DO IT, DAN. Do it for Mother Poland. Make us all proud.

A story appearing in the Przeglad Sportowy Daily News alerted Polish basketball officials to Dan Dickau’s Polish heritage. Apparently, Dickau has great-great grandparents of Polish heritage, and that’s enough for Team Poland. It’s enough for me, too. If Dickau were able to lead Mother Poland to an Olympic medal, he could be called the best Polish athlete since Ivan Putski.

By the way, Dickau’s playing very well in New Orleans, all but making an unhappy Baron Davis expendable. Baron wants out anyway, and it’s pretty clear that Byron Scott has no use for him. According to Peter Vecsey, he’s as good as gone. I think it’s the right move… he’s been hurt, he’s unhappy, he’s probably not going to play his heart out in New Orleans, so… move him for something quality. Especially if you’ve got Polish Power backing him up.

He’s too young for this, man. 43 years old… Sad thing.

When I think about watching football as a kid, Reggie was one of the guys who stood out. I tend to gravitate towards athletes who are somewhat different… and you don’t see 250-pound black punters dressed in teal every day.

His kicking ability stood out, too. He was a damn fine punter. Perhaps the best ever. He spent 16 years in the NFL, averaging 43.3 per punt. He made three Pro Bowls.

Rest in peace, Reggie.

Oh, man. I know NBA players have some ridiculous rides, but… this is some crazy stuff. And this is the Sonics, it’s not even the Lakers, or a team with a bunch of flashy guys. Some interesting factoids…

– Jerome James is so intent on showing off his sound system that he plays “Cars With the Boom” by L-Trimm.

– I used to own that tape. No, I’m not proud of it.

– Jerome owns seven cars, including this silver H2, and this Sky Blue Escalade.

– Robert Swift spent $13,000… on his sound system alone.

– Rashard Lewis has “Sweet Lew” sent into his headrests on some Louis Vuitton material.

– Rashard also spent $3,500 on new material for his seats after mechanics left some oil stains on there.

– Luke Ridnour does not own a car.

– Sedale Threatt used to sleep in Gary Payton’s car.

I know it seems like I’m firmly affixed to J.J. Redick’s jock, but… hey, we all have our favorites. And I think it takes balls for someone as publicly scrutinized as J.J. Redick to make his poetry public. That’s just not something most people would do.

As it is, he takes so much abuse. No one has been as universally hated since Laettner/Hurley. And by opening up his poetry by having it appear on SI.com, or reading it on ESPN, he’s setting himself up for even more public abuse. And he doesn’t seem to care. That takes a lot of courage and self-condifence… which are probably two of the reasons that people hate him so much to begin with.

I’m not criticizing fans for hating him. It’s college basketball, he’s a talented white kid at Duke… that’s going to happen. He pretty much signed up for it. And I myself am very very guilty of saying terrible things about players and their mothers’ sexual histories, for no good reason. But I think he’s an alright guy, and I root for him to do well.