As I was perusing the second part of the Sports Guy’s mailbag column, a few interesting tidbits popped up.
First, there was this commentary on Anquan Boldin’s toughness:
Q: For years, you’ve been asking for certain athletes to be wheeled out on the court or field in a Hannibal Lecter Mask. Well, isn’t Anquan Boldin perfect for that? For all the talk of T.O. and Brandon Marshall, Boldin has to be the strongest receiver in the game. You’ve got a better chance of your defensive coordinator stopping him with an elephant gun than relying on a 185-pound defensive back. Plus, the man BROKE HIS FACE. After hearing Eric Allen describe how they had to lift the skin on his face to insert the plates and he’s playing at such a high level three weeks later, is there any question that he could be one of the toughest men in the NFL?
— William Evans, Columbus, OhioSG: I would say he’s No. 1 on the list. The broken face story absolutely amazed me; I never fully realized how bad it was until the Monday night guys discussed it, and I ended up spending an hour Googling stories about it. First, can you imagine if that happened to Vince Carter? He would never be seen again. He would just sit in a dark room with a towel over his head moaning until 2057. Second, isn’t it weird that Boldin’s new face makes him look like a cross between Shannon Sharpe and Ervin Johnson? Do you think he’s angry at the doctor? Third, how does Boldin continue to run fearlessly over the middle after what happened to him? It’s like he took amnesia pills to forget the whole thing ever happened.
Then there’s this bit about LeBron’s possible 2010 landing spot…
Last time I checked, free agents were fleeing Detroit (Allan Houston, Grant Hill, Ben Wallace) and not signing there. And if you really think Detroit is landing a marquee guy in 2010 when big markets such as New York and L.A. and warm-weather cities such as Miami, Phoenix and Orlando will all be throwing money around — not to mention deep-pocketed Portland, which will have assembled a contender at that point and remains the most logical destination for LeBron if he only cares about winning titles and nothing else (and also, Nike is right there) — then you’re obviously in denial. Chris Bosh loves Toronto. He’s not leaving. Dwyane Wade isn’t leaving South Beach so he can wear a parka and live in Michigan. And LeBron wants to be the next Jordan and/or the most famous athlete on the planet; these things aren’t happening in Detroit just because Worldwide Wes likes the Pistons. Come on.
Wait a second, I started that LeBron to Portland talk! Here’s an excerpt from my 2008 preview for the Blazers.
The Blazers project to have a ton of cap space in the summer of 2010, when a number of stars will hit the free agent market. In fact, aside from the fact that Portland is not Brooklyn, the Blazers might represent LeBron James’ best shot at a championship. (Don’t worry, Nets fans, I don’t think that Portland is a big enough of a market for King James.)
Okay, maybe I’m not the first one to write about it, but as I was typing up that preview and got to the part about LeBron, I was thinking to myself “I have to be the only person in the country talking about LeBron James landing in Portland.”
Then Bill discusses how his picture ended up on the “experts” page of a website for an aviation company.
Q: I work for a help desk and our e-mail box gets a ton of random e-mails. One e-mail we regularly get is from Western Aviation, which sells and buys planes and helicopters. I happen to click the link which brought me to their home page, and was like wait a minute, THAT IS BILL SIMMONS!! Click on their link and check out the photo used for “Experts,” the photo is definitely you, right? I figured, as a fan, it was my duty to let you know about this atrocity.
— Mike G, Franklin SquareSG: I can’t fathom how this happened. Was it an homage? Did they just like the picture and think that I look like someone who should be selling aviation? Were they hoping I would link to them in a mailbag? Do they have an expert who looks exactly like me and imitated my photo? Were they trying to coerce clients into thinking I worked for them or endorsed them? Are laws being broken here? Should I be flattered? It’s completely inexplicable. I don’t know whether I want to sue them or embrace them. Western Aviation, why don’t you donate $10,000 to the Jimmy Fund and we’ll call it even?
