The NBA, and why it sucks

Note: This post was composed after game 2 of the Finals. I wrote it then and avoided publishing it to avoid having to talk about the godforsaken NBA while it was still in season. I'll have a new post up soon talking about the Finals soon.

I've seen enough NBA basketball to recognize how bad it is. Millionaire players missing free throws, games coming down to missed free throws, decidedly unbalanced officiating, and a hilarious lack of understanding of the game of basketball make the NBA, well, the NBA.

There are a couple different things in the sporting world that are influenced too heavily by officiating. Only one is a sport. Basketball, much like gymnastics, synchronized swimming, and figure skating, relies on officials to make decisions which fundamentally alter the game. In hockey, the biggest call a referee can make is the awarding of a penalty shot. In basketball, a ref can change possession of the ball, award free throws, and remove a player from a game in a single play. In a tight game, as the NBA playoffs tend to be, a one point swing can end a game. But calls are routinely made which allow a team to go from having scored a three pointer to being called for a charge and technical foul, sometimes allowing as much as a 5 point swing on a single play. In a slightly wider time frame, a three pointer called back can turn into a three pointer plus a foul shot on the other end. That's 7 points. That's the margin of victory in many games.

In gymnastics, in sync-swimming, and in many other competitions, the judges (officials) have time to observe the "athlete" and make a judgment. In basketball, the decisions are split-second, based on an oblique view from across the court, with ever-expanding impact. NBA instant replay rules only compound a bad situation, restricting what can and can't be reviewed, allowing officials to comfortably make the "right call" even when other factors make the "right call" the wrong call. NBA refs are old, they are getting older, and they are far, far too chummy with the players and coaches. Kobe Bryant frequently puts his arm around the refs and talks to them; players all over the league are able to talk to referees with abandon. This does not portray an image of a league in which consistent officiating can be expected. In baseball, a player touches an umpire and he's ejected. If he whines about balls and strikes, he's ejected. The first step to legitimizing officiating in the NBA is elevating the officials above in-game trash talk and whining. Technical fouls and ejections need to be used to keep the players from interacting with the referees.

Free throw shooting is boring. Unfortunately, many games in the NBA come down to free throw shooting. There's a few reasons for this:

• the players are no longer playing basketball, but streetball
• multimillionaire basketball players inexplicably suck at free throws
• inconsistent, or worse, consistently poor, officiating

Either basketball is a contact game or it isn't. 20 years ago, it wasn't. Then Michael Jordan arrived, and now every jump shooter in the world tries to lean into his defender to draw contact in the hopes of getting a foul, and every defender clobbers anybody in the paint. Basketball is not a contact sport. Assign technical fouls for physical defense and physical offense. Separate the players and let the game flow like it used to, because streetball sucks. And for the love of god, I haven't the faintest idea how PROFESSIONAL basketball players miss free throws, sometimes more than 50% of them. Games are regularly won and lost by free throw margins. Most teams would win far more games by simply making all of their free throws, rather than signing a new player or adopting a new coach.

Finally, the players kinda suck. The on-court screaming, the trash-talking, the goose-necking, it's all stupid. Yes, the players are passionate. But slamming your head into the padding on the basket or pounding your fist on your chest, or yelling "motherfucker!" at your defender, those things are not passion, they're stupid. If I never see Nate Robinson jump off the bench yelling obscenities at opposing players again, it'll be too soon.

The NBA is broken. When the NHL is a more forward thinking league than yours, something foul is afoot. When the college game has better officiated games, more interesting players, and a more compelling background, why does the NBA even exist?

Quick, Kings beat Devils with 2 goals in final 1:46

Click for larger version of Quick's glove.

At the time Quick made the save of the game, the Kings were down 2-1 late in the third period. Somehow, Quick managed to get his glove in front of a puck he couldn't see, stopping a sure goal and keeping the Kings within one. This is the type of save I want to make once in my life. It's not a save you make from being in position, it's not a save you make from having good reactions, it's a save you make because you got really lucky. Really, incredibly lucky. Which makes it a save I'm capable of. Maybe.

