Monday, June 30, 2014

The Greatest Free Agency Period in NBA History

This might be one of those free agency summers that NBA will soon never forget...

Or, it could be relatively predictable.

The side stories are absolutely insane, the speculation is over the top, and the suspense is riveting.

Where will Carmelo Anthony go? Where will the big three reside? And where will Dirk end his career? These questions will be answered in this upcoming month, and up until the beginning of the NBA Preseason.

Since the escapade of the LeBron James offseason seems to be going nowhere, and all he wants is a a max deal, it's fair to say this guy is going to stay on the beach in Miami.

As for Carmelo, who knows what this guy is thinking. This guy might go anywhere and quite frankly the talks about him potentially going somewhere is a shot in the dark. His best career option is to go to the Bulls, and that's where I ultimately think he's going to land, but my guess is as good as winning the billion dollars in the NCAA Tournament.

Wade will stay in Miami and if he doesn't I'd be in total disbelief. Wade is opting out to take less and help the Heat. But the real question is where will Dirk go? It sounds like he's more than likely going to stay in Dallas but you never know. Dirk is the equivalency of the Peyton Manning of the NBA, at least when it comes to career success comparisons. So when it comes to his chances of staying, they are high but you never know when it comes to where he may want to settle his career.

The other big men with Pau Gasol and Greg Monroe, these two players could dictate where the big man power goes in he NBA. Pau Gasol is looking like he may stay in L.A. but something tells me that he isn't going to. I think that he is more than likely going to head to the east coast and maybe even help the Knicks start a new with Tyson Chandler now back in Dallas. As for Monroe, he's about as predictable as Melo and where he will end up. I think he could have a serious impact on any team he goes to, but if he's smart he has got to go to Lakers especially now that Julius Randle is in the mix and with Randle's finesse game, Monroe would compliment him perfectly with the skill set Kobe still possesses.

The two small forwards that teams have a large interest in are Parsons and Deng. I think Deng goes to a team that desperately needs him and that might be a place like L.A. Now which L.A. that is is the real question. If he goes to the Lakers with Monroe, look out in L.A. But if he goes to the Clippers, then they will become an instant title contender. As for Parsons, he's another player I have no clue on, but I see him going to a large market maybe the Knicks would find him as a solid replacement for Melo if Melo doesn't return.

No matter what happens, this free agent period will have headlines, but how they will be made will dictate the outcome of where the league will go the next 3 years.

See you next week!


Monday, June 23, 2014

Summertime Fling

It's that time of year where the middle of the year is upon us and we are getting into another dead point in the sports world. We do have the World Cup and College World Series but it's not the same pizazz as the NBA Finals, Stanley Cup Finals or even the NCAA Tournament. But that is ok because it is that time of year where the outdoors takes a front seat to the television and the technology.

Unless you are in Texas, Nevada, or about 36 other states. This is gonna be a hot summer but it's gonna be a fun one too. I may recap some NBA draft and discuss who should be in the starting spots for the All-Star game. But I might just keep doing my radio show too which is on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays at 12:30 pm pacific time and there are podcasts up since the beginning of June.

I'll be going on a hiking trip this weekend but there will be lots to cover on the shows that I'll be discussing on those days.

Ehhhhh.... For the time being go outside its beautiful. Or go enjoy a nice cool movie if you find yourself in a state imitating the Sahara desert.

See you next week!

Monday, June 16, 2014

Little League Demoralization

I could have easily written something on the greatness on the San Antonio Spurs and their 5th title, but I decided to write on something more impactful that revolved around life and someone who impacted millions of little leaguers across this nation.

Tony Gwynn wasn't just an amazing hitter who emulated a giant bear, but his personality, his words, and his humble lovable characteristics made it hard not to naturally fall in love with the person not just the player.

