Musings from a Sleep Deprieved, Less than Neutral Sports Addict

Hang a banner in Philly we had a night without fan incident.

So sick of the LeBron James elbow. I had a problem with the injury when it first reared it's ugly head in the clinching game of the first round series with the Bulls. If you have to resort to shooting important free throws with your off hand in the closing minutes, shouldn't you have checked yourself out when the other team is purposely fouling? How do Cav's head coach Mike Brown, and LBJ not discuss the injury at some length over the past week? Aren't there certain sets or assignments Cleveland wants to avoid with respect to the King's elbow, or certain situations James feels more comfortable playing in? I don't understand how the lines of communication are not open regarding the injury within the organization. Highly unprofessional for Brown to avoid the situation, with a championship on the line involving the best player in the NBA. I hope he is playing coy with the media, my gut tells me Brown is not.

Seems to me whatever situation Jimmy Clausen and Colt McCoy fell into on draft day would have been spun as a "perfect situation" by NFL reporters and experts.

Tuesday in Montreal the Penguins put on a clinic for "How to win in the playoffs." Those are the games championship caliber teams win in the postseason on multiple occasions. Pittsburgh stepped outside their comfort zone to capture a tough game on the road. That is why the young Penguins have rings, and a shot at the repeat.

Roy Halladay is mesmerizing to watch pitch, even when he is off his game (which doesn't happen much) he is still better than 95% of the pitchers out there. Catch him today against the Cardinals, the Pujols/Halladay matchup is even worth the price of admission the Mets and Yankees are charging.

My first issue with the "Los Suns" jerseys or any "Los" jersey (Spurs, Bulls, Heat) for that matter is (unless I am missing something) the uniform doesn't have the article "The" normally, making the concept seem a bit forced. Secondly, sports is an escape we as fans use to get away from politics and the rigors of life, World Cup excluded of course, thats filled with all kinds of political drama. Why did Suns owner, Robert Sarver have to use a playoff game as a medium to shove yet another political agenda down our throats.

We are only 35 days away from the tournament so special it can only be played every four years. There is no sporting drama better than the World Cup. The intensity is high, the passion runs red hot, the world stops and provides the stage where players truly become immortal.

Speaking of the world stopping how does Ty friggin' Wigginton have 9 Home Runs on May 6th? Next someone will tell me Andruw Jones has nine also; c'mon who honestly knew Jones was still active, and on the White Sox?

Another gem from the Bruins marketing department (Missed it in my links on Tuesday). Someone needs to give those guys a raise.

Love the trade talks already starting up about Seattle lefty Cliff Lee, he has two starts under his belt in the Emerald City and the season is 27 games young. If a deal does go down eventually, how ironic would it be if he went back to the Phillies, or if he was traded to one of their prime opponents in the NL, and helped take the Phils out? Personally, I am rooting for the latter.

Bengals are interested in aquiring Pac-Man Jones, guess Mike Brown is trying to reclaim the Band of Bad Boys title back from their AFC North Division rival Steelers. Honestly why are the Bengals even dipping their franchise's big toe in these waters, Jones was a serviceable NFL DB two years ago, but certainly not worth the huge risk. We aren't talking about Deion Sanders or Mel Blount for that matter.

Finally, my thoughts and prayers to the family of Yeardley Love and the UVA community, too many tragedies have struck the Commonwealth of Virginia over the past few years.

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Wow

All season long the world was full of witnesses.
Fans witnessed.
Players witnessed.
ESPN witnessed.
The World witnessed.



And finally,

Lebron witnessed.

This is no blog to stab at Lebron James. He's a beast. He's young and already one of the top few players in the league. I have no quarrel with Lebron. Do I love him and his game, his intensity, passion and ability? No. But I don't dislike him. He's good for basketball and that's incredibly obvious.

But he's not there yet.

The simple truth is very clear to those who paid attention to this series. The better team won. Key word being 'team'. The best player on the court at all times was Lebron, but the next three best players in the series were Dwight Howard, Hedo, and Rashard Lewis. And it wasn't even close. And did anyone else notice that Mike Brown doesn't coach? He's such a puppet he should be in those Nike commercials alongside Kobe and Lebron (if they still exist). If there was ever a series to expose the fraudulence of the NBA Coach of the Year Award, this was it. Stan Van Gundy looked like Bob Knight compared to Brown. And we all saw it clear as day. That's not saying much for Stan Van, but it's really not saying much for Brown.

Cleveland had their chances. Up fifteen in the second quarter of game one, they took their King James sneakers off the throat. And it cost them. It cost them the game, and furthermore the series. Orlando would have wilted and died if they had lost by ten in game one. Instead, a team of jump shooters had the utmost confidence, the one thing you never want to give a team of jump shooters. Everything in this series was a mismatch. The best example maybe Mo Williams' empty guarantee to win the series. How pathetic, the damn thing didn't even go seven.

