Hey, the thought even sends chills down my spine, so I can imagine the horror of those new to ClutchFans this season who didn't realize it was April Fools Day.

But alas, it was in fact an April Fools joke, as most veterans of the site have come to expect year in and year out. This is the 9th gag in 10 years for the site.

Still, there were many who wondered if it was real, and it goes to show how our eyes can miss things or not complete the story. For example, the web address URL to the story was espn.clutchfans.net, or Jeff Van Gundy's supposed quote at the end of the report about Bowen being a "1.4/1.4 guy", or Carroll Dawson's quote, which was real, but also 2 years old. Last but not least, no one on the BBS caught the letters that started the first 10 sentences of the story.

After Friday night's 105-103 win over the Washington Wizards, Houston Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy was in a good mood. Perhaps Saturday morning's news made him even happier. Rockets GM Carroll Dawson announced that the team has come to an agreement with forward Ryan Bowen on a multi-year contract extension. Inside sources confirmed to espn.com that the deal is a 6-year, $54 million pact, though terms were not officially announced by the club. "Losing is not something I take lightly," said Van Gundy Saturday. "For us to compete year-in and year-out, we need to have the right people and Ryan has a winner's mentality. On Thursday I told [Dawson] that this needs to get done." Out of The University of Iowa, the 6-9, 220 pound Bowen has averaged 2.7 points and 2.2 rebounds in 425 career games with Denver and Houston. Last season he averaged 1.7 points and 1.2 rebounds as a defensive specialist for Van Gundy. Some believe it was Bowen's defense on Dallas forward Dirk Nowitzki in last season's Western Conference opening round playoff series that sparked the Rockets to take a 2-0 series edge.

As usual, Chinese media picked up on the story, but as barryxzz of the BBS found, both a tom.com story and one from sohu.com thought ESPN made the joke (and thus, ClutchFans must have bought into it). The tom.com article even screen-capped ClutchFans for their story.

Dating back to April Fools Day of 1997, here are the April Fools jokes run at ClutchFans:

• April 1, 2006: Ryan Bowen signs multi-year contract extension
• April 1, 2005: No Joke (But Tracy McGrady looks good in an Astros uniform)
• April 1, 2004: Rockets Activate Patrick Ewing
• April 1, 2003: Broken Collarbone Ends Yao Ming's Season
• April 1, 2002: Francis Rips Houston, Wants to Return Home to East
• April 1, 2001: Rudy T headed to Michigan, Swoopes considering NBA stint with Rockets
• April 1, 2000: NBA revises 50 Greatest List, removes Hakeem
• April 1, 1999: clutchcity.net: Your San Antonio Spurs Fan Information Source
• April 1, 1998: Report: Olajuwon to retire, may follow Drexler to UH
• April 1, 1997: Tomjanovich, Rockets set to part ways