As a little leaguer, back in the days before YouTube, mobile devices, and mp3's, I remember watching Tony Gwynn instructional tapes on the basics of hitting. I remember then diving into who he was as a person and recognized how eerily he reminded me of my dad when he would talk to me about baseball. So straight forward, yet had this natural ability to light up a room with his laugh and demeanor in almost any situation. Basically, you couldn't dislike the guy because of how fun loving and humble he was.

This morning, I woke up reminiscing over a dream that I had been fired from work while speeding only 3 mph over the speed limit with kids in the van and cops calling for my head as they thought I was intoxicated. My supervisor comes out of nowhere and tells me my job is done and that they just can't have me working there anymore. I wake up, and as always when it comes to most of my dreams, I realize how good my life is (but it takes a while especially with how real he dreams can be). As I find myself catching up the realization of where life is again, I scroll through my phone and see he news. I instantaneously do what I normally do in dreams to make sure it's a dream, I try telling myself "is it real?" and in my dreams I generally have a realization knowing it's not real, and press on.

This time, I truly had something to mourn over as a childhood figure of class and direction left us all. Gwynn wasn't my favorite baseball player, nor did I look at him as an all time legend type figure. He was just a big teddy bear who could hit the shit out of a baseball, and taught the art of hitting to perfection.

R.I.P. Tony Gwynn, you will be heavily missed, and I thank you for helping me hit the ball the other way so well when I was young.

Monday, June 9, 2014

Cowards Way Out

Steve Coburn is the actual coward in this entire endeavor as he absolutely reams on the way the Triple Crown process spells itself out.

It's the Triple Crown man!

The only reason you couldn't get it is just like the last 12 horses who came up short, it's freaking hard!

If the Triple Crown were easy than we would see it more often than we do.

Steve Coburn stated that the only horses that run in the Belmont are all horses that decide not to run at the other 2 Triple Crown events. Well let's get one thing clear man, all three races coincide but that doesn't mean that only particular horses should be allowed to run in the races. Each horse that races in either of these three events has earned it one way or the other and if the owners and trainers don't want to run in the other races, than they don't have too! Yes, maybe they should and attempt to win the races that define the greatness of horse racing and gain ground on legacies they could potentially be shaping, but this is America at the end of the day and for you to be completely upset at the way owners and trainers decide to run their horses at these grand stages of the sport, it's not your decision nor should you make the effort to criticize how the sport should be laid out just because your pony couldn't put together one of the greatest runs the sport has ever seen.

California Chrome was a fantastic story... until this moron decided to open his mouth and bash all the other respectful, beautiful people the sport of horse racing has to offer.

Face it man, when your wife is in the background telling you to "stop it" in the interview post race and the winner is getting covered in roses, your best opportunity to build your horses legacy is to back off and say "Hey, we gave it a great run. It's frustrating, but at the end of the day, I love this horse, and today just wasn't our day to win the triple crown."

Class 101, you need to put that in your schedule, because apparently it's not apart of the aura that is the sum of you.

See you next week.

Monday, June 2, 2014

Rematch? Anybody?

The Spurs and Heat will be playing again for the NBA Championship and it was a rematch that pretty much became inevitable after the Spurs figured out the Ibaka saga after game 5 and with how the Indiana Pacers had been playing the past 2 months. Both teams won in six games after they had both been predicted to compete in all seven games, they both left the party early with the prize.

This will be another legacy NBA Finals similar to last season except LeBron is looking for the Kobe/Jordan conversation to begin if he wins this title giving him a 3-peat. Similar to last year, if Tim Duncan wins this title he will also be in the Kobe conversation except it will be for who the most productive player has been this previous generation. Kobe will have 5 championships, Duncan will have 5 as well, the debate would last decades. LeBron is already in a class of his own with 4 straight Finals appearances, and even if he doesn't get it done, he'll be the renowned Beast of the East this decade. But, this will also be the third time LeBron plays the San Antonio Spurs in the NBA Finals. We all know what happened in 2007 when LeBron got swept, we all saw the best Finals since 2010 last year when the Heat won it in 7, LeBron is 1-1 versus the Spurs in the NBA Finals. This is the proverbial "rubber Finals" for him because if he can beat San Antonio 2 years in a row (the renowned best organization in sports this century) he'll be in his own class with this 3-peat, being able to stick it to the franchise in sports, beat them 2 out of 3 times, it will show that he truly is one of the greatest champions of all time.

