Too Much Ego for Buehrle & Perkins

I have written in the past that I do not like to whine about officiating because they are human, they make some mistakes and they take too much criticism from people that can watch in super-slow-motion-high-definition replays. Yet two event s in two different sports yesterday highlighted a problem with the umpires/officials that doesn’t involve them making bad calls during the course of the game. The problem is that the egos of the umpire/official got in the way, resulting in the ejection of key players in the White Sox game and in the Celtics game.

It has always been said that the best officiated game is one in which you do not even notice or remember the officials. There are tough calls and close calls and as long as an official is mostly consistent and confident in their calls, there is not much else to be said. Yet when the officials start to wedge their way into the key moments of the game and affect the outcome because they make a spectacle of themselves, it is a major problem.

Yesterday in Chicago Joe West was the first base umpire and West already has a reputation as a guy with a quick hook and a knack for making himself the center of attention. He called the slow pace of the Red Sox-Yankees games a “disgrace” to baseball. While he is correct that those games are insanely slow, the umpire is not the guy you want to hear from about it. Fast forward to yesterday and West ejected White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen and starting pitcher Mark Buehrle before the 3rd inning was over on two controversial balk calls. Buehrle dropped his glove in disgust after the second balk and was given the heave-ho. Give me a break, Joe. That wasn’t “showing you up” as all of the umpires in baseball like to lean on for a rationale for ejection. In reality, West showed up Buehrle. Bud Selig needs to step in and do something about West before it gets even more out of hand.

In the Celtics-Magic game, Kendrick Perkins was hit with two technical fouls and ejected before halftime. As a side note, that gives him 7 technicals during the playoffs which would qualify him for a one game suspension if the league does not recind the technicals from last night (and I think they will take back both of them). Perkins got his first technical when his hand slipped while helping Paul Pierce up and his arm flew back resulting in an elbow to Martin Gortat. The officials hit Perkins and Gortat with a double technical. A bad call overall, but can’t really be argued that much. If the official didn’t see the arm slip, it appeared he threw an elbow. Fine. The second technical was egregious and a result of an official being overly sensitive. After a questionable touch call, Perkins stomped away from the official and whined that it was a bullshit call. Again, he stomped AWAY from the official. Yet the referee quickly slapped him with a technical without pausing to realize that Perkins was walking away and that it would be his second technical and lead to an ejection of a key post player early in the game. Perkins is a notorious whiner but did not deserve to be thrown out.

Officials and umpires need to check their egos at the door and realize that these are athletes competing at the highest level and their emotions are running high. They may react when a call goes against them and not every eye roll or stomping of the feet is “showing up” an umpire. They need to have thicker skin than that because they are affecting games and potentially a playoff series.

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And one final note that shows size does not matter…….in women’s tennis.

Phil Jackson to Coach The Bulls? NO!

There is a rumor, or report – depending upon your perspective, that the Bulls have sent out feelers to Phil Jackson’s people to see if Jackson is interested in coaching the Bulls next season. That is not happening. There are a few reasons he may not be coaching the Lakers next season, but if he is not on the bench in LA he will not be on the bench anywhere. Like Ali Fedotowsky, the new Bachelorette that debuted last night, Jackson and Ali are both in high demand, but their shelf life is very limited. Ali is not really famous and just like all of the past “stars” of the reality shows they should appreciate the attention now because they will be long forgotten in less than a year. Jackson is 64 years old with a tremendous amount of health issues regarding his knees and his back. He can barely pace the sidelines and work the officials during the games. He doesn’t have that many years left to coach.

Reason #1 to go to Chicago: First and foremost is……the money. (you thought I was going to mention that LeBron guy)

He’s making $12 million this season and the Lakers have notified him that he will need to take a significant pay cut to return to the LA bench next year.

Why that won’t drive him out of LA: Part of that pay cut may or may not be related to an agreement for Phil to not travel on all of the Lakers roadtrips and other methods to ease the physical burden on him. Yet that is not reported by the big-four-letter. The only thing reported is a cut in salary for the coach with 10 World Championships. That must be a slight and Phil should head for the exits. In reality, the Lakers may be giving him more respect than any other team would to allow him to step back slightly to maintain his health.

Reason #2 to go to Chicago: He remained on good terms with Bulls owner Jerry Reinsdorf

Why that won’t drive him out of LA: He is not dating Reinsdorf’s daughter. He is dating Dr. Jerry Buss’s daughter, Jeanie. That’s a mismatch in favor of LA. It just doesn’t seem very likely that he would up and leave his girlfriend’s father’s team . He has a comfortable life with a team and owner that respects him and allows him to do whatever he needs to do.

Reason #3 to go to Chicago: A Young and Talented Team

The lure of coaching a young and talented team with Derrick Rose, Joakim Noah and potentially that LeBron James guy. If LeBron were to sign in Chicago the Bulls would have a core of young talent that could challenge for titles for the next 10 years. They would also have the potential cap space to swing a sign and trade with Toronto for Chris Bosh, giving up Luol Deng, Kirk Hinrich and draft picks. It can be debated whether Rose and James would be a good fit together as both tend to dominate the ball and are primarily penetrators rather than outside shooters, yet you cannot debate whether that team would have the talent to win it all repeatedly.

