The NBA: Where Vengeance Happens

Will the Suns have enough to rise above their former slayers?

You know how often in movies the plot centers around someone being killed and that someone's friend/lover/child swearing he will get revenge?  And then there's another character who tries to tell the avenger that revenge isn't the solution, it is eventually unsatisfying.  Or, as Batman put it to Robin, "You make the kill, but your pain doesn't die [there], it grows. So you run out into the night to find another face, and another, and another, until one terrible morning you wake up and realize that revenge has become your whole life."

Well in 2010 the Suns are the dead corpse and I am the friend/lover/child and even if Batman himself tells me not to seek revenge, I don't care.  We Suns fans have been dealt some deadly blows in the past, and this year I want vengeance.

With the Suns going on an impressive surge since the All-Star break and finishing out the season by beating both the Nuggets and the Jazz, they clinched the 3rd seed in the Western Conference.  Here's the playoff landscape they face:

Round 1:  Suns (3) vs. Blazers (6) - The Blazers have toppled some hurdles of their own to get here.  Some of their role player guys have been playing well above their level and Brandon Roy is always a force to be reckoned with, but I take comfort in the fact that the unflappable Suns come into the playoffs scorching hot and the Blazer bigs don't have the speed to defend Amar'e.

Vengeance Implication: In the days of KJ, Hornacek, and "Thunder Dan" Majerle, the Blazers beat us in 5 in 1989.  Then, in 1992, with the addition of Tom Chambers, and poised to go the distance, the dynamic duo of "Clyde the Glyde" and Terry Porter with help from the nefarious, head-banded Clifford Robinson, stopped us short by beating us in 5 in the Western Conference Finals.

Fear the headband.  Cliff Robinson literally invented the thing.

*Round 2: Suns (3)  vs. Mavs (2) / Spurs (7) - The Mavs have been playing good, playoff-caliber basketball for a good stretch now and they are not to be overlooked as serious title contenders.  The Spurs are not at 100%, or even 90%, health and vitality, and their core of Manu/Parker/Duncan is getting old and less title-hungry.  But they've had our number for a while and they are probably the most savvy team in the NBA.  I don't think this is their year to win it all, or even win the West, but they can certainly cause some serious disruptions.

Vengeance Implication (Mavs): With Amar'e out for the playoffs with a knee injury, the Suns miraculously made it to the Western Conference finals in 2006 on the strength of career years from the likes of Boris Diaw, Shawn Marion, and Barbosa, and of course Steve Nash leading the way with his MVP season.  We put up a good fight against the Mavs but the Mavs were too deep and they went on to beat us in 6.  The frustrating thing is that they had a relatively easy path to the trophy with a finals matchup against the Miami Heat but after going up 2-0 they crapped the bed and lost 4 straight.

Vengeance Implication (Spurs): Oh how I loathe the Spurs. The anti "joga bonito".  I hope we do get the chance to match up against the Spurs so we can comprehensively exorcise the vengeance demons.  In 2005 the Suns had one of their best ever regular seasons and were poised to win it all.  En route to face the Spurs we challenged and conquered the Mavs but not without Jerry Stackhouse pile-driving our offensive star, Joe Johnson, onto the floor and literally breaking his eye bone (tack this offense onto the paragraph above).  So we hobbled into our series with the Spurs and were dismantled 4 games to 1.  Momentum, excitement, thrill: gone.  In 2007 the Suns worked hard all season to build up steam and assemble a Spurs-proof team.  We succeeded at building such a team but in game 4 of the semifinals in San Antonio we were staging a symbolic, come-from-behind, crunch time win but in the closing seconds all that was marred by the Robert Horry hip check on Steve Nash that sent him flying into the scorers' table and resulted in a 2-game suspension for stars Amar'e Stoudemire and Boris Diaw on a ruling technicality.  In 2008 I wrote the following post and my feelings haven't changed since: "In 2008 things were almost looking good. We had beaten the Spurs 3-1 in the regular season series and we had started game 1 in complete control, leading by double digits for most of the game. Then the entire season ended with one ill-fated shot. Tim Duncan's OT buzzer-beater 3-pointer. His first 3-pointer in the last 2 seasons. I think that shot ended the game, the series, the season, possibly the era of the Phoenix Suns. I strongly dislike the Spurs. I have nothing more to say."  
 

Classless.

*Round 3: Suns (3)  vs. Lakers (1) / Thunder (8) or Nuggets (4) / Jazz (5) - The Lakers are the defending champs but they are backpedaling into the playoffs, Kobe is playing through pain, and they are not as deep as they were last year.  The Thunder are young and exciting.  Kevin Durant is a pure baller and I look forward to watching him play for years to come.  The Nuggets historically crumble in the playoffs but they might go far this year if they get inspired play from "Mr. Big-Shot" Billups and a revitalized Carmelo Anthony.  Their excess of tattoos means that I will never root for them.  The Jazz are hopeful that Carlos Boozer's injury is not serious.  They are always a threat to win at home but losing the advantage by slipping to the 5 seed might have a devastating affect on their 2010 run.

Vengeance Implication (Lakers): Some Suns fans hate the Lakers but I don't really hold anything against them.  In my era we've had the upper hand in our matchups so I've got no reason to hate.

Vengeance Implication (Thunder): None.  Not a likely matchup.

