Ron-Ron Has Hollywood's Number

Ron Artest, not even officially signed to the Lakers 'til Wednesday, is already acclimating himself to life in the lime-light. In fact, Artest is looking to supplant Shaq as the most readily sound-byted star in the NBA stratosphere. He handily out did Ama're Stoudamire's "I'm getting traded" tweets, Ron-Ron took his followers in one direction, making it look like he was actually referring to his record deal, and then going ahead and signing with the Lakers too.

Now, speaking of his status as a recording artist, Artest cut a tribute to Michael Jackson. It's actually kind of catchy, and if you're into it you can download the mp3 too. I promise it's the last time I throw up an MJ tribute, but with the memorial ceremony at Staples Tuesday, it seemed appropriate. Following his tribute to the King of Pop, Artest declared he'd go with the jersey number 37 in LA, as that was the number of weeks Jackson's "Thriller" topped the charts.

(Major mahalo to NBA Fanhouse for the Artest track)

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WWE 'Remembers the Time'

Friday on WWE Smackdown, John Morrison and Smackdown GM Teddy Long did the water cooler thing and talked about the BET Awards Michael Jackson tribute. It quickly degenerated into a rather forced trade off between Morrison and Long punning in to Michael Jackson song titles. And, really, the whole thing was a match plea by Morrison (who's just off a big win versus CM Punk), and a bit of an uncomfortable on at that. It was like John Morrison was your white friend [who] looks like Michael Jackson, and he was trotting out the moves to get in cool with your obviously uncool friend, who by the way gets zero points for not looking like MJ at all. At least Teddy told Morrison to "beat it." Stilted choreography and acting aside, it's good to see even the WWE get in on the MJ tributes.

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One Last Jam

And we're not talking jam band kind of jam. We're not talking strawberry jam. We're talking what constituted a dunk ten to fifteen years ago. We're talking something that rocks you, or rims. We're talking the memory of the King of Pop, and his dip into the hard-top world of His Airness. Embedding is disabled by request for most Michael Jackson videos on Youtube, so I'm going to respect that boundary and simply link to the video.

Yes, Michael Jackson passed away Thursday. A fact largely overshadowing any sports happenings. For all my frustration with the Big Cactus, he at least took the time to touch on this when interviewed during the draft. And, if you care, my facebook quiz representative Michael Jackson song is Thriller, just so you know.

But on this sad day, I did want to take some time to remember the song that found MJ meeting MJ. While it perhaps didn't have the cultural impact of a crossover like Paula Abdul's Opposites Attract or Jordan's own venture into cartoons with 1996's Space Jam, it does represent one of the more artful meetings of sports world and the pop music world.

Jam also featured Heavy D, which isn't a sm all thing when you consider D's importance coming out of the late 80s. But the best part of the vid is that you catch both Michaels a little out of their element. Michael Jordan worked on some dance moves, and it showed us how even he could look stiff next to Jackson. This is something to consider when you look at how these taller than average athletes we watch actually move in the real world. And, of course, it's a testament to the kind of dance wonder Jackson was. He makes Jordan look like a mannakin out there, and you can just imagine him shaking circles around Jordan. At the same time, Jordan takes Jackson through some basketball paces. And, I gotta say, Jackson didn't look uncomfortable doing it. Though his intensity reminds more of Kevin Johnson than the sublimely intense Michael Jordan.

Anyway, Michael Jackson, you were a perpetual reminder that music is important and that it can be endlessly searching and growing and moving in the most personal of ways. And, of course, in the most public of displays of talent, which we at Outside can appreciate. Thanks for the memories, especially the musical ones.

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