My Brain was Swelling...

I've been slacking, I know, but sometimes, it isn't easy to find time to write when you've got a job.  But my brain has been swelling with thoughts, so this shall be my ice to reduce that swell.


NBA Thoughts

-When the New York Yankees go to World Series, the Boston fans who root against them draw no criticism.  If the Dallas Cowboys go to the Superbowl, the Giants, Eagles, and Redskins fans who root against them, draw no criticism.  When the Lakers go to the Finals, the Boston Celtics fans draw no criticism.

But when the Miami Heat, who are fronted by a player who jilted the Cleveland Cavaliers and more importantly the Cleveland Cavaliers fans, make it to the finals, and Cleveland fans root against them, it's an atrocity.  Why?  Why is it such a terrible thing to root against a team?  When did being a fan become not being a fan?  There were only 2 teams in the NBA Finals.  That leaves 28 other teams' fan bases that had no vested interested.  The ratings were huge for the finals.  A lot of people were rooting against the Heat, and against LeBron.  Why is this terrible?  The media wants to make it about Clevelanders rooting against LeBron- that's wrong.  EVERYONE who has a spine and is not from Miami was rooting against the Heat.  They broke the rules. They thought they found a loophole.

It's like in the movie Dogma, when Ben Affleck and Matt Damon were angels banished from Heaven.  Then they found a loophole to get back in.  God can't be proven wrong- there are no loopholes.  Had they gained re-entry to Heaven, the entire universe would have imploded, and there would be nothing.  Had Miami won the championship this year, combined with the pending lockout, the NBA would have taken a huge hit in ratings, because a lot of people (like me, and the frequent commenter "W") would stop watching.  Thank goodness Dirk thwarted that possibility.. now we get to relive this torment next year... and the next year...

-How awesome is Dirk Nowitzki?  He is everything that's right and just in professional sports.  He paid his dues.  He endured tireless criticism, failed repeatedly, but kept working and eventually that work paid off.  He had an owner who was determined to help him win, not an owner who was determined to win for himself.  Not since The Dream won the championship in 1994 has a 1 star team won the title.  The Pistons in 2004 don't count- they didn't have any stars.  Dirk is awesome.  Now we'll spend the next 8 months debating if he belongs in the top 10 players of all time, or top 20... what a dumb issue.  Let's just enjoy what we have now, and that is an NBA Championship team.

-Did you guys know that LeBron is rich and most of us aren't?  I had started to forget about that until he reminded us after he lost game 6.  Thank you LeBron.  Not only did you remind us how wealthy you are, but you also reminded us all who self-centered an unaware you really are.  But let's think about what he said, in perspective.  He reminded us (as in, all those rooting for him to fail- that's important) that we all have to wake up with the same lives, and the same problems, and he's going to continue living how he wants.  Am I supposed to draw from this, that had I been rooting for him to succeed, that I would have woken up Monday morning without my personal problems?  Is that all it takes?

And in perspective, he was implying that his life is so much better than everyone else's, because money can't buy happiness, but it can buy a lot of things that can make you happy.  But if you think about it, he works in a controlled workplace, told everyone what he was going to do 7 months before he would have a chance.. and then failed.  Kind of like how you don't say you're going to win the lottery, throw a party on a credit card thinking you'd be able to pay it off.. and then you don't win the lottery.  Or in sales, you tell your boss you're going to land this big contract, go buy yourself a new car, and then don't make the sale.  Basically, you told everyone you're going to achieve the highest level of excellence that you can achieve, and then when you had your chance, you failed, miserably.  Yes, miserably.

-Dwayne Wade is a bad influence on LeBron.  There's no way to explain it.  It's not that me makes him worse as a player, or encourages LeBron to do drugs or something.  But he makes LeBron complacent.  LeBron thinks (I think) that he doesn't have to perform all the time, because he's got Dwayne to back it up.  That's no way to play.  When LeBron was in Cleveland, he was the man.  He knew it, we knew it, and the other teams knew it.  But he thrived.  Remember when the Cavs lost to the Celtics in game 7 in 2008?  LeBron put up 47.  That was inspired play.  Remember when LeBron scored more than 30 in the finals this year?  Neither do I.  He doesn't want to be the man, but he plays better when he is.  That's the problem with having two players with the identical style, and almost the identical skill set- LeBron is more gifted physically. LeBron doesn't think he has to be the man so he let up.  That's no good.  Maybe if we're lucky he won't take notice and fix it, and he won't spend the summer working in the post... but I doubt it.

-Poor Chris Bosh.  Yes he may or may not look like a dinosaur.  But he was quietly the most consistent player in these playoffs, but he will ultimately play the role of scapegoat on the team.  If this Big 3 ever gets blown up, he will be the one to go.  I don't think he should be.   Imagine Dwayne Wade being replaced with, say, Chris Paul.  You're telling me a LeBron with a post-game, a Chris Boshosaur with a mid-range jumper, and Chris Paul distributing, they're not better than this Miami Heat team?  And you're telling me the Hornets wouldn't trade Paul on an expiring contract for a Wade who would be theirs for 5 years?  Shhhh... don't tell Pat Riley.

-Finally, can we all move on now?  The Heat didn't win this year, LeBron failed miserably, can we go back to the normal level of craziness that comes with being a Clevelander?  The Indians were in first place for awhile, but I think we dropped the ball, and focused too much on rooting against LeBron and forgot about a bright-spot that we had going.  Now they're one game away (tonight) from being in 2nd.  In 9 days, we have the NBA Draft, a new future will start for the Cavs, there's something to be excited for in 2013.  Oh yeah, the lockout is happening, don't expect anything good next year, other than maybe another top 3 draft pick, which after a shortened season, why not?  Here's you choices:  Have the 9th best team in the East, maaaaaybe squeak in to the 8th seed only to be destroyed in the first round, and get like the 15th pick in the draft; OR you can suffer through a shortened (probably 40-50 games) and be the worst team in the league, or close to it, and get high draft picks again.  AND there's still the possibility of trading the likes of Jamison and Davis for even more draft picks.  For a lockout shortened season, I'd rather take the draft lottery.  It worked for the Thunder, why not us?

The NCAA Sucks


-Shocking, I know.  I really hate when the government gets involved in sports, like how they did with baseball and steroids.  But can they get involved and force the NCAA to completely clean house and start over.  How is there a business that can be run so poorly?  It'd be one thing if stuff happened behind closed doors and nobody knew how ludicrous a company was run.  But the NCAA does it in front of everyone, and we can't do anything about it.  Obama, please, nuke the NCAA.

Here are two general ideas on how to fix the NCAA amateur issue:

From W:


What if you did kind of like major league baseball… a player can commit to the nfl at any time during his college career or after high school.  Goes in to the draft and is drafted whenever or not at all… but keep the rule that they have to be in school at least 3 years or 21 years of age.  If they commit early, they are stuck with whatever contract they get when they are drafted and they go back to school to continue playing until they are eligible… if they fail out they still cant play til they are 21… which would make them try harder to stay in school.  If they take money from a booster or do something against rules they are suspended and fined if they have a contract with the NFL… or possibly kicked out of school.  And they can lose their contract for breaking the rules.


From Me:


Give the kids, as part of their scholarship money, which is probably more than they need anyway, a prepaid visa for an amount.  Say it gets reloaded every quarter (since OSU is on quarters, not semesters) with an amount similar to having a part-time job- for food, drinks, going out, small shopping trips.  That gets rid of the "I'm poor, so all I could do was take make/sell stuff."  Also, it has to be mandatory for athletes to live in college housing.  This eliminates the need for rent, and fully utilizes what's involved in their scholarship anyway.    Also, make it part of the scholarship, that the student-athlete has to sign, that says if he violates his amateur status, and it is found at within any point, that said student-athlete must repay the entire scholarship + interest (like if you have a Reggie Bush situation where you find out years later).  It will be legally bound contract that will at least pose some sort of threat to the student, especially if they're a borderline NFL player.  If they're going to make it to the league anyway, it at least gets money back to the school that can be given to students who aren't unethical.


Finally, and this is where the government comes in, make it a felony to provide substantial benefits to an amateur athlete, specifically directed at agents and boosters.  The NFL needs to be involved to where if an athlete does accept moneys and is found out, he can be fined in the NFL, but at an exponentially higher amount than what he received.  Also, make selling items awarded for personal and team achievements fair game, but set a general market value for them, to determine what an excessive amount would be considered.  It seems like a lot of work, but I don't think it would actually take all that much work, and could work without the NFL and government's involvement.


Anyone agree with either theory?