- Jeff Van Gundy is crazy, but I love him for standing up to The Don Stern. Sure, JVH will be wearing cement shoes at the bottom of the Hudson when he goes to Stern's office for a"visit" in New York later this month. But he finally said what all of us have thought about the NBA and the refs and conspiracy theories: they exist and we know it. Like so many have pointed out, I would think The Don Stern would want Houston to advance with Yao and T-Mac, but it's nice to see somebody step up and say something. It'll mean losing his job and probably most of his toes after a visit with Stern's "friends" Sonny and Vinny, but hey I think it's defintitely worth it.
- speaking of the Rockets, Yao's window to jump into NBA Superstar status has officially closed. Hey, he's a great passer and a creative offensive player, but I can think of at least 20 guys I'd want taking the final shot instead of Yao. Make that 30...yeah probably 40. And that's not to mention his defense. He's 7'5 TRYING TO TAKE CHARGES!!! Apparently the concept of the blocked shot hasn't made it to China yet. I figured once they got McDonald's they would just figure it out, but I was wrong. Anyway, Yao is a nice player, but he's a good 2nd banana and no better, no matter how much the NBA tries to convince you otherwise.
- Guaranteed contracts are the worst thing to happen to the NBA. Vince "Charmin" Carter and T-Mac are two of many examples. Guys can tank it and loathe and complain and whine and they either get the coach fired or get themselves shipped somewhere else for pennies on the dollar, screwing the team they leave. If this happened in real NBA markets instead of Toronto and Orlando, you'd hear more about it.
- Of course folks in the Raptors front-office will be getting Christmas cards from Heat fans for the foreseable future if Alonzo Mourning helps Miami win a title. Not too bright up there in Toronto for paying him to leave (think about it). Too much Molson, probably.
- Along the same lines, here's a question: why wouldn't you bench somebody like Charmin or Spree or any other player that doesn't want to play hard for you? And I don't mean benching him for just a quarter, or a game. I mean for as long as it takes until he gets the message that he's not getting traded or cut or playing ANYWHERE until his attitude improves. Why is this such a difficult concept to understand? Yeah, you're paying a guy a fortune, but why cave in to his whining and sniveling, especially after seeing what Charmin and T-Mac have done, WHY would you trade these guys for under market value only to watch them flourish somewhere else? A guy has 3 yrs left on his deal and stops playing hard? I tell him he can sit on his can at home or with his posse or wherever he wants for those 3 years. His value on the open market would be so diminished by the time his contract ran out, I doubt you'd see anybody call my bluff. I love the NBA but I hate how the players are basically running the show. It's nuts. Reason #1026 why the NFL is the premiere sport in the world right now.
- Usually I hate watching the "goliaths" of the NBA, aka the teams that will make the NBA the most money, which means they hype them to the moon. But seriously, is there anybody who DOESN'T want to see a Suns/Spurs and Heat/Pistons conference finals? Anyone? Just checking.
- Remember last year when we were comparing Melo and Lebron to each other? Whoopsy daisy!! Melo's looking more Big Dog Robinson than NBA superstar with every game he plays.
- It would be bad enough to live in Cleveland, what with the sewer--I MEAN beautiful lake Erie, a football team with colors that resemble the colors in that lake, and a terrible baseball team. But now Lebron's talking about leaving? The suicide watch in Cleveland will be on red-alert status if that happens. Almost as bad as it will be in Wisconsin when Favre retires.
- The longest we'll see a 2nd round series go is 5 games.
RANDOM NFL NOTES:
- You heard it here first: the Detroit Lions will be the most improved team of 2005.
- Order of finish in the NFC Norris for 2005. 1) Minnesota 2) Detroit 3) Chicago 4) Green Bay (if the town and Lambeau hasn't been burned to the ground before the season's over. I hope Mike SHerman has life insurance on his dog. I'm not sayin I'm just sayin).
3 comments:
I will be working on both an act of arson for Lambeau (much overdue), though I think they will just build another one, and maybe or maybe not killing said dog. I like it when you make fun of tall Chinamen dude.
you wanna show a link that says that LeBron wants to leave Cleveland? He fired his agent because he kept on telling him to go to a bigger market. So kudos to him to show C-Town that loyalty and tell his agent that helped him negotiate all his endorsement deals to hit the road.
Anonymous:
Good point: Lebron has never said he's leaving Cleveland. But many others are speculating. He dropped his agent, and picked up 3 of his buddies. This isn't a loyalty move to Cleveland. He won't need an agent to sign his next contract, wherever that is, because there won't be any need for negotiations. LBJ's next contract will be for the max. You don't need an agent for that. Just hire a lawyer for an hour to look over the contract and make sure it's right. He DID sign on with BadBoy however. Yes as in Jay-Z and Hip Hop, who are based in New York. I have no ties or loyalties to Cleveland, but I would much rather see him stay there than go to the Knicks or wherever Czar Stern tells him to go--which would be New York. So to clarify, no Lebron has never said he's leaving, but do you believe the addadge "where there's smoke there's fire?"
Jeff
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