Back to Lebron real quick. I know there are those of you out there that ignore the media, and I applaud that. But for those of you who enjoy putting Lebron James and Michael Jordan's names in the same sentence, send me your address. I will personally make the visit just to punch you in the neck. It's not that Lebron isn't as good as Michael, I wouldn't expect him to be at this point in his career. It's that the very projection makes me sick to my stomach. In order to be considered in the same league as MJ, one must have at least 3 or 4 titles. To this point, Lebron doesn't. Kobe will most likely have four in a week or two, so his application will be looked at further. Remember this, in MJ's sixth season (granted he played two years of college ball so if you're of the age, not amount of seasons train of thought you're excused from this) he lost two playoff games and was the NBA Finals MVP against Magic's Lakers. In Lebron's sixth season he lost to the Magic (no pun intended). Just some food for thought.

So here we are.
No more chalk.
No more puppet.
No more pity for Cleveland crammed down the national audience's throats.
No more.

But you all know this.

You Witnessed it.

Horrendous Officiating Makes it Hard to Watch the NBA

In watching the NBA Conference Finals, I cannot help but become more and more frustrated with the officiating. The flagrants, the technicals, and the ticky tacky calls have done all they can keep me from watching. Fortunately for the NBA, my fanhood (and the lack of any other solid programming) has kept me tuning in night after night.

Let's begin with last night's Game Four of the Eastern Conference Finals. The foul called on Mickael Pietrus while he was gaurding LeBron in the final seconds of the game was nothing more than the NBA wanting to see the best players in the finals, not the best teams. If this is just about who is the best player, why don't we just turn the whole thing into a trickshot competition... I'll get the Globtrotters on the horn.

If you are going to call the foul on Pietrus, then how can you not call the foul on Andy Varejao on the next play. Personally, I don't think either should be called. Both players played excellent defense. LeBron fell so he got the call. Dwight stood his ground and was rewarded with... well nothing.

Not only are bad calls being made, the refs are simply calling way too many fouls. Clearly the refs are not subscribing to the old adage "let the boys play." The number of fouls called has increased from 33 personals in Game One to 50 personals in Game Four of the East. I understand that players are going to be more physical as the series goes on, but how can the foul discrepancy be so large? Calling 50 fouls almost makes the game unbearable. It seems like there is a foul called on every play in the fourth quarter. There is no rhythm or consistency to the game.

The technical foul calling has been extremely over-sensitive. Last night's technical call on Howard for "taunting" Andy was completely unwarranted. Howard completely an And-1 and pumped his fist in no particular direction. By calling that a technical, the NBA is telling their players and the kids who look up to them to never be happy with their accomplishments. I thought this was competitive basketball. In the heat of the moment players are going to show some emotion. That does not constitute it as taunting.

Even if it did, why do we all have to subject to this liberal point of view where we cannot hurt anybody's feelings anyway? Why are teams and players not allowed to humiliate their competition? In Roman times, not only did they humiliate them, they made sure they did not leave the arena alive. In comparison, I see nothing wrong with a little fist pump after a key play.

Today, Howard's technical was rescinded, but it still turned the game and gave the Cavs all the momentum. Magic were able to bounce back, but what if they could not? Would the NBA have given them the game? I think not. Refs need to hold their whistles. They are hurting the game.

Lebron vs. Hedo

May 22, 2009. LeBron James hit the shot to keep the Cavs in the Eastern Conference Finals.

Names for the shot are still trying to be thought up. Contestants are “the defibrillator,” “the shot heard ‘round the world” (boo), and as LeBron put it “the greatest shot I have ever made.” My personal favorite was offered up by ESPNs Jay Harris. “An L-Bomb. From L-Bron.”

No matter which name you prefer, the fact is that there was one thing and one thing only LeBron was out to prove when he released from 30 feet away with just one second on the clock: he is better than Hedo Turkoglu.

And finally LeBron did prove that. I know some of you may not be ready to take the step, but let’s face it people, LeBron has surpassed Hedo in all facets of the game.

Turkey scored 21 on 9-17 from the field. Pretty good numbers that have been good enough for most to say that he is better than LeBron. Until Game 2 when LeBron tallied 35 points.

Hedo hit a shot that looked like it won the game for the Magic leaving just one second left on the clock. The Cleveland crowd went silent. The Magic bench went crazy. Until LeBron hit “the shot.”

The greatest reason that the shot put to rest all “Hedo or LeBron” arguments is because LeBron made it over Hedo. Not Rashard Lewis, Courtney Lee, Skip to My Lou, or JJ Redick, but the man so many have said is better than him, Hedo Turkoglu.

Turkey made his shot over Sasha Pavlovic… yawn. Sasha, at 6’8” is shorter than the 6’11” Hedo. Lebron gives up three solid inches to the man who had a hand in his face when he shot. Hedo gets three.

It’s time we can finally put to rest the argument. LeBron is better than Hedo. Now, are the Magic better than the Cavs?