By Josh Houchins, WGEM Radio Host

While watching a Derrick Rose highlight this morning in between breaks on the morning show I host, I made the comment to my producer that Rose is the most exciting player in the NBA to watch right now. He liked Blake Griffin more, which was a solid point.

So, I wrote down as quick as possible the five NBA players I feel are the most exciting to watch on a nightly basis. And I am talking EXCITING. As high flying and constantly doing things that amaze me. So, that’s why a couple of the best players in the league are not on my list. It’s hard to explain, but it works well in my head.

And that’s scary.

HOOCH’S FIVE MOST EXCITING NBA PLAYERS

5) Deron Williams — He’s a bigger point guard averaging 22 points and 10 assists per night and constantly lights up the highlight reel. Plus, he can be a punk at times and reminds me of the way Isaiah Thomas used to demand respect when on the court.

4) Josh Smith — The Hawks power forward has more impossible blocks than anybody in the league. That’s not a recordable stat, but when you watch him he comes from nowhere seemingly every night to put a shot in the seats. Oh, and he can hammer some left-handed dunks, too. 

3) Blake Griffin — Have to admit that he has been even better than advertised. We didn’t see half of this in college. He was good at Oklahoma, but not like this. Only Dwight Howard has dunked more ths year. The only problem is that the ball is not in his hands at all times and that leaves him out of the offense, which takes a point off my excitement chart.

2) Kevin Durant– He is skinny, fast, and not afraid to go to the hoop and dunk on you and your coach. He’s not scared of anything. He will pull up 30 feet and drain one right in anybody’s eye or go flying through the air as this long, string bean figure dunking on someone you thought 10 minutes earlier he shouldn’t be dunking on.

1) Derrick Rose — The best single move by any player in the league right now is Rose going up and under the hoop for a bucket. Or a different type of up and under like this one. Or he will give the ball up only to call for it back on a sick alley oop. Or maybe posterizing a random Phoenix player with one of my favorite dunks in a long time. He does something every night that makes the jaw drop to the floor.

Posted under Sports

Take a trip with WGEM SportsCenter host, Josh Houchins, as he recaps the weekend in his own weird way…

* I found it hard to root against either team in the Super Bowl. Usually, you will catch yourself pulling for one team if you truly do not have a dog in the fight as both teams have that blue collar appeal. But I think the better team won yesterday. The Green Bay defense was better as was its quarterback. The Packers played through turmoil with players getting hurt and still came out on top.

* If the Packers keep Aaron Rodgers and Clay Matthews happy for the next five years, the Packers will win another Super Bowl. Book it, Danno.

* Hooch’s Super Bowl Bests…

• Part of pregame? — Shaq showing up in the Frank Caliendo skit as somebody else played Shaq in a Boston uniform.
• Story making fun of Jerry Jones/Cowboys Stadium? — The fact a reported 400 fans were left without seats due to a safety problem with the stadium.
• Play? — Rashard Mendenhall plowing into a camera guy on the sideline.
• Commercial? — This one.
• Next best commercial? —  Something called Teleflora with Faith Hill and what a guy really thinks.

I thought she was going to smoke a cigarette when it was over. Looked tired...

* I want the National Anthem performed next year by Carl Lewis and the halftime show to be made up of the runt/outcast from every 1990s boy band. You have to admit that day would be full of laughs! 

* Who truly knew Tackleberry played the sax in the first Police Academy?

* Jim Edmonds is going back to the Cardinals for Spring Training. Maybe this way the Cardinals can keep Colby Rasmus’ dad out of the clubhouse by having a fellow 40-year-old man with gray hair around.

* Every Saturday in the Quincy Herald-Whig there’s a section where random questions are asked to local people. Brown County football coach Tom Little was apart of the panel this year and gave the best answers I have ever read. Plus, his picture was amazing. I highly recommend checking it out.

* I am not sure it’s possible to be a bigger nerd than what we have right here.

* If you enjoy listening to an Albert Pujols interview, and are also concerned about him leaving St. Louis, you will get a kick out this Web site.

* I’m very interested in seeing how the QND Lady Raiders respond to a 21-point loss to Incarnate Word on Saturday. Girls teams usually do not react to that type of loss the same way that boys do. I don’t see them having a problem until down the road, but it seems teams have found ways to keep it a heck of a lot closer than it has been in the past.

* And Finally, it happens every year and it never, ever disappoints. Thank you to good people involved with the Ewing Knights of Columbus and their annual Wild Game Feed. The calf fries were as good as ever!

– HOOCH

Posted under Sports

QUESTION: What’s going on in this photo?

* Best caption wins … nothing. So, post comments below like crazy.

– Hooch

Josh Houchins is the everyday host of WGEM SportsCenter, 7-9 a.m., on ESPN 1440 and WGEM.com.

Posted under Sports

Once in a while a question will be tossed out to local experts from WGEM and the Quincy Herald-Whig. Submit your question to sports@wgem.com.

QUESTION: What local high school gym provides the best big-game atmosphere?

BROC HAMPSMIRE — WGEM Radio Play-by-Play

The obvious answer for those of us that have lived in Quincy, or have experienced big games at both The Pit and Blue Devil Gym, is those two venues. Around the area, though, of all the places I’ve taken in a big regular season or postseason game I’d give the nod to the Hornet’s Nest at Brown County HS. There’s just something about that gym. It’s a little darker than most, and it seems like every row of the bleachers is right on top of the court. If the Hornets are playing well and you have to go into their “nest” … good luck.

DON O’BRIEN — Herald-Whig Sports Editor

No disrespect to any of the other area schools, but there’s only one answer to this one — Blue Devil Gym.