Why that won’t drive him out of LA: The Lakers have more talent

Yes, the Bulls would be in line to contend for the next ten years with Jackson & James. However he is currently coaching a team that is two wins away from their third straight NBA Finals appearance. He is currently coaching the best player in the game – Kobe Bryant. Yes, Kobe is more on the downside of his career than the upside, but he remains the best closer in the game, the most clutch performer and fiercest competitor. None of that can be said for James or for Rose at this point. Jackson is 64 years old. Add to that his health concerns and it appears unlikely that he will be coaching more than 3 or 4 more years. Bryant will remain lethal for that long. Gasol will still be among the best big men in the game for that long. Andrew Bynum won’t be 25 in 3 years. Lamar Odom will still be on a sugar high (though the concern is that being married to a Kardashian could drive him to the looney bin). He has young assets like Jordan Farmar to replace Derek Fisher, and Shannon Brown to play the Ron Artest role. Why would he leave a sure thing for a chance to see if LeBron really has that ultracompetitive gear?

At the end of the day, Phil has everything he wants in Los Angeles with the Lakers. He has the best team that will remain a title contender the next few years. He has the girl, thanks to the owner. He has made more than enough money in his career to comfortably take a pay cut for less travel and wear and tear on his body. Phil Jackson will be the coach of the Los Angeles Lakers next season.

Weekend Hangover - Love/Hate

LOVE

- Loved Rajon Rondo’s hustle play against the Magic, which was a perfect illustration of the heart and effort of the Celtics destroying the weak Magic. Up 17 in the first half, Rondo dove head first to steal a loose ball that he and Jason Williams were chasing into the backcourt. Williams had the lead and the edge in the race but Rondo’s effort made the difference, and he then got up with a couple dribbles and made a lay up to increase the blow out. The Magic have shown no heart in the series and will likely be able to schedule tee times for tomorrow morning when their off season begins.

- John Axford’s mustache is awesome. I don’t know anything about the guy, but I logged on to watch the end of Sunday’s Brewers win over the Twins and saw Axford’s mustache on the mound closing out the game. It looks straight out of the 70’s. Almost as important as the facial hair was the fact that he was throwing in the mid to high 90’s. That is something the Brewers entire pitching staff has been missing for years. They haven’t had a guy with an electric fastball that can keep hitters from digging into the batters box and being able to stay in there with no fear of the pitcher owning the inside of the plate.

- Amare Stoudemire responded well in Game 3 to rightfully deserved criticism for being soft during the first two games against the Lakers. He had a monster game with over 40 points and double-digit rebounds. The more impressive part was the versatility he showed on offense while hitting mid-range jumpers, and squaring up and driving past his defenders in addition to his typical mad crashing of the rim on great passes from Steve Nash. Like Amanda Seyfried, he showed the full range of his abilities with his back to the basket/camera (in Big Love) and facing up (in Chloe). The question is whether the rejuvenated Amare will be enough if Lamar Odom gets back on a sugar high in future games because he looked like he ran out of Skittles in game 3.

HATE

- The idea of a cold weather Super Bowl. It does not really have anything to do with the fans or the corporations that buy Super Bowl tickets. The bigger issue is that if the weather does not cooperate, it diminishes the level of play on the field. Yes, games in the snow can be fun to watch on television, but don’t you want to see the best teams playing at their highest level of play? Teams having to play in the rough elements will change the game dramatically and force them to alter the way they played to get to the Super Bowl. Where would you rather hang out with Sara Tomassi – at a ski resort where you are only getting glimpses when you’re at the hot tub of the resort or would you rather spend a week in Miami where she’s in a bikini by the pool all day every day? Seems like a no brainer that you would want to keep the Super Bowl in nice weather to make it the most likely that the teams will be able to showcase their skills on the biggest stage.

- Regardless of your political views, why is President Obama wasting time doing a sit down interview with Marv Alberts? I get the whole “I’m a man of the people and a huge sports fan” angle thing that he has been trying to portray. I appreciate him liking sports, but there seems to be some bigger issues out there in the world that need his attention……finance reform, European debt levels going through the roof, unemployment, an oil spill threatening to wreck the gulf coast, terrorism, etc. And stumping for LeBron to come to Chicago is just pathetic and seems overly contrived.

- RIP to Lima Time. Jose Lima died of an apparent heart attack this weekend in Los Angeles and was only 37 years old. Lima was known for his quirky habits, playing the guitar and talking to himself incessantly on the mound. He had success with the Houston Astros but also played for many teams including the Mets, Royals and Dodgers. He was the type of fun-loving, eccentric personality that you could easily root for as a fan.

Degenerate Friday!! Random Ramblings

Before I get to any gambling talk, a couple of random thoughts…..