Vengeance Implication (Nuggets): None.  They've never knocked us out of the playoffs and we typically beat them in the regular season.  

Vengeance Implication (Jazz): With the Jazz it's more about rivalry than revenge.  Technically they beat us in the first round of the 1991 playoffs but I've pretty much forgotten about that by now. The Jazz are just one of those teams that get my blood boiling.  I can't stand their foul-crying, home-court fans and I don't care for their style of play--they're like a hybrid of a poor man's Spurs and a throwback to the early 90's Stockton-Malone combo.  

 Carlos Boozer, I award you 0 points for style.

The 2009/2010 Suns are clearly not the best team we've assembled in the Steve Nash era but they might actually represent our best chance to make it to the finals.  If not the finals, some sweet vengeance will suffice.

Twain Fantasy

Devotees will recall that last season in fantasy baseball, I was locked in heated battle with my own kin in "The Bunkbed Series".  Since I never offered any follow-up, it would be safe to assume, and you would be correct, that I ended up on the "bottom bunk" in that series.  This season I was lucky enough to make it back to the championship matchup, now pitted against my older, more cunning brother, team name: Montecore.

The battle was definitely going my way throughout most of the 2-week period, and the Gordon Gekkos had accumulated a sizeable margin in most of the batting categories.  But Monte rarely goes down easy (I mean, his namesake actually attacked his own master, the peaceable Roy Horn of Siegfried & Roy).  I had a 13-9-0 lead at the end of the 2-week period and was just waiting for the obligatory call of congratulations from my opponent.  But then the dumb league decided to count the stats of the 1-game, postseason playoff between the Twins and Tigers.  Ever monitoring, and quick to enact his strategy, Montecore proceeded to pick up all the Twins/Tigers players he could and put them in his lineup in a last-ditch effort.  He would need 9 hits and 2 walks to tie, and an additional 2 stolen bases to win.    

The time for the 1-game playoff arrived and I raptly followed on the web, on my phone, and on TV.  Would M. Tolbert rope a single to left? would N. Punto draw a walk? would they both try for a double steal? would A. Everett come off the bench for a bunt single?  Who knew that these AL Central no-namers could cause so much stress?  For those who watched, the game went into extra innings and the fantasy implications from all the different combinations and game-ending scenarios became too much to bear, and I had to turn it off when family dinner just couldn't be postponed any longer.  But I kept that laptop nearby, and a strange thing happened--that little "0" in the third column of the Win-Loss-Tie scorechart, quietly transformed into a "1" by stealing a digit from my loss column.  In the top of the 12th with the bases loaded and 2 outs, Gerald Laird was the Tigers' last hope and the Tiger's demise.  He struck out swinging against Bobby Keppel, thus erasing my loss in the strikeout category, and propelling the Gordon Gekkos to an 11-10-1 victory over Montecore.           

Detroit Tigers catcher Gerald Laird reacts after tagging out Minnesota Twins' Alexi Casilla (25) during the 10th inning of a baseball game Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2009, in Minneapolis, during a tiebreaker to decide the American League Central title.  He got the job done behind the plate, but not beside it.

And if that victory wasn't enough, I also won the 14-team office league.  It's all about markin' twain.  

Fist Pump

On Wednesday night, Derek Jeter went 3-4 at home against the Devil Rays and in so doing, tied Lou Gehrig's record for the most hits as a Yankee. This has led sports columnists and TV commentators to reflect on his career and gush about what a stellar athlete and stand-up personality he has been.

I would like to use this blog post to remind everyone that Derek Jeter is actually a big dork. I think all these sports people are overestimating Jeter now that the Yankees are no longer the loathed empire of MLB dominance. The Yanks have been choking since 2001 and now everyone feels sympathy for them.

I even have a friend who's an Orioles fan who by all rights should be a Yankee hater but confessed to me that he one day came to a realization that Jeter is "awesome." Dear friend, do not be blinded by the Yankee mystique. Here is some solid proof that Jeter is a dork and not awesome.

• If they kept stats of consecutive games with the same hairstyle, he would be the new Ironman
• He makes a living off of opposite-field hits and the short Yankee porch
• He sticks his butt out too much when he's up to bat and he always leans over the pitch when he watches it for a ball
  
• A 2008 study by researchers at the University of Pennsylvania found that, from 2002 through 2005, Jeter was the worst defensive shortstop in the Major Leagues
• The fist pump
• Doper - His homerun total went from 10 in 2003 to 23 in 2004
  

PREAKNESS!!

Rachel Alexandra (#13) becomes the first filly in 85 years to win the Preakness Stakes, edging Kentucky Dirby winner Mine That Bird by one length.

We spent this last weekend at the Preakness Stakes in Baltimore. The drama surrounding Rachel Alexandra (the filly female going up against all the colts) made for an exciting sporting event. It's too bad we don't gamble because we were going to put $1 million on Rachel but our conscience got the better of us.

I was quite surprised to find that the horseracing crowd is not so elite and distinguished as it once was. We were misled to believe that the madams had to wear a dress and fancy hat, and the gentlemen a coat and tie. Needless to say, I felt a little too formal (and a little too hot) mixing it up with the "running of the urinal crowd" and rocking out to ZZ Top. But in the end the excitement capitulated when the main event was starting, and the race itself turned out to be quite a thrill. Next year I'm wearing a tank top.

