2004-05 Flashback: The Last Los Angeles Lakers Losing Season
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Showing posts with label kobe. Show all posts
Showing posts with label kobe. Show all posts
Tuesday, March 11, 2014
Friday, May 17, 2013
It's Friday, Time to Dance
If you want a lot of stuff to dance to, go check out Alex's post on Kobe Bryant's musical forays at The Sports Fan Journal. Here's a taste.
Friday, June 4, 2010
The Best Baseball Player I've Ever Seen Links
As everyone is aware of by now, Ken Griffey Jr. retired on Wednesday. Here in Philadelphia, the news took a back seat to game 3 of the Stanley Cup Finals. Across the nation, it was overshadowed by Armando Galarraga and Jim Joyce and the perfect game that wasn't. And as a 26-year-old sports fan, that just doesn't sit right with me, and it shouldn't sit well for anyone who was privileged enough to watch Ken Griffey Jr. ply his trade for 22 remarkable seasons.
In my eyes, Ken Griffey Jr. takes a back seat to nobody. He was the Michael Jordan of baseball, sadly minus the championships. But he was every bit as good on the diamond as Jordan was on the hardwood. The man had no weakness in his game. Not a one. Yesterday, silver fox laid out the stats: 630 home runs, 1,836 RBI, 2,781 hits, 184 stolen bases, 10 Gold Gloves, 13 all-star appearances and an MVP. Truly impressive, staggering numbers, especially for a guy who was riddled with injuries his entire career.
As incredible as his numbers are, they don't tell the whole story. Ken Griffey Jr. transcended numbers. He was a god walking amongst men. During his prime, which spanned the entire decade of the '90s, there was no argument as to who the game's best player was. It was Ken Griffey Jr. and everyone else. He was Willie Mays reincarnated — a swift, smooth centerfielder who covered more ground than anyone, with a rifle arm to boot; a picture-perfect swing that generated astonishing power without sacrificing contact; a deer on the base paths; a player so good, so talented that he made it all look so easy.
All my life, I've admired players that value their defense as much as their offense. Over the past few years, as injury and age and a more rotund waistline caught up with him, Griffey's defensive abilities vanished, but in his prime, in his early days, he was arguably the best defensive centerfielder who ever lived. I've gotten to watch the Kenny Loftons, the Andruw Joneses, the Torii Hunters and Jim Edmondses, some of the truly incredible centerfielders the game has ever seen. And not a single one of them could hold a candle to Griffey. No one got to more balls. No one took better routes. No one made stronger, more accurate throws. Most people remember his sweet swing first and foremost. Me? I think about all his diving catches, about breaking his wrist with a miraculous catch at the wall, about him gunning a runner down at the plate.
In his prime, he was far and away the best baseball player I've ever laid eyes on. Better than Bonds. Better A-Rod. Yes, even better than Albert Pujols. He played the toughest outfield position, probably the third toughest defensive spot on the field behind catcher and shortstop, and he was the best at it. He hit for power. He hit for average. And he had more speed than should be legal.
And he brought a joy to the game that so few of today's athletes display. Before injuries robbed him of prime years and he became less outgoing, you couldn't look at Griffey without seeing a smile on his face. He was engaging, endearing, a man who truly loved what he did for a living. With the backwards hat and the giant grin, he looked every bit the part of "The Big Kid." And he played the game with the enthusiasm of a little leaguer imaging himself playing in the World Series. He wasn't just the best, but the most likable too.
The biggest shame of it all is the way he's been brushed aside over the years. As Barry Bonds and Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa HGH-ed and steroided their way into the record books, Griffey was put on the backburner. When his career ended, I found out by a ticker on ESPN, not a break-in news story, because a perfect game was going on. The man has been lost in the shuffle, and that's not fair. It's not right. To think that there is an entire generation just below mine that knows Griffey only as the aging, slightly overweight slugger whose career fizzled out makes my blood curl, and makes me realize just how lucky I was to get to watch him at his peak.
Ken Griffey Jr. wasn't just one of the best players of his day. He was THE BEST player of his day, one of the greatest of all time. He was the left-handed Willie Mays. He was The Kid. And that kid made grown men marvel at his remarkable feats, for 22 incredible years. The game always goes on, new stars always emerge, but a player like Ken Griffey Jr. only comes along once in a generation. I couldn't be more honored that he happened to come along during mine.
Links …
-Dash has his chilling farewell to the Kid, painting a picture-perfect scene of his thrilling gallop around the bases to beat the mighty Yankees.
Really great read.
-Beelove re-emerges as well with his thoughts on Griffey.
-Ed has his Griffey tribute as well.
-Big League Stew was all over Griffey's retirement yesterday.
-Landon Evanson pays homage to Griffey, or as he calls him, the best.
-Rob Iracane's take on Griffey.
-Dan Levy provides his top 10 moments of Girffey's career.
-And yet another voice on Griffey:
Ken Griffey Jr. left Seattle bound for his home in Orlando Wednesday afternoon.
Diminished playing time and lack of productivity brought to an end one of the greatest careers in baseball history.
If the airplane had been headed straight to Cooperstown, it would have been just as appropriate, because the Hall of Fame is bound to be Griffey's next home.
Couldn't agree more.
-Jayson Stark discussing what was and what if with Griffey:
Here we have one of four players in history to hit 600 homers, one of three outfielders in history to win three Gold Gloves, the only outfielder in history to be elected to start 13 All-Star Games -- and we're still wondering WHAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN?
Digest that thought for a moment.
…
He was still one of the two or three greatest players any of us ever saw play, from beginning to end. But …
He easily could have been in the argument for Greatest Player Ever. Easily.
Great read.
-Jim Caple captures what Griffey meant to Seattle.
-And finally, Tim Kurkjian's tribute to Griffey:
In 1989, the Mariners wanted Griffey to spend a third year in the minor leagues and play a year at Triple-A. "When he came to camp in 1989, he had no chance to make the team," Bradley said. "But he got a lot of at-bats early that spring because a lot of veterans don't like to play a lot early. After 20 games, he wasn't just the best player on our team, he was the best player in the league that spring. The Mariners basically said, 'We don't want this to happen, we don't want to rush him, we don't want him to make the team.' So they started running him out there against every elite pitcher, against all the nastiest left-handers they could find in hopes that he would stop hitting, and they could send him out [to the minors]. It never happened."
-The Phillies installed Harry Kalas and Richie Ashburn plaques at Citizens Bank Park.
Really miss those guys.
-Adam EatShit passed this along:
Awesome.
-Me on Kobe over at Ed the Sports Fan.
-Good read on Ville Leino.
-Another stroke of genius by Peter Laviolette: Getting Hartnell's play turned around in the postseason.
-A funny dismantling of Bill Simmons, via Deadspin.
-Bad news for Ivory Coast and the World Cup: Drogba may be done.
-The Phils signed Willy Tavares. If I had my way, I'd immediately call him up to the big club (a speedy guy who has a career batting average of .274) and send down Greg Dobbs.
-KG and Paul Pierce playing in the McDonald's All-American game, along with Vince Carter, Robert Traylor, Chauncey Billups, Stephon Marbury and Shareef Abdur-Rahim, among others:
-In case you forgot, Tracy McGrady used to be all sorts of amazing:
-Top 10 plays in Lakers-Celtics Finals history:
On tap this weekend, the Phillies return to begin a four-game set against San Diego and hopefully find their missing offense. And of course, game 4 of the Stanley Cup Finals tonight, game three slated for Sunday night. Three more wins.
LET'S GO FLYERS!!!!!
In my eyes, Ken Griffey Jr. takes a back seat to nobody. He was the Michael Jordan of baseball, sadly minus the championships. But he was every bit as good on the diamond as Jordan was on the hardwood. The man had no weakness in his game. Not a one. Yesterday, silver fox laid out the stats: 630 home runs, 1,836 RBI, 2,781 hits, 184 stolen bases, 10 Gold Gloves, 13 all-star appearances and an MVP. Truly impressive, staggering numbers, especially for a guy who was riddled with injuries his entire career.
As incredible as his numbers are, they don't tell the whole story. Ken Griffey Jr. transcended numbers. He was a god walking amongst men. During his prime, which spanned the entire decade of the '90s, there was no argument as to who the game's best player was. It was Ken Griffey Jr. and everyone else. He was Willie Mays reincarnated — a swift, smooth centerfielder who covered more ground than anyone, with a rifle arm to boot; a picture-perfect swing that generated astonishing power without sacrificing contact; a deer on the base paths; a player so good, so talented that he made it all look so easy.
All my life, I've admired players that value their defense as much as their offense. Over the past few years, as injury and age and a more rotund waistline caught up with him, Griffey's defensive abilities vanished, but in his prime, in his early days, he was arguably the best defensive centerfielder who ever lived. I've gotten to watch the Kenny Loftons, the Andruw Joneses, the Torii Hunters and Jim Edmondses, some of the truly incredible centerfielders the game has ever seen. And not a single one of them could hold a candle to Griffey. No one got to more balls. No one took better routes. No one made stronger, more accurate throws. Most people remember his sweet swing first and foremost. Me? I think about all his diving catches, about breaking his wrist with a miraculous catch at the wall, about him gunning a runner down at the plate.
In his prime, he was far and away the best baseball player I've ever laid eyes on. Better than Bonds. Better A-Rod. Yes, even better than Albert Pujols. He played the toughest outfield position, probably the third toughest defensive spot on the field behind catcher and shortstop, and he was the best at it. He hit for power. He hit for average. And he had more speed than should be legal.
And he brought a joy to the game that so few of today's athletes display. Before injuries robbed him of prime years and he became less outgoing, you couldn't look at Griffey without seeing a smile on his face. He was engaging, endearing, a man who truly loved what he did for a living. With the backwards hat and the giant grin, he looked every bit the part of "The Big Kid." And he played the game with the enthusiasm of a little leaguer imaging himself playing in the World Series. He wasn't just the best, but the most likable too.
The biggest shame of it all is the way he's been brushed aside over the years. As Barry Bonds and Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa HGH-ed and steroided their way into the record books, Griffey was put on the backburner. When his career ended, I found out by a ticker on ESPN, not a break-in news story, because a perfect game was going on. The man has been lost in the shuffle, and that's not fair. It's not right. To think that there is an entire generation just below mine that knows Griffey only as the aging, slightly overweight slugger whose career fizzled out makes my blood curl, and makes me realize just how lucky I was to get to watch him at his peak.
Ken Griffey Jr. wasn't just one of the best players of his day. He was THE BEST player of his day, one of the greatest of all time. He was the left-handed Willie Mays. He was The Kid. And that kid made grown men marvel at his remarkable feats, for 22 incredible years. The game always goes on, new stars always emerge, but a player like Ken Griffey Jr. only comes along once in a generation. I couldn't be more honored that he happened to come along during mine.
Links …
-Dash has his chilling farewell to the Kid, painting a picture-perfect scene of his thrilling gallop around the bases to beat the mighty Yankees.
