Let me start by saying that I don't think that you specifically are dumb. If you're smart enough to read my blog, then you are at least on the path of enlightenment. And since this probably isn't your first, you couldn't possibly be uninformed enough to be dumb. That being said, everyone else is dumb. This MJ vs Lebron argument really gets my goat and as a shepherd of men and goats, there is nothing more upsetting (I am one of those people who enjoys using old fashioned sayings without understanding the origin). Basketball is a culmination of many things, most of which are not quantifiable. Like in all sports, that is what makes people's opinions legitimate (in theory) because there isn't a formula to decide greatness. If there was, it might be something like-- (number of illegitimate children) + (MVP awards) - (appearances in terrible commercials selling strange products {do yourself a favor and watch the Pete Rose aqua velvet commercials on youtube}) x (the number of people who hate them {people are dumb}) + (championships) - (alimony payments) = no one cares. I am one of those crazy people who likes to use the only quantifiable aspect of sports, statistics, to make my arguments. Like any decent journalist, I will manipulate statistics to do my bidding so skepticism is encouraged. Unfortunately, I was not born with the gift of recognizing greatness by simply giving it the eye test. I have tried with women and have been left wanting (don't worry, most of them can't read so their feelings won't be hurt). I simply will present some arguments and some questions and let you decide for yourself.
How do you even define greatness, or decide who is better? LJ would own MJ in games of 1 v 1 and if you disagree than stop reading because you are beyond hope. Besides, it's a team sport. Is it about who has more championships? Bill Russel would be the greatest ever because he redefined being a winner. He has more rings as a player/coach (at the same time) than sir Charles Barkley. He coached his team, and was their best player. And he barely even scored double digits! So he's not in the conversation because the best ever has to be more entertaining. So it must go to the best scorer then... Who would that be? Most points per game? Does it matter how many shots they took, or what percentage they made? Okay, so has to be whoever is the most unguardable. Kareem's sky hook couldn't be touched, Shaq couldn't be guarded without flagrant fouls, but Wilt Chamberlain scored 100 points in a game. But it can't count if you're that tall because it's just not fair. Wilt may have gone down as the best ever if it weren't for that snoozer who kept beating him the finals, Bill Russel. Wilt not only averaged 50 points a game for an entire season, but had averages of 7.8 and 8.3 assists per game to show that he wasn't a ballhog (he won one of his 2 championships during those years). Kobe tried passing for 4 games and wants a medal of honor. Fine, big guys are out... so it has to be whoever can make the toughest shots look easy, which would have to be a tie between Kobe Bryant, Michael Jordan, and Nick Young. Do we ever stop to wonder why the shots look so tough in the first place? Right... So, it's best all around player. Oscar Robinson averaged a triple double for an entire season, and was damn close to doing it a couple other times. Not just a Rondo triple double-- he averaged 30 points, 11 assists and 12 rebounds per game. But he wouldn't have won a title without Ferdinand Lewis Alcindor (who?) so he couldn't be that great because it's all about who has the best team, inversely. Obviously it's Lebron, because he has 2 other elite players on his team. But shoot, there have been a couple Laker teams that had a hall-of-fame starting lineup that didn't win anything. And as I think about it, MJ had Scottie Pippen, who is in a totally different class than Dwyane Wade (better you idiot, there's no debate). And Lebron inherited Wade who is past his prime. But what about that other dinosaur looking dude from the big 2.... ummm.... Bostrich, that's it. As talented as Bosh may be offensively, he is not better than Dennis Rodman. Remember him? Probably not for anything other than celebrity rehab or the hair or kicking a guy in the nuts, but he is legitimately one of the all-time greats. He had seasons in which he averaged more rebounds per game than bostrich averages points, but defense is boring (see Russel). Kerr was crucial. Kukoc was valuable. There is a long list of defensive players who you know nothing about but are more valuable to a team than the scraps that the nearly-retired Ray Allen/Rashard Lewis/Mike Miller/Shane Battier provides. Don't you think that the heat could use a Bill Cartwright, Will Perdue, or Horace Grant to protect the hoop? Keep in mind that this was a different kind of basketball back then, one where white players could thrive by fouling superior competition. Fouls are no longer allowed in the NBA (watch a espn classic game, it looks like football). I could make a case for either guy's team, but most people won't because stupid people make up their minds and don't listen to reason. I am sometimes, rarely, as guilty of it as anyone.
