"You can't win them all." -- Jonathan Toews of the Blackhawks has the right idea. But Chicago's run sure was fun while it lasted (and, after that start, they are still expected to finish with a Cup title).
Now, the new super-streak is the Heat's. Miami won its 17th straight last night. While impressive, all that matters is whether or not Miami wins the title. (Spoiler alert: They will.)
Georgetown-Syracuse: End of an era. I grew up on Georgetown-Syracuse. It is arguably the defining rivalry of the East (Duke-UNC being "South") and the game of the day in college hoops.
I will miss it, but like Texas-Texas A&M, I don't quite understand why the two schools won't schedule a non-conference game against each other. Is everyone THAT petty? (Answer: Yes.)
So let's enjoy this now -- hopefully the game will have all sorts of clips of 80s and early-90s goodness from this fantastic rivalry.
Kentucky's win-or-stay-home moment: As discussed yesterday (see below), Kentucky's loss to Georgia on Thursday night means that they are now outside the NCAA Tournament field of 68, making today's regular-season finale versus Florida (the regular-season SEC champ) a must-win (short of UK storming to an improbable title in the SEC Tournament).
From Florida's perspective, the opportunity to ruin Kentucky's season (and Calipari's blueprint) should be all the motivation they need.
Oh, and UNC-Duke tonight. UNC has this "small ball" mojo going -- that's something that Duke has had some experience with in previous seasons. As well as the Heels are playing right now, Duke is playing better -- but in a season like this, it won't be a surprise if the presumptive 1-seed is upended. (It won't matter -- if Duke loses today and wins the ACC Tournament, it will be a 1-seed.)
Can't decide what was more impressive: Deron Williams' barrage of 3s to start the game versus the Wizards or Kobe's series of dagger 3s to end the game versus the Raptors.
Hey, Tiger is still up top at Doral -- making today a "watch the leaderboard" (if not "watch the tournament") day.
Enjoy your Saturday.
-- D.S.
Saturday, March 09, 2013
Friday, March 08, 2013
03/08 (Friday) Quickie
The story of the year in college basketball isn't the turmoil at the top of the rankings. It's not Gonzaga's rise to No. 1. It's not the revival of Indiana or the sublime individual skill of Georgetown's Otto Porter (or the freakishness of IU's Victor Oladipo).
The story of the year in college basketball is Kentucky -- the sport's defending champion -- going from the top of the sport to its dregs in less than a year.
John Calipari was supposed to have cracked the code -- a "Moneyball"-style arbitrage of the NBA's mandatory college year for top prep players, importing a new crop of future Lottery picks on an annually renewable basis, harnessing their talent as a sort of NBA finishing school.
Cal's pitch was brilliant in its simplicity: You've got to spend a year waiting for the NBA Draft -- if you spend it with me, you will play, you will get developed for the NBA and you will compete for a national championship.
But the arbitrage falls apart if Kentucky misses the NCAA Tournament entirely, which they are now on the verge of after choking at mediocre Georgia last night.
With a regular-season finale versus SEC regular-season champ Florida tomorrow at Rupp, UK -- in Calipari's own framing -- is in a win-or-bust situation.
(Needless to say, if there were any concerns about Florida being motivated, the opportunity to effectively end rival Kentucky's season an invalidate the Calipari Model should be enough.)
Granted, Kentucky has been missing Nerlens Noel for weeks -- he was only the No. 1 NBA talent in college hoops -- but they were struggling while he was out there, too.
And, granted, next season Kentucky has the best recruiting class since the Fab Five coming to Lexington. (This season's freshmen were highly touted, too, but not like the '13 prep class.)
The reality is that if Kentucky isn't going to compete for national championships, all Cal offers is playing time (he better hope this season's freshmen don't stick around trying to make good on this season's dud, clogging the pipeline for next season's imports) and a track record of sending players to the NBA. There are plenty of coaches who can deliver that.
The model should work, but like arbitrage on Wall Street, sometimes the model doesn't stand up to the reality of the market.
More:
*Mariano Rivera to retire after '13 season: Only the greatest relief pitcher ever and, arguably, the greatest pitcher ever. Even Yankee-haters respect Rivera. More on this on Monday.
*Thunder hold off the Melo-less Knicks in NYC: Closest thing to a moral victory that the Knicks will get this season. (Meanwhile, is there a more confounding player in the NBA than JR Smith?)
*Tiger shoots co-leading 66 at Doral: All it does is set up "win or fail" expectations for the rest of the weekend. (Beats the alternative, I guess.)
*Blackhawks Watch: At Colorado tonight (loss alert?!), hosting Edmonton on Sunday.
*Jadeveon Clowney takes out $5M insurance policy: Only $95M less than his ultimate market value in the event he blows out his knee next season like teammate Marcus Lattimore.
(Know what the best insurance policy is? Not playing college football and waiting for the 2014 NFL Draft -- like he wouldn't still be the No. 1 overall pick?)
*NFL: Dolphins lock up WR Brian Hartline -- he was Ryan Tannehill's binky, so it makes sense to keep him around. He's no game-breaker, but steady (and very productive last year). But they still need a game-breaker.
*Deals: Rockets lock up GM Daryl Morey through 2018. He is Houston's MVP and the best GM in the NBA.
*The non-Catholic Big East is the new "America 12": Reminds me of "Conference USA," one of the worst names in sports-branding history.
*Civics: Doesn't it feel like Atlanta just built the Georgia Dome?
*Weekend Viewing Guide: Syracuse at Georgetown (noon Saturday), the finale of one of college hoops' best rivalries. Still don't understand why they can't set up an annual non-conference match-up.
(This season, at least, Cuse-G'town is a bigger/better game than Duke at UNC, tomorrow night at 9. Yes, it's a great rivalry, but it lacks real stakes. So UNC loses? Still in the Tournament. So Duke loses? Maybe it makes UNC's season, but Duke still is positioned for a 1-seed if they win the ACC Tournament. It is the fundamental issue with college hoops rivalries in the regular season: There are no real consequences.)
But, occasionally, you get exceptions, like Florida at Kentucky tomorrow at noon -- bringing it back to what we were talking about at the top, the consequences of losing to a rival in the regular season couldn't be bigger for Calipari and the 'Cats.
-- D.S.
The story of the year in college basketball is Kentucky -- the sport's defending champion -- going from the top of the sport to its dregs in less than a year.
John Calipari was supposed to have cracked the code -- a "Moneyball"-style arbitrage of the NBA's mandatory college year for top prep players, importing a new crop of future Lottery picks on an annually renewable basis, harnessing their talent as a sort of NBA finishing school.
Cal's pitch was brilliant in its simplicity: You've got to spend a year waiting for the NBA Draft -- if you spend it with me, you will play, you will get developed for the NBA and you will compete for a national championship.
But the arbitrage falls apart if Kentucky misses the NCAA Tournament entirely, which they are now on the verge of after choking at mediocre Georgia last night.
With a regular-season finale versus SEC regular-season champ Florida tomorrow at Rupp, UK -- in Calipari's own framing -- is in a win-or-bust situation.
(Needless to say, if there were any concerns about Florida being motivated, the opportunity to effectively end rival Kentucky's season an invalidate the Calipari Model should be enough.)
Granted, Kentucky has been missing Nerlens Noel for weeks -- he was only the No. 1 NBA talent in college hoops -- but they were struggling while he was out there, too.
And, granted, next season Kentucky has the best recruiting class since the Fab Five coming to Lexington. (This season's freshmen were highly touted, too, but not like the '13 prep class.)
The reality is that if Kentucky isn't going to compete for national championships, all Cal offers is playing time (he better hope this season's freshmen don't stick around trying to make good on this season's dud, clogging the pipeline for next season's imports) and a track record of sending players to the NBA. There are plenty of coaches who can deliver that.
The model should work, but like arbitrage on Wall Street, sometimes the model doesn't stand up to the reality of the market.
More:
*Mariano Rivera to retire after '13 season: Only the greatest relief pitcher ever and, arguably, the greatest pitcher ever. Even Yankee-haters respect Rivera. More on this on Monday.
*Thunder hold off the Melo-less Knicks in NYC: Closest thing to a moral victory that the Knicks will get this season. (Meanwhile, is there a more confounding player in the NBA than JR Smith?)
*Tiger shoots co-leading 66 at Doral: All it does is set up "win or fail" expectations for the rest of the weekend. (Beats the alternative, I guess.)
*Blackhawks Watch: At Colorado tonight (loss alert?!), hosting Edmonton on Sunday.
*Jadeveon Clowney takes out $5M insurance policy: Only $95M less than his ultimate market value in the event he blows out his knee next season like teammate Marcus Lattimore.
(Know what the best insurance policy is? Not playing college football and waiting for the 2014 NFL Draft -- like he wouldn't still be the No. 1 overall pick?)
*NFL: Dolphins lock up WR Brian Hartline -- he was Ryan Tannehill's binky, so it makes sense to keep him around. He's no game-breaker, but steady (and very productive last year). But they still need a game-breaker.
*Deals: Rockets lock up GM Daryl Morey through 2018. He is Houston's MVP and the best GM in the NBA.
*The non-Catholic Big East is the new "America 12": Reminds me of "Conference USA," one of the worst names in sports-branding history.
*Civics: Doesn't it feel like Atlanta just built the Georgia Dome?
*Weekend Viewing Guide: Syracuse at Georgetown (noon Saturday), the finale of one of college hoops' best rivalries. Still don't understand why they can't set up an annual non-conference match-up.
(This season, at least, Cuse-G'town is a bigger/better game than Duke at UNC, tomorrow night at 9. Yes, it's a great rivalry, but it lacks real stakes. So UNC loses? Still in the Tournament. So Duke loses? Maybe it makes UNC's season, but Duke still is positioned for a 1-seed if they win the ACC Tournament. It is the fundamental issue with college hoops rivalries in the regular season: There are no real consequences.)
But, occasionally, you get exceptions, like Florida at Kentucky tomorrow at noon -- bringing it back to what we were talking about at the top, the consequences of losing to a rival in the regular season couldn't be bigger for Calipari and the 'Cats.
-- D.S.
Thursday, March 07, 2013
3/07 (Thursday) Quickie
Last night's big winner: Jamal Crawford, who pulled off a between-the-legs alley-oop pass to Blake Griffin that was a good reminder that even in a season that feels like a Heat d'accompli as it relates to the playoffs, the sport is built on the night-in-night-out aesthetic brilliance.
Was last night the Heat's best win of the 16 straight? It was arguably the grittiest, the kind of grinder that you typically need en route to 16 wins in the playoffs -- which, at this point, is the only "16" that really matters for Miami.
Speaking of streaks, the Blackhawks -- sports' best ongoing drama right now -- won again, on a last-minute tie-breaking goal in front of an absolutely frenzied home crowd. That's 30 straight games with a point, 11 straight wins and a 2013 season still without a loss. Amazing.
College hoops: It is an early-March truism -- desperate Bubble teams will necessarily play with more urgency (especially at home) than teams that are locked into the Tournament.
That was the story of Villanova over Georgetown, of Iowa State over Oklahoma State, of Xavier over St. Louis and of Georgia Tech over Miami.
Of those four winners, it's probably too-little-too-late for two of them, but for the other two, it is a resume-bolstering moment.
MLB Spring Training: Yankees-Red Sox has lost so much of its luster over the past year or two that it feels like MLB is ripe for a new leading rivalry, and I would nominate the Phillies and Nationals, who really do seem to dislike each other. The Phillies are on the decline, but clearly have enough money invested to want to scratch and claw back into relevancy; the Nationals are on the ascent, and clearly see beating down the former class of the NL East as a stepping stone to their own validity. When Roy Halladay is buzzing Nats in a spring training game, you know you're on to something good and ugly.
Today's viewing guide: Thunder-Knicks and Clippers-Nuggets NBA doubleheader on TNT... in college hoops, it's ostensibly Wisconsin at Michigan State at 9 on ESPN, but why not the opening round of the Missouri Valley Conference tournament on ESPN3? All four Mo Valley teams angling to make the quarterfinals have a theoretical chance of playing their way into the NCAA Tournament. All they have to do is win four straight games, and they're in. Easier said than done, but still: Doable!
Today's loser: David Akers, finally released by the 49ers.
-- D.S.
Was last night the Heat's best win of the 16 straight? It was arguably the grittiest, the kind of grinder that you typically need en route to 16 wins in the playoffs -- which, at this point, is the only "16" that really matters for Miami.
Speaking of streaks, the Blackhawks -- sports' best ongoing drama right now -- won again, on a last-minute tie-breaking goal in front of an absolutely frenzied home crowd. That's 30 straight games with a point, 11 straight wins and a 2013 season still without a loss. Amazing.
College hoops: It is an early-March truism -- desperate Bubble teams will necessarily play with more urgency (especially at home) than teams that are locked into the Tournament.
That was the story of Villanova over Georgetown, of Iowa State over Oklahoma State, of Xavier over St. Louis and of Georgia Tech over Miami.
Of those four winners, it's probably too-little-too-late for two of them, but for the other two, it is a resume-bolstering moment.
MLB Spring Training: Yankees-Red Sox has lost so much of its luster over the past year or two that it feels like MLB is ripe for a new leading rivalry, and I would nominate the Phillies and Nationals, who really do seem to dislike each other. The Phillies are on the decline, but clearly have enough money invested to want to scratch and claw back into relevancy; the Nationals are on the ascent, and clearly see beating down the former class of the NL East as a stepping stone to their own validity. When Roy Halladay is buzzing Nats in a spring training game, you know you're on to something good and ugly.
Today's viewing guide: Thunder-Knicks and Clippers-Nuggets NBA doubleheader on TNT... in college hoops, it's ostensibly Wisconsin at Michigan State at 9 on ESPN, but why not the opening round of the Missouri Valley Conference tournament on ESPN3? All four Mo Valley teams angling to make the quarterfinals have a theoretical chance of playing their way into the NCAA Tournament. All they have to do is win four straight games, and they're in. Easier said than done, but still: Doable!
Today's loser: David Akers, finally released by the 49ers.
-- D.S.
Wednesday, March 06, 2013
3/06 (Wednesday) Quickie
Today's biggest winners: (1) Ohio State, (2) Blackhawks, (3) Russell Westbrook, (4) Terrell Sinkfield, (5) Von Miller, (6) Regis.
*Ohio State beats Indiana in Bloomington: ESPN.com's Eamonn Brennan nailed this -- a road win over an elite team was the remaining hole on Ohio State's resume. Time to add the Buckeyes to the short list of teams with the potential to win four straight in late March and make the Final Four.
(As for Indiana, they are still on the list, but -- yep -- those are doubts creeping in. Losing at home on Senior Night is what the old, pre-revived Hoosiers would do.)
*Blackhawks extend point streak: That's 20-0-3 on the season, 29 straight games with a point (extending back to last season) and 10 straight wins. The most must-follow team in sports keeps it going -- at this point it is folly to try to predict when this ride will end.
*Thunder thump the Lakers: Russell Westbrook (37 points, 10 rebounds, 5 assists) with a reminder of why he is among the Top 5 most must-see players in the NBA and the X-factor in OKC's run for a second straight West title. Even Kobe tweeted out compliments after the game.
*Name to Know: Terrell Sinkfield, the Northern Iowa wide receiver who dropped by the pre-draft "Pro Day" at the University of Minnesota and ran a reportedly blistering 4.19 (and if that seems too good to be true, he also reported ran a 4.27, which is hardly slouching). Speed alone isn't enough to make it in the NFL -- but it sure helps.
*Von Miller says the Broncos are going to win the Super Bowl: Whatever his motivation, isn't that exactly what you want any player on a contender to say? Like he's supposed to say "We'll try our best!" or "Next year: Making the AFC title game or bust!" The fact that he was inspired by his 6-year-old cousin emerging from a coma makes it all the more inspired. If any player is allowed to make that kind of boast, it should be someone in the argument for best defensive player in the AFC.
*Regis Philbin was the headliner of the official promotion for Fox Sports' new ESPN competitor, Fox Sports 1. Regis will host a daily talk show head-to-head with ESPN's flagship daily shows PTI and Around the Horn -- that won't end well for Regis. It is unclear that Regis resonates with a younger audience, but it is easy to understand the interest in bringing in a "brand name."
The key will be the co-host that they pair with Regis -- the sports version of Kelly Ripa. (It's not without precedent: Michelle Beadle was largely unknown before being paired with Colin Cowherd on ESPN's SportsNation show, where she quickly established herself as the real star of the show.)
In the end, sports talk shows are fun, but sports networks make their money (cable fees and advertising) on showing live events. Fox has the existing assets -- and certainly the deep pockets -- to be competitive when it comes to securing live sports rights (like, say, Big East basketball).
More:
*Tweet of the Day: "Kid Blake: Who are you? Future Blake: you from the future... Don't listen to anything else I've told you just start wearing a cup." (from Blake Griffin, in response to Serge Ibaka merely earning a $25K fine for his groin shot on Griffin from Sunday).
*ICYMI: Don Van Natta's #longread on NFL commissioner Roger Goodell -- the newsy bit was that Goodell's biggest fear is a player dying on the field, but that feels like Goodell's shiny object meant to distract you from the actual issue -- the thousands of hits to the head that, over time, trigger CTE and other brain injuries that inevitably overtake players long after they have put themselves at immediate risk on the field.
*Johnny Football Watch: If Johnny Manziel's family wants an insurance policy for the remaining year he plays college football before going pro, he should just drop out now and work with George Whitfield or another NFL-prep QB coach for the year...
*College football hot stove: Michigan's chances of being nationally relevant in 2014 got a big boost with incumbent starting QB Devin Gardner getting an extra year of eligibility. Michigan's offense got better when he took over for Denard Robinson, and two years from now, he should be an elite QB nationally.
*Conference realignment: For selling their league name and giving up their marquee basketball teams, the Football League Soon To Be Formerly Known As The Big East is going to make a cool $100M. And that's on top of the cash from their TV deal. Not bad...
And the farthest thing from a winner: Man U. fans, watching their side bounced from Champions League by Real Madrid after an entirely iffy red card.
-- D.S.
*Ohio State beats Indiana in Bloomington: ESPN.com's Eamonn Brennan nailed this -- a road win over an elite team was the remaining hole on Ohio State's resume. Time to add the Buckeyes to the short list of teams with the potential to win four straight in late March and make the Final Four.
(As for Indiana, they are still on the list, but -- yep -- those are doubts creeping in. Losing at home on Senior Night is what the old, pre-revived Hoosiers would do.)
*Blackhawks extend point streak: That's 20-0-3 on the season, 29 straight games with a point (extending back to last season) and 10 straight wins. The most must-follow team in sports keeps it going -- at this point it is folly to try to predict when this ride will end.
*Thunder thump the Lakers: Russell Westbrook (37 points, 10 rebounds, 5 assists) with a reminder of why he is among the Top 5 most must-see players in the NBA and the X-factor in OKC's run for a second straight West title. Even Kobe tweeted out compliments after the game.
*Name to Know: Terrell Sinkfield, the Northern Iowa wide receiver who dropped by the pre-draft "Pro Day" at the University of Minnesota and ran a reportedly blistering 4.19 (and if that seems too good to be true, he also reported ran a 4.27, which is hardly slouching). Speed alone isn't enough to make it in the NFL -- but it sure helps.
*Von Miller says the Broncos are going to win the Super Bowl: Whatever his motivation, isn't that exactly what you want any player on a contender to say? Like he's supposed to say "We'll try our best!" or "Next year: Making the AFC title game or bust!" The fact that he was inspired by his 6-year-old cousin emerging from a coma makes it all the more inspired. If any player is allowed to make that kind of boast, it should be someone in the argument for best defensive player in the AFC.
*Regis Philbin was the headliner of the official promotion for Fox Sports' new ESPN competitor, Fox Sports 1. Regis will host a daily talk show head-to-head with ESPN's flagship daily shows PTI and Around the Horn -- that won't end well for Regis. It is unclear that Regis resonates with a younger audience, but it is easy to understand the interest in bringing in a "brand name."
The key will be the co-host that they pair with Regis -- the sports version of Kelly Ripa. (It's not without precedent: Michelle Beadle was largely unknown before being paired with Colin Cowherd on ESPN's SportsNation show, where she quickly established herself as the real star of the show.)
In the end, sports talk shows are fun, but sports networks make their money (cable fees and advertising) on showing live events. Fox has the existing assets -- and certainly the deep pockets -- to be competitive when it comes to securing live sports rights (like, say, Big East basketball).
More:
*Tweet of the Day: "Kid Blake: Who are you? Future Blake: you from the future... Don't listen to anything else I've told you just start wearing a cup." (from Blake Griffin, in response to Serge Ibaka merely earning a $25K fine for his groin shot on Griffin from Sunday).
*ICYMI: Don Van Natta's #longread on NFL commissioner Roger Goodell -- the newsy bit was that Goodell's biggest fear is a player dying on the field, but that feels like Goodell's shiny object meant to distract you from the actual issue -- the thousands of hits to the head that, over time, trigger CTE and other brain injuries that inevitably overtake players long after they have put themselves at immediate risk on the field.
*Johnny Football Watch: If Johnny Manziel's family wants an insurance policy for the remaining year he plays college football before going pro, he should just drop out now and work with George Whitfield or another NFL-prep QB coach for the year...
*College football hot stove: Michigan's chances of being nationally relevant in 2014 got a big boost with incumbent starting QB Devin Gardner getting an extra year of eligibility. Michigan's offense got better when he took over for Denard Robinson, and two years from now, he should be an elite QB nationally.
*Conference realignment: For selling their league name and giving up their marquee basketball teams, the Football League Soon To Be Formerly Known As The Big East is going to make a cool $100M. And that's on top of the cash from their TV deal. Not bad...
And the farthest thing from a winner: Man U. fans, watching their side bounced from Champions League by Real Madrid after an entirely iffy red card.
-- D.S.