The tying goal made Brodeur look Marcus-esque, as Simmonds slipped a shot from a tough angle between Brodeur's leg and the post. The winning goal, with 28 seconds left, came on a center point shot from Doughty that made it through traffic and deflected off Brodeur to go in five-hole.

Let's recap this weekend:

• Huskies beat Old Dominion 74-64.
  
• Kings beat Bruins 3-2 in a shootout. (watch Anze in the shootout, recap video here)
  
• Lakers beat Celtics 90-89. (video)
  
• Kings beat Devils 3-2 after being down 2-1 as late as 18:13 in the third period.
  

Talk about some fortuitous bounces of the puck. The Kings are now 4th in the Western Conference, with a chance at home ice in the playoffs if they can stay there.

Playoffs? Playoffs?! Unbelievably, yes. The Kings missing the playoffs would be a tremendous disappointment.

The Huskies sit at 9-2 in the CAA, tied for second place, with the likelihood of a first-round bye in the CAA tournament growing weekly. If this team fails to win the CAA tournament, and thus misses the NCAA tournament, they will have squandered the best team this school has had since the Reggie years. It's important to note that they live and die by the three pointer, so they're likely to be very streaky. A good streak would take them well into the NCAA's.

The Lakers, despite some late struggles, are still up 4 games over Denver for first in the West. They're 9.5 games in front of Phoenix in the Pacific, code for "rest Kobe for the playoffs, please."

Beanpot tomorrow.

Got Wood?

Angels 8, Seattle 0

Finally, a fun game to watch. Howie Kendrick went 3-5 with a homer, Juan Rivera went deep, Brandon Wood started (!), and Halo hurlers looks magnificent on the mound. Wood went 1-4, but should have been 3-4 with three doubles. His first double was stolen away by a great play by Beltre at third. His second double was hit even harder, again snared by Beltre, but Wood reached on an awful throw to first. his third double was a clean hit, but nailed the umpire behind Beltre and held him to a single. It's really hard to complain about someone going 1-4 when they go 3-4 with three doubles with a league-average third baseman and a mobile umpire.

Weaver looked good, great at times, and managed to cruise through 7 shutout innings on just 95 pitches. My biggest concern with Weaver has been his lack of an out pitch, leading to long innings and limiting his ability to throw more than 6 innings. Today, though, his changeup was an out pitch, and he recorded 5 K's to only two walks. Shields pitched a solid eighth, throwing 11 pitches to record three outs, the last two on a brilliant 3-6-1 double play. I didn't catch the ninth, but Fuentes struck out the side around a hit and a walk. I can live with that.

Things the Angels can do to keep me interested and claw back to .500:

• Win three games in a row.
• Keep playing Brandon Wood.
• Get good performances out of the most important bullpen pieces: Speier, Arredondo, Shields, and Fuentes.
• Stop dropping pop flies in the outfield. Torii, the ball is your responsibility.
  

Chicago Bulls 121, Boston Celtics 118 (2OT)

A fun game to watch. Ben Gordon hit an incredible three over Paul Pierce to send the game to 2OT, but the game never should have made it to overtime. Word of advice to teams playing the Celtics: Ray Allen is the ONLY player you have to guard with less than a minute remaining. Chicago's inability to play perimeter defense will screw them, as it already has, either again in this series or in the next round. Guard Allen. Guard him. Zone defense is for pasties.


NCAA Women's Tennis

Big congratulations to Amanda, who finishes up her senior year of Pac-10 play by leading the Trojans to their first Pac-10 women's tennis title in 17 years, then following up the team effort with a pair of individual Pac-10 titles for singles and doubles. This sweep was the first by a single player since 1917. Wow.

You'll see Amanda again in the NCAA's in a week or so, and then again on the pro circuit.