MJ changed the game forever, making it globally relevant. People who watched him play may not ever take him off that pedestal. The younger generation of people who didn't see Jordan have no idea how much more skill he had than Lebron, and the older generation will resent LJ for that. Lebron will be penalized for his freakish body and athleticism because he can get whatever shot he wants where Michael made some impossible shots look easy. There is a reason that people misconstrue Kobe's offense with overall greatness; that is because his offensive game reminds people of Michael. But MJ was sooooooooo much more than that, and I somehow underrated him. I am in awe of Lebron's newfound efficiency on offense, because it is my favorite facet of the game. Not simply scoring, but scoring efficiency. I make an important distinction when you reach the 50% fg mark, because, simply put, you are making at least half of your shots. Kobe has never done it for a season. Durant is one of the greatest scorers we will ever see because he leads the league while shooting 50% from the field, and that's including a lot of three pointers. Lebron is scoring 25 points a game at 56% from the field (and rising). He is shooting 42% from the 3 point line, so you can no longer say that he has no jumpshot. He has had a better long range shot than MJ from day one. He is a better passer and rebounder than MJ ever was. He has realized that he can do anything that he wants on the floor, and the rest of the league is screwed. Before I looked at the numbers, I knew that MJ had some amazing scoring seasons but I doubted his efficiency because he wasn't a great long range shooter and he took a lot of tough shots with everyone putting all of their attention on stopping him. I was way off. In his third year, he averaged 37 points per game at 48% shooting (18% from 3 pointers!). The next year he improved to 35 per game at 53%, which is amazing. The following year, Pippen's rookie season, was his pride and glory and is greater than any Lebron has ever had: 32 points on 53% shooting (27% from 3) with 8 rebounds and 8 assists. I'm sticking to offense for now. I had no idea the kind of numbers he put up, but keep in mind that it would still be another two more years before he won his first championship. Also, keep in mind that MJ only averaged less than twenty shots per game in one full season with the Bulls, which was his rookie season (19.8 shots). The rest of them were between 22-27 shots per game. Half of LJ's seasons averaged less than twenty per game, a couple at 21 and one at 23. I'm stating the obvious, that Lebron is more of a team player. The fact that he "passes too much" in crunch time has been a large criticism, but I believe that this year he is coming into his own offensively and will begin to compile a list of game/series winning shots to add to the ones he already has that will rival any other. In my opinion it is his passing, his 3 point shooting, and his ability to score on less shots with more free throws that makes him better than Jordan offensively. If you disagree, than there is no point in reading on because you are going to take all of the fun out of this.
Lebron's versatility and athleticism must make him the better player defensively, right? Not even close. Although there is no quantifiable stat for straight up defense, many people argue that MJ might have been the greatest defender the NBA has ever seen and the numbers agree with them. It might be easier to make a defense for Lebron if he was more of a shot blocker, but his numbers come from steals (Jordan's specialty). People only remember Bronnie's cool blocks against the backboards, but his best season only got him 1.1 per game. The smaller MJ had season averages of 1.6 and 1.5. They have the same career block/game numbers but that includes MJ's aging decline (tough to call it that). Lebron had one season in which he had over 2 steals per game (2.2). His Airness averaged 2.3 for his entire career, with a high of 3.2 (combined with the 1.6 steals, a legendary season defensively). He was a shut down defender. Lebron can guard every position, but he doesn't have the numbers. I give MJ the nod.
There are soooooo many facets that make up the entirety of an athlete. Skill is a small part of it. God-given athleticism is another. The competitive drive is what can propel someone who was cut from his high school basketball team to become the greatest ever. Work ethic is crucial. Your surroundings and plain dumb luck are another. Sometimes freak injuries occur. The point that I am slowly trying to make is that the comparison between players is stupid. I personally think that MJ's level of competitiveness is unlike any we have ever seen, and that made him different. He's telling the truth when he says that he would never team up with rival superstars. But the game is different (sadly). And Lebron realized that if he wants to be put in the conversation with Michael, he needs some rings to match. If I had to choose one player in his prime to have on my team, it would be Lebron but that's because we would play so well together, me being a knock down shooter and elite pick and roll player. I would accuse MJ of taking bad shots and he would probably let his ego get in the way and we would have to trade him. Lebron is selfless, and people who love MJ and Kobe don't like that about him. Either way, he has a long career ahead of him to compile statistics and awards and highlights and I think he'll do it. I have had a strange relationship with LJ because I loved him when he was young, hated what he did to Cleveland and the way he did it, but recently decided that I am not going to hate or take for granted the best player of all time (arguably). I know that I am guilty of doing it with MJ, and I won't make that mistake again.
