It’s that time of year where panic can lead to the improbable to happen. When it comes to the NFL, improbability becomes probably in lesser time than it takes Terrell Pryor to run to the Raiders in the 3rd round of a supplemental draft.
Whether it’s the NFL marketing machine or the fact I like good football and can enjoy excellence for just being excellence or I like cheering for good guys; I’ve always been a fan of Peyton Manning. He’s everything you’d want in a franchise quarterback. I don’t need to go on because if you’re reading this and don’t know all the good things about Manning, then you will never know and probably don’t watch sports or TV at all. Even the most casual of fans has to have seen one of his 20-something endorsements and knows, even peripherally, that he’s a star NFL player and people generally like him.
His “Hall of Fame” ticket is stamped and is waiting for him to retire so that the 5 year clock can start counting down. Not even Tom Brady is as valuble to his team as Manning is. Without Brady a few years ago, the Patriots still where able to win 10 games and make a strong showing. Manning on the other hand is the Colts. Without Manning, can anyone say that they’d win more than 5 games, if that? They can’t run the ball and they’re defense is terrible AND that’s just what their executive say (really, I believe their president, Polian said that this weekend). When their owner, Irsay, tweets that he’s looking for Bret Favre’s street, it blows up the internet.
Most people dismiss this or say it will / would never work. I disagree. For once, I’m on the Brett Favre train. Go get that self-centered egotistical, penis twittering, crock wearing fool. I actually think it’s a great idea.
First off, let’s talk about Manning. Again, HE IS THE FRANCHISE. You sit him and make him realize that this is his neck and no matter what, he needs to come back healthy. In all likelihood they’re not going to the Superbowl. What’s great about Manning is that we can say that today but it wouldn’t be a surprise if they made it, that’s how good he is. He makes the team that good. With a healthy Manning no one would say it’s impossible for the Colts to make the playoffs and go on a 4 game run to end up at or winning the Superbowl. He just signed a new 4 year contract and could easily play a few more years after that. He rarely gets hurt on the field. He hasn’t missed a game, EVER. So as hard as it is, you have to sit him because he’s your meal ticket for the foreseeable future. Even if he were to sit the entire season, if that buys you another healthy 4+ years, you do it. There’s nothing that the consecutive start streak will do for him than he already has going. It’s nice but it’s meaningless in the long run. Favre’s future Hall Pass wasn’t teetering on if he gathered 300 straight starts or even if he had 250. Neither is Peyton’s. It’s a nice feather for your cap but nothing more than a feather.
Why I like Favre in this situation is because
1) He’s a capable QB. He’s smart enough and just enough of a gunslinger that with a dumb’d down version of any offense he can go out there and make plays. No one would expect the clockwork timing of a well run Manning machine but at least he can go out there, read a defense and even if he had to call plays in the huddle could do it.
2) He’s 200% better than any other QB that the Colts have. You know why the Colts haven’t won a preseason game in 3 years? Because their backup QB’s are in them. They’re horrible. The Colts where extremely lucky to get Manning. They’ve drafted well but overall have not put a team around Manning that lessens the load as other teams do. The Colts haven’t had a good defense in 30 years. At best they’ve been able to put together make-shift squads that can last for a few games. Either because of injury or system, they’ve never been able to put a good defense around Manning. They spend most of their resources filling in the RB, WR and TE positions. All meant for Manning to use but seemingly ONLY for Manning to use. I’d pray for Sorji to make a comeback as back up, compared to Painter.
3) Manning is the Alpha dog of the team (credit to Bill Simmons for this theory). What you fear most about Favre is that he comes in and wants to run the team. But this is one of the few teams where everyone knows that as soon as Manning is healthy, he’s the QB. Not even Favre could cause a QB controversy. Even if Favre won every game, a rusty Manning (who may cause a few losses getting his timing back) is worth more than sticking with Favre.