How did the Spurs beat the Thunder in game 6? I'm still confused on this and hear me out. Boris Diaw had 26 points to lead the team in scoring, Tony Parker was out the entire second half of the game, the Spurs played in Oklahoma City, and Serge Ibaka was in the game. The only answer I can think of is the Thunder absolutely choked. I came into this playoffs saying that if the San Antonio Spurs faced off against the Thunder, the Spurs could maybe push the series to 6, but our chances would be slim. I'm aware that the Spurs had a bench advantage, but the impact of Ibaka, the athleticism of Westbrook, and the MVP would just be too much at least for our starting unit. Let's be honest Oklahoma City, you guys let this one slip away. You were the better team and you choked this series away and don't tell me it's because of the greatness of San Antonio. You have youth, you have way more athleticism and considering our most talented athletic player was out the entire 2nd half in your building? Zero excuses, you let it get away. I am stunned as a Spurs fan we made it past them, but that should go to show you how talented this team really is and how good the moves Popovich made in games 5 and 6 were to adjust for the great impact of Serge Ibaka. You gotta give some serious credit toward Boris Diaw too, especially how he responded since the 4th quarter of the game 4 blowout. The guy was clearly the MVP of the Western Conference Finals for his ability to spread out the Oklahoma City big men with his outside presence and make it easier for the Big 3 to get to where thy wanted to go. He found switches in the defense to get productive minutes for the rest of the team and he made plays to forced Oklahoma City to play to Spurs completely different then they ever had and the Thunder just were not ready. Either way, the Thunder should have been more prepared, they truly were the more talented team.

The Indiana Pacers did exactly what they have done since mid-March, they choked away their season. The Heat weren't that much better than Indiana, in fact, you could say that the Heat were less talented and that their capabilities to hang would have needed a super man like effort to keep it close... they didn't even need that. Indiana shot themselves in the foot with their ability to run a fluid game plan against the likes of LeBron James and company and they could barely get through 3rd quarters in the Eastern Conference Finals without being down double digits consistently. This was one of the most droll Eastern Conference Finals I can remember. Even last years Eastern Conference Finals was more entertaining and they were the same teams. It should go to show you that maybe change needs to start happening in Indiana or that trading away a guy like Danny Granger wasn't necessarily the best option for this team over midway through the year. This is Miami's 4th trip to the finals in a row and it's the 4th one for this trio of superstars in Chris Bosh, D'wayne Wade, and LeBron James. It's quite possibly one of the greatest runs by a group of three players in that short of a time ever. The only real question now is, how long will it last? Because nobody is challenging this team if they stay together for the next couple years.

I guess I have to make a prediction since this is my only blog of the week but this year I see it much different than last year, in fact, I give the Heat less of a chance this year than I gave the Spurs last year. I think the Spurs have figured out how to beat good teams now especially with how they adjusted to Oklahoma City in the last two games of the Western Conference Finals. I said the Heat would win last year in 6 games over San Antonio before the playoffs even started and I still felt that way before the finals began. But, this year, seeing how much more improved players like Boris Diaw, Patty Mills, and Leonard have performed this year and with how much more solidified the Spurs are as a unit by being able to adjust on the fly and still play at a collective level of superiority, I have to pick the Spurs to win the title especially now that they have home court in the Finals. I think it will go 7 games again, but I would honestly not be shocked if the Spurs won it in 5 games as well. This team is way too good this year, and with how close they were last year and how much more competitive they were with the Heat in last years title than what I was expecting, they will come out on top this year strictly because of their improved players and better bench.

Prediction: San Antonio in 7