First, who the hell invented button-flys on pants or shorts? My wife bought me a new pair of khaki shorts because she said cargo shorts were more out than Ricky Martin. Anyway, they’re your basic shorts except that they have a button fly. A button-fly must have been invented by a woman and signed off on by a guy who has never gotten any in his life. Let’s see, a girl – we’ll say Diora Baird for fun - finally decides to give you some action, but you’re going to make it extremely difficult to get into the junkyard to play with your junk. And while she’s fiddling with the buttons, your chubinski has went softer than the Suns defense. Great idea Mr. Clothes Designer.

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I’m in the gym yesterday afternoon in Manhattan and notice a girl is wearing a pair of shorts with “Wisconsin” across her rear end. Interesting, and then I notice she’s also wearing a t-shirt with “Wisconsin” across her chest. So in many instances I would ask her if she went to Wisconsin or was from Wisconsin. However, in this instance, what’s the proper way to approach a girl and tell her that you noticed she had Wisconsin across her butt and across her chest….but I wasn’t checking out her butt or her chest. And since she was wearing headphones, do I motion towards her butt or chest? Yeah, that’s not going to go over well. Let’s just move on……..

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Maybe the Magic and the Suns will get back into their series this weekend. Maybe not. My degenerate picks for the week:

Saturday: Boston (-3.5) at Orlando
Sunday: Phoenix (-3) vs. Los Angeles

Maybe the Suns can hope for their fans to be almost as rowdy as these European hoops fans (wait for the 35 second mark)……

Fire Ken Macha?

As the Brewers slide has reached 9 games and counting, the heat under manager Ken Macha’s seat has reached a boiling point. The Brewers are a miserable 15-25 for the second-worst record in the National League (only one game ahead of the Astros) so fans and the media believe that management needs to do something to shake things up and show that they are dedicated to winning. The pitching staff has the 3rd worst ERA in all of baseball, are one of only 8 teams that do not have a single complete game and have issued the 5th most walks in baseball. While I am not the biggest fan of Macha, I don’t believe that firing him will fix any of the problems the Brewers have.

What would firing Macha really accomplish? Would firing Kenny change the fact that the starting pitching rarely makes an appearance after the 6th inning? Would firing him cause Trevor Hoffman to stop blowing save opportunities? Would firing Macha solve the rest of the bullpen collapse that has taken place where there is not one reliable arm out there? Would firing Macha get Prince Fielder to focus on hitting and this season instead of looking ahead to his free agency? I think the answer to all of these questions is a resounding “No.” So why would they fire him? Because Macha has less personality (at least outwardly with the media) than Audrina Patridge, and therefore it appears he is incapable of rallying the team to stop the slide.

The demise of the Brewers was less of a surprise than the revelation of a sex tape involving Kendra Wilkinson. To fix their NL-worst starting rotation from last year, they signed a 33-year old who had just put together a couple of strong seasons (Randy Wolf) and a left-handed Jeff Suppan clone in Doug Davis, whom they had already let go a few seasons earlier. They brought back a 42-year old closer. They continue to hold out hope for a Manny Parra to become an average major league pitcher, and they have now held on too long and he has lost any and all trade value. Why did we believe that this pitching staff was good enough to compete with the Cardinals, Reds, or any of the other solid teams in the National League?

The other end of the equation, is who would be the replacement for Macha? Dale Sveum? Yes, he was the interim manager that held the post for the last few weeks of 2008 and into the playoffs. Did he really do anything other than have more life than Ned Yost? He was so unimpressive that he was not really considered for the full time gig for 2009. And now suddenly he is going to be the answer to fix the Brewers? I just don’t see it. So where do they go instead? Willie Randolph? Is he a big change from Macha? Probably not. The point is that the Brewers should not fire Macha without knowing who they are going to replace him with and if that person is really going to make a difference. Michaelangelo wouldn’t have been able to paint the Sistine Chapel if he was using finger paints.

Firing Macha might make the fans and the media happy, but be reasonable about what effect it will actually have on on the field performance.

Always An Adventure With Airtran

I’ve mentioned in the past my disdain for Airtran, easily the worst of the so-called value airlines. Flying Airtran is just like partying with the North Carolina basketball team…only the exact opposite. It was another recent adventure trying to get back to New York from Milwaukee this week with the airline. I had booked a one-way flight from Milwaukee to LaGuardia as I had flown into Chicago for my brother-in-law’s graduation. Get to the airport, through security and board the plane without issue. As I’m watching the plane board, I’m noticing that the flight is less than 40% full, which is always a bad sign. Sure enough, immediately after everyone has boarded, they announce that there is a 30 minute ground delay, which isn’t a big deal except that they are going to allow people to deplane while waiting. Always a bad sign, meaning they know it’s going to be more than 30 minutes. Sure enough, within 10 minutes, they announce the flight has been cancelled due to “weather in New York.” Really? Do they really think we’re this dumb and gullible? I had spoken with my wife and looked at the weather on my blackberry. I’m not a weather man (I’m right more than 30% of the time, so I’m overqualified) It was 60 degrees, cloudy with no rain and winds under 10 miles per hour in New York. So that’s the weather cancelling the flight? Or is it actually that the plane was so empty it didn’t make business sense to waste the fuel flying an empty plane out to New York? I understand the decision, but don’t just make things up.