Really great read.
-Beelove re-emerges as well with his thoughts on Griffey.
-Ed has his Griffey tribute as well.
-Big League Stew was all over Griffey's retirement yesterday.
-Landon Evanson pays homage to Griffey, or as he calls him, the best.
-Rob Iracane's take on Griffey.
-Dan Levy provides his top 10 moments of Girffey's career.
-And yet another voice on Griffey:
Ken Griffey Jr. left Seattle bound for his home in Orlando Wednesday afternoon.
Diminished playing time and lack of productivity brought to an end one of the greatest careers in baseball history.
If the airplane had been headed straight to Cooperstown, it would have been just as appropriate, because the Hall of Fame is bound to be Griffey's next home.
Couldn't agree more.
-Jayson Stark discussing what was and what if with Griffey:
Here we have one of four players in history to hit 600 homers, one of three outfielders in history to win three Gold Gloves, the only outfielder in history to be elected to start 13 All-Star Games -- and we're still wondering WHAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN?
Digest that thought for a moment.
…
He was still one of the two or three greatest players any of us ever saw play, from beginning to end. But …
He easily could have been in the argument for Greatest Player Ever. Easily.
Great read.
-Jim Caple captures what Griffey meant to Seattle.
-And finally, Tim Kurkjian's tribute to Griffey:
In 1989, the Mariners wanted Griffey to spend a third year in the minor leagues and play a year at Triple-A. "When he came to camp in 1989, he had no chance to make the team," Bradley said. "But he got a lot of at-bats early that spring because a lot of veterans don't like to play a lot early. After 20 games, he wasn't just the best player on our team, he was the best player in the league that spring. The Mariners basically said, 'We don't want this to happen, we don't want to rush him, we don't want him to make the team.' So they started running him out there against every elite pitcher, against all the nastiest left-handers they could find in hopes that he would stop hitting, and they could send him out [to the minors]. It never happened."
-The Phillies installed Harry Kalas and Richie Ashburn plaques at Citizens Bank Park.
Really miss those guys.
-Adam EatShit passed this along:
Awesome.
-Me on Kobe over at Ed the Sports Fan.
-Good read on Ville Leino.
-Another stroke of genius by Peter Laviolette: Getting Hartnell's play turned around in the postseason.
-A funny dismantling of Bill Simmons, via Deadspin.
-Bad news for Ivory Coast and the World Cup: Drogba may be done.
-The Phils signed Willy Tavares. If I had my way, I'd immediately call him up to the big club (a speedy guy who has a career batting average of .274) and send down Greg Dobbs.
-KG and Paul Pierce playing in the McDonald's All-American game, along with Vince Carter, Robert Traylor, Chauncey Billups, Stephon Marbury and Shareef Abdur-Rahim, among others:
-In case you forgot, Tracy McGrady used to be all sorts of amazing:
-Top 10 plays in Lakers-Celtics Finals history:
On tap this weekend, the Phillies return to begin a four-game set against San Diego and hopefully find their missing offense. And of course, game 4 of the Stanley Cup Finals tonight, game three slated for Sunday night. Three more wins.
LET'S GO FLYERS!!!!!
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
We're Talking About Playoffs Links
Believe it or not, the Major League Baseball playoffs are practically upon us. They begin tomorrow, meaning that it was one year ago that our Philadelphia Phillies began their run that ended a month later with our fair baseball team crowned the World Fucking Champions.
This year, things haven't quite been the same. There was no dramatic come-from-behind finish to claim the division. There was no star shortstop bad-mouthing the fans. And there sure as shit wasn't any perfect closer. While there are many pieces still around from last year's improbable World Series victors, this is not the same team. But that doesn't mean the Phils can't reach the same place.
Sure the bullpen is a mess, the Rockies pose a formidable challenge, as do the all the teams in the playoffs, and repeats don't happen very often for a reason. But this team still has Chase Utley and Ryan Howard. This team still has Cole Hamels and Shane Victorino. This team still is capable of crushing the ball all over the place, and defensively, there aren't many (if any) teams better. Tomorrow, as the majority of Philadelphia fans are stuck at work and wishing they were anywhere but there, the Phillies begin their postseason title defense at 2:37 p.m. in their home ballpark, in front of their hometown fans. Major League Baseball isn't doing us any favors. Then again, they never have. Maybe, just maybe if the Phillies go out and win the whole damn thing again, we can get some respect. Only one way to find out.
Links …
-Cory is none too pleased with the Phillies scheduled not once, but twice in a row for 2:37 game times. Bullshit.
-Neither is Dash. Seriously MLB, go fuck yourself.
-24 x 3 = 72.
-Meet the newest linebacker to work on his craft at Linebacker U:
-Leitch's take on the Phils:
As I wrote back in 2007, "anybody who says the first title just makes you hungrier is full of it." It is to the Phillies' credit that they have rejected this notion; they are going for it this year, all in, as if they didn't win last year at all. Cliff Lee, Pedro Martinez, Ben Francisco ... the Phillies are trying to fill in all possible gaps. I have no doubt that if Roger Clemens had any interest in coming in to be the closer sometime in late July, the Phillies would have at least considered it. They have the bloodlust of a team that has never won a title before. In the past, it would have looked desperate. Now it just looks like piling on. Good for them.
Still, it's bizarre to think that the lone repeat champions this decade would come from Philadelphia, doesn't it? (By the way, Philadelphia fans don't receive nearly enough credit for avoiding the Boston plague, immediately turning into our-shit-don't-stink self-important spoiled brats after winning a long-awaited title. They're pretty much the same miserable fucks they've always been, and you have to salute them for that.)
…
You have to grab what you can, while you can. Sometimes if you forget that you've won one, you might just win two. The Phillies' place in history is secure. That they don't think that's enough is impressive, and rare. Good for them.
-Hilarious.
-Whatever happened to Joe Forte?
-Yeah, that's a good block:
-I still can't believe Trotter is an Eagle again.
-I find it even harder to believe that the Eagles may be planning to play Trotter a lot:
Now, in a mind-boggling twist, Trotter is back, and he alternated with Gaither as the first-team middle linebacker yesterday. Yes, in his first practice with the team in two years, he got about half the reps as the starter.
Crazy.
-If you're worried about the Phillies not being quite as hungry, these guys are certainly itching for a ring.
-Cliff Lee is tomorrow's starter.
Let's hope it's first five games as a Phillie Cliff Lee and not the one who has been quite shaky down the stretch.
-The Juice is cut loose from his starting spot at Illinois.
-Saw this on Monday Night Countdown last night:
That is the fastest ball boy alive.
-This is for silver fox, courtesy of Mouthpiece Blog:
-More dunks:
-Yeah, I can see why you'd want to punch the Blue Jays in their faces, especially if you are a fan of the Blue Jays.
-Ed says Bob Stoops and Jim Tressel should be more like JoePa or something.
-10 numbers for the Rockies-Phils series.
-Meech lends a helping hand to 'Duk:
Winning baseball games. Specifically, 11 of them during the postseason. If my memory serves me correctly, that's what they did last year. Can they do it again? I SAY YES.
Tonight, the Flyers take on the Capitals at the Wachovia Center, with Alexander Ovechkin coming to town along with Mike Knuble returning to Philadelphia for the first time since heading south on 95. That's a nice little appetizer to playoff baseball tomorrow.
Speaking of playoff baseball, if anyone wants to call in a bomb threat to my building tomorrow (or better yet actually blow the fucker up tonight), I'll give you every last cent in my bank account so I can stay at home and actually watch the baseball game, instead of sitting in a cubicle pretending to work as I listen to LA and Franske on the radio. Thank you.
Friday, September 18, 2009
All I Wanna Do Is Link
So last night, during halftime of the Miami-Georgia Tech game, my roommate starts flipping around the channels on the top TV while the Phils were showing on the bottom television. Suddenly, he stumbled on The World's Dumbest Confrontations on truTV. With a title like that, how could we not watch?
Well, to our amazement, this happened:
Listen, I'm one of the whitest people who ever whited, so I'm not the most well-versed person when it comes to others' cultures, but, uh, can anyone on the planet honestly explain to me what the hell is going on here? Seriously, I'm completely baffled. Sure, it didn't help our understanding last night when we saw it that the sound was off because we had the sound on for the Phillies game, but honestly, sound doesn't help. I don't get it. I'm not sure I want to get it. Some things are simply beyond explanation.
Links …
-Check out the defensive end from Michigan that Penn State has plucked out from under the Wolverines' nose:
HIs name is C.J. Olaniyan, and he'd like very much to play for Larry Johnson Sr.
-Turns out Cornelius Ingram wasn't surprised he needed a second surgery. I hope he doesn't plan on ever going back to that doctor who performed the first one.
-Charlie Manuel says Brett Myers isn't ready to close. I say neither is Ryan Madson. Guess Brad Lidge it is. Ugh.
-Surprise, surprise, the Eagles don't want to eat any money if they don't have to. That's why they won't cut or trade Reggie Brown. Yeah, because an inactive player is more valuable than a special teamer if he saves some cash. What a bunch of scrooges.
-Apparently, Chris Pronger and Matt Carle are playing well together as a shutdown defensive pair. The most exciting part to me is that this means Kimmo Timonen and Braydon Coburn will be reunited. I likes the sound of that.
-Who says preseason hockey is boring?
-Yes, Cole is starting to look like the World Series MVP again.
-More on Jacory Harris:
Ready for wild, uneducated declarations? Miami quarterback Jacory Harris will be the #1 pick in the 2011 NFL Draft. He'll be just like JaMarcus Russell, only he'll be good instead of grossly obese.
-Just click here, via TBL. You can thank me later.
-Kobe Bryant's best dunks, because I know how much everyone else here loves Kobe so much.
-SLAM's Fresh 50 2010, starring local product Dion Waiters and Penn State-bound Taran Buie:
Waiters with Nova's Roman Catholic grad Maalik Wayns
17 Dion Waiters 6-3 SG Life Center (NJ) Syracuse Philly product still bullies smaller guards, but has added more of a playmaking mentality.
43 Taran Buie 6-2 SG State College (PA) Penn State Buffalo-area transfer will give his future college supporters a preview of his explosive all-around game.
-Puck Daddy likes JVR:
The Keepers
James van Riemsdyk(notes), Philadelphia Flyers: The Flyers are deeper than Jim Balsillie's pockets, which is the only reason why JVR won't be an impact player this year. However, he has come as advertised and he will be a star forward very soon. He should get into a lot of NHL contests in 2009-10, but the numbers game will hold him to the third line.
-The world needs more Ozzie Guillen:
“This is a tease, man,” Guillen said. “It’s like when you have a girlfriend and you are kissing her all over … and she says no. That’s where we are right now. That’s the way we are. Like I say, it doesn’t matter what Detroit does. It only matters what we do.”
-Brent Barry may retire, seeing as the Rockets are trying to trade him. Please, please don't retire, Brent. I'm not ready for an NBA without you.
