The Macrophenomenal Website (And All It Contains)
freedarko.com — [image] Ordinarily, we'd take Opening Day to giggle, shake, and look forward to another season of NBA action. But this year, we already went and presaged the whole thing. In case you care, Bulls/Bucks is the real game to watch, and if you've got any fine wines stashed for the occasion, save them for Wednesday's Knicks/Suns answer-fest. Instead, WELCOME TO OUR BOOK'S HIGHLY ADVANCED WEBSITE . Of special interest shall be the media page , which has embeddable preview widgets and our theme song. And kindly swing by Ye Olde FD Imperial Outlet , where you can pre-order new shirts and ...

Straight Darko
Straight Bangin' — (This post best enjoyed while listening to the FreeDarko anthem.) With the return of the Association tonight--!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!--and my season "preview" not anywhere close to ready (damn law school; check back this weekend), it seems only appropriate that I devote SB to FreeDarko today. It's no secret that I hold FD in the highest esteem. I am impressed by the original thinking and well-crafted writing that those dudes churn out every day. Think about that. They are innovators--as bloggers, as curators of culture, as arbiters of NBA ...

FreeDarko on Gilbert Arenas
Bullets Forever — FreeDarko on Gilbert Arenas Here's an excerpt from FreeDarko's upcoming book, focusing on the player who wrote the foreword for said book. It's some pretty deep stuff, but it's very, very cool.

Buy the FreeDarko book!
Detroit Bad Boys — The Macrophenomenal Pro Basketball Almanac (aka, the FreeDarko book) will be released in exactly two weeks, and to stoke your interest they’ve launched a promotional site today that offers a sneak peek of what you can expect, including excerpted chapters and limited edition prints of the incredible artwork. You should check out the site now, and when you’re done, pre-order the book. I was fortunate enough to receive an advanced copy a week and a half ago, and without exaggeration I’m ready to proclaim it one of the best NBA books ...

NBA Essentials: Holy Opening Day, Batman!
FanHouse — Filed under: Nets, Pacers, Pistons, Trail BlazersNBA Essentials ranks our six favorite stories of the day. 1. Need4Sheed. MJ always knew Kwame Brown would be pumping gas within 10 years, but this wasn't quite what he had in mind. (FUNNY VIDEO alert.) 2. The Oregonian. Nate McMillan refers to himself, Greg Oden, Brandon Roy and LaMarcus Aldridge as "The Diamond." That's surely not going to inspire humorous retorts from opposition fans over the next ...

Unsolicited Literary Advice: Buy "The Macrophenomenal Pro Basketball Almanac" Immediately
Black Heart Gold Pants — Unsolicited Literary Advice: Buy "The Macrophenomenal Pro Basketball Almanac" Immediately Totally off-topic, but the first book by the FreeDarko crew is absolutely jaw-dropping, and I hope you buy it right away.

The Machines Shall Rise, And All Will Fall [Weekly Buzzsaw Countdown]
Deadspin — All right, so the world is imploding. You know this. I know this too, though only because the Wassup Guys told me. Surely, these are the last days, before the global apocalypse rids the planet of humans and leaves only some cockroaches, a few stray strands of hair and, of course, Kermit, because Kermit is an indestructible force of shocking malevolence. This is not the way I thought it would go down. I assumed, like the rest of you, it would be the robots. It was always a relief, actually, knowing that Artificial Intelligence Technology would not progress enough in my lifetime to ...

SUPER-SEXY WITH LEATHER SEXY SEX
With Leather - Sports news and gossip, panda sex, and the occasional Toonces the driving cat Photoshop — What follows is somewhere between a literary review and a book discussion.  Sorry about the headline being a complete lie.  But let’s be realistic: people aren’t going to click a headline with the word “book” in it. It was almost two years ago that the collection of basketball philosophers at FreeDarko introduced the Competitive Style Guide, a series of sketches on graph paper that illustrated perfectly what the website’s authors had been trying to communicate for years with thousands of slippery words. Two NBA ...

Hating Kobe on a More Intellectual Level
Sactown Royalty — I think you all know by now how highly I think of FreeDarko. As such, it may be no surprise I come to you to lavish devout praise on the FreeDarko book, which comes out a week from today. I finished the book this weekend; it's simply outrageous in its imagination and execution. There is some Kings-related content in there, on Gerald Wallace and Ron Artest. (Beno Udrih also makes a surprise appearance in discussion of the Myth of the Next Ginobili-Parker.) But for my money, one of the best chapters is on Sacramento's Public Enemy #1, Kobe Bryant. Be but through the grace of internet relations ...

