Bill Simmons in NYT

I began reading Bill Simmons simultaneously with when the Boston Celtics got the big three. In fact both passions fueled the other. I would log onto ESPN whenever they played a playoff game and gobble up the hilarity that flowed from Simmons pen. It was especially good when they played the Lakers. Owen Strachan pointed out that there is a long article on him in the NYT. Mahler is right to when saying the following that makes Bill Simmons distinct and interesting:

For Simmons, this distinction — between fan and columnist — doesn’t really exist. Unlike many sportswriters, for whom detachment is a point of professional pride, Simmons makes no pretense of neutrality. This is at least one explanation for his extraordinary popularity. According to ComScore, Simmons’s “Sports Guy” Web column, which he publishes every 10 days or so, attracted 740,000 unique visitors in April, making him probably the most widely read sportswriter in America today.

Owen’s reflection on Simmons is worth pondering:

Perhaps we evangelicals can learn something by the way Simmons connects with his audience.  He’s a real guy, he wears his passions on his sleeve, and he interacts with his readers like they actually matter.  He doesn’t write or lead (in his way) from an athletic Mount Olympus; he seems like a friend you might have as a sports fan, albeit the highly intelligent, uncouth, emotional fan who will burst a blood vessel arguing whether Mark Jackson or Travis Best was a better pass-first point guard.

There’s something about Simmons’s approach for us to consider, I think.  Those who are in ministry, who are leaders in some way, are not unapproachable demi-gods.  We’re very normal people.  We should work hard to connect with the people we lead and seek to reach for the glory of Christ.  We can work entrepreneurially for the advancement of the kingdom–a fun subject for another day–but we should always do so with people, real people, in mind, not our own glory.

All About Lebron

For sports fans, nothing gets a conversation going like the question, “What do you think about Lebron James?”

His “decision” created a vast swath of haters, while there are still many who have switched from Cleveland to Miami. There are so many opinions swirling around about Lebron James, it is hard to keep track of them (a valid question might be if it is worth it).

Well here are a couple different interesting different opinions about him.

• First, Rick Reilly argues that Lebron is playing as big as ever. (Mind you this came before game 4).  He says, “If anything, the way James is playing has only made him double in greatness. James’ legend isn’t shrinking, it’s swelling up like a Macy’s float.I’m the last guy that wants to write a glowing column about LeBron James. I hate how he conspired to get to Miami, hate how he took a short cut to a ring. But you’d have to be visually impaired not to see that James is playing gorgeous, selfless, complete basketball.
• Bill Simmons called game 4 another Lebrondown. He says:  “Fact: It’s better for the NBA that LeBron James melted down in Dallas, disappeared and extended his “Wait a second, what the hell just happened???” streak to two straight years. Now it’s threatening to become a late-spring tradition along the lines of Father’s Day, the U.S. Open,and MTV cutting a “Real World/Road Rules Challenge” trailer that ends with someone about to be punched in the face. Why isn’t LeBron shooting? Why isn’t he driving to the basket? Why does his face look like the face of a little kid who just got called in front of the entire class? Why is his performance making me want to google the Wiggles’ “Hot Potato” video? Does he realize this game is being televised? You can’t call it a meltdown or a breakdown; that would belittle what happened. Call it a LeBrondown.”
• Over at Mockingbird they are arguing that Lebron still has to define if he is Batman or Robin, or if there are two leaders on this team. Tonight will be a big deciding factor.

Overall, I think Bill Simmons is right on these couple of points:

Fact: The Decision was the best thing that happened to the NBA in 15 years.

Fact: The Decision’s aftermath created the league’s most polarizing juggernaut in two decades. The Heat were booed in sold-out arenas across the country even as they were selling more jerseys than any other team. For the first five weeks of the regular season, the constant negativity affected the players; you could see it on their faces. In the words of the great Cliff Poncier, all that negativity eventually made them stronger. They reclaimed their status as title favorites, rolled through Boston and Chicago, made the Finals, and morphed into something of a preening, self-satisfied, overconfident bully — basketball’s version of Mike Tyson in the 1980s, so athletically overpowering that it actually seemed to psyche out opponents.During that whole time, they never stopped being compelling. Not once.