No other program has the history that the QHS boys basketball program possesses. It’s the fourth-winningest program in the nation. There’s a reason why some season tickets are family heirlooms. The Blue Devil ceremony sets QHS apart from the rest. You’re not human if you’ve never gotten chills while watching it.

Does the energy at Blue Devil Gym top the rest? (courtesy of Herald-Whig)

BEN MARTH — WGEM Sports Director

No question here that the answer is Blue Devil Gym. When Quincy High plays a meaningful game (i.e. a WB6 contest), there’s no other environment which can hold a torch to it. From the opening ceremonies, to the halftime show, to the game itself, I think Blue Devil Gym is the best this area has to offer and it’s arguably the best in the state.

From a small school perspective, The Hangar in Macomb is solid high school hoops entertainment as well.

JOSH HOUCHINS — WGEM SportsCenter Host

Two places come to mind — Palmyra High School and the Hornet’s Nest in Mt. Sterling. I have been to many games around the area either as a high schooler rooting on my school back in the day or as a writer/reporter covering the game. These two stand out for multiple reasons. I’ve attended postseason games at Brown County HS’s Hornet’s Nest and I will never forget the feeling. You had two schools — one on each side — with the heat cranked up on a cold February day. Is was hot and the crowd was as loud as I have ever heard. Palmyra was a place growing up that you wanted to play, and watch, a big game at. The title game on a Saturday night of the Tony Lenzini Tournament with some times four different fan bases stacked in there makes that gym rock. And it was even better when you’re the visitor and you knock off the home team.

All answers compiled by Josh Houchins.

Posted under Sports

By Josh Houchins, WGEM Radio Host

OK, that does not mean I am now wealthier than Steve Forbes. It means I am set to release my own list of “Most Disliked People in Sports.”

Forbes.com released their list yesterday, which you can see right here. I agree with a few, yet a majority are just sports figures that haven’t been relevant for a while and need to be erased from the notepad.

I am only going national here, so don’t expect any local bashing. That’s just not my cup of tea.

HOOCH’S MOST DISLIKED PEOPLE IN SPORTS

10) Ron Zook: The sweet-talking coach of the Illini football team has always been touted as a great recruiter. OK, congrats. You can recruit with the best of them. But can you coach a team on the field? It appears at times both aspects of coaching haven’t been near the top of Zook’s resume as of late. He has recruited some top talent to Champaign, but nothing to the point that screams GENIUS! He did make a smart move by changing his entire coaching staff this past season. I will give him some props for that.

9) Mike Martz: Look up the phrase “over-hyped” in the dictionary and I bet his name is used as an example. I don’t

No, I'm not comparing him to Nixon. Stop it.

 place a lot of credence in Martz being the brain behind the “Greatest Show on Turf.” I think Torry Holt, Issac Bruce, Marshall Faulk, Orlando Pace, Adam Timmerman, and Kurt Warner did a majority of the work. Then this year with the Bears it took o-line coach Mike Tice, and the pleading of all involved, to start using Matt Forte. It seems the great Cool Hand Luke line is appropriate with Martz — “What we have here is a failure to communicate.”

8 ) Michael Jordan: Why, you ask? Maybe because he ruins everything he touches as of late. Wizards? Kwame Brown. Bobcats? Larry Brown. Maybe it’s just the last name “Brown.” I have never been a fan — maybe I was a tad jealous growing up, I get it – of the guy and nothing he has done since has changed that. Just go play golf and smoke cigars.

7) Antonio Cromartie: The time the Jets conerback couldn’t remember the names of all nine kids on HBO’s Hard Knocks, the dislike grew deeper. Professional athletes try everyday to get away from the stereotype placed on them — rich idiots with tons of bastard children. Cromartie just keeps bringing the rest down a peg.

6) Todd Bertuzzi: What do we have here? How about a vicious cheap-shot artist that signs on with the devil itself, the Detroit Red Wings. I would have had no problem with the winger if he would have stayed north of the border in Vancouver. The guy had one of the best all-around seasons I can remember in 2002-03. Then he upped Tie Domi and went goon on Steve Moore. Pure punk.

5) Bud Selig: How do you fix baseball? Salary cap. It could have been done in baseball under his watch and it wasn’t. I’ll take the All-Star Game change and division expansion meaning better playoffs, but the top team spending over $201 million and the bottom sitting at $38.6 million in 2010 means the sport is falling apart for a reason. And when that happens you blame the guy at the top.

We seem to see Junior looking sad a lot. Hmm...

4) Dale Earnhart, Jr.: Why is he relevant? Why haven’t sponsors dropped him? Why do fans still line the streets and sidewalks when he appears? Not because he’s a winner because he has only done that three times on the Sprint Cup circuit since 2005. But, the funny thing is I don’t think he even knows why people still follow him. In a recent ESPN interview on the 10-year mark of his dad passing away, Junior wasn’t a huge fan of the line of questioning concerning his dad. I actually found it refreshing.

3) Felix Hernandez: One thing about this guy puts him so high on my dislike list — his nickname, “King Felix.” When you have a nickname like “King” or “The Great,” you must have a reference point. There has never been a King Felix in history. Look it up. Nada. None. Zippo. And that’s dumb.

2) Jerry Jones: Owners do not belong on the sideline. Owners do not belong being a general manager. Owners do not belong in the plastic surgeon’s office once a week. I don’t care for phony people and he tops the list of all-time phonies. I wish Mike Moffit would be around to call him one. (If you get that last reference I will be impressed.)

1) Vince Young: Pampered since high school and then got everything he wanted at Texas. Houston considered drafting him No. 1 overall and decided to go with Mario Williams instead. Great choice. Then the guy clearly cannot handle life as an NFL quarterback. Learn how to throw the ball better would be a major addition to your workout load. That would make you a better QB in the NFL.

Posted under Sports