Outlet Pass (10/29/08)
Upside and Motor — Hey all, I'm going to be moving the Outlet Pass to Wednesdays to make room for an update on the Upside and Motor Fantasy Basketball Classic on Mondays.  That way you get to start off your week by laughing at all the bloggers who blew it big time in the league.  Ah, the good life. Henry Abbott put up a pretty cool link to what can only be called a Pro-Kobe video.  I've got a lot of respect for Kobes, but I'm far from a fan.  The video is obviously heavily biased, but that doesn't change some of the ridiculousness that this guy points out (moving screens?  wtf mates?).  ...

Recommendation: The FreeDarko Book
Mr. Irrelevant — ... With that out of the way and the season upon us: Run don’t walk. FreeDarko Presents …  The Macrophenomenal Pro Basketball Almanac is a brilliant book; flawlessly executed and beautifully illustrated (by the artist Big Baby Belafonte). It’s broken into six chapters — Master Builders, Uncanny Peacocks, Lost Souls, Phenomenal Tumors, People’s Champs and Destiny’s Kids — with each chapter containing extended essays, full-page illustrations and absurd-yet-telling stats on three players. And the end of each chapter is a subsection ...

Heads Up: FreeDarko Book Coming Soon
FirstCuts — ... Bethlehem Shoals and the entire FreeDarko clan have a book coming out titled The Macrophenomenal Pro Basketball Almanac. We'll have a writeup on the whole thing at some point here on FirstCuts, but for now, visit ...

NESW Sports Headlines 10/29/2008
NESW Sports, Sports Videos — ... I’m Ethan Jayne and you’re not. Here are today’s Headlines Ron Harper gets PWNED by MSU head coach < World of Isaac Nice shattered glass Hockey Check Video < Gunaxin T-Rocs week 10 NCAA Football picks < Cuzoogle My Boy Jason Campbell from AU might get the NFL MVP? < Mr I NBA Headlines By the Free Darko Book right HERE< Excellent writing ...

The Basketball Jones goes video
Detroit Bad Boys — So yeah, this is kind of awesome: Skeets, Tas and JD are doing video, Shoals wrote a book … I need to step up my game. ...

FreeDarko Will Blow Your Mind With Widgets [Freedarko]
Deadspin — ... But, even better, they have a site for the book that includes excerpt widgets that you can embed into your own site, as you can see above. Because, as a blogger, nothing makes me happier than someone providing me with cool shit to fill up dead space with. God bless those crazy bastards. ...

Game Notes: Kings at T-Wolves
SLAM Online — by Myles Brown Getting the Point Is it possible for the first contest in a long season of relatively low expectations to be a ‘must win’? If Randy Wittman’s substitution patterns were any indication, then the answer was a resounding ‘yes.’ Journeyman Kevin Ollie began the fourth quarter at point guard for the Wolves and produced an underwhelmingly efficient box score: 0-1 fg, 1-2 ft, 1 point, 0 rebounds, 0 assists, 0 turnovers…10:05 minutes. Hardly a highlight package by Ollie, but the offense still ...

A Macrophenomenal Look at Gilbert Arenas
D.C. Sports Bog — A Macrophenomenal Look at Gilbert Arenas By now, you've no doubt heard of FreeDarko Presents...The Macrophenomenal Pro Basketball Almanac, a kind of NBA compendium for people who like Gilbert Arenas. The back of the book--by the cerebral and sometimes incomprehensible FreeDarko collective ...

FreeDarko has a book; we have a Q and A
Blazer's Edge — New. It's the word of the week. Years after they started swagging, FreeDarko remains as new, as fresh, as any basketball website.  How have they maintained excellence and relevance for so long?  They don't do schtick; they do art. Next to the Blogfather himself, it's hard to find a greater basketball blog trailblazer than the FreeDarko collective.  To prove how hard they can flip new, FreeDarko is taking it back to the old school next week.  That's right, they are dropping a book: FreeDarko Presents Macrophenomonal Basketball Almanac. In keeping ...

Better Living Through Focus: A Review of Free Darko's Macrophenomenal Pro Basketball Almanac
Hardwood Paroxysm — When my advance copy for review of Free Darko's book arrived, I just looked at it for a second, like it was a bear cub or a scorpion. I gingerly put it down and only returned when I was sure I had the time to go through it. I expected it to be like the blog, an extrapolation of jungle-density prose ...

Basketball Books '08-09
The Painted Area — SI.com readers: Please go here to view the post on the Cavs' offense linked to by Paul Forrester. ***************************** Let's take a look at some notable basketball books scheduled to be released in the '08-09 season and a little beyond, including a few which are already out. We'll note right from the top that our release information may not be comprehensive or foolproof. We're making our best estimates based on what we could unearth on Amazon, along with some intel we've gathered from published stories here or there. THE MACROPHENOMENAL ONES The Macrophenomenal ...

