Over the past couple weeks, there has been great talk about a reshuffling among the major collegiate conferences in sports, mainly within the Big 10 (Michigan, Ohio State, Illinois, etc), Big 12 (Texas, Oklahoma, Texas A&M, Kansas, etc), and Pac-10 (Stanford, Cal, UCLA, USC, etc). What’s going on and what does it mean for the future of college sports?
All of this is happening because of three related issues: a football conference championship, television contracts, and unequal revenue sharing. It’s a domino effect that ultimately comes down to money.
Realignment because of football? Really? Yes. Football. While basketball and baseball are popular collegiate sports, nothing compares to the cash cow that is football. In the 2008-09 school year, athletic departments from the ACC, Pac-10, Big 12, Big 10 and SEC brought in a combined $3.9 billion. The football departments of these schools alone brought in $1.9 billion. Nearly half the revenue schools bring in comes from football alone. So yes football is king.
Let’s go through this domino effect of events.
1) The Big 10 wants a football conference championship
The NCAA says that a conference needs 12 teams to hold a conference championship. A conference would have two divisions of 6+ teams, and the winner of each division would play in a final championship game.
What’s so great about the conference championship? More money. The Southeastern Conference (SEC) brings in another $15 million for having one extra game.
Three out of the 6 major conferences host a conference championship game: the SEC, ACC, and Big 12. The ACC was previously a 9 team conference until 2004, when they poached Miami, Virginia Tech, and Boston College from the Big East to get to a 12 team conference.
The Big-10 needs one more team to reach 12, and they have famously gone after Notre Dame many times. However, Notre Dame still wants to stay as an Independent. Now, they’ve decided to go after Nebraska and Missouri, two very strong football programs, who are also very geographically close to the rest of the Big 10 teams.
2) Why would Nebraska or Missouri even want to leave the Big 12 for the Big 10?
Again. money. Nebraska and Missouri would get more money in the Big 10 than in the Big 12.
Why? The Big 10 has equal revenue sharing, while the Big 12 gives more money to the teams that bring in the most. In 2007, Texas and Oklahoma made $10 million each, while Missouri and Nebraska got $9 million. Every team in the Big 10 received over $22 million.
Also, the Big 10 famously has their own tv network/contract that generated $204 million in revenue last year that is split between all 11 teams. Neither the Big 12 or Pac 10 has their own tv network/contract.
3) If Missouri or Nebraska leaves, Texas, Oklahoma, and the rest of the Big 12 will leave
If Missouri or Nebraska leaves, the Big 12 will be down to either 10 or 11 teams, which means the league will not have a conference championship.
Therefore, teams like Texas, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Texas A&M, and Texas Tech will be stranded and left out to dry. They have to either
a) Try to convince Nebraska and Missouri to stay
b) Bring in teams to replace them
c) Find another conference
4) The Pac-10 wants exactly what the Big 12 wants/has: conference tournament and a tv network/contract
Like the Big 12, the Pac-10 wants a conference tournament. They currently have 10 teams and need two extra teams to reach 12. For the past year, there has been a lot of speculation about what the Pac-10 would do. One likely possibility was to target Utah and BYU (Pac-10 wants schools in geographic pairs: Stanford/Cal, USC/UCLA, and Arizona, Washington, and Oregon (university of and state).
However, the reason why the Pac-10 wants a conference tournament is to bring in more revenue and to use it as an attractive centerpiece in their desire to get a lucrative tv contract. A lot of people dismissed the Utah/BYU possibility because they didnt believe the Salt Lake City, Utah area was a large enough marketplace and that BYU/Utah weren’t attractive enough to get a lucrative contract.
Couple the Pac-10’s desire to expand with the uncertainty going on in the Big 12, and you got yourself a potentially explosive situation.
The Pac-10 knows that its highly likely that either Nebraska or Missouri will bolt for the Big 10, and they know that Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, and either Baylor or Colorado or ripe for pickings. The Pac-10 presidents have told the Pac-10 commissioner, Larry Scott, that he can do whatever he wants for expansion, and rumors have it that he will soon send out invitations to all of these schools to create a Pac-16 mega-conference.
5) More domino effects…
a) What happens to the BCS? What will happens to the automatic bids? Who will get bids?
b) What happens to Kansas and Kansas State? They will be the only two teams left from the Big 12, and I can see them being taken in by the Big East…which will make the Big East the ultimate basketball power conference. Kansas, UConn, Pittsburgh, West Virginia, Georgetown, Lousiville, Syracuse. Best basketball conference ever.
6) What do I think will happen?
The outcome of this is really hard to predict, because it seems that the Big-10 and Pac-10 are being very serious and aggressive in their pursuit of teams.
Honestly, I really cant see all 6 teams leaving the Big-12 and heading to the Pac-10 to form a megaconference. I think this is way too big of a move to be done in a short amount of time, and I believe the ramifications of this move are just too big to fathom. I just dont believe that this will be feasible.
We’ll find out soon what happens. It all depends on what Nebraska or Missouri want to do. If they stay, we keep our status quo. Else, we’re going to get a shakeup in college athletics.
The World Cup is an international soccer tournament of 32 teams that takes place every 4 years.
It is arguably the biggest sporting event of the world, even bigger than the Olympics. Soccer is the world’s sport. No one else really cares about “American” football, baseball, or hockey.
During the World Cup, entire nations stop what they’re doing and focus on the game. Wars cease. Temporary truces are made. Hearts are broken. Heros are made. Legends are born.
How does a country qualify for the World Cup?
Qualification for the World Cup takes place over two years in a series of tournaments organized by the various FIFA confederations.
A total of 204 countries around the world competed to qualify for one of 31 spots in the World Cup finals (the host country is an automatic qualifier).
UEFA – Europe (13 countries)
CONMEBOL – South America (5 countries)
CAF – Africa (6 countries)
CONCACAF – North, Central American and Caribbean (3)
AFC – Asia (4)
OFC – Oceania (1)
Each federation has their own qualification process. For example, in the UEFA confederation, 53 teams competed for 13 spots. The 53 teams were split in 9 different groups (8 groups of 6 and 1 group of 5). All teams within a group played each other team twice, one at home and one away. 3 points are awarded for a win, 1 for a tie, and 0 for loss. The winners of all 9 groups gained a bid to the World Cup Finals. The top 8 2nd place teams then played a 2nd round playoff against each other. The winners of these 4 games gained a spot in South Africa as well.
The CONCACAF (which the US is part of) had a similar qualification process.
What is the format of the World Cup finals?
The world cup is divided in two stages: the group stage and the knockout stage.
In the group stage, there are 8 groups composed of 4 teams