Fact: If Miami blows this Finals after choking away Games 2 and 4, after everything that happened since The Decision and The Gratuitous Party One Night After The Decision, the Internet might explode. I’m not kidding. You’re going to log on the next morning and there will just be a picture of a mushroom cloud.

On Phil Jackson

The Sports Guy writes about his interview Phil Jackson earlier in the season. It is a great article, especially the parts about Kobe and Jordan. Simmons argues that Jackson might be the best coach in history because of his ability to manage people.

He never gets enough credit for successfully handling two of the three most difficult NBA superstars ever: Jordan and Kobe (with Wilt being the third). Jordan’s ongoing ruthlessness threatened the basic concept of a “team” — instead of being supportive, he was withering. He had to win all the time, every time. If he sensed someone might be a weak link, Jordan shattered their confidence rather than building it up. During any times of real struggle on a basketball court, he trusted himself over everyone else and played accordingly. Jackson tempered his most unlikable qualities while accentuating the good ones, steering him toward a team framework without compromising the ferocity that defined him.

His smartest small-picture move was pitting Pippen and Jordan on opposite sides in every scrimmage, which kept both players sharp and ensured their practices were properly competitive; otherwise, Jordan would have gone for a shutout every game. His smartest big-picture move was his handling of Jordan’s baseball sabbatical, when he reminded Michael that he was an artist more than a basketball player, and that, by walking away, he would be depriving millions of a chance to experience that art. He never tried to change Michael’s mind, just reminded him what was at stake. For Jordan, that cemented their relationship and opened the door for Michael’s eventual return; he knew Jackson cared about him as something more than a meal ticket. When people dismiss Jackson’s credentials with “Anyone could have coached Michael Jordan,” they are wrong.

Kobe presented a different set of issues, as we’ve rehashed ad nauseam over the past ten years. Jackson won five rings with him, but not before walking away in 2004 (and ripping Kobe to shreds in an astonishingly critical book), then returning a year later and eventually working out a manageable compromise. Jackson dealt with Kobe the same way parents deal with raising young kids: You know you’ll have good days and bad days, so you can’t dwell on the bad ones. Only once did Kobe nearly shoot the Lakers out of a title — Game 7 of the 2010 Finals, when Boston’s strategy hinged on doubling Kobe, forcing “hero” shots and hoping his ego would compel him to keep shooting (which it did) — but in another classic Jackson-era moment, Kobe’s teammates (Derek Fisher, especially) pulled him back into the fold. Bryant regrouped in the fourth quarter, made better decisions and helped the Lakers win the title.

And here is a great reflection on Jordan:

We talked about Michael’s steadfast refusal to blow random, meaningless road games in Sacramento, Vancouver, Cleveland or wherever, how those were the nights that made him truly special, when his entire team was dragging, when the NBA schedule demanded a Chicago loss, yet Michael just couldn’t allow it.

These Celtics

It is not over yet, but it is close. Here is a good roundup on these Celtics, with questions…(my answers in brackets)

1. With one title in two Finals trips in this era, Celtics fans should feel …

A. Happy
B. Satisfied (Win a championship vs Lakers…amazing…then loose to the Lakers…bumps me down to satisfied)
C. Unsatisfied
D. Unhappy
E. [Your description here]

2. The Kendrick Perkins trade has been much-maligned. The criticism is …

A. Right on point (however, Perkins was right back on the injury list when he went to OKC)
B. Missing the point
C. Overstated
D. Understated
E. [Your description here]

3. When Boston’s season ends, it will be time for Danny Ainge to …

A. Bring everyone back
B. Tweak the roster
C. Make a major move
D. Start over
E. [Your prescription here] (It is either C or D. They are only getting older and the other teams are getting better, faster, and younger. Miami will only be better next year)

4. Rajon Rondo, age 25, is the only Celtics star under 33. He is also …

A. The foundation for a new era of Celtics title contention
B. A franchise player but not enough (He can run the show, but he can’t run the show…in terms of scoring)
C. A keeper, but only a good piece, not a franchise player
D. The guy who can bring Boston back the most in a trade
E. [Your description here]

5. What is your favorite memory from this era of Celtics basketball?

Kevin Garnett literally loosing his mind, throwing back his head, and yelling “Anything is possible!” I thought the vein in his neck was going to burst resulting in him immediately dying on the court. The next day headline reads: “Garnett dies from elevated-emotion”

Celtic’s fans where do you stand?