-Lou Williams getting some love:
3. Lou Williams, Sixers - As the starting point guard in Philly, it’s time for Sweet Lou to step up. Last year he averaged a respectable 12.8 points, 3.0 assists and 2.0 rebounds in only 23.7 minutes a night. With increased playing time, those numbers should increase as well. If he can become the player we all saw in high school, the League better watch out.
I personally don't see it, but it would be nice if that happened.
-Temple and Drexel are part of ESPN's 24-hour tip-off marathon. Temple takes on Georgetown for an early-season test.
-8 reasons to hate Notre Dame, via Ballhype.
-Dominique Wilkins can still get up:
-That's gonna leave a mark:
Finally, I'd just like to make it known that D' Anton Lynn, the sophomore starting cornerback for Penn State (No. 8), is now my next new favorite Penn Stater.
Of course, Jerome Hayes is and always will be my guy, and Navorro Bowman isn't far behind, but mark my words, you will know D' Anton Lynn before it's all said and done.
Well, to our amazement, this happened:
Listen, I'm one of the whitest people who ever whited, so I'm not the most well-versed person when it comes to others' cultures, but, uh, can anyone on the planet honestly explain to me what the hell is going on here? Seriously, I'm completely baffled. Sure, it didn't help our understanding last night when we saw it that the sound was off because we had the sound on for the Phillies game, but honestly, sound doesn't help. I don't get it. I'm not sure I want to get it. Some things are simply beyond explanation.
Links …
-Check out the defensive end from Michigan that Penn State has plucked out from under the Wolverines' nose:
HIs name is C.J. Olaniyan, and he'd like very much to play for Larry Johnson Sr.
-Turns out Cornelius Ingram wasn't surprised he needed a second surgery. I hope he doesn't plan on ever going back to that doctor who performed the first one.
-Charlie Manuel says Brett Myers isn't ready to close. I say neither is Ryan Madson. Guess Brad Lidge it is. Ugh.
-Surprise, surprise, the Eagles don't want to eat any money if they don't have to. That's why they won't cut or trade Reggie Brown. Yeah, because an inactive player is more valuable than a special teamer if he saves some cash. What a bunch of scrooges.
-Apparently, Chris Pronger and Matt Carle are playing well together as a shutdown defensive pair. The most exciting part to me is that this means Kimmo Timonen and Braydon Coburn will be reunited. I likes the sound of that.
-Who says preseason hockey is boring?
-Yes, Cole is starting to look like the World Series MVP again.
-More on Jacory Harris:
Ready for wild, uneducated declarations? Miami quarterback Jacory Harris will be the #1 pick in the 2011 NFL Draft. He'll be just like JaMarcus Russell, only he'll be good instead of grossly obese.
-Just click here, via TBL. You can thank me later.
-Kobe Bryant's best dunks, because I know how much everyone else here loves Kobe so much.
-SLAM's Fresh 50 2010, starring local product Dion Waiters and Penn State-bound Taran Buie:
Waiters with Nova's Roman Catholic grad Maalik Wayns
17 Dion Waiters 6-3 SG Life Center (NJ) Syracuse Philly product still bullies smaller guards, but has added more of a playmaking mentality.
43 Taran Buie 6-2 SG State College (PA) Penn State Buffalo-area transfer will give his future college supporters a preview of his explosive all-around game.
-Puck Daddy likes JVR:
The Keepers
James van Riemsdyk(notes), Philadelphia Flyers: The Flyers are deeper than Jim Balsillie's pockets, which is the only reason why JVR won't be an impact player this year. However, he has come as advertised and he will be a star forward very soon. He should get into a lot of NHL contests in 2009-10, but the numbers game will hold him to the third line.
-The world needs more Ozzie Guillen:
“This is a tease, man,” Guillen said. “It’s like when you have a girlfriend and you are kissing her all over … and she says no. That’s where we are right now. That’s the way we are. Like I say, it doesn’t matter what Detroit does. It only matters what we do.”
-Brent Barry may retire, seeing as the Rockets are trying to trade him. Please, please don't retire, Brent. I'm not ready for an NBA without you.
-Lou Williams getting some love:
3. Lou Williams, Sixers - As the starting point guard in Philly, it’s time for Sweet Lou to step up. Last year he averaged a respectable 12.8 points, 3.0 assists and 2.0 rebounds in only 23.7 minutes a night. With increased playing time, those numbers should increase as well. If he can become the player we all saw in high school, the League better watch out.
I personally don't see it, but it would be nice if that happened.
-Temple and Drexel are part of ESPN's 24-hour tip-off marathon. Temple takes on Georgetown for an early-season test.
-8 reasons to hate Notre Dame, via Ballhype.
-Dominique Wilkins can still get up:
-That's gonna leave a mark:
Finally, I'd just like to make it known that D' Anton Lynn, the sophomore starting cornerback for Penn State (No. 8), is now my next new favorite Penn Stater.
Of course, Jerome Hayes is and always will be my guy, and Navorro Bowman isn't far behind, but mark my words, you will know D' Anton Lynn before it's all said and done.
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
My 2009-10 NBA Conundrum
With all the talk and hype about the summer of 2010 taking over the NBA stratosphere the past few seasons, it's understandable that the summer of 2009 was simply considered an afterthought before it actually came to be. But as we're all aware of now, this has been one the most busy, batshit-insane offseasons in recent memory.
The craziest part for me is the fact that two teams I despise, both of which call cities I cannot stand home, each added one of my favorite players to the fold. Yes, I'm talking about the Lakers and the Celtics, Los Angeles and Boston. And now I find myself completely and utterly disgusted that I may actually like the makeup of these two teams.
Of course, I already sorta came to grips with Boston when they added Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen, two of my favorite players ever. I wanted desperately for both those men, especially KG, to get a ring, so it didn't sting quite as much to have Boston win in 2008, especially since the Sixers were far from contention. But now, I almost want to like the Celtics with the addition of Rasheed Wallace. Almost, but of course I cannot.
I, just like everyone else, can get frustrated with Sheed from time to time. I always imagined him becoming one of the greatest ever. Perhaps that's selfish of me. But, as Joey over at FreeDarko pointed out, there's a lot to love and appreciate in Rasheed Wallace. When his head is right, he's a selfless player with superstar skill, one of the best post defenders in all the land, and a simply unstoppable force on the blocks when he chooses to be. And he has no problem playing second (or third, or fourth) fiddle to his teammates, making the union with Garnett, Allen, Paul Pierce and Rajon Rondo a seemingly ideal fit.
Plus, the guy is a Philadelphian through and through. A Simon Gratz grad. A UNC Tar Heel. It's hard for me not to love the guy, flaws and all. And now he's a Celtic. If ever there was a guy who didn't fit a city, it's Rasheed Wallace in Boston. Take that for what you will.
But as far as a fit on the team, Rasheed offers so much more than that fatso named Big Baby it's not even funny. Sure, Sheed may be old, and last year he definitely sucked and stopped trying, but with KG around, something tells me Rasheed will bring his A game every damn night. And frankly, that's a scary thought — mixing crazy intense, with crazy accurate shooting, with crazy clutch star with just plain crazy. This Boston team is going to be fun to watch.
And the Celtics aren't the only ones. As much as I detest all LA stands for, I cannot deny the pure beauty in one Kobe Bryant's play. He's Philadelphia's shunned son, brought on by his own doings, but the fact remains, he plays the game as no one else does. Now his evil forces are joined with the NBA's poster child of evil.
I love Ron Artest. Always have. Always will. The guy is certifiably insane, but he's also one of the toughest players I've ever seen take the court. And man, can he D it up with the best of them.
But now he'll be donning the purple and gold. Alongside Kobe Bryant, the man he had a bit of a tiff with in the playoffs.
Seems absurd, right? Well, not if you recall that time Ron-Ron interviewed the Mamba himself.
This union is so crazy that it just might work. In fact, I don't really see how it can't. The Lakers, assuming they can bring Lamar Odom back, just replaced Trevor Ariza with Ron Artest. For those of you with delusions that Ariza is as good as Artest right now, just stop reading. You are stupid. Ron Artest is better than Ariza, making the Lakers better than the team that just won the championship. That's a little scary, no?
While I'm excited to see how Artest handles the limelight of LA and the demanding nature of Kobe, and greatly anticipate the lineup of Rondo, Allen, Pierce, Garnett and Wallace, I'm torn. I don't want to like anything about the Celtics or Lakers. Not a single thing. It's in my hate-filled Philadelphia blood. Boston is a nemesis, a frequent foe. I wish nothing good upon that city. And LA, well, it's the antithesis of Philadelphia — fake, laid-back, glitzy. I can't relate, and I don't want to. Los Angeles is for those who want to be seen, not those that actually care.
Now, there are bits and pieces that I find myself drawn to on each team. To be honest, I hate it. I hope both teams fail, but I'm going to enjoy watching Artest playing with Kobe and the head-exploding frontcourt of Sheed and Garnett.
Maybe the Spurs, with the addition of Richard Jefferson, the Cavs with LeBron and Shaq, or Orlando, with another one of my favorites, Vince Carter, can come out on top. That would be ideal because God knows the last thing either LA or Boston needs is another championship. And I'll feel much better about myself if neither team wins it all, so I don't feel so bad about liking the ideas behind the teams I despise.
The craziest part for me is the fact that two teams I despise, both of which call cities I cannot stand home, each added one of my favorite players to the fold. Yes, I'm talking about the Lakers and the Celtics, Los Angeles and Boston. And now I find myself completely and utterly disgusted that I may actually like the makeup of these two teams.
Of course, I already sorta came to grips with Boston when they added Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen, two of my favorite players ever. I wanted desperately for both those men, especially KG, to get a ring, so it didn't sting quite as much to have Boston win in 2008, especially since the Sixers were far from contention. But now, I almost want to like the Celtics with the addition of Rasheed Wallace. Almost, but of course I cannot.
I, just like everyone else, can get frustrated with Sheed from time to time. I always imagined him becoming one of the greatest ever. Perhaps that's selfish of me. But, as Joey over at FreeDarko pointed out, there's a lot to love and appreciate in Rasheed Wallace. When his head is right, he's a selfless player with superstar skill, one of the best post defenders in all the land, and a simply unstoppable force on the blocks when he chooses to be. And he has no problem playing second (or third, or fourth) fiddle to his teammates, making the union with Garnett, Allen, Paul Pierce and Rajon Rondo a seemingly ideal fit.
Plus, the guy is a Philadelphian through and through. A Simon Gratz grad. A UNC Tar Heel. It's hard for me not to love the guy, flaws and all. And now he's a Celtic. If ever there was a guy who didn't fit a city, it's Rasheed Wallace in Boston. Take that for what you will.
But as far as a fit on the team, Rasheed offers so much more than that fatso named Big Baby it's not even funny. Sure, Sheed may be old, and last year he definitely sucked and stopped trying, but with KG around, something tells me Rasheed will bring his A game every damn night. And frankly, that's a scary thought — mixing crazy intense, with crazy accurate shooting, with crazy clutch star with just plain crazy. This Boston team is going to be fun to watch.