4) There’s a respect for each other and of the game that both Manning and Favre have so that we wouldn’t even have any issues. It’s like when Superman dresses up like Batman. For whatever reason Batman was injured or out of town and Superman had to pose as Batman, there was no question that things would go back to normal the second that Bruce Wayne would return. Even though if Superman wanted too, he could do everything Batman could do and 100 times stronger, it was just a given on whose who and what the respective roles are.
5) It’s sells tickets. I’m sure that the Colts tickets are already sold but it keeps the eyes on the team. If Manning is out for the first few weeks, we will all predict and not care to watch the Colts being dismantled by their opponents. This at least give them and their fans an attraction that isn’t there with any of the Colts current back ups. Also, what owner wouldn’t want a boost of Favre jersey sales? It’s a cheap pop like when a wrestler says, “here in Los Angeles…” and gets a huge pop. It’s cheap and easy but so what.
6) Lastly, it keeps the season alive. As I’ve said, Favre can go out there with any team and at least give them a chance to win. Better than that, the players will at least believe that they can win. As I watch the preseason and interviews, the players seem to know all their hopes ride on # 18 walking back on the field. This way, if they split the first 4 or 6 games, Manning comes back and takes over down the home stretch.
7) Best yet, Favre can walk away quietly and with respect. He didn’t ruin a team. He didn’t throw the game loosing interception in the Conference finals. He didn’t go off as a distraction. Manning is back and it’s time to go back to Hattiesburg.
I’m too tired of hearing the greats and the bads that come with Favre. This is almost a shot of redemption and a way to go off with good will from the NFL fan community for doing a good thing. I think both the Colts and Favre will be better off if they go for this.
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
The Slow Death of Heavyweight Boxing
Heavyweight boxing has stumbled and flopped its way to a deserved death. Watching the Klitschko vs Haye bout has confirmed that Heavyweight Boxing is dead or dying.
Anyone who’s watched boxing or anything in the realm of hand-to-hand combat will tell you the faults and missteps that boxing has taken over the years. Frankly, I’m bored of it. I’ll list a few so I can get them out of the way and move on:
1) Not having a single or “true” champion.
2) Too many PPV fights so that fans can’t grow to know any of the fighters.
3) The PPV fights are so expensive for boxers who we don’t even know, and there’s no track record that with recent unknowns that we’ll get a good fight. So why would someone was $50 on a PPV.
4) Not enough free TV fights, again so that we can know the fighters
5) Slowness. We’re in a world where people fast forward through commercials, an hour long match where in three minute rounds we watch 250+ pound fighters do the two stepping is just not fast enough.
6) More is made of pre-fight interviews and HBO 24/7’s, which have more action than the fights have, that we find the fights anticlimactic.
This fight was supposed to be everything that fans where hoping for. It was going to have everything that the boxing community was fighting to have. Two well know Heavyweights. I hate to come off racist but two English speaking, well mannered and well spoke boxers. Haye did everything that he could to show off his mouth but when the fight started he forgot to bring his fists to go with his mouth. Which by the way; during the fight, you could see Haye mock, talk to, joke with and play to Klitschko in attempts to throw him off. None of which worked. But the buildup was there. There was a championship belt up for grabs. AND FOR THE FIRST TIME, in what seemed FOREVER, THIS WAS GOING TO BE ON REGULAR HBO!!! We could see it for “free” and get a great show. If this only got 2 stars out of 5, it would have helped the boxing. We just needed a spark. What we got was a box office FLOP, literally and figuratively. Even Ice-T and CoCo get me locked in for 15 – 30 minutes. We’re talking about what was one time the USA’s #1 sport. More important that MLB, NBA and NFL or any college game. A sport that in numerous ways was a fight for equality, economic and racial. Even the venues where a statement. The Rumble in the Jungle was strife with political controversy. We didn’t have themes as big as other fights but at least this was in Germany and not some homogenized Vegas Strip casino (I love Vegas but we all know that its way more flash than substance).