Thursday, February 14, 2013
Friday, February 8, 2013
The black mamba say mama saw mamma mu saw
Kobe Bryant raped a chick! I figured I would start with that so all the irrational Kobe lovers would know that this is your chance to get out before I turn your life on it's head. It's common knowledge that every Mamba lover has dismissed these allegations with one of any number of airtight rebuttals, like... The vaginal trauma she sustained was obviously caused by the sex she had with a white dude the night before... The blood found on Kobe's shirt came from a brutal foul during the game that day and you just know the referees missed it... Would a monster capable of rape really buy his (ex) wife a ring that big?... He was in Utah and all the more willing girls had already been snatched up by Mormons... That girl was a slut (like there is a private stash of virgins who save themselves for NBA players)... Uncomfortable yet? The reason I bring this up is because it is indicative of the person that Kobe is, and the people who love him blindly. I believe him to be massively overrated, as well as a self-centered jackass. Just because he was the best in the game for a small window of time doesn't make him one of the best players ever. And I'm not saying that he is the only athlete guilty of being self-centered, but he takes being a bad teammate to a whole new level.
Now for the record, I am a Mamba lover. It's been my favorite candy for as long as I can remember, but I'm sad to say that I can no longer find it in my local convenience stores so I'm forced to talk about the Black Mamba instead. Did you know that he gave himself that nickname? Who does that? I guess people who aren't worthy of nicknames to start out with. Mine (Messy) was given to me at birth by God himself, and then by my neighbor who couldn't pronounce my last name correctly. So the obvious argument for why he is one of the best ever is the number of rings that he has the luxury of wearing. I could make the argument that without Phil keeping Kobe's ego in check, he would have none. But that's too easy. For the first three championships (2000, '01, '02) he wasn't even the best player on his own team. In the first against the Pacers in Kobe's fourth year, he averaged 15 points, 4 rebounds, and 4 assists per game on 36% shooting! Shaq, a man capable of elevating his game for an entire series when it counts, averaged 38 points, 16 rebounds and almost 3 blocks a game while shooting an ungodly 61% for the series. For those of you that don't study basketball like I do, it's fairly simple to see if a player is an efficient scorer and can create good shots for himself. Does he make half of the shots that he takes from the floor? There is much more to it than that, like free throw attempts, 3 point attempts, etc. but I like to keep it simple. Kobe has never once in his career shot over 46% from the field during a season. You may think that is pretty close (in his best shooting season btw) but when you are shooting as much as Kobe does, those percentage points add up. In the next year against Philadelphia, his numbers improve across the board with averages of 24 points, 7 rebounds, and 5 assists per game in the finals. He still shot 41% from the field while Shaq had another monster series. In the third year during the sweep versus the Nets, Kobe had a great series. Unfortunately for Mamba and the Lakers, Shaq's was better; the count was 3 rings, no finals MVP's for Kobe and that started to eat at him. Does everyone remember how things played out after this? A couple losses to the Spurs and the Mambo decided that he was better than Shaq and that there isn't room for the two of them in LA. Because king baby Kobe is the future and Shaq was on the decline, he is soon traded to Miami (where he would win another ship) while Kobe remained in LA LA land. I think he honestly thought that he would be first player to ever win without any help, and I'm pretty sure he liked playing with scrubs (for a while) so he could hoist up as many shots as possible. He wanted to average 40 points a game and win in it all, and he was too arrogant to understand how impossible that is. Yeah, he scored 81 points in a game which is amazing. You know what else is amazing? How bad the Lakers were that year. They actually started a guy named Smush.
Kobe became relevant again once the Grizzlies essentially gave Kobe the key second man that he didn't think that he needed. By this time, an uber-talented Andrew Bynum was beginning to come into his own. Do people remember all the nonsense that went on before Gasol came? Kobe questioning publicly whether the Lakers still deserved him... Publicly slamming a young and impressionable Andrew Bynum and questioning the management's decision to take him... Throwing people under the bus left and right because he couldn't possibly accept responsibility for having a bad team. And that was just off the court. On the court, there was no such thing as a bad shot in his world. Why pass the ball when he could shoot a step-back fadeaway three-pointer and then whine for a foul when he missed? He has averaged under five assists a game for his career, mostly when he accidently dribbled off of his shoe to a teammate who was wide open for a layup because everyone was ooooing and ahhhhing at Kobe's "offense". To me he will go down as the player who took the most, and inherently made the most, bad shots. He is a bad shot maker, which fans love (and try and emulate, which is bad for the game). He once in a while will pass out of a double or triple-team, but not willingly. Then came the Zen Master, back again with the ability to somehow deceive Kobe (maybe he hypnotized him) into believing in this triangle offense which allowed other players to touch the ball every once in a while. So back they were in the finals in 2008 against a Magic team who had no right being there in the first place because Dwight carried that team with almost no help. Kobe finally gets his first finals MVP, and deservedly so. He averaged 7 assists per game for an entire series! Granted, he shot 43% from the field while Pau shot 60% with his 18 points per game but that was Kobe's team and he shouldered the load. I will give him that one without protest. The next year is an example of why I don't think he can be considered in the top 5 of all time greats. They won it again, but he once again failed to elevate his game for a series when he shot 40% from the field with 4 rebounds and 4 assists. He's always going to get his points, because that's what he does. I have looked at his playoff/finals numbers and he simply doesn't take it to another level. The players around him did; Pau (virtually as many assits as Kobe), Fisher, Artest, and Odom all improved on their regular season stats when it mattered most. Do you remember the stats I listed for Shaquille? If you look back at the numbers, the best players play their best basketball when it matters most, but not Kobe. Consistently great. I understand that I am using numbers to skew the perspective, like most analysts do, and there is no denying that Kobe passes the eye test because he is amazing. But there is a laundry list of players over the course of history that I would take over Kobe Bryant based on numbers alone. And it's impossible to quantify the effect that his ego and shot selection have had on the psyche of his teammates.