And the Celtics aren't the only ones. As much as I detest all LA stands for, I cannot deny the pure beauty in one Kobe Bryant's play. He's Philadelphia's shunned son, brought on by his own doings, but the fact remains, he plays the game as no one else does. Now his evil forces are joined with the NBA's poster child of evil.
I love Ron Artest. Always have. Always will. The guy is certifiably insane, but he's also one of the toughest players I've ever seen take the court. And man, can he D it up with the best of them.
But now he'll be donning the purple and gold. Alongside Kobe Bryant, the man he had a bit of a tiff with in the playoffs.
Seems absurd, right? Well, not if you recall that time Ron-Ron interviewed the Mamba himself.
This union is so crazy that it just might work. In fact, I don't really see how it can't. The Lakers, assuming they can bring Lamar Odom back, just replaced Trevor Ariza with Ron Artest. For those of you with delusions that Ariza is as good as Artest right now, just stop reading. You are stupid. Ron Artest is better than Ariza, making the Lakers better than the team that just won the championship. That's a little scary, no?
While I'm excited to see how Artest handles the limelight of LA and the demanding nature of Kobe, and greatly anticipate the lineup of Rondo, Allen, Pierce, Garnett and Wallace, I'm torn. I don't want to like anything about the Celtics or Lakers. Not a single thing. It's in my hate-filled Philadelphia blood. Boston is a nemesis, a frequent foe. I wish nothing good upon that city. And LA, well, it's the antithesis of Philadelphia — fake, laid-back, glitzy. I can't relate, and I don't want to. Los Angeles is for those who want to be seen, not those that actually care.
Now, there are bits and pieces that I find myself drawn to on each team. To be honest, I hate it. I hope both teams fail, but I'm going to enjoy watching Artest playing with Kobe and the head-exploding frontcourt of Sheed and Garnett.
Maybe the Spurs, with the addition of Richard Jefferson, the Cavs with LeBron and Shaq, or Orlando, with another one of my favorites, Vince Carter, can come out on top. That would be ideal because God knows the last thing either LA or Boston needs is another championship. And I'll feel much better about myself if neither team wins it all, so I don't feel so bad about liking the ideas behind the teams I despise.
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
If I Hear the Word Twitter One More Time
Sorry for the delay, but every now and then I actually am a busy man. Doesn't happen often, but yesterday was one of those rare occasions.
This past weekend, silver fox and I went up to New York to attend Blogs With Balls on Saturday, and I have to say, it was one hell of an experience.
Seeing as my sister lives in Brooklyn, silver fox and I decided to drive on up to her house and then take the train into the city on Friday night. One problem: My sister was at my parents' house all weekend and my brother-in-law was at the Yankees-Mets game, so when we arrived, we had to try and find the subway from their house all by ourselves. This did not go well. I have only been to my sister's house once before, and that was a few weeks ago when I went up to see Brad Lidge ruin my day in the New Yankee Stadium. That night, we were extremely drunk, so naturally, we couldn't remember a damn thing about how to get to the subway.
After walking around Brooklyn for longer than we thought we should, I finally reached out to lady friend for directions. She was absolutely no help at all, reaffirming the fact that women have no sense of direction, even if they've lived in Brooklyn their entire life. Finally, mercifully, my brother-in-law called me from the game (I didn't want to call and disrupt him during the game) and directed us to the subway from where we were. Evidently, we were way off course. It would help if every fucking apartment complex in Brooklyn didn't look exactly like this:
I'm not kidding, every single building looks just like this. Same color bricks. Same color fire escapes. It's like walking in circles. Fuck that place. Build something different for once.
Sorry, got off on a tangent there. We did finally make it into Manhattan to get some drinks and meet up with my brother-in-law once the game was through. We walked in to one local establishment with about a minute or so left to play in game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals, and that last minute was some damn exciting hockey.
Holy hell! What an awesome end, even if stupid Pittsburgh did win. Amazing save by Fleury. It was a thrilling end to a thrilling playoffs. But still, there is a part of me that is extremely annoyed that Pittsburgh won both the Super Bowl and the Stanley Cup in 2009. It would really be unbearable if the Phillies weren't World Fucking Champions. Thank God for that.
It sucked that PIttsburgh won again, but all hope was not lost. My brother-in-law called me to to let me know the Mets blew it because Luis Castillo dropped a pop-up. Then I saw the replay on television. I'm really beginning to enjoy how the Mets keep finding ways to snatch defeat from victory.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That's just too much.
First, how the hell does a Major League player drop that ball? Seemed like one of the easier plays that occurs in baseball. But really, seriously, why the hell would Castillo throw the ball to second? Is he retarded? Oh, wait, I figured it out. Because he's a low-life, scumbag Met. Seriously, I'm almost beginning to feel bad for Mets fans. Almost. OK, maybe not. Fuck them. The Mets, as my friend RomanWarHelmet so eloquently said, molest small children.
After watching that hilarity, silver fox and I met my brother-in-law and his cousin at Stout, which is where Blogs With Balls was actually being held the following morning. Stupid me didn't even realize this. And stupid me also failed to show any self-restraint, despite the fact I was going to have to wake up at 8 a.m. on Saturday, and got completely hammered. Jack and gingers, beers, car bombs. Not the greatest of life choices, but shit, how often am I in New York?
Not often, which is a good thing, because my bar tab Friday night was not cheap.
Somehow, we made it back to Brooklyn and crashed immediately. When my phone alarm went off a few hours later, I wanted to die. Luckily, miraculously, I wasn't really hung over, just tired.
Silver fox and I ventured back to the bar from whence we came and set up shop. I know the event was held in part to network and meet some fellow sports bloggers, but early on, I was too tired to move. Thankfully, I'd gain steam as the day wore on.
As a whole, the event was awesome as shit. The guys over at Hugging Harold Reynolds did a phenomenal job setting this up. But I have to tell you, during the first session, I was beginning to have my doubts. Not because the people who were up there were awful or unintelligible or anything like that. Quite the contrary. In fact, Jim DeLorenzo, Richard Ting, Chris Russo and Kathleen Hessert did a fantastic job.
There was just one problem. Every other word out of their mouths was Twitter. Or tweet. After about 15 minutes, the entire thing sounded like this to me: "Words, words, words, Twitter. Words. Twitter. Words. Tweet. Twitter. Tweet. Words. Shaquille O'Neal. Twitter. Twitter. Twitter." AHHHHHH IF I HEAR TWITTER ONE MORE GOD DAMN TIME I'M GONNA BLUDGEON MYSELF WITH A PICK AX!
What I learned through that session is that Twitter seems to be a big tool for bloggers and shit. Which means I won't be growing my audience all that much, seeing as Twitter really helps with that. Because I fucking hate Twitter. I think it's a horrible, terrible invention and just another step in the dumbing down and lazification (yeah, I made that word up) of America. Fuck Twitter.
I'm not going to go through an entire blow by blow of the event, because that shit was long as hell. But all the panels were fantastic, even Twitterfest. I think everyone did a very good job, but there were definitely people who stood out in my opinion. Dan Levy, Matt Sebek, Matt Ufford, Greg Wyshynski, Spencer Hall, Jeff Pearlman, Dan Steinberg and Shoals were my favorite bloggers, and Gary Vaynerchuk, who has nothing to do with sports, per se, was a hilarious, tremendous speaker to close out the day.
To me, the final session, "Why We Hate You: The Media's Take," was the best panel of the day. Steinberg, Pearlman and Shoals were getting visually frustrated, but the debate among the entire panel, as well as the audience, was very healthy and thought-provoking. "Make the Leap, Make it Your Job" was by far the funniest panel, as Spencer Hall stole the show and Wyshynski followed suit. Hall, wearing the most awesome of white suits this side of Rick Pitino, had the quote of the day, telling aspiring full-time bloggers to get a job they really, really hate, like clubbing baby seals in front of small children, and then become a blogger. It was priceless.
Wyshynski added how he was disappointed there weren't more drinking games going on, such as drinking every time someone said, "Twitter." If that game would have taken place, everyone would have been shitfaced about 30 minutes in. Seriously, enough with the Twitter already people.
I thoroughly enjoyed the event. I really did. The speakers were very engaging, very helpful and the audience participation really kept everyone engaged. The one thing I think that could make this even better, however, is to have a little more of a representative group. For the most part, all the panelists were the most well-known, most successful sports bloggers who pretty much did the gig full-time or close to it. And a lot of the sessions were geared toward making money off blogging or making a career out of it.
That's all well and good, and rest assured, if someone was willing to pay me to do what I do here, I'd jump at it. But not all that really interested me that much. I didn't start this site to make money or make it my job. Again, I would love to have this be my job, but it's not my goal. I write and blog because I really enjoy it. I love to vent. And I do it more for me than for any audience.
Matt Sebek, for example, was discussing finding out what your readers like and don't like. That's great advice and sound advice if you want to grow your site to get as many eyeballs as possible. But that's not my goal here. I write what I want for myself, to vent, to get my viewpoint out there. That's not to say I wouldn't like an audience and wouldn't like to have people enjoy what I do here. But that's not why I do it. I do it for me, as selfish as that sounds. It's kind of therapy, if you will. I think that voice should be represented as well next time around. But still, awesome event, and I definitely plan on attending more.
After the conference itself was over, there was an after party held at Foley's, a bar with more sports memorabilia than I've ever seen in my life.
Throughout the course of the day/night, I met and talked with a lot of people. During the conference, I spoke with Ufford about the cease and desist letter I received from Robbie Gould's agent/lawyer. He was very smart, very engaging and eager to listen. And in essence, his conclusion was, as long as I didn't write anything that was flat-out wrong, fuck 'em. Amen, brother.
I also had a great conversation with Wyshynski, thanking him for inviting me to join the Flyers-Sarah Palin Roundtable and discussing the playoffs with, yes, The Pensblog. We had a great conversation about how I never really hated Pittsburgh until I went to Penn State. Seems to be a common thread.
I also had a chance to speak with Dan Levy in person to briefly discuss our little dust-up, which we settled over e-mail. Levy was an excellent speaker Saturday, and even in a drunken state, he was gracious. He did say, "Oh, yeah, this guy called me all sorts of names and bashed me," but he was somewhat joking and very good-natured about it. I actually didn't really call him names, as you can see, but I did say I wasn't a fan of his writing. Well, I'm a fan of Dan Levy, that's for sure, and he was a great guy.
My networking didn't end there. I had the chance to meet the brains behind Both Teams Played Hard, and we had a great time chatting it up. He's such an avid basketball fan, I could have talked to him all night. He was also really pumped that I knew so much about Sheed and the title of his site. Helps that I'm a Philly guy and a UNC fan.
