Who Wants to .... MUTUMBO!!!

Well apparently I have..SNAKEBIT, again no pun intended, the Houston Rockets, one day after I post about the Rockets being a team to be reckoned with in the Western Conference... this happens. I officially put a hex on the Houston Rockets and I am ashamed. I also, just last week bought a Rockets Shooting Shirt since I had very little Rockets gear with the new logo. So for all my fellow Rockets fans, my bad.

By the way Yao being out does theoretically mean more minutes for the 2000's NBA version of Robert Parrish who happens to be Dikembe Mutombo Mpolondo Mukamba Jean-Jacques Wamutombo...Or just Dikembe. I have always been a fan of his finger wag and who could forget this memorable photo when the Nuggets became the first 8 seed to win a playoff series

Ok so after Tuesday's win over Fort Wayne we know that RGV is officially better than both the Iowa Energy and now the Mad Ants. I seem to believe we are a middle of the pack team. I think we are also better than Bakersfield, Anaheim as well. The team has definitely improved since the 10 game losing skid. Tremendously. We have had wins over LA and Albuquerque, now if we can just get over this stigma of playing Colorado and beat them I think we can make a nice respectable run to a 20+ win season.

We have a lot of time off before our next game against the 14ers..because the Dodge has been taken over by this great event which I will be partaking in this weekend.

Also... My next blog will be on Expansion of the D-League and the state of minor league basketball stay tuned.

Stuck in Harlingen.. For Now

After a weekend of being away from the team. Yes, it has been killing me being away from the team. I am trying to rejoin the squad for their final game of the four game road swing in Broomfield, Colorado. Only problem is there is some sort of fog/visibility issue in Houston of all places. Honestly, has anyone ever heard of weather delays in Texas? That's like a baseball game being called off for rain in the Sahara. So although I am still scheduled to make it to Colorado with plenty of time, there are still no flights going in or out of Houston. Meaning all connections will be severely delayed as well

Luckily my cousin Michelle is a Southwest Airlines gate agent and can re-route me if need be. I am still waiting on an update. We will see if I have to find yet another pinch-hit broadcaster in Colorado.

Let's do a quick re-cap. RGV split their two games in the ABQ accomplishing a couple of things with the win Saturday. They broke a 15 game losing streak within the Southwest Division and earned their first win over Albuquerque this season. This leaves Utah and Colorado as the only teams RGV has yet to defeat this season. They will have another chance with the 14ers tonight, and my money is on the Vipers as they have played very well against them lately and.. the 14ers are without these guys... they are in Cleveland.

I will give an update later...for now I will be forced to surf the net to deviate from my boredom


PS. The Rockets are playing tremendous basketball. I know the RGV is technically Spurs country, but give Yao, T-Mac and the boys some props on their winning streak. Besides the Rockets are our local affiliate.

You Know What Really Grinds My Gears....(Airports and People at Them)

In tribute to Peter Griffin I have decided to post a semi-regular entry on "In The Key" on things that really irk me or tick me off and I am affectionately referring to it as "You Know What Really Grinds My Gears".

Obviously traveling is part of the routine when you are a professional broadcaster. I have ridden in buses for 15 and 16 hour trips when I was doing baseball. I have been in a ton of airports and in airplane after airplane. I have gotten pretty good at this traveling thing. My frequent flier miles prove it. Here is the problem, there are way to many morons who are flying nowadays and they make traveling in airports and airplanes unbearable. People act like they have never flown before. Maybe some of them haven't. That is no excuse.. LEARN. You are pissing frequent travelers like me off.
First off... When they are boarding an aircraft.. listen to the gate agent... when she says rows 20 and higher... she doesn't mean row 19. Row 5... She means rows 20 and higher... But idiots still get in line to get on the plane and clog the process because they put their oversized carry-on in the overhead bin in Row 7... while my ticket which has me in the back of the plane has me waiting behind this dude when he shouldn't even be boarding the plane yet.

Secondly, learn how to get through security. Ever since 9/11 there is a pretty extensive security process now. It is for your safety and mine. But, there is still a way to expedite the process. YES EVEN YOU HAVE TO TAKE YOUR SHOES OFF!!! AND YOUR COAT. You are already in line get your laptop out already. Why wait and hold up the line! No a bottle of water is not allowed anymore. LIQUIDS... FOR THE LOVE OF GOD PUT THEM IN YOUR CHECKED LUGGAGE!! The secuirty process is long enough. Read These Before you ever get on a plane PLEASE!!

