Times have been hard on New Jersey Nets fans lately, but between new mob boss owner Mikhail Prokhorov and new point guard Deron Williams, things seem to be looking up in Newark... well, until people realize that they're in Newark, that is.

Thankfully, this happy guy still hasn't realized that sorrowful fact yet, and is having a blast in the time being.

And the gif... [via @jose3030, if the image itself didn't make it obvious enough]

[The Basketball Jones]

I'm going to be starting a new feature here at D4L. Every time I play a new video game (which is almost never), I'm going to put up a comprehensive review rambling thoughts on what I think about the game. Since I have some down time over the next few days, I picked up MLB 2K11 at the last video rental store on earth.

The first thing that caught my eye when the game loaded up was the "MLB Today" feature, giving me an option to play any of today's Spring Training games. Naturally, I picked the Tigers, who were conveniently matched up against the Washington Nationals. I was slightly disappointed that the game didn't have today's pitching matchups or lineups, but I was going to start Justin Verlander anyway so this doesn't really matter. I'd assume that the game will update this for the regular season.

Click after the jump to hear more about the game...

Let's go dancing, y'all. [via Mock Session]

• First, a serious note: our thoughts and prayers go out to everyone in Japan and those affected by the earthquake and tsunami. Don from With Malice (a site you should be reading already) lives in southern Japan and has been providing updates both on his site and on Twitter.

• Speaking of best wishes, thoughts, etc., a hearty "Get Well Soon" goes out to Detroit mega-blogger Al Beaton, who is going through some health-related issues right now.

• Obviously we'll be covering this ad nauseum over the next few weeks (because you won't hear about it anywhere else...), but Randall Simon Sausages had a good initial take on the NCAA tournament bracket shortly after it was released last night.

• The biggest shot of the weekend didn't belong to UConn's Kemba Walker or Washington's Isaiah Thomas. Instead, Princeton's Douglas Davis's double-pump jumper was the difference between dancing and sitting home for both the Tigers and Harvard (who got snubbed, in my opinion).

• File this one under "things that make me laugh": Kirk Herbstreit has moved out of Columbus because Ohio State fans think he's too unbiased on air.

• Want to maximize your Gus Johnson exposure this weekend? Check out Awful Announcing for the full announcing schedule for this week's games.

• We don't get too far into sabermetrics or any advanced baseball statistics here at D4L, but Joe Posnanski has a quick explanation of some of the more popular stats being used by many sites (and even some big-time analysts). [via Bless You Boys]

• As annoying/entertaining (depending on your opinion) as he can be when announcing (un-bee-LEEEEEEEEE-vable!), this Guinness commercial makes Bill Walton look like a straight bad ass.

• I couldn't believe this when I read about it a few days ago, but Chuck Norris is 71 (!!!) now. And yes, he could still easily kick your ass.

Andrei Kirilenko proved that height isn't everything in basketball at the tail end of the Utah Jazz's 103-101 loss to the Denver Knicks Nuggets last night.

If missing that isn't enough, look how sad Kirilenko made his coach, Tyrone Corbin. Poor guy.

[Busted Coverage]

Thankfully, the only flop involved with the NBA trade deadline was this one by Chris Bosh last night.

• Ok, maybe there was a flop of a trade. The Cleveland Cavaliers inexplicably traded Mo Williams and Anthony Parker to the Clippers for Baron Davis and a 1st round pick. Seriously, when have the Clippers EVER won a trade?

• ...Or two. The Boston Celtics traded Kendrick Perkins and Nate Robinson to the Oklahoma City Thunder for Jeff Green and Nenad Krstic. Green was a former lottery pick, but this makes no sense for a team trying to ward off the likes of Dwight Howard in the East, especially when Perkins didn't want to leave.

• The Suns made a strange move as well, trading Steve Nash's Mini-Me, Goran Dragic, to the Rockets for Aaron Brooks. Dragic is arguably better than Brooks already, and the Suns lose a 1st round pick in this deal as well.

• A big thanks to The Production Line for introducing me (and the rest of you) to Doutzen Kroes, Danish super model.

• In what was arguably the biggest move of the week (counterpoint to the Melo deal, yadda yadda yadda), the Nets traded for Utah Jazz PG Deron Williams, giving up peanuts in return. Nets fans are excited, naturally.

• Let all that trade info soak in (there's still plenty more) while you check out some of the best and worst fashion trends on hand at the NBA's All-Star game last weekend.

• The Charlotte Bobcats were busy, sending Gerald Wallace and Nazr Mohammed to Portland and Oklahoma City, respectively.

• The Memphis Grizzlies tried to send OJ Mayo to the Indiana Pacers, but they couldn't get the deal done in time before the 3 pm deadline. Pacers fans aren't too upset about their misfortune, but I think Mayo would have been a good fit alongside Darren Collison and Danny Granger.

• Speaking of trades, check out this commercial that aired before a certain marquee player's debut in New York City on Wednesday evening. [video via SB Nation]

• In what seems like a forgotten deal (since it happened on Wednesday), the Atlanta Hawks traded Mike Bibby, a pick and a couple other guys to the Washington Wizards for Kirk Hinrich and Hilton Armstrong. SB Nation's Mike Prada isn't too happy on the DC end of things.

Truth be told, Kanye West's new music video might give you epilepsy.

• Our Bloguin bretheren at Blackhawks DL came up with one of the best photoshop threads I've seen in a while to illustrate just how well connected a drunk Patrick Kane can really be.


• Want to know who's going to win this spring's 2B position battle for the Tigers? Over at Designate Robertson, Rogo has a pretty good idea.


• Unfortunately, that position battle might be short-lived. Carlos Guillen "has really looked good" according to Jim Leyland. Still, I doubt he's ready by Opening Day. [via Bless You Boys]


• This is a pretty cool story: SI soccer writer Grant Wahl (who is phenomenal, by the way) is trying to run for FIFA president. Yes, things are that bad.


• Busted Coverage found 6 great reasons why you should be following SI Swimsuit model Kate Upton on Twitter.

• Scott Carefoot isn't a regular contributor over at the Basketball Jones, but if he keeps churning out work like this he definitely should be. And yes, Bissinger's piece was a complete disgrace to journalism at large.


• While this newfangled "Breakup Notifier" might sound like a good idea to your creepin' ass, you still have no shot if she doesn't tell you herself.


• Speaking of having no shot, check out Melanie Iglesias courtesy of Thunder Treats.

• As cool as it is that Charlie Sheen wants to do another Major League movie, do we know if he said this when he was snorting blow off of a hooker's ass or... well, I guess there aren't any alternatives.

Ever since Detroit mayor Dave Bing responded to a random-as-fuck question on Twitter, the publicity over a possible RoboCop statue in Detroit has skyrocketed.

Oh, and so have the donations.

Tuesday evening, organizers met their goal of raising $50,000, just six days after the whimsical campaign began.

As badass as a Robocop statue would be, I'd hate to sell out like another city that shall remain nameless and allow the biggest tourist attraction in town to become a shrine to a fictional character.

Sucks to be this guy. Hopefully your hump day is less bitchy. [via Sharapova's Thigh]

• ESPN came up with some epically bad ideas for last night's college basketball broadcasts and rightfully took a major beating for their stupidity.

• Abel to Yzerman has undergone a major facelift (well, more like an AA intervention) since The Chief has pseudo-handed the reins to George Malik. However, with posts like this debate on whether Chris Osgood's number deserves to be retired show us that A2Y is in good hands.

I saw a grand total of about 5 Nate Montana snaps this year (all against Michigan, naturally) and I came away with this viewpoint: he sucks. Now Montana has decided to transfer to... Montana.

• Sara Carbonero is a sports journalist that can interview me whenever she wants.

• I mentioned this briefly a while back, but The Production Line and Etched in Cold have been hard at work with an ugly third jersey contest. Some of the results are in and, as you'd expect, they aren't pretty.

• More Red Wings news: Brad Stuart has been cleared to play. I don't care if the Wings catch Vancouver in the standings as long as they are healthy come playoff time.

• Big Al blogs at just about every Detroit-related site you can think of, but he's moving his Knee Jerks podcast to the Sports Geek network. Congrats to both Al and his co-host Greg Eno.

• I'm still a bit uneasy about this whole Watson/Jeopardy deal (it seems a little I, Robot to me) but dude (dude?) killed it on Monday's show.

• Michigan State's NCAA tourney hopes took yet another hit with a loss at That School in Ohio (Copyright, Brady Hoke) last night.

San Diego State basketball coach Steve Fisher (yeah the dude that started the whole annoying "Michigan Man" phenomenon) needs a hankerchief. And he needs it ASAP.

Into the sleeve, Steve. Into the sleeve.

[Busted Coverage]

As you might expect, the cover of the annual SI Swimsuit issue is kind of a big deal. Within the next hour, David Letterman will "announce" Irina Shayk as the 2011 cover model (he already filmed his show this afternoon). We will see if this is actually the real cover, but it looks to be legit.

Since SI's timing isn't the greatest (you'd think they would release this magazine before Valentine's Day), check after the jump for more of an introduction to Ms. Shayk.