Random Things

NBA on CBS 1985 NBA Draft Lottery is on YouTube. There has always been a conspiracy theory that the lottery was rigged that year (a frozen envelope), and the Knicks ended up with the first pick and they ended up choosing Patrick Ewing. The proof may be in this description from The Sports Guy:

"When an accountant from Ernst & Whinney throws the seven envelopes into the glass drum, he bangs the fourth one against the side of the drum to create a creased corner (we'll explain why this is relevant in a second). Then he pulls a handle and turns the drum around a couple of times to "mix" the envelopes up. At the 5:23 mark of the clip, Stern heads over to the drum, unlocks it and awkwardly reaches inside for the first envelope (the No. 1 pick). He grabs three envelopes that are bunched together, pretends not to look (although he does) and flips the three envelopes so the one on the bottom ends up in his hand. Then he pulls that envelope out at the 5:32 mark ... and, of course, it's the Knicks envelope.

Now ...

A reader (I'd give you his name, but I don't want him to be randomly found dead in his bathtub tonight), pointed this out to me: If you look closely right at the 5:31 mark, right as the commish yanks that Knicks envelope out, there's a noticeable crease in the corner of the envelope. You can see it for a split-second -- as he pulls the envelope up, it's on the corner that's pointing toward the bottom of the jar.

There's a giant crease! It's right there! The same one the accountant created as he was throwing the envelopes into the drum!

So you're telling me that, out of the seven envelopes in that glass drum, during a lottery when the NBA desperately needed the most ballyhooed college center in 15 years to save the league's marquee franchise, the commissioner coincidentally pulled out the envelope with a giant crease in the corner that happened to have the Knicks logo in it? This is the Zapruder film of sports tapes, isn't it?"

Oh, if any of you need some new practice targets for various weapons of semi-possible mass destruction, try this on for size.

Today's birthdays include Adolf Hitler, Steve Spurrier, Jessica Lange, Luther Vandross, Clint Howard, Donnie Baseball, Andy Serkis, Crispin Glover, Allan Houston, Carmen Electra, and Joseph Lawrence.

The Preds lost 3-2 tonight...so, for them, Bananarama:

Hot summer streets
And the pavements are burning
I sit around
Trying to smile but
The air is so heavy and dry
Strange voices are saying
(What did they say)
Things I can't understand
It's too close for comfort
This heat has got
Right out of hand

It's a cruel, (cruel,) cruel summer
Leaving me here on my own
It's a cruel, (it's a cruel,) cruel summer
Now you're gone

Enjoyed the season, guys. See you next year.