As we’re deplaning the lady at the desk is overwhelmed by the people begging her for information about what’s going to happen and what flights they can get. She starts telling people they will either be on the next flight or be routed through Atlanta. As I’m walking to another agent at a gate 50 yards away (in order to circumvent the line and get rebooked immediately) I get an email from Airtran notifying me that my flight was cancelled. Thanks Airtran for keeping me informed about my flight after I’ve exited the plane and am already rebooked on a different flight.

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A couple of quick thoughts while cruising at 35,000 feet…..

The Celtics have absolutely dominated the Magic in no small part because Vince Carter has went back into his shell as a less than clutch performer. With a healthy Garnett, an accurate Pierce and a dominating point guard in Rajon Rondo, the Celtics look unstoppable. The Magic are lost offensively because the Celtics are inviting them to feed Howard in the post so they can foul him and not leaving the Magic shooters open on the perimeter. The only way the Magic can score is with penetration and the only guy on their roster capable of doing that is Carter because Rondo has owned Jameer Nelson. And Carter isn’t capable.

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I was going to save this for a separate post, but it may be time to put Trevor Hoffman out to pasture. It’s a shame that the future Hall Of Famer and all-time saves leader has fallen so far so fast, but he just doesn’t have it. He has blown 5 of 10 save opportunities and has an ERA over 13. The problem the Brewers have is who to put in that spot. LaTroy Hawkins has closing experience, yet he’s on the disabled list and has been hammered this season as well. Todd Coffey just came off a shelling at the hands of the Reds so his confidence can’t exactly be peaked. Does that leave Carlos Villanueva as the closer by default? The Brewers are on pace for a 100 loss season as of this moment and need to do something to turn the tide of this ship. More tomorrow on the people calling for Ken Macha’s head……..Kenny is not the one blowing late game leads and Kenny is not a starting pitcher that can’t last past the 6th inning and Kenny is not the underachieving first baseman worrying more about his contract than about earning this year’s salary.

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The Lakers will take a commanding lead in the series tonight, and the reason will be that despite the Suns playing better defense this year than they have in the past, they are still not playing complete defense. The biggest culprit? It’s easier to score on Amare Stoudemire than it is to score as a cast member on Gossip Girl. Doug Gotlieb described Lamar Odom and Pau Gasol as getting “microwaved” by Stoudemire’s “defense” because as soon as you see him guarding you, you’re already warmed up and about to be on fire. And then for Amare to come out and say Odom had a lucky game when he got lit up for 19 points and 19 rebounds? And yet despite his obvious deficiencies, Amare is going to opt out of his contract this summer and someone is going to give him an outrageous contract. Just doesn’t make sense and I’ve questioned it in the past as well.

Degenerate Friday - NBA Conference Finals

Last night the Celtics started the Cavaliers summer earlier than expected and began the LeBron Watch in Cleveland, New York, New Jersey, Chicago and Miami. Everyone is going to focus in on the Cavs and why they were able to put up the best record in the regular season and then fizzled out in the playoffs. Was it LeBron’s fault? Was it Mike Brown’s poor coaching? Was it his pathetic supporting cast? The one thing that seems to get overlooked is that, using a decent sized caveat: “when healthy,” the Celtics are a better team with more talent than the Cavaliers.

Before game 5 of this round, everyone believed that the Celtics were old, washed up and trying to make one last stand against Cleveland before they drift off into the sunset. Now they have to be a legit threat to beat the Magic and challenge the Lakers. The Celtics won the title two years ago riding the leadership and defense of Kevin Garnett combined with the scoring of Paul Pierce. Last year Garnett was hurt and missed the playoffs, meaning the Celtics had no shot. This year Garnett is healthy and looks to have his swagger back. In addition, Rajon Rondo has matured into one of the top point guards in the league, and Ray Allen is shooting, literally, for one last contract. Add to that Pierce’s experience and shooting despite the fact that he was the slowest guy on the court that included Shaq and Zdrunas Ilgauskas, and the Celtics have all the pieces needed to contend. They have all the talent of Heidi Klum, they just need to stay healthy the same way she has bounced back from having her kids.

So let’s make degenerate Friday about picking the Eastern & Western Conference Finals:

Western Conference: Phoenix Suns vs. Los Angeles Lakers

This should be an extremely entertaining series with the fast pace of the Suns matching up with the stingy defense and offensive firepower of the Lakers. The Lakers have much more size on the interior which will provide a matchup problem for the Suns. Yet the Suns bigs like Channing Frye will be a tough pairing for the Lakers defensively because Frye will pull Gasol or Bynum away from the hoop and somewhat negate their rebounding. Steve Nash will provide nightmares for the Lakers because they’re going to need to use Derrick Fisher and Jordan Farmar to try and contain him. The Suns have also played better defense this year than they ever have, and that’s what will make this a close series.