Tuesday, March 05, 2013
3/05 (Tuesday) Quickie
Today's big winners: Brittney Griner, Notre Dame women's hoops, the Heat (again x 15), Joe Flacco, Kobe, Dwayne Bowe (and Alex Smith), Jack Nicklaus.
First off: In the ongoing discussion about where LeBron James ranks among all-time NBA players (short answer: there is an apples/oranges problem, but he is probably already Top 10 and will finish his career no less than Top 3 but possibly No. 1), we clearly are overlooking one thing:
LeBron isn't even the most dominant basketball player in 2013 -- that would be Baylor's Brittney Griner, who capped Senior Night with 50 points. Greatest women's college hoops player ever? She's in the conversation, that's for sure. Unclear there is an analogue in the NBA for Griner's potential impact on the WNBA -- maybe Patrick Ewing when he came out of Georgetown?
It was a big night for women's college hoops: ND beat UConn for the Big East title in 3 OT, in the women's college hoops game of the year.
Meanwhile, on the LeBron beat: The Heat won their 15th straight. I might as well keep repeating what I said yesterday -- the season is over. Everyone else is playing for second place. And that's OK -- there is nothing wrong with watching basketball played at a near-ideal level by the runaway champs.
Tracking: Carmelo Anthony's knee.
Eating: Joe Flacco, flush with Ravens cash, going to a McDonald's drive-thru.
Talking: Kobe, who says that if Serge Ibaka gave him a groin-shot like Ibaka did to Blake Griffin on Sunday, Kobe "would have smacked" him. Kobe-in-twilight continues to be the best Kobe.
NFL: The Chiefs reached a deal with Dwayne Bowe, who will have as much to say about Alex Smith's impact in KC as anyone except Jamaal Charles.
Golf: Look at Jack Nicklaus with the Tiger-trolling! Jack said Tiger "better get going" if he is going to topple Nicklaus' record for major wins. Five years ago, we all would have said "That's just going to motivate Tiger even more!" Today, of course, it's unclear that the challenge won't unnerve Tiger. There is no "turning it on" for Tiger anymore.
Let's be real: Nicklaus is right.
-- D.S.
First off: In the ongoing discussion about where LeBron James ranks among all-time NBA players (short answer: there is an apples/oranges problem, but he is probably already Top 10 and will finish his career no less than Top 3 but possibly No. 1), we clearly are overlooking one thing:
LeBron isn't even the most dominant basketball player in 2013 -- that would be Baylor's Brittney Griner, who capped Senior Night with 50 points. Greatest women's college hoops player ever? She's in the conversation, that's for sure. Unclear there is an analogue in the NBA for Griner's potential impact on the WNBA -- maybe Patrick Ewing when he came out of Georgetown?
It was a big night for women's college hoops: ND beat UConn for the Big East title in 3 OT, in the women's college hoops game of the year.
Meanwhile, on the LeBron beat: The Heat won their 15th straight. I might as well keep repeating what I said yesterday -- the season is over. Everyone else is playing for second place. And that's OK -- there is nothing wrong with watching basketball played at a near-ideal level by the runaway champs.
Tracking: Carmelo Anthony's knee.
Eating: Joe Flacco, flush with Ravens cash, going to a McDonald's drive-thru.
Talking: Kobe, who says that if Serge Ibaka gave him a groin-shot like Ibaka did to Blake Griffin on Sunday, Kobe "would have smacked" him. Kobe-in-twilight continues to be the best Kobe.
NFL: The Chiefs reached a deal with Dwayne Bowe, who will have as much to say about Alex Smith's impact in KC as anyone except Jamaal Charles.
Golf: Look at Jack Nicklaus with the Tiger-trolling! Jack said Tiger "better get going" if he is going to topple Nicklaus' record for major wins. Five years ago, we all would have said "That's just going to motivate Tiger even more!" Today, of course, it's unclear that the challenge won't unnerve Tiger. There is no "turning it on" for Tiger anymore.
Let's be real: Nicklaus is right.
-- D.S.
Monday, March 04, 2013
3/4 (Monday) Quickie
First of all: Oh my god, that buzzer-beater by the New Rochelle (NY) high school player to win the playoff game. To all the folks saying "Never seen a more incredible shot," I think I agree with you.
I consider the NBA season over. The Heat are going to storm their way to the NBA title, and LeBron is going to carry them there with the greatest individual season since the peak of Michael Jordan. Sunday's win in New York wasn't flashy -- just devastatingly effective. Watching the league's best player at the peak of his effectiveness? There are a lot worse playoff plot lines.
Blackhawks keep winning/not losing: My kids love hockey, so we ended up watching most of the Blackhawks-Red Wings game yesterday, and oh wow, was it entertaining. Much of that had to do with the stakes (Chicago's season-opening point streak), but layer in the rivalry, how hard the Red Wings were playing and how rabid the Detroit fans were about watching the Wings snap Chicago's streak. Then the Hawks ripped their heart out. I have to imagine it is simultaneously thrilling and excruciating for Chicago fans that the incredible start has raised expectations to "Stanley Cup champion or Fail."
Kobe's dunk on Josh Smith (and leading the Lakers back to .500): LeBron may be jaw-dropping in his sheer dominance, but if I had to pick a single player to watch right now, it would be Kobe -- in his career twilight but so maniacally desperate to get the Lakers back into the playoffs that he seems to be playing as hard as he ever has.
CBB: Gonzaga will be No. 1? Covered this yesterday -- I can respect Gonzaga as an excellent team (I have no problem already penciling them into the Final Four, wherever they end up in the bracket) but reject them as having earned the (entirely vestigial) No. 1 spot in the latest regular-season poll. Their strength of schedule is just too spotty.
Michigan holds off Michigan State: Big win for Big Blue, but still don't see Michigan with the defense to win four straight in late March to get to the Final Four.
Meanwhile: No change to yesterday's opinion that Ryan Kelly had the single-best performance by a college basketball player this season on Saturday night in Duke's win over Miami.
MLB: Mike Trout's agent does him no favors griping about his salary. Of course he is wildly underpaid, but it is unclear complaining about it now fixes anything. On the one hand: Yes, some young stars are going to be underpaid relative to market value, often extremely. On the other hand, non-rich teams being able to control their young talent on reasonable contracts is at the heart of what little competitive balance actually exists in baseball. Isn't he satisfied that in 5 or 6 years, Trout is going to command $300 million?
NFL: Peter King has a great detail leading MMQB this week that Bob Kraft didn't want Tom Brady to leave the Pats like Joe Montana left the 49ers. I appreciate that, but if the Patriots had a successor to Brady who was as good as Steve Young was at the tail end of Joe Montana's career, wouldn't a clear-eyed organization like the Patriots do exactly what the 49ers did? Why get sentimental about it now, when sentimentality is precisely what the Pats have NOT stood for during its Belichick/Brady Dynasty?
Dennis Rodman's trip to North Korea: On the "Te'o Scale" of jaw-dropping absurdity, it's at least a 7, possibly an 8.
Get well soon, Bradley Beal.
-- D.S.
I consider the NBA season over. The Heat are going to storm their way to the NBA title, and LeBron is going to carry them there with the greatest individual season since the peak of Michael Jordan. Sunday's win in New York wasn't flashy -- just devastatingly effective. Watching the league's best player at the peak of his effectiveness? There are a lot worse playoff plot lines.
Blackhawks keep winning/not losing: My kids love hockey, so we ended up watching most of the Blackhawks-Red Wings game yesterday, and oh wow, was it entertaining. Much of that had to do with the stakes (Chicago's season-opening point streak), but layer in the rivalry, how hard the Red Wings were playing and how rabid the Detroit fans were about watching the Wings snap Chicago's streak. Then the Hawks ripped their heart out. I have to imagine it is simultaneously thrilling and excruciating for Chicago fans that the incredible start has raised expectations to "Stanley Cup champion or Fail."
Kobe's dunk on Josh Smith (and leading the Lakers back to .500): LeBron may be jaw-dropping in his sheer dominance, but if I had to pick a single player to watch right now, it would be Kobe -- in his career twilight but so maniacally desperate to get the Lakers back into the playoffs that he seems to be playing as hard as he ever has.
CBB: Gonzaga will be No. 1? Covered this yesterday -- I can respect Gonzaga as an excellent team (I have no problem already penciling them into the Final Four, wherever they end up in the bracket) but reject them as having earned the (entirely vestigial) No. 1 spot in the latest regular-season poll. Their strength of schedule is just too spotty.
Michigan holds off Michigan State: Big win for Big Blue, but still don't see Michigan with the defense to win four straight in late March to get to the Final Four.
Meanwhile: No change to yesterday's opinion that Ryan Kelly had the single-best performance by a college basketball player this season on Saturday night in Duke's win over Miami.
MLB: Mike Trout's agent does him no favors griping about his salary. Of course he is wildly underpaid, but it is unclear complaining about it now fixes anything. On the one hand: Yes, some young stars are going to be underpaid relative to market value, often extremely. On the other hand, non-rich teams being able to control their young talent on reasonable contracts is at the heart of what little competitive balance actually exists in baseball. Isn't he satisfied that in 5 or 6 years, Trout is going to command $300 million?
NFL: Peter King has a great detail leading MMQB this week that Bob Kraft didn't want Tom Brady to leave the Pats like Joe Montana left the 49ers. I appreciate that, but if the Patriots had a successor to Brady who was as good as Steve Young was at the tail end of Joe Montana's career, wouldn't a clear-eyed organization like the Patriots do exactly what the 49ers did? Why get sentimental about it now, when sentimentality is precisely what the Pats have NOT stood for during its Belichick/Brady Dynasty?
Dennis Rodman's trip to North Korea: On the "Te'o Scale" of jaw-dropping absurdity, it's at least a 7, possibly an 8.
Get well soon, Bradley Beal.
-- D.S.
Sunday, March 03, 2013
3/3 (Ryan Kelly) Quickie
I'm not a Duke fan (to say the least), but Ryan Kelly wins the weekend.
Coming off a 7-week layoff, his 36-point outburst in front of a frenzied home crowd (and floor-slapping teammates) against a Top 5 team that had previously thrashed the Blue Devils in a win that pole-positions (or "poll-positions") Duke for a 1-seed in the NCAA Tournament was THE signature individual performance of the year in college basketball.
The five other college hoops stories I'm paying attention to:
*VCU. Holy moley. What the Rams did to Butler was something I never thought any team would be able to do to Butler. If you weren't at least noodling on the idea of VCU being talented enough to make a Final Four run, this is your moment to start.
*Louisville tops Syracuse at the Dome: The Orange aren't necessarily a team you consider an offensive juggernaut, but they are Top 20 in offensive efficiency. However, Louisville is No. 1 in the country in defensive efficiency, and it showed. The Cardinals have got to be on anyone's short list of bonafide Final Four contenders -- their defense is just too good, and combined with a more than "good enough" offense.
*Shabazz Muhammad didn't exactly dominate college basketball in his one-and-done year (as you might expect a No. 1 national recruit would), but 18 points in a home finale upset of a ranked conference foe isn't a bad finish.