There were many people I met throughout the night, including guys from Philly.com and Writing the Pine, and everyone I met seemed like a pretty decent person. But finally, the free booze stopped flowing, so silver fox and I went out to see what else the night had to offer.
Turns out, a friend of ours was chilling in Long Island, where we just so happened to know a girl we were trying to meet up with. But our female friend who was visiting was wasted and gave us awful directions. For the second time in as many days, we asked a woman for directions and were left wandering. Stupid us. We did, however, make it out to Long Island, met up with the girl we know who lives there, and who hates pretty much everyone, and had a few drinks. She told off this guy who made her get out of his seat, which was great. That girl is all right.
Somehow, we made it back to Brooklyn and to the front door of my sister's house. Unfortunately, both my phone and silver fox's phone were dead. And we were locked out. That sucked. Well, it could have sucked. By chance, my brother-in-law was up taking a piss, heard us outside fidgeting around and let us in.
We immediately passed out.
Upon waking up around 12:30 on Sunday, we watched the first five innings of the Yankees-Mets game on the Yankees station. First off, I'd like to say how incredibly enjoyable it was to watch the Yanks tee off on Johan Santana. Nothing could be better than watching the Mets lose a game they should have won and then get destroyed in the same weekend. The losses were so damaging that Roman is really beginning to lose faith.
Secondly, Francisco Rodriguez is an awesome, awesome closer … and a raving douche.
I got to see the video footage of him confronting Brian Bruney on Sunday. It was hilarious.
Also, the Yankees broadcast had Al Leiter and David Cone as the player-analysts. Two pitchers. It was incredibly overbearing because all the two talked about was pitching the entire time. I'm glad the Phillies don't do this. It was annoying.
We finally left for Philadelphia mid-afternoon and returned in plenty of time for game 5 of the NBA Finals.
There's not a whole lot I can add to the conversations about these Finals that others haven't already said. Dwight Howard needs to learn some post moves and definitely needs to shoot a minimum of 5 million free throws every day. Seriously.
Pau Gasol truly came up huge on the big stage, firmly entrenching himself as one of the top big men in the game. He is anonymous no more.
And for all of those people who say Kobe is this and Kobe is that, what he is now is a 4-time champion. As Shoals said, there really isn't any argument any longer against Kobe the player. Sure, he had Pau, but this was Kobe's team and it was Kobe who was the best player. Not Shaq's team with Kobe as sidekick. Not Kobe with a bunch of scrubs. Kobe's championship team.
He brought home the hardware because he earned it. He really did.
It's hard to root for Kobe Bryant. He's arrogant, standoffish, stubborn. But he goes out there and competes harder than anyone. He's the guy we love to hate, but he's also a joy to watch. I hate the Lakers. I hate Kobe Bryant. But I love to watch him play the game. I really do.
For real though, four is enough. And the Van Gundy's are the shit.
Oh, and word to the wise: Never ask women for directions. It gets you nowhere.
Tweet that.
This past weekend, silver fox and I went up to New York to attend Blogs With Balls on Saturday, and I have to say, it was one hell of an experience.
Seeing as my sister lives in Brooklyn, silver fox and I decided to drive on up to her house and then take the train into the city on Friday night. One problem: My sister was at my parents' house all weekend and my brother-in-law was at the Yankees-Mets game, so when we arrived, we had to try and find the subway from their house all by ourselves. This did not go well. I have only been to my sister's house once before, and that was a few weeks ago when I went up to see Brad Lidge ruin my day in the New Yankee Stadium. That night, we were extremely drunk, so naturally, we couldn't remember a damn thing about how to get to the subway.
After walking around Brooklyn for longer than we thought we should, I finally reached out to lady friend for directions. She was absolutely no help at all, reaffirming the fact that women have no sense of direction, even if they've lived in Brooklyn their entire life. Finally, mercifully, my brother-in-law called me from the game (I didn't want to call and disrupt him during the game) and directed us to the subway from where we were. Evidently, we were way off course. It would help if every fucking apartment complex in Brooklyn didn't look exactly like this:
I'm not kidding, every single building looks just like this. Same color bricks. Same color fire escapes. It's like walking in circles. Fuck that place. Build something different for once.
Sorry, got off on a tangent there. We did finally make it into Manhattan to get some drinks and meet up with my brother-in-law once the game was through. We walked in to one local establishment with about a minute or so left to play in game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals, and that last minute was some damn exciting hockey.
Holy hell! What an awesome end, even if stupid Pittsburgh did win. Amazing save by Fleury. It was a thrilling end to a thrilling playoffs. But still, there is a part of me that is extremely annoyed that Pittsburgh won both the Super Bowl and the Stanley Cup in 2009. It would really be unbearable if the Phillies weren't World Fucking Champions. Thank God for that.
It sucked that PIttsburgh won again, but all hope was not lost. My brother-in-law called me to to let me know the Mets blew it because Luis Castillo dropped a pop-up. Then I saw the replay on television. I'm really beginning to enjoy how the Mets keep finding ways to snatch defeat from victory.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That's just too much.
First, how the hell does a Major League player drop that ball? Seemed like one of the easier plays that occurs in baseball. But really, seriously, why the hell would Castillo throw the ball to second? Is he retarded? Oh, wait, I figured it out. Because he's a low-life, scumbag Met. Seriously, I'm almost beginning to feel bad for Mets fans. Almost. OK, maybe not. Fuck them. The Mets, as my friend RomanWarHelmet so eloquently said, molest small children.
After watching that hilarity, silver fox and I met my brother-in-law and his cousin at Stout, which is where Blogs With Balls was actually being held the following morning. Stupid me didn't even realize this. And stupid me also failed to show any self-restraint, despite the fact I was going to have to wake up at 8 a.m. on Saturday, and got completely hammered. Jack and gingers, beers, car bombs. Not the greatest of life choices, but shit, how often am I in New York?
Not often, which is a good thing, because my bar tab Friday night was not cheap.
Somehow, we made it back to Brooklyn and crashed immediately. When my phone alarm went off a few hours later, I wanted to die. Luckily, miraculously, I wasn't really hung over, just tired.
Silver fox and I ventured back to the bar from whence we came and set up shop. I know the event was held in part to network and meet some fellow sports bloggers, but early on, I was too tired to move. Thankfully, I'd gain steam as the day wore on.
As a whole, the event was awesome as shit. The guys over at Hugging Harold Reynolds did a phenomenal job setting this up. But I have to tell you, during the first session, I was beginning to have my doubts. Not because the people who were up there were awful or unintelligible or anything like that. Quite the contrary. In fact, Jim DeLorenzo, Richard Ting, Chris Russo and Kathleen Hessert did a fantastic job.
There was just one problem. Every other word out of their mouths was Twitter. Or tweet. After about 15 minutes, the entire thing sounded like this to me: "Words, words, words, Twitter. Words. Twitter. Words. Tweet. Twitter. Tweet. Words. Shaquille O'Neal. Twitter. Twitter. Twitter." AHHHHHH IF I HEAR TWITTER ONE MORE GOD DAMN TIME I'M GONNA BLUDGEON MYSELF WITH A PICK AX!
What I learned through that session is that Twitter seems to be a big tool for bloggers and shit. Which means I won't be growing my audience all that much, seeing as Twitter really helps with that. Because I fucking hate Twitter. I think it's a horrible, terrible invention and just another step in the dumbing down and lazification (yeah, I made that word up) of America. Fuck Twitter.
I'm not going to go through an entire blow by blow of the event, because that shit was long as hell. But all the panels were fantastic, even Twitterfest. I think everyone did a very good job, but there were definitely people who stood out in my opinion. Dan Levy, Matt Sebek, Matt Ufford, Greg Wyshynski, Spencer Hall, Jeff Pearlman, Dan Steinberg and Shoals were my favorite bloggers, and Gary Vaynerchuk, who has nothing to do with sports, per se, was a hilarious, tremendous speaker to close out the day.
To me, the final session, "Why We Hate You: The Media's Take," was the best panel of the day. Steinberg, Pearlman and Shoals were getting visually frustrated, but the debate among the entire panel, as well as the audience, was very healthy and thought-provoking. "Make the Leap, Make it Your Job" was by far the funniest panel, as Spencer Hall stole the show and Wyshynski followed suit. Hall, wearing the most awesome of white suits this side of Rick Pitino, had the quote of the day, telling aspiring full-time bloggers to get a job they really, really hate, like clubbing baby seals in front of small children, and then become a blogger. It was priceless.
Wyshynski added how he was disappointed there weren't more drinking games going on, such as drinking every time someone said, "Twitter." If that game would have taken place, everyone would have been shitfaced about 30 minutes in. Seriously, enough with the Twitter already people.
I thoroughly enjoyed the event. I really did. The speakers were very engaging, very helpful and the audience participation really kept everyone engaged. The one thing I think that could make this even better, however, is to have a little more of a representative group. For the most part, all the panelists were the most well-known, most successful sports bloggers who pretty much did the gig full-time or close to it. And a lot of the sessions were geared toward making money off blogging or making a career out of it.
That's all well and good, and rest assured, if someone was willing to pay me to do what I do here, I'd jump at it. But not all that really interested me that much. I didn't start this site to make money or make it my job. Again, I would love to have this be my job, but it's not my goal. I write and blog because I really enjoy it. I love to vent. And I do it more for me than for any audience.
Matt Sebek, for example, was discussing finding out what your readers like and don't like. That's great advice and sound advice if you want to grow your site to get as many eyeballs as possible. But that's not my goal here. I write what I want for myself, to vent, to get my viewpoint out there. That's not to say I wouldn't like an audience and wouldn't like to have people enjoy what I do here. But that's not why I do it. I do it for me, as selfish as that sounds. It's kind of therapy, if you will. I think that voice should be represented as well next time around. But still, awesome event, and I definitely plan on attending more.
After the conference itself was over, there was an after party held at Foley's, a bar with more sports memorabilia than I've ever seen in my life.
Throughout the course of the day/night, I met and talked with a lot of people. During the conference, I spoke with Ufford about the cease and desist letter I received from Robbie Gould's agent/lawyer. He was very smart, very engaging and eager to listen. And in essence, his conclusion was, as long as I didn't write anything that was flat-out wrong, fuck 'em. Amen, brother.
I also had a great conversation with Wyshynski, thanking him for inviting me to join the Flyers-Sarah Palin Roundtable and discussing the playoffs with, yes, The Pensblog. We had a great conversation about how I never really hated Pittsburgh until I went to Penn State. Seems to be a common thread.
I also had a chance to speak with Dan Levy in person to briefly discuss our little dust-up, which we settled over e-mail. Levy was an excellent speaker Saturday, and even in a drunken state, he was gracious. He did say, "Oh, yeah, this guy called me all sorts of names and bashed me," but he was somewhat joking and very good-natured about it. I actually didn't really call him names, as you can see, but I did say I wasn't a fan of his writing. Well, I'm a fan of Dan Levy, that's for sure, and he was a great guy.
