The Venerable Gilbert Arenas
March 31, 2008
There’s a reason that the Washington Wizards can’t quit Gilbert Arenas, and it’s not his range from three, his quickness to take people off the dribble, or his cross over appeal. It’s the fact that D.C. is a town built on empty promises and posturing, none of which are realistic to Arenas in his everyday life.
He recently said on record that he would willingly take a pay cut for the Washington Wizards to retain all-star forward Antawn Jamison.
"I want to see Antawn taken care of first and then I’ll take the pay cut to keep the team intact," said Arenas, who plans to opt out of the final season of his contract
with the idea of signing a long-term deal with the Wizards.
Who else in the league is candid enough to say that, and genuine enough to actually do it? Some people call it quirky or eccentric, I say that Gilbert positions himself as an everyman more than any other celebrity - athlete or otherwise. He says things out loud that most people would, but don’t expect famous folks to say.
But beyond his common appeal, Arenas balances a delicate line between petulant superstar and face-of-the-team better than any other NBA player not named Kevin Garnett or Tim Duncan. He publicly airs his concerns and frustrations, but never ostracizes himself from teammates or management, at least as far as the public knows. Now he’s stepped into the role of assistant GM, and the franchise and city look better for it, because he’s gone from possible defector to Wizard For Life.
The Wizards should take Gilbert up on his offer and do the right thing by their current nucleus. Everyone knows they are one solid center away from contention in the Eastern Conference, and a couple of contract extensions away from a being the area’s most beloved franchise.
All Four Ones, One For the Ages
March 31, 2008
It’s better this way. You know it, I know it, and every college basketball fan in the world knows it. As all-American as it is to root for an underdog story, it’s best for the sport to have four of its best programs in the Final Four. Because if North Carolina, Kansas, Memphis and UCLA were not the participants in this year’s national semi-finals, it would signal the end of college basketball’s appeal as we know it.
It’s a cute story for a Davidson or a George Mason to progress deep into the tournament, but they just aren’t the gravitational pull on the planet-sized life force that is NCAA athletics. Those schools, and other mid-major magicians don’t have the global fan base that power conferences have, and they certainly aren’t the driving forces behind the NCAA’s television contracts. It’s a harsh truth, and one that defies the American Dream, but Cinderella will never bring in the Elliott Spitzers of the world when it comes to revenue.
Don’t get me wrong. My soul is a witness for the the mid-majority. But once we sober up from the Davidson Kool-Aid drinking binge, we realize that the four number one seeds that will play next week are what college basketball are built upon. With the exception of Memphis, the other participating squads are what bring the money, the fans and the drama to the sport and keep us all tuned in as if Erin Andrews was on screen learning how to do the ‘uh-oh’ dance.
This year’s Final Four is a Duke University or an Indiana University away from being college sports history’s most perfect creation. Mid-Majors are the Mom and Pops of the NCAA, reliable and customer-friendly. But the Final Four is Wal-Mart country, and the convenience and selection of America’s best players and America’s best coaches is worth choking on all that chalk in your bracket.
Besides, you would much rather root for or against programs that are expected to make it than those that are wild-card every season. If Davidson was a perennial powerhouse, then 300 students don’t receive full accommodations to the Sweet 16. If Stephen Curry plays for UCLA, it’s not nearly as impressive that he averages more than 30 points in the national tournament. It’s UCLA. It’s expected.
If Davidson gets bounced from the first round next season, no one is shocked. It’s a mid-major. It’s expected.
So don’t be dismayed or disenchanted with college basketball’s glass ceiling. It makes that skylight view of the sport’s brightest stars that much better.
Five Reasons Why You Shouldn’t Root For Davidson
March 28, 2008
Of course, the reasons why you should root for Davidson far outnumber why you shouldn’t, but we all aspire to be more informed sports fans, don’t we?
5. Wisconsin has done this before - In the last eight years, Wisconsin has appeared in the Sweet 16 three times, the Elite 8 twice and the Final 4 once. That’s a pretty tall order for this year’s George Mason.
4. The Wildcats have had time for everything to sink in - Gonzaga and Georgetown was a whirlwind weekend. Now they’ve had a little time to watch SportsCenter and take in what their run means, and how it’s not supposed to be happening.
3. The world has seen Stephen Curry - And the world includes the Wisconsin staff. Expects a slew of defensive looks and changing bodies on Curry to knock him off his shooting rhythm.
2. Detroit is a long way from North Carolina - Davidson has played in front of a relatively partial crowd. It will still be so considering the entire school is rolling into Detroit with the team, but a much larger opposing contingency will be in the house. And it’s a much bigger house.
1. You don’t want to see an entire school cry after a defeat - Knowing that it will be a close game, you just cringe at the thought of the entire student body being flashed across TV screens across the nation weeping and stunned at a defeat.