Which brings me to this year. I got into a heated discussion with one of these bandwagon Kobe/Laker fans because I said that he doesn't know how to play with superstars anymore. Pau and Bynum are not superstars, they are all-stars. They are great players who blended well with Kobe because they didn't have the egos of superstars, but Kobe has always been a lone wolf so they were good fits. He struggled doing it with Shaq, and without Phil there to check his ego, I knew that this season was headed for trouble. I had no idea it would be this bad (imagine my delight) but I am in no way surprised. Firing Brown was mistake number one, Hiring D'Antoni was mistake number two, but thinking that Kobe would all of the sudden become a selfless teammate was what started it all. The Nash/Pau/Dwight combination alone would be enough to make this a playoff team, but Kobe has to be Kobe. Screw team basketball, he has to get his 30 a game and those other bums can fend for themselves. He needs to learn to be a more efficient scorer, but it's too late for that. I knew that this double digit assist thing was a mirage because he doesn't trust anyone but himself. This last debacle with throwing another teammate under the bus is the icing on the cake for me. I'm not going to sit back and pretend like this chump is above the game. It feels so similar to me since an old favorite of mine did the same thing in regards to football, and it invokes the same feeling of disdain in me for the disrespect of players past, current, and those to come. No one is above the game, and I am relishing the way his career is beginning to unravel similar to that of the aforementioned dickhead. I appreciate sports and players for who they really are, so I can admit that they are great players but can also see that they always put themselves first. Those are not people who I would want on my team.
Now for the record, I am a Mamba lover. It's been my favorite candy for as long as I can remember, but I'm sad to say that I can no longer find it in my local convenience stores so I'm forced to talk about the Black Mamba instead. Did you know that he gave himself that nickname? Who does that? I guess people who aren't worthy of nicknames to start out with. Mine (Messy) was given to me at birth by God himself, and then by my neighbor who couldn't pronounce my last name correctly. So the obvious argument for why he is one of the best ever is the number of rings that he has the luxury of wearing. I could make the argument that without Phil keeping Kobe's ego in check, he would have none. But that's too easy. For the first three championships (2000, '01, '02) he wasn't even the best player on his own team. In the first against the Pacers in Kobe's fourth year, he averaged 15 points, 4 rebounds, and 4 assists per game on 36% shooting! Shaq, a man capable of elevating his game for an entire series when it counts, averaged 38 points, 16 rebounds and almost 3 blocks a game while shooting an ungodly 61% for the series. For those of you that don't study basketball like I do, it's fairly simple to see if a player is an efficient scorer and can create good shots for himself. Does he make half of the shots that he takes from the floor? There is much more to it than that, like free throw attempts, 3 point attempts, etc. but I like to keep it simple. Kobe has never once in his career shot over 46% from the field during a season. You may think that is pretty close (in his best shooting season btw) but when you are shooting as much as Kobe does, those percentage points add up. In the next year against Philadelphia, his numbers improve across the board with averages of 24 points, 7 rebounds, and 5 assists per game in the finals. He still shot 41% from the field while Shaq had another monster series. In the third year during the sweep versus the Nets, Kobe had a great series. Unfortunately for Mamba and the Lakers, Shaq's was better; the count was 3 rings, no finals MVP's for Kobe and that started to eat at him. Does everyone remember how things played out after this? A couple losses to the Spurs and the Mambo decided that he was better than Shaq and that there isn't room for the two of them in LA. Because king baby Kobe is the future and Shaq was on the decline, he is soon traded to Miami (where he would win another ship) while Kobe remained in LA LA land. I think he honestly thought that he would be first player to ever win without any help, and I'm pretty sure he liked playing with scrubs (for a while) so he could hoist up as many shots as possible. He wanted to average 40 points a game and win in it all, and he was too arrogant to understand how impossible that is. Yeah, he scored 81 points in a game which is amazing. You know what else is amazing? How bad the Lakers were that year. They actually started a guy named Smush.