Shanoff's Wake-Up Call: Cards, Holliday, Truth
The Sporting Blog — Today's Calls: Mike Singletary vs. Mike Martz, Matt Holliday vs. Billy Beane, Evan Longoria vs. Geovany Soto, Tim Lincecum vs. CC Sabathia, Paul Pierce vs. OJ Mayo and More. ...

NBA Essentials: JaVale Cam!
FanHouse — by Tom Ziller Filed under: Kings, Lakers, Magic, Warriors, WizardsNBA Essentials ranks our six favorite stories of the day. 1. Washington Wizards Blog, via Bullets Forever. The Zards are installing a new camera on the baskets at the Verizon Center ... because the current basket cams are too low to capture JaVale McGee in flight! JaVale Cam! 2. NBC Chicago. A tremendous Q&A with two of FreeDarko's writers. The book is out today! (Robo)Cop ...

An Interview With FreeDarko
ESPNtheMag.com - MagDaily — FreeDarko is a collective of friends who spend a good deal of their time writing about the world of professional basketball. Since they started their blog, nearly four years ago, they've been called everything from "fabulously eccentric" to "intentionally impenetrable." Bottom line is that there just aren't many out there who are writing about basketball (or sports in general) with this level of inventiveness and detail. Their new book The Macrophenomenal Pro Basketball Almanac, with a forward by Gilbert Arenas, hits shelves today (here's an excerpt). We caught up with ...

Dubs wants you to know that Dubs is no longer in last place
Tremendous Upside Potential — (Ed. note: I actually get to give my full attention to Derrick Rose tonight for the first time all year, so expect some Bulls-Hawks thoughts tomorrow. Until then, here's Dubs take on TUP Pick Em' action. Oh, and buy the new Free Darko book ...

Humans Everywhere
freedarko.com — [image] Lots happening in the world right now. The Atlanta Hawks look like a top-4 Eastern Conference team with only four good players. Jamal Crawford looks like an all-star. Ziller reports that the Kings tonight will be starting Mikki Moore, Brad Miller, AND Jason Thompson. And yes, we're still basking in the glow of the book. I want to thank the countless people who have given positive comments on the web today. I also found it appropriate that our first Amazon comment was by someone named J. Williams (Jay? Jayson? Jason?). Promises that all of this will end at some point and we will get back to strictly ...

We Score and Score and Score and Score and Fight!
Ladies... —

Contemplating The Apoplex: The FreeDarko Macrophenomenal Pro Basketball Almanac
2nd Round Reach - NBA and Fantasy Basketball Commentary for the Truly Obsessed — This week marked something of a culmination of sorts for basketball feature journalism and blogging in general with the release of FreeDarko Presents: The Macrophenomenal Pro Basketball Almanac. I truly believe that it's almost impossible to estimate the collective effect of Bethlehem Shoals' and company on how/why the NBA has such a dedicated internet following, and on why so many of us have taken to sharing our personal examinations of the game on levels more personally significant than wins and losses. If you've ever wondered why so many 2RR posts have ...

Change We Can Blog About
Gilbertology — Gilbert updated his blog today and as you would probably expect, the primary focus of his latest entry is his newest tattoo.  Here’s what he had to say: Since the tattoo message was all about change, it was a miracle when I went in to get it done. Instead of it hurting, it actually felt good like the needle was giving me a hand massage … I’m lying, it kind of hurt a lot. I got the tattoo done on the Friday after the election down in Orlando because I always get my tattoos done down in Orlando. But as we all know, when Gilbert does something he ...

My Office Is Cooler Than Your Office
The Basketball Jones — Office. Breakfast nook. Same thing. Buy the book, embrace the swag.

Gilbert's Actual Thoughts on Obama
D.C. Sports Bog — Gilbert's Actual Thoughts on Obama After all his Presidential goofiness in recent weeks--the cracks at Biden and Palin, the pledge not to vote, the actual Obama tattoo--Gilbert finally cut through the goofiness and offered his actual thoughts on the election ...

Original Crooks, Original Heads
freedarko.com — [image] We already knew that J.A. Adande was pretty much the coolest sportswriter out, but were still moved by the mid-90's hip-hop knowledge he flashed in his latest ESPN chat ...

There’s Nothing to Click Here: I’m a Man of the People
Major League Jerk — ... NBA fan or not, this is a phenomenal book.  Fantastic writing, great art and, well, you’re looking for more in a book?  Jesus, you’re hard to please.  Just fucking buy it and thank me later. ...