My networking didn't end there. I had the chance to meet the brains behind Both Teams Played Hard, and we had a great time chatting it up. He's such an avid basketball fan, I could have talked to him all night. He was also really pumped that I knew so much about Sheed and the title of his site. Helps that I'm a Philly guy and a UNC fan.
There were many people I met throughout the night, including guys from Philly.com and Writing the Pine, and everyone I met seemed like a pretty decent person. But finally, the free booze stopped flowing, so silver fox and I went out to see what else the night had to offer.
Turns out, a friend of ours was chilling in Long Island, where we just so happened to know a girl we were trying to meet up with. But our female friend who was visiting was wasted and gave us awful directions. For the second time in as many days, we asked a woman for directions and were left wandering. Stupid us. We did, however, make it out to Long Island, met up with the girl we know who lives there, and who hates pretty much everyone, and had a few drinks. She told off this guy who made her get out of his seat, which was great. That girl is all right.
Somehow, we made it back to Brooklyn and to the front door of my sister's house. Unfortunately, both my phone and silver fox's phone were dead. And we were locked out. That sucked. Well, it could have sucked. By chance, my brother-in-law was up taking a piss, heard us outside fidgeting around and let us in.
We immediately passed out.
Upon waking up around 12:30 on Sunday, we watched the first five innings of the Yankees-Mets game on the Yankees station. First off, I'd like to say how incredibly enjoyable it was to watch the Yanks tee off on Johan Santana. Nothing could be better than watching the Mets lose a game they should have won and then get destroyed in the same weekend. The losses were so damaging that Roman is really beginning to lose faith.
Secondly, Francisco Rodriguez is an awesome, awesome closer … and a raving douche.
I got to see the video footage of him confronting Brian Bruney on Sunday. It was hilarious.
Also, the Yankees broadcast had Al Leiter and David Cone as the player-analysts. Two pitchers. It was incredibly overbearing because all the two talked about was pitching the entire time. I'm glad the Phillies don't do this. It was annoying.
We finally left for Philadelphia mid-afternoon and returned in plenty of time for game 5 of the NBA Finals.
There's not a whole lot I can add to the conversations about these Finals that others haven't already said. Dwight Howard needs to learn some post moves and definitely needs to shoot a minimum of 5 million free throws every day. Seriously.
Pau Gasol truly came up huge on the big stage, firmly entrenching himself as one of the top big men in the game. He is anonymous no more.
And for all of those people who say Kobe is this and Kobe is that, what he is now is a 4-time champion. As Shoals said, there really isn't any argument any longer against Kobe the player. Sure, he had Pau, but this was Kobe's team and it was Kobe who was the best player. Not Shaq's team with Kobe as sidekick. Not Kobe with a bunch of scrubs. Kobe's championship team.
He brought home the hardware because he earned it. He really did.
It's hard to root for Kobe Bryant. He's arrogant, standoffish, stubborn. But he goes out there and competes harder than anyone. He's the guy we love to hate, but he's also a joy to watch. I hate the Lakers. I hate Kobe Bryant. But I love to watch him play the game. I really do.
For real though, four is enough. And the Van Gundy's are the shit.
Oh, and word to the wise: Never ask women for directions. It gets you nowhere.
Tweet that.
Monday, June 8, 2009
Boring Start, Awesome Finish … Except the Outcome
I have to say, it was pretty damn lucky that the Phils-Dodgers game started at the same time as the Lakers-Magic, because it allowed me to focus on the Phils early and avoid watching a 15-15 first quarter in an NBA Finals game.
That's 30 points for all you math majors out there. Not 30 apiece, as in 30-30. No, 15-15. In an entire quarter. In the Finals. Gross.
Truthfully, I watched more of the Phils game because this thing was looking so ugly, but I did tune in for the fourth quarter in its entirety. And I'm glad I did, especially for those final three minutes of regulation. With the Lakers up 84-81 with less than three to play, J.J. Redick hits a three to tie it. Then Rashard Lewis splits the defense in post to give Orlando a lead. Kobe answers. Turkoglu answers back. Then Pau ties it up again.
Finally, Hedo makes an incredible block on Kobe's game-winning attempt, leaving .6 seconds to set up the perfect inbound play that Courtney Lee clanks.
Really, the entire ending was fantastic, except for the part where Lee missed and the Lakers won in OT to go up 2-0. Rashard and Hedo were beasts for Orlando. Ditto Pau Gasol, Lamar Odom and Kobe for the Lakers. Dwight Howard was good, but the Orlando point guards were a complete mess. Maybe this whole Jameer thing wasn't such a good idea after all.
Still, Orlando had a shot to win it, but Lee couldn't get the job done on honestly one of the most beautifully designed inbound plays I've ever seen.
I'll blame the mask. I hate those things.
That's 30 points for all you math majors out there. Not 30 apiece, as in 30-30. No, 15-15. In an entire quarter. In the Finals. Gross.
Truthfully, I watched more of the Phils game because this thing was looking so ugly, but I did tune in for the fourth quarter in its entirety. And I'm glad I did, especially for those final three minutes of regulation. With the Lakers up 84-81 with less than three to play, J.J. Redick hits a three to tie it. Then Rashard Lewis splits the defense in post to give Orlando a lead. Kobe answers. Turkoglu answers back. Then Pau ties it up again.
Finally, Hedo makes an incredible block on Kobe's game-winning attempt, leaving .6 seconds to set up the perfect inbound play that Courtney Lee clanks.
Really, the entire ending was fantastic, except for the part where Lee missed and the Lakers won in OT to go up 2-0. Rashard and Hedo were beasts for Orlando. Ditto Pau Gasol, Lamar Odom and Kobe for the Lakers. Dwight Howard was good, but the Orlando point guards were a complete mess. Maybe this whole Jameer thing wasn't such a good idea after all.
Still, Orlando had a shot to win it, but Lee couldn't get the job done on honestly one of the most beautifully designed inbound plays I've ever seen.
I'll blame the mask. I hate those things.
Friday, June 5, 2009
Indoor Recess
Remember when the weather was shitty in elementary school, forcing everyone inside for recess? I do, and I remember how much indoor recess sucked compared to the normal outdoor recess. No room to play sports. Ghey.
It's pretty awful outside here in Philadelphia, what with all the rain and cool weather, so why not try to enjoy some indoor recess by sitting back watching some sweet basketball videos? Enjoy.
-Dwight Howard's playoff blocks:
-Lil Wayne has a new track:
-The Lakers went all Lex Luther on Dwight Howard last night:
-Stephen Curry has some ups to go along with that sweet shot:
-Check out some highlights of some of the best high school ballers:
-World, meet Jeff Teague's little brother:
It's pretty awful outside here in Philadelphia, what with all the rain and cool weather, so why not try to enjoy some indoor recess by sitting back watching some sweet basketball videos? Enjoy.
-Dwight Howard's playoff blocks:
-Lil Wayne has a new track:
-The Lakers went all Lex Luther on Dwight Howard last night:
-Stephen Curry has some ups to go along with that sweet shot:
-Check out some highlights of some of the best high school ballers:
-World, meet Jeff Teague's little brother:
King Kobe, King Crosby and King Cole
What was it that Meatloaf said? Two out of three ain't bad? Pardon my french, but fuck that. Last night, two out of three results in the games I had interest in were bad — the Lakers abolishing the Magic 100-75 and the Penguins evening up the Stanley Cup Finals 2-2 with a 4-2 victory — thankfully, Colbert Richard Hamels salvaged the night.
Hollywood Hamels, as the kids call him, pitched by far his best game of 2009 and put forth one his better efforts ever. A complete-game, 5-hit, 5-strikeout gem with no walks to give the Phils a 3-0 win — their seventh straight victory.
Man oh man was it nice to see a return to form, especially coming off an outing against Washington where Cole got smacked around by leaving the ball up all game. Last night was truly an excellent performance, as Cole effortlessly made the Dodgers — you know, the team with the best record in baseball — look pedestrian at best. It only took Colbert 97 pitches to complete his gem, and I applaud Charlie for letting Cole hit in the top of the 9th and come out to finish what he started.
In years past, especially with just a 3-run lead and the very careful handling of Cole throughout his career, Manuel would have pulled Hamels and pinch-hit for him in the 9th, to both rest his valuable left arm and to try and get some insurance runs. But last night, Charlie saw how easily Cole was breezing through the Dodgers hitters and let him go out there. No doubt, his low pitch count helped make that decision, but I'm glad to see Charlie allow him to do it regardless. That was a truly special performance, and in case you haven't noticed, your first place Philadelphia Phillies, the defending World Fucking Champions, are 32-20, the second best record in the bigs, with a 4-game lead over the Mets … who just got swept by the fucking Pirates.
If you are a fan of the Mets, first off, kill yourself, and secondly, seriously, don't ever try to talk shit again until you actually, you know, win something. Not only will Cole continue to call you chokers, he will go out and pitch complete game shutouts just to rub it in.
As great as Cole's performance was, the Orlando Magic were equally as bad. In game 1 of the NBA Finals, fresh off ousting the anointed one, LeBron James, the Magic didn't just revert back to a team that the Sixers almost beat, but a team that the Sixers actually could beat.
Orlando shot 29.9 (29.9!) percent from the field. Dwight Howard, Mr. "You have a dominant player. Let him be dominant," scored a paltry 12 points on 1-of-6 shooting. Yes, he was in foul trouble early. Yes, the Lakers have Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol, who match up with Howard much better than anyone the Cavs have. But 1-for-6? Really?
That's Sammy Dalembert territory there. Yikes.
And as much as I hate to say this, Jameer Nelson did not help the Magic whatsoever last night. Now, to be fair, Nelson didn't really looked injured. He was quick, flying all over the place and honestly looked healed. But the guy hadn't played in months, and it showed, especially on his shot. Jameer made just 3 of his 9 attempts in 23-plus minutes.
If I was Rafer Alston, I'd be pretty upset right now. The Magic played a pretty strong first quarter with Alston on the floor, leading 24-22 after one, and the lead was extended to about 5 before the Lakers made their push and built a double-digit advantage in the second quarter. And L.A. did it with Nelson on the floor and Rafer on the bench.
Now, it would be inaccurate to say Jameer was the reason Orlando lost. He wasn't. Not even close. Hell, the Lakers pulled away in the second half with Rafer on the floor throughout the 3rd quarter. But Jameer certainly wasn't helping Orlando last night, evident by his -19 compared to Alston's -6.
Either way, this game wasn't really about what Orlando failed to do as much as it was about what Los Angeles was able to do. In a word, that would be dominate. And there was no one more dominant than Kobe, who looked every bit like the best player on the court, which he unquestionably is.
Frankly, it didn't matter what Dwight Howard did last night. Or any other player on the Magic for that matter. Kobe wasn't going to be denied. He wants this ring more than any other player in the league right now wants a ring. He doesn't want to be remembered as winning only as Shaq's sidekick. He doesn't want to lose as many NBA Finals series as he's won.