Overdressed

Appropriately dressed

The Bunkbed Series

It comes down to this: 2 brothers, former bunkmates, separated across the nation, but united as family, forced to duke it out. In one corner, The Al Pedriques (Desmond B.) bolstered by Chase Utley, Justin Morneau, the ailing Vlad Guerrero, the surging Andre Ethier, and Cliff Lee. In the other corner, The Gordon Geckos (Twainfecta) a.k.a. The Wall St. Whammers who surged from 12th place to 4th place over the course of about 6 weeks just to get into the playoffs, and who now, miraculously, find themselves in this 2-week September Classic. The Geckos boast a lineup of Alfonso Soriano, Jimmy Rollins, Manny Ramirez, Dustin Pedroia, Nate McClouth, et al. And a pitching staff backed by Jon Lester, Brett Myers, Mike Mussina, and a bunch of mediocres.

As these brothers go tete a tete, the question on everyone's mind is: who will end up on top?

Say It Ain't So (Manny Ramirez: 2001-2008.5)

It was tough seeing Manny starting to dog it these last few weeks in Boston. I'm not going to turn on him, and I will continue to be mesmerized every time I see him step to the plate; I just wish he would have done something that was morally redeeming after incuring the wrath of just about every sportswriter on the planet. Below is a good article by P. Gammons (a colleague of mine) that raises some pretty convincing criticisms of Manuel.

The deal that had to be done

Thursday, July 31, 2008 | Print Entry

The text message from Alex Cora came not long after the deal was done. "I am very sad," wrote Cora, one of the game's best and brightest people. "I am happy for him because he wanted it, but he is a great guy. He taught me a lot. I will miss him."

That is what's so sad about the way the Red Sox had to spend $7 million, and trade two very good young players named Brandon Moss and Craig Hansen, to be able to trade Manny Ramirez to the Dodgers so they could get Jason Bay from the Pirates. But the way the past month had gone, there was no chance -- none, zilch, nada -- that Boston could make the playoffs with Ramirez on the team. In his mind, he had completed his obligation for the guaranteed $168 million the Red Sox paid him, and he was waiting to go on the market and collect the $100 million over the next four seasons he believes he is going to get, which would pay him through the age of 40. He insulted ownership and everyone in authority, and one player who really cares for Ramirez said he knew Ramirez could sit the last two months, collect his final $7 million and ride off into the $100 million sunset. The Red Sox knew that, as well. They already had threatened him with an unpaid suspension, but in a world in which the union fights for those who don't work, the last two months were going to be a living hell of sit-down strikes, followed by suspensions. It would have been a half-season of what the past two weeks have been, namely a choke hold on the team's baseball culture. Ramirez tried to sit, citing his knee. Problem is, after Felix Hernandez and Joba Chamberlain had come and gone, the Red Sox ownership and medical staff ordered him to take an MRI. If Ramirez hadn't forgotten which knee was bothering him, he would have been more convincing, but he got mixed up. Massachusetts General Hospital performed MRIs on both knees and found nothing, and the next day, ownership served Ramirez with a written notice that if he did not play, he would be suspended without pay. Someday, when we really understand the whole 1980-2005 steroids era of which one admitted user says, "The only guys who didn't do them after 1994 were either stupid or scared," we might ask the question: Was it worse to take performance-enhancing drugs to perform better and win, or to decline to play and steal money? That is a question for another decade. The suspension threat was this past weekend, hence the "woe-is-me" stuff on Sunday and the absurd statements about a team that protected him time after time after time after time. But as soon as the deadline passed, if Ramirez were still with the Red Sox, there would have been one incident after another with Ramirez secure in knowing that he didn't have to play, hustle or give any regard to winning to collect his remaining $7 million. Anyone who was watching John Lackey's run at a no-hitter continue in the seventh inning Wednesday when Ramirez jogged to first in 5.7 seconds, realizes that he is one of those rare, gifted athletes who cares nothing about winning, about the integrity of the game or about his teammates. He can hit. Oh, there had been attempts to rid the club of Ramirez. At first, it was about the contract Jeff Moorad snookered from Dan Duquette when no one else was bidding, a contract Ramirez decided he wouldn't abide by in the eighth year. The Sox put him on waivers. No one claimed him. They tried to trade him for Alex Rodriguez, but the union killed that. They tried to trade him to the Mets after the 2004 World Series, then at the 2005 deadline for a package that included Lastings Milledge and Clifford Floyd, but those deals fell through. And they won two World Series with him. But this season became a nightmare when Ramirez's attention span turned to the next four years, to the next contract. General managers said this past weekend that Red Sox GM Theo Epstein had begun calling around trying to get interest in the hitting machine, but by Wednesday night, there were but two teams, the Marlins and Dodgers. The way Boston looked at it was that, fine, Ramirez was gone, and Bay seemed the best replacement with his season averages of 32 homers and 102 RBIs. To get him at the end of the season would have cost more than Moss and Hansen, so they did the deal now. Their feeling was that if Bay adjusts to Boston right away, and they settle their bullpen, they will contend. They do not think they would have contended with their $20 million player on strike. Florida made every honest effort to get him. On Wednesday night, the Marlins thought they were getting Ramirez and Pirates reliever John Grabow for Jeremy Hermida, second baseman-third baseman Chris Coghlan and left-handed pitcher Taylor Tankersley, who would have gone to the Pirates with a Boston prospect for Bay. The Red Sox had agreed to add $2 million, so they were paying $9 million plus a prospect to do Ramirez-for-Bay. Pittsburgh wanted more in the deal, while Florida never wavered. The Pirates wanted another package, which was filled by getting Andy LaRoche and right-handed pitcher Bryan Morris as well as Hansen and Moss. It was a very good package for Bay, a package that frees cash to sign top draft pick Pedro Alvarez. Hansen and Moss were this year's Matt Murton, without whom the Red Sox could not have made the Nomar Garciaparra deal in 2004 that led to a championship. Ramirez should be great in L.A. The Dodgers need the bat. Joe Torre and Don Mattingly are perfect for him. He helps maligned young players such as Matt Kemp and James Loney. The Dodgers essentially got Ramirez and Casey Blake with the Red Sox and Indians paying their salaries. Ramirez will be there for only two or three months, and Torre won't have to live with the compromises that ate at Terry Francona. It'll be a nice stop en route to Cooperstown. Ramirez can blame Larry Lucchino as the reason for not running out ground balls or ducking Hernandez and Chamberlain or sitting out the last five weeks of 2006 when David Ortiz and his teammates needed him, and some of the L.A. media will sympathize. The Angels continually prove that baseball is not a computer game but a human sport, and the gap between Ramirez's numbers and performance widened this season as he became obsessed with his next contract. It is sad, sad that he trashed Francona and those who tried to coddle him to the point that one of the best managers of his time lost weight and sleep trying to live with what he had to allow Ramirez to do, including deck the traveling secretary. It is sad because most of us will always like Manny Ramirez, because the best people on the team -- guys such as Cora, Ortiz and Mike Lowell -- tried to make it work and cared. In the end, though, Ramirez listened to and cared about no one when it came to the next $100 million. He "tased" the 2008 team because management wouldn't pay him $100 million for four years. Now he has a chance to be happy, his back turned on the team with which he won two rings, a team that on Thursday turned the page and, in many ways, is morphing into a team far, far different from the Idiots of 2004, one built around Josh Beckett and Kevin Youkilis and Dustin Pedroia and Jonathan Papelbon and Jon Lester.

