this project put a buttload of time into it.  The categories they ranked teams on were "bang for the buck", fan relations, ownership, affordability, stadium experience, players, coaching and something called "title track".  Each of those categories even has sub-categories.   

Your Portland Trail Blazers come in at number 31 overall.  If you're just talking about NBA franchises, the Blazers are ranked 7th on the list.  The 3 categories that they ranked highest in are fan relations, stadium experience, and players.  Those things are definitely what the Blazers are good at, especially with the current roster.  The two weakest categories for Portland were "bang for the buck", and obviously the "title track" one.  No surprise there.

Many of the franchises at the top of this list have one thing in common and it's this: they tend to be in smaller markets, which seems to increase fan access and usually decreases the costs of actually going to watch a game.  If you're wondering, the top five are the Green Bay Packers, Tampa Bay Lightning, New Orleans Saints, Los Angeles Angels, and San Antonio Spurs.

[ ESPN.com ]

Staples' Spring Rankings: Oregon Ducks Come In At #2

Sports Illustrated's college football writer Andy Staples has come out with his rankings of the top 25 teams in the country, based on what he saw from each team during spring practice.  The Oregon Ducks come in at #2 in the nation.  According to Staples, the star of the spring was highly-touted Colt Lyerla, of Hillsboro High School fame.  So that's good news for the Ducks.

"With new starters at receiver and on the offensive line, Oregon's offense slowed down a bit in the spring. Oregon's defense, which must replace most of its front seven, didn't seem to take a step back at all. This is probably because of coordinator Nick Aliotti's "line change" substitutions, which allowed the Ducks' backups to play almost as many snaps as the starters. That's good news for Oregon, because we know the offense -- still led by tailback LaMichael James and quarterback Darron Thomas -- will be up to speed by September."

Grading The NBA Season: Portland Gets An A-Minus

Now that the playoffs are upon us, Sports Illustrated's Britt Robson has put out his yearly regular season grades for each team.  The teams with the best grades are Chicago (A+), Oklahoma City (A), San Antonio (A), Memphis (A) and Portland (A-).  The teams with the lowest grades are Utah (D+), Minnesota (D-), and the lowly Detroit Pistons (F).

His take on the Blazers:

The Blazers remain remarkably competitive, persistent and resourceful in the face of adversity. Coach Nate McMillan compensated for center Greg Oden's season-long absence and guard Brandon Roy's long break and current part-time status by mixing and matching personnel. Power forward LaMarcus Aldridge has had a career year by concentrating his scoring in the low post, where Oden was meant to be. Free-agent signee Wesley Matthews has expanded his role as a versatile, above-average wing defender in Roy's stead. Meanwhile, for the second straight year, the front office picked up an invaluable rotation player at the trade deadline, with forward Gerald Wallace following last season's addition of center Marcus Camby. The result is a roster brimming with diverse talent, making Portland a dangerous playoff foe. 

Who Cares About The NFL Quarterbacks That Are Playing This Weekend...Let's Talk About Their Hot Girlfriends!

This weekend will no doubt provide a great couple of conference championship games.  But who cares about that right now.  Let's take the girlfriends (including ex's) of the four quarterbacks and rank them!

One of the things that Mark Sanchez, Jay Cutler, Aaron Rodgers and Ben Roethlisberger have in common is that they are all linked to, or have been linked to somewhat famous young ladies.  It's funny, being a starting quarterback in the NFL will do that for you.

I have used no special formula in these rankings.  Just on pure hotness.  Here ya go.

1. Kristin Cavallari (Jay Cutler)
2. Erin Andrews (Aaron Rodgers)

3. Jamie Lynn Sigler (Mark Sanchez)

4. Jessica Szohr (Aaron Rodgers)

5. Missy Peregrym (Ben Roesthlisberger)

6. Natalie Gulbis (Ben Roesthlisberger)

And here is the corresponding eye candy for you, in order.

Ranking The Hotties From 'The Hills'

My buddies and I were having a heated debate about these fine ladies today, after seeing a couple of people talking about it on Twitter.  So naturally, I had to quickly cement my ranks in writing.

Kristin Cavallari > Audrina Patridge > Whitney Port > Lauren Conrad

Rank them and hit the comments below.  I'm curious to see what people say.