We included video in this week’s podcast because we think it is important for people see what happens behind the scenes, like the fact that Jalen will record an entire pod with a baseball bat in his hands. Everyone has their thing. Now that the NFL season is over and we have sworn off football topics (sorry, Randy Moss), we took a deep dive into Jeremy Lin’s rise to stardom, J.R. Smith’s impending impact, and Carlos Boozer’s hairline.
Seriously, as you listen, remember Jalen has a baseball bat in his hands the entire time. It changes everything.
Look, video! Moving pictures and stuff. Right there, above these words. Click on it.
Jalen came through this week and we couldn’t help but talk a bunch of football after the weekend we just had. We covered his Lions losing to the Saints, Tebow Tebowing the Steelers, and New York's domination of Atlanta. We would have talked about the Bengals and the Texans, but that game was so long ago and so boring, we just decided to skip over it.
We turned our attention to the NBA a few times, including the discussion featured above, in which Jalen detailed an NBA veteran’s pregame preparation ritual. It rivals something a lady would go through on her wedding day. Who naps that much? Is there a nap room in Staples Center? Why don’t NBA players put bubbles in their bubble bath? Are they too tough for bubbles? Who is too tough for bubbles?
Oh yeah, and we both agree: Blue Ivy Carter is a silly name.
We are giving the people what they want on a new day. Moving forward, you can find The Jalen Rose Show here on Mondays. This week, we said “What holiday?” and taped a podcast today. Jalen gave his impression of the start of the NBA season, his advice to the Indianapolis Colts franchise, and his picks for the wild card NFL weekend. His weekly mind-blowing story from his playing days was also fantastic, as always.
Enjoy, and remember we will be posting the Jalen Rose pod every Monday.
“Got to give the people / Give the people what they waaaaaaaaaaaant.”
Jalen was in the studio for the pod, which means we recorded it about 100 yards from Chris Paul’s new arena. We spent a ton of time breaking down what Paul’s arrival in Los Angeles means for the Clippers, the Lakers, and NBA fans. When we moved on to discuss Dwight Howard, Jalen did that thing he does where he casually drops inside information in the middle of a conversation. According to Jalen, a couple of weeks ago, Howard was saying his move to the Nets was a done deal.
Jalen was also really entertaining and informative when we discussed the rest of the major topics in the NBA, the current issues with his Lions and the rest of the NFL, and what it feels like to be a professional athlete heading into a new season. However, Jalen had nothing when I asked him to make a bold prediction for 2012. Nobody is perfect.
Jalen joined the pod from Vegas where he is covering the Pacquiao-Marquez fight. We discuss his thoughts on the fight, what it’s like to go to a big fight in Vegas, and the surprisingly solid undercard. Jalen then discusses the current NBA lockout and reminds us that in the 1998-99 lockout, a deal wasn’t reached until mid-January and there was still a season. We then went on to hit the major (non-Penn State) topics of the day -- Michael Jordan (Jalen compares him to God), Jets-Pats (Jalen says Jets), Shaq calling out Kareem (“blasphemy”), Albert Haynesworth (no good for the Bucs), and the recovery of Shaun Bradley’s bicycle (Jalen tells the tale of Webber dunking on Bradley in high school) and much more.
My favorite part of the pod was when Jalen tried to defend his draft day suit. As you can see above, it is a horrendous, red, double-breasted, pinstripe number that even Bishop Don Magic Juan couldn’t pull off. Check back every Friday for more of Jalen Rose, and throughout the week for new Grantland Network podcasts.
