Sports Links: Nazis, Yi, Salukis, Usain, Yung Giuliani, andmore

Hugo Chavez is ramping up his anti-American rhetoric. Meanwhile, Sarah Palin has a tough time answering questions; here's a post on how her answer should imply a lack of preparation for the job. Agree? Disagree? Oh hell, did you know Susan Sarandon's daughter is attractive? Yeah, it's time for an unrelated picture of an attractive woman, Eva Amurri.

Here are some things that have passed by my eyes that I haven't had a chance to delve into yet:

+ The Southern Illinois Salukis weren't very good last year; but the freshmen (Kevin Dillard and Ryan Hare) are so promising, returning guard Josh Bone opted to transfer after their Labor Day preseason trip.

+ Basketball Prospectus has an analysis of what a player needs to do when making the jump from college to the pros. The same jump is probably necessary when going into the college game:

Part of the development for a player making the leap into a new level of play must be adjusting the player to the speed of the game.... In coaching, it means taking a four-step process and working to condense it to only two steps. A player must read a situation, recognize the circumstances, judge between various courses of action and react properly. Once a player has fully adjusted to the speed of the game, they are able to condense the process into reading and reacting.

+ The Giants and Jets' fans are pissed because the team wants to sell naming rights to a German company that was a Nazi collaborator. Some folks will use the "well, no one from the company then is part of the company now," or refer to how Henry Ford was said to be a big Nazi supporter (and an anti-Semite himself), so money's money. Personally, I think it's in poor taste and bad PR, especially in an area with a number of Jewish fans. Even if there was not a large Jewish population, I'd say "poor taste."

+ Less serious: what to expect of Yi Jianlian? No one knows; but one of his coaches in Milwaukee delves into the conundrum of Yi.

+ Duke University defends kicking Rudy9/11AnyQuestions Giuliani's son Andrew off the golf team. Apparently, he's a jackass:

But Duke said in a court filing Wednesday that the 22-year-old Giuliani was properly suspended after throwing an apple in the face of another player, breaking a golf club during a tournament, injuring a teammate and becoming verbally abusive with a coach.

+ The Patriots have built a mall next to their stadium. Everyone Wins! is their tagline. More on this later.

+ Have these football rivalries fallen off?

+ One Jamaican blogger thinks Jamaicans have too much free time, as evidenced by how many people came out to congratulate sprinter Usain Bolt.