Playoffs

Lakers 113, Utah 100

The Lakers played some extremely mediocre basketball in the second half and won by 13. During their sloppiest quarter of the game, they led by no fewer than 9. Kobe Bryant ensured the game was over once LA led by 22 at the half.

They play again tonight, and it will be closer. Lakers in 5.


Boston 118, Chicago 115

I'm going to go ahead and say that basketball coaches are idiots. Unlike managers in baseball, NBA coaches actually have to do things fairly often, like dictate substitutions and call set plays. They all make the same error at the end of games, and I'll show you what they should be doing.

If your team is tied, particularly on the road, with less than a shot clock remaining and with possession belonging to the other team, FOUL. I know it sounds crazy. But the second the ball touches someone who doesn't shoot 80% free throws, foul.

But Marcus, you're clearly an idiot, you say. Then you're just giving the lead to the home team with 15 seconds t play!

I know, and that's good. The last shot at the end of a quarter is highly overrated. The last shot at the end of a game is highly underrated. Let's go through the scenarios:

1.) You don't foul:

• They make the shot with under 5 seconds remaining and win the game.
• They miss the shot with under 5 seconds remaining and the game goes to overtime.

2.) You do foul:

• They make both free throws and you have a chance at a tying shot/winning three.
  
• They miss one and you have a chance at a winning shot.

I'm sorry, but I'd rather be down a point with 15 seconds left and the ball than tied with 15 seconds left without possession. Particularly in a game where you're on the road (and thus looking to steal a game), where overtime naturally favors the home team, and where there's clearly been no defense whatsoever the whole game (115-115), this seems like an easy choice. I ask this: If the Bulls were playing the Lakers of 2001 last night, would they have fouled Shaq?

Shaq career FT%: .581
Kendrick Perkins career FT%: .601

Yeah, coaches are dumb. Despite all the mantra about "don't play to not lose," that's exactly what coaches do.


NHL Playoffs

The Ducks, behind rookie goalie Jonas Hiller, are the luckiest team to take the ice since the Boston University Terriers. I suspect Scott Niedermeyer has a horseshoe so far up his ass he can't digest his daily salad of four-leaf clovers.

The Sharks were pretty much my team for these playoffs, and they're now down 2-0 because a +20 shot differential in the NHL apparently means nothing anymore.


Angels

I'd just like to get to .500, please. At 4-8, that means we need a 4 game winning streak, which is about as likely as Tim Salmon coming out of retirement and hitting 40 homers in a shortened season.

At this point, I'm having a hard time seeing this team suddenly fix its bullpen and generate offense from any of the SS, 2B, 1B, and RF positions unless Abreu is in right (in which case LF is a problem). I think Aybar has a real shot at being a capable major league hitter, as his minor league numbers are superb, but he certainly hasn't proved it yet. Howie Kendrick is failing and clearly not built for the 2 spot in the lineup. Kendry Morales started hot but has since cooled down and is not providing the offense needed from an offense-first position. Juan Rivera and/or Gary Matthews Jr. are not hitting homers, and are therefore not suitably good outfielders. Neither is Abreu, but at least he gets lots of hits and gets on base.

The bullpen is a mess, turning brilliant starts from Nick Adenhart, Dustin Moseley, Darren Oliver, and Shane Loux into losses. Part of the problem is Mike Scioscia's asinine bullpen strategy, and part of it is a reliance on AAAA-type players Kevin Jepsen and Jason Bulger, neither of whom would be playing anywhere near a major league bullpen if not for the Angels' thus far extensive use of the disabled list. Lots of people are pointing to the loss of Francisco Rodriguez as the problem. Don't believe them. Since Scioscia doesn't allow his closer to pitch outside the ninth, the only game the Angels might have won with Frankie over Fuentes would've been Adenhart's start versus Oakland.

