After watching the Bolts dismantle the Niners last night, I ventured over to the Playoff Machine over at ESPN. I wanted to see if there was any other way the Bolts could make the playoffs without actually winning the division. The best case scenario I could come up with involves our good friends the Jets.

They are apparently embroiled in a QB controversy at the moment, and their next two games are against two very tough opponents (@ Pittsburgh and @Chicago), not to mention finishing the season against a very scrappy Bills team. If the Jets lose two out of the remaining three games, and the Bolts finish the season at 10-6, the Bolts are the wildcard team (holding the tiebreaker over both the Jets and Miami).

How far-fetched is this scenario...I want to say it could very well happen. And how sweet would it be to deny the Jets a playoff berth, especially after what happened here last year in the playoffs. So, this weekend, not only root for the Rams, but root for the Steelers too! The path to the playoffs for the Chargers looks a little more feasible in my mind.

           So, let me just say, this past weekend has to rank pretty high up there among all-time sporting event experiences for me. Now, I have been to quite a few sporting events in my lifetime (Super Bowl 27 in SD, 1998 World Series game 4, 2002 World Series game 7, all Charger home playoff games since 2004), but this game is near the pinnacle.

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According to this article from Yahoo, Yao is probably out this whole upcoming year, and quite possibly be done for his career. Does this all of a sudden make the Rockets the Clippers number one target for a trade partner? With Yao out, how attractive do Kaman or Camby look to them?....I want to say VERY attractive.

The Rockets are going to be hurting immensely from a lack of a center, and the Clippers just happen to have a glut of them. Now, if only the Clippers could get Battier in return (the proverbial consumate glue guy). This may turn out to be a win win situation for both.

I am all for trading Kaman if the prize is Battier, but I am not sure if the Rockets can include a PG/SG in the trade as well (it appears they are pretty thin at that position), but as the article states, they have been offering both Brooks AND Battier in some recent proposed trades. Does Kaman (and a pick?) for Battier and Brooks make sense? Or would you rather have Kyle Lowrey instead of Brooks (I think I would)? The trade machine says it works.

Alright, Steve, I hope you don't mind me doing this, but I feel that since I have been around this blog for awhile, you wouldn't mind.

Over at the Chargers blog on the SBNation of blogs, BoltsFromTheBlue, there is a contest going on right now where the winner gets a free ticket to the Chargers v. New York Giants game in NEW YORK this upcoming November. I have entered in the contest, and it is coming down to a vote between 5 different people, myself being one of them. Currently I am trailing in the polls, and would love it if the Clipsnation community could help me out a little bit. All it requires is for you to go there become a member of their blog and then vote for me in the poll (if you so choose). Pretty simple.Voting ends tomorrow night.

And while you are there, be sure to read the blog of course. If you are a fan of football at all, this blog is a must read. John (obviousman) who does the majority of the writing is an excellent blogger. Thanks for looking. And Steve, if I have overstepped my bounds, feel free to delete this post. :D

Thanks for helping out a fellow citizen of the Clips nation!

Ok, so here goes.

I would first like to start by going over the "criteria" that has been set in place.

Place to stay: Since I would be coming from SoCal (Irvine to be exact), this is an important issue. Luckily, I have a multitude of options. I can stay with my sister in law, an old college classmate or even an old high school classmate. They all live in Manhattan, and I have stayed with all of them before. My fourth option would be to stay with my old college roommate. He is currently the wide receivers coach at Army in West Point, but it is only an hour train ride from the city. More on him later.

Getting to NYC: Getting a flight would be my biggest expense, but since I can stay for free at some ones place, and have a free ticket, price really won’t be a factor here. Also, I can fly out of LAX, so I will have plenty of flight options.

Open Bar: I am definitely of drinking age, so this won’t be a problem. Actually, I think this will be part of the solution!

Charger Fan: Hmm..lets see. I have been a fan of the Chargers ever since I can remember (probably at around age 10 or so). My brother was a season ticket holder last year, and so naturally he and I made it to almost all of the games together. Prior to last year, I tried to make it down to at least one game a year, and definitely didn’t miss any playoff games at the Q. One of my biggest hobbies is collecting media guides, yearbooks and programs from the Chargers. I have over 70 different historical Chargers documents, so as you can tell I have invested a lot of time, energy and money in the Chargers.