*Otto Porter Watch: 28 and 8 in a G'town win over Rutgers for the should-be/could-be/would-be national player of the year.
*Gonzaga will probably be No. 1, but Saturday's 29-point thrashing of lowly Portland is a good reminder that the Zags play a creampuff schedule. Don't get me wrong: Gonzaga is a very very good team -- I will have no problem penciling them through to the Final Four. But there are a dozen teams that could go 16-0 in the WCC in any given year and many multiples that could put up gaudy win totals playing in that conference.
Watching today: Michigan St-Michigan at 4 on CBS, plus ducking in on the NBA afternoon double-header (Heat-Knicks, Thunder-Clippers) on ABC.
-- D.S.
Coming off a 7-week layoff, his 36-point outburst in front of a frenzied home crowd (and floor-slapping teammates) against a Top 5 team that had previously thrashed the Blue Devils in a win that pole-positions (or "poll-positions") Duke for a 1-seed in the NCAA Tournament was THE signature individual performance of the year in college basketball.
The five other college hoops stories I'm paying attention to:
*VCU. Holy moley. What the Rams did to Butler was something I never thought any team would be able to do to Butler. If you weren't at least noodling on the idea of VCU being talented enough to make a Final Four run, this is your moment to start.
*Louisville tops Syracuse at the Dome: The Orange aren't necessarily a team you consider an offensive juggernaut, but they are Top 20 in offensive efficiency. However, Louisville is No. 1 in the country in defensive efficiency, and it showed. The Cardinals have got to be on anyone's short list of bonafide Final Four contenders -- their defense is just too good, and combined with a more than "good enough" offense.
*Shabazz Muhammad didn't exactly dominate college basketball in his one-and-done year (as you might expect a No. 1 national recruit would), but 18 points in a home finale upset of a ranked conference foe isn't a bad finish.
*Otto Porter Watch: 28 and 8 in a G'town win over Rutgers for the should-be/could-be/would-be national player of the year.
*Gonzaga will probably be No. 1, but Saturday's 29-point thrashing of lowly Portland is a good reminder that the Zags play a creampuff schedule. Don't get me wrong: Gonzaga is a very very good team -- I will have no problem penciling them through to the Final Four. But there are a dozen teams that could go 16-0 in the WCC in any given year and many multiples that could put up gaudy win totals playing in that conference.
Watching today: Michigan St-Michigan at 4 on CBS, plus ducking in on the NBA afternoon double-header (Heat-Knicks, Thunder-Clippers) on ABC.
-- D.S.
Saturday, March 02, 2013
03/02 (Very) Quickie
So I guess the real question is which team is going to lose first -- the Heat or the Blackhawks? (The difference is that where the Heat seem to be in a position to steamroll to a championship, it is entirely unclear whether the Blackhawks' season-opening run will carry through to its closing.)
College Hoops Saturday: Is Miami-Duke a play-in game for a 1-seed? Not quite -- ultimately, any meeting in the ACC Tournament would probably be decisive, but today instantly becomes the top line on the resume for the winner.
Other games I'm tracking:
Noon: Alabama at Florida (ESPN), Butler at VCU (ESPN2).
Honestly: Butler-VCU is the day's most must-see game.
2 pm: Wichita State at Creighton (ESPN2)
Another great mid-major battle.
4 pm: Kentucky at Arkansas (CBS)
Back on the wrong side of bubble for UK when they lose.
6 pm: Miami at Duke
Ultimate test for The U. Envision Duke rout here.
9 pm: Arizona at UCLA
Not a big believer in 'Zona. Win here helps.
Joe Flacco's big deal: Is he worthy of being the highest-paid QB in NFL history? That's not really a fair question -- it's just a function of market rates, combined with Flacco pulling off a spectacular playoff run that earned him and his team a championship. So the short answer is: Yes, worthy.
Wow, what happened to Rory McIlroy? At this point, you just hope that he figures out whatever has him psychologically occupied.
Enjoy your Saturday.
-- D.S.
College Hoops Saturday: Is Miami-Duke a play-in game for a 1-seed? Not quite -- ultimately, any meeting in the ACC Tournament would probably be decisive, but today instantly becomes the top line on the resume for the winner.
Other games I'm tracking:
Noon: Alabama at Florida (ESPN), Butler at VCU (ESPN2).
Honestly: Butler-VCU is the day's most must-see game.
2 pm: Wichita State at Creighton (ESPN2)
Another great mid-major battle.
4 pm: Kentucky at Arkansas (CBS)
Back on the wrong side of bubble for UK when they lose.
6 pm: Miami at Duke
Ultimate test for The U. Envision Duke rout here.
9 pm: Arizona at UCLA
Not a big believer in 'Zona. Win here helps.
Joe Flacco's big deal: Is he worthy of being the highest-paid QB in NFL history? That's not really a fair question -- it's just a function of market rates, combined with Flacco pulling off a spectacular playoff run that earned him and his team a championship. So the short answer is: Yes, worthy.
Wow, what happened to Rory McIlroy? At this point, you just hope that he figures out whatever has him psychologically occupied.
Enjoy your Saturday.
-- D.S.
Friday, March 01, 2013
03/01 (March) Quickie
March is here. It is also my daughter's 1st birthday, which is a happy confluence.
*Virginia stuns Duke: As someone who believes that the college hoops regular season's main function is to get everyone ready for the NCAA Tournament, I couldn't care less about the way teams in the Top 5 seem to lose every week as it relates to the utterly useless regular-season "Who's No. 1?" debate (or even the largely useless regular-season "Who are the four 1-seeds?" debate).
The 'Hoos' win over Duke is valuable in one big way: It is an affirmation that it is going to be really hard this year to pick the team that is going to win six straight to win the national title (or even the three other teams that will win four straight and make the Final Four). Every would-be contender has displayed at least a few moments where you can doubt yourself when penciling in their name across a bracket.
Your best bet remains finding those teams with high defensive-efficiency ratings that can also score if they need to (represented by high offensive-efficiency ratings). That puts some of the usual suspects in the mix -- Indiana, Florida, Gonzaga, Louisville, Duke, Kansas, maybe even a wild card like VCU.
But it also should make you skeptical of, say, Georgetown (a team that plays fantastic defense but relies too heavily on one scorer to create any offense) or Michigan (a team that can score but doesn't come close to playing defense at an elite level). Miami and Wisconsin -- and, of course, Final Four stand-by Michigan State -- are intriguing possibilities.
Wrapping it back to last night's "upset," it shouldn't have come as too big of a shock: Virginia's defensive efficiency is in the Top 20 and its offense is underrated (coming in at a respectable No. 31 in KenPom's offensive efficiency ranking). For all of Duke's offensive brilliance, it had trouble stopping UVA's offense -- unsurprisingly, Duke's defense is ranked behind UVA's, along with 20 other teams.
*"Catholic 7" to expand, claim new old name: I sort of loved the "Catholic 7" shorthand for the spin-off basketball-first teams leaving the Big East. But now they are going to buy the name "Big East" from the old league (for whom it barely applied before and certainly doesn't now) for their start-up league, along with adding a few new members: Butler and Xavier, both of whom are big wins for the league -- perennial Top 25 teams (and, perhaps more important, perennial Tournament studs). St. Louis is also going to be added (another Top 25 team) and, reportedly, Creighton is in the mix. That's a bit of a reach, geographically. I would favor VCU.
*Those Adidas uniforms: I typically applaud the apparel companies for trying new things. The "short-sleeve" look doesn't bother me -- if you watched what happened in the NBA with Golden State, this is clearly going to be a bigger thing in basketball -- but the Zubaz-style shorts are awful. I love wearing basketball shorts around (the house, not in public), and I wouldn't wear those if I was given a pair for free, let alone buy them. Maybe I'm not the target market, but this isn't fashion via Oregon football or Maryland basketball -- it is a look that wasn't good back when we first saw it 20 years ago and hasn't gotten any better with age.
*Blackhawks' streak reaches 20: I'm not following their games live, but when I know they are playing the night before, it has become the first score I look for in the morning.
*Kings vs. Sacramento: I used to live in Seattle and have many friends from there who truly lament losing the Sonics and wish daily for an NBA team, but I hope that the Kings stay in Sacramento.
*LeBron wins everything, cont'd: I am not a big fan of the Harlem Shake craze, but the Heat did an incredible version. Consider how well LeBron is playing right now... and how willing he is to have fun with this video. It's really endearing -- the guy has a fantastic sense of humor about himself.
Have a great weekend -- light updates all weekend long, as usual.
-- D.S.
*Virginia stuns Duke: As someone who believes that the college hoops regular season's main function is to get everyone ready for the NCAA Tournament, I couldn't care less about the way teams in the Top 5 seem to lose every week as it relates to the utterly useless regular-season "Who's No. 1?" debate (or even the largely useless regular-season "Who are the four 1-seeds?" debate).
The 'Hoos' win over Duke is valuable in one big way: It is an affirmation that it is going to be really hard this year to pick the team that is going to win six straight to win the national title (or even the three other teams that will win four straight and make the Final Four). Every would-be contender has displayed at least a few moments where you can doubt yourself when penciling in their name across a bracket.
Your best bet remains finding those teams with high defensive-efficiency ratings that can also score if they need to (represented by high offensive-efficiency ratings). That puts some of the usual suspects in the mix -- Indiana, Florida, Gonzaga, Louisville, Duke, Kansas, maybe even a wild card like VCU.
But it also should make you skeptical of, say, Georgetown (a team that plays fantastic defense but relies too heavily on one scorer to create any offense) or Michigan (a team that can score but doesn't come close to playing defense at an elite level). Miami and Wisconsin -- and, of course, Final Four stand-by Michigan State -- are intriguing possibilities.
Wrapping it back to last night's "upset," it shouldn't have come as too big of a shock: Virginia's defensive efficiency is in the Top 20 and its offense is underrated (coming in at a respectable No. 31 in KenPom's offensive efficiency ranking). For all of Duke's offensive brilliance, it had trouble stopping UVA's offense -- unsurprisingly, Duke's defense is ranked behind UVA's, along with 20 other teams.
*"Catholic 7" to expand, claim new old name: I sort of loved the "Catholic 7" shorthand for the spin-off basketball-first teams leaving the Big East. But now they are going to buy the name "Big East" from the old league (for whom it barely applied before and certainly doesn't now) for their start-up league, along with adding a few new members: Butler and Xavier, both of whom are big wins for the league -- perennial Top 25 teams (and, perhaps more important, perennial Tournament studs). St. Louis is also going to be added (another Top 25 team) and, reportedly, Creighton is in the mix. That's a bit of a reach, geographically. I would favor VCU.
*Those Adidas uniforms: I typically applaud the apparel companies for trying new things. The "short-sleeve" look doesn't bother me -- if you watched what happened in the NBA with Golden State, this is clearly going to be a bigger thing in basketball -- but the Zubaz-style shorts are awful. I love wearing basketball shorts around (the house, not in public), and I wouldn't wear those if I was given a pair for free, let alone buy them. Maybe I'm not the target market, but this isn't fashion via Oregon football or Maryland basketball -- it is a look that wasn't good back when we first saw it 20 years ago and hasn't gotten any better with age.