Gus Johnson

Every year during March Madness I have to post something on Gus Johnson. I can’t believe I missed the NY Times article on him. It says:

Johnson took his personality from his father, his athleticism from his mother and his delivery from her father, a preacher. In hindsight, it was a broadcasting blend.

This is reflected in his style, which Johnson described as: “Emotional. Passionate. Noncritical. Fair. A little crazy. A lot crazy. A little wild.” For years, he tried to sound witty, like ESPN anchors, or let the pictures speak for themselves. Yet his best success came when he acted like himself.

Also Jim Rome did an interview with him. Rome asked Johnson whether he had anything special for Fredette “locked and loaded yet.” The announcer said he’s been thinking about it, but prefers his words to come organically. Talking about the process of coming up with what he says in games, he said:

I don’t like to write a whole bunch of stuff down. … I just want it to come out. I think the most important part is to match the rhythm and the sound of the game.

He also said this about the game:

I don’t want to be the story, to be honest. I want to be a part of the story. I want to be a part of this piece—this beautiful piece, which is a combination of the coaches and the players, and the sound of the game and the rhythm of the game, and then my voice being a part of that musical piece that lays on top, and it’s able to accentuate crescendo moments…

 

Jacob Tucker Wins Dunk Contest

Here are highlights of dunk contest. Remember he is 5’10”.

Butler

Great article on Butler (actually on Matt Howard) by Rick Reilly. Here is how he begins:

Butler is not to be trusted in this Final Four. It pretends to be a guppy but has a piranha’s appetite. Underdog? Please. Butler is the favorite now, and a lot of us know it. Whatever you do, don’t pet it.

Its cover is blown after last year’s Final Four. We all know how it works. Butler wants you to think it’s something it’s not. Take its heart, senior forward Matt Howard, who looks more like a geeky band-camp RA than a possible NBA first rounder. If Ichabod Crane played hoops, he’d look like this. He’s 93 percent elbow and the rest Adam’s apple. He’s got so many juts, you could hang tinsel off him.

He’s the Academic All-American of the Year in Division I. He’s so nerdy, you look at him and think, “What’s the worst he’s going to do to us? Reprogram our iPhones to Chinese?”

Look at those socks. They lost their elastic years ago. And those sad shoes! If those shoes were your couch, it’d be in the alley now.

“He has six pairs of brand-new shoes in his locker,” teammate Shelvin Mack says. “But he won’t wear them! He just keeps wearing those ratty old ones.”

And what’s that on his head? Arugula?

Read the rest HERE.

Wilbon on the NCAA Tournament

Michael Wilbon has a convincing article about how the NCAA tournament used to be better. He argues it is still exciting, the players are simply not as good. They have all migrated to the NBA.

Don’t get me wrong, the tournament might be as compelling as ever if we’re judging it by the amount of drama produced. The conditions certainly exist to make it so. Take the top eight teams and the bottom four teams out of the discussion for a second, and that leaves 56 teams that are for the most part indistinguishable.

While that could very well make for overtimes and buzzer-beaters, a slew of upsets and charming Cinderella stories, it doesn’t mean that the quality of play is what it used to be. There’s not a team in the tournament as good as Memphis was three years ago. Fortunately for the carnival barkers, 80 percent of the folks in the office pool don’t know the difference between exciting and good.

Jay Bilas, the ESPN basketball analyst and Final Four veteran from his playing days at Duke, spoke to this so eloquently in a conversation we had in Bristol on Sunday, then more extensively with Tony Kornheiser and me on “PTI” Monday afternoon. Bilas pointed out that two of the primary stars of this NBA season, presumptive MVP Derrick Rose and double-double machine Kevin Love, would be seniors at Memphis and UCLA, respectively, in another time and place. And Bilas says there are about 60 NBA players who left college with eligibility.

 

Jacob Tucker Can Dunk

At 5’11” Jacob Tucker’s Dunk Video has gone viral. The guard from Division III Illinois College in Jacksonville, Ill., wanted to make a case for an invitation to the NCAA dunk contest at the Final Four in Houston.  ESPN reports. Watch video below.

Homeless Man With Radio Voice Has Job Offer

ESPN reports about Ted Williams, a homeless ex-radio announcer, has been offered a job by the Cavaliers after becoming an Internet sensation.

Here is the video: