Sunday, December 25, 2011

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas, sports fans, readers of BoSox Tavern and, since it's the only sport on today, hoops fans.

One good thing about the NBA lockout is it allowed the scheduling of five very compelling games today, starting off with the Celtics at the Knicks in Madison Square Garden.  You have the Celtics (sans Paul Pierce), the most storied franchise in the league's history, with four superstars and one last chance at another championship, against a Knick team that's finally relevant again, playing in the most historic arena in the country.  It is good for the league and sports fans to have the Knicks competitive again.  New York City is not only the biggest media market in the country but it is far and away the biggest basketball city in the country.
If you didn't get to see the NBA on TNT commercial that aired just before tip-off, look for it.  It's an excellent blending of new and old video clips that is very well done and realistic looking; Dirk against Bird, for instance.
Do you plan on watching any games today?  Are you glad the NBA is back?  You can consider this post as an open forum to make any comment you'd like regarding the NBA.
Here's the lineup on TV today:  Celtics @ Knicks; in a rematch of last year's NBA Finals, Heat @ Mavericks -- I assume we'll see a banner raising -- Bulls @ Lakers in a matchup that could be a preview for the finals; Orlando @ Oklahoma City, superstars and one team capable of being in the finals; finishing off with the new-look and maybe for the first time relevant Clippers against Golden State.  The Clippers will be very fun to watch this year.
UPDATE:  Here's that Forever NBA commercial:

I know many of my generation rave about the '80s NBA of Bird and Magic, et al, but for me it was the '70s.  It may have been a bad era for the health of the league but to me as a teenager the flare of the league at that time was so much fun.  It was a flare with innocence, as opposed to whatever the current corporate NBA is called.

2 comments:

Zebster said...

Looked like the Celts were gonna get blown out, then roared back and took the lead, only to lose by 2. But it's all good 'cause the Lakers lost.
The song playing in the background of that NBA commercial is called "Live Forever" by Drew Holcomb & The Neighbors, a gospel song.

Tom said...

I was not psyched for the NBA at all, but by having all of these premiere match-ups on the opening day of the season and on Christmas day, I found myself watching even with little to no interest in the teams playing. The Knicks-Celtics game was entertaining enough to keep me watching. Although I wish Spike Lee would have some sort of seatbelt on his chair. It will be an interesting season with all of the new, young talent building teams to be powerhouses while the good ole boys left keep getting older.