Adena Andrews.com

The NBA and its Beats By Dre love affair

By Adena Andrews, for SLAMOnline

From Jay Z sitting courtside giving Knicks and Nets high fives, to Biggie chilling up in the spot with one of the 6-5 Knicks, to Shaq and the Fu-Schnickens, hip hop and the NBA have had an inexplicable connection. Whether David Stern likes it or not.

So it’s no surprise that when hip-hop royalty Dr. Dre comes out with his own brand of headphones they become every NBA player’s new favorite toy. Each night players disembark the team bus looking like a Beats By Dre army with the oversized, sleek musical earmuffs around their dome. You can even catch Krypo-Nate Robinson entering TD Garden with a customized glow in the dark Kryptonite green pair (which conveniently match his uniform color now). Al Horford of the Atlanta Hawks purchased pairs of the Studio Beats By Dre for the entire team in Hawks’ colors inscribed with the phrase “Gracias, El Jefe” meaning “Thank You, The Boss” to celebrate his first All-Star appearance. It’s safe to say that, NBA Players have a love affair with the Beats By Dre experience.

“My agent contacted me about doing it for the guys and I thought it would be a great idea,” Horford said.

“I wanted a pair since I was just using the white Apple ear buds before,” said Horford’s teammate Zaza Pachulia, “So when I saw the gift box I knew they were headphones and I was happy. But when I saw the Hawks colors and the message he left I had to call him and thank him again.”

Pachuila likes to listen to House and Georgian rap music on his Beats. Perhaps he jams to his own track where he spits a hot eight bars?

But Beats aren’t the newest toy of the NBA just because The Doctor is behind them. They are actually pretty functional.

“They really are just that much better,” Jamal Crawford said. “I had other pairs of headphones but there is no comparison to these. Lil Wayne’s A Milli is the best to listen to. You can hear every little beat.”

“I like to wear them when we just get into a city,” said Josh Smith. “And they help me go to sleep on the plane when we are arriving somewhere like one in the morning”

Caron Butler of the Dallas Mavericks likes to rock his Beats in his Man Den in the basement at home and bump The Chronic (he is still waiting for that Detox). You can catch his teammate Jason Terry wearing them while stretching before games just to block out the noise and focus.

Studio Beats By Dre are made to cancel outside sound while amplifying the rich bass and treble that exists in hip hop music. For you non hip-hopers, that is the BOOM that makes your booty go thump, keeps the party going and most importantly gets the world’s best ballers ready to hit the hardwood. Dr. Dre has worked with this sound his entire career and knew the boom is what other noise canceling headphones on the market were missing. Still can’t imagine the awesomeness that is Beats By Dre? Imagine Radio Rahiem’s boom box then holding two of them up to your ears. That is the bombastic-ness that is Beats By Dre. For a mere $300, you too can block out the entire world with a pair of these subwoofers on your ear.

The NBA, Beats by Dre connection began with the 2008 USA Olympic basketball team. Monster Cable, the company that produces Beats, thought it would be great for players to try the headphones out on their travels. Word of the Beats By Dre experience spread like Nicki Minaj’s thighs, and in a few seasons players across the league were wearing them. Monster Cable does solicit their products to players, but most purchase their own pair. Monster has connections with the NFL and NHL but their real bread and butter lies in hoops. Currently, they are working on projects that will further connect the NBA brand and Beats By Dre. When talking to a product-marketing specialist at Monster Cable she was extremely secretive about the next step between Monster and the league. Maybe team logos on headphones? Player endorsements? Beats By ‘Bron? Hey, anything is possible.

Beats come in a standard black and white and are sold at Best Buy, Apple stores and those crazy, little kiosks in the airport. Want a cool purple and gold pair like Kobe? Or maybe you want your Beats to match your newest Coogi sweater? First bury yourself for still wearing Coogi, but if you want to spice up your beats, ColorWare is the group to go with. You can send your pair in to be customized or they can just get a brand new pair for you. From cotton candy pink, to the color way of your favorite NBA team ColorWare has got you covered.

I own a pair of Studio Beats by Dre and had a pair of BOSE headphones before that. I quickly tossed the BOSE headphones to my mom and began to rock my Beats. I may rock them a little too much. Sometimes I prefer to wear them around the house instead of listening to my stereo. With Beats you hear sounds you’ve never experienced. I listened to the Blueprint 3 and heard reverbs and beats I never knew existed. I was so caught off guard by the sounds; I actually thought someone was sneaking up behind me.

So if you want to look like your favorite NBA player, don’t drop cash on an authentic jersey (if you’re over the age of 25 you shouldn’t be wearing jerseys anyway.) Save your cash and decorate your ears with a pair of Beats by Dre. Ya heard!

I ate an orange today and my co-worker (Cuse alum) dressed in all orange for the game. Yet, Syracuse University, a No. 1 seed, went down in flames and so did my bracket. My bracket is now

• toilet paper
• mulch
• birdcage lining
• a New Jersey Nets playbook
• Craig Sager’s closet
• a diet coke with a Big Mac
• lace front wigs
• Eddie Curry

Just useless.

