BEVERLY HILLS (MI) — You know that we are deep in the heart of the off-season for college hoops when ESPN.com has the content for College Basketball buried under the “All Sports” tab on their home page rather than having it directly accessible from the nav bar.

— Perhaps the most productive pairing of coach and player in all of sports history was that of Arnold “Red” Auerbach and Bill Russell for the Boston Celtics. 11 NBA Championships in 13 years kinda says it all, doesn’t it? Russ gives his side of the story in a new book entitled “Red and Me”:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124165645112494221.html

Well, at least now I know what to get my dad for Father’s Day! My father always made it a point to try and get us tickets to go see the Celts when Wilt Chamberlain was in town. Wilt vs. Russell was always an incredibly entertaining matchup. I stood next to Wilt when I was about 12 and barely came up to his butt.

Russ is the first to admit that there was no way that he could physically cover “The Big Dipper.” The difference-maker was Bill’s psychological approach to facing Chamberlain. One thing that many people don’t realize is that Russ and Wilt were very good friends off the court.

— The key to the Celtics’ success was Red’s ability to change his strategy and adapt to Russ’ strengths, which were defense and rebounding. Speaking of change, here’s the first in a great series of articles on that very subject, penned by Ariane de Bonvoisin for Advertising Age:

http://adage.com/talentworks/article?article_id=135348

— The biggest change that the Redhead had to face in his illustrious career with the Green was the tragic loss of these two guys:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uujUM-zW0S8&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fhighmajorscoop%2Ecom%2F&feature=player_embedded

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JRVjHDBJbnw&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fhighmajorscoop%2Ecom%2F&feature=player_embedded

On a less serious note, here are some random links that caught my eye:

— His nickname says it all: “Diaper Boy.”

http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_12385924

— Welcome to Springfield, Ohio:

http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/years/2009/0518091car1.html

— Ever wondered what the town in which your favorite sitcom was set actually looks like? Now you know:

http://www.stltoday.com/mds/entertainment/html/2367

— I don’t know about you guys, but I can never read enuf about Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger:

http://www.vanityfair.com/style/features/2009/06/us_airways200906

— Larry King meets “The Chairman of the Board”:

http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/features/2009/05/larry-king-excerpt200905

I met Larry a half a dozen times when I worked at CNN…the man really knows how to work a room. He also had the biggest ****ed head I’ve ever seen.

— If you live anywhere near San Antonio, TX you might want to GTFO. Why? The crazy Raspberry ants are coming!

http://www.kens5.com/homepage/tab1/stories/KENS20090518-Crazy_Ants.16288c43.html

— My favorite Fortune magazine blogger Stanley Bing asks the question that many men in America are dying to know the answer to: Who the !@#! are Jon and Kate?

http://stanleybing.blogs.fortune.cnn.com/2009/05/19/who-the-are-jon-kate/

— Finally, how do you determine the winner in a game of “lighter fluid tag” anyways? Is it the guy who ends up with only 2nd degree burns?

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/theblotter/2009241850_clallam_man_burned_in_lighter.html

That’s it “From the Swamp.”
You can email me at: [email protected]