Kudos & Wet Willies, Coach K edition

Kudos to ...

• Mike Krzyzewski. The Duke coach reached 800 career victories Saturday when the Blue Devils defeated NC State, 87-86. Only Adolph rupp and Dean Smith reached 800 victories faster.


• John Henry. The Red Sox owner showed a sense of humor, responding to Hank Steinbrenner's bashing of Red Sox Nation by calling it "a bunch of [expletive]," by "inducting" Hank into the Nation.


• Lou Piniella. The Cubs' manager didn't take kindly to Jason Marquis saying he didn't want to be a Cub if he wasn't in the starting rotation. ""He can go somewhere else right now if he wants," was Sweet Lou's response. Good for him.


• Ernie Els. The former No. 1 player in the world earned his first PGA Tour victory since 2004 Sunday, beating Luke Donald by one shot in The Honda Classic.
  
• Kobe Bryant. Dropped 52 on Dallas Sunday in a 108-104 overtime victory by the Lakers. No matter how the Mavericks defended him Kobe was unstoppable. Bryant is playing like a guy who sees that his team has a shot at its first post-Shaquille O'Neal title.

Wet Willies to ...

• NFL owners. Free agency started Friday, and that means it's crazy money season. Asante Samuel ($57 million from Oakland), Gibril Wilson ($39 million from Oakland), Madieu Williams, whoever he is ($33 million from Minnesota), Alan Faneca ($32 million from the Jets) are among the very happy recipients of NFL team's largesse.
  
• Kei Igawa. The Yankees $46 million waste of money pitched one inning against a college team Friday, walked two, hit a batter and gave up a grand slam. The Yankees should trade Igawa for a resin bag and bucket of baseballs.


• James Dolan. There is increasing speculation that the Knicks' CEO will finally pull the plug, at least partially, on Isiah Thomas. Until he does it, though, he stays on the list.


• Phoenix Suns. They brought in Shaquille O'Neal hoping he would push them to a championship. Shaq, though, is a shell of what he was and the Suns are only 2-4 since acquiring him. They may regret this move.

'Kudos & Wet Willies'

With two sites to maintain daily and a full-time job I won't be here often. But, 'Kudos & Wet Willies' is one of my favorite things, and I will try to have one here every Sunday. So, be sure and stop by.

So, let's get on with this week's honors.

Kudos to ...

• Marisa Miller. The hottest current swimsuit model out there landed on the cover of SI's swimsuit issue. Oh, and her conversation with David Letterman about body painting and being completely shaved is priceless.

• Andy Pettitte. Say what you want about Pettitte, he seems to be the only one who came through last week's Congressional hearings with any credibility. It had to hurt him to tell the truth about his friend Roger Clemens, and had to hurt even more to listen to Clemens try to save himself by discrediting him.
• An unknown Yankee clubhouse attendant. This story about his treatment of Carl Pavano at Spring Training made me laugh, and sums up my feelings about the $40 million waste.
• NBA Slam Dunk Contest. This event is a back in a big way, courtesy of Dwight Howard and Gerald Green. For years now, big names have ducked this contest and it degenerated into debacles like Nate Robinson winning despite missing more dunks than he made. Howard, who won last night's competition, and Green changed that. Howard, with dunks from behind the backboard, tapping the ball to himself off the glass and using a Superman cape showed creativity and leaping ability no 7-footer has ever flashed. Green valiantly defended his title, even blowing out a candle on one dunk. For the first time in a long time, it was an amazing event.
  

Wet Willies to ...