The long lay off has helped both teams, allowing Nash’s eye to pop back in his socket and allowing Kobe’s finger and knees to get even more healthy. The Suns are flashy and have the people’s support to see Nash and Grant Hill finally get a title. They are like Kate Hudson in that everyone likes them and wants her to be happy, but even with her new perky friends it won’t be enough to win back A-Rod.

The Pick: Lakers in 6 games

Eastern Conference: Boston Celtics vs. Orlando Magic

The match up I am fired up for in this series is Jameer Nelson versus Rajon Rondo. My brother and I already have a wager as to who will have a better series, with me taking the Rondo side. I think Rondo is long enough to keep Nelson from shooting over him, and quick enough to keep Nelson in front of him. While Rondo may not score as much as Nelson, he is a much better playmaker and rebounds well with his long E.T. arms. The Celtics are big enough to run a rotation of defenders at Dwight Howard with Kendrick Perkins, Rasheed Wallace and even Big Baby Davis. Vince Carter should be able to explode against the eroding Paul Pierce and he will be the reason the Magic will get by the Celtics.

When it comes down to it, the Celtics still have the heart of a champion, and are playing their championship level defense again. The Magic are the hottest team in the league, having won something like 27 of their past 30 games, averaging double digit wins during that time period and they haven’t lost in the playoffs. Yet they haven’t played against anyone with the talent, experience and personality of Brooke Burke. The long lay off provides them an opportunity to cool off and game 1 will be a huge opportunity for the Celtics to jump on them early and wrestle away home court advantage. Maybe I’m just drinking the Kool-Aid and have forgotten how good the Magic has been playing, but…….

The Pick: Celtics in 6 games

Another Reason to Hate Philly: Cheaters

As anyone who reads this site regularly knows, I loathe Philadelphia. I dislike the city, the teams and the fans. It is the worst city I have ever been to in my life, and I’ve been to Winnipeg, Manitoba, Toledo, Ohio and Ashwaubenon, Wisconsin among other horrendous places. Their fans are the loudest, most obnoxious and ill-informed inbreeds in the universe. There is even a website dedicated to the city and its teams sucking. Well we can now add a few more reasons why we dislike them, courtesy of the Cheatin’ Phillies and the idiocy of Bud Selig giving them an unfair edge.

The Phillies are stealing signs, and have been accused by the Rockies, Mets and Red Sox which lead to baseball giving them a warning. Where is the outrage from the national media? Where are the claims that the Phillies back-to-back NL pennants and World Series championship two years ago are now tainted and should have an asterisk next to them? Where is the moronic congressman calling for MLB to take away their trophies? Because when the Patriots were accused of spying on teams and stealing their signs, blowhards like Arlen Specter wasted tax payer money on pushing the NFL to investigate. Let me get this straight, in baseball it’s okay to steal signs but not to use steroids. In the NFL, it’s okay to use steroids but not okay to steal signs. Got it. That makes about as much sense as putting Katherine Heigl and Ashton Kutcher in a movie and then wondering why it bombs.

There are those who believe stealing signs is a part of baseball, however there is a big difference between watching a base coach for clues and having your bullpen coach using binoculars and calling the dugout phone to relay the signals. That is flat out, blatant misuse of the phone and using binoculars. The Phillies should face a huge fine and draft sanctions. There is no way to defend what they did. Absolutely none. It is CHEATING. While I did not ever root for the Phillies in the past, I used to respect them as a talented team that played hard. That respect took a major hit with these accusations.

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In addition to that advantage that the Phillies are getting by cheating, they are being given an unfair advantage by the league Commissioner. The Phillies are supposed to play an interleague series in Toronto during the same dates that the G20 summit is taking place in Toronto. The city of Toronto wants to move the baseball games due to concerns for security and traffic in the city. First, when was the G20 scheduled? I have to believe it has been planned for quite a while, so why did baseball schedule a series in town in the first place? That’s a minor brain fart. The bigger problem is the solution from MLB: to move the games to Philadelphia. Not only is it punishment for the Blue Jays to have to spend extra time in that horrific city, but the Phillies will now play 84 home games compared to 81 for every other team in baseball. And for a team playing in a division race that could come down to the wire against the Marlins, Mets, Nationals (yes, they could be for real) or Braves, those extra home games could be a difference maker.

Why wouldn’t Bud Selig move the game to a neutral site? Buffalo? Or New York? Or Baltimore? Or Detroit? MLB has used other team stadiums for neutral site games in the past – the Cubs and Astros played at Miller Park in Milwaukee as a result of Hurricane Ike in 2008.

The Phillies are talented enough to win without the help of the Commissioner or cheating, so it’s really just more reasons to hate the already easily hated franchise/city/fans.

Is The King Not Wearing Any Clothes??