*Blackhawks' streak reaches 20: I'm not following their games live, but when I know they are playing the night before, it has become the first score I look for in the morning.
*Kings vs. Sacramento: I used to live in Seattle and have many friends from there who truly lament losing the Sonics and wish daily for an NBA team, but I hope that the Kings stay in Sacramento.
*LeBron wins everything, cont'd: I am not a big fan of the Harlem Shake craze, but the Heat did an incredible version. Consider how well LeBron is playing right now... and how willing he is to have fun with this video. It's really endearing -- the guy has a fantastic sense of humor about himself.
Have a great weekend -- light updates all weekend long, as usual.
-- D.S.
Wednesday, February 27, 2013
2/28 (Curry) Quickie
*Well, that Stephen Curry 54-point binge at MSG was just about the most fun thing you'll see in the NBA this season. That Curry's Warriors lost? OK, it happens. The real result is that Curry elevates himself into one of the Top 5 must-see players in the league (behind LeBron, Durant and Kobe but I would argue ahead of Kyrie Irving and Russell Westbrook).
*Michigan's loss to lowly Penn State is the kind of result that sticks with you on Selection Sunday. I don't care how good their offense is -- Michigan's defense isn't nearly good enough to win four straight in late March to get to a Final Four. That this team was on a short list for 1-seeds is kind of a joke.
*Georgetown's Otto Porter: The answer to the question "Who is college basketball's national player of the year?" One of the handful of most intriguing storylines heading into the NCAA Tournament is how far Porter plus a Top 5 defense can carry Georgetown.
(If you're picking four players to join Porter on an all-America team, go with Indiana's Victor Oladipo, Gonzaga's Kelly Olynyk, Creighton's Doug McDermott and Michigan's Trey Burke. Sorry, Cody Zeller. He can anchor the 2nd team, including Duke's Plumlee, Kansas' McLemore, Florida's Murphy and OK St's Smart.)
*Chiefs trade for Alex Smith: Best they could do with a bad hand. Maybe if they weren't picking first overall, they would take Geno Smith. Maybe Andy Reid didn't want to trade for Nick Foles. Maybe they didn't want to risk Matt Barkley not being there at the top of the 2nd round. (Hell, maybe if they saw this coming, they would have traded this year's 1st to the Rams last year for the chance to draft RGIII.) KC's QB situation has been a mess since Joe Montana -- this is as close to stability as they have seen in decades. What could go wrong?
*49ers get 1st pick of 2nd round: So they either get arguably the most valuable player of the 2013 draft or leverage that pick into a trade for, say, Darrelle Revis. Best franchise in football gets better.
-- D.S.
*Michigan's loss to lowly Penn State is the kind of result that sticks with you on Selection Sunday. I don't care how good their offense is -- Michigan's defense isn't nearly good enough to win four straight in late March to get to a Final Four. That this team was on a short list for 1-seeds is kind of a joke.
*Georgetown's Otto Porter: The answer to the question "Who is college basketball's national player of the year?" One of the handful of most intriguing storylines heading into the NCAA Tournament is how far Porter plus a Top 5 defense can carry Georgetown.
(If you're picking four players to join Porter on an all-America team, go with Indiana's Victor Oladipo, Gonzaga's Kelly Olynyk, Creighton's Doug McDermott and Michigan's Trey Burke. Sorry, Cody Zeller. He can anchor the 2nd team, including Duke's Plumlee, Kansas' McLemore, Florida's Murphy and OK St's Smart.)
*Chiefs trade for Alex Smith: Best they could do with a bad hand. Maybe if they weren't picking first overall, they would take Geno Smith. Maybe Andy Reid didn't want to trade for Nick Foles. Maybe they didn't want to risk Matt Barkley not being there at the top of the 2nd round. (Hell, maybe if they saw this coming, they would have traded this year's 1st to the Rams last year for the chance to draft RGIII.) KC's QB situation has been a mess since Joe Montana -- this is as close to stability as they have seen in decades. What could go wrong?
*49ers get 1st pick of 2nd round: So they either get arguably the most valuable player of the 2013 draft or leverage that pick into a trade for, say, Darrelle Revis. Best franchise in football gets better.
-- D.S.
2/27 (Is It March Yet?) Quickie
Hard not to feel good for Minnesota fans after last night's win over No. 1 Indiana -- the signature win of Tubby Smith's era and arguably Minnesota's best win since the '97 team zipped to the Final Four.
It is also a reminder that Indiana -- like every other would-be contender -- is fallible, but it is hardly damning to lose on the road to an ultra-motivated opponent (see Florida losing at Tennessee).
No reason not to maintain IU as a Final Four team -- four straight on a neutral court isn't the same as a one-off in a rocking Minneapolis arena in February.
As for Florida? Still a bonafide Final Four contender -- if you're just casually following the Gators, it seems like an ugly road loss. But Florida was playing with 6 guys -- they were missing X-factor Will Yeguete and frosh super-shooter Michael Frazier, both of whom will be back for the Tournament. At full strength, Florida is as good as anyone -- as long as they aren't shipped out West, I'll take a 2- or 3-seed for this team -- all the more likely folks in my bracket pool won't pick them.
(The opposite? Memphis, who hasn't beaten anyone and whose "win streak" was snapped by Xavier. I can't dump Memphis out of my bracket fast enough; meanwhile, Xavier remains one of Those Teams where you will kick yourself for not anticipating the perennial Sweet 16 run. That is: If the Musketeers can even get into the Tournament; they are on the wrong side of the bubble -- last night was a must-win, but they have more work to do. KenPom has them ranked in the 80s, but they finish the regular season with games against Tourney locks St. Louis and Butler. Both are must-win, but if the X-men pull it off, they will be on the right side of the bubble.)
Gonzaga will be No. 1? Apparently, strength of schedule doesn't matter. Look: Gonzaga is a really good team -- over the weekend, I put them in my "if the season ended now" Final Four -- but they benefit tremendously from playing a soft conference schedule.
LeBron scores 40 in 2OT win over Sacramento: Was that the game of the year in the NBA? Regardless, one more superlative for LeBron's season -- highest scoring output for him this year. It is hard to think of a player who had a better month in the last 25 years than LeBron's February.
(Meanwhile, I really hope that LeBron keeps up with his pregame dunking shows -- who in the world thinks those are a bad thing?)
Pacers-Warriors scuffle: Roy Hibbert can look forward to a week or two off. The big winner? Stephen Curry, who took on Indiana's 7-footer.
NFL Draft: Alabama's Dee Milliner runs a 4.37 -- he was already the best DB in the draft. Feels like a can't-miss prospect in a league that is dominated by passing.
Mike Holmgren to the Raiders? He's a retread, but Oakland needs all the help it can get.
Milestones: Vivian Stringer hits 900 wins. After yesterday's talk of 500 wins for Bill Self, 900 is truly rare air.
-- D.S.
It is also a reminder that Indiana -- like every other would-be contender -- is fallible, but it is hardly damning to lose on the road to an ultra-motivated opponent (see Florida losing at Tennessee).
No reason not to maintain IU as a Final Four team -- four straight on a neutral court isn't the same as a one-off in a rocking Minneapolis arena in February.
As for Florida? Still a bonafide Final Four contender -- if you're just casually following the Gators, it seems like an ugly road loss. But Florida was playing with 6 guys -- they were missing X-factor Will Yeguete and frosh super-shooter Michael Frazier, both of whom will be back for the Tournament. At full strength, Florida is as good as anyone -- as long as they aren't shipped out West, I'll take a 2- or 3-seed for this team -- all the more likely folks in my bracket pool won't pick them.
(The opposite? Memphis, who hasn't beaten anyone and whose "win streak" was snapped by Xavier. I can't dump Memphis out of my bracket fast enough; meanwhile, Xavier remains one of Those Teams where you will kick yourself for not anticipating the perennial Sweet 16 run. That is: If the Musketeers can even get into the Tournament; they are on the wrong side of the bubble -- last night was a must-win, but they have more work to do. KenPom has them ranked in the 80s, but they finish the regular season with games against Tourney locks St. Louis and Butler. Both are must-win, but if the X-men pull it off, they will be on the right side of the bubble.)
Gonzaga will be No. 1? Apparently, strength of schedule doesn't matter. Look: Gonzaga is a really good team -- over the weekend, I put them in my "if the season ended now" Final Four -- but they benefit tremendously from playing a soft conference schedule.
LeBron scores 40 in 2OT win over Sacramento: Was that the game of the year in the NBA? Regardless, one more superlative for LeBron's season -- highest scoring output for him this year. It is hard to think of a player who had a better month in the last 25 years than LeBron's February.
(Meanwhile, I really hope that LeBron keeps up with his pregame dunking shows -- who in the world thinks those are a bad thing?)
Pacers-Warriors scuffle: Roy Hibbert can look forward to a week or two off. The big winner? Stephen Curry, who took on Indiana's 7-footer.
NFL Draft: Alabama's Dee Milliner runs a 4.37 -- he was already the best DB in the draft. Feels like a can't-miss prospect in a league that is dominated by passing.
Mike Holmgren to the Raiders? He's a retread, but Oakland needs all the help it can get.
Milestones: Vivian Stringer hits 900 wins. After yesterday's talk of 500 wins for Bill Self, 900 is truly rare air.
-- D.S.
Tuesday, February 26, 2013
2/26 (Very) Quickie
*Of course Tom Brady took less than market value, ensuring that the Patriots can continue to make moves around him to keep the team competitive. Cripes, it's hard to begrudge that guy.
*But what does it mean for Joe Flacco? Nothing. Flacco is going to get paid, and the only reaction will be to reductively compare Flacco's money-grubbing to Brady's selflessness. In reply, Flacco can just hold up the Super Bowl trophy.
*Manti Te'o runs slow at the combine: The gif of Jim Harbaugh shaking his head is hilarious. Te'o is also smaller than everyone thought. You want to default to "But the heart!" but the reality is that Te'o ain't Ray Lewis. Some contender will reach for him at the end of the 1st round, and he will play well surrounded by lots of other talent (rather than anchoring a defense himself). But a superstar? Nope.
*Lakers lose to Nuggets: Not quite the way to reach the playoffs.
*Kansas survives at Iowa State: Tough place to play, still not sold on KU as a Final Four team. (Meanwhile, I would not have guessed that Bill Self is a 500-win coach. He is No. 54 all-time and only four typically successful seasons away from the Top 30 and the 600-win threshold. The names that might surprise you on the all-time list? Bob Huggins and Mike Montgomery both in the Top 25, with more than 650 wins each. Up next in the 500 club? Jim Larranaga and Dana Altman should both crack the plateau next season. Billy Donovan is two seasons away; Tom Izzo is three seasons away, as is Larry Eustachy.)
*Marquette beats Syracuse: Feels like Sweet 16 is the ceiling for both. (But I caught some of the game last night, and that Marquette student section is awesome.)
*Blackhawks keep winning: Even if you're not a hockey fan, this streak to open the season should have you checking the schedule to see when Chicago is playing and how they're doing.
