I wonder if it's anything like drinking out of the Ruby Cup...
Friday, June 27, 2008
Bubble It Up!
When I heard the Stanley Cup was dented while making a tour of local Detroit restaurants and bars, I joked that some boozehound must have dropped it. My friend Danny (on the far left) up in Detroit emailed me this photo of him and Red Wings defenseman, Chris Chelios, to verify my assumption:
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Re: The Streak Ends!
I realize it's been a few months, but I rediscovered this amusing article from ESPN "Page 2" from when the Houston Rockets went on the unbelievable win streak. It concerns the greatest streaks of all-time, including this little gem:
234. Chicago Cubs: 99 years without a World Series title
Did you know the Cubs didn't really become The Cubs until 1984? By that we mean a slightly less obnoxious version of the Red Sox. Before that season, nobody cared about the Cubbies -- not even Cubs fans. Other than a slight upturn in attendance from 1969 to 1971, the Cubs ranked in the bottom half of NL attendance all but four seasons from 1948 through 1983. From 1953 through 1967, they never drew a million fans. So, no, the Cubs haven't been lovable losers throughout their history; they've mostly just been losers.
234. Chicago Cubs: 99 years without a World Series title
Did you know the Cubs didn't really become The Cubs until 1984? By that we mean a slightly less obnoxious version of the Red Sox. Before that season, nobody cared about the Cubbies -- not even Cubs fans. Other than a slight upturn in attendance from 1969 to 1971, the Cubs ranked in the bottom half of NL attendance all but four seasons from 1948 through 1983. From 1953 through 1967, they never drew a million fans. So, no, the Cubs haven't been lovable losers throughout their history; they've mostly just been losers.
Monday, June 23, 2008
The Fix Is In!
The year was 2002. The Sacramento Kings were the most dominant, fundamental, and purely entertaining team in the NBA. They were far and away the most likable: Vlade, Peja, Webber, Christie, Bibby, Jackson, even Hedo Turkoglu and Scot Pollard. Their big men could pass, every player could shoot, they played ridiculously unselfishly, they had fun playing basketball the way it's meant to be played. They were on the doorstep of toppling this Shaq-Kobe title run that aggravated 95% of the NBA-viewing public.
After The Great Chicago (Bulls) Fire of 1998, this was the fourth season I had endured of my team struggling to win 20 games and found myself straying to a new seductress come playoff time. How could I not root for the Kings? They were fun, modest, and had personality -- all the things the Lakers didn't. I hated that Phil Jackson betrayed the Chicago faithfuls and jumped on the Shaq train. I hated that the Lakers ran only two plays: 1) pass the ball into Shaq so he could bulldoze over his defender and either complain about the offensive foul called or complain about the defensive foul that wasn't called and 2) Kobe dribbles around recklessly until he forces a fading, closely defended jump shot that has a 30% chance of going in. And most of all, I hated that the Lakers were about to threepeat as champions.
I remember watching that Western Conference Finals so vividly. With all the buzz about Game 6 it's easy to forget just how controversially about every game was called. (Hell, we would not have even got to Game 6 if it weren't for an after-the-halftime-buzzer three-point prayer awarded to Laker Sumaki Walker in Game 4!) The sixth one was the only game I didn't watch in full, as I was at Joel Norton's wedding and couldn't get to the hotel bar tv until the second half. I did, however, watch most of that ghastly 4th quarter and it's parade of free throws. What a sick joke. Twenty-seven fourth-quarter free throws? They sure didn't do a great job of masking the league's agenda. The NBA is all about the benjamins and they were hitting near record audience numbers. It was fixed, plain and simple. (And deep down in a place they don't like to talk about at parties, Lakers fans know this to be true.)
I remember the personal agony this caused me. I almost pulled my hair out over this shit. At the time I would have bet my life savings the referees fixed the game and I finally have a shred of evidence. Finally, vindication! And David Stern has not proved this otherwise, but instead has leaned on a weak defense of "Donaghy is a felon." Noone's arguing that, Mr. Stern -- sounds like a straw man to me. If the NBA has any thread of integrity left, it will admit it's crimes and do something to remedy it.
UPDATES IN THE NEWS:
*David Stern claims to have made a "thorough investigation" into the accusations that Game 6 of the WCF were influenced by referees. Bob Delaney, one of the three refs on duty that night, made it public that he has never been contacted by the NBA or federal officials.
*The NBA has prohibited any referees from speaking to the media. Why the need to silence the refs if there is nothing to hide?
*Phil Jackson has recommended employing referees from an organization not associated with the NBA. He believes the refs should not be under the control of the NBA and it would provide more credibility. I completely agree.
*Lamell McMorris, NBA Referees Director, has hinted that Donaghy's entire career as an NBA referee has been clouded by poor judgement and dismissed the claims of Game 6 as unreliable because "Tim Donaghy has had honesty and credibility issues from the get-go." Wow. I don't think it helps your cause to admit you've been sending a ref out there who is known to have credibility issues. Almost makes the whole organization look suspect...