This team still has a chance at the playoffs, but they need to turn it around quickly. And if they don't, this team NEEDS both a great draft and a fire sale before the trading deadline. Major league talent needs to be packaged for high-level prospects and the farm system needs to be reloaded at the AA and AAA level to allow this team to compete in two years instead of five. I'm serious...if the Angels still suck in two months, they need to make sure they'll be good again sooner than later. Texas, Seattle, and Oakland will all be good as early as next season.


Misc:

I picked up a 1992(!) Trek 930 on Craigslist for $90, and wow, talk about improvement. It's the first "real" mountain bike I've had in quite a few years, and the massively better ride/feel over a year-old Schwinn is crazy. Plus, the brakes still work, something which can't be said about the old bike. I'm surprised there's not still a market for lugged steel frames. This thing is solid.

Haha

And the Celtics self-destruct in 3,2,1, boom.

I can't think of a worse fit for the team, except maybe Mikki Moore. Oh, wait...

I'll be in New Jersey this weekend, but expect some blogging to continue pending this weekend's Huskies vs. UMass Lowell results.

Disappointment

Lakers 92, Celtics 131

I had a pretty lengthy recap all set to go here, but I've decided against it. I was going to explain why the Lakers lost and why they should have won two of the previous games this series. I was going to have a serious chat about Gasol being a power forward and not a center, and describe the fallacies of jump shooting. I was going to yell at Phil Jackson for his idea of perimeter defense. I was also going to complain, at quite some length, about the Lakers' free throw shooting.

But I'm not doing any of that.

Celtics fans, enjoy the championship, because it's the last you're going to see in a while. The real impact players on your team, the Big Three, are old. The team as a whole slumped hard through the first two rounds of the playoffs, and without home court advantage would have lost to the lowly Hawks. While the whole league grows younger, one Rondo and one Powe does not offset the effects of time on Garnett's jump shooting. That was his first good game in the Finals.

Meanwhile, the Lakers next year are young. Very young. Bynum. Gasol. Ariza. Hell, we forget that Kobe's not yet 30. Lamar's not yet 30. The Lakers of 2009-2011 should be perennial Finals contenders, and I suspect we'll see a couple parades down Figueroa because, well, look what they did this year without their starting center. Without Ariza the whole year. In an incredibly strong Western Conference.

During Chicago's MJ dynasty years, they had to lose to the Pistons before winning it all.

Today's Celtics are yesteryears Pistons.


Angels 6, Mets 1

John Lackey is really good, and so is Johann Santana. But, for some reason, Santana's never been the same ace against the Angels as he is against seemingly everyone else. It also helps that the Angels have seen him plenty of times thanks to his time with the Twins, while the Mets have never faced Lackey. Interestingly, Santana's Twins teammate Torii Hunter went 2-2 with a pair of doubles and a walk against his former staff ace.

Either way, the Angels have now scored 6 runs on consecutive nights for the first time in, like, forever, and should have had more but for an unusual play in the eighth. Jeff Mathis hit the ball directly at Mets shortstop Easley, who got bowled over by Gary Matthews breaking for third. The ball rolled into center field with everyone safe. For some reason, the umpires decided that GMJ had interfered with the fielder, which he hadn't, and that Mathis had earned a hit on the play, which he hadn't. It pulled Kendrick back from home to third and took the 7th run off the board, but it is what it is.

Scot Shields is good. He threw 1.1 hitless innings to close out an excellent game by Lackey.

Angels and Mets face off again tonight at 7:05 PST.

Sasha and Vlad

Good night for sports in LA, at least with regard to teams I like.


Kings fire Crawford

The Kings, who managed to finish second to last and therefore (presumably) missed out on Steve Stamkos, have fired Marc Crawford with a year still left on his contract. GM Dean Lombardi claims it was a "gut call," but it probably has something to do with the legacy of underachieving which permeates the franchise. I've said it before and I'll say it again: AEG is not a suitable team owner, in any sport, and I'd like someone along the lines of Mark Cuban to buy the team and turn it into a contender.