Also, the moving walkway is wide for a reason, if you are going to be lazy stand to the right, the left side is for people to walk to move along the long corridors faster! Move out of the way!! I know you want to talk to your friend about the awesome new shoes you bought...DO IT STANDING ON THE SAME SIDE OF THE WALKWAY/ESCALATOR!!

That is all....

On the Road again...

The boys left this morning for Denver and I am still here. Why? Well for those of you who don't know I am still taking classes at Texas-Pan American and I have a big exam to get ready for. Hopefully I do better than this kid did. The owners felt it was also better for me to go up the day of the game. Hey I am not complaining. I get to take my exam... um yay? But, I also get those extra frequent flier miles on Continental. Gotta love it. I also will not be calling the games in ABQ this weekend. and yes I refer to it as ABQ because I can never spell Albuquerque correctly. I will be announcing this boxing event on Friday so I will re-join the team back in Colorado for the Monday game the following week.

ABQ is a beautiful town though so I am gonna miss the travels. Coach Hoffman found a broadcaster he knew during his travels that will be filling in. I am sure the RGV will be glad to hear a different voice for a change.

I have to say I didn't get to see any of the NBA All-Star game. For one we had a game and after all my post-game duties were finished I wasn't about to follow a meaningless game that was already in progress. So I joined my former Sportsline producer Danny "The Danny" Castillon at a local watering hole... Hey I am not gonna say who... no free advertising on In The Key... I joined Danny to watch this WWE PPV. Yes I know its fake..But whatever its entertaining.

Vipers Versus Los Angeles Pre-Game

The D-League gets officially jipped during NBA All-Star Weekend. But hopefully that will be to the benefit of the Vipers today versus Los Angeles. Lets see, as the NBA prepares for its mid-season classic the D-League has three games on the slate. Although this one got postponed

Wait. Aren't we supposed to be using the D-League to promote the NBA in non-NBA markets? Shouldn't we want the D-League fans to be turning on TNT tonight at watching the All-Star game? Seems a little counterproductive to me.

Well I said that I thought there were three elite teams in this league earlier. Well the D-Fenders are one of them. It is hard to believe sometime that they play in, for the most part an EMPTY building since they play before the Lakers at STAPLES Center. Being close to the Lakers has helped the D-Fenders that is for sure. They run the triangle offense which of course is run by Phil Jackson and the Lakers, so if any of these guys get called up, they can fit right in with the Lakers.

Speaking of which, the Lakers have sent a player back down to the D-Fenders for further development. Coby Karl, the cancer survivor and son of Denver Nuggets head coach George Karl. He is a good scorer who tends to be on the flashy side, sometimes a little too much. Solid player but definitely needs some time in the D-League before he can contribute on an NBA roster.

Should be a tough test for the boys tonight, but if they have a defensive effort like they had against Iowa and can keep it close, they deffiniltye have a chance to steal one tonight at home. Lets also hope Jelani McCoy and Sean Banks are a little road weary from their All-Star travels.

We'll see what happens.

Notes:
I have added Brian Sandalow's Killer Bee blog to my blog roll since apparently his feelings were hurt that it wasn't on their initially. He has denied this, but several FOBs have confirmed his displeasure with my not having him on the initial roll. So you can check out the Sandman on the right hand side.

OH HOW SWEET IT IS!!

Well it finally came. the nasty 10-game winning streak is over. I have to say it has been a long time coming. The guys certainly have earned wins a long time ago, but for some odd reason the scoreboard always seemed to favor the Vipers opponents. However, one win is fine and dandy like sour candy. But, it is still just one win. The Vipers have to build on this. I am reminded by Lou Brown's speech in Major League. "We won yesterday, if we win today that's 2 in a row, we win tomorrow that's called a winning streak. It has happened before!" I know we can turn this thing around and make it interesting. It will be a tough road to climb. But, the Vipers play a ton of games within the division and still a ton left at Dodge Arena. They may need to play .850 basketball the rest of the way. Stranger things have happened. It should be a fun ride.