MLB All-Star Game: 2008 (Yankee Stadium)

Watching the Allstar game in the top of the 13th now. Let’s just end this thing. I can’t believe Aaron Cook escaped 3 innings with no damage. I guess Clint Hurdle isn’t really sweating it if the NL doesn’t get homefield advantage in the World Series. The 2 force-outs at home followed by the acrobatic Tejada play from Short in the 10th. Then the McClouth throw-out from centerfield in the 11th.

I’m glad that the game wasn’t decided on the run that Papelbon gave up in the 8th since everyone in NY misinterpreted Papelbon’s comments to mean that he thinks he should close the game instead of Mariano Rivera. We would have been hearing about the Papelbon/Mariano drama for weeks to come, and people like me would have been contesting, “well if Navarro would have helped out Papelbon with a throw-out instead of a throw-away, like he did for Mariano, then this would be a different story.”

Uggla just made like his 5th error in the bottom of the 13th, and Joe Buck and Tim McCarver are tyring to make excuses for him. It’s too bad for Uggla too cause Ken Rosenthal was talking earlier about Uggla and his dad used to come to Yankee Stadium to watch the greats and his father had always wished that his son would play a game in Yankee Stadium. He reminds me of a rattled Kevin Elster when he subbed in at shortstop in game 6 of the 86’ World Series.

Carlos Quentin strikes out and we’re going into the 14th inning. While I don’t disagree with the format for MLB tiebreakers—extra innings—I think that maybe for the All-Star game they could do something creative. Maybe a bat-throwing contest. Or a 3-on-3 butts-up game. Which brings me to another idea. What do you think about replacing Soccer shoot-outs with a best-of-5 3-on-2 midfield attack? I think you’d see some more spectacular plays and the better team would end up on top more often. Any other sports that need tie-breaker improvements? Ping-Pong: check. Football: NFL should mimic the NCAA format. Tennis: maybe a one-on-one dodgeball contest.

Webb comes in for the 14th inning. Lineout, strikeout, strikeout. On to the 15th.

Brad Lidge comes on in the bottom of the 15th after Kazmir gets the job done in the top half of the inning. Leadoff hit for Morneau. I was about ready to give up on the game and go to bed but I just heard that Kazmir is the last available pitcher for the AL and he just threw on Sunday. That means that if the NL can extend it one more inning, we might be headed for a pitching matchup of Jason Varitek vs. Russell Martin. J.D. Drew up at the plate with 1 out and runners on 1st and 2nd. I’ve got a good feeling about this. Put me down for J.D. Drew as MVP. Drew walks. Bases loaded. Michael Young up to bat. I’m still voting for J.D. Drew cause Michael Young is going to do something undramatic for the win.

…Michael Young mid-length popfly to right and Morneau tags and scores. Game over. AL wins, again. 11 straight.

Future So Dim

In 2005 the Suns lost 4-1 in the Western Conference Finals. In 2007 it was the Robert Horry incident at the end of game 4 and the Suns lost the next two games. In 2008 things were almost looking good. We had beaten the Spurs 3-1 in the regular season series and we had started game 1 in complete control, leading by double digits for most of the game. Then the entire season ended with one ill-fated shot. Tim Duncan's OT buzzer-beater 3-pointer. His first 3-pointer in the last 2 seasons. I think that shot ended the game, the series, the season, possibly the era of the Phoenix Suns. I strongly dislike the Spurs. I have nothing more to say.