*Alabama offers scholly to 8th grader: Attention all college basketball coaches: Gabe Shanoff displayed a sweet shot in the 1st-grade basketball league this month. Please feel free to make scholarship offers. (Reminds me of this funny Varsity Dad parody post I did five years ago.)
*Gareth Bale: Whew. Hell of a goal.
-- D.S.
*But what does it mean for Joe Flacco? Nothing. Flacco is going to get paid, and the only reaction will be to reductively compare Flacco's money-grubbing to Brady's selflessness. In reply, Flacco can just hold up the Super Bowl trophy.
*Manti Te'o runs slow at the combine: The gif of Jim Harbaugh shaking his head is hilarious. Te'o is also smaller than everyone thought. You want to default to "But the heart!" but the reality is that Te'o ain't Ray Lewis. Some contender will reach for him at the end of the 1st round, and he will play well surrounded by lots of other talent (rather than anchoring a defense himself). But a superstar? Nope.
*Lakers lose to Nuggets: Not quite the way to reach the playoffs.
*Kansas survives at Iowa State: Tough place to play, still not sold on KU as a Final Four team. (Meanwhile, I would not have guessed that Bill Self is a 500-win coach. He is No. 54 all-time and only four typically successful seasons away from the Top 30 and the 600-win threshold. The names that might surprise you on the all-time list? Bob Huggins and Mike Montgomery both in the Top 25, with more than 650 wins each. Up next in the 500 club? Jim Larranaga and Dana Altman should both crack the plateau next season. Billy Donovan is two seasons away; Tom Izzo is three seasons away, as is Larry Eustachy.)
*Marquette beats Syracuse: Feels like Sweet 16 is the ceiling for both. (But I caught some of the game last night, and that Marquette student section is awesome.)
*Blackhawks keep winning: Even if you're not a hockey fan, this streak to open the season should have you checking the schedule to see when Chicago is playing and how they're doing.
*Alabama offers scholly to 8th grader: Attention all college basketball coaches: Gabe Shanoff displayed a sweet shot in the 1st-grade basketball league this month. Please feel free to make scholarship offers. (Reminds me of this funny Varsity Dad parody post I did five years ago.)
*Gareth Bale: Whew. Hell of a goal.
-- D.S.
Monday, February 25, 2013
2/25 (Monday) Quickie
I don't think it was reasonable to EXPECT Danica to win the Daytona 500, but a Top 10 finish certainly affirms her pole-position start. (That said, that Danica was nudged from what seemed like a sure-fire Top 5 -- Top 3? -- finish to the back of the Top 10 was disappointing.)
All in all, Daytona got what it wanted/needed -- Danica near the front and a largely dramatic finish featuring Jimmie Johnson offering up the racing equivalent of "You all forgot about me, didn't you?"
NFL Offseason: Alex Smith about to be traded to KC? Well, about to be traded somewhere, with the Chiefs the presumptive destination. Smith is right to want to get out of SF, but I think he will find that Andy Reid is a steep drop-off from Jim Harbaugh as a coach that can get the most out of him. Still: It's a chance to start. (Anyone else just as intrigued as to who Harbaugh might bring in as Colin Kaepernick's new back-up? I'm obviously biased, but if any coach can confidently figure out how to deploy Tim Tebow innovatively, it is Harbaugh. What a fit that could be.)
Kobe is the best: "Amnesty THAT" as a tweet after the Lakers beat the Mavs, whose owner Mark Cuban suggested the Lakers should amnesty Kobe after the season.
Heat win 11th straight, beating the Cavs, but of course all anyone wants to talk about is the years-away speculation that LeBron would eventually return to Cleveland, pair with Kyrie Irving and lead the Cavs to a title. As someone who wrote about LeBron being a lock to leave Cleveland years before The Decision, I'm all for this kind of insane speculation -- as soon as LeBron wins a bunch of rings in Miami (and there is no reason to think it won't be three, including last year, '13 and '14), I could absolutely see him returning to Cleveland to try to win a title there. (Honestly? My biggest question is how he would/could co-exist with Irving, who needs the ball in his hands to be most effective.)
Ohio State d. Michigan State: Just when I thought that I had a handle on the Spartans as a potential Final Four team, they lose in Columbus (no shame in that, btw.) Almost assuredly, I will take Michigan State one round too far, Ohio State one round too short and I have given up on trying to make sense of Michigan at all. If I had to pick four Final Four teams today, I'd go with Indiana, Florida, Gonzaga and -- puts finger in the air -- VCU.
NFL Combine: The two biggest things you need to know from yesterday are that West Virginia WR Tavon Austin is going to be a massive NFL star as quickly as next season and that Utah OT Star Lotulelei's heart condition is going to completely vex GMs in the Top 10.
Spring Training: Curtis Granderson out until May with a broken arm. He was already displaced from centerfield and clearly on the back-side of his career, so it is unclear that the Yankees will drop off THAT much without him. Still: Ominous foreshadowing for New York already.
Fashion: Nope, not the Oscars -- yes, I think the Warriors' sleeves are kind of cool. The team clearly responded to them. It's such a change from the norm, I'm not sure I see the league converting to sleeves full-time for every team, but I could definitely see every team having a sleeved version of their uniforms (although I can't see fans buying them in the same way they would buy a standard tank-top, which already looks ludicrous enough as it is on anyone but a kid).
-- D.S.
All in all, Daytona got what it wanted/needed -- Danica near the front and a largely dramatic finish featuring Jimmie Johnson offering up the racing equivalent of "You all forgot about me, didn't you?"
NFL Offseason: Alex Smith about to be traded to KC? Well, about to be traded somewhere, with the Chiefs the presumptive destination. Smith is right to want to get out of SF, but I think he will find that Andy Reid is a steep drop-off from Jim Harbaugh as a coach that can get the most out of him. Still: It's a chance to start. (Anyone else just as intrigued as to who Harbaugh might bring in as Colin Kaepernick's new back-up? I'm obviously biased, but if any coach can confidently figure out how to deploy Tim Tebow innovatively, it is Harbaugh. What a fit that could be.)
Kobe is the best: "Amnesty THAT" as a tweet after the Lakers beat the Mavs, whose owner Mark Cuban suggested the Lakers should amnesty Kobe after the season.
Heat win 11th straight, beating the Cavs, but of course all anyone wants to talk about is the years-away speculation that LeBron would eventually return to Cleveland, pair with Kyrie Irving and lead the Cavs to a title. As someone who wrote about LeBron being a lock to leave Cleveland years before The Decision, I'm all for this kind of insane speculation -- as soon as LeBron wins a bunch of rings in Miami (and there is no reason to think it won't be three, including last year, '13 and '14), I could absolutely see him returning to Cleveland to try to win a title there. (Honestly? My biggest question is how he would/could co-exist with Irving, who needs the ball in his hands to be most effective.)
Ohio State d. Michigan State: Just when I thought that I had a handle on the Spartans as a potential Final Four team, they lose in Columbus (no shame in that, btw.) Almost assuredly, I will take Michigan State one round too far, Ohio State one round too short and I have given up on trying to make sense of Michigan at all. If I had to pick four Final Four teams today, I'd go with Indiana, Florida, Gonzaga and -- puts finger in the air -- VCU.
NFL Combine: The two biggest things you need to know from yesterday are that West Virginia WR Tavon Austin is going to be a massive NFL star as quickly as next season and that Utah OT Star Lotulelei's heart condition is going to completely vex GMs in the Top 10.
Spring Training: Curtis Granderson out until May with a broken arm. He was already displaced from centerfield and clearly on the back-side of his career, so it is unclear that the Yankees will drop off THAT much without him. Still: Ominous foreshadowing for New York already.
Fashion: Nope, not the Oscars -- yes, I think the Warriors' sleeves are kind of cool. The team clearly responded to them. It's such a change from the norm, I'm not sure I see the league converting to sleeves full-time for every team, but I could definitely see every team having a sleeved version of their uniforms (although I can't see fans buying them in the same way they would buy a standard tank-top, which already looks ludicrous enough as it is on anyone but a kid).
-- D.S.
Sunday, February 24, 2013
2/24 (Very Sunday) Quickie
*Unless you already favor a particular driver, how can you not be rooting for Danica today?
*What a terrible day at the track yesterday. NASCAR as an organization -- command and control -- is not good in moments like that.
*Yesterday was about as good as it gets for DC sports fans: Georgetown wins at Syracuse (including Otto Porter with a national-player-of-the-year performance), the Wizards beat the Rockets (including Bradley Beal showcasing why he is a future All-Star) and the Caps obliterate the Devils (including an Ovechkin hat-trick). Take that for what you will that that is "as good as it gets."
*Kentucky was in a must-win yesterday and got it. UK's resume is lackluster, but I think that the Selection Committee will almost assuredly give the defending champs the benefit of a doubt that other bubble teams won't get. (Granted, if UK craps out its remaining regular-season schedule, there isn't much anyone can do for them.)
*Miami was overrated? You don't say!
*I wanted to see something decisive out of Colorado State -- instead, they lost at home to New Mexico. The Mountain West is going to mess up some brackets next month, that's for sure.
*Is Florida good enough to be a 1-seed? Absolutely. But losing solid freshman SG Michael Frazier to an apparent concussion -- on top of a previous injury to Will Yeguete that has him out for at least a few more weeks -- really tests Florida's depth. They were only going to go 7 deep in the Tournament anyway, but now they're down to 6 for the stretch run, which is enough to wear out any team.
*LeBron: Ho-hum, just a triple-double. This is basketball being played at a level unseen since Michael Jordan's BEST days.
*Good start for women fighters in UFC.
*I think yesterday was the day Manti Te'o and the whole ludicrous story became a non-issue with the NFL Draft. Te'o has a bigger issue: He's just OK and certainly not spectacular.
-- D.S.
*What a terrible day at the track yesterday. NASCAR as an organization -- command and control -- is not good in moments like that.
*Yesterday was about as good as it gets for DC sports fans: Georgetown wins at Syracuse (including Otto Porter with a national-player-of-the-year performance), the Wizards beat the Rockets (including Bradley Beal showcasing why he is a future All-Star) and the Caps obliterate the Devils (including an Ovechkin hat-trick). Take that for what you will that that is "as good as it gets."
*Kentucky was in a must-win yesterday and got it. UK's resume is lackluster, but I think that the Selection Committee will almost assuredly give the defending champs the benefit of a doubt that other bubble teams won't get. (Granted, if UK craps out its remaining regular-season schedule, there isn't much anyone can do for them.)
*Miami was overrated? You don't say!
*I wanted to see something decisive out of Colorado State -- instead, they lost at home to New Mexico. The Mountain West is going to mess up some brackets next month, that's for sure.
*Is Florida good enough to be a 1-seed? Absolutely. But losing solid freshman SG Michael Frazier to an apparent concussion -- on top of a previous injury to Will Yeguete that has him out for at least a few more weeks -- really tests Florida's depth. They were only going to go 7 deep in the Tournament anyway, but now they're down to 6 for the stretch run, which is enough to wear out any team.
*LeBron: Ho-hum, just a triple-double. This is basketball being played at a level unseen since Michael Jordan's BEST days.