This is supposed to be the “sweet science”. I can see that, because unlike other forms of sport, we can see where and what the boxer is doing and what they should be doing. “Stop dancing and go for body shots”, or “You’ve got to go for the knock-out!” I remember sitter that in high school watching the Tyson vs. Holyfield fight and was on the floor in disbelief that this man just ate another man’s ear off. Even at an age where you think you know everything, but really you know nothing, I could tell this was not only an unbelievable thing to watch but also the instant beginning of the fall into insanity for Tyson. Unfortunately I think it was that Tyson fight, and the subsequent other spectacles over the upcoming years that have now led to Boxing as becoming irrelevant.
Every time Haye landed a punch, he’d look over to the ref as if he was going to call the fight. I’ve never seen anything like it. Instead of following up with another punch, Haye literally looked at the ref. Don’t ask me why, I don’t know nor do I care. It’s as if he’s looking for approval from the ref. Yeah, asshole, you hit him now do something. It took him until the last round to finally hit him with a few shots. But by then I was so sick of the boring and flopping of the match that I just didn’t care. I wouldn’t have even been watching except that the announcers kept saying that Haye’s only chance, ever, was to go for the knock-out. I’d really kill myself if I change channels on the worst boxing match ever just to see on Sportscenter that there was an amazing KO in the last round.
Watching Haye parade around the ring after the last bell rang as if he’d done ANYTHING, other than flopping, was almost surreal. ABDC has less dancing in it than this fight. Frankly, I’d rather see the whole Jabowalkee dance crew take on either of the Klitschko brothers. At least that circus would entertain me. Haye had the talk. Haye had the walk. Haye had the smiles and the gestures. Haye had the flop. But Haye didn’t have a punch. You’d think that would be a prerequisite of anyone who gets into the ring; must know how to and want to fight. By the fifth or sixth round, I wish the ref would have gone up to this guy and asked, “Son, you know this is a boxing match? You have to throw a punch to win. We don’t grade on showmanship.”
Klitschko didn’t do anything that impressed me. He may have been able to make up for Haye’s performance by putting on a technical show and by the end, listen to his corner and give us a KO that we so desperately needed, even if it was just to put us out of our misery and end the fight. Even after the fight he was telling us that he was disappointed because he wanted to give the crowd a KO. Klitschko would have been fine without making that statement. Now he just put in our mind that he wanted to KO this jabronee but couldn’t!?!? We have to remember that even if the Klitschos are a pair of well speaking English, Russian brothers that play chess, that they are still just boxers. Their chosen profession is to pummel your opponent’s brain in. Also, that they both came in the game when the last of whatever Heavyweights were on their way out. They didn’t have easy times with L. Lewis and others of his elk. Let’s also face the fact that there probably hasn’t been a boxer as big and muscular as either of them since Drago in Rocky IV (I should be ashamed to use such an easy reference but c’mon, I’m not supposed to bring this up in my one time boxing article).
Did I mention the flopping by Haye? No, well he did it over and over and over again. To compare it to a soccer player would only insult the best soccer flops. This was on the level of Vlade Divac flops. To beat on is already I’m sure everyone will be touching on. It was just a joke and a joke to his sport. The ref was great to figure out a way to punish the flops by giving him a standing count.
Is this the end of Heavyweight boxing? I don’t know. It seems to be. Time will tell and time is running out for these Heavyweights.
Anyone who’s watched boxing or anything in the realm of hand-to-hand combat will tell you the faults and missteps that boxing has taken over the years. Frankly, I’m bored of it. I’ll list a few so I can get them out of the way and move on:
1) Not having a single or “true” champion.
2) Too many PPV fights so that fans can’t grow to know any of the fighters.
3) The PPV fights are so expensive for boxers who we don’t even know, and there’s no track record that with recent unknowns that we’ll get a good fight. So why would someone was $50 on a PPV.
4) Not enough free TV fights, again so that we can know the fighters
5) Slowness. We’re in a world where people fast forward through commercials, an hour long match where in three minute rounds we watch 250+ pound fighters do the two stepping is just not fast enough.
6) More is made of pre-fight interviews and HBO 24/7’s, which have more action than the fights have, that we find the fights anticlimactic.
This fight was supposed to be everything that fans where hoping for. It was going to have everything that the boxing community was fighting to have. Two well know Heavyweights. I hate to come off racist but two English speaking, well mannered and well spoke boxers. Haye did everything that he could to show off his mouth but when the fight started he forgot to bring his fists to go with his mouth. Which by the way; during the fight, you could see Haye mock, talk to, joke with and play to Klitschko in attempts to throw him off. None of which worked. But the buildup was there. There was a championship belt up for grabs. AND FOR THE FIRST TIME, in what seemed FOREVER, THIS WAS GOING TO BE ON REGULAR HBO!!! We could see it for “free” and get a great show. If this only got 2 stars out of 5, it would have helped the boxing. We just needed a spark. What we got was a box office FLOP, literally and figuratively. Even Ice-T and CoCo get me locked in for 15 – 30 minutes. We’re talking about what was one time the USA’s #1 sport. More important that MLB, NBA and NFL or any college game. A sport that in numerous ways was a fight for equality, economic and racial. Even the venues where a statement. The Rumble in the Jungle was strife with political controversy. We didn’t have themes as big as other fights but at least this was in Germany and not some homogenized Vegas Strip casino (I love Vegas but we all know that its way more flash than substance).
This is supposed to be the “sweet science”. I can see that, because unlike other forms of sport, we can see where and what the boxer is doing and what they should be doing. “Stop dancing and go for body shots”, or “You’ve got to go for the knock-out!” I remember sitter that in high school watching the Tyson vs. Holyfield fight and was on the floor in disbelief that this man just ate another man’s ear off. Even at an age where you think you know everything, but really you know nothing, I could tell this was not only an unbelievable thing to watch but also the instant beginning of the fall into insanity for Tyson. Unfortunately I think it was that Tyson fight, and the subsequent other spectacles over the upcoming years that have now led to Boxing as becoming irrelevant.
Every time Haye landed a punch, he’d look over to the ref as if he was going to call the fight. I’ve never seen anything like it. Instead of following up with another punch, Haye literally looked at the ref. Don’t ask me why, I don’t know nor do I care. It’s as if he’s looking for approval from the ref. Yeah, asshole, you hit him now do something. It took him until the last round to finally hit him with a few shots. But by then I was so sick of the boring and flopping of the match that I just didn’t care. I wouldn’t have even been watching except that the announcers kept saying that Haye’s only chance, ever, was to go for the knock-out. I’d really kill myself if I change channels on the worst boxing match ever just to see on Sportscenter that there was an amazing KO in the last round.
Watching Haye parade around the ring after the last bell rang as if he’d done ANYTHING, other than flopping, was almost surreal. ABDC has less dancing in it than this fight. Frankly, I’d rather see the whole Jabowalkee dance crew take on either of the Klitschko brothers. At least that circus would entertain me. Haye had the talk. Haye had the walk. Haye had the smiles and the gestures. Haye had the flop. But Haye didn’t have a punch. You’d think that would be a prerequisite of anyone who gets into the ring; must know how to and want to fight. By the fifth or sixth round, I wish the ref would have gone up to this guy and asked, “Son, you know this is a boxing match? You have to throw a punch to win. We don’t grade on showmanship.”
Klitschko didn’t do anything that impressed me. He may have been able to make up for Haye’s performance by putting on a technical show and by the end, listen to his corner and give us a KO that we so desperately needed, even if it was just to put us out of our misery and end the fight. Even after the fight he was telling us that he was disappointed because he wanted to give the crowd a KO. Klitschko would have been fine without making that statement. Now he just put in our mind that he wanted to KO this jabronee but couldn’t!?!? We have to remember that even if the Klitschos are a pair of well speaking English, Russian brothers that play chess, that they are still just boxers. Their chosen profession is to pummel your opponent’s brain in. Also, that they both came in the game when the last of whatever Heavyweights were on their way out. They didn’t have easy times with L. Lewis and others of his elk. Let’s also face the fact that there probably hasn’t been a boxer as big and muscular as either of them since Drago in Rocky IV (I should be ashamed to use such an easy reference but c’mon, I’m not supposed to bring this up in my one time boxing article).
