Are you “Hibachi” enough? We saw Gilbert Arenas turn on the Hibachi during the season, now it’s your turn to show us your hibachi combined with some creative photography skills. The Wizards are holding a Hibachi Photo Contest now in search of the most creative Wizards fans. Take pictures of yourself, your family, or your friends in front of your hibachi, grill, or barbecue pit. Feel free to make these pictures as creative as you would like, it doesn’t hurt to show us your Wizards spirit, but just remember to have fun!

Here are a few Hibachi Photos submitted by our fans. As they can do it, you can do it. It’s just this simple, and you don’t have to be a photoshop artist to submit your photo. The grand prize winner will receive a signed Gilbert Arenas jersey!

HIBACHI PHOTOS SUBMITTED BY WIZARDS FANS

Sherman of Maugansville, MD

Jacob and Jonah of Chevy Chase, MD

Juan of Rockville, MD

Click on any image for a larger version.

In a post completely unrelated to anything going on in Washington, I saw news this morning that Southeast rivals Miami Heat signed veteran ({cough}really old{cough}) guard Penny Hardaway yesterday. While his signing is apparently non-guaranteed according to the Sun-Sentinel, the thought of Penny and Shaq together brought back a ton of memories of a player who for several years was without a doubt one of the most talented perimeter players in the Eastern Conference during the mid 90’s. Then you-know-who came back and pretty much destroyed the Magic in 96.

The Post’s Michael Lee, a guy who grew up watching mid-90’s basketball like your’s truly, gives his take on the signing and also takes a trip down memory lane about the four time all star.

Last summer, Dwyane Wade’s rise to NBA super-duper stardom reminded me of Penny and what coulda/shoulda been. If you were following NBA ball in the earl-mid 90’s, you know not only how talented Hardaway was but how adored he was by fans everywhere. There are tons of people who are in their early 20’s now that will say that Hardaway was their favorite player when they were kids. We can only wonder at what could’ve been. I mean, this guy was unbelievable - a 6-7 point guard who could run an offense but also score at will. Oh well, take a look at this youtube’d clip and reminisce about the man simply known as Penny.

As many of you know, I was in the Philippines on vacation recently. Luckily for this NBA team employee, the Philippines is a basketball-first nation (one of the few) so I was never far removed from NBA-related news. In fact, the country’s major cable network carries an NBATV like station called “BasketballTV“, which carries many NBATV programming (including Vegas summer league!) as well as full games (aired live during the season).

Anyway, the pic below was taken when I was strolling through a local department store in the Metro Manila area. My first thought: “Man…I can’t get away from these guys!”

In response to stories that the FBI is investigating an NBA referee (Tim Donaghy) who bet on games he officiated, Commissioner David Stern discussed the gambling scandal with the media in a press conference earlier this morning. Watch Video

NBA Commissioner David Stern has issued the following statement:

“As we previously stated, we have been cooperating with the FBI in their investigation of allegations that a single NBA referee bet on NBA games that he officiated. As part of that cooperation, we were asked by the Government not to comment about the investigation, but in light of the widespread press coverage and the naming of the referee, Tim Donaghy, we consider it appropriate to make a fuller statement.

“We would like to assure our fans that no amount of effort, time or personnel is being spared to assist in this investigation, to bring to justice an individual who has betrayed the most sacred trust in professional sports, and to take the necessary steps to protect against this ever happening again. We will have more to say at a press conference that will be scheduled for next week.”

This morning Wizards Dancers Tara and Myra joined the “Sports Junkies” to promote the 2007-08 Wizards Dance Team Auditions coming up this weekend.

Click here to watch video
(Video courtesy of FOX 5)

BDK from the Junkies learns what it takes to audition for the Washington Wizards Dance Team!