The Indians of course made the playoffs and movie baseball history was made. I think there are 3 elite teams in this league (Los Angeles, Idaho, and Austin). Everyone else I think is a beatable team for the Vipers, but as we saw in the game on February 8th, the Vipers can match Austin hoop for hoop at times to. So going on a streak like Idaho went on, may be unlikely, but certainly very possible. I believe in these guys. I always chat with Quannas White, he is kind of my buddy on the team. We'll eat lunch together or what have you on the road. Anyways, he is a true floor general and although he doesn't light up the stat sheet, he makes his presence felt. He is an extension of Bob Hoffman on the court. Bob and Q have a great relationship, you can tell just by watching them in game situations. There is a reason Quannas has been MVP of minor league clubs in the past. He will be one of the big reasons this thing gets turned around.

By the way I have to say that FOB, Todd Mavreles our Vipers beat writer, who like me has covered every single pro sports team, is the ultimate flirt. I don't remember the exact quote from last night, or who it was directed towards. But, Todd "The Todd" Mavreles" is a ladies man.. so girls.. watch out.

Well we have reached the All-Star Break.. If you want to call it that. We have games bookending the break. We aren't sending anyone, which sucks in a way. But lets face it none of our starters were full time starters all season so it would have been tough for any of them to beat out any of the deserving guys that made it and CJ... although selected is an NBA guy now.. he isn't going to the game. So our guys actually get some much needed rest, unlike LA who has two of their best players competing in the game and having to fly in from New Orleans early Sunday to join them here in the Valley for their 5:00 pm game with us. Advantage RGV I think??

If you have a chance check out the D-League Dream Factory.. which is the D-League version of All-Star Saturday. It is all tonight the details are on the link above. It will stream live on D-League.com at 9 pm ET. The D-League All-Star Game will also stream live and be aired on NBA-TV at 3pm ET.

More posts this weekend guys...

Waiting impatiently....

People always ask me what I do when the team isn't playing and I am not preparing for a game. Well the answer to that question has always been different. When I was working in baseball I would say, well we play everyday for the most part so our off days I am usually catching up on sleep. When I was calling Texas-Pan American hoops I was usually travelling on those off days. (They try to make sure the guys and myself included, were going to class as much as possible) or I was working a desk job. So this is really the first unique situation where I have so much time in-between games. Frankly its never racking. But I don't nervously

I won't work on my notes until the day of the game. The stats won't be right unless I do. So I spend a lot of my time catching up on what is going on in RGV and College and Pro sports. I check out this site daily because I like to catch up what is going on with new baseball parks and sports arenas being built. But to be honest with you during this off-time in between games I am trying to catch up with local and pro sports that aren't the D-league. One of the things that happens to you is you get so engulffed in the team you are covering, you neglect all other sports around you.

No joke I was at the Taco Ole in Edinburg a few days ago paying at the register for my fine mexican dining. When a lady stopped me and said, "Hey you are one of the guys from Action 4 Sports X-tra aren't you." (One of my many side gigs because I am the RGVs media hog). I said yes ma'am, Alex Del Barrio nice to meet you. She brought up some high school football rumor she had heard from Rio Grande City and I had no idea what she was talking about. I obviously had not been abreast of this situation regarding the RGC football program or anything RGV sports other than the Vipers. A 16 of 18 stretch on the road will do that to you.

Even though our FOB (Friend of the Blog) Todd Mavreles beat me to the punch. Did anyone see former Viper forward Steve Novak knock down the game winner versus Sacramento on Wednesday. If not here is the You Tube of it....God Bless the internet.



While we are on a You Tube rush... I felt the need to include this McDonalds commercial for a hockey stick promotion. funny stuff


More after the game...Vipers taking on the Iowa Energy on Valentines Day

These are the ones hurt

In case you think that the travelling broadcaster does not have a rooting interest in the team he is employed by, think again. They hurt. In fact I would argue that a radio play-by-play man hurts the worst (emotionally) after a loss (other than the obvious coaches and players). I would love to tell you that I could care less who wins, and that calling the game is all that matters. This is not the case. I love what I do, and I love the teams I call games for. I am on the edge of my seat in the final moments of every close game and I hurt just like any big fan would hurt. I have had the opportunity to call games for some pretty good teams, and some pretty bad ones. But, I don't think I have ever been a part of a team that has had so many things go wrong for them in a sudden tail spin. I try to call the games down the line. I will say when we got hosed, and I will also say when I think we caught a break from these guys. I do have some journalistic integrity, but I also know who signs my pay-checks. It is all about playing that balance.