Cold Weather: I used to live in Chicago, so I am well accustomed to cold weather. I look forward to busting out my circa 1994 Chargers parka. It rarely gets any use anymore, what with the great weather in SoCal and the global warming thing. :D

Face/Chest Painting: See above…I will be wearing my parka…so this should not be a problem.

    Now finally, back to my old college roommate (named Andy). Prior to last year, he was the wide receivers coach at Cal Poly SLO (SDSU football fans are well aware of this Div1AA powerhouse). Recently a CP receiver by the name of Ramses Barden was drafted by the Giants in the third round (the G-men even traded up to get to him). Ramses is a huge receiver, with the upside of being a Vincent Jackson/Malcom Floyd type. (It looks like he was drafted to replace Plaxico.)

    So, back to the point, Andy is still in constant contact with Ramses, even more so now that they will be right down the river from each other. I have already asked to see if there was anyway I could get some tickets to the Chargers/Giants game and he is working on it but I am not holding my breath. Who knows how much clout rookies have.

    Now Andy is from San Diego (played QB at Mission Bay HS) and even worked for the Chargers for a couple of summers during college, so needless to say he is a HUGE Chargers fan. While at Cal Poly, he had the opportunity to meet a lot of people in the Chargers organization for drafting purposes, and does have some good connections. If I do get picked for the free ticket, I will try with all my might to get Andy to set up a meet and greet with some Chargers players. This is what I can bring to the table if you pick me.  Call it a bribe, but I prefer to call it gentle persuasion.

    Thanks for your time. :D

cal poly v sdsu (via jedimindtrx19)

I found this pic from the Cal Poly v. SDSU game last year and figured I should post it. I am the one behind the bench looking on (field passes were incredible). Andy is the guy with the headset and Ramses Barden is #11.

According to this article,

Favre has a torn biceps tendon which may or may not require surgery. It would appear to me that Brett will most likely sit out the Pro Bowl because of this and a host of other minor ailments to his "older" body. Rivers just may get a trip to Hawaii afterall. Depends on whether Favre wants to go out with a bang or not. We will see in the next couple of weeks I suppose.

Per this article, he is out for a month with a dislocated shoulder. This pretty much rules him out for the New Years Eve game. So much for the booing and t-shirts. I guess we will have to wait until next year. I have a feeling most of us will be over it by then. What a shame. Not sure FElton will truly understand how much some of us resent him for what he did.

Another hat tip to Ramona Shelburne for being all over this.

Ramona's Blog

Definitely did NOT see this coming. I hope Cat is ok. He was a consumate pro and stand up veteran while on the Clips, and appreciate everything he did while on the team. He was always classy, and a good dresser as well. Hopefully, this is nothing serious, or at the very least can be controlled by medicine. If he has played his last basketball, his final game will have been in a Clipper uni too.

Hat tip to Ramona Shelburn for posting this on her blog.

Maggs article

Scroll down a bit to find the Mags blurb. Looks like the honeymoon is already over in Oakland. Although, I am pretty sure some of us (if not the majority) saw this coming. Not that Baron Davis has proven to be the answer here in Clipper land, but at least the team chemistry is finally coming together.

On a side note, did anyone see FElton's line against the Fakers last night?

1 for 7, 3 points, 5 rebounds, in 25 minutes. Ouch. I didn't see the game, but that just looks atrocious. Not to mention the Sixers record of 8-11. Glad you chose Philly FElton. I guess the grass isn't ALWAYS greener on the other side.

UPDATE: Saw that Brand is out with a hammy injury. That could explain some of the poor numbers last night against the Fakers. However, his scoring avg. (16.7points) and rebounding (10 per) are not what they used to be. Brand out

I was wondering why most people here at the Nation refer to Eric Gordon as EJ when clearly his initials are EG. I went to his player profile on the Clippers web site looking for a possible middle name and noticed that he IS Eric Gordon Jr. Is this why everyone uses EJ? Eric Junior? This has been bugging me for a little bit (am I the only one?..probably), and I just wanted to see where everyone was coming from.

Brand and MDsr

Apparently Brand sees no reason to talk to MDsr anymore, even though he still talks with the assistant coaches and a couple players. To me, this just stains Brand's "character" even more, and lessens any last shred of respect I had for him. Something must have happened between these 2 for them to still not talk. MDsr has been forthright, and FElton has not. It does not take a genius to figure out who is the culprit now, does it?