After The Great Chicago (Bulls) Fire of 1998, this was the fourth season I had endured of my team struggling to win 20 games and found myself straying to a new seductress come playoff time. How could I not root for the Kings? They were fun, modest, and had personality -- all the things the Lakers didn't. I hated that Phil Jackson betrayed the Chicago faithfuls and jumped on the Shaq train. I hated that the Lakers ran only two plays: 1) pass the ball into Shaq so he could bulldoze over his defender and either complain about the offensive foul called or complain about the defensive foul that wasn't called and 2) Kobe dribbles around recklessly until he forces a fading, closely defended jump shot that has a 30% chance of going in. And most of all, I hated that the Lakers were about to threepeat as champions.
I remember watching that Western Conference Finals so vividly. With all the buzz about Game 6 it's easy to forget just how controversially about every game was called. (Hell, we would not have even got to Game 6 if it weren't for an after-the-halftime-buzzer three-point prayer awarded to Laker Sumaki Walker in Game 4!) The sixth one was the only game I didn't watch in full, as I was at Joel Norton's wedding and couldn't get to the hotel bar tv until the second half. I did, however, watch most of that ghastly 4th quarter and it's parade of free throws. What a sick joke. Twenty-seven fourth-quarter free throws? They sure didn't do a great job of masking the league's agenda. The NBA is all about the benjamins and they were hitting near record audience numbers. It was fixed, plain and simple. (And deep down in a place they don't like to talk about at parties, Lakers fans know this to be true.)
I remember the personal agony this caused me. I almost pulled my hair out over this shit. At the time I would have bet my life savings the referees fixed the game and I finally have a shred of evidence. Finally, vindication! And David Stern has not proved this otherwise, but instead has leaned on a weak defense of "Donaghy is a felon." Noone's arguing that, Mr. Stern -- sounds like a straw man to me. If the NBA has any thread of integrity left, it will admit it's crimes and do something to remedy it.
UPDATES IN THE NEWS:
*David Stern claims to have made a "thorough investigation" into the accusations that Game 6 of the WCF were influenced by referees. Bob Delaney, one of the three refs on duty that night, made it public that he has never been contacted by the NBA or federal officials.
*The NBA has prohibited any referees from speaking to the media. Why the need to silence the refs if there is nothing to hide?
*Phil Jackson has recommended employing referees from an organization not associated with the NBA. He believes the refs should not be under the control of the NBA and it would provide more credibility. I completely agree.
*Lamell McMorris, NBA Referees Director, has hinted that Donaghy's entire career as an NBA referee has been clouded by poor judgement and dismissed the claims of Game 6 as unreliable because "Tim Donaghy has had honesty and credibility issues from the get-go." Wow. I don't think it helps your cause to admit you've been sending a ref out there who is known to have credibility issues. Almost makes the whole organization look suspect...
Legally Speaking, Duke Football Sucks
Duke and Louisville agreed to a four-game football schedule contract in 2002. The agreement said that if Duke backed out they would be fined $150,000 per game if Louisville could not find a replacement team "of similar stature." Louisville sued Duke after Duke bailed on the contract following their 40-3 loss in 2002. The Duke lawyers argued that since Duke is so terrible, literally any team would work as a replacement and the judge agreed:
At oral argument, Duke (with a candor perhaps more attributable to good legal strategy than to institutional modesty) persuasively asserted that this is a threshold that could not be any lower. Duke's argument on this point cannot be reasonably disputed by Louisville.
Ouch.
At oral argument, Duke (with a candor perhaps more attributable to good legal strategy than to institutional modesty) persuasively asserted that this is a threshold that could not be any lower. Duke's argument on this point cannot be reasonably disputed by Louisville.
Ouch.
Saturday, June 14, 2008
What if the I-Cubs Won and No One Came?
Because that's exactly what happened today. The I-Cubs decided to play their home game this Saturday even though the City of Des Moines would not lift their evacuation orders for downtown. Strange.
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Singing Like a Bird?
Are NBA games fixed? (this one's sure to fire up a few on this blog...)
Phil Jackson isn't saying he believes the story yet, but...The Tim Donaghy scandal just got more serious.The disgraced former NBA referee told authorities in a four-page letter released Tuesday that two officials conspired to fix the outcome of a 2002 playoff series and influenced several other post- and regular-season games.
Court documents filed by Donaghy's lawyer detailed the "inner-workings" of a plot in which top league executives used referees to manipulate the games. Donaghy claims two referees were "company men" whose job was to extend a playoff series in 2002 to a seventh game.The documents did not name the series, but the Lakers-Kings Western Conference finals was the only series in 2002 that went to a seventh game, with the Lakers winning both Game 6 and 7 to reach the NBA Finals.
"Was that after the fifth game, after we had the game stolen away from us on a bad call?" he said, referring to a game-changing play by Kings guard Mike Bibby in the final moments.I'm going to say this is bad news for the NBA...
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