This team has too much talent to not get out of this. I spoke with Vipers assistant Brian Walsh in the post-game show yesterday after the game versus Colorado. We talked about how once this team finishes out a game, this whole thing will turn around. This team is getting leads against good teams, but putting the finishing touches on it is what is lacking right now. Things are going to get better, they already have been, but this team needs and deserves a win... bad.

So going back to the amount of emotion I put into my job. I threw my headset at one point during the overtime period during a time-out. Now the right-ear piece is no longer audible. I do have a history of this. So for those that think I dont care. I am violent with $400 headsets upset at losses.

By the way, I think I may have gotten in trouble with Jesse Smith's girl friend after I mentioned in Friday night's broadcast that Smith bore a striking resemblance to this WWE Legend. Trent Strickland agrees with me, Smith doesn't. Although he did say ,"Well if you guys think so, The Undertaker is awesome." So problem solved I guess. Comment and let me know what you think of our Viper center's resemblance to the phenom.

That's it for now. If you have questions feel free to send them to vipersradio@gmail.com. I will be happy to include them on the blog and maybe have a mail bag section every month.

-ADB

The Inagural Voyage

Seeing as everyone else in the world of sports, especially all the relevant sports media folks in the valley, are partaking in this new internet fad of blogging. I figured it was about time that I joined this fraternity of the blog. Afterall I am ADB and I have felt the need to be involved with just about every professional sports franchsie in the Valley. Furthermore since I am the radio play-by-play voice of the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, the newest team in the RGV and I travel with the guys I feel I can give the Viper fans all the inside info they would enjoy to read about, and get to read about all the trials and tribulations of being on the road. I have to say I was inspired by Mr. Todd Mavreles who also coined the name of the blog. He has his own Viper blog so make sure you peek in.

Well I would like to say things have been going well in Viper land, but they haven't. The team has dropped nine in a row and it seems likes the hurdle is getting harder and harder to climb over. We have been snakebitten this year (no pun intended). Twenty different players have worn Vipers uniforms. Lets re-cap and count like this guy. The Vipers have had two season ending injuries (Kevin Bookout, Chris Taft), three players leave for greener pastures overseas (Jarred Merrill, Gabe Muoneke, Kenny Taylor), one Gatorade Call-Up (CJ Watson), and four players assigned by NBA teams that have come and gone, (Steve Novak, Aaron Brooks, Cedric Simmons, Shannon Brown). AH AH AH. Sorry I was a big fan of The Count.

Anyways back to the basketball. Anytime you go through roster changes like this it is going to hurt. I was talking to Killer Bees broadcaster Rich Bocchini (here is his blog)about this and he was reminded when the Boston Red Sox had virtually depleted their farm system through trades to help the big league roster throughout the 90's thus rendering the Triple-A PawSox with an overabbundance of players who either weren't ready for Triple-A or had to take time to get acclimated to their surroundings. Thus the team suffered in the win-loss column while several of the top Red Sox farm hands were blossoming elsewhere. Not the same situation exaclty here but when you lose leading scorer after leading scorer your record is going to suffer. The Vipers have done what is asked of the D-League. DEVELOP. The Vipers have the first Gatorade Call-Up to sign a contract for the remainder of the season in Watson, while sending three players to bigger and better deals elsewhere. I have no doubt that if even one of those scorers was still here the Vipers would not be at the bottom of the SW Division.

Tonight is a big one versus Colorado. The Vipers trail the 14ers by 7 games for the final playoff spot. If the team is going to drive towards the post-season it has to happen tonight. By the way I know what you are thinking.."ADB, What the heck is a 14er?" Great you should ask luckily wikipedia has that answer for us. I think this is a winable game for the guys. It is at home and we played the 14ers tough the last few times out. This is the night... I can feel it. I wont guarnetee it, but I will say we are due for a good game and a win.

Stay tuned to the blog. It should be fun.