Celebration of the New League: A Review of The Macrophenomenal Pro Basketball Almanac
FanHouse — by Tom Ziller Filed under: NBA Fans Why did FreeDarko so quickly capture the imagination of a hungry basketball community back in 2005 when it launched? When you think of the attributes which make modern blogs successful, you don't think of stilted prose with unending grad school references and underground hip hop name-drops, photos of the Dutch landscape and dress-up birthday parties, or essay upon essay regarding Amare Stoudemire's knee or the (God forbid) Charlotte Bobcats. Everything about FreeDarko as an enterprise is wrong wrong wrong. But of course, ...

One Room to Another
freedarko.com — [image] Tonight is the Seattle launch party for the Almanac . I know it's unrealistic to ask all of you to come out here for it, but for those of you in the Northwest, here's the info: FD Northwest Book Launch Thing Redwood 514 East Howell Street Capitol Hill 6-10PM Early game is Rockets/Mavs, which should be okay, I guess. Second game is the far doper Blazers/Bulls. I'll have books for sale, our friends at Sports Northwest Magazine will be in the house, and there will hopefully be a lot of people drinking and talking ball. Speaking of which, that was Greg Oden's coming-out party tonight. I ...

Rasheed Wallace: Taking Advice From FreeDarko Since 2008
Alana G — If you haven't already picked up your copy of FreeDarko's The Macrophenomenal Pro Basketball Almanac... well then what Euro country are you living in? Ok, so I only just got my hands on the book recently (I've been busy reading ...

Sheed Enjoys the Term FreeDarko
Both Teams Played Hard — Here’s a brief video of Sheed being asked by Alana G. about the Macrophenomenal Basketball Almanac stat that he plays better after he gets a tech. The Both Teams Played Hard book review is still forthcoming, but in the meantime, the FreeDarkoers can rest assured that, at the very least, they will be receiving some extra credit purely due to the fact that I have now typed the name of their book so many times that, after decades of pure guesswork, I can finally type the word “phenomenal” without a squiggly red line appearing beneath it at least two out of every three times I ...

TBJ Ep. 347: Cuttino Mobley, Eddie Jordan, Shaq and more ...
Ball Don't Lie — As most of you know, I co-host a daily NBA podcast at The Basketball Jones. This season, for reasons unknown, Tas, JD and I have decided to try our luck with video. I figured I might as well share it here with you. As always, questions, comments and feedback are appreciated. Hit us up. On today's show, Tas and I discuss the Clippers-Knicks trade hiccup, Eddie Jordan's pink slip and Shaq as an '09 All-Star. That, and we announce a great new prize giveaway — the Free Darko almanac. Subscribe to the audio show on iTunes | Download the .mp3 ...

T-Time: The FreeDarko Book Gear
FirstCuts — We're looking for the best/worst of sports-related shirts from around the world to feature in this space. If you have a submission, send it to FirstCuts@sportingnews.com ...

The Free Darko Challenge: One Great Night by Kevin Pelton
Basketball Prospectus — Alas, the Anthony Morrow ride seems to already have hit its peak. The undrafted rookie out of Georgia Tech was briefly the story of the NBA following his attention-grabbing 37-point, 11-rebound effort on Nov. 15. Since scoring 25 more points the next game, Morrow has totaled 19 points on 6-of-22 shooting the last three games. The addition of Jamal Crawford has squeezed Morrow's playing time, and he was limited to 15 minutes Wednesday at Washington. Even if Morrow never scores in double figures again, he's already made history of a sort. Whenever an undrafted rookie in the future puts together an unexpected ...

Every Play Counts: Greg Oden by Kevin Pelton
Basketball Prospectus — In an interview with Sports Northwest Magazine , Bethlehem Shoals of Free Darko shared that a potential essay on Greg Oden of the Portland Trail Blazers was cut from the recently-released Macrophenomenal Pro Basketball Almanac following Oden's microfracture knee surgery. When and if the Free Darko collective releases a follow-up, the mythology for Oden is obvious to me, at least during his rookie season. Oden is the modern-day Atlas--an especially apt comparison before he shaved the beard that accentuated his preternaturally-aged face. Instead of the world, Oden carries on his broad shoulders the ...

No Game is an Island: The Looking-Glass Self
Upside and Motor — The Magic of Orlando visit The Celtics of Boston 7:30 EST   The FreeDarko book makes you think.  It reminds you of things, it introduces new thoughts, and it shows you how to think about things in new ways.  Buy it, buy it, buy it.  But one of the chapters I found particularly interesting was the FD crew's analysis of Kevin Garnett, specifically looking to his early career. FD showed me a lot of things about Garnett, but the most memorable was his pre-transformation self.  As a young stud, KG was still dominant.  He could score, he could defend, and ...

Tuesday Northern Sportive Lemurs
Posting and Toasting — Good afternoon, peasants. This chilly Tuesday is uncharacteristically quiet on the basketball front, but let's run down a few links and items worth mentioning. - We've already mentioned that Stephon Marbury has been banned from contact with the Knicks. I desperately wish for this to end, and really wonder who in the Knicks organization is still sitting on the buyout. Is Walsh that unwilling to buckle, or is Dolan not willing to part with the full $21 million-ish? Kelly Dwyer's under the impression that James Dolan's the one hesitating to pull the trigger, and I bet he's ...

An Incomplete List of NBA Players You Really Should Get Out to See
The Sports Complex — Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 <! st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } --> <! /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; ...

Pick and Roll: Fashionistas
Fanster.com — Interesting week on Planet Orange, with two more players from the :07 or less era being taken out by Kerr.  The trade is being discussed in great detail all over the place, and as Fanster is no exception, Steve Fan and I figured some light-hearted discussion on the Suns uniforms was in order: Mark: Although the switch to the Suns jersey (and addition of Charles Barkley) led to an immediate Finals appearance, I can’t help but favor the original Suns unis. I suppose I”m old-fashioned or simplisitic, but there’s a certain understated greatness to them.  I ...

Friday Bunchostuff
Ghostrunner on First — ... is simply incredible. I had high hopes and the Macrophenomenal Guide completely blew me away. If you care AT ALL about basketball you will rush out and grab it. If you like the Raptors, you may not understand what you read because they are simply the ugliest, most boring team on the planet. And they suck, too. Jose Calderon is the best back-up point guard in the NBA. There, I said it. ...

Do you have news on your Sports Blog? Tell me about it!
Sports Blog Bucks — I love Sports Blogs. I think sports bloggers rock. It is just what I do If you are about to have a contest or sell a book etc… tell me about it. I will try to do a post about it, or link to it on the sidebar. Here are a couple things I know about. The Hoop Dr’s is having a caption contest for a Steve Nash Jersey Free Darko released his book just a while back. Everyone is buzzing about it. Gunaxin is having ...

1st Qyarter ADP Report Cards: Picks 31-40
2nd Round Reach - NBA and Fantasy Basketball Commentary for the Truly Obsessed — Hey, look, it's an actual post about fantasy basketball on 2nd Round Reach! Haven't seen one of those in a while... Continuing the ADP report cards, the holiday season is a great time to reinvigorate trade traffic in your league, as elite teams start to assert themselves and fantasy owners can get a better idea of what cats they're going to have to improve to compete for that pretend sports title. As ever, this list is based on the ADP rankings from Yahoo!, which currently hosts the largest fantasy basketball network online. Grades are based on my own ...

Carnival of the NBA #62
Hoops Addict — Both Teams Played Hard recently hosted Carnival of NBA #61 and they used the idea of documenting “the ways in which the Ballersphere is great while assigning those numbers to the players we praise and loathe the most, and along the way, we will collect links to the biggest and best related stories so far from this young season.” With that in mind, I thought  I’d wrap up 2008 with a look at some of the biggest NBA stories of 2008. This meant I sat down for nearly 48 hours working on this post this weekend as I went through hundreds of blogs on BallHype ...

Chris Paul is Just Waiting for You to Bait Him
ESPN.com - True Hoop - Blog — Posted by Kevin Arnovitz Of all the dazzling illustrations in The Macrophenomenal Pro Basketball Almanac, my favorite is the one of Chris Paul in the locker room, hanging up his street clothes [sheepskin] in exchange for his game jersey [wolf suit adorned with the #3]. Off the court, Paul is the prince who guest stars on a NPR's precious weekend game show. On the court, he's the nastiest point guard since Gary Payton's prime, and shouldn't be defended without a tetanus shot. Take last night's Hornets-Pacers game in Indianapolis. The Basketball Jones got ...

FTB Book Club: The Macrophenomenal Pro Basketball Almanac.
Fear The Beard — Okay, I haven’t bought the book yet, but, between the illustrations (by Jacob Weinstein) and the interactive excerpts (like the one in the widget after the jump), I’m putting it on the top of my list for 2009. Frankly, the fact that it’s positioned at intersection of culture and basketball (with colorful pictures) puts it firmly in FTB’s wheelhouse. Penned by FreeDarko’s “chief operative”, Mr. Bethlehem Shoals, the book is described as follows: The Macrophenomenal Pro Basketball Almanac functions simultaneously as the ultimate ...