RE: RIP MLB

So JTL couldn’t see the beauty in the Red Sox’s road to the championship. I guess he wasn’t impressed by the (h)uuuge Manny Ramirez walk-off homer in game 2 of the ALDS off one of the toughest closers in K-Rod, or by Boston overcoming a 3-1 deficit thanks to one of the more brilliant pitching performances (Josh Beckett 8IP, 1ER, 11K) I’ve ever witnessed, or by doing what no National League team could do: slay the purple Barneys and put an end to the Rockies’ incredible (but annoying) streak of 21 wins in their last 22 games. Admittedly, it was an amazing feat and I’m glad that the people of Colorado were able to witness it (though I would bet about 80% of the fans didn’t even realize they had a streak going until they won about 10 straight) but by no means was the baseball world ready to accept the COLORADO ROCKIES as its crowned victor. That would have been the real tragedy. There are few things worse than a team building up momentum, dominating their opponents, and then inexplicably crumbling on the championship stage (see 2006 Detroit Tigers, 05/06 Dallas Mavericks). The Red Sox were the right team to win the 2007 World Series. They were the best from the beginning to the end and they had the character, the talent, and the drive to be the champs.

OK, so you’re going to say, “yeah, they deserved to be the champs, but only because they paid the hefty price tag”. Well that may be true but can you blame a team for making every attempt to reward its devoted fans with the one thing they covet: a championship. The MLB, just like the NBA and the NFL, is a business, and to the extent that spending gobs of money makes sense from a business model perspective and you can absorb the payroll and handle the 40-cents-on-the-dollar luxury tax, then why not play to compete? I applaud the Red Sox and the Yankees and the other high rollers for finding creative ways to work around the barriers (TV contracts, merchandise revenue, paying $51 million non-refundable just so your opponents can’t negotiate with an international pitching phenom, etc.). The one thing the MLB has taught is that teams that want to win will find ways to win.

And if you’re upset about the Yanks & Sox snatching all the attention, you should be happy to hear about all the drama being shifted over to L.A. I’ll admit, the 07 series was a downer if you didn’t happen to be a Sox fan or a Rockies hater, but that’s no reason to blow up about the state of the game. The Red Sox were bound to get all the attention they did by sweeping the World Series, and when the sport’s biggest superstar decides to stick it to one of the most storied franchises at the same time, then as a sports fan you’re just going to have to endure some Sox/Yanks coverage.

Let’s take a look at the most recent winners of the World Series and where they ranked on the highest team payroll list:

2001 (Diamondbacks #8)
2002 (Angels #15)
2003 (Marlins #25 at $48MM)
2004 (Red Sox #2)
2005 (White Sox #13 vs Astros #12)
2006 (Cardinals #11 vs Tigers #14)
2007 (Red Sox #2 vs Rockies #25; runners-up: Diamondbacks #26; and Indians #23)

Comments:

Out of 30 total MLB franchises, the 25th highest-paid team, the 2003 Florida Marlins, beat the Yankees in 6; In 2007, 3 of the final 4 teams were in the BOTTOM quartile salary wise; Only one team has won twice since 2000
In the NFL, the Patriots won 3 years straight until the Colts won last year. This year? Looks like it will be the Colts or Pats.
In the NBA, the Spurs have won 3 times in the past 5 years

Here are some things that suck about the NFL that don’t suck about MLB:

• Too often, the final outcome comes down to a pesky, little, single-coil-helmet, mismatching-shoes, cupless, padless, field goal kicker who probably used to get picked last on the playground. The NFL needs to enforce a rule that field goals are illegal once you reach the 2-min mark in the 4th quarter.
• The Challenge thing has gotten out of hand. So the game already lasts like 4 hours with only 20 or so minutes of real, onfield action. Now some dude throws a little red flag out of his pocket and the refs go into some space travel simulator machine and spend like 5 minutes watching replays even though everyone in America already knows the real outcome. I hope baseball doesn’t allow for replay reviews. Being subject to the refs/umpires and their human imperfection is part of sports.
• The whole calling a timeout right before a field goal attempt is annoying
• Helmet-banging, muscle-flexing, touchdown-dancing abound…much too much.

Here are some things that suck about the NBA that don’t suck about MLB:

• Contact sport. I think they should reduce the foul limit to 3 per player. Too many players just break up the flow of what would otherwise be a beautiful game when they hack someone going up for a bucket just because they have 6 fouls to give. Nobody ever thinks they committed a foul and they always think they got fouled when they’re running back up the court jawing off to the ref. That’s why I’ve enjoyed watching Kevin Durant so far. He just plays his game and leaves the officiating to the refs. I wonder how long it will last. I also hate the charge/block call. I don’t know what the solution is for that one.
• The tattoos are getting out of control. I think the Denver Nuggets have like 200 tattoos between them. The only cool tattoos are Tom Gugliota’s barbed wire tattoo and Stephen Jackson’s new tattoo of the Warriors logo across his torso.