I'm not sure Crawford was the problem...when you lose 43 games, the bigger problem is the players. The Kings haven't really had a legitimate goalie since Potvin left, but the prospect of Bernier making it to LA soon is promising. Also, look for Hockey East alums F Brian Boyle (Boston College...BC sucks), F Teddy Purcell (Maine), and possibly G Jon Quick (UMass) to see some time at Staples. Boyle has been given plenty of ice time and has, surprisingly, excelled, so expect to see him starting on the third or fourth line at center. What a goon, though.

If I had to choose a coach, with my relatively limited knowledge of the NHL, I'd look outside the organization at this point. Unless we can get Luuuuuuc to coach, I don't see any reason why the Kings should be trying to find and internal solution, particularly with the relatively disconnected ownership.


Angels 6, Rays 1

6 runs?! That's as close to the 10-run Hooters wings promotion as the Halos have gotten in a month. Jered pitched one hell of a game, going 8 innings and surrendering the only Rays run on a Gabe Gross homer with two out in the eighth. I only caught snippets of this game, between the Lakers and competitive drinking games, but I did observe the aforementioned Gross homer, along with the first inning two run bomb to right from Garett Anderson and the fifth inning Vlad blast. Speaking of Vlad, he went 2-4 with a pair of RBI's, so his average is slowly creeping back up to what we all know and love.

James Shields gave up 6 runs on 10 hits while striking out 9, pitching 8 innings. It's an unusual line score, but I don't have a whole lot more insight beyond that. Usually with strikeout totals you expect at least one walk, but he was facing the Angels, so walks are a rarity. This was also the first time Shields pitched after the brawl in Boston, and he was probably a little amped up during the four-run first inning.

Scot Shields pitched a scoreless ninth for the Halos, striking out the first two batters he faced before getting a groundout to third to end it. Scot's probably my favorite reliever of all time because, well, the guy makes millions of dollars and still drinks Bud Light.


Lakers 87, Celtics 81

There are eight million game recaps out there for this game, so I won't bother. But I will say this. The Lakers could have won this game by 20. They could have lost this game by 20. Three reasons for both scenarios:

• Free throws
• Pau Gasol
• Lamar Odom

Free throws in the NBA have always pissed me off. But first of all, the moving screen needs to be allowed, because every screen in the NBA is a moving screen. Either call it every time, or don't call it at all. And getting hit in the face, for some reason, apparently isn't a foul, but tripping over your own feet is. The officiating was bad this game as well, but slightly less bad than previously, and bad in a way which, for the most part, helped the Lakers.

Free throws. FREE throws. The first word is important. They're free. FREE POINTS. If you're the league MVP, you shouldn't miss free throws. Ever. Not one. Especially not two in a row. And don't you dare miss 7 of the 18 FREE points the refs try to give you. As far as I'm concerned, if you can't shoot at least 80% from the line, you have no business driving into the lane. Hell, you have no business playing in the NBA. It's pathetic. It was kinda cute when Shaq would walk to the line, sweating profusely into his own eyes, and then miss free throws on shots which looked more like straight lines than rainbows. But it's not cute anymore. The Lakers gave away a collective 13 points on FREE points last night.

Pau Gasol. Pau, oh Pau. We all love you, but this disappearing act needs to stop. If you're gonna get into the paint, FINISH. And if you get fouled, make your god damn FREE THROWS. Seriously. Pau missed 5 of his 8 attempts at free points. He also went 3 for 9 from the field. Unacceptable.

Lamar Odom. Lamar didn't do anything this game. He also has an incredibly creepy vein in his right shoulder. I swear it looks like somethings gonna pop out of that thing and start consuming Jack Nicholson.

But, as always, Kobe. And Sasha Vujacic? Are you kidding me? The Lakers don't even get close to winning this one without The Machine, and man, was he fun to watch. Sasha finished with 20 points, going 3 for 5 from outside the arc and 7 of 10 overall. Kind of a big deal.

