Women Fight With Fists, Not Pillows; Men Frightened, Confused

I watched this game, and let me just say – awesome. A good, close game, capped off by a bench-clearing brawl and multiple ejections? Does it get better than that? The suits that run professional basketball, and the players involved, may parrot the lines about “embarrassing the sport” and “not how we want to represent ourselves”. But it’s a simple truth: people love a good fight at a sporting event. Whether it’s hockey players ripping each other’s clothes off or baseball players ineffectually posturing at each other or soccer players slap-fighting and/or head-butting each other – fights are exciting! They bring an extra dimension to something that is, by nature, fairly routine. I mean, that’s why people watch hockey, right?

Here’s how it all went down:

Tiger Saves Kitten and Other Awws

Want something to make you smile as you get ready for the weekend?

Matt Joyce: Professional ballplayer. Young. Handsome. Rescues helpless kittens.

Wrap-up, Special Weekend Edition: WRRRRYYYY, Hot Dogs

Happy long weekend! It’s the NBA offseason, and I’m here to bring you the moves – or not-moves – of this week in the NBA, as well as hot-dog eating, just because.

Filmmaker, friend of Alba, and noted bearded hottie Baron Davis opted out of his contract with the Golden State Warriors a year early this week to sign a million, six-year contract with the LA Clippers. So…what exactly is Fear the Beard supposed to do now?

Why, Baron? However is the Bay area going to be cool again without you?

Michael Beasley Looks Better Horizontal, Or, The Only Draft Preview You Need

What? Don’t look at me like that. He does.

No, it's okay, Mike. You don't have to get up...

It’s that time of year again, kids – the best time of year for nineteen-to-twenty-two-year-old tall-skinny-hottie watching. That’s right. The 2008 NBA draft is tonight, and I’m here to guide you through it, player by player (but not pick by pick, because then I’m always wrong). So, here it is: Your absolutely objective, totally informed, journalistically integritous draft preview, courtesy of your friends here at the Ladies.

Three Things, Ladies and Also Those Who Are Not Ladies

1: In the last two weeks or so, I have developed a violent crush on Michael Beasley.

Seriously, y’all. I got it bad. Everything I learn about the kid makes me like him more, from the “I’m nineteen, what do you want from me” thing to autographing his principle’s car to frightening/angering old white men. Michael, I’ll overlook your character issues any day.

The Only Finals Preview You Need (Also Christina’s): Lakers Edition

The NBA’s most storied franchises, the Celtics and the Lakers, have met nine times in its Finals. Between the two, they hold twenty-nine of the league’s sixty championships, and one or both have been there 39 of its sixty years. As I learned at Basketbawful, home of great basketball analysis, eighteen of the league’s official Top 50 players of all time are from these two teams. Where do this year’s teams place in the pantheon of great Celtics and Lakers teams of the fifties, sixties and eighties? By extension, how does this year’s Finals match up with those of the past, and how do today’s player’s?

I think the most important question to ask, though, is this: who cares? We’re all about the here and now, people, and tonight there are talented hotties playing basketball.

Ask The Ladies…: Turning The Girlfriend Into A Sports Fan

Welcome to the first edition (of hopefully many) of “Ask the Ladies…” in which you, reader of our lovely little piece of the internet, ask us any question regarding sports or relationships or whatever strikes your fancy. It’s like “Dear Abby” only with multiple responses and more practical advice. If you would like to ask us a question just send hit the email link to the side and send us your question(s). If you want to remain anonymous please state so otherwise all names/nicknames/commenter names will be used.

Our first question comes from the comments of ChiTown Chick’s post last week on what’s it like being a female sports fan. From Rockabye:

I’m a sports fan. The girlfriend, amazing in pretty much every way but this one, is not.

How do I go about turning her into one?

Rockabye and the Mrs. 30 years from now. Maybe.

So how do you turn a non-sports loving female into one? Well, let’s ask the Ladies!

What It Feels Like for a Girl

One of the things that we all love about this site, both as writers and readers, is that it’s a place where we can all feel normal as sports fans. We can talk about batting averages and winning percentages and goals and who will beat who, and no one will look at us funny. We need this place because quite often, female sports fans are seen as freaks, pretenders or unfeminine, when none of the above is true.

Mommy, do you think that the Bulls should pick Derrick Rose or Michael Beasley?

Winning the Lottery, One Basketball Player at a Time

Look, okay. We’ve already established that I’m a bad basketball fan. I get it! I try, I really do. But when my two choices to watch are Lakers/Spurs and Celtics/Pistons – when the closest thing to an exciting young team to root for is the Lakers – well, it’s enough to send any fan into wait-til-next-year mode. And who’s waiting for next year the most? Well, the team that won the lottery, of course:

Chris Paul Does Not Sleep. He Waits.

Chris Paul knows the singular of “thumbs up”.

So much I’ve missed to talk about in the last couple of weeks of the NBA playoffs. There was the Hawks…and then there wasn’t the Hawks. There were all the teams that lost, there was Steve breaking my heart again, there was an award for Kobe (and not an award for Al). There were sweeps, a seven game series, and the emasculation of LeBron, if only for a game. There was validation; there was utter wrongness. And, of course, there was Chris Paul.

Chris Paul is, at twenty-two, what Steve took thirty years to reach. He is elite. He is amazing. He had the best statistical season (according to PER) of anyone in NBA history except Michael Jordan: he is the GOATEFMJ. He deserves in-depth contemplation and analysis, which is why I’m not going to analyze a thing…except for cute/funny pictures of him, of course.

From Buzz to bleached keepers: The Ladies… This Week

Hey all, it’s time for a new weekly feature: The Ladies… This Week. Pretty simple — It’s new stuff from the Ladies…’ other websites this week.

Lady Andrea is Nuts for Nats over at Bugs and Cranks. (Note: Going Nuts for Nats is similar to, but should not be confused with, going Cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs.)

Lady Andrea and Miss Minda both weigh in on the now-infamous Buzz Bissinger tirade.

Lady Andrea’s thoughts

Miss Minda’s thoughts

At Chicks Heart Fights, Chitown Chick recaps the week’s Ultimate Fighter episode. Also, sad news: her computer hasn’t been doing too well lately. I hope it gets better.

La M Alana revisits an old post, from her Warrior-fueled jubilation last year.

The Dame of Extra Time puts on her detective hat (which looks totally fabulous) and discovers what really happened to Manuel Alumnia’s hair. She has to be right.

Playoff Hotties: We’re Going to Miss You in About a Week Edition

In no particular order, let’s take a look at the boys we probably won’t be seeing much of in two or three games!

Denver: Kleiza!
To sum up the Denver defense:

THIS! IS! DENvahh fuck it.

Well, to be fair, Linas always plays hard.

Nom nom nom…I mean, uh. If you’re into that sort of thing.

The Only NBA Playoffs Preview You Need

Sorry, D-Wade. Not you.

Hey, everybody. I’m Maria Alana, and I’m here to guide you through the National Basketball Association’s postseason. It’s important to have an idea of how the basketball matchups will go, but it’s just as important – maybe even more so – to check out the Hottie Matchups of each series. Let’s get to it!