Did I mention the flopping by Haye? No, well he did it over and over and over again. To compare it to a soccer player would only insult the best soccer flops. This was on the level of Vlade Divac flops. To beat on is already I’m sure everyone will be touching on. It was just a joke and a joke to his sport. The ref was great to figure out a way to punish the flops by giving him a standing count.
Is this the end of Heavyweight boxing? I don’t know. It seems to be. Time will tell and time is running out for these Heavyweights.
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Finally!!!!!!
SDSU has finally won their first NCAA game. I haven't come out to make many pics because really, who knows especially this year. But I've got big hopes for my Aztecs. Let's keep it up.
This season will be a huge success if we can get to the elite 8, which I feel is very possible.
I'll definitely take a shot tonight to honor this great and long overdue win. I only wish I was 18 again and would have been parting from University Blvd. to PB!!!!
Go SDSU!!!!
This season will be a huge success if we can get to the elite 8, which I feel is very possible.
I'll definitely take a shot tonight to honor this great and long overdue win. I only wish I was 18 again and would have been parting from University Blvd. to PB!!!!
Go SDSU!!!!
Monday, March 7, 2011
What’s wrong with the heat, from a champion’s view.
Ok, I’m not a champion basketball player. I’ve never made it past high school in my illustrious career. I did spent a few years as a decent street baller when I got out of high school and was really working out. Keep in mind I was captain of my high school team, even thought we lost all but one game my final season. Never the less, I’d say I know a little about the game. I’ve studied it and maybe if the chips fell differently in my life I could have played at the collegiate level. The one thing that made up for in any lack of skill was that I knew the game. I’d spend off time sketching out plays and trying to figure out what match-ups where going to be most efficient. I still watch the game and can pick up an offense or defensive strategy fairly easily. Again, I’m not anywhere close to a coach or scout or anything that would make me official but I’m no just some schlub that say, Kobe should shot more and the Lakers would never loose.
Getting that out of the way is part of what baffles me about the Heat. People are coming down on the Heat like the world is coming to the end. The first thing I would say is that it hasn’t been a full season. These are superstars trying to fit together. Although you’d think it would be opposite, it’s much harder for Alpha dogs to get along and figure out there role as would it be if you got four talented 2nd or 3rd tier players that came in knowing what they needed to do. I do believe this is humbling for all three of these guys. First Bosh got the heat (maybe pun intended ) for not being a “star” like LeBron or Wade. Now it’s the big two that are really feeling it. Now Coach Spo is REALLY feeling it.
Put this in a vacuum. This is their first year playing together. You can see the egos on their faces being confused to why they aren’t winning. It’s not mad. It’s not disappointment. It’s confussion. They don’t know why this is happening. Which almost makes me feel sorry for them, except they asked for all of this.
I have a question. There 30 teams in the NBA now? Why only 3 – 5 teams really make it possible to even get two of these players to come to their city? Let’s face it, we saw Donnie Walsh clear what might have been the worst possible situation into something that would have allowed at least 2 max contracts. Why didn’t every team except the Lakers and Celtics do the same thing? If getting just two of these players would instantly mean championships, and there was also a very good chance that Bosh could be worked in, why didn’t more teams jump?
Because smart basketball people know that it’s not always the best “talent” that you put on the court the one who wins. In a book that Jordan wrote, he said he’d rather go out there with four guys that new the game and new their roles than ever to be joined with another superstar. Granted Jordan’s ego might have something to do with that statement but it’s never been more true. Look at all the championship teams they had. Jordan needed Pippen. But if Pippen didn’t have the personality or didn’t recognize Jordan’s greatness none of this would have worked. The where the first team without a real point guard and without a superstar center to win multiple championships. But that doesn’t mean that the players that they had where from the free agent scrap heap to at least fill up a 12 man roster. Cartwright, Armstrong, Grant, Paxson, Perdue, King just to name a few from the first run. Then by the end you had players like Harper, Kerr, Kukoc, Rodman, Wennington and Longley. I was a huge fan of the Jordan Bulls so I knew all these guys. None of them would jump off the page but they where all talented, all knew their roles and where all slapped on the ass by Jordan and pushed by Pippen and zen’d by Jackson.