Kobe became relevant again once the Grizzlies essentially gave Kobe the key second man that he didn't think that he needed. By this time, an uber-talented Andrew Bynum was beginning to come into his own. Do people remember all the nonsense that went on before Gasol came? Kobe questioning publicly whether the Lakers still deserved him... Publicly slamming a young and impressionable Andrew Bynum and questioning the management's decision to take him... Throwing people under the bus left and right because he couldn't possibly accept responsibility for having a bad team. And that was just off the court. On the court, there was no such thing as a bad shot in his world. Why pass the ball when he could shoot a step-back fadeaway three-pointer and then whine for a foul when he missed? He has averaged under five assists a game for his career, mostly when he accidently dribbled off of his shoe to a teammate who was wide open for a layup because everyone was ooooing and ahhhhing at Kobe's "offense". To me he will go down as the player who took the most, and inherently made the most, bad shots. He is a bad shot maker, which fans love (and try and emulate, which is bad for the game). He once in a while will pass out of a double or triple-team, but not willingly. Then came the Zen Master, back again with the ability to somehow deceive Kobe (maybe he hypnotized him) into believing in this triangle offense which allowed other players to touch the ball every once in a while. So back they were in the finals in 2008 against a Magic team who had no right being there in the first place because Dwight carried that team with almost no help. Kobe finally gets his first finals MVP, and deservedly so. He averaged 7 assists per game for an entire series! Granted, he shot 43% from the field while Pau shot 60% with his 18 points per game but that was Kobe's team and he shouldered the load. I will give him that one without protest. The next year is an example of why I don't think he can be considered in the top 5 of all time greats. They won it again, but he once again failed to elevate his game for a series when he shot 40% from the field with 4 rebounds and 4 assists. He's always going to get his points, because that's what he does. I have looked at his playoff/finals numbers and he simply doesn't take it to another level. The players around him did; Pau (virtually as many assits as Kobe), Fisher, Artest, and Odom all improved on their regular season stats when it mattered most. Do you remember the stats I listed for Shaquille? If you look back at the numbers, the best players play their best basketball when it matters most, but not Kobe. Consistently great. I understand that I am using numbers to skew the perspective, like most analysts do, and there is no denying that Kobe passes the eye test because he is amazing. But there is a laundry list of players over the course of history that I would take over Kobe Bryant based on numbers alone. And it's impossible to quantify the effect that his ego and shot selection have had on the psyche of his teammates.
Which brings me to this year. I got into a heated discussion with one of these bandwagon Kobe/Laker fans because I said that he doesn't know how to play with superstars anymore. Pau and Bynum are not superstars, they are all-stars. They are great players who blended well with Kobe because they didn't have the egos of superstars, but Kobe has always been a lone wolf so they were good fits. He struggled doing it with Shaq, and without Phil there to check his ego, I knew that this season was headed for trouble. I had no idea it would be this bad (imagine my delight) but I am in no way surprised. Firing Brown was mistake number one, Hiring D'Antoni was mistake number two, but thinking that Kobe would all of the sudden become a selfless teammate was what started it all. The Nash/Pau/Dwight combination alone would be enough to make this a playoff team, but Kobe has to be Kobe. Screw team basketball, he has to get his 30 a game and those other bums can fend for themselves. He needs to learn to be a more efficient scorer, but it's too late for that. I knew that this double digit assist thing was a mirage because he doesn't trust anyone but himself. This last debacle with throwing another teammate under the bus is the icing on the cake for me. I'm not going to sit back and pretend like this chump is above the game. It feels so similar to me since an old favorite of mine did the same thing in regards to football, and it invokes the same feeling of disdain in me for the disrespect of players past, current, and those to come. No one is above the game, and I am relishing the way his career is beginning to unravel similar to that of the aforementioned dickhead. I appreciate sports and players for who they really are, so I can admit that they are great players but can also see that they always put themselves first. Those are not people who I would want on my team.
Monday, February 4, 2013
Trust me
Are we learning anything yet? Probably not, because most people are only looking for mindless entertainment rather than education, hence the success of the Big Bang Theory and the Kardashians. That won't stop me from trying to accomplish both, so don't be intimidated by big words. Did you know that as a journalist, I'm supposed to tailor my vocabulary to that of a 5th grader for you people? Don't worry, I think more highly of you than that so I'll just be myself. I'm feeling pretty guilty about not putting a Super Bowl prediction up, especially since I ended up nailing it... But you're going to have to trust me on that one.