Josh Smith and Gerald Wallace Are Chaos
Rufus on Fire — I'm reading FreeDarko's Macrophenomenal Pro Basketball Almanac, a lovely Christmas gift from the Official GF of Rufus on Fire's parents (H/T Borders Gift Card). The whole book is a trip, from charts to text to the glorious illustrations. But the segment that, thus far, has spoken to me most clearly is the chapter that focuses on Josh Smith and Gerald Wallace. In 2006, Smith was hardly controversial. In 2005, Wallace was hardly controversial. But the next season, each had a breakout, and now it's impossible for me to have a rational conversation with most people about either of them. Mind ...

The Foreword
Gilbertology — ... As I’m sure you’ve heard many times here and elsewhere, Gilbert Arenas penned (or more likely, dictated) the foreword for Free Darko’s new book.  A foreword ...

News, Fun, and Obstinance
freedarko.com — This video is amazing. It's everything I'd want to ask Melo, plus a bizarre disclosure about what college team he favors—presumably in addition to Syracuse. I think. Exciting developments on the still-glowing FD book front ...

Post MUST Be Called "The No More Drama Club"
freedarko.com — [image] Major TSB grind today, includng an entertaining interview with Clyde Drexler and some Rookie/Sophomore thoughts. Stay tuned to there. One of the reasons I hate our book now is that, as I've said several times already, it seems like this season has brought about a subtle-yet-dramatic shift in the NBA. Kobe suddenly became an elder statesman instead of a lightning rod; the 21st century draft classes now rule the roost; a number of younger players have taken their ever-improving games into the All-Star waiting area; and, as one commenter put it, "a generation of good-not-great players" has ...

With These Hands
freedarko.com — -1 Yes, that's Kevin Pritchard and Mike Born, Portland's head of scouting, with the FD Book . Click to enlarge if you don't believe me. Thanks to Ben for passing along the photo, taken by Michael Tillery of the Portland Observer . Between this and the upcoming Powell's shindig , I wish we had included more Blazers. And if this volume of ours is now being used as a scouting tool . . . I'll expect a call from someone's front office any day now. Earlier: Three years of DIY All-Star anthems . Labels: blazers , FD book , kevin pritchard , ...

Everybody Wants Amare Stoudemire
MOUTHPIECE Blog // A Chicago-Addled Sports Blog — ... , Amare Stoudemire to the Bulls would be a lovely, welcome addition to the squad. If I had my FreeDarko book here with me now, I’d quote some passage about how his game has evolved post-microfracture surgery, because I remember what they wrote was really good. But alas, I do not have it on my person. ...

Check Into Tomorrow
freedarko.com — [image] For serious, I swore I was going to take it easy over All-Star Weekend. Instead, some links: -Joey and I frantically work through the implications of a shorn AI. -Ty and Carter pay snide attention to the non-dunk parts of All-Star Saturday. -Over at TSB, my Then and Now column overviews the weekend. No, "overview" is not a verb, except for here. Read and comment on this one so it stays alive. Oh, and after much deliberation, we've decided to gently call out TNT for their Sunday intro . No, not because of its forgettably racist overtones, but because it's invocation of "spirit ...

Friday links
Fanster.com — One week down for Deep Purple, our new Phoenix Suns community here at Fanster.  It’s been a great week, and the site is only going to get better.  We’re just getting started, come be a part of things and help us continue on this upswing.  Looking ahead, we see great things for this here site. I’m not so sure the same can be said for the Suns. If the playoffs started today, Steve Kerr or David Griffin would be reserving their seat at the frozen envelope lottery drawing.  Definitely not where we envisioned this Suns team to be, but all is not lost.  Not yet at ...

Friday links
Fanster's Suns Community — One week down for Deep Purple, our new Phoenix Suns community here at Fanster.  It’s been a great week, and the site is only going to get better.  We’re just getting started, come be a part of things and help us continue on this upswing.  Looking ahead, we see great things for this here site. I’m not so sure the same can be said for the Suns. If the playoffs started today, Steve Kerr or David Griffin would be reserving their seat at the frozen envelope lottery drawing.  Definitely not where we envisioned this Suns team to be, but all is not lost.  Not yet ...

Special delivery: the Macrophenomenal Pro Basketball Almanac
Fanster.com — I recently ordered FreeDarko’s Macrophenomenal Pro Basketball Almanac.  I know, I know, took me long enough, right?  It was delivered on Saturday afternoon and I couldn’t have been more excited to enjoy every paragraph and illustration. Things didn’t go quite as planned. Saturday was filled with yardwork and various projects around the house.  I was in my front yard spraying weeds when the mail arrived (book included) and rather than using the lump three feet above my gluteus maximus and place everything in the mailbox, I put it on top of my wife’s van, or as we like to ...

