Names have been changed to protect the AIM screennames of those involved.

[22:30] yellow fever: so
[22:30] yellow fever: guess who’s online
[22:30] yellow fever: AT BILLS CAMP
[22:31] yellow fever: dude
[22:31] yellow fever: one of us has to try and IM him
[22:31] yellow fever: if nothing else, it’ll make for a hell of a post
[22:31] TwistNHook: OH SHIT
[22:31] TwistNHook: NOT ME
[22:31] TwistNHook: NOT ME
[22:31] TwistNHook: TOO SCARED!
[22:31] yellow fever: a one sided conversation with marshawn
[22:31] yellow fever: DO IT
[22:31] TwistNHook: did you try?
[22:31] yellow fever: no
[22:31] yellow fever: i’m scared too
[22:31] yellow fever: haha
[22:31] yellow fever: but you like talking to random people
[22:31] yellow fever: DO IT
[22:31] yellow fever: you’re the blogfather
[22:31] yellow fever: DO IT MAN
[22:31] yellow fever: DO IT
[22:32] TwistNHook: hahahaahahaha
[22:32] TwistNHook: IM EMOTIONALLY EMPTY INSIDE
[22:32] yellow fever: DO
[22:32] yellow fever: IT
[22:32] TwistNHook: remember
[22:32] yellow fever: NOW
[22:32] yellow fever: DO
[22:32] yellow fever: IT
[22:32] yellow fever: NOW
[22:32] TwistNHook: YOU DO IT
[22:32] yellow fever: DO IT
[22:32] TwistNHook: ELIZABETH ISS AYING I NEED TO CLEAN UP
[22:32] yellow fever: YOU BITCH
[22:32] yellow fever: MARSHAWN IS MORE IMPORTANT
[22:32] TwistNHook: YOU DO IT
[22:32] yellow fever: YOU DO IT
[22:33] yellow fever: NOW
[22:33] yellow fever: AHHHHHHHHHHHHH
[22:33] TwistNHook: I see this covnersation going nowhere
[22:34] yellow fever: MARSHAWN
[22:34] TwistNHook: I dont think Id do it
[22:35] yellow fever: ok
[22:35] yellow fever: i’m doing
[22:35] yellow fever: it
[22:35] yellow fever: time to take down the away message
[22:35] TwistNHook: omsomsomsomsoms
[22:36] TwistNHook: omsomsomsoms
[22:36] yellow fever: omsomsomsomsoms
[22:36] yellow fever: i just typed "marshawn?"
[22:36] yellow fever: i expect to get blocked
[22:36] yellow fever: although it hasn’t happened yet
[22:36] yellow fever: this is going to be one hell of a post
[22:36] yellow fever: haha
[22:37] TwistNHook: just say how awesome he is or something
[22:37] TwistNHook: dont ask him if hes there
[22:37] TwistNHook: just wish him great luck!!!

Meanwhile…

[22:36] yellow fever: marshawn?
[22:37] yellow fever: just wanted to say i’m a huge fan of yours and i hope you do well with the bills this year

And then…

[22:37] yellow fever: done
[22:38] TwistNHook: did he say anything???
[22:38] yellow fever: no
[22:38] yellow fever: :’-(

But…

[22:38] MARSHAWWWWWWWWWWWWN: Thanks

AHHHHHHH

[22:38] yellow fever: OMGOMGOMGOMG
[22:38] TwistNHook: :-(:-(:-(:-(:-(:-(
[22:38] yellow fever: [22:38] MARSHAWWWWWWWWWWWWN: Thanks
[22:38] yellow fever: YOUR TURN
[22:38] yellow fever: AHHHHHHHHHHH
[22:39] yellow fever: that’s my away message
[22:39] yellow fever: FOREVER
[22:39] yellow fever: FOREVER
[22:40] TwistNHook: HOLY SIHT
[22:40] TwistNHook: HOLY HIT
[22:40] TwistNHook: HOLY SHIT
[22:40] TwistNHook: HOLY SHIT
[22:40] TwistNHook: HOLY SHIT
[22:40] TwistNHook: HOLY SIHT
[22:40] TwistNHook: dude
[22:40] TwistNHook: DUDE
[22:40] TwistNHook: POST PSOT POST POST POST POST POST POST POST

Look, I’ll be the first to admit I don’t know much about Track & Field, and outside of the Olympics, these athletes don’t get much coverage, but when Cal produces a National Champion, we gotta show ‘em some respect.

This past weekend, at the NCAA Outdoor Championships, two women bested all comers to take a national title home.  On Friday, Kelechi Anyanwu threw a discus an incredible 188′ 11", breaking her own school record.  Do you have any idea how far that is?  Freaking ridiculously amazingly far, that’s how.  Those things are heavy.  If you find yourself insufficiently awed, go try and throw a discus yourself, then report back here.

Kelechi Anyanwu can throw things much further than you.  She can probably throw you pretty far, too.

Then, on Saturday, Alysia Johnson ran a crazy-fast sub-2:00 800-meters.  That’s almost half a mile.  In less than two minutes.  Seriously?  Seriously.  It’s the second-fastest time in NCAA history, and the third fastest time in the US all year, college or otherwise.  It’s also her second title of the year, as she already had won the 800-meters in the indoor championships earlier this season.

Might you be soon seeing Alysia Johnson at the 2008 Olympics?

Buoyed by these two crowns, the Bears finished 8th place overall, the program’s highest finish ever.  Honestly, I don’t have much in the way of analysis here.  I just thought I’d bring this to everyone’s attention and let you be amazed and proud of our Cal Women.  Go Bears!

Our intrepid NBA-eligible center made a stop yesterday in Tarrytown, New York for a joint workout between my Nets and the Knicks.  DeVon Hardin was asked about a number of things, including the possibility of playing on the same team as Jason Kidd.

Coming from the University of California-Berkeley, Junior DeVon Hardin knows all about the legend of Nets point guard and former Golden Bear Jason Kidd.

“He’s a legend from Cal,” said the 6’11’, 235 pound forward/center. “Highest draft pick from Cal, probably the most successful player. Definitely recognized.”

As for Cal-Berkeley’s Hardin, on the potential for a union with a Golden Bear great, “I wouldn’t mind playing with Jason Kidd; that would be pretty fine.”

And as far as Hardin’s own potential draft stock, what Nets GM Ed Stefanski said about him are pretty much the same things that have been said around the horn.

Projected as a guy whose natural athletic gifts have him fighting for a first round pick, Hardin is a player – and he admits it himself – who will need work on the offensive end, particularly with his footwork, shooting, and post moves, to thrive at the NBA level.

“I’d say he is a player that has an upside to him,” said Nets General Manager Ed Stefanski today.

“Is he ready to go into an NBA game right now? I think he needs work. But he’s 6’10”, 6’11” plus who can jump and block a shot. So, he has definite NBA qualities.”

A team looking to draft him would be bringing in a player, according to Hardin, “that’s willing to improve over the years.”

As for what he could bring a team right away?

“As this very moment I would just bring passion. Bring a guy who is going to leave everything on the court, 150%. I’m going to try to block a couple of shots, grab a couple boards, and throw down some impressive dunks. That’s what I do best.”

I was unable to find any comments from any Knicks representatives at the workout (maybe there really weren’t any?  Insert your own joke about Isiah Thomas here), but it would seem that both the Nets and Knicks could use the type of player that Hardin could become.  However, the fact that Hardin is projected to go in the late stages of the first round makes me leery.  The problem with taking any big man late in or after the lottery is that they rarely pan out - there’s an old adage that says that if they really were both big and good, they wouldn’t have lasted nearly that long.  Probably the most notable big man mid-late first round draft pick to have succeeded and thrived is Jermaine O’Neal, and I’d venture to guess that the only reason he lasted that long at all is because NBA teams were still wary of drafting players straight out of high school at the time.

None of this is to say that DeVon has no chance of being a solid player, just that he certainly has a ways to go.  The Nets’ second first round pick last year, Josh Boone, had many of the same knocks about him coming out of school, as a defensively-minded big man who needed a great deal of work on the offensive end, although he lacks some of DeVon’s athleticism.  Boone developed into a useful contributor off the bench by the end of the year, so maybe that’s the best case scenario for Hardin in a year.  Still, it would seem that DeVon would be better served spending another year in college developing a more rounded offensive repertoire to go with his outstanding natural physical abilities.