The Truth and the tooth

A precursor, test post, for when the Celtics finish off George's Wiz in the second round of this year's NBA playoffs, a series we have a friendly blog challenge regarding. Remember those? So a little practice for my fait accompli brag post. So did you see Isaiah Thomas (Jr) have a tooth knocked out and make like a hockey player and keep playing? That's a brag. Did you see the Celts let the Wiz start out with a 16-0 lead before beating them? Brag again. And Paul Pierce retired. He played 19 seasons in the NBA. Doesn't that make you feel old? Not a brag. The Truth is not one of the all-time greats but he is a Hall of Famer and one of the great finishers all time. Brag! I will try to get back in circulation. It's pretty said when I didn't even blog about a Super Bowl win in the greatest comeback of all time. And I must owe you at least one attending games blog. I can't even follow my own rules. I'll post about seeing the Bruins in Dallas and look to see where else I've been negligent.

While Deflategate Was Going On…

In other news, MSNBC is reporting the #Warriors routed... huh? pic.twitter.com/qyVzzQFoRe

— The Hun†ress (@RJOuttaSoCal) May 12, 2015

I’m glad to see the Golden State Warriors get back on track, but…

Thoughts from the Weekend

Figured that we needed something on the blog, so let's try something new. Just some takes from the past weekend in sports (maybe something else at the end).

1. Tony Stewart needs to see a shrink. He goes up the track during the race, runs into Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s car and takes himself out of the race at Richmond and then blames Junior for the wreck. Here would be my plan for Mr. Stewart to get back to being a threat to win a race each and every NASCAR season:  1) Spend some of your millions on a shrink to help you with the bad memories that you have over the past 2 years. 2) Take some of that money and join a gym. The excess fat around the stomach probably ain't helping with the driving. 3) Let your business partner Mr. Haas take some of the leadership for the team. You have way too many irons in the fire. Eldora, Driving, leading the Corporation, and other things that I don't know about. You have spread yourself too thin. 4) Finally, stop being a cantankerous a-hole. Enjoy yourself and let yourself enjoy life. That might help relieve some of the pressure of your life right now.

2. Adam Wainright, St. Louis Cardinals pitcher hurt himself while batting this weekend and might be out for the year. That has national sports writers calling for the National League to institute the Designated Hitter. I strongly disagree. I would stop inter-league play. No more American League vs. National League. It causes the World Series to become just another series. I would have the American League end the Designated Hitter rule. I like the strategy that having the Pitcher hit. I also like the way that National League teams pace their games. If the NL implements the DH, I have worries that Dodgers-Giants, Cardinals-Cubs and Mets-Phillies will become 4 hours marathons like the Red Sox-Yankees. That is not good.

3. The officials in the playoffs need to be held to some sort of standard. In Game 6 of  the NHL Eastern Playoff game of Montreal-Ottawa, a referee whistled a play dead and negated a good Ottawa goal. The game was 1-0 until an empty net goal by the Canadiens with 0.7 seconds left made the final 2-0. The Senators were eliminated from the playoffs by that call. In the NBA, we have a separated shoulder for Kevin Love because a Celtic yanked and put wieght on Love's extended arm. and then we get a slap to the face of Jae Crowder by Kendrick Perkins and then a nice spinning back fist by J.R. Smith to Crowder's face. And all we hear is how the players were being overly physical in both sports. Well, who allowed it to get that way? The officials, that is who. When you have P.K. Subban trying to run a guy's face into the goalpost and nothing is done to him by either the league or the officials assigned to that game, you have problems.

4. Thank god that the NFL draft is this weekend. I am so tired of the hype. It needs to go back to the early part of April. I do not need someone giving me 14 mock drafts over 3 months. And I am tired of hearing about all the prospects. However, I am thinking about disowning the Buccaneers when they draft Jameis Winston.

5. Finally, something off of sports. We need a law or a constitutional amendment stating that there can be no political advertisments, political campaigns or announcing for political offices until January 1st of the year that the elections are being held. I am already tired of hearing about the 2016 elections. They are 19 months away. Right now, I don't want to hear anything about how this person took money for political favors, especially if there is no proof.

Your NBA Champions/Game Of Thrones Mashup

This isn't a beating. It's The Red Wedding, NBA style. #GoSpursGo

— The Huntress (@HuntressInSoCal) June 16, 2014

There is no other way for me to put it. Tonight’s title-clinching game was the most brutal ending of a season since The Red Wedding on Game of Thrones. It wasn’t just another 20+ victory for the San Antonio Spurs. It was the annihilation of a Miami Heat team that was not only overhyped, but could only go as far as LeBron James could carry them. We remember how that worked out in 2007, don’t we?

Five titles in fifteen years is an amazing accomplishment in the modern era of the NBA. Even more amazing is that head coach Gregg Popovich has reworked his game plan over the years to adapt to the times. Once upon a time, the offense ran through David Robinson. Then it was The Big Three – Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, and Manu Ginobili – and a commitment to team defense that carried the team to an NBA title what seemed like every other year. Now The Big Three are considered role players, and youngsters like Patty Mills and Finals MVP Kawhi Leonard will lead the team through the rest of this decade with an offense that is reminiscent of Showtime in L.A..

What’s scary about the Spurs isn’t their scoring or their commitment to play together as a team. It’s that after nearly two decades of winning basketball, they have kicked the NBA title window back open years after many people thought it was closed forever.

Will this team be back for a third straight NBA Finals appearance in 2015? A repeat title? If The Big Three and Coach Pop come back, I’m betting on it.

The Beautiful Game

I’m not sure who did this video, but it is beautifully done. It’s hard to make me forget my Spurs heroes like George Gervin and David Robinson, but the next (almost) seven minutes make me appreciate the past seventeen years.

Enjoy this team while you can – even if ESPN/ABC refuses to broadcast them until they have no choice.

Go Spurs Go!

It’s Fiesta Time For San Antonio

The better team won this first round matchup, but the Dallas Mavericks put up a bigger fight than I expected. Congrats to them for almost pulling off the upset. I’m happy the Spurs only needed five players on the court to finish them off this afternoon.

In honor of Cinco de Mayo, I thought it was fitting to post a picture of the “Fiesta” colors the Spurs had back when David Robinson asked you, “Can you say ‘kick some butt?’” in his shoe commercials, and Larry Brown was forced to make amends for his infamous guacamole dip remark.

You know what would really hit the spot? Make Mark Cuban drink a glass of that “muddy ugly-ass River Walk” water.

Go Spurs Go! Hopefully back to the NBA Finals.

Nobody Beats The Wiz...

...except themselves!   I'm very happy our perineal loser team won a series, but it was absolutely NOT an impressive game.   In fact it was damned sloppy!  If it weren't for the fact that the Bulls played much worse, I'd have been screaming at the screen in disgust!  In fact I did just that!  These dudes have got to get serious if the plan to beat the Hawks.  

I'll write more this weekend, gotta get up early, but complying with the blog rule!

And BITE ME, Zeb for trying to steal my mojo!  In fact, you "steeled" it!!  HAHA!!  

Found On Twitter: Donald Sterling Reaction

Woww.... #DonaldSterling changed the clippers logo pic.twitter.com/JFr26DZjo2

— ＤＡＲＫＳＫＩＮ (@DarkskinPope) April 27, 2014

Believe it or not, this is perhaps one of the tamest images and/or Tweets I found circulating on Twitter tonight. And rightfully so.

Donald Sterling has a long track record for racism, and yet only two NBA owners have spoken out against Sterling’s *alleged* comments as of this writing. Kudos to Peter Holt (Spurs) and Micky Arison (Heat) for stepping up and taking the leadership Adam Silver has not shown as of this writing.

The rest of the league? You get the Double Angry Birds salute from me.

There probably is nothing in the NBA’s constitution that will allow them to strip Sterling of the Clippers franchise, but I’d love to see him banished from the league for a very long time. The game, and the league, doesn’t need his disgraceful chardonnay sippin’, racist remarkin’, stupid ass at courtside.

A Challenge

I will lose this, but I don't care. Anytime you can make fun of the Sprouts, you do it. Huntress, you have been challenged.

A NEW HOPE

I attended the Washington Nationals' Opening Day on Friday, 4 April.  It was a great day ("great" in that it wasn't cold and it didn't rain, like on some other opening days).  The fellas and I started the day with our ritual of breakfast tacos (don't ask) from "DC Taco," a bloody mary (I hate bloody marys), and, of course, beer--lots of ice cold beer.  And I mean really ice cold--with ice cold ice--not like that so-called "ice cold" lukewarm beer the beer guy in the stadium sells.  I felt just like a kid on opening day! 

Okay, so the Nats lost 2-1 (we did pull a boner by getting caught in a rundown between 2nd and 3rd with no outs), and we blew a 2-on, no outs opportunity.  But other than that, it was a great day!  The beer was cold, (the girls were cute), and I wasn't working!!!  Maybe that's why I felt so much like a kid!

The following is a poem I found that will be my 2014 inspiration for the Washington Nationals.  We have a good team, we have the players who have talent, and a good manager.  I say we approach this season with wide-eyed hope like we were kids!  GO NATS!!!

 

CLOTHESPINS (By  Stuart Dybek)  

I once hit clothespins  

for the Chicago Cubs.  

I'd go out after supper  

when the wash was in  

and collect clothespins  

from under four stories  

of clothesline.  

A swing-and-a-miss  

was a strike-out;  

the garage roof, Willie Mays,  

pounding his mitt  

under a pop fly.  

Bushes, a double,  

off the fence, triple,  

and over, home run.  

The bleachers roared.  

I was all they ever needed for the flag.  

New records every game—

once, 10 homers in a row!  

But sometimes I'd tag them  

so hard they'd explode,  

legs flying apart in midair,  

pieces spinning crazily  

in all directions.  

Foul Ball! What else  

could I call it?  

The bat was real.

A Homer's Perspective: Wisconsin In The Final Four

For the first time since 2000, the University of Wisconsin men's basketball team has made it to the 2014 NCAA Final Four by beating the University of Arizona 64-63 in overtime. I'm not going to rehash the game -- you may have watched it yourself on TV or read about it in the news, and I can't do the game justice compared to the professionals. However, I will give you a little bit of my perspective.

As a kid growing up in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, I was about eight years old when the Milwaukee Bucks drafted a kid out of UCLA named Lew Alcindor; and with Oscar Robertson's arrival, they teamed up in 1971 to give the Bucks its only NBA championship. You got to remember that this was at least five years after Vince Lombardi left the Packers, and Bart Starr wasn't winning us any football championships. In 1975, Kareem was traded to the Lakers, and the Buck have been basically cursed ever since.

So now you have the Bucks stinking up the NBA, the Packers fouling up the NFL until 1992, the Wisconsin Badgers football team didn't get respectable until Barry Alvarez's arrival in 1990, and it was still awhile until the Brewers actually were competitive when teaming Yount and Molitor together in the late 70's. Notice, I haven't even mentioned college basketball because we had Al McGuire coaching at Marquette.

The then Marquette Warriors were a thing of beauty to watch. They consistently had 20-game win seasons (a high number back then), and they were always invited to the tournaments, winning the NIT championship in 1970 and making the NCAA Final Four in 1974 and winning Marquette's only NCAA national championship in 1977.

So what does this have to do with the Wisconsin Badgers in the 2014 Final Four? I'm a homer and I'm not ashamed to admit it. I only am interested in teams from Wisconsin. What also makes this Badger basketball team a little bit more special for me is that I'm rooting for Sam Dekker because he is from my hometown. Reading the Sheboygan Press every day, I saw the articles of how he was a high school phenom and was overjoyed to see that he stayed in the state to play his collegiate career. He's only a sophomore right now, and I'm hoping he helps his team to a couple more of these before the graduates.

Off To Anaheim To Face Arizona

The San Diego State Aztecs are on their way to Anaheim for their second Sweet 16 appearance in school history. In the 2013 tournament, they were upset by Florida Gulf Coast and Coach Fisher learned how to channel that experience into the team this year and got the team to understand that they are better than the mid majors that SDSU have had problems with in the past. They had to scratch and claw to get out of the first round this year, but had an easier time in the second round.

Coach Fisher says that this team could become elite. He should know. He coached elite teams in Michigan. He has a very good team that bought into the belief that the defensive end of the floor should be where they dominate. You cannot argue with the facts. Teams shoot abysmally against them. They can play real physical on defense. And the fact that during the year they had over a 12 point difference in scoring just shows you how well they play defense.

The team is great on the defensive end, but the Achilles heel of the team is the offense. If they cannot find somebody besides Xavier Thames to score more than a dozen points, the tournament will become tough real quick for them. Only Thames and Winston Shepard averaged double digits in the regular season. Josh Davis is the board cleaner for SDSU. He averaged 10 boards a game.

The Aztecs might not be favored for the rest of their games, but they can win them. The key is the stifling man-to-man defense that they have shown. I believe that the team that takes down the Aztecs will be one that runs and guns. If SDSU plays in a half court game, then they should be able to steal a victory over a team that is more talented.

Coach Fisher has the Aztecs being relevant. He is starting to transform the school into a basketball power. It is an exciting time for Aztec nation. The tell tale sign is that the Aztecs feel like they belong in the Sweet 16. Now it is time for them to continue to learn from the 2013 NCAA Tournament and the loss to Florida Gulf Coast and learn how the underdog can slay Goliath. They just need to look at things from the view of David instead of the view of Goliath from this past weekend.

Blog Challenge!

Fourth-seeded #AztecMBB will play 12th-seeded North Dakota State at 3:10 p.m. PT Saturday on TNT. The winner moves onto the Sweet 16.

— GoAztecs.com (@GoAztecs) March 21, 2014

It's on, Brent!

34 and counting

What I find interesting about this is that there's only one year with an overlap, 2004.  What it doesn't include obviously is all the years where none of the four teams won and kind of hides the long stretches that some of the teams had going without a championship, nor does it show the championship game losses.
So while this looks dominant in a way, it is misleading but something to be very proud of as well.



Who's got next?

It works also as a nice little reference/reminder.

 

If you're wondering about the years that these teams lost championship games, here it is:  The Red Sox lost in 1946, 1967, 1975 and 1986.  That's 8 and 4 all time.  The Celtics lost in 1958, 1985, 1987 and 2010.  That's 17 and 4 all time.  The Bruins lost in 1927, 1930, 1943, 1946, 1953, 1957, 1958, 1974, 1977, 1978, 1988, 1990 and 2013.  That's 6 and 13 all time.  And the Patriots lost in 1963 (AFL), 1986, 1997,  2008 and 2012.  That's 3 and 5 all time.  Let's add to this the 1936 Boston Redskins losing the NFL championship game and also add the 1914 Boston Braves winning the World Series.  You have a grand total of 62 championship game appearances with now 35 wins.

COLLEGE SPORTS AND MONEY (Part 1)

At the risk of repeating myself (and boring you in the process--again), here's how I'd solve the NCAA's "pay-'em-to-play" problem:

    1.  I would dissolve all college sports scholarships.

    2.  I'd allow all colleges to "hire" their athletes and treat them as paid employees. 

    3.  There would be no academic or scholastic requirement for this position; their classification would be "employee-athlete" vice "student-athlete."

    4.  The schools would only "pay" the athletes a sufficient sum as a stipend; the schools would house and feed these employees on campus, as part of their compensation package, but to keep them on campus for the purpose of training, practice, and managing their conduct during the season.

    5.  The employee-athlete would play for four (4) years only.  This is purely for athletic, mental, and physical development in preparation for a potential professional career.

    6.  Any potential residual income that could be earned by the employee-athlete in the form of merchandizing, paid speeches, honorariums, sponsorship, would be due and owing to the employee-athlete, but shared by the school (50/50) and held in interest-bearing trust.

    7.  After four years, the contract between the employee-athlete and the school terminates, automatically.  Any potential revenue directly related to the on-field/court/rink exploits of the employee-athlete after the 4-year term, belongs to the athlete (100%). 

    8.  All money, held in trust, will remain in an interest-earning account and will be used to fund a full college education if the athlete is unable to obtain a professional sports contract, and wishes to pursue a degree-bearing education.  Otherwise, all money is due and payable to the athlete immediately upon termination of the contract.