Special delivery: the Macrophenomenal Pro Basketball Almanac
Fanster's Suns Community — I recently ordered FreeDarko’s Macrophenomenal Pro Basketball Almanac.  I know, I know, took me long enough, right?  It was delivered on Saturday afternoon and I couldn’t have been more excited to enjoy every paragraph and illustration. Things didn’t go quite as planned. Saturday was filled with yardwork and various projects around the house.  I was in my front yard spraying weeds when the mail arrived (book included) and rather than using the lump three feet above my gluteus maximus and place everything in the mailbox, I put it on top of my wife’s van, or as we like to ...

The Great Debaters
freedarko.com — -1 It's the showdown for NBA supremacy that's been brewing all season. Obama's weighed in; our two most involved posts of the season have been about http://freedarko.blogspot.com/2009/01/bites-eat-everything.html">http://freedarko.blogspot.com/2009/01/bites-eat-everything.html">the relationship between the two and http://freedarko.blogspot.com/2009/02/safe-to-say-this-is-what-saturdays.html">http://freedarko.blogspot.com/2009/02/safe-to-say-this-is-what-saturdays.html">how they fit into the same universe , respectively. And now, it's your turn to make your voices heard—first with your ...

Enter the Podcast
freedarko.com — [image] Major announcement to make right about now. Some months ago, the The Disciples of Clyde podcast mentioned the Almanac in an episode on what makes a truly great sports book. We found it sufficiently compelling, irritating, and in some ways correct that we struck up a conversation, stayed in touch, and then came to a momentous decision: We've decided to join forces. What does this mean? Well, if you were a fan of DoC before, not much will change. Dan and Ken are still the hosts, and will set the tone (which is pretty much in line with what FD's internal phone chats sound like, anyway), ...

Can He Get a Witness?
freedarko.com — Durant Prints Blog Ad Right before the regular season ends, FreeDarko pays cloth-y tribute to Kevin Durant's mammoth sophomore campaign . . . and the relative obscurity he's toiled in. Maybe if we move enough of these, he'll get on national television for 2009-10. Some other store news: Based on popular demand, we've done up limited prints of a few more portraits from the book : Kevin Garnett , Lamar Odom , Ron Artest , and Joe Johnson . We're offering two special deals with these: if you buy two, you get a third free . Or, for those with an ...

Leave Home
freedarko.com — ... for more Mavs, here's your Mavs-only content, in a guest post for D Magazine's Inside Corner . -Not only is this latest Boxiana post excellent, it was also composed roughly five feet from me. Podcast tomorrow! Labels: j.r. smith , links , mavericks , nuggets posted by Bethlehem Shoals @ 4/23/2009 04:00:00 PM 0 comments [image] [image] 0 Comments: Post a Comment Home FreeDarko Book Amazon.com Widgets [image] Tweet Stuff Twitter Updates follow ...

Bulls vs. Celtics’ 100% Natural Good-Time NBA Playoff Solution
Both Teams Played Hard — ... redeems himself with a game-tying three to send the game into a second overtime. Round here we talk about Paul Pierce overcoming some serious ballhandling issues and general poor play to stick a few patented daggers late in the fourth. Round here we talk about Ty Thomas making some of the best and worst plays you’ll ever see on back-t0-back possessions as if he’s deliberately trying to force his inclusion into the Gerald Wallace/Josh Smith section in the second edition of Free Darko Presents the Macrophenomenal Basketball Almanac. (I never write the ...

Peas in a Podcast!
freedarko.com — FreeDarko Book Amazon.com Widgets [image] Tweet Stuff Twitter Updates follow me on Twitter Darko's Mood Is Currently: Shoals at the Sporting Blog Sporting News Contact the Masters Questions, Comments, Concerns and Cash may be directed to: Force Fed: [image] Friends and Family SB3 is the internet's best sports betting site, featuring football, basketball, baseball, horse racing, and more. If the NFL is your favorite, you'll enjoy NFL betting at Bet-on-the-NFL.com, a portal which features a great array of sportsbooks. You can ...

Sort of what we have instead of God
freedarko.com — FreeDarko Book Amazon.com Widgets [image] Tweet Stuff Twitter Updates follow me on Twitter Darko's Mood Is Currently: Shoals at the Sporting Blog Sporting News Contact the Masters Questions, Comments, Concerns and Cash may be directed to: Force Fed: [image] Friends and Family SB3 is the internet's best sports betting site, featuring football, basketball, baseball, horse racing, and more. If the NFL is your favorite, you'll enjoy NFL betting at Bet-on-the-NFL.com, a portal which features a great array of sportsbooks. You can ...

