John Smallwood: Griffin is latest chapter in Clippers' disappointing draft history

IN MY SMALL opinion . . . Blake Griffin was doomed the moment the Los Angeles Clippers selected him with the No. 1 pick in the 2009 NBA Draft.

Griffin, the power forward out of Oklahoma, is scheduled to have knee surgery Wednesday - ending his rookie season without playing in a regularseason game.

Given the historically lousy luck of the Clippers, the only thing more of a consensus than Griffin being the best player in the draft was that his career was going to be star-crossed once Los Angeles won the lottery.

If there is such a thing as a curse in sports, the Clippers have it.

Since the NBA held its first lottery in 1985, the Clippers have had the No. 1 overall pick three times, the first two - Danny Manning (1988) and Michael Olowokandi (1998) - had disastrous stays in Tinseltown.

Manning, who blew out his knee 26 games into his rookie season, ended up having a decent career, averaging 14 points and tallying 4,615 rebounds and 2,063 assists in 15 seasons. Still, despite making two All-Star teams, Manning never fulfilled the potential he displayed as the 1988 NCAA Player of the Year at Kansas.

Olowokandi is considered to be one of the biggest busts in NBA history. The "Kandi-man" wasn't sweet, averaging 8.3 points and 6.8 rebounds in 500 NBA games. He was picked before potential NBA Hall of Famers Vince Carter, Paul Pierce and Dirk Nowitzki.

Including Griffin, half of the Clippers' 22 lottery selections have come in the top five.

Besides Olowokandi, the list includes Benoit Benjamin, Reggie Williams, Danny Ferry, Antonio McDyess, Lamar Odom, Darius Miles, Tyson Chandler and Shaun Livingston, none of whom panned out for the Clippers.

Hopefully Griffin will recover from surgery and become a player worthy of being a No. 1 overall pick. Clippers history says that's not going to happen.

This is how you start an expansion team.

Not only did the Philadelphia Union use the top pick in yesterday's Major League Soccer SuperDraft to select Oregon State sophomore forward Danny Mwanga, the franchise that begins play in March also got

UCLA midfielder Amobi Okugo (sixth), in a trade with FC Dallas, and 17-year-old Cobb Soccer Club forward Jack McInerney (seventh) via a trade with D.C. United.

By trading an allocation ranking to D.C. and allocation money to Dallas, the Union acquired three of the top seven players in what is being called the best MLS draft ever.

The allocation picks and money that can be used to sign veteran players aren't as important to a startup franchise, which needs to acquire young talent to grow and develop along with the club.

The average age of the Union's top three picks is 17 1/2.

It would be great if the Union can duplicate the exploits of last year's expansion team, the Seattle Sounders, and make the playoffs. But the primary goal in the beginning is to establish a solid base to build on.

Of the 17 players currently on the Union roster, 14 have 2 or fewer years of MLS experience.

This team is going to learn to play the professional game the way manager Peter Nowak wants it to.

The company advertising the "Protektorvest" for fans attending the 2010 World Cup is indeed marketing its product based on fear, since South Africa has one of the world's highest crime rates.

Still, I wouldn't blame any fan for buying one of the vests, which are supposed to shield "vital inner body parts from stabs, cuts, slashes and blows from sharp, edged or spike weapons."

When I went to the 2004 Olympics in Athens, the former owners of the Daily News held mandatory lessons on what to do in case of terrorist attacks. We were also provided with gas masks.

But when Protektorvests featuring the Union Jack went on sale last week in England, the Football Supporters' Foundation expressed outrage.

"Wearing a stab vest with an England flag on it would be like going around with a target on your chest," Michael Brunskill, of the FSF, told the Daily Mirror. "It does not fit in with the ethos of going over there for a carnival of football and enjoying it. We do have some security concerns, but this would be drawing unnecessary attention to yourself."

South African violence, along with the deadly gun attack last week on the Togo National Team as it traveled through Angola for the African Nations Cup tournament, have heightened security concerns for the World Cup.

The South African government says it will have a handle on security, but that's also what the rigid Chinese government said about the 2008 Summer Olympics after an American fan was killed in a knife attack.

I understand the offense South Africa would take from the vest's implied message, but I can't fault anyone for taking extra security precautions at an event as high profile as a World Cup.

Send e-mail to smallwj@phillynews.com