Sunday smorgasbord: For all those out there in cyberspace who think the NBA pulls the strings to make certin that certain matchups will occur in the NBA Finals, would an Indiana Pacers-Memphis Grizzlies matchup convince you otherwise?
* Chicago Bulls center Nazr Mohammed does not deserve being suspended for pushing Miami Heat superstar LeBron James in Game 3 of their Eastern Conference semifinal Friday. Just ask anyone affiliated with the Bulls. Or ask Bulls fans. Now ask yourself, if the fellow pushing the superstar was a member of the Detroit Pistons’ “Bad Boys” of yesteryear and the other player involved was Michael Jordan, how would you feel? Imagine if the sneaker was on the other foot — or something like that.
* In fairness to Mohammed, in addition to being the league’s MVP, there are those who believe King James might be able to add to his trophy collection for hi acting ability — on the court rather than any television work.
* Speaking of the Bulls and centers, Joakim Noah is the NBA’s postseason leader in double-doubles with six. Boston’s Kevin Garnett had five in six games before the Celtics were eliminated. Bulls forward is tied for third with four. Miami’s leader is Chris Bosh with two. James has one.
* Among postseason performers with 20 or more field-goal attempts, Miami Chris Andersen leads in two-point shooting percentage at .783 (18-of-23). And you probably thought all he was good for was fouling people.
* Cincinnati Reds first baseman Joey Votto leads the National League in walks with 32. Or three more than the Cubs leaders — infielder Luis Valbuena (16) and first baseman Anthony Rizzo (13) — have combined.
* Detroit Tiger first baseman Prince Fielder leads the American League in walks with 26. Or, as many as the White Sox leaders — designated hitter/first baseman Adam Dunn (13) and right fielder Alex Rios (13) have combined.
* Cubs catcher Welington Castillo has one walk in 104 at-bats. Which is horrible. There will be a pause in the action to find a thesaurus to come up with a sufficient adjective to describe White Sox infielder Jeff Keppinger’s walk total for 119 at-bats. He has zero this season. So that’s what they mean by a guy who makes contact? Uh, no.
* And lest we forget, a Happy Mother’s Day to anyone who fits that description. Let the record show that some of my favorite people are mothers. Or at least have mothers. Or had mothers. Or something like that.
For those who might have missed the link to Maxim’s Hot 100 list in Saturday’s effort here, you can access it here.
To find Hoda Kotb on the list was something of a shock. Nothing against the “Today” show personality, but she doesn’t exactly fit the profile of most of the others on the list — as far as age is concerned. Hoda was ranked No. 79.
Even more surprising that Hoda being on the list is the 2012 No. 1 Hottie — Bar Refaeli — not being on the list at all.
Somebody needs to look into how some bodies are chose and others are not. It’s as if Anna Kournikova (long a favorite around here and formerly in the Chicago Sun-Times where I toiled as the paper’s Quick Hits sports columnist) has disappeared from the planet.
Or at least from Maxim’s radar.
In terms of a sports presence, UFC Octagon Girl Arianny Celeste is on the list. She is No. 18 and certainly deserving.
Here is where to go for a daily dose of non-gratuitous video — thanks to the video and editorial departments at elliottharris.com (and their very broad definition of “gratuitous):
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