I am getting more and more pumped up for that New Years eve game now. I am sorry, Mr. Brand, but you will definitely NOT be hearing cheers from Staples Center that night. I am pretty sure that any time you are anywhere near a basketball that night, you are going to hear boos and jeers from the crowd, no matter what the score or situation. I can't wait.

Some things around the net concerning former Clippers. Not sure everyone has seen these, so I thought I would post them:

Darius Miles was cut from the Celtics. Looks like the Blazers will not have to foot the bill for him this year afterall (I think its just an addition to their salary cap number, but you get my meaning).

Maggette has tweaked his hammy. Doesn't look like he will miss any regular season time, but it sounds eerily like the same old thing for Mags. He loves to go to the hoop and create contact, but with that comes all the nicks, bruises, strains, etc. I hope he stays healthy this year, but if he misses any reasonable amount of time due to injury, the Clips management would be in some tiny way vindicated for not resigning him.

Denver releases a slew of former Clips, inlcuding the beloved Nick Fazekas. Are we back on the ZeFreak watch Zhiv?  It looks like Patterson and Smush may be out of the NBA for good real soon here. It might still be too early for the Freak to hang them up though.

George post

Ramona says the deal that was SUPPOSED to happen a couple of days ago involved Devean George...not Ricky Davis or Bonzi Wells...man, I thought the Clips were done targeting ex-Fakers. This would have been a total downer if they would have gotten George. Then again, he might have refused the trade (he is not a FA, right?)...just like he did with Jason Kidd ordeal. I would have to say, with the signing of RDavis, this is definitely a disaster averted.

does their offseason boil down to this trade?

Baron Davis, Marcus Camby and Ricky Davis for Elton Brand and Corey Maggette?

Would anyone seriously make this move ....ever? How about it you knew FElton was not going to resign? And this deal is a little more than just the players involved, since both Camby and RD come off the books just in time for the 2010 free agent bonanza!!!

So, now that it looks like this is what Clippers management has been able to come up with, does this make the Clippers better next season? Well, compared to last season, I would find it hard to say no.  A better question might be does this make the Clippers future better? I would have to say yes to that as well.

It may well turn out that FElton turning his back on the Clippers franchise IS the best thing he could have done for the organization (in lieu of resigning of course). Obviously, only time will tell if this holds true.

Looks like the Warriors have resigned Ellis...but are running into problems with Beidrins now....article says he is looking for Kaman $$....really?....who does this guy think he is? $11mil per? Could we see another YOUNG player go to Europe for more $$?

Ellis resigns

Anyway, so with the Warriors matching Azu's offer (and signing Maggette as well), it looks like they will NOT be able to resign Beidrins now. Interesting how this all works out.....so in the end, do the Clippers get the last laugh? I would have to say yes...

Lee article

It appears that what we have been thinking here at Clipsnation MAY be the same thing Clippers management is thinking as well. We may be looking at a Randolph and Lee for Thomas and cap space (and possibly a second round draft pick) trade in the near future. That would mean the Clips would have both Randoph AND Lee to fill the void left by FELton. There might be some cap space left over to go after some higher profile RFA's as well. There doesn't seem to be a time frame for any of this to happen, so it appears that we will just have to sit tight until something breaks. Does this trade address the FElton defection?

Looks like the Clippers first summer league game is on TV tonight at 7 pm for those of you who have NBAtv. We get our first looks at EGordon, Jordan and Mike T. Unfortunately, it looks as if this will be the ONLY Clippers summer league game that will be televised. One is better than none I suppose. Can't wait to see the new guys in action!

I need 75 words still?...come on...

Hollinger article

Now, I understand where he is coming from, but come on man. You are going to compare Sam Cassell to Baron Davis? Are you serious? Davis is a SERIOUS upgrade on BOTH ends of the floor...and now we have Kaman 2.0, not 1.0...but he doesn't mention that. The bench will be thin, as it stands now; that I will not dispute. But things can change...as John R suggests in his latest Fanpost. This just goes to show that it is a long, hard road for the Clippers to travel in order for them to gain some respect, but at least we are ON that road now...