Steve Kerr busts mad rhymes, yo!

I'm pretty sure this is from 1988, when Arizona made the Final Four. Although the video is choppy and dubbed worse than a Godzilla movie, it gives you the chance to watch Steve Kerr, Kenny Lofton, Tom Tolbert, Jud Buechler and Sean Elliott all bust mad rhymes about how great Arizona is. 'Zona son!

If only Lute Olson had busted a few raps, this would be the greatest video in human history.

-WCK

Someone thinks former Oregon player Aaron Brooks is representin' for the Crips

We've all read those lame stories before by crusty old white sports columnists talking about how when a player throws up three digits after nailing a 3-pointer that he's "representing" for some gang.

This, of course, is totally hilarious, because we all know the player is just letting the world know he hit a three - not that he's a member of some gang.

But sometimes things get a little fuzzy. And sometimes there is a real question about what signs players are throwing up mean.

Well, it appears that former Oregon player Aaron Brooks (who's now with the Rockets) may in fact be doing more than just letting people know he hit a big three. There's one columnist out there who thinks Brooks actually flashed a Crips sign during the 2007 NCAA 3-point contest (which Brooks won), and he has some proof to back it up. Although I should mention the columnist, Gary Toms, made the mistake of calling Brooks a freshman in his article - which I guess should instantly make me wary of whatever conclusions he comes to. But here you go.

• On March 31, the ESPN Network covered the "NCAA 3-Point Shootout". The event was nationally televised, and something happened during the contest that prompted me to write this article. The winner of the contest was a freshman named Aaron Brooks (Toms is wrong, Brooks was a senior), who plays for the University of Oregon Ducks. I was watching the shootout with a dear friend of mine, who happens to be a veteran law enforcement official. At the end of the contest, Brooks walked into the frame of the camera and flashed a hand sign. My friend looked at me, and I at him, and we both said, "Oh, hell no he didn't!" It appeared to be the sign of "The Crips". My friend said cops and federal agents are given a list of signs that some of the most lethal gangs in the country identify with, and he alleged Brooks was showing his loyalty and love for The Crips.

I realize this isn't exactly like having a picture of the incident up for all to see. And even I know law enforcement officials aren't always right and can get things wrong. Like the "Blood Killers" sign is the exact same sign as what most players use as their three-point sign. We know they aren't secretly showing their allegiance to the Crips.
And besides, sometimes guys just come up with weird hand signs to show amongst friends. But this is an interesting thing to think about.

Toms, who is African-American, goes on to question whether colleges are recruiting known gang members and also whether broadcasters like ESPN should let kids flash any signs at video cameras.

I'm not going to step into that sticky argument, but I will say this. Brooks, who I'm not accusing of being a gang-banger at all, grew up in Seattle. And despite what you may think, the police have definitely had many a run-in with the Crips there.

UPDATE: We couldn't find the YouTube video, but reader Eric did. It's at about the one minute mark. Draw your own conclusions.





-WCK

Hope you like college Billy, because you're dead to the NBA

We've all had times where we're not sure we made the right decision. This frequently happens to me. I'm not sure that it was a good idea to supersize my Big Mac meal at McDonald's last night. But sometimes you just gotta live with your decision.

Especially when you make a $27.5 million decision.

For Billy Donovan, once he signed that contract with the Orlando Magic last week, that should have been it. No second guessing, no looking back. No "pulling a Kobe." Donovan had always been interested in the NBA and now his greatest long-term goal was finally coming to fruition.

But some time over the weekend, that changed. We're not sure how this is going to play out, but we know one thing. Billy's up shit creek, seeing as right after he inked his contract with the Magic, 200 season ticket packages were sold. It seems that Billy will get a hefty fine if the Orlando Magic let him go.

And let's be honest here. The Magic have to let him go even though he inked that deal. Imagine the first day of training camp if the Magic kept him. "Hi guys, I'm your new coach, and as you probably well know, I don't want to be here."

Not exactly inspiring. But the longer term problem here for Donovan is that his one time goal of coaching in the NBA will now never be realized. I don't think he'll have any problem going back to college and recruiting. College is a very forgiving place if you won a lot there as a coach. And Florida is a marquee hoops power now. Kids will still want to come and play for Billy.

But if I'm an NBA team, regardless of how many more NCAA Championships Donovan wins, I'd never in a million years think of hiring him. He balked at a fairly decent NBA job with great pay that was close to his home after he signed a contract. He's a liability, you don't know what he'll do. And until some other news comes out, you also have to assume that Donovan was scared to make the leap and start coaching pros.

None of these things are qualities you want in an NBA coach.

We hope you enjoy college Billy, because the odds of an NBA team - including the Atlanta Hawks - ever knocking on your door again are slim to none.

-WCK