Friday, May 13, 2011

05/13 (Technical Difficulties) Quickie

Blogger was down for a while, so writing late today isn't my fault this time! A few thoughts:

*The Bulls will give the Heat a tougher series than the Celtics. I am certainly rooting for Chicago, but I'm not quite sure I can bring myself to pick them to win the series.

*Thunder-Grizzlies Game 6 tonight: I think Memphis, playing at home, wins and forces an entertaining Game 7. My favorite part is that I think either of these teams can beat Dallas.

*Tiger quitting the Players: If he was near the top and still in pain, he would have kept playing, so let's not sugarcoat what happened yesterday -- he sucked and he was probably in pain, too. But most of all, it was humiliating, and that -- more than anything -- is what Tiger couldn't abide. The injury was a convenient excuse, but he felt good enough to play the tournament to begin with, so he couldn't have felt THAT awful. But let's be clear: He quit.

I love the folks saying "Hmm: He might not set the record for career major titles anymore!" No, he might not win another major again, period. In fact, I'd put the probability greater that he never wins another major than he doesn't break the Nicklaus record. Let's go one better: I think there's a better chance he never wins another major than he ever wins another major. Not willing to take bets on it or anything, but it simply wouldn't surprise me if that's how it played out. ("Ever" is a long time, and so I want to allow for some one-in-a-million freak run he goes on 10 years from now at Augusta.)

*Sharks survive Game 7 vs. Red Wings: The difference between now and 24 hours ago is everything. Folks might nominally remember that the Sharks blew a 3-0 lead, but in the end, they advanced, and history tends to be very forgiving of things like that. (It's only when you complete the collapse that history piles on top.)

*Harmon Killebrew enters hospice care: I'm sad for him and his family and Twins fans, but I'm glad he and his family have control of their end-of-life decision-making. If you haven't yet, you should read Atul Gawande's piece from the New Yorker from last August that just won a National Magazine Award for "Public Interest" reporting.

*Doc Rivers re-ups with the Celtics for 5 more years (at $5-7M a year). It's great for the Celtics and great for Doc -- although if he had wanted to take off the next two years to watch his son play at Duke, he could have returned to the NBA at the same salary structure. Unsure how good Doc will look when his team can't get out of the 2nd round of the playoffs -- if that -- over the next five years.

*Lakers want Rick Adelman? I think Kobe likes Brian Shaw personally but all Kobe cares about is winning. If Adelman offers a better chance of that, Kobe will be fine with it.

-- D.S.

1 comment:

WuzUpG said...

Thanks Dan for giving some NHL love, during this playoff season, especially mentioning my Sharks!