LeBron James was flat out awful in last night’s pounding of the Cavs by the Celtics in Cleveland. There is no other way to describe it. Combining his lack of urgency with the pathetic play of Mo Williams and indifferent coaching of Mike Brown has the Cavs on the brink of elimination. To put last night’s blow out in perspective, consider the fact that while Michael Jordan may have had off nights shooting the basketball, in 179 career playoff games, his team only lost 3 times by more than 20 points. Only 3 times in 179 games!! Even when he was not shooting well, he managed to keep his team from being embarrassed through effort and anger.

That is the biggest problem I had with LeBron’s game last night was not his 21% shooting from the field but the fact that he only took 14 shots and he looked disengaged. Where was the fire or the effort or the anger from getting your butt kicked? When things didn’t go right for Jordan or Bird or Kobe, you saw the scowls come out and the abuse of teammates to drive them to play better. Where is that from LeBron? I would guess that he is angry with Mo Williams and angry with Mike Brown, but he definitely has not shown that outside of the locker room, if at all. Does he have the ability to get fired up and take it to the next level? We have never seen it from The King. Is that his kryptonite? The fact that he doesn’t have “The Scowl” or the fire to focus every ounce of his energy on winning a title and not to get distracted by his pending free agency or trying to be a global icon. We’ll see what happens in game 6 in Boston, but if he does not come out and dominate, it will be obvious that the King is not wearing the clothes required to be the greatest of all time.

I think the biggest reason that he was disinterested last night were Mo Williams and the poor coaching from Mike Brown. Mo Williams has been absolutely awful. Not only has he not been effective offensively, but the Celtics have decided to attack whomever Williams is guarding. He does not have quick enough feet to stay with Rajon Rondo, and Rondo blows by him regularly to get a lay up or shoots right over him if he falls back. When Williams switches on to Ray Allen, Allen immediately goes to the block and posts him up. He has been a huge liability on both ends of the court.

The other issue is the poor coaching from Mike Brown. If Shaq thinks that Stan Van Gundy is The Master of Panic, I can’t wait to hear what he thinks of Brown once he retires at the end of this season. Brown has looked more lost on the sideline than anyone in the ABC series Lost. His playing rotation has been sporadic and random, playing Daniel Gibson for the first time in the series in game 5, giving uneven minutes for guys like Jamario Moon, and trying Zydrunas Ilgauskas for short bursts. He has basically decided on his rotation using the theory: “Let’s throw this in bed with Madonna and see if she sleeps with it.” Not exactly a recipe for success.

The good news for the Cavs is that they are not done yet and have a chance to bounce back on Thursday night in Boston. If LeBron comes out with authority, and Mike Brown stays home, the Cavs will be in position to win that game (like they did in Game 3) and get game 7 back at home. But if the Cavs fail, Mo Williams and Mike Brown didn’t help King James on the court, so maybe they could help him off the court by packing his bags when he leaves Cleveland for good.

Ho Hum Another Steroids Story

Texans linebacker Brian Cushing failed a drug test in September before last season, but was able to appeal and play the entire season, winning the league’s defensive rookie of the year award. Now it has been announced that Cushing failed the test, lost his appeal and he will be suspended the first four games of next season. Cushing is vehemently denying that he took PEDs, but will not say what it is that caused him to fail the test. His camp is on spin control and is leaking stories to Adam Scheffter that he passed a lie detector test about taking performance enhancers.

So what? Do we really care? Is it bad that I’ve become so immune to the steroids stories from all these athletes that I don’t really care whether he did or not? It’s not going to stop me from watching football. Do I wish there were no steroids or performance enhancers in sports? Absolutely. Do I really believe that these guys won’t risk shortening their lifespan and shrinking their junk for a chance to make an absurd amount of money? Definitely. They can always claim they were in the pool.

They are redoing the vote for the defensive player of the year. Another big “who cares?” from members of the media who are trying to be make a stand more than anything. Do you think Cushing cares whether he gets to keep his rookie of the year trophy? He knows he was the best rookie on the field, and so do we. Let’s just move on, no one really cares.

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Here’s a major FAIL by a politician trying to talk sports by Boston Mayor Thomas Menino. Not only does he start off by talking about “ionic” sports moments, but he then talks about Varitek splitting the uprights. Ouch. Varitek, the catcher of the Red Sox has never kicked a field goal like Adam Viniatieri has. It’s almost as impressive as the Congressman during the steroid hearing asking if Mr. Palmerry was on drugs when he got his 300th hit. (meaning Raphael Palmeiro and his 3,000th hit)

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And here is Erin Andrews first taste of attention, around the 45 second mark of this video to learn to dance like a BackStreet Boy.

Weekend Hangover - Love/Hate

LOVE

- Steve Nash was unreal last night leading the Suns while looking like a cross between E.T. and Two-Face from Batman. He took 6 stitches above his eye and the eye swelled shut, which somehow caused his good eye to bulge out even more throughout the 4th quarter. Nash and the Suns finished off the Spurs in 4 games and appear to be a pretty good challenge for the Lakers (once LA dismisses the Jazz). The Suns will provide a tough matchup with their outside shooting big men which have the potential to drag the Lakers big front court away from the hoop. The Suns continue their march as The People's Choice to win the title and the vindication of Steve Kerr as a General Manager continues. The Suns finally were able to beat the team that has kept them from getting the NBA finals routinely for the past 10 years. And the best part? We no longer have to watch Manu Ginobili flop all over the court with that large feminine hygiene product strapped across his face.