Like most people, I am unable to see anything objectively and let emotions run my life. That is why I chose the Ravens to beat the 9ers in a shootout (I prefer 9ers because it reminds me of Tommy Boy... Were you calling from a walkie-talkie?). I find myself sympathizing with John Harbaugh for a number of reasons. For starters, Jim is sooooo unlikeabaughl! Speaking from experience as someone who thinks he is better than everybody else, he needs to do a better job of masking it. You have no idea how little I think of you, and I pride myself on that (e.g.- lying to you in paragraph 1, you 5th grade reader). A San Francisco fan rationalized this to me by saying that the legendary Bill Belicheck is also unlikeable, so he's fine with it. The difference is that Belly is incapable of being liked because he is a robot void of all emotions, plus he wears sweatshirts with no sleeves. Anyone else confused by that? I mean, it would be one thing if he was showing off his guns but he just seems to be making a mockery of everything that us humans consider holy. Jim was clearly daddy's favorite and has a sense of entitlement because he was the star athlete of the family while big brother had to get by on lesser talents, like intelligence. Why is it that John is always praising his brother's coaching skills, saying that Jim is the best coach in the league? I'm not denying Jim's coaching skills, because he clearly is a genius when it comes to football and San Francisco will be a force to be reckoned with for years to come. But would it be so hard to give credit where credit is due? John has been a stud coach from day one, but I doubt you'll hear that come from Jim's mouth. As a side note, it's unfortunate when the main story coming from the Super Bowl are the coaches. It's a good thing that the blackout swung the momentum completely, because this was shaping up to be one of the worst Super Bowls of all time. Was anyone else thinking that somewhere in New Orleans, Brad Pitt and George Clooney were pulling off some huge heist thanks to Don Cheadle sending an EMP through the stadium? Also, I don't want to hear about the holding call at the end of the game. The referees were consistently letting them play, and I loved it. The physicality was unlike anything I had ever seen. How about the late hit on Flacco? Or the re-routing of Torrie Smith on what could have been a touchdown on the second drive? It was consistent, so shut up. I'm glad the Ray Ray got to go out on top, because he is the greatest middle linebacker the game has ever seen and is an all-time great competitor. If you're looking to professional athletes to be role models, than you are too stupid to emulate anything that a true role model should portray. The only thing you should learn from professional athletes are that even if you are the most talented individual in the world, you still have to work harder than everyone else if you want to be the best. I mean if you're not using deer antler extract, then you're not trying hard enough. Jamarcus Russel could throw the ball 8,000 yards from his knees! Did anyone wonder how he developed that talent? Too lazy to stand and throw? Or maybe because it's easier to have someone shove cheeseburgers from the kitchen table into your mouth if you're on your knees. He wasn't willing to put in the work.
Much has been made of Brat Farve and Aaron Rodgers' handshake. I personally think that Benedict Brit thought that he was in the picture by himself and Rodgers was going for one of his patented photobombs. It was strange seeing them together, almost polar opposites. One is a class act, the other is an ass hat. One put the team on his back and carried a mediocre defense to a Super Bowl win, the other depended on Reggie White, Desmond Howard, and the number one defense in the league to help overcome his mistakes. One is a Super Bowl MVP, the other thinks he has the most valuable penis and is one of the few athletes ever to get tattled on for trying to be unfaithful to his wife. Does everyone remember her? Let me enlighten you. At age 20, Deanna became pregnant and gave birth to Farv's daughter Brittany. As a single mother, she put herself through college while working various jobs. Deanna said that ass hat often ignored her and Brittany, and she described him as "loud, rough, and often hateful" but attributed it to his painkiller addiction. Deanna said she considered leaving dickhead but worried that his addiction might become worse if she left. During his recovery, Brat proposed to Deanna. She questioned it at first, but agreed when ass hat went to get a marriage license and told her that she needed to come in and sign it. Heartwarming, isn't it? After being diagnosed with breast cancer at the age of 35, she became a leading activist in the fight against the disease. And then he showed Jen Sterger his penis. What a surprise that Brat was surrounded by Vikings at the NFL award ceremony! He simply was not given enough time in Minnesota to alienate himself from all of his teammates and fans... trust me on that one.
A quick note on the robot that is Bill Belicheck-- he's overrated. Let's see how he fares without Marsha Brady, because he wasn't much before he lucked into perhaps the best quarterback of all time. His lack of emotions have been the reason for his success as a GM, because he lacks something that most people have: Loyalty. He has never been loyal to anyone not named Marsha. He will trade anyone at the drop of a dime, and his strategy is simple and has worked for years. Trade for draft picks who can't negotiate contracts and handicap your salary cap. Players who gave everything for him were gone at the drop of a dime. Do we remember how this Wes Welker debacle went down? Troy Brown played offense and defense for Super Bowl teams and was cut out of the blue. Brady has been the only thing keeping that team afloat. Plus they cheated, which didn't hurt either.
At the expense of being labeled a prisoner of the moment, I think you can easily put Flacco in the top 5 qb's in the league. He is being compared to Eli, which is not something anyone should ever have to put up with. You're only as good as your last game, right? We saw Rodgers elevate his game to a ridiculous level during the playoff run, and the confidence he gained from that run carried over to the next season when he had arguably the greatest regular season of any quarterback ever. Don't be surprised to see Flacco have a monster year next year.