All championship teams need their role players and need good ones. More importantly they needed their stars to know their roles. The great Celtic teams now and then know this. The Laker teams have known this. Do you think that Rambis ever aspired to be better than Magic? No. He would do what 100 other players wouldn’t and it was all for the betterment of the team. If not for the loss of Perkins last year would the Lakers have won the championship? If the Celts had ANYONE that could fill the void at center maybe they win game 7?
Why didn’t the bulls clear off more space to get all three of these guys? They had the pieces to trade and dump salaries. Even if you had to get rid of Rose, you’re getting 3 top 10 players in the league right? Why not give up on superstar for 3? Because 3 superstars don’t always make a good team. Why didn’t Portland blow up all the young talent they have to bring these guys over here to the west? Why didn’t San Antonio get rid of their aging superstars and replace them with this trifecta of talent? Why didn’t the Thunder take apart their team to bring in these superstars? Because they have a TEAM not just a few all stars that can run up and down the court and destroy the bottom dwellers of the league.
I’ve been hearing a lot of criticism about Bosh lately. I don’t think it’s his problem. He’s not the one that’s been causing these recent defeats. In fact if I where going to make the decision to get rid of one of the three it wouldn’t be Bosh. Bosh is their forward / center presence. The problem is LeBron and Wade. This isn’t an all star team league. Not every game is run and gun and whoever scores last wins. It was fine when they got their sea legs and where able to rattle off a few victories by playing good / fun street ball. But now you’re seeing the real season start. March and April where teams are locking down playoff positions and actually playing like they care, notice the Lakers (who where on the brink of collapsing) have run off 7 straight wins against all types of teams, most notably the Spurs last night.
LeBron and Wade play the same position and need the same things. What’s worse is neither seems to want to tell the other, no this is my shot!! They’re still playing as friends and don’t want to offend the other. James might be the greatest player right now. All around, I take him first no questions asked. He does everything, except make that last shot. Why do you think Kobe is the most feared player in the league. He’s not close to the athletic player he once was when he was winning dunk contests. He’s not even the best team player consistently and always need Phil to remind him what it takes to win. The reason no one wants to play the Lakers is because in the last few minutes of a game, Kobe will kill you. You know he’s getting the ball and you know you’ve got a very good chance of him finding a way to score (and possibly get a key assist). He’s a winner. Love him or hate him, he’s a winner. I hate to use that term today because Charlie Sheen has seemed to change the meaning of that, FYI great SNL weekend update this week.
Wade has that. We’ve seen it in the playoffs when they won their championship and the year before when he was a star on the rise. For all of LeBron’s greatness and eventually he’s hold all the records for scoring and wins and rebounds and assists or whatever he sets his mind to, what he may not be able to win is a championship. That’s not something you can just say, yeah I’m going to that this year.
My opinon is you trade Wade or LeBron and fill the rest of the team up with defensive stoppers a knock down shooter AND most importantly a point guard. You’re now in the East where you’re going to go up against Williams, Rondo, Billups and the MVP Rose. At the moment they have no one to stop or even slow down a #1 point guard.
Celtic and Laker length can kill them but it’s not something that their speed couldn’t offset. The Heat’s pure athleticism will offset the length in a well played game where they can keep the tempo up. But where they can’t hide their faults is in the point guard position. Even if the Lakers don’t have a true point guard, they haven’t in 5 championships seasons. They make due and with Phil coaching them they can seem to manage. But the Heat haven’t proven that they can do that. We give the Lakers the benefit of the doubt when they trot, even drag there asses around for the first two thirds of the season we’ve seen them turn it on. Shit, they’ve played 100 plus games for the past 4 years. Not even the Bulls did that because Jordan took those two years off. I dare say if the Lakers could three-peat that would be an even bigger monument to their ablity since they’ve had to endure a loosing finals experience at the beginning of their run (not to mention Kobe and Gasol being in the Olympics in 2008).