No, Kobe wants this ring and he's going to do everything he can to get it. And last night, he sure as shit did everything he possibly could have to not only get a 1-0 lead, but to bury Orlando in the process. Kobe dropped this ridiculous stat line: 40 points, 16-34 from the field, 8-8 from the line, 8 rebounds, 8 assists, 2 steals, 2 blocks and just one foul and one turnover in 38 minutes.
He orchestrated the entire game. Every minute. Every possession. He was masterful. Not since Michael Jordan was tormenting Utah has a player single-handedly controlled the entire pace of the game in the Finals the way Kobe did last night. If he plays like that, or even remotely close to it, the rest of the way, Orlando doesn't stand a chance, even if the Magic make their threes.
Last year, the Finals belonged to Garnett, Allen and Pierce. This year, it's Kobe's Finals, and he made that abundantly clear last night.
What also became clear is that Pittsburgh isn't about to roll over and die. Not by a long shot. Marc-Andre Fleury was spectacular, especially in the first period, and Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin were far and away the best players on the ice. (OK, Jordan Staal was a beast, too).
The Red Wings looked strong early, firing 19 shots at Fleury in the first period, but the score was tied 1-1 after one. Then PIttsburgh took over after falling behind 2-1 less than a minute into the second. Bang, bang, bang. Three unanswered goals — a shorty by Jordan Staal followed by a tally by Crosby (assisted by Malkin, who scored the first goal of the game) followed by a beautiful tic-tac-toe from Kunitz to Crosby to Tyler Kennedy.
The Penguins are no joke, even if Pittsburgh is the worst city in America … which it is. Honestly, if Crosby and Malkin (and Staal and Fleury) can play like this, the way they have played the majority of the postseason, I don't think even the mighty Red Wings can contain them. All the momentum is now with the Pens, and with no Pavel Datsyuk or even with an injured Datsyuk playing, Detroit may not have enough to keep up.
Then again, the Red Wings didn't seem to have much trouble keeping the dynamic duo at bay in Detroit, so perhaps this is going to be one of those home team wins every game type of series. Guess we'll just have to wait and see.
So yeah, not a great night all things considered, but hey, Cole Hamels! Complete game shutout! That was tits.
Hollywood Hamels, as the kids call him, pitched by far his best game of 2009 and put forth one his better efforts ever. A complete-game, 5-hit, 5-strikeout gem with no walks to give the Phils a 3-0 win — their seventh straight victory.
Man oh man was it nice to see a return to form, especially coming off an outing against Washington where Cole got smacked around by leaving the ball up all game. Last night was truly an excellent performance, as Cole effortlessly made the Dodgers — you know, the team with the best record in baseball — look pedestrian at best. It only took Colbert 97 pitches to complete his gem, and I applaud Charlie for letting Cole hit in the top of the 9th and come out to finish what he started.
In years past, especially with just a 3-run lead and the very careful handling of Cole throughout his career, Manuel would have pulled Hamels and pinch-hit for him in the 9th, to both rest his valuable left arm and to try and get some insurance runs. But last night, Charlie saw how easily Cole was breezing through the Dodgers hitters and let him go out there. No doubt, his low pitch count helped make that decision, but I'm glad to see Charlie allow him to do it regardless. That was a truly special performance, and in case you haven't noticed, your first place Philadelphia Phillies, the defending World Fucking Champions, are 32-20, the second best record in the bigs, with a 4-game lead over the Mets … who just got swept by the fucking Pirates.
If you are a fan of the Mets, first off, kill yourself, and secondly, seriously, don't ever try to talk shit again until you actually, you know, win something. Not only will Cole continue to call you chokers, he will go out and pitch complete game shutouts just to rub it in.
As great as Cole's performance was, the Orlando Magic were equally as bad. In game 1 of the NBA Finals, fresh off ousting the anointed one, LeBron James, the Magic didn't just revert back to a team that the Sixers almost beat, but a team that the Sixers actually could beat.
Orlando shot 29.9 (29.9!) percent from the field. Dwight Howard, Mr. "You have a dominant player. Let him be dominant," scored a paltry 12 points on 1-of-6 shooting. Yes, he was in foul trouble early. Yes, the Lakers have Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol, who match up with Howard much better than anyone the Cavs have. But 1-for-6? Really?
That's Sammy Dalembert territory there. Yikes.
And as much as I hate to say this, Jameer Nelson did not help the Magic whatsoever last night. Now, to be fair, Nelson didn't really looked injured. He was quick, flying all over the place and honestly looked healed. But the guy hadn't played in months, and it showed, especially on his shot. Jameer made just 3 of his 9 attempts in 23-plus minutes.
If I was Rafer Alston, I'd be pretty upset right now. The Magic played a pretty strong first quarter with Alston on the floor, leading 24-22 after one, and the lead was extended to about 5 before the Lakers made their push and built a double-digit advantage in the second quarter. And L.A. did it with Nelson on the floor and Rafer on the bench.
Now, it would be inaccurate to say Jameer was the reason Orlando lost. He wasn't. Not even close. Hell, the Lakers pulled away in the second half with Rafer on the floor throughout the 3rd quarter. But Jameer certainly wasn't helping Orlando last night, evident by his -19 compared to Alston's -6.
Either way, this game wasn't really about what Orlando failed to do as much as it was about what Los Angeles was able to do. In a word, that would be dominate. And there was no one more dominant than Kobe, who looked every bit like the best player on the court, which he unquestionably is.
Frankly, it didn't matter what Dwight Howard did last night. Or any other player on the Magic for that matter. Kobe wasn't going to be denied. He wants this ring more than any other player in the league right now wants a ring. He doesn't want to be remembered as winning only as Shaq's sidekick. He doesn't want to lose as many NBA Finals series as he's won.
No, Kobe wants this ring and he's going to do everything he can to get it. And last night, he sure as shit did everything he possibly could have to not only get a 1-0 lead, but to bury Orlando in the process. Kobe dropped this ridiculous stat line: 40 points, 16-34 from the field, 8-8 from the line, 8 rebounds, 8 assists, 2 steals, 2 blocks and just one foul and one turnover in 38 minutes.
He orchestrated the entire game. Every minute. Every possession. He was masterful. Not since Michael Jordan was tormenting Utah has a player single-handedly controlled the entire pace of the game in the Finals the way Kobe did last night. If he plays like that, or even remotely close to it, the rest of the way, Orlando doesn't stand a chance, even if the Magic make their threes.
Last year, the Finals belonged to Garnett, Allen and Pierce. This year, it's Kobe's Finals, and he made that abundantly clear last night.
What also became clear is that Pittsburgh isn't about to roll over and die. Not by a long shot. Marc-Andre Fleury was spectacular, especially in the first period, and Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin were far and away the best players on the ice. (OK, Jordan Staal was a beast, too).
The Red Wings looked strong early, firing 19 shots at Fleury in the first period, but the score was tied 1-1 after one. Then PIttsburgh took over after falling behind 2-1 less than a minute into the second. Bang, bang, bang. Three unanswered goals — a shorty by Jordan Staal followed by a tally by Crosby (assisted by Malkin, who scored the first goal of the game) followed by a beautiful tic-tac-toe from Kunitz to Crosby to Tyler Kennedy.
The Penguins are no joke, even if Pittsburgh is the worst city in America … which it is. Honestly, if Crosby and Malkin (and Staal and Fleury) can play like this, the way they have played the majority of the postseason, I don't think even the mighty Red Wings can contain them. All the momentum is now with the Pens, and with no Pavel Datsyuk or even with an injured Datsyuk playing, Detroit may not have enough to keep up.
Then again, the Red Wings didn't seem to have much trouble keeping the dynamic duo at bay in Detroit, so perhaps this is going to be one of those home team wins every game type of series. Guess we'll just have to wait and see.
So yeah, not a great night all things considered, but hey, Cole Hamels! Complete game shutout! That was tits.
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Wow Me Wednesday Night
Last night, not a single team I wanted to win actually won, but the games were fun to watch, Phils game excluded. Seriously, why can't the Phillies win at home?
The Red Wings ousted the Blackhawks last night with a 2-1 win to set up a rematch with Pittsburgh in the Stanley Cup Finals, and the Lakers, led by Kobe Bryant and Lamar Odom, beat the Nuggets 103-94 to take a 3-2 series lead.
What you need to know about these two games is that Cristobal Huet and Patrick Kane played awesome, but Darren Helm played the awesomest; Kobe ran the show beautifully for the Lakers as Lamar Odom rose from the dead to be the second best player on the floor; and finally, Mr. Big Shot was by far the single worst player on the floor last night. No joke, Chauncey Billups, for a guy who is supposed to be so poised and such a great player, sucked horribly. He made some terrible decisions, none worse than the back-to-back turnovers on horrendous passes right to the Lakers as he jumped in the air, and took some truly horrific shots.
Kudos to Mark Jackson for calling out the double standards set forth by the media after Chauncey took one of the most ill-advised shots I've ever seen from a "true point guard." Jackson said something to the effect of, "If that was Allen Iverson taking that shot, everyone would say how it was a terrible shot. Chauncey is a great player, but he'll take a lot of bad shots himself." Amen, brother. Get off Al's back already everyone.
That's really all I have to say about last night, so check out some of the awesome highlights from those two games.
An incredible shorthanded shift by Darren Helm, but the best shorthanded shift ever? I think Claude Giroux might have something to say about that.
Patrick Kane is filthy.
Ridiculous save by Huet.
The game-winner by Helm.
Kobe.
Birdman, meet Lamar.
Seriously, Helm's shift was sick, but Giroux's was absolutely better.
The Red Wings ousted the Blackhawks last night with a 2-1 win to set up a rematch with Pittsburgh in the Stanley Cup Finals, and the Lakers, led by Kobe Bryant and Lamar Odom, beat the Nuggets 103-94 to take a 3-2 series lead.
What you need to know about these two games is that Cristobal Huet and Patrick Kane played awesome, but Darren Helm played the awesomest; Kobe ran the show beautifully for the Lakers as Lamar Odom rose from the dead to be the second best player on the floor; and finally, Mr. Big Shot was by far the single worst player on the floor last night. No joke, Chauncey Billups, for a guy who is supposed to be so poised and such a great player, sucked horribly. He made some terrible decisions, none worse than the back-to-back turnovers on horrendous passes right to the Lakers as he jumped in the air, and took some truly horrific shots.
Kudos to Mark Jackson for calling out the double standards set forth by the media after Chauncey took one of the most ill-advised shots I've ever seen from a "true point guard." Jackson said something to the effect of, "If that was Allen Iverson taking that shot, everyone would say how it was a terrible shot. Chauncey is a great player, but he'll take a lot of bad shots himself." Amen, brother. Get off Al's back already everyone.
That's really all I have to say about last night, so check out some of the awesome highlights from those two games.
An incredible shorthanded shift by Darren Helm, but the best shorthanded shift ever? I think Claude Giroux might have something to say about that.
Patrick Kane is filthy.