- Another point guard who dominated a game and put up ridiculous numbers? Rajon Rondo put up a sick triple double in the Celtics win on Sunday to even the series at 2 games apiece. Rondo is often overlooked when talking about the best point guards in the league – Chris Paul, Deron Williams, Steve Nash and Derrick Rose get all the attention. Yet Rondo has proven that he has the ability to step up in the playoffs and throughout his career has played better in the postseason than he does in the regular season. Rondo also resembles ET with his bug-eyes and long, wirey arms. If the Celtics are going to win this series, and I still don’t believe they will, they will have to rely on huge games from Rondo to make up for the inability of Kevin Garnett to take advantage of his mismatch with Antwan Jamison.

HATE

- Dallas Braden threw the 19th perfect game in major league history on Mother’s Day with his grandmother in the stands. It was a great story, except that all anyone wants to take about is Braden’s mini feud with Alex Rodriguez. Give it a rest. The guy wants to own the mound when he’s pitching, fine. A-Rod has no people skills so he has no ability to make a sane response, which blows it out of proportion. Just focus on the fact that Braden is a young talented pitcher with tremendous upside. A guy that was a junior college teammate of the much more heralded Manny Parra, and there is no doubt that the prospects for Braden appear much brighter than those for Parra. Congrats to the guy for throwing a gem against the team with the best record in the league.

- Trying to refrain from making any of the all too easy jokes about Tiger Woods this weekend. Let’s see, he had to pull out….of the tournament……with a bulging disc………There are just too many ways to take it straight to the gutter like asking Rachel Uchitel about his bulging disc. In the end, the critics are going to say that he quit and that he just wasn’t playing well so he opted to bail than stick it out. I don’t buy it. The guy has proven to be tough when he won the US Open on a broken leg, so people think that nothing can stop him from playing. However, if he wasn’t playing well, was in pain, and the pain was causing his swing to be even more off than it already was, I have no problem with him yanking himself off the course.

Degenerate Friday - Is Vince Carter Ric Flair?

Last night during the Magic-Hawks game, the key player on the floor was not first team All-NBA member Dwight Howard despite his 29 point, 17 rebound effort, or third team All-NBA member Joe Johnson. It was Vince Carter. The 33-year old veteran is the key to the Magic’s goal of winning the NBA title this season as a replacement for Hedo Turkoglu. Carter is needed to be the guy who can create his own shot in crunch time, because down the stretch of a close game Dwight Howard does not have a refined post game and is unreliable at the free throw line (last night not withstanding) and Rashard Lewis is only a spot up shooter. The Magic will need Vinsanity to knock down jumpers, get to the hoop and be able to create offense when the shot clock winds down.

Despite his immense talents, I find it hard to root for Carter. He was an absolute freak of an athlete in college at the University of North Carolina and his career stats are impressive (he is the second-leading scorer in Nets history having only spent 5 seasons in New Jersey). Yet he has always been a moody, pouting player that has the perception of a guy that puts himself above the team. While playing in Toronto he attended his college graduation the morning of game 7 of a playoff series against Philly and ended up missing a game-winning shot at the buzzer. He was accused of risking his team’s chances for his own personal goals. He then made comments when he was traded from the Raptors that were taken to mean he didn’t always give his full effort. His image is very similar to Randy Moss, another guy with as much talent and athleticism as anyone but a lack of passion to give full effort and and pouts his way through the season. If they have their heads on straight, Carter and Moss have the ability to carry their teams to championships but we’re still waiting for either of them to reach that level.

On the other end of the spectrum is a guy like Grant Hill of the Phoenix Suns. Hill came into the league with high expectations that were only tempered by the lack of success of his fellow Duke alumni. Hill immediately went to work and became one of the best players in the game. He gutted out injuries and played through pain, even causing long-term damage that would end up costing him years of being less effective. Yet he has worked his way back to being a vital role player on a team that is easy to root for. He continues to play hard, does not talk or whine about his injuries or his lack of playing time during his recovery. He is well-spoken and a team leader.

To use a wrestling analogy, Grant Hill is the People's Champion, The Rock. He rallies the crowd, plays the good guy and has everyone rooting for him. Let's just hope that Hill doesn't end up doing horrendous Disney movies after a failed attempt to be an action hero. Carter on the other hand is more like Ric Flair, the greatest villain of all time. He has the talent, but his arrogance and lack of concern for the crowd or whether or not he is liked overshadows that natural talent. If Carter could just grow that long blonde hair like the Nature Boy and let out a couple of classic Flair "Whooooo!"s before each game and after each dunk, it would be amazing.