I don’t hate the Heat. I think it’s great to have a villainous team in the league and I wish they owned up to it more. Just be like yeah, we did what we did and we’re going kick your ass. That’s what takes a game to higher levels. But when I watch them play, I see LeBron and Wade getting in each other’s way more often than I see them knowing what is going on. Maybe it’s coach Spo. I have a feeling that it’s just hard to get kids that have been told all their life, they are the man; now differ to this other guy. What’s worse is that they like each other. So they’re each trying to be nice. If they hated each other they’d probably do better because they’d each want to prove why they want to take the last shot. At the moment they seem confused. LeBron, who’s never been the greatest last shot taker, is hoisting up 3’s while Wade is open on the wing?
The problem with the Heat is the same problem that a lot of failing corporations have. They have too many people that may be great but they’re all trying to do the same job. And because they both make a lot of money, there isn’t enough left to fill up the rest of the company with quality workers.
Getting that out of the way is part of what baffles me about the Heat. People are coming down on the Heat like the world is coming to the end. The first thing I would say is that it hasn’t been a full season. These are superstars trying to fit together. Although you’d think it would be opposite, it’s much harder for Alpha dogs to get along and figure out there role as would it be if you got four talented 2nd or 3rd tier players that came in knowing what they needed to do. I do believe this is humbling for all three of these guys. First Bosh got the heat (maybe pun intended ) for not being a “star” like LeBron or Wade. Now it’s the big two that are really feeling it. Now Coach Spo is REALLY feeling it.
Put this in a vacuum. This is their first year playing together. You can see the egos on their faces being confused to why they aren’t winning. It’s not mad. It’s not disappointment. It’s confussion. They don’t know why this is happening. Which almost makes me feel sorry for them, except they asked for all of this.
I have a question. There 30 teams in the NBA now? Why only 3 – 5 teams really make it possible to even get two of these players to come to their city? Let’s face it, we saw Donnie Walsh clear what might have been the worst possible situation into something that would have allowed at least 2 max contracts. Why didn’t every team except the Lakers and Celtics do the same thing? If getting just two of these players would instantly mean championships, and there was also a very good chance that Bosh could be worked in, why didn’t more teams jump?
Because smart basketball people know that it’s not always the best “talent” that you put on the court the one who wins. In a book that Jordan wrote, he said he’d rather go out there with four guys that new the game and new their roles than ever to be joined with another superstar. Granted Jordan’s ego might have something to do with that statement but it’s never been more true. Look at all the championship teams they had. Jordan needed Pippen. But if Pippen didn’t have the personality or didn’t recognize Jordan’s greatness none of this would have worked. The where the first team without a real point guard and without a superstar center to win multiple championships. But that doesn’t mean that the players that they had where from the free agent scrap heap to at least fill up a 12 man roster. Cartwright, Armstrong, Grant, Paxson, Perdue, King just to name a few from the first run. Then by the end you had players like Harper, Kerr, Kukoc, Rodman, Wennington and Longley. I was a huge fan of the Jordan Bulls so I knew all these guys. None of them would jump off the page but they where all talented, all knew their roles and where all slapped on the ass by Jordan and pushed by Pippen and zen’d by Jackson.
All championship teams need their role players and need good ones. More importantly they needed their stars to know their roles. The great Celtic teams now and then know this. The Laker teams have known this. Do you think that Rambis ever aspired to be better than Magic? No. He would do what 100 other players wouldn’t and it was all for the betterment of the team. If not for the loss of Perkins last year would the Lakers have won the championship? If the Celts had ANYONE that could fill the void at center maybe they win game 7?
Why didn’t the bulls clear off more space to get all three of these guys? They had the pieces to trade and dump salaries. Even if you had to get rid of Rose, you’re getting 3 top 10 players in the league right? Why not give up on superstar for 3? Because 3 superstars don’t always make a good team. Why didn’t Portland blow up all the young talent they have to bring these guys over here to the west? Why didn’t San Antonio get rid of their aging superstars and replace them with this trifecta of talent? Why didn’t the Thunder take apart their team to bring in these superstars? Because they have a TEAM not just a few all stars that can run up and down the court and destroy the bottom dwellers of the league.