• Brian McNamee and Roger Clemens. McNamee is like the little kid who lies all the time, then when he tries to tell the truth no one believes him. Clemens is the big bully who always gets his way by glaring, stomping his feet and threatening. He simply can't believe anyone would challenge him. They are both dirty in this whole performance-enhancing drugs mess.
• Congress. Embarrassed itself during the Clemens-McNamee hearings with incredibly partisan attacks on the two witnesses. How did Mitchell Report hearings become a partisan war?
• Devean George and Jerry Stackhouse. First, George, a bit player, blows up the Mavericks' trade for Jason Kidd by invoking his little-know 'Larry Bird Rights.' Why he would turn himself into a pariah in Dallas after asking for a trade a few weeks ago I have no idea. Then Stackhouse, who was part of the proposed deal, goes and blabs about how he already has a side deal in place to return to Dallas after 30 days. Those sort of side deals are against the rules, though I'm sure they happen all the time. Players are supposed to keep their mouths shut, though. Laughably, NBA execs are showing all sorts of false indignation with the side deal.
• James Dolan. Isiah Thomas still coaches the Knicks. Enough said.
• Kelvin Sampson. No matter what the internal and NCAA investigations turn up, Sampson has dragged the Indiana University basketball program down into a dark, messy place it's never been before. Say what you want about Bobby Knight, his programs were always clean.
  

A Valentine's Day wish list

Yeah, yeah, enough already. My last name is Valentine and I've spent my life listening to your Valentine's Day jokes. You can't bug me with 'em, so don't bother.

Anyway, since this is my day I thought I would drop by with a sports-related list of things I would like for today.

• I would like to know who the idiot was who gave a bit player Devean George a no-trade clause. That's a move that might cost the Dallas Mavericks Jason Kidd. That's real smart.
• I would like to see Brian McNamee and Roger Clemens both discredited. McNamee is scum, and Clemens is blatantly making up his story as he goes along. Neither one of them is clean in this whole steroids mess.
• I would like a victory for the youth basketball team I coach. We haven't won a game in six weeks, and it sure would be nice.
• A job for Jim Fassel. Any job. He got screwed by Daniel Snyder and the Washington Redskins, but I'm already getting tired of listening to him whine about it.
• Laryngitis for Curt Schilling. And maybe a broken computer. He's hurt, which doesn't bother me at all. He can still talk and type, though, and that bothers me a lot.
• A guarantee that the Yankees win the World Series. The Giants are Super Bowl champs, and it's time for New York to reclaim the throne as sports capital of the world from those evil folks in Massachusetts.
• Tickets to a Giants' game next season. I have never actually been to a pro football game, and I would love to see the defending Super Bowl champs.
• Tickets to a Yankees' game this season. It's the final year for historic Yankee Stadium. I've been there many times, but not the past couple of seasons. I want to go one last time before they knock the place down.
• I want to see anyone except Duke or North Carolina win the NCAA basketball championship. As a Maryland grad, I just can't have that.
• A real playoff system in college football. Then maybe the post-season games will be worth watching.
  

Shaq to Suns -- good move or bad?

Shaquille O'Neal is now a Phoenix Sun. What do you think, good idea for Phoenix or a bad mistake by rookie GM Steve Kerr?

Bringing the aging, slow, plodding O'Neal to the uptempo Suns is a huge gamble. In the end, though, I have no problem with the move by Phoenix.

Just look at the NBA's Western Conference. You've got Utah, a Lakers team that just added Pau Gasol and will get Andrew Bynum back in a few weeks, Dallas, New Orleans and defending champion San Antonio.

Yes, the Suns were good before they traded for O'Neal. Yes, they will miss the energy, defense and three-point shooting of Shawn Marion. Yes, there is no guarantee Phoenix has made itself any better. The reality is, though, before the trade the Suns weren't good enough to run the Western Conference gauntlet and get back to the NBA Finals. If O'Neal can be a reasonable facsimile of himself, which is the big question, now they might be.

What I'm talking about today

Over at my New York Yankees site today, we are debating whether the Yankees' 2004 collapse or the recent loss by the New England Patriots in the Super Bowl was a bigger deal. I think it's obvious -- 2004 was way more significant.

At Big Blue View today, we are debating the merits of two vastly different Elisha's -- Elisha Nelson Manning and Elisha Cuthbert. We are also talking about the fact that Steve Spagnuolo will be staying on as New York Giants' defensive coordinator.

Stop by those sites and join the debate. It's free!