Game four is Thursday at 9:00. Pierce, Garnett, Fisher, Odom, and Gasol should all play better games, mostly because it would be difficult to play any worse.


Game Preview: Rays at Angels, 3:35 PM EST

Whoever wins this game wins the series...I've never been partial to the term "rubber game." Should be another excellent pitching matchup, with John Lackey facing off with Scott Kazmir. Vlad is heating up, hitting five homers in the last 14 games and raising his average to .270, while Maicer Izturis has a ten game hitting streak thus far.

Honestly, the Angels suck against Kazmir, but Lackey's been so good lately that I see them pulling out a 2-1 or 2-0 win. Either way, losing to the Rays is no longer an embarrassing admission, and that's something every baseball fan can appreciate.

100 degrees

Angels 4, Rays 13

Clearly not a well-pitched game for the Halos. Outside the first inning, Hokie Joe Saunders had a tough time dealing with the Rays lineup, and frankly it's a little past-due. Each of the last two seasons he's pitched, he's pitched better earlier in the season. A day's rest also had the effect of dropping his ERA well over a point, as I recall, so stamina's been a problem for him, and I think he's going to need a couple days off here and there to keep up his performance.

That said, last night's game involved a second inning where Longoria, Aybar, and Navarro hit consecutive home runs to roughly the same part of the park. Joe managed to recover, but the pitches he expended that inning were likely the reason the wheels fell off in the fifth.

The Angels managed to take the lead on a Torii bomb (the 200th of his career) to center in the fourth, but the fifth was an inning Saunders probably wants to forget. A pair of doubles and a single led to four Tampa Bay runs, and Arredondo allowed a single to force another run across before getting out of the inning.

Arredondo was the only major league caliber pitcher the Angels used, as the newly-recalled O'Day and still-old Oliver combined to give up another five runs in the last three innings.

Regardless of the outcome, last night had some definite positives, including 4-4 nights for both Vlad and Matthews. I've never been a fan of the GMJ contract, but even though he's not a .300 hitter, he's not a .210 hitter, either.

Tonight is Weaver vs. Shields at 10:05 EST. If Jered pitches like himself and not his brother, the Halos have a chance against a recently shaky Shields. Just don't charge the mound...Shields said this after the brawl in Boston:

"“We’ve been getting stomped around the last 10 years and it isn’t going to happen anymore...when a guy comes after me, my dad always told me, ‘You’d better knock him out.’"

Game Preview: Celtics at Lakers, 9:00 PM EST

Three game sweeps in the middle set of the 2-3-2 format have occurred just twice in twenty years, as I recall. I'd be surprised if it didn't happen again this year. Game two's fourth quarter was an example of what the Lakers can do, and with the home fans and an undoubtedly irate Phil Jackson, I see the Lakers heading back to Boston with a 3-2 series edge. At the very least, they need to win one so I'm the hell out of this city if they lose.

The playoffs are, mercifully, on a real network again. TNT and TBS are the worst channels for sports, with the possible exception of Versus.


Misc: Heat

No, not the Miami Heat. Here in Attleboro, it's a pleasant 95 outside. At my desk, it's a balmy 102 right now with the temperature and humidity rising at will. Two window air conditioners do not provide the necessary BTU's to cool a room this large. It probably doesn't help that there are eight furnaces, all over 1000 degrees, about ten feet below my floor. To those of you seeking a satisfied employee base with your company: this is incorrect.

Donaghy Lives

Here's a couple game recaps for you to enjoy. Later on I'll be complaining about how MLB.tv is just another way for Selig to extract money from your pockets without putting a better product on the field.