Virginia Tech No-Hits U.S. Softball Team
March 28, 2008
Imagine if the North Carolina men’s basketball team wins the NCAA tournament, and in a moment of supreme swag says, "F*ck it, we’re better than the Dream Team." That’s what Virginia Tech’s no-hit, 1-0 victory over the U.S. National Softball Team is like.
The Hokies knocked off the team that won a gold medal in the 2004 Summer Olympics, and only allowed one base runner the entire game on a second inning, one-out walk. The one run that the Hokies scored? Manufactured by a double and bloop single off Jennie Finch, widely regarded as one of the best softball pitchers in the world, and as a decent looking woman.
So what does it mean when the ACC’s current second place team defeats the best players in the nation? I would venture to say nothing much, as the U.S. team had won 185 pre-Olympic games prior to this loss. The Harlem Globetrotters have lost before, and this is along those lines. No fires on the American softball home front, but a win over any national team is no doubt, the hotness.
James Dolan Can’t Quit Isiah Thomas
March 27, 2008
At some point, we all have to settle with the notion that New York Knicks head coach Isiah Thomas is one of two things to Knicks owner James Dolan:
1. The cowboy he just can’t quit
2. A man with a powerful and liberal camera lens
It has to be one of those things, because it’s incomprehensible to imagine why you would retain Thomas as anything more than a parking attendant at Madison Square Garden. Thomas has cost the once proud franchise millions of dollars in sexual harassment suits, bloated contracts and decreased ticket and memorabilia sales. In the hood, Isiah Thomas is the kind of guy that can steal your car and wreck it up real good if you need to get the insurance money on it to put towards a new vehicle.
While intentionally ruining a sports franchise may be good for cinematic value, movies usually have a happy or ironic ending. Sure, it’s ironic that Thomas is still the coach of the Knicks, and even more ironic that Dolan is doing everything he can to ensure that it stays that way. But this ain’t a movie, dog. Spike Lee is the closest thing they have to that, and even he is at games preoccupied with the notion of making "Do The Right Thing II."
It might not be such a bad move if these latest developments didn’t totally defy logic. If the Knicks were close to the eighth spot in the Eastern Conference, this probably wouldn’t be a discussion. We would probably be talking about the emergence of Zach Randolph, or the reliability of Jamal Crawford instead. But they are closer to the play-in game of the NCAA tournament than they are any current or future success in the league. So much so, they are courting former Indiana Pacers exec Donnie Walsh to try and moves contracts no one wants. And Dolan insists that if Walsh were to fire Isiah, that he keep him with the franchise in some capacity.
At some point, the NBA should launch a credible investigation of tampering against the Knicks. The New York Knicks have exceeded laughing stock territory, now it’s time to check up on Isiah’s stock photos and see if there’s a real explanation to this Big Apple fiasco.
So Just Who Are The Washington Wizards?
March 26, 2008
That’s what fans and basketball pundits want to know. Are they a legitimate playoff team, or are they a result of the talent of three star players and several good players benefiting from uneven defensive focus?
Are they a contender? In the month of March, the Wizards have defeated the playoff-bound Orlando Magic, New Orleans Hornets, Toronto Raptors, Cleveland Cavaliers and Detroit Pistons; but only after a 4-10 February.
Are they built Tough Juice like Caron Butler, or are they waiting on the world to change with Gilbert Arenas’ return? For that matter, is Gilbert going to return this season? Or doth his blog entry betray us?
These are the questions that surrounds Washington’s most successful franchise of the last five years. They’ve got a stars, they’ve got playoff experience, throw in the fact that area fans’ college hoops hopes have been soundly dashed, and the Wizards suddenly take sole place as the hottest ticket in town.
But are they hot enough to believe in?
Chris Webber - A Promise Unkept
March 26, 2008
The most disappointing thing about Chris Webber’s retirement is that we never got to see him mature, personally or professionally. Throughout his 15-year tenure in the the NBA, we never got to see that rare combination of power and finesse sustain for an extended period. But more than that, we never got to see redemption from the public immaturity; the perception that he was a gifted and privileged athlete, prone to acting out his own image.
In his stops with the Golden State Warriors, the Washington Bullets and the Sacramento Kings, we got to see Webber as a back-to-the-basket boy wonder, with a penchant for passing, and an attitude to be as bad as he wanted to be. Marijuana arrests, open-air feuds with management, wild parties and high profile relationships gave us a biased view of the man that most knew as engaging, thoughtful, and highly intelligent.
And just when you thought he was finally putting it all together, manhood and career that is, the frailty of the human anatomy betrayed him, and turned him into a recluse. The man that would be king of the post became a recluse to the media, and a journeyman player. We all waited for the man-child we watched googly-eyed at Michigan to emerge and make a difference in his own legend, and the should-have-been bright star now goes fading into the flickering limelight, defined mostly by micro-fracture surgery and an ill-fated timeout.
Webber was supposed to be power forward 2.0, until controversy, injury and Kevin Garnett all came along and derailed that notion. He’ll be remembered more for dating Tyra Banks than his five all-star appearances, and more for being a budding hip-hop producer than a career 20 ppg-9 rpg-4 apg player.