I’m not down on the NFL or the NBA. I just think that baseball is still beautiful and the Red Sox winning is no reason to think less of the game. 4 straight lopsided world series just has people in a tizzy.
Red Sox payroll
NBA 06/07 Team Salaries
NFL 2006 Team Salaries
MLB 2007 Team Salaries

Back On Top

Congratulations to the 2007 Boston Red Sox, winners of the 103rd World Series. Now with their 7th title they are only 19 away from the Yankees’ 26 titles. Suddenly, with the way these two teams are heading, that doesn’t seem like such an insurmountable disparity. Since losing to the Diamondbacks in a game 7 come-from-behind victory, the Yankees have reached the postseason 6 times and have lost all 6 times, advancing to the World Series only once. Last night, as the Sox were about 6 outs away from winning their 2nd world series in 4 years, Ken Rosenthal reported that Alex Rodriguez, who is widely considered “the best baseball player”, would opt out of his contract and would be leaving the Yankees based on uncertainty about the organization’s future—namely the expiring contracts of Jorge Posada, Mariano Rivera, Andy Pettitte, and the departure of Joe Torre.

As I digested what this news implied about the Yankees-Red Sox dynamic, the Sox’s 4-1 lead narrowed to 4-3 in the 8th inning off a Garret Atkins 2-run homer served up by Hideki Okajima (who just happened to be overworked but otherwise had a phenomenal postseason). Fortunately, the new and improved curse-free Sox don’t let anything break their spirits in this post-2004 ALCS era, and they called on Jonathon Papelbon who came in and shut down the Rockies plain and simple, retiring 5 straight batters, including a strikeout on Seth Smith to seal the victory.

In the post-game analysis Peter Gammons was asked about the irony of an A-Rod announcement on the same day as the clinching game of the World Series and called Rodriguez out as a “buyer beware” commodity who’s more into the A-Rod show than the game itself. He went on to basically call him a loser who isn’t able to win the big game. With a potential vacancy at third base for the Red Sox in Mike Lowell (who, thankfully, Theo Epstein says he’s sure they’ll resign), is this the kind of guy I want on the team? I’ll pass. Better to let him exit the AL East and do his regular season damage elsewhere just in time to forget his bat when the postseason rolls around.

Anyways, I’m getting off topic here. The important thing to note is that the Red Sox dominated the 2007 regular season just as they dominated the 2007 post season, and the emergence of their young players (Pedroia, Ellsbury, Papelbon, Lester, Buchholz) along with their incorporation of the Asian world (via Matsuzaka and Okajima and their interpreter who gets to sit in the dugout) and the consistency of their veteran players all indicate that they’re just going to get better and better. Meanwhile, the Yankees just had an ugly fallout with one of the most successful managers of all time, had their collective face spat upon by the game’s best player, and are left just hoping that some of their unsigned players still value the Yankee mystique enough to re-sign. The Yanks still have plenty of up-and-comers stashed away and I’m sure the Steinbrenner Sons won’t just squander the franchise but it will be interesting to see not only if the Evil Empire has the patience to sacrifice some championships to develop their youngsters, but also if they can regain their former swagger.

Here’s to 19 more titles in my lifetime.

Twain-Thousand-and-Seven MLB Playoffs

Let us collectively cleanse ourselves of the 2005 (White Sox vs. Astros) and 2006 (Tigers vs. Cardinals) World Series and start anew with this promising cast of 2007 players. Let’s take a look at the matchups and make some prognostications, shall we:

American League:

LA Angels @ Boston Red Sox: These two teams faced each other in ‘04 and the Angels were swept thanks to a game 3 walk-off homer by David Ortiz to combat Vlad Guerrero’s grand slam. Both these teams feature a strong 3-man pitching rotation and deep bullpens, but where the Angels attack with small-ball and opportunistic baserunning, the Red Sox counter with sluggers and new-and-improved defense. This series will make me nostalgic for the days when Orlando Cabrera played shortstop for the Sox.
Prediction: Red Sox in 4

NY Yankees @ Cleveland Indians: The Indians have the best 1-2 punch pitching tandem (of late) in C.C. Sabathia and Fausto Carmona, but the Yankees have the most intimidating lineup in baseball. Look for Bobby Abreu to take some 40-pitch AB’s, Derek Jeter to hit some flare singles the other way with runners in scoring position, and Giambino to inject some HGH in his buttocks and cue-shot some go-ahead dingers over the short porch in right. Just thinking about the dreaded Yankees gets my blood pressure rising. Let’s hope they get eliminated early enough that I don’t need to watch them play in the later rounds at all. Everyone will be watching A-Rod, who is roughly 5 for 46 since the Dave Roberts stolen base in game 4 of the 2004 ALCS, but has also had one of the most amazing seasons statistically in baseball history.
Prediction: Yankees in 5

National League:

Colorado Rockies @ Philadelphia Phillies: A miraculous comeback for the Rocks winning 14 of their last 15 to leapfrog the Padres into a Wild Card berth. I’m excited for them, but not that excited. They still wear purple. Both teams are riding hot streaks coming into the playoffs and both rely on their heavy hitters to win ballgames. But I’ve got to give the advantage to the Phils since they have a big lefty by the name of Ryan Howard, and arguably the NL MVP in Jimmy Rollins (139 runs scored and 88 extra base hits from a NL shortstop).
Prediction: Phillies in 5