The unfortunate aspect is that I think Carter and the Magic have a much better chance of winning a title this year than the Suns, yet I would much rather see Hill hoisting the trophy than Carter.

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Since it is Degenerate Friday, I have to have some action out there……

Cavaliers (-1) over Celtics (Friday night)
This is the game that LeBron James has to win. He cannot come out and be a drama queen or timid with his elbow soreness. He has rubbed it and shot the left-handed free throw so everyone knows just how banged up he is. Is he setting himself up for an excuse to leave Cleveland? “I was injured and the rest of the team couldn’t step up at all, so I can’t win here.” Or is he just building suspense? Kobe Bryant has a bum knee and a broken finger on his shooting hand, yet the media isn’t obsessed with it, and more importantly, you don’t hear Kobe talking about it. If James wants to win a title, tonight is his chance to come out and make a statement that he is going to take this team to the title. The Celtics have the heart of a champion and Ray Allen is playing better than he has in the past two seasons, so they will be ready to defend their home court. Yet the Cavs are 8-2 ATS in their past 10 playoff games as a favorite and 23-7 ATS in games coming off a straight up loss of more than 10 points. The abundance of off days should have given James enough time to rest his elbow and the Cavs will come out and take back their home court advantage.

The Best Point Guard to Never Win an NBA Title?

While watching the Suns take a commanding 2-0 lead in their series with the rapidly aging Spurs, a couple of things came to mind. First, “Los Suns” on the Phoenix jerseys. I get their support for the large predominantly Mexican immigrant population in Arizona and rallying against the immigration legislation. I couldn’t care less about the Suns politics. But is putting Spanglish on your jerseys helping or hurting the cause? I took 4 years of Spanish in high school, and a semester in college, so I have a pretty decent understanding of the language. “Sun” in Spanish is El Sol. The Suns would then be translated to Los Soles. So why in the world did the Suns have “Los Suns” on their jerseys? Who was the genius who came up with that? That’s like your buddy at Qdoba at 3 in the morning asking the guy behind the counter for “tres burritos with cheese-o, senor!” It’s humorous and offensive at the same time. Is that what the Suns were going for?

The second thing that crossed my mind was whether Steve Nash was the best point guard in NBA history without an NBA title. In my opinion, here are the top 4 point guards to have never won an NBA title:

4. Allen Iverson
Iverson was a dynamic scorer and changed the overall culture of the NBA. Unfortunately he was a horrid teammate and extremely mercurial and immature. His ability to get to the paint at his size was unmatched by anyone before or after him. He won an MVP award and got to the NBA Finals once, to go with his 4 scoring titles and 3-time 1st team All-NBA. He also was in the top 10 in the league in turnovers 7 times in 13 seasons and only shot 42% from the floor and 31% from beyond the three point line. He’s like Megan Fox – controversial and enjoyable to watch in small doses, but you can’t win a title or have a blockbuster movie with them.

3. Steve Nash
Nash can light up a scoreboard with his scoring or his passing and like Meg Ryan, has actually gotten better with age. He has bested his career scoring average in all 6 seasons since he turned 30, and led the league in assists 4 times in those 6 years. He ranks 8th all-time in assists and has a career assist to turnover ratio just below 3. He’s a two-time league MVP, but has never been able to get his team into the NBA Finals. The only real knock on Nash and what keeps him from topping this list is his defensive deficiencies. He is about as effective defensively as a turnstile to enter the subway, you can go right through it or jump over it and there’s nothing the turnstile can do. Yet with his creative offense and ability to change the overall pace of any regular season game, he is one of the best point guards of all-time.

2. Jason Kidd
Kidd has never been a prolific scorer and not a strong shooter, yet his all-around skills are what moves him just ever so slightly ahead of Steve Nash. Kidd is a great passer and rebounds better than any point guard to have ever played the game. When he was younger, he was a one-man fast break with his potential to rip down a rebound and instantly be out leading the fast break. Unfortunately as he has aged he has slowed considerably, and his defense and ability to get out on the break have declined significantly. Yet his basketball intelligence remains high and his court vision is on par with Nash and the guy at the top of this list. Like Maria Menounos, a ton of talent, but can only carry a show or a team so far before they top out and no one pays attention.

1. John Stockton
The recency effect almost led me to put Nash and/or Kidd ahead of John Stockton, but once I started looking at the stats, it was actually a tougher decision to not make this just a one person list. He holds the league all-time record for assists and led the league 9 consecutive seasons between 1987 and 1996. Over his 18 year career, he averaged just over 13 points per game and 10.5 assists per game, with an assist-to-turnover ratio of 3.7. He was also extremely durable, only missing 22 games over an 18 year career, playing every game in all but two seasons. He also led the Jazz to the NBA Finals twice and would have a title if it weren’t for that guy in Chicago with a penchant for gambling, smoking cigars and crushing the spirits of everyone that rooted against the Chicago Bulls. Like Heidi Klum, she is the best but you might forget until you break out the stats and watch the highlight tapes.