Ultimate Fan!

You know kids, there is such a thing as liking your team too much:

LONDON (Reuters) - A Welsh rugby fan cut off his own testicles to celebrate Wales beating England at rugby, the Daily Mirror reported Tuesday.

Geoff Huish, 26, was so convinced England would win Saturday's match he told fellow drinkers at a social club, "If Wales win I'll cut my balls off," the paper said.

Friends at the club in Caerphilly, south Wales, thought he was joking.

But after the game Huish went home, severed his testicles with a knife, and walked 200 yards back to the bar with the testicles to show the shocked drinkers what he had done.

Huish was taken to hospital where he remained in serious condition, the paper said.

Wales's 11-9 victory over England at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff was their first home win over England in 12 years.

from Yahoo!/Reuters

Stats and More

A nice article on the Sonics' website regarding how the team uses statistics to help it make player acquisition decisions, written by the always-interesting Kevin Pelton. It's pleasant to see that Seattle isn't afraid to look beyond scouting to evalute players, but that they aren't so arrogant as to antagonize scouts the way I believe the Oakland A's have done.

In other news, this comes from the Chicago Sun-Times:

"Destined Hall of Famer Gary Payton of the Boston Celtics dearly wants to be traded to his fifth team in two years, preferably to a contender on the West coast. But his best shot at a deal is Seattle, which traded him to start with, unless Minnesota can entice Danny Ainge to take Sam Cassell in exchange."

Not sure who Seattle would be trading, and I honestly think the Glove wouldn't fit with the Sonics as they are currently assembled.

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According to the NY Daily News, Phil Jackson may be headed for Seattle. As much as I admire PJ, I'll take Nate, thank you very much.

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As to the debate over whether Rashard Lewis can lead the Sonics ...

"Rashard did a great job," said associate head coach Dwane Casey, who is guiding the team while McMillan is away. "He held them together. He was their captain throughout the night. He did a great job of rallying the guys together and made sure they stayed together when things got a little frayed."

from Seattle's game against the Kings last week.

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Looks like Ray Allen will be on the cover of the PSP NBA game. Or, you can buy the bootleg version with Flip Murray on the cover. Of course, in that version Murray's pass button only works when he is triple-teamed.

Down the Road

The clock is ticking on the trade front. The Sonics have about two weeks left to decide if keeping Ray Allen or trading him for some younger - and cheaper - players is the best option. Herewith is one man's argument for trading him.

It is always difficult to trade a player, and it is no less difficult when that player is at his peak, as Allen is now. That said, Allen is at precipice in his career, from which his statistics are sure to tumble into a range that will not reflect his massive salary.

In July of this year Allen will turn 30. Judging by a scan of 8 similar players, I expect him to have one, or perhaps two, more all-star seasons before sliding into a phase of his career I like to call "The Dale Ellis Years."

Here are the eight players I found to be most similar to Allen; that is, all-star shooting guards who were the best player on their team - for a period of their careers - and consistent all-stars:

Reggie Miller, Michael Jordan, Glen Rice, Ricky Pierce, Dale Ellis, Steve Smith, Allan Houston, and Mitch Richmond.

I broke down their careers into four phases - age 20-25, 26-30, 31-35, and 36+. No surprisingly, they all started out well in the early years, averaging as a group 18 ppg. From 26-30 they came into their collective own, improving to 22 ppg.

However, at the next level the decline began, as they averaged 18 ppg, before plummeting to 11 ppg at age 36+. In fact, the numbers will be even worse in a few years as Houston and Smith finish the 31-35 grouping and introduce the even lower ppg numbers they've been posting this season.

Folks, this is where we're headed. Say what you want about Allen, but there's been only one player who was able to maintain an all-star level from age 31-35 and that's Michael Jordan, and that's only because he dropped from another galaxy into merely the superstar level. Allen is already at the superstar level, meaning his drop will be to Jeff Hornacek-type numbers.

As the Sonics ponder their decision, I suggest they think about if it will be worth it to be spending $15 million a season on a player averaging 18 ppg, or if they would be better off trading Allen now, getting some cheaper players, and acquiring someone like Michael Redd in the offseason for the same amount they'd be paying Allen.

It's worth thinking about.