Angels 3, Athletics 7 (12 innings)

An interesting pitcher's duel between Santana and Harden, with both starters racking up 9 strikeouts. Harden would start the game with a 9 pitch, 3 strikeout performance in the first, a surprisingly rare occurrence, less surprising when you look at the Angels lineup as of late. Santana had a slight edge, giving up 2 ER in 6.1 innings, with Harden allowing 3 ER in 6 for a quality start. Two of those runs came on a surprising two run shot from Vlad, although he proceeded to finish 1-5 on the day. I refuse to believe this season-long slump is merely aging...his LD% shows that his BABIP is a little unlucky/low, and I remain convinced he's hiding an injury.

Darren Oliver proceeded to give up the tying run while retiring only one batter in the seventh before giving way to Shields, who pitched 1.1 scoreless innings. Surprisingly, Justin Speier pitched three scoreless innings and may be looking to reclaim his late inning relief role. If Jose Arredondo weren't pitching so well, I'd expect to see Speier more often, but bullpen logjams are always a good thing.

Then, of course, came the 12th, after seemingly endless missed opportunities for the Halos on the offensive end. Chris Bootcheck, whose Baseball Reference page I sponsor, rewarded my $20 investment with an inning in which he allowed three hits and a walk, with the last of those hits being a walk off grand slam to Mark Ellis, yet another player on the A's who I barely consider to be major league caliber. Whatever. A 5-1 road trip and the best record in the AL are nothing to complain about, even if you won't see any coverage on ESPN.


Lakers 102, Celtics 108

Earlier this season, Northeastern played Maryland in College Park, losing 74-72 in overtime after Baptiste Bataille accidentally made a free throw he was trying to miss. The game came on the heels of a close loss at Illinois and just before the first win of the season against Boston University.

The most notable thing about the NU/MD game was the free throw disparity. The Terps took 46 free throw attempts, including 20 in the first half, while the Huskies took just 13 attempts total, 2 in the first half. There is no way that a properly officiated game has a free throw disparity that large, and while NU coach Coen is too much of a class act to admit it, the Huskies played well enough to win that game with mediocre, even bad, officiating. But the refs were bad enough to steal the game.

Fast forward to last night. 38-10. 38 free throws for the Celtics, 10 for the Lakers. It's hard to overcome that kind of "quality" refereeing, but the Lakers refused to quit, cutting 22 points of a 24 point lead in the last eight minutes before finally succumbing to youth when Sasha managed to miss a wide open Kobe as the last couple seconds drained away. Tim Donaghy was not, in fact, calling this game, but he might've been. Phil Jackson, always good for a hilarious post-game, had this much to say:

"I've never seen a game like that in all these years I've coached the Finals. Unbelievable."

With that said, a 2-0 series hole is a pain in the ass to climb out of. While only a couple teams have swept the 3 game set in the current 2-3-2 Finals format, few teams are as good as the Lakers, who emerged from a brutal Western Conference while the Celtics were struggling with the Atlanta Hawks. The Lakers are a team built to win for the next five years, and any success they're having now is basically a bonus. But Boston has had more than its fair share of championships in the last ten years, and it's time for it to end.


Game Preview: Tampa Bay @ Los Angeles, 10:05 EST

The Rays have quickly become everyone's favorite AL East team, with the Red Sox/Yankees "rivalry" basically expired. It doesn't hurt that they have Northeastern alum Carlos Pena playing first, although he's been out for some time with a broken finger, so he'll miss this series with the Halos.

The Rays managed to sweep the Angels earlier this season, and in fact are the only team that has a winning record vs. LA of A. Tonight's starters are Hokie Joe Saunders, the current AL wins leader, and Edwin Jackson, a former Dodger farmhand who was sent away to be useful with another franchise. That seems to be a hallmark of the Dodger organization.

Expect, as usual, a solid start from Saunders, although he's clearly overachieving right now, I don't foresee a serious decline until after the all-star break. The Angels haven't seen Jackson this year, missing him in the first series at Tampa Bay, but he's got something like a 6.00 ERA against the Halos, so I feel pretty confident about this game.

