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SALT LAKE CITY — Dwyane Wade is a two-time NBA Champion, a Finals MVP and one of the more iconic players of this generation. Now he wants to brand himself with his own nickname. It might be one of the worst nicknames ever.
WOW.
#poll
No, not saying wow about it, that is the nickname: WOW. He isn't the first to give himself his own nickname; Kobe Bryant gave himself the monicker "Black Mamba," which came from his ability to be the deadliest player out there. "WOW" just seems ... dumb. His teammate LeBron James even thinks it's a little out there.
"It's 'WOW,' Way of Wade," James said, referring to the slogan for Wade's Li-Ning shoes. "I think it's corny."
It was created for his new shoe line Li-Ning shoes, and actually stands for Way of Wade. It would be way cooler if it stood for World of Warcraft and he got a giant tattoo on his back of a character he played. No one has ever done that before, right?
Seriously though, he was called "Flash," which was probably a Top 10 nickname. Now he wants to be called WOW, which might catch on. Like someone might say, "WOW, I can't believe he tried to make that his nickname."
Bill Russell in the dunk competition
Bill Russell was so dominant in his time that it seems like he might not have been that athletic. Living in a different time with less athletic players has diminished Russell's abilities, but a new video has shown off something simply amazing.
This video was recently discovered and released. It is in black and white — very grainy — and remains to be seen if it is real. But, for now, just believe and watch.
Russell takes the rebound on one end, dribbles coast-to-coast and eventually jumps from a step inside the free throw line and goes over a defender on his way to a layup. He could have easily dunked the ball, but simply let it roll in.
Russell was a different player that has been lumped in with a group that was smaller and not athletic, but if this is really true, he could easily play today and still be a star.
Base-brawl
It didn't take too long for baseball to get back into full swing with the first bench-clearing brawl of the year. It happened in a college game between Sacramento State and UC Riverside.
The fight started with Riverside's Eddie Young getting caught in a "pickle" and eventually being tagged out by Andrew Ayers. Young grabbed Ayers' glove and tried to pull it off, then Ayers shoved him.
Young took exception to that and threw a right cross that knocked Ayers' glasses off. But he kept walking up and they got into it.
The benches cleared and a brawl ensued, but eventually order was restored. Four players were kicked out of the game, and eventually Riverside won the game.
NFL Combine shoes
The NFL Combine might not mean everything in the eventual stardom of a football player. There have been some players that weren't great tangibly and ended up as Hall of Fame players, like Tom Brady (he'll end up there). There have been some that blew the combine away, but never lived up to the hype; here is looking at you Darrius Hayward-Bey and every other Raiders draft pick over the last decade.
However, this year, winning the 40-yard dash gets you a contract no matter what ... but with a shoe company. Adidas is sponsoring the fastest runner with a new shoe deal. It should go to Texas receiver Marquise Goodwin, who ran a blistering 4.27. The fastest ever was a 4.24 by Chris Johnson. The next fastest this year is a 4.34.
Adidas hasn't specified what the contract will be, but has said it will be there.
While Adidas was making waves, their competition Under Armour was turning heads as well. Under Armour has created a combine-specific shoe called the "Chameleon" Combine 40. They are awesome.
They will change colors as athletes run. They go from orange and gold to green, blue and red. Unfortunately, there is no video available, but here is a tweet from Rich Eisen who got to wear his personalized pair for his annual run.
Choice 2: the personalized @underarmour "Chameleon" Combine 40 #RunRichRunsay.ly/APD5eqU — Rich Eisen (@richeisen) February 23, 2013