Class Up Your Place With 'Birdman' Art
FirstCuts — eBay is full of gems, particularly when it comes to sports-related items. David Arnott brings you the best ones. The Denver Nuggets nearly managed to sweep the Dallas Mavericks last night, but Dirk Nowitzki and his buddies pulled out a 119-117 home win to extend the series at least one more game. Notably absent was Chris "Birdman" Andersen, the Nuggets' charismatic big man off the bench. Andersen was in the arena, but he was felled by a stomach virus and spent much of the game in the locker room with an IV. The Birdman has become a modern NBA icon for his ...

adidas Launches Campaign with FreeDarko
FirstCuts — ... If you aren't familiar with the Macrophenomenal Pro Basketball Almanac, then you need to go buy that and grasp a better understanding of these ads. Kudos to both the FD fellas and adidas for a well-executed campaign. It's a great day for bloggers that they can find this sort of integration. ...

NEW SHOE ADS LOOK VERY FREE DARKO-ISH
With Leather - Sports news and gossip, panda sex, and the occasional Toonces the driving cat Photoshop — ... . The artistic concept is really the same of Bethlehem Shoals’ Macrophenomenal Pro Basketball Almanac, but kicked up a notch with animation…and product placement. ...

Adidas' Dwight Howard and Derrick Rose get FreeDarko-ized
Ball Don't Lie — "Every brotherhood needs Creators and Commanders," says Jurassic 5's Chali 2na over adidas' new viral videos celebrating Dwight Howard(notes) and Derrick Rose's(notes) seasons. And lucky for us all, the "creators and commanders" of these two stunning spots happen to be the highbrow hoops collective called FreeDarko. Check 'em out, drool a little, then buy the book already — The Macrophenomenal Pro Basketball Almanac. After the jump, "go ...

Adidas Knows How to Get Links
FanHouse — ... is a novel spin on your traditional sneaker ad -- clever and fun and not like anything else really out there. And it is all of those things, but those familiar with the NBA blogosphere will also recognize that it's an extension of the Macrophenomenal Pro Basketball Almanac, the brilliant dead tree version ...

FreeDarko Collaborates with adidas
Hugging Harold Reynolds — ... panelist Bethlehem Shoals, known as “Nathaniel Friedman” to stuffier editors, is the founder, chief contributor and editor-in-chief of FreeDarko.com, whose Macrophenomenal Pro Basketball Almanac was published last fall by Bloomsbury, USA. ...

Look Out, Distant Past!!!!!
freedarko.com — [image] This has already been up on Twitter for an hour, so I don't even know why I'm bothering with this announcement. Perhaps I'm just a man of tradition, or the old ways that will never die. In any case, when you gear up for the 2010-11 NBA season, you will be able to do so with a new FreeDarko book by your side. That's right, today we shook virtual hands with Bloomsbury on a follow-up to The Macrophenomenal Pro Basketball Almanac , tentatively called something like The Microphenomenal Companion to Pro Basketball History . For those concerned, "microphenomenal" is even less of a real word than ...

Adam Morrison’s Underwhelming Run to the Ring
Hotdog & Friends — ... Inactive 5/25/09 @ Nuggets: Inactive 5/27/09 vs. Nuggets: Inactive 5/29/09 @ Nuggets: Inactive 6/04/09 vs. Magic: Inactive 6/07/09 vs. Magic: Inactive 6/09/09 @ Magic: Inactive 6/11/09 @ Magic: Inactive 6/14/09 @ Magic: Inactive Not one single minute. Every other Laker played in the playoffs down to DJ Mbenga and Josh Powell. Even fellow bust Darko played the year Detroit won the title. As Freedarko put it in their indispensable Macrophenomenal Pro Basketball Almanac, Larry O’Brien Trophy - ...

If You Think This Draft Is Bad...
CelticsBlog - NBA Section — ... That's what I did last night while flipping through my copy of Macrophenomenal Pro Basketball Almanac (free plug).  ...

Hedgehogs, Foxes, and Clippers
ClipperBlog.com Blog for the Los Angeles NBA Clippers Fans — ... It’s tempting to categorize most NBA superstars as hedgehogs because “single central vision” evokes the likes of Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant, but when the fox is a self-aware and skilled practitioner, he’s pretty amazing too! (think LeBron James and Larry Bird). Basketball players embody a lot of individual artistic talents, but they also have to assemble those features collectively if they want to win as a team. A good NBA squad usually has a healthy balance of types. The Lakers have hedgehogs in Bryant and Phil Jackson, who abide by ...

Free Darko, You Have Company.
Heavy Soul — ... And just as a reminder, here is some of the artwork from Free Darko's unbelievable book The Macrophenomenal Pro Basketball Almanac: ...