Return to Blogging and Various Sports Miscellany

It's been a while since I've tried blogging on a regular basis. Generally, I get lazy about it and then slowly lose interest, eventually giving up altogether. Either way, I'm back to write about sports, although you'll likely see a fair deal of complaining about Northeastern and/or work, as time permits.

Regardless, here's a couple recaps from a few games from Thursday the fifth.

Boston Red Sox 7, Tampa Bay Rays 1

My roommate was kind enough to offer me the second ticket in a pair he won at work. Our seats were probably the best I've had at Fenway outside the Baseball Beanpot, as we were sitting in the infield grandstand just underneath the Northeastern sign on the third base line.

James Shields had a pretty poor first inning, hitting Pedroia and giving up a double to JD Drew before Ramirez knocked one well over the Monster. He eventually got out of the inning, but the game was starting to look a lot less like the pitching duel I had been expecting.

Of course, the previous evening, the game got a little chippy when Crisp took out Iwamura while trying to steal second base. Apparently Shields remembered and proceeded to drill Crisp in the thigh as he was leading off the bottom of the second. Crisp took about three steps towards first and then charged the mound. The ensuing brawl, complete with streams of relievers coming in from the bullpens, took about 10 minutes before the umps got complete control, at which point they spent another 20 minutes figuring out who to toss. Crisp and Shields were thrown out pretty quickly, but it took the umpires a while to also toss Gomes, the only Rays player who would end up with an RBI that evening.

As fate would have it, Ellsbury, after moving to center to replace Crisp, managed to injure himself on a nice diving catch. He took a backasswards route to the ball and ended up diving and rolling over his wrist, forcing him to leave and Drew to move to center. I don't think I've seen Drew in center since his days in LA, but he didn't get a whole lot hit his way the rest of the game.

After the fight, the game got pretty boring, with the occasional "Beat LA!" chant rising from the outfield grandstands. I left the game in the middle of the eighth to go watch the Finals, but Timlin and Aardsma pitched the last 2.2 innings without event.



I'm usually okay with outbursts of physicality during any sporting event, but the bench-clearing "brawl" is the stupidest event in baseball. First off, it ruins the strike zone (which, I might add, is crappy enough without any help) for the rest of the game, as the umpires tend to move the zone more outside to keep things from escalating further. Moreover, an interesting Shields/Lester matchup turned into Lester vs. Rays Long Relief, also known as "boring." My biggest issue, though, is that these players make too much money to screw around like this. They're walking around on millions of dollars, some of which I supply through my ticket and merchandise purchases, and if I have to miss seeing Vlad because some idiot charges the mound, I'm going to be incredibly pissed.

It's also worth it to note that baseball players are embarrassingly bad fighters. If you want fights, watch hockey.


Boston Celtics 98, Los Angeles Lakers 88

No recap from me, but I will say this much: Anyone expecting Kobe to shoot 9 for 26 again is an idiot and has probably never actually watched basketball. The entire fourth quarter, it seemed like every shot from the Lakers rattled out. If the Celtics are banking on their defense to keep Kobe shooting 34%, then they're in bigger trouble than they can handle.

Expect Odom and Gasol to wake up, as well.

Paul Pierce's "injury" and subsequent return were the smartest thing the Celtics have done this postseason. Unfortunately, that only works once. The 2-3-2 setup for the Finals is a huge advantage for the Lakers who, still, have not lost at home in the playoffs. I'm gonna say the Lakers take the game on Sunday and sweep in LA, just in time for me to get back and head to the parade.


Game Preview: Angels at Athletics, 10:05 EST

The A's are a better team than expected, which is basically the same thing everyone says about them every year. I'm not convinced that Beane is the genius that Oakland fans claim him to be, but he's clearly a step above your average GM.

Tonight is a nice Lackey vs. Blanton matchup. Blanton's not very good, but neither is the Angels offense, so the game will probably rest on how well Lackey pitches. If he keeps pitching like he has been, I'm not worried. Expect to see Vlad back in the lineup.