*Good start for women fighters in UFC.
*I think yesterday was the day Manti Te'o and the whole ludicrous story became a non-issue with the NFL Draft. Te'o has a bigger issue: He's just OK and certainly not spectacular.
-- D.S.
Saturday, February 23, 2013
2/23 (Weekend) Quickie
Ahh, there's nothing like a Friday night spent watching the Wizards. (Wait, yes there is... but good times in our house!)
Speaking of "there's nothing like...," just in time for the 1st-grade basketball league season finale today, things could be a lot worse than Gabe wanting to model his game off Russell Westbrook.
Great day of college hoops: It'll be Syracuse-Georgetown on in our house at 4 -- it's among the most nostalgic match-ups in college hoops.
But I'll be flipping back and forth with Colorado State-New Mexico at the same time. I'm intrigued by Colorado State and its emphasis on offensive rebounding. That team is going to vex me when the bracket comes out. FWIW, at No. 15, CSU is KenPom's highest-ranked mid-major besides Gonzaga. New Mexico is a solid No. 34, but ranked No. 7 in adjusted defensive efficiency, a fascinating match-up with CSU's Top 10 offense.
(Meanwhile, a couple of great "Bracketbuster" match-ups today, led by Detroit-Wichita State, another good one at 4 pm, and Creighton-St. Mary's at 6.)
My evening is set: Florida hosting Arkansas at 7, ready to get a little payback for the ass-kicking the Gators took in Fayetteville a couple weeks ago.)
Hilarious -- and typical -- that the Lakers would get huffy about Mark Cuban's suggestion that the Lakers should amnesty Kobe during the offseason. (Typical Cuban: It's a savvy idea.)
So the Blackhawks have sort of blown out expectations-setting for the season, haven't they? It's already Stanley Cup title or bust.
Was there ever any doubt that RGIII would be back on schedule?
Enjoy your weekend. Great day of hoops ahead.
-- D.S.
Speaking of "there's nothing like...," just in time for the 1st-grade basketball league season finale today, things could be a lot worse than Gabe wanting to model his game off Russell Westbrook.
Great day of college hoops: It'll be Syracuse-Georgetown on in our house at 4 -- it's among the most nostalgic match-ups in college hoops.
But I'll be flipping back and forth with Colorado State-New Mexico at the same time. I'm intrigued by Colorado State and its emphasis on offensive rebounding. That team is going to vex me when the bracket comes out. FWIW, at No. 15, CSU is KenPom's highest-ranked mid-major besides Gonzaga. New Mexico is a solid No. 34, but ranked No. 7 in adjusted defensive efficiency, a fascinating match-up with CSU's Top 10 offense.
(Meanwhile, a couple of great "Bracketbuster" match-ups today, led by Detroit-Wichita State, another good one at 4 pm, and Creighton-St. Mary's at 6.)
My evening is set: Florida hosting Arkansas at 7, ready to get a little payback for the ass-kicking the Gators took in Fayetteville a couple weeks ago.)
Hilarious -- and typical -- that the Lakers would get huffy about Mark Cuban's suggestion that the Lakers should amnesty Kobe during the offseason. (Typical Cuban: It's a savvy idea.)
So the Blackhawks have sort of blown out expectations-setting for the season, haven't they? It's already Stanley Cup title or bust.
Was there ever any doubt that RGIII would be back on schedule?
Enjoy your weekend. Great day of hoops ahead.
-- D.S.
Friday, February 22, 2013
2/22 (Danica) Quickie
It is hard to write about gender in sports without being patronizing. The story of the weekend is Danica starting in pole position at the Daytona 500, with as good of a chance of winning as anyone -- it is hard to overstate that it would be one of the most exciting results in sports history.
As nothing more than a casual NASCAR observer -- I usually catch one race a year, and it's Daytona (there is something about a sport starting its season with its biggest event that I like) -- I am absolutely rooting for Danica to win... rooting for history. I'd like to think that's not patronizing, but it's hard to say.
Meanwhile, the second biggest sports story of the weekend is Ronda Rousey breaking the gender barrier in UFC -- this is a long time coming, and a huge potential market for the sport and for women athletes. She has the charisma to carry this side of the sport -- Dana White's backing doesn't hurt -- and I hope that her debut on Saturday night is a smashing success.
In the end, Danica and Ronda draw attention as something between a novelty in sports dominated by men (for better or worse, that is where UFC is right now) and very real pivot points in sports history -- for Danica, especially.
Patrick established her bonafides years ago -- this weekend represents her best shot at winning on something close to the most level playing field out there.
You don't have to be committed to gender equality in society or the parent of a daughter or anything else to appreciate the history we have the chance to watch this weekend.
More:
*NBA Trade Deadline: I have spent enough of this past season griping about Jordan Crawford that I was happy to see him shipped off to Boston, even if the Wizards gave him away -- that's how much I didn't like his game and his fit within the team. In fact, my griping about Crawford was something I came to resent even more because I would be openly disdainful of his play in front of my kids, who would ask why I was so annoyed -- it was a teaching lesson for them about not being a no-defense shot-jacker, but I didn't enjoy expressing that kind of frustration about a player in a way my kids might notice. So good riddance, Steez.
*Hawks don't trade Josh Smith: So he leaves this summer for nothing, although then the Hawks will have more than enough cap space to make a run at Dwight Howard or CP3.
*Kobe guarantees playoffs: What else did you expect him to say? Of course he guarantees playoffs.
*Spurs rout Clippers: Wasn't it cute the way everyone thought LA was an actual contender? There are two in the West: OKC and San Antonio. Everyone else is playing to make things interesting.
*Heat win 9th straight: The East is even more of a snoozer. Can we just fast-forward to June?
*NFL Combine: It has gotten bigger, yet seemingly even more antiseptic. We are reduced to reading coded messages from coaches who pop by for impromptu press conferences. The only thing that happened yesterday that I found intriguing was that I remain obsessed with Chip Kelly as an NFL coach, even if I couldn't care less about the Eagles.
-- D.S.
As nothing more than a casual NASCAR observer -- I usually catch one race a year, and it's Daytona (there is something about a sport starting its season with its biggest event that I like) -- I am absolutely rooting for Danica to win... rooting for history. I'd like to think that's not patronizing, but it's hard to say.
Meanwhile, the second biggest sports story of the weekend is Ronda Rousey breaking the gender barrier in UFC -- this is a long time coming, and a huge potential market for the sport and for women athletes. She has the charisma to carry this side of the sport -- Dana White's backing doesn't hurt -- and I hope that her debut on Saturday night is a smashing success.
In the end, Danica and Ronda draw attention as something between a novelty in sports dominated by men (for better or worse, that is where UFC is right now) and very real pivot points in sports history -- for Danica, especially.
Patrick established her bonafides years ago -- this weekend represents her best shot at winning on something close to the most level playing field out there.
You don't have to be committed to gender equality in society or the parent of a daughter or anything else to appreciate the history we have the chance to watch this weekend.
More:
*NBA Trade Deadline: I have spent enough of this past season griping about Jordan Crawford that I was happy to see him shipped off to Boston, even if the Wizards gave him away -- that's how much I didn't like his game and his fit within the team. In fact, my griping about Crawford was something I came to resent even more because I would be openly disdainful of his play in front of my kids, who would ask why I was so annoyed -- it was a teaching lesson for them about not being a no-defense shot-jacker, but I didn't enjoy expressing that kind of frustration about a player in a way my kids might notice. So good riddance, Steez.
*Hawks don't trade Josh Smith: So he leaves this summer for nothing, although then the Hawks will have more than enough cap space to make a run at Dwight Howard or CP3.
*Kobe guarantees playoffs: What else did you expect him to say? Of course he guarantees playoffs.
*Spurs rout Clippers: Wasn't it cute the way everyone thought LA was an actual contender? There are two in the West: OKC and San Antonio. Everyone else is playing to make things interesting.
*Heat win 9th straight: The East is even more of a snoozer. Can we just fast-forward to June?
*NFL Combine: It has gotten bigger, yet seemingly even more antiseptic. We are reduced to reading coded messages from coaches who pop by for impromptu press conferences. The only thing that happened yesterday that I found intriguing was that I remain obsessed with Chip Kelly as an NFL coach, even if I couldn't care less about the Eagles.
-- D.S.
Thursday, February 21, 2013
2/21 (NBA Trade Dudline?) Quickie
I used to love the NBA Trade Deadline, but then it fizzled and became a shell of its former self.
I just can't get worked up over where Josh Smith ends up, although more power to Houston if it can go from bupkis a year ago to Harden-Lin-Asik-Smith -- I am in the tank for Daryl Morey and support him 100% however he wants to go. (Was last night's Rockets win over the Thunder as good as it gets for Houston fans? Possibly/probably.)
More:
*It was nice to be on the front end of the Victor Oladipo bandwagon yesterday.
*NFL Combine: It's basically Manti Te'o and then everything else, right?
*Lakers-Celtics last night felt sad -- maybe the franchises make themselves championship relevant again soon (I'd never put it past the Lakers), but it sure seems like puttering to the end.
*I'm not going to have a problem not picking Kansas to the Final Four.
*Revis vs. Sherman on Twitter is like the February sports swoon at its least interesting.
*Tebow Watch: Cancels speech at the controversial Dallas church -- could have told you this was coming.
*Last night's best thing in sports: Penguins-Flyers. All I caught were the highlights and it was still more thrilling than everything else wrapped together.
- D.S.
I just can't get worked up over where Josh Smith ends up, although more power to Houston if it can go from bupkis a year ago to Harden-Lin-Asik-Smith -- I am in the tank for Daryl Morey and support him 100% however he wants to go. (Was last night's Rockets win over the Thunder as good as it gets for Houston fans? Possibly/probably.)
More:
*It was nice to be on the front end of the Victor Oladipo bandwagon yesterday.
*NFL Combine: It's basically Manti Te'o and then everything else, right?
*Lakers-Celtics last night felt sad -- maybe the franchises make themselves championship relevant again soon (I'd never put it past the Lakers), but it sure seems like puttering to the end.
*I'm not going to have a problem not picking Kansas to the Final Four.
*Revis vs. Sherman on Twitter is like the February sports swoon at its least interesting.
*Tebow Watch: Cancels speech at the controversial Dallas church -- could have told you this was coming.
*Last night's best thing in sports: Penguins-Flyers. All I caught were the highlights and it was still more thrilling than everything else wrapped together.
- D.S.
Wednesday, February 20, 2013
2/20 (Is It March Yet?) Quickie
I'm a college basketball realist -- games in mid-February, even seemingly huge ones like last night's Indiana win at Michigan State, are ultimately inconsequential in the larger scheme of the sport's ultimate playoff in late March.
But that's not to say that there aren't thrilling moments worth savoring -- exactly like last night, when a Hoosiers team I had been thinking is slightly on the wrong side of title-ready put on display the make-up of the kind of team that wins six straight in late March.
Mostly, that was a function of IU's marvelous junior guard, Victor Oladipo, all angles -- and all-American-ness -- showcasing the most fascinating skill set I have seen in a college hoops player since... well, I'm having trouble finding a comp.