I’ve been hearing a lot of criticism about Bosh lately. I don’t think it’s his problem. He’s not the one that’s been causing these recent defeats. In fact if I where going to make the decision to get rid of one of the three it wouldn’t be Bosh. Bosh is their forward / center presence. The problem is LeBron and Wade. This isn’t an all star team league. Not every game is run and gun and whoever scores last wins. It was fine when they got their sea legs and where able to rattle off a few victories by playing good / fun street ball. But now you’re seeing the real season start. March and April where teams are locking down playoff positions and actually playing like they care, notice the Lakers (who where on the brink of collapsing) have run off 7 straight wins against all types of teams, most notably the Spurs last night.
LeBron and Wade play the same position and need the same things. What’s worse is neither seems to want to tell the other, no this is my shot!! They’re still playing as friends and don’t want to offend the other. James might be the greatest player right now. All around, I take him first no questions asked. He does everything, except make that last shot. Why do you think Kobe is the most feared player in the league. He’s not close to the athletic player he once was when he was winning dunk contests. He’s not even the best team player consistently and always need Phil to remind him what it takes to win. The reason no one wants to play the Lakers is because in the last few minutes of a game, Kobe will kill you. You know he’s getting the ball and you know you’ve got a very good chance of him finding a way to score (and possibly get a key assist). He’s a winner. Love him or hate him, he’s a winner. I hate to use that term today because Charlie Sheen has seemed to change the meaning of that, FYI great SNL weekend update this week.
Wade has that. We’ve seen it in the playoffs when they won their championship and the year before when he was a star on the rise. For all of LeBron’s greatness and eventually he’s hold all the records for scoring and wins and rebounds and assists or whatever he sets his mind to, what he may not be able to win is a championship. That’s not something you can just say, yeah I’m going to that this year.
My opinon is you trade Wade or LeBron and fill the rest of the team up with defensive stoppers a knock down shooter AND most importantly a point guard. You’re now in the East where you’re going to go up against Williams, Rondo, Billups and the MVP Rose. At the moment they have no one to stop or even slow down a #1 point guard.
Celtic and Laker length can kill them but it’s not something that their speed couldn’t offset. The Heat’s pure athleticism will offset the length in a well played game where they can keep the tempo up. But where they can’t hide their faults is in the point guard position. Even if the Lakers don’t have a true point guard, they haven’t in 5 championships seasons. They make due and with Phil coaching them they can seem to manage. But the Heat haven’t proven that they can do that. We give the Lakers the benefit of the doubt when they trot, even drag there asses around for the first two thirds of the season we’ve seen them turn it on. Shit, they’ve played 100 plus games for the past 4 years. Not even the Bulls did that because Jordan took those two years off. I dare say if the Lakers could three-peat that would be an even bigger monument to their ablity since they’ve had to endure a loosing finals experience at the beginning of their run (not to mention Kobe and Gasol being in the Olympics in 2008).
I don’t hate the Heat. I think it’s great to have a villainous team in the league and I wish they owned up to it more. Just be like yeah, we did what we did and we’re going kick your ass. That’s what takes a game to higher levels. But when I watch them play, I see LeBron and Wade getting in each other’s way more often than I see them knowing what is going on. Maybe it’s coach Spo. I have a feeling that it’s just hard to get kids that have been told all their life, they are the man; now differ to this other guy. What’s worse is that they like each other. So they’re each trying to be nice. If they hated each other they’d probably do better because they’d each want to prove why they want to take the last shot. At the moment they seem confused. LeBron, who’s never been the greatest last shot taker, is hoisting up 3’s while Wade is open on the wing?
The problem with the Heat is the same problem that a lot of failing corporations have. They have too many people that may be great but they’re all trying to do the same job. And because they both make a lot of money, there isn’t enough left to fill up the rest of the company with quality workers.
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