Chicago Cubs @ Arizona Diamondbacks: What a great matchup. I can’t get over how cool it is that the Baby Backs made the playoffs—and won the NL pennant no less. The D-backs have at least 4 extremely bright, young talents in Chris Young (nearly a 30HR 30SB man), Stephen Drew, Mark “Reynoldinho” Reynolds, and Justin Upton (still making the transition to the bigs but a 5-tool, raw athlete with huge upside). The pressure will be on the AZ pitching staff fronted by Brandon Webb to contain the big bats of Alfonso Soriano (who had a monster September), Aramis Ramirez, and Derrek Lee. I’m not too worried about the Cubs pitching staff but the youthful bats of the Dbacks could go cold at any minute; let’s hope they don’t.
Prediction: Dbacks in 5

The most exciting part of all of this is the prospect of a heartbreakless Dbacks - Red Sox World Series. But the awkwardness between my brothers, my dad, and me might be too much to bear. Watching the Red Sox – White Sox series in 2005 with Chris J. taught me never to watch with friends when your teams are opposing each other with the season on the line. The worst case scenario this year would be a Rockies – Yankees World Series with the Yankees sweeping. I’ll be at the Dbacks games tonight (10 ET) and tomorrow (10 ET) so look for me on TBS.

In the words of the immortal Dane Cook, “There’s only one OctOber.”

R.I.P., 2006/2007 Phoenix Suns (10/31 - 5/18)

61 Wins, 21 Losses, .494 Field Goal Percentage (1st), .399 Three Point Percentage (1st), .808 Free Throw Percentage (1st), 110.2 Points Per Game (1st), 0 Championships.

It's a shame that in the end, that final, pesky statistic is the only one that matters. The 06/07 Phoenix Suns assembled one of the most exciting seasons the NBA has seen in quite some time. But for 3 or 4 games when Steve Nash and Shawn Marion were plagued with injuries, the team treated its audiences night in and night out to a masterful offensive obliteration of its opponents. With their blazing speed, uncanny chemistry, and international style, I've said all season that the Suns are the sports equivalent of the Brazilian national soccer team. It's a tragedy that they got some tough breaks in the playoffs and weren't able to secure a championship. Had they gotten over that hump, they would have proven dozens of naysayers wrong, and would have earned the respect that is long overdue. But, thanks to some questionable rules and league officials who allow themselves to be controlled by their own institutions it will always remain a "what if...?".

Alas, it is not my intention to post a bitter rant, but these are the thoughts on the forefront of my mind, and I have to get it out if I want to expel my blogger's block. My intention is to pay tribute to this team of skilled athletes who provided so much joy for so many fans.

These are some of the players and performances that stood out during the regular season and into the playoffs:

• Amare Stoudemire - An amazing recovery from microfracture knee surgery. He said the right things in all of his interviews and played with passion all season long. The man is a beast on the court and was possibly the strongest, most agile finisher in the league. A real asset in playoff style basketball. 15 straight 20-point postseason games is an awesome stat. He seemed truly poised to win a championship this year but also showed great maturity and understanding when things didn't go his way.


• Leandrinho Barbosa - The Brazilian Blur had a breakout season and was the 3rd leading scorer on the Suns. Hit his first game winner against the Chicago Bulls on the road and had one of the best game-winning reactions I've ever seen, unphased as his teammates mobbed him. Well-deserved 6th Man of the Year award. His older brother, Arturo, disciplined him as a Brazilian youth to make it to the NBA.


• Shawn Marion - The underrated $15 million man. Put together another great season and was an integral part of the team's success. We appreciate you and your praying mantis shot, Marion. Hope you can stick around another year.


• Steve Nash - One of the coolest and greatest athletes of all time. Some athletes are gifted, some are skilled, and others just think they are gifted or skilled, but still play sports, so technically they are still athletes, while others concede that they are neither gifted nor skilled, but still consider themselves athletes, or in some cases not. Steve Nash has incredible skill. He made countless, jaw-dropping feeds to his teammates and was the ultimate teammate. He is enormously skilled with both hands, and has an unbelievable sense of balance which allows him to shift his weight in the air and still get off virtually the same shot he would get if he were set on the floor. He is a gritty competitor and a sports hero of mine. No matter what it takes, I hope he gets a championship before his career is over.


• Tom Leander - The Suns announcer whose cheesy lines and cheerful personality never grew tiresome. "Rises to the 10th floor", "Elevates and detonates", "a tasty dish", "straight but strong", "a thing of beauty", etc. He and color man, "EJ" Eddie Johnson were always enjoyable to listen to, especially the time when EJ (a long time NBA veteran) asked Tom to explain what a "baby hook" (a common shot) was.


• (12/7/07) Phoenix 161, New Jersey 157 (OT) - An amazing game that went to double overtime thanks to an unreal fadeaway 3-pointer from Nash at the end of regulation. This game featured an unforgettable battle between two of the premier pointguards of this era. Nash ended up with 42 points, and Jason Kidd had 38 points, 14 boards, and 14 assists.


• (3/14/07) Phoenix 129 - Dallas 127 (OT) - Another double OT battle and another Nash 3-pointer to send it into the first OT. Nash posted 32 points, 8 boards, and 16 assists and outdueled his former teammate, Dirk Nowitzki, in a battle that should have given Nash the upperhand in the battle for MVP, but ultimately did not. Amare Stoudemire was an impressive 16-19 from the field and put up 41 points.

Sorry you couldn't win it all Suns, but for what it's worth, I don't blame you. In fact, I embrace your style of play and I hope you have the guts to stick with it until you do win the title. "Joga Bonito".