Ridiculous save by Huet.
The game-winner by Helm.
Kobe.
Birdman, meet Lamar.
Seriously, Helm's shift was sick, but Giroux's was absolutely better.
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
So About that Kobe-LeBron Finals
Things weren't supposed to be this way. Not by a long shot. The NBA was supposed to come down to two teams, two men really: LeBron vs. Kobe. After all, the Cavs and Lakers finished the regular season with the two best records in the NBA, rolled through the competition to their respective conferences' No. 1 seeds, and it was destined — this year's MVP matched up against last year's MVP for all the marbles.
Someone forgot to tell the Magic and Nuggets to go along with the script. After Orlando's 116-114 overtime victory last night, the LeBrons are on the brink of elimination, down 3-1 to a Magic team that needed six games to put away the 76ers. And the Lakers, who were supposed to have a cakewalk to the Finals, are deadlocked 2-2 with a Denver team that is quite honestly pushing L.A. around.
Now it looks like Superman vs. Melo just may replace Kobe-LeBron.
If you watched last night's game, and game 3, and the whole series thus far really, you'll notice one big thing: The Magic are playing brilliantly as a team, while the Cavs are simply relying on LeBron to carry them through. The Cleveland team that once looked so much like a singular unit, with LeBron the clear leader, all the sudden looks like a team full of scrubs begging its superstar to do it all. LeBron is suddenly all alone, and even he is no match for the Magic.
And who would have saw that coming after Orlando struggled with, quite frankly, a not-so-good Sixers team? Not me. But this isn't the same Magic team that couldn't hit an open three if their life depended on it in the first round. No, this is the Orlando squad that challenged the Cavs and Celtics much of the season, the Orlando team that is lethal from three. The stroke is back, and Cleveland has no answers. None.
Dwight Howard has been a beast. The questions of his intensity, of his desire should be fading rapidly. Dude has been killing anyone and everyone Cleveland has thrown at him. Ilgauskas? Too slow. Anderson Varejao? Too small. Ben Wallace? Joe Smith? No chance. Dwight is eating their lunch.
Try doubling him. Go ahead. Look what happens. The Magic, already up 2-1, go bonkers from three. Skip to My Lou goes 6-12, Rashard 2-4, Turk 2-5, and Pietrus 5-11, as the Magic drain an absurd 17 threes on 38 attempts. That's 44.7 percent in case your counting. Even the superhuman LeBron can't do anything about that, especially when that big fella inside goes off for 27, 14 and 3, along with 4 assists that helped his teammates get those threes.
I was just reading in Sports Illustrated how Doc Rivers said if the Magic are hitting their threes, they're almost unguardable. He's absolutely right. With Dwight Howard posing a problem for anyone inside, you almost have to double him, meaning you have to leave one of the excellent three-point shooters on Orlando open. Pick your poison: leave Rashard, Hedo, Rafer, Pietrus, Lee? No option is a good option.
Just look at the numbers. LeBron continued to just play otherworldly basketball, dropping 44 points, 12 boards, 7 assists, a steal and block, but he was virtually all alone. Delonte West had a decent game, scoring 17 points on 7-15 shooting and dishing out 7 assists with no turnovers, but the rest of the Cavs were awful. Yeah, Mo Williams did get 18 points, but he shot just 5-15 and has really been a complete no-show for Cleveland in this series. No one else did dick.
Meanwhile, Howard got help from all over the place. Rafer kept pace with the big guy, playing by far his best game of the postseason with 26 points and those 6 threes. Rashard chipped in with 17 of his own, including a dagger of a shot down the stretch, Hedo added 15 points to go along with 7 boards and 8 assists, and Mickael Pietrus was a beast in the 4th quarter, draining treys to keep Cleveland at bay. He finished with 17 points on 5 threes and 2 free throws.
It's abundantly clear that right now, Orlando is the better team. No one is playing better basketball than LeBron, but suddenly the rest of Cavaliers look lost. And with Denver looking more and more like the aggressor beyond Kobe, these series are starting to mirror each other. If the Nuggets can pull it out tonight, the scenario would look identical: Denver playing much, much better as a team as Kobe plays the best, just like the Magic, collectively, are beating the insane level LeBron is playing at.
Everyone wanted to see LeBron-Kobe. What we just may get is Orlando-Denver. And that isn't a bad things. Seriously.
I just wish Jameer was healthy so he could be out there for the ride.
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Hey LeBron, What Would Kobe Do?
Wow, talk about making up for a pretty bland playoffs, Bulls-Celtics excluded. Game 1 of the Lakers-Nuggets was an excellent game, and last night, wow. Just wow. I mean, watch this:
Normally, when I'm watching a great game, I don't interact with anyone that is not actually watching the game with me. I get so into the game that I block everything else out. But last night, seeing as I was home alone most of the game, I had to talk to someone, anyone after LeBron went on his ridiculous dunk, block, three rampage, at which point I (incorrectly) thought the game was over.
So I sent Joltin' Joe a message, and a game-long conversation ensued:
Rev: Lebron is not human
Joe: Just got back from softball what did he do?
Rev: Sick dunk. Sick block. Hit a 3. Team up 13 and has like 4-5 dimes
Joe: Yeah watching now he's the man...really stoked for lebron and kobe in the finals
Rev: Ridiculous. And wow. Mo
Joe: Haha i know that was great
Joe: Great game man
Rev: Fo real
Joe: Man he may be overpaid but Rashard freaking show up when it counts
Rev: When he wants almost unguardable. Ask thad
Joe: Ugh yeah lebron's got to take that
Rev: Absolutely. And delonte gotta make that but yeah, kobe aint passin there. At worst get a foul call
That was an incredibly awesome game. Which I didn't expect after that flurry by LeBron. He's just un-freakin-believable. Seriously. He comes out and begins by setting up his teammates. Then he completely and utterly goes off ... on both ends of the floor. Insane.
And man, he was in the zone: 49 points on 20-30 from the field, 6 boards, 8 assists, 2 steals and 3 blocks. That's a monster of a game for sure.
But LeBron wasn't the only one dominating. Not only did Dwight bring down the shot clock, he brought down the Cavs with his complete annihilation inside: 30 points on 14-20 from the field, 13 boards and a huge reason why Rashard Lewis and Hedo were able to get some really, really open looks (Rafer too).
The thing about that game was, after Mo Williams hit that ridiculous shot to end the first half, I thought it was over. The Cavs had this in the bag. LeBron was going off, Cleveland was up 63-48 and the rest of the Cavs were chipping in.
Then it all changed. No one could hit a shot besides LeBron, and the Cavs had the familiar look of those Allen Iverson Sixer teams that used to just stand around and watch Allen do his thing. It's almost as if Cleveland was like, OK, we're up, let's just let LeBron do his thing. As a result, the Magic were able to chip away, since no one other than LeBron could knock down a shot.
And when it was all said and done, it was Dwight's teammate, Rashard Lewis (who had a great game: 22 points on 9-13 shooting, 7 boards, 3 assists) who was able to hit the dagger. Delonte West, who started hot, then went cold, then hit a big three, couldn't hit that final one, and the Magic came out with the 107-106 win.
Here's the thing. Under absolutely no circumstance should LeBron have passed that ball. Not in a million years. Was Delonte open? Yes. But 100 times out of 100 LeBron should be taking that shot. He was already at the rim, and really, at worst, he'd get a foul call you'd think. Not that that would really mean anything, seeing as LeBron went 6-10 from the line. Hit those freebies and you got a win there, LeBron.
I know, it's kind of absurd to call out a guy after scoring 49 points and playing just out of his mind, but honestly, he has to, has to take that final shot. You think Kobe would have passed there? No chance in hell.
It's nice to be an unselfish teammate, but sometimes you gotta just do it yourself, especially if you want to hoist that trophy.
Normally, when I'm watching a great game, I don't interact with anyone that is not actually watching the game with me. I get so into the game that I block everything else out. But last night, seeing as I was home alone most of the game, I had to talk to someone, anyone after LeBron went on his ridiculous dunk, block, three rampage, at which point I (incorrectly) thought the game was over.
So I sent Joltin' Joe a message, and a game-long conversation ensued:
Rev: Lebron is not human
Joe: Just got back from softball what did he do?
Rev: Sick dunk. Sick block. Hit a 3. Team up 13 and has like 4-5 dimes
Joe: Yeah watching now he's the man...really stoked for lebron and kobe in the finals
Rev: Ridiculous. And wow. Mo
Joe: Haha i know that was great
Joe: Great game man
Rev: Fo real
Joe: Man he may be overpaid but Rashard freaking show up when it counts
Rev: When he wants almost unguardable. Ask thad
Joe: Ugh yeah lebron's got to take that
Rev: Absolutely. And delonte gotta make that but yeah, kobe aint passin there. At worst get a foul call
That was an incredibly awesome game. Which I didn't expect after that flurry by LeBron. He's just un-freakin-believable. Seriously. He comes out and begins by setting up his teammates. Then he completely and utterly goes off ... on both ends of the floor. Insane.
And man, he was in the zone: 49 points on 20-30 from the field, 6 boards, 8 assists, 2 steals and 3 blocks. That's a monster of a game for sure.
But LeBron wasn't the only one dominating. Not only did Dwight bring down the shot clock, he brought down the Cavs with his complete annihilation inside: 30 points on 14-20 from the field, 13 boards and a huge reason why Rashard Lewis and Hedo were able to get some really, really open looks (Rafer too).
The thing about that game was, after Mo Williams hit that ridiculous shot to end the first half, I thought it was over. The Cavs had this in the bag. LeBron was going off, Cleveland was up 63-48 and the rest of the Cavs were chipping in.
Then it all changed. No one could hit a shot besides LeBron, and the Cavs had the familiar look of those Allen Iverson Sixer teams that used to just stand around and watch Allen do his thing. It's almost as if Cleveland was like, OK, we're up, let's just let LeBron do his thing. As a result, the Magic were able to chip away, since no one other than LeBron could knock down a shot.
And when it was all said and done, it was Dwight's teammate, Rashard Lewis (who had a great game: 22 points on 9-13 shooting, 7 boards, 3 assists) who was able to hit the dagger. Delonte West, who started hot, then went cold, then hit a big three, couldn't hit that final one, and the Magic came out with the 107-106 win.
Here's the thing. Under absolutely no circumstance should LeBron have passed that ball. Not in a million years. Was Delonte open? Yes. But 100 times out of 100 LeBron should be taking that shot. He was already at the rim, and really, at worst, he'd get a foul call you'd think. Not that that would really mean anything, seeing as LeBron went 6-10 from the line. Hit those freebies and you got a win there, LeBron.
I know, it's kind of absurd to call out a guy after scoring 49 points and playing just out of his mind, but honestly, he has to, has to take that final shot. You think Kobe would have passed there? No chance in hell.
It's nice to be an unselfish teammate, but sometimes you gotta just do it yourself, especially if you want to hoist that trophy.
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