    9.  If, at that time, the athlete is good enough to turn professional, off he goes--God bless him.

    10.  After two years, the athlete no longer has any viable prospects for a professional contract, and he now wishes to pursue a legitimate college education, the money held in trust will be used to fund that education.  If the athlete's total in-trust account assets are less than one half (1/2) of the total cost of four year's worth of tuition, room, board, books, and fees for the schools for which he was engaged as an employee-athlete, then school will fund 1/2 of the total cost of a four-year education, with the athlete funding 1/2 through whatever sources are available to him (personal assets, scholarships, grants, loans, etc.).

At it again

You can treat this as a chapter 2 to Brent's recent post regarding New England being the epicenter of the sports world last week.  What he left out was the Red Sox, which I filled in to some extent in the comments of that post.  Well, add to that that they went 8-1 on this recent homestand (sorry, RJ, as part of that was sweeping the Padres, which I'll return to in a second) and now suddenly have the best record in baseball and I believe their best record ever on July 4th.
My brother was kind enough to give me and my Cousin Aaron his tickets to the July 4 game as he had plans with his young family.  Thanks, Bro, for giving up your seats in the right field bleachers on arguably the hottest day I've ever sat at a ballgame.  LOL  We had a very good time, gave my new car it's first roadtrip, and watched the Sox win (excuse me, there's a f'ing mosquito in here) and it was a nice excuse for cold beer and hanging with Cuz.

Authentic World Series plaques

Obviously the Bruins had a headline week last week playing in the Cup Final.  Now  comes new that they've traded Tyler Seguin to Dallas in a seven-player deal, Nathan Horton is off to Columbus, Andy Ference to Edmonton and now a headline that they've signed Jerome Iginla to a one-year deal.  I'm not sure about these deals -- Iginla should be a good fit, as will Lui Eriksson but the Bruins gave up a franchise player and did not get one in return.  They've added to their depth, replaced the losses of Peverley, Seguin, Horton and Jagr; added a good? young two-way defenseman and got a couple of prospects but still in my opinion do not have the sniper they sorely need, nor did they get a high draft pick that could result in that franchise player (which incidentally is what I understand Calgary offered them before the draft, although the 6th pick may not have gotten them that player).  We shall see, we shall see.  Would love your thoughts on this.
Then there's the Celtics.  Will they trade Rondo too?  But the big recent news is the signing of young phenom head coach from Butler, Brad Stephens.  I know it's just TV interviews but from those interviews I really like this guy and everyone  lots of experts are saying this is a once-in-a-generation head coaching prospect.  Danny Ainge needs to give him a team, so we will see.

New England: The Epicenter Of Sports For The Past Week

The last week in June, most of the sports world has been centered around the New England area for the major news stories. Out of the three major things, only one dealt with actual results on the playing surface. The biggest one and the most shocking and sad is the story about Aaron Hernandez and him being arrested for Murder while being an active member of the New England Patriots.  The second one and also off the playing field is the total dismantling of the Boston Celtics for the next couple of years. The final one is the Boston Bruins and the Chicago Blackhawks Stanley Cup final. Dovetailing onto that story is the fallout coming for the Bruins roster.

Riding Off Into The Sunset?

First of all, congrats to the Miami Heat. Even though they get knocked for having the worst fans in the NBA, LeBron James and the rest of the South Beach gang proved they were the best team in the league by outlasting my San Antonio Spurs.

Even though Tim Duncan didn’t get his fifth ring tonight, I’m still proud of the way my team hung in there and kept battling the Heat (and Joey Crawford) until the very end. And now that another NBA season is over, it’s time to talk about another end: The Big 3.

Manu Ginobili, the heart and soul of the Spurs championship teams in the middle of the last decade, looked like he was already retired with the exception of his Game 5 performance. It may be time to nudge him out the door like George Gervin was in the mid-80s when that Spurs team’s championship window slammed shut. Manu’s performance this season, and especially this playoff run, hasn’t given anyone confidence he can return to his old form. For a thirty-five year old future Hall of Famer, he’s got a lot of miles on the odometer and looked like the game had passed him by the past two games.