There’s so much that Chris Webber could’ve been to himself and to the league, but it all works out in the end. He’s freed himself of filling an expectation he began building way back in high school, and can finally walk into maturity his way.
It’s just a shame he’ll do it in a way he, and all of us, didn’t expect. With no one watching.
Wonderlich All-Stars
March 25, 2008
So Dan Pompei of the Chicago Tribune was able to get his hands on some early returns on the NFL’s Wonderlich Test. Before we go any further, here’s your precious money shot.
Matt Ryan (BC QB) — 32
Brian Brohm (Louisville QB) — 32
Chris Williams (Vanderbilt OL) — 32
Jeff Otah (Pittsburgh OL) — 28
Joe Flacco (Delaware QB) — 27
Sam Baker (USC OL) — 27
Jake Long (Michigan OL) — 26
Jerod Mayo (Tennessee LB) — 26
Godser Cherilus (BC OL) — 25
Brandon Albert (UVa. OL) — 23
Chad Henne (Michigan QB) — 22
Keith Rivers (USC LB) — 16
Kenny Phillips (Miami S) — 16
Ryan Clady (Boise State OL) — 13
What does this all mean? Absolutely nothing. Vince Young reportedly scored a six on the test a few years back, and folks didn’t get around to calling him a turnover-prone dunce until this season. (By the way - the Tennessee Titans made the 07′ playoffs.)
But aside from proving you can pay attention and retain diverse levels of information, does it really make a difference in a sport like football? Ultimately, it all comes down to schoolyard principles. On defense, hit the person with the ball or take it away from them. On offense, keep the ball until you cross the goal line with the ball. Everything else is strictly reaction and anticipation.
So it boggles my mind when numbers and projections get floated around, only to be disproved time and time again. Player scores low and achieves high, the test means nothing. He scores high and bombs, we should have paid more attention to his interviews. Player scores low and shoots up a strip club, he should have went in the second round.
When it comes to Wonderlich Test, some may score and some may flunk, but what great answers should we really expect?
Kerry Wood Closing Opens New Chapter in Pitcher’s Career
March 25, 2008
Chicago Cubs pitcher Kerry Wood once struck out 20 batters, so it should come as no surprise that Cubs manager Lou Piniella thought that some magic would still be in Wood’s troubled right arm when he named him the team’s closer yesterday. It’s a new chapter for the young pitcher who’s entire career has cruel duet of pitching brilliance and physical breakdowns, but it’s a chapter that should play out like the conclusion of ‘The Da Vinci Code’ for Cubs enthusiasts.
More than what you envisioned it would be.
Kerry Wood’s tenure with the Chicago Cubs has been an exercise in tenacity and patience on both sides. He has not had an injury-free season in the last five years, and has only pitched in back-to-back appearances once in his career. We’ve seen fireballers flame out before, but none with the heightened level of potential that Wood had; potential brought to you and Cubs fans all over the world by the number 1908, the year of the franchise’s last World Series win.
Wood has the chance to reinvent himself in a way no other athlete has ever done. Most superstar athletes play to their ability and fade out, rediscovering the technical aspects of the game to be capable additions to a team other than the one they helped build. Injuries kept Wood from maximizing his natural talent, and unlike his former teammate Mark Prior, he still has a chance to become a Chi-Town legend.
Dennis Eckersley is the greatest, John Smoltz is the latest. Now it’s Kerry Wood’s turn to find a soft place in between and throw as hard as he can for as long as he can.
Stephen Curry is What JJ Redick Should Have Been
March 24, 2008
Here’s why you want to root for Stephen Curry and the Davidson Wildcats. It’s not because they are playing the role of "Little Mid-Major that Could" to perfection, and it’s not because we all like underdogs. It’s because their best player is a hot shooting hero with a baby face, and the last time we saw something remotely close to this was in a certain guard out of Duke University a couple of years ago.
You guessed it. JJ Redick.
Curry is everything you wanted JJ Redick to be. He goes to a school not named Duke University. Where Redick resembled Superman, Curry favors T.I. Both were blessed with a deft shooting touch that could rip out your beating heart at a moment’s notice, but in clutch moments, Redick mostly resembled the jangled father in the emergency waiting room, while Curry has morphed into Dr. Ben Carson in front of the watching sports nation.
If for no other reason than the front of his jersey reading "Davidson," Stephen Curry has already carved out a niche as the bright star of this tournament. There have been plenty of athletes that have earned the coverage and fawning at major programs, but there’s nothing like a shooter gone Contra in tournament time. Dunkers and scorers come and go, but those who can make you breathless with every attempt come straight out of the premium section of the basketball gene pool, and only every so often.
The only shot that you can take at JJ Redick is that he went to a school most people despise, and didn’t live expectations that he helped to set. Problem is, with every shot Stephen Curry takes, it makes the target on JJ Redick’s notable career that much wider.