I took a short trip home to NY last week and my momma thought it would be a nice girls outing to go get fitted for bras.

Now, I’m the kind of girl who buys her undies at Target (and damn proud of it) and the 5-for-25 bin at Victoria Secret. I also used to wear moist sports bras to practice that had been in my dark locker for a day. So this ritzy, luxurious bra place, called Intimacy,was an experience!

A woman came into the fitting room and showed me how a bra should fit and how they can be pretty and make “my cup overflow”. Then we got to talking about what I do for a living at NBA.com.

So there I am topless, in front of a mirror with this woman who has seen all my goodies as I tried on 15 lacy, frilly bras and we are talking about LeBron James. Yes ‘Bron and Bras.

Apparently, she was from Cleveland and lived through LeBron-mania during his high school years and loves to watch the Cleveland Cavaliers. As I tried on a sports bra, I recommended that she go see his movie More Than a Game. It would be a great refresher for her high school memories.

10 minutes later as I tried on the lacy $100 push-up bra with the crystal in the middle, we both aggreed, LeBron is not coming to New York. End of that story.

Eight bras later and some free agency talk my bra experience was over.

I walked out with two great fitting bras (One is called the Date Bra, ooohhh) and some great sports convo. What more can you ask for?

Sometimes life is so laughable. I love it. Keep it comin’.

I’ve taken a day to let the Tiger Texts simmer. And all I’ve grasped from it is, Tiger is just a man with a nice libido (although the golden shower I have no words for. That’s just nasty) and impeccable time management. Yes, time management is the lesson I gathered from the whole fiasco.

Tiger was on top of the golf world holding down numerous sponsorships, in and out of hotel rooms in the wee hours of the morning and still found time to lay the pipe and hold lengthy ass text message conversations. (Note: I’m a fan of flirty text messages. Call me anti-social if ya like. I like to say I’m more literary).

If you look at some of the text messages he was up at the crack of dawn with an early tee time the next morning. Some folks need 8 hours+ of sleep just to stock shelves at the local supermarket but not Tiger. Tiger can kick your ass and take your girl on just 3 hours of sleep and a Red Bull.

If Tiger can cheat with his ridiculously busy schedule then ladies know this…any man can cheat. I don’t care if your man works two full-time jobs and interns at the 24-hr barber school. He will find a way to lay it down at the Burger King in between cuts. Trust.

On the flip side, if your man does have all these jobs and claims he loves or even kinda likes you then he should still find time to give you that special attention.

With all that said, El Tigre is still the world’s greatest golfer and is not going to let a couple of Waffle House waitresses, porn stars and intruding photographers keep him from dominating on the links. This is what he does. Tiger a.k.a. The Masters Master.

And I’m gone.

Check out this Twit Pic of Jason Richardson (@jrich23) lighting up the Pop-a-Shot at a local restaurant .Wonder how Alexander Ovechkin would do at air hockey?

This is my first season filling out a bracket. I’m really going to pay attention this time. I was tempted to just follow along with Obama’s bracket but I used my women’s intuition to pick my teams. Whatever that means… So far I’m 75 percent . Just like OBAMA!

Got Cuse winning it all. Who you got?

Vajazzling! When I say this I feel like doing jazz hands!

For those of you not familiar with vajazzling, think of the late ’90s craze that ruined everyone’s denim jackets (it was actually invented in the ’70s). Now take that trend and apply it to a woman’s ummm social butterfly. Get it? If you don’t, watch this video.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fnDwcSfL2Tw]

It’s actually not as bad as I thought it was when I first heard about it. It’s really just a lower stomach rhinestone tattoo. A really low stomach rhinestone tattoo. A shave/wax is definitely a prerequisite for vajazzling.

Vajazzling is cool and very pretty. It gives women the chance to worship a pretty neglected area that we only see getting in and out of the shower. But it is also just one more crazy thing to add to the list of painful, ridiculous rituals women perform on their bodies. I can also see girls running to get vajazzled because that’s how “you keep your man” says Cosmo magazine. Blah.

Yesterday, I got a kick out of sitting in a room full of women of a certain age (that’s what you call women over 50 when you don’t want to get smacked upside the head). They were simply blown away by vajzzling. Their commentary had me rolling!

“Girl you got to have a stomach flat enough for that. I won’t be able to see mine over my pooch”

“Now why would I pay someone to do that? I can do that myself. Go get me some of them beads out my sewing kit.”

Talking to me “You prime vajzzling age girl, you know that?”

“I guess you got to use them expensive Swarovski crystals so they don’t get stuck to the man.”

Personally I think booty-dazzling or booty-beading would be more popular because, ain’t that what they are looking at anyway? Hhhmmm maybe I’m on to something….

To be continued….

I went to school in LA. Hated this city up until the last two weeks of my four years at the university. I mean I missed my hometown of NY so much that for every school break I was on a plane two hours after my last final.