Tim Duncan is not quite ready to retire, but we all know that time is coming closer than we think. It is unrealistic for the Spurs to rely on him for a heavy workload going forward, and it’s time for the team to find another big man to help shoulder the burden of winning fifty games a season and challenge for the championship. I hope he plays forever, but I know that’s not happening. For all we know, he might step away from the game this summer. Whenever the inevitable happens, it’s going to be sad day for pro basketball when the best power forward to ever play the game decides to head back to the Virgin Islands for good.

Tony Parker is a spry 31, but he’s also got a dozen NBA seasons of wear and tear on his body. How much longer can he play at an All-Star level? Will he remain with the Spurs after his latest contract expires? That is the biggest unknown heading into the summer.

For now all I can think of is to tell these great players, “Thanks for the best fourteen years this Spurs fan has ever had following this team,” and also beg them “One more year, please?”

PREDICTION: Manu retires, Duncan and head coach Gregg Popovich return for one more kick in the can, and general manager R.C. Buford reloads this team for one more title run. Then in 2014 the rebuilding of the Spurs begins with the re-signing of Parker and then surrounding him and future superstar Kawhi Leonard with young, quality players.

Tweet Of The Week

"For all those guys who left, don't come back for Game 7." - Chris Bosh

— Ryan Wolstat (@WolstatSun) June 19, 2013

You don’t ever walk out on your team during a Finals game. Ever.

Bad Things Happen When You’re On The Cover & A Bold Prediction

Many of you may not be aware of it, but there is such a thing as The Sports Illustrated Cover Jinx. It’s not an urban legend. It’s a fact that several high profile athletes have had bad luck occur to them once they’ve been given the cover treatment. Consider some of the eerie things that occurred after athletes were featured on an SI cover, with publication dates included:

• January 31, 1955 – skier Jill Kinmont was paralyzed from the chest down after a near-fatal accident that occurred the same week she appeared on the cover.
• February 13, 1961 – figure skater Laurence Owen, as well as the rest of the U.S. Figure Skating Team, perished in a plane crash near Brussels, Belgium two days later.
• June 7, 1971 – racers Al Unser and Peter Revson were both featured on the SI cover. Unser was hampered by retirements during subsequent races that season. Revson was killed while practicing for the 1974 South African Grand Prix.
• July 30, 1984 – Steelers linebacker Jack Lambert suffered a turf toe injury that ended his career.
• June 20, 1988 – boxer Michael Spinks appeared on the cover with the caption “Don’t Count Me Out”. Thanks to a Mike Tyson punch, the referee did exactly that in ninety-one seconds after the opening bell of their fight. Spinks never fought again.
• December 6, 2000 – racers Dale Earnhardt and his son Dale Earnhardt Jr. shared the cover. Dale was killed two months later on the final lap of the 2001 Daytona 500.
• September 2008 – Patriots quarterback Tom Brady was on the cover of the NFL Season Preview issue. During the team’s season opener, Brady was lost for the season with a serious knee injury.
• October 15, 2011 – NASCAR racer Jimmie Johnson had an accident at Charlotte Motor Speedway later that month that ultimately stopped his championship winning streak at five years in a row.
• February 17, 2012 – Knicks guard Jeremy Lin’s team had their six-game winning streak snapped by the New Orleans Hornets, at the time the second-worst team in the NBA.
• February 23, 2012 – Lin, after making his second straight cover appearance, went 1 for 11 in a loss against the Miami Heat. The next month he tore the meniscus in his left knee and underwent season ending surgery.
• May 15, 2013 – Grizzlies guard Mike Conley Jr. and his team were swept by the San Antonio Spurs 4-0 in the Western Conference Finals.
• June 10, 2013 – The Spurs “Big 3” of Manu Ginobili, Tim Duncan and Tony Parker appear on this week’s cover.

I know HESPN (that H is for the 30 minutes of coverage ESPN devotes to the Miami Heat during SportsCenter every night) wants the Spurs to lose, but SI has to give my team another obstacle to overcome? I know everyone hates the Spurs, but this is ridiculous.

I’m crossing my fingers Michael Jordan and his 49 SI cover appearances weren’t an aberration.

PREDICTION: Spurs win their fifth NBA championship in six games.