There are a few basketball related predictions that I nailed that I also feel I should take credit for. Now for the record, I have no problem admitting when I'm wrong because it means that I am one step closer in my quest to know everything. It's just that I have a hard time remembering those occasions... the brain is funny like that. The first was James Harden. I predicted that he would be a first-team all NBA this year. That basically means that he is the best shooting guard in the league. Fortunately this is different than the All-Star game where fans can choose, because fans know nothing. I'm pretty sure Yao Ming is still the starting center for the west. Kobe and D Wade have had more accomplished careers and are better at their respective skills, but Harden overall is better right now. Put Harden on the Lakers and that team is well over .500. People have irrational loyalty to their favorite players and can't see things objectively, but I can because I love Harden. Wade is the better defender, Kobe is better at fadeaways, but there is nothing that Harden can't do on offense and is well above average on defense. I may end up being wrong because if the Lakers make the playoffs, Kobe may end up getting grandfathered in (pun intended) because he learned how to play team basketball. It's always impressive when an old dog learns new tricks. But Harden is still better, and deserves to be recognized as the best shooting guard in the league.
The second prediction was that the Warriors were going to be great this year. I only had to take one look at their roster after the draft to see that they are too talented to be bad. If I've learned anything from the Spurs, it's that depth and teamwork will always translate to success. Every one of the warriors bench players could start, and most have started, on other teams. Every draft pick was a major hit. They lost Brandon Rush for the season, who was finally coming into his own early this year with a heavy dose of confidence, and they still are one of the deepest teams in the league. Every player in their starting lineup is a willing passer who can shoot. They truly are a younger version of the Spurs. They've done all of this without Bogut, one of the best centers in the league (and another willing passer). I had no idea Mark Jackson would be so successful as a coach so soon, but he has them buying into whatever he's selling. They are one of the up-and-coming teams in the league and will be around for years to come. All of my said predictions can be verified by those within my social circles. I promise I will be more forthright about putting them in the posts so that you can squeal with delight if I happen to get something wrong... starting next time. Trust me.
Like most people, I am unable to see anything objectively and let emotions run my life. That is why I chose the Ravens to beat the 9ers in a shootout (I prefer 9ers because it reminds me of Tommy Boy... Were you calling from a walkie-talkie?). I find myself sympathizing with John Harbaugh for a number of reasons. For starters, Jim is sooooo unlikeabaughl! Speaking from experience as someone who thinks he is better than everybody else, he needs to do a better job of masking it. You have no idea how little I think of you, and I pride myself on that (e.g.- lying to you in paragraph 1, you 5th grade reader). A San Francisco fan rationalized this to me by saying that the legendary Bill Belicheck is also unlikeable, so he's fine with it. The difference is that Belly is incapable of being liked because he is a robot void of all emotions, plus he wears sweatshirts with no sleeves. Anyone else confused by that? I mean, it would be one thing if he was showing off his guns but he just seems to be making a mockery of everything that us humans consider holy. Jim was clearly daddy's favorite and has a sense of entitlement because he was the star athlete of the family while big brother had to get by on lesser talents, like intelligence. Why is it that John is always praising his brother's coaching skills, saying that Jim is the best coach in the league? I'm not denying Jim's coaching skills, because he clearly is a genius when it comes to football and San Francisco will be a force to be reckoned with for years to come. But would it be so hard to give credit where credit is due? John has been a stud coach from day one, but I doubt you'll hear that come from Jim's mouth. As a side note, it's unfortunate when the main story coming from the Super Bowl are the coaches. It's a good thing that the blackout swung the momentum completely, because this was shaping up to be one of the worst Super Bowls of all time. Was anyone else thinking that somewhere in New Orleans, Brad Pitt and George Clooney were pulling off some huge heist thanks to Don Cheadle sending an EMP through the stadium? Also, I don't want to hear about the holding call at the end of the game. The referees were consistently letting them play, and I loved it. The physicality was unlike anything I had ever seen. How about the late hit on Flacco? Or the re-routing of Torrie Smith on what could have been a touchdown on the second drive? It was consistent, so shut up. I'm glad the Ray Ray got to go out on top, because he is the greatest middle linebacker the game has ever seen and is an all-time great competitor. If you're looking to professional athletes to be role models, than you are too stupid to emulate anything that a true role model should portray. The only thing you should learn from professional athletes are that even if you are the most talented individual in the world, you still have to work harder than everyone else if you want to be the best. I mean if you're not using deer antler extract, then you're not trying hard enough. Jamarcus Russel could throw the ball 8,000 yards from his knees! Did anyone wonder how he developed that talent? Too lazy to stand and throw? Or maybe because it's easier to have someone shove cheeseburgers from the kitchen table into your mouth if you're on your knees. He wasn't willing to put in the work.