But now I find myself visiting at least twice a year just to escape for a short, inexpensive vacation. Shout out to all the college homies that let me sleep on their couch!
Since I’ve been back, these are the reasons why I Love LA! (cue the Randy Newman song)

• Taco trucks with loud speakers on them and fresh cilantro, lime, radish and guac for free on a table outside the truck. Did I mention this is dinner on a Monday at 9 p.m.?
• Snoop Dogg on the radio. “It ain’t no funnnnn if the homies can’t haveeee none. Feels like freshmen year all over again.
• Seeing my good buddy Mitch Kupchack. We are best buds from the same lil’ town in Brentwood, Long Island. We’ve come along way. Him a lil’ further than me…. For now.
• Roscoe’s Chicken and Waffles. A No.9 and a Sunset. If you don’t know. You will never know.
• Running into classmates who now work at the Enterprise car rental down the block from campus and give me the homie hookup on a Dodge Charger (I still opted for the Toyota Corolla because I can’t drive big vehicles)
• The Grove.
• Wearing sunglasses indoors and not having to look at people or say hello. Damn you ATLiens for always making me say good morning to you!
• I randomly start saying things in Espanol. Yesterday I called someone a Vato. Had a craving for horchata. And I’m still looking for mi gente.
• Palm trees
• Beach
• Last but not least…. Mecca— a.k.a the University of Southern California bookstore.

—More to come I’m sure.

Drinking, divorce, gambling. You did this to Allen Iverson.

I know you didn’t personally put the bottle to his mouth and you didn’t make him neglect his wife but you still did this. Thoughts are a powerful mechanism for change (good and bad) and with every negative and mean thing you have called A.I. you did this.

If you rocked a Sixers No. 3 jersey and/or understand his place in this game then I’m not talking to you. I’m talking to those who hide behind the blogosphere and do things like write ridiculously racists comments on articles about the man. You cowards.

A.I. said this on his Twitter account earlier this week:

To my fans: You all know that my life isn’t perfect. I am going through some very tough times right now, like I am sure that we all do from time to time. However, I will stand tall like always with “rhino” thick skin. Even though I have become used to hearing people say things about me that aren’t true, it still hurts. I encourage you to continue your ongoing support and I want you to trust that this is another obstacle in my life that, with God’s help I will overcome. God Bless You All.

Just a streetballer, thug, no good for the game is what you said about him. These words all took a toll on a man who may do superhuman things on the floor, but is only a man.

I hope you enjoyed molesting and ridiculing this future hall of famer because after this season he may not be here for you to kick around. You may have driven one of the greatest icons of the game to drink, literally.

Maybe his talent was just too much for one to understand; therefore you had condemn it like all things foreign and innovative.

From what folks in my field have told me Allen is one of the nicest players. Scratch that. One of the nicest human beings you will ever meet. Humble, down to earth and a heart the size of Philly, Memphis, Detroit and Denver combined. The A.I. that the media loves to portray (think practice speech) is light-years away from the Allen they see in private.

You just couldn’t love him.

He has his own charity and participates in numerous others.

And….

Loves his baby girl more than the career he has spent his entire life building.

So what…

Gives back to whatever city chooses to embrace him at the time.

Not that important to you…

Had a crossover so mean that it tiptoed the line between legal and “did he just do that?” Ask Jordan.

Guess that didn’t matter….

He grew up in front of our eyes surprising even his closet comrades.

Eh…

According to you, he has bastardized the game. Given it to a generation of baggy pants, cornrow wearing, hip-hop-listening thugs. Damn shame.

Yet, year after year someone puts him on the All-Star team. And every night arenas across the country are filled with every color of the rainbow bopping their heads to whatever hip-hop song is blasting over the PA, wearing oversized jerseys, begging for an ankle-breaking crossover, a la Iverson.

Yeah, he sure did ruin the game.

If you are a sports journalists worth your salt, you’re probably tapped into the Twitter-nation and the title of this blog makes tons of sense to you. If you’re a sports journalist and you’re not on Twitter..#digahole and #buryyoself.

The 5-foot-9 wonder Nate Robinson @nate_robinson isn’t the best of spellers on Twitter but with the use of his lackadaisical grammar he has spawned a new catch phrase for the Twitter-nation. “wordapppp” is the phrase (meaning word up) but it is pronounced like the avergae Joe (or Nate) would say it in your neighborhood. But I guess that’s depending on where you live.

Wordapppp is a phrase for all occasions. It is mostly used to agree with a topic or person.

Example:

Person A: My rec league could give the New Jersey Nets a run right now.

Person B: Wordddappppp.

Or the phrase can be used to emphasize a topic.

Person A: My President got a mean shape-up . WOORRRDDAPPPP.

You can see that I’ve spelled the phrase a numerous amount of ways in this post and that is the beauty of the WORRDDDAPPPP. It shapes itself to just how you are feeling.

• Really Excited about something? Add some more P’s to it. WORRDDAPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP!!!
• Feeling kind of timid and want to use your inside voice? wordappp
• Feeling a little exotic? Add an accentê. WÔRRRRDDDDÁPPPPPPP!
  
• For my educated, lawyer folk. WOOORDDAPPP®

Make sure to follow your boy @nate_robinson on Twitter to find out more about the WORDDAPPPP movement.

Wordapppp!