CLARK THOUGHTS, BEST SCORER, DIRTBAG ARTISTS

We were just sitting around waiting for Obama to pay our mortgage and melt the ice on our driveway, so we had some time to come up with a few observations about 1,000-point scorers, the secret workout that has given nine players on one local high school the ability to dunk, who’s really going to win the Clark Tournament and some of the dumbest words in the English language. Plus, when you hit the “click here” link, 50 percent of you absolutely, 100 percent are guaranteed to be insulted. So, click here to read more.


First off, the best basketball player in the state is neither in CMass nor that basketball hotbed that often gets confused with Rucker Park, EMass. She is in Western Mass. Bilqis Abdul-Qaadir of New Leadership in Springfield is the new all-time state scoring leader. The Girl From Springfield surpassed the former record holder, the lovely and talented Becky Lobo last week. By the time she’s done, the Girl From Springfield, headed to Memphis on a full ride, will eclipse the 3,000-point mark and unless the next Michael Beasley transfers to Maynard as an eighth-grader, it probably won’t happen again. Here’s some quick math to put that into perspective. Let’s take a very good CMass sophomore, say Richard Rogers from SJ. He’ll play right around 20 games per year for three years. That means in those 60 or so contests, he’d have to toss up 50 per to get near 3,000. Good job by the Girl From Springfield.

We’ve been on a mission to figure out who’s for real in D2 boys, who will compete in the Clark and in the playoffs and we still can’t figure it out. We tried comparing two leagues, the Mid-Wach C and the SWCL. Seems about even, but, for what it’s worth – and admittedly, it’s not much, we give the slight edge to the MWC. It could be argued that that league’s best player is Lunenburg’s DJ Guillette, who we witnessed shred Clinton Friday night. The junior is the real deal on offense: Slashes to the rack, finishes strong, has a nice touch from the outside and hits his free throws. We have a hunch Lunenburg will at some point in March pull of an “upset,” not only because they have a go-to scorer, but also because they have reliable guard play and the personnel to simply outrun teams.

Take a small break and just read this short paragraph. A word that should make you angry is “artisan.” A really contrived synonym for artist, people who describe themselves as an “artisan” are people who spend their time working on making necklaces out of recycled cans and “waiting to be discovered.” The older folks know exactly what we mean and you younger kids will hate them just as much when you have to pay taxes.

Here’s the insult we promised. Everyone who weighed in our WWE-like manufactured debate about LeBron versus five local high school players and said LeBron would win is just a silly goose.

Finally, it’s been called to our attention that just about every player on the Mohawk Regional basketball team can dunk. We obtained secret footage of the workout that made it possible. Check it out.

Stay gold.