We Believe

The Golden State Warriors have pulled off the biggest upset in NBA playoff history thanks to inspired play by some pure ballers and a stadium full of believers. This was no fluke. These guys came out to play every night and there was never a moment where they were intimidated or even nervous. It was truly a joy for sports fans everywhere to witness the beautiful play by the Warriors as they outdueled the 67-win Mavericks team in 6 games. Just read some of the reactions I got from personal friends of mine (first names only to protect their identity):

• "I'm naming my son Baron" - Chris
• "All I know is that the score is 71 to 57 for GS and that it's exciting" - Sarah
• "I feel like that game strengthened my testimony" - Trevor

Steve Kerr, the TNT announcer, repeatedly mentioned how shocked he was to see an NBA game with the fans standing the entire 2nd half and how that demonstrated how special this game was. There were some interesting post-game interviews--and in case you weren't aware there's a scintillating love-hate triangle between Coach Avery Johnson, Coach Don Nelson, and Owner Mark Cuban (with some especially bad blood between the latter two)--but I was impressed with Stephen Jackson's (who is notorious for his nightclub & gun incident and his role in the Artest brawl - [video]) comment regarding the concern when Baron Davis left in the 1st with a hamstring pull. He talked about how important Baron is to the team and said "I'd die for him right there on the court". That statement shows the love between this team and the reason for their phenomenal chemistry.

And in case you're wondering what Trifecta has to say on the matter: "I think that the Warriors did Annihilation".

2006 World Cup

For my readers who for one reason or another were unable to watch the 2006 World Cup in Germany, I am providing a quick recap of the event.

Team USA stunk up the place and failed to advance by not scoring a single goal (except for an own goal in the match against Italy). Landon Donovan was a huge letdown and didn't even come close on any of his shots.

Brazil joga bonito'd until they met France's defense. Ronaldinho had flashes of brilliance but never did net a goal. Ronaldo (Fenomeno) proved he could still score (3 goals in the tournament) but may have been a hindrance to the team's fast-paced offensive attack.

France advanced to the finals on the outstanding play of Zidane and Henry (3 goals) but lost to Italy on penalty kicks when Trezeguet hit the inside of the crossbar and the ball barely bounced out. For the last minutes of play France was without their star, Zidane, who received a red card for head-butting Materazzi.

Italy played well throughout the cup and never surrendered a conventional goal. They beat Germany in the semi's in overtime play on a beautiful bender and a Del Piero rainbow shot.

• USA draws with Italy (Video)
• Brazil defeats Japan 4-1 (Video)
• France defeats Brazil 1-0 on Henry goal (Video)
• Italy defeats Germany 2-0 (Video)
• Italy defeats France in Finals on PK's (Video)

Biggest Sports Weekend Ever?

Probably not but here's a quick rundown of the events to look forward to:

1. Saturday Night: NCAA Final 4 (CBS)

• Georgetown Vs. Ohio St. [6:07 pm ET]
• Florida Vs. UCLA [8:47 pm ET]

If you want to know who I like to win it all the answer is none of these teams. After going 8-8 on my Elite Eight picks I followed that up with an 0-4 on my Final Four picks. So I am unqualified to judge any of these teams, but I'm rooting for UCLA. When are they going to ditch the 35-second shot clock?

2. Sunday Noon: Mavericks @ Suns [3:30 pm ET] (ABC)

Possibly the biggest regular season game of the season. The Suns will attempt to tie up the series between the 2 most explosive teams the NBA has seen this side of the 21st Century. If either Steve Nash or Dirk Nowitzki steps up and has a significant game-winning impact they could seal the deal for their MVP candidacy. I'm just glad the game's not at Dallas so we don't have to endure the testicularly-proned Jason Terry's eagle-soaring, ape-stomping antics.

3. Sunday Night: MLB Opening Night - NY Mets @ St. Louis Cardinals [8:05 pm ET] (ESPN 2)

Baseball is back. Last time these teams met Endy Chavez made one of the greatest playoff homerun snags of all time, but the Metties still lost on a Yadier Molina dinger and an Adam Wainright curveball. Biggest stories to follow this season:

• Daisuke Matsuzaka (松坂 大輔) for whom the Red Sox paid $51.111MM just to talk to his agent will make his major league debut later next week (TBD). The young pitching phenom features 8 pitches (including the "shuuto") and has no pitch count, and as far as I'm concerned no ceiling for potential.
• The Baby Backs (AZ Diamondbacks) added some quality pitching, including the Big Unit (Randy Johnson), and will look to their highly-touted young stars to carry the load in their quest for a playoff spot. Meanwhile, I will look to my dad to carry the financial load in my quest for a seat at the ballpark.
• Sammy Sosa is back and playing for the Texas Rangers. Will he hit 50 homeruns? Will he hit 2? I have no idea. The HGH era has made it really difficult to gauge performance on some of these players (particularly the ones with perpetually increasing head sizes)

--Throw that sensational sports batch in with Saturday & Sunday LDS General Conference and factor in the marvel of the Tivo era and I'm looking at roughly 20.5 hours of TV over a 48-hour period (for which I'll be awake for only 32 hours give or take--that's a 0.64 TV/Waking Hours ratio). But if I cut out all MoTab sequences and all "shoulder-pad" talks I can cut that down to about 18.5 hours.