I know he's a popular hate target on many blogs but I seen that this showed up in his new column,

"13. Listen, my advice to you -- and I know you think these guys are your friends -- if you wanna be a true friend to them ... be honest and unmerciful.

To my ESPN colleague Chad Ford, who wrote about Indiana's summer (the Pacers added Tyler Hansbrough and Dahntay Jones) that "I like the strategy Larry Bird and David Morway have been employing the past couple of years in Indiana. Instead of swinging for the fences in the draft, they are trying for singles and doubles, and they're connecting." All due respect to my favorite Hawaii-based columnist, but doesn't going for singles and doubles ensure 38 to 40 wins and a mediocre lottery pick every year? What am I missing? How is flipping Jerryd Bayless for Brandon Rush, then having to spend another $11 million on Jones (who does the same things as Rush), hitting a single or a double? I think we need to lace up the gloves and fight on another podcast soon. "

Usually I don't agree with Simmons, but anytime he's bashing the Bayless for Rush deal I'm on board.  And he's right.  Going for singles and doubles every year will guarantee that we are always in the middle of the pack.  That's not where I want the Pacers.

Hate to beat a dead horse but I just read this on ESPN and it made me sick,

On the day he signed a 4-year, $3.8 million contract, DeJuan Blair gave the Spurs a good look at their investment against the Thunder, scoring 20 points on 13 possessions. Blair battled underneath all afternoon, muscling up for putbacks. But there was more to Blair's repertoire, including some wily dribble moves from the top of the key. "They shouldn't have passed on me," Blair said of the Thunder.

Blair has gone on record as saying he's out to make the league pay for doubting him, and on top of that he signed a 4-year deal for less than a million per.  That is ridiculous.  This man is going to earn every penny of that and then some.  I still wish we had been smart enough to see this guys passion and talent and move up to draft him in the second round.  Once again the Spurs are going to come out looking like geniuses.

So who else is picking up NCAA Football 10 today?  I plan on having the Jayhawks in the Championship game by the end of this week.  And there's no way Todd isn't getting the Heisman.  Has anyone played the game yet, and if can you give me an update on the rankings for our players?  Were any of our players slighted in their rankings?  And does Memorial Stadium look like it was rendered correctly this year? 

It looks like the Pacers are going to be bringing in Leo Lyons for our summer league team,

http://www.kansascity.com/sports/story/1289598.html

His rebounding number were pretty poor in college but this may have been a product of the Missouri Tiger offense and it's run and gun nature.  At the least we know Lyons has speed and tenacity. 

I'll be very interested in seeing who else fills out our summer league team.  I'm hoping Earl Calloway makes it on there.  I think he definitely outplays A.J. Price if he does.

I'm really hoping that the team in this segment from Chad Ford is the Pacers.  I believe Seth and I both would love to see him in a Pacer uniform,

"This draft, more than any other I've been around, is still totally open. I don't believe anyone has a promise, with one possible exception. Washington's Jon Brockman hasn't worked out for anyone since pulling out of the NBA draft combine in Chicago. I don't know where the promise is or who made it, but someone locked Brockman up early and we haven't heard from him since. I doubt it's a first-round promise. More likely, someone in the second round guaranteed him a three-year deal slightly higher than the league minimum."

In Chad Ford's latest Insider Draft Article he mentions that there are plenty of teams willing to sell a draft pick and that the Pacers are one of the teams who might have interest.  Supposedly the going rate is up to $3 Million for a draft pick under NBA rules.  Picks 15, 21, and 24 are all up for grabs for the right price.  If I'm the Pacers and Larry Bird I really have to take a look at picking up an extra pick for this draft, especially if we take a Point Guard with the #13.  The reason is that whoever we draft at that position is probably going to make very little impact this season, so to prevent this draft from being a disappointment we could turn a purchased pick into an extra player who fans can put some hope into.  I would look at Austin Daye or an Earl Clark as a solid pick up with a purchased pick, since the ceiling is high and the risk is low with these two guys.  If we could come out of this draft with a solid point guard prospect and pick up a body to play in the post I think this will be a successful draft.  Who's with me?

I have Directv and last nights game and today's game both are in Standard Definition.  Why is this still going on?  Does anyone know why so many of the Royals games on FSKC are in Standard Def instead of HD?  Is this just a Directv issue? 

Do those of you who watch on Cable have the same problems?  And if you get them all in HD through your cable provider let me know who you have for cable.