Much has been made of Brat Farve and Aaron Rodgers' handshake. I personally think that Benedict Brit thought that he was in the picture by himself and Rodgers was going for one of his patented photobombs. It was strange seeing them together, almost polar opposites. One is a class act, the other is an ass hat. One put the team on his back and carried a mediocre defense to a Super Bowl win, the other depended on Reggie White, Desmond Howard, and the number one defense in the league to help overcome his mistakes. One is a Super Bowl MVP, the other thinks he has the most valuable penis and is one of the few athletes ever to get tattled on for trying to be unfaithful to his wife. Does everyone remember her? Let me enlighten you. At age 20, Deanna became pregnant and gave birth to Farv's daughter Brittany. As a single mother, she put herself through college while working various jobs. Deanna said that ass hat often ignored her and Brittany, and she described him as "loud, rough, and often hateful" but attributed it to his painkiller addiction. Deanna said she considered leaving dickhead but worried that his addiction might become worse if she left. During his recovery, Brat proposed to Deanna. She questioned it at first, but agreed when ass hat went to get a marriage license and told her that she needed to come in and sign it. Heartwarming, isn't it? After being diagnosed with breast cancer at the age of 35, she became a leading activist in the fight against the disease. And then he showed Jen Sterger his penis. What a surprise that Brat was surrounded by Vikings at the NFL award ceremony! He simply was not given enough time in Minnesota to alienate himself from all of his teammates and fans... trust me on that one.
A quick note on the robot that is Bill Belicheck-- he's overrated. Let's see how he fares without Marsha Brady, because he wasn't much before he lucked into perhaps the best quarterback of all time. His lack of emotions have been the reason for his success as a GM, because he lacks something that most people have: Loyalty. He has never been loyal to anyone not named Marsha. He will trade anyone at the drop of a dime, and his strategy is simple and has worked for years. Trade for draft picks who can't negotiate contracts and handicap your salary cap. Players who gave everything for him were gone at the drop of a dime. Do we remember how this Wes Welker debacle went down? Troy Brown played offense and defense for Super Bowl teams and was cut out of the blue. Brady has been the only thing keeping that team afloat. Plus they cheated, which didn't hurt either.
At the expense of being labeled a prisoner of the moment, I think you can easily put Flacco in the top 5 qb's in the league. He is being compared to Eli, which is not something anyone should ever have to put up with. You're only as good as your last game, right? We saw Rodgers elevate his game to a ridiculous level during the playoff run, and the confidence he gained from that run carried over to the next season when he had arguably the greatest regular season of any quarterback ever. Don't be surprised to see Flacco have a monster year next year.
There are a few basketball related predictions that I nailed that I also feel I should take credit for. Now for the record, I have no problem admitting when I'm wrong because it means that I am one step closer in my quest to know everything. It's just that I have a hard time remembering those occasions... the brain is funny like that. The first was James Harden. I predicted that he would be a first-team all NBA this year. That basically means that he is the best shooting guard in the league. Fortunately this is different than the All-Star game where fans can choose, because fans know nothing. I'm pretty sure Yao Ming is still the starting center for the west. Kobe and D Wade have had more accomplished careers and are better at their respective skills, but Harden overall is better right now. Put Harden on the Lakers and that team is well over .500. People have irrational loyalty to their favorite players and can't see things objectively, but I can because I love Harden. Wade is the better defender, Kobe is better at fadeaways, but there is nothing that Harden can't do on offense and is well above average on defense. I may end up being wrong because if the Lakers make the playoffs, Kobe may end up getting grandfathered in (pun intended) because he learned how to play team basketball. It's always impressive when an old dog learns new tricks. But Harden is still better, and deserves to be recognized as the best shooting guard in the league.
The second prediction was that the Warriors were going to be great this year. I only had to take one look at their roster after the draft to see that they are too talented to be bad. If I've learned anything from the Spurs, it's that depth and teamwork will always translate to success. Every one of the warriors bench players could start, and most have started, on other teams. Every draft pick was a major hit. They lost Brandon Rush for the season, who was finally coming into his own early this year with a heavy dose of confidence, and they still are one of the deepest teams in the league. Every player in their starting lineup is a willing passer who can shoot. They truly are a younger version of the Spurs. They've done all of this without Bogut, one of the best centers in the league (and another willing passer). I had no idea Mark Jackson would be so successful as a coach so soon, but he has them buying into whatever he's selling. They are one of the up-and-coming teams in the league and will be around for years to come. All of my said predictions can be verified by those within my social circles. I promise I will be more forthright about putting them in the posts so that you can squeal with delight if I happen to get something wrong... starting next time. Trust me.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)