A few weeks ago, I said that there were probably a half-dozen teams with a legit shot at winning six straight in late March -- Indiana is on the short list.
****
*Florida is on the short list, too, even though the Gators lost at Mizzou last night. There's no shame in losing at Columbia -- Mizzou hasn't lost there this season, and Florida still held the high-flying Tigers to 63 points. In late March, when you suddenly lose the ability to make shots, you have got to be able to get stops, and no team has proven better at that through this entire season than Florida.
*So, about that VCU bandwagon...
*Miami being charged with a lack of institutional control - accurate or not -- seems absurd coming from the NCAA right now...
*Gio Gonzalez not tied to PEDs: Unfortunately for him, there is still a taint, but it's rare to get the "No, no, really: He's been cleared" message. As a Nats fan, I was already Team Gio anyway.
*A day late, but RIP to Lakers owner Jerry Buss. Was he the best owner in sports? I'm inclined to agree with that argument. Hard to argue with the combination of sizzle and steak.
Been under the weather for a little while, but hoping to get back into the routine here...
-- D.S.
But that's not to say that there aren't thrilling moments worth savoring -- exactly like last night, when a Hoosiers team I had been thinking is slightly on the wrong side of title-ready put on display the make-up of the kind of team that wins six straight in late March.
Mostly, that was a function of IU's marvelous junior guard, Victor Oladipo, all angles -- and all-American-ness -- showcasing the most fascinating skill set I have seen in a college hoops player since... well, I'm having trouble finding a comp.
A few weeks ago, I said that there were probably a half-dozen teams with a legit shot at winning six straight in late March -- Indiana is on the short list.
****
*Florida is on the short list, too, even though the Gators lost at Mizzou last night. There's no shame in losing at Columbia -- Mizzou hasn't lost there this season, and Florida still held the high-flying Tigers to 63 points. In late March, when you suddenly lose the ability to make shots, you have got to be able to get stops, and no team has proven better at that through this entire season than Florida.
*So, about that VCU bandwagon...
*Miami being charged with a lack of institutional control - accurate or not -- seems absurd coming from the NCAA right now...
*Gio Gonzalez not tied to PEDs: Unfortunately for him, there is still a taint, but it's rare to get the "No, no, really: He's been cleared" message. As a Nats fan, I was already Team Gio anyway.
*A day late, but RIP to Lakers owner Jerry Buss. Was he the best owner in sports? I'm inclined to agree with that argument. Hard to argue with the combination of sizzle and steak.
Been under the weather for a little while, but hoping to get back into the routine here...
-- D.S.
Friday, February 15, 2013
On Turning 40
I turn 40 tomorrow today, so I’ve been spending a lot of time reflecting on the past decade.
A couple of weeks ago, I went through an exercise where I tried to list out the most life-defining things that happened -- for better and worse. I’m not saying that is the best way to think about it -- it puts too much weight on the singular happenings and not enough on mundane day-to-day enjoyment of life. Still, it makes the past 10 years more tangible.
Obviously, there are big “life” things like getting married, having kids, my siblings having kids, buying/selling a house, major surgeries, etc.
Then there are the professional things: I was already a month into the Quickie when I turned 30, so I didn’t count that. But I did count the run itself and all the fun things that I got access to because of it -- going on TV, spinning off this blog, getting to write elsewhere (remember when I spent that season as Deadspin’s college football columnist?) Joining a high-flying start-up. Starting my own company, obviously, then seeing it through its acquisition.
(Did meeting Tim Tebow make the list? What do you think?)
The one thing I found hardest to qualify was the dramatic shift in who I was friends with from 30 til 40. 2003 was pre-blog (let alone pre-social media) and almost all of my friends came from a pool of college, business school and work colleagues. Ten years later, I interact way more often with a far broader set of people, almost entirely virtually -- that’s not for everyone, but I have found it richly rewarding, especially given that a family puts strains on your time.
The other piece of this list was an exercise related to “What I Wish I Had Gotten Accomplished But Didn’t.” I will guarantee you that things like “Write a book” or “Run NYC marathon” were on my list heading into my 30s and, despite that, remain there today. (Although it was interesting to see what kind of proxies I came up with over my 30s -- for example, I actually wrote three separate formal book proposals over the decade and I jumped into the Chicago Marathon to run alongside my sister for 10 miles.)
The two affirming things about the “Didn’t get done” list are that (1) it's a pretty short list, which I think is a good sign, and (2) it’s not like it ruined my past decade to not get it done. Meanwhile, virtually everything on the list (from the practical to the largely fantastical) is still doable. And if everything in life demands some trade-offs, I’ll take where I am right now over any other options I could have had.
I still remember entering my 30s and how excited I was for it, because it meant that instead of being past my prime for my 20s, I was a fresh thirtysomething, with a whole decade ahead of me to accomplish things that might matter to me. (Clearly, on the day before my 30th birthday, I had zero conception of the joy of having one kid, let alone three.)
Now that I am about to enter my 40s -- and what I honestly think will be my best decade yet -- it is with a way different frame of reference than 10 years ago: Wildly different priorities (family/kids first, obviously) and a greater appreciation for the process over the outcome, but with no less of a zest to be in the middle of things that are interesting to me than any 30-something or 20-something version of me.
The last decade has been wonderful and I have been extraordinarily lucky, on almost every front. It’s not the worst thing in the world to hope the next 10 years bring just as much happiness with my life as the last 10 years just did.
-- D.S.
A couple of weeks ago, I went through an exercise where I tried to list out the most life-defining things that happened -- for better and worse. I’m not saying that is the best way to think about it -- it puts too much weight on the singular happenings and not enough on mundane day-to-day enjoyment of life. Still, it makes the past 10 years more tangible.
Obviously, there are big “life” things like getting married, having kids, my siblings having kids, buying/selling a house, major surgeries, etc.
Then there are the professional things: I was already a month into the Quickie when I turned 30, so I didn’t count that. But I did count the run itself and all the fun things that I got access to because of it -- going on TV, spinning off this blog, getting to write elsewhere (remember when I spent that season as Deadspin’s college football columnist?) Joining a high-flying start-up. Starting my own company, obviously, then seeing it through its acquisition.
(Did meeting Tim Tebow make the list? What do you think?)
The one thing I found hardest to qualify was the dramatic shift in who I was friends with from 30 til 40. 2003 was pre-blog (let alone pre-social media) and almost all of my friends came from a pool of college, business school and work colleagues. Ten years later, I interact way more often with a far broader set of people, almost entirely virtually -- that’s not for everyone, but I have found it richly rewarding, especially given that a family puts strains on your time.
The other piece of this list was an exercise related to “What I Wish I Had Gotten Accomplished But Didn’t.” I will guarantee you that things like “Write a book” or “Run NYC marathon” were on my list heading into my 30s and, despite that, remain there today. (Although it was interesting to see what kind of proxies I came up with over my 30s -- for example, I actually wrote three separate formal book proposals over the decade and I jumped into the Chicago Marathon to run alongside my sister for 10 miles.)
The two affirming things about the “Didn’t get done” list are that (1) it's a pretty short list, which I think is a good sign, and (2) it’s not like it ruined my past decade to not get it done. Meanwhile, virtually everything on the list (from the practical to the largely fantastical) is still doable. And if everything in life demands some trade-offs, I’ll take where I am right now over any other options I could have had.
I still remember entering my 30s and how excited I was for it, because it meant that instead of being past my prime for my 20s, I was a fresh thirtysomething, with a whole decade ahead of me to accomplish things that might matter to me. (Clearly, on the day before my 30th birthday, I had zero conception of the joy of having one kid, let alone three.)
Now that I am about to enter my 40s -- and what I honestly think will be my best decade yet -- it is with a way different frame of reference than 10 years ago: Wildly different priorities (family/kids first, obviously) and a greater appreciation for the process over the outcome, but with no less of a zest to be in the middle of things that are interesting to me than any 30-something or 20-something version of me.
The last decade has been wonderful and I have been extraordinarily lucky, on almost every front. It’s not the worst thing in the world to hope the next 10 years bring just as much happiness with my life as the last 10 years just did.
-- D.S.
Thursday, February 14, 2013
2/14 (Pistorius WTF?!) Quickie
If the Manti Te'o story -- fake girlfriend, fake death, Te'o as victim -- hasn't reached its end-point yet (and I'd argue it did at least two weeks ago), it's over now.
Because this Oscar Pistorius story -- real girlfriend, real death, Pistorius himself the shooter -- should have everyone snapped back to attention.
That Pistorius shot and killed his girlfriend doesn't seem to be in any dispute. The only question is whether it was an accident or murder (as South African police seem to want to argue).
There is no good outcome here -- it's not like proving it was an accident makes it any less of a tragedy. Even then, there will always be people who think he did it intentionally.
And so Valentine's Day -- typically a day we celebrate around here with tributes to our current favorite athletes we "love" -- becomes, this year at least, a sad, utterly shocking day in sports.
More, with the typical awkward segue from "serious" story to the less-so:
*Nerlens Noel tears ACL: As discussed earlier this week, he instantly becomes the poster player for why the NBA's age-limit is atrocious.
*Duke beats UNC: Duke is as good a choice as any to be No. 1, although it's not like beating UNC is a big deal this season (blah blah "rivalry" blah blah.) The trend to watch here is Duke going small, which is all well and good, but you wonder how that works against longer teams like Florida or Michigan or Miami.
*Every time Butler loses, I cringe, because I'm inclined to take them to go pretty far on my bracket, but losses like that erode my confidence (I should have more faith in Brad Stevens to turn losses into highly valuable "teachable moments.")
*Happy Valentine's Day, to those of you who "celebrate" it. For the rest of us? Eh.
-- D.S.
Because this Oscar Pistorius story -- real girlfriend, real death, Pistorius himself the shooter -- should have everyone snapped back to attention.
That Pistorius shot and killed his girlfriend doesn't seem to be in any dispute. The only question is whether it was an accident or murder (as South African police seem to want to argue).
There is no good outcome here -- it's not like proving it was an accident makes it any less of a tragedy. Even then, there will always be people who think he did it intentionally.
And so Valentine's Day -- typically a day we celebrate around here with tributes to our current favorite athletes we "love" -- becomes, this year at least, a sad, utterly shocking day in sports.
More, with the typical awkward segue from "serious" story to the less-so:
*Nerlens Noel tears ACL: As discussed earlier this week, he instantly becomes the poster player for why the NBA's age-limit is atrocious.
*Duke beats UNC: Duke is as good a choice as any to be No. 1, although it's not like beating UNC is a big deal this season (blah blah "rivalry" blah blah.) The trend to watch here is Duke going small, which is all well and good, but you wonder how that works against longer teams like Florida or Michigan or Miami.
*Every time Butler loses, I cringe, because I'm inclined to take them to go pretty far on my bracket, but losses like that erode my confidence (I should have more faith in Brad Stevens to turn losses into highly valuable "teachable moments.")
*Happy Valentine's Day, to those of you who "celebrate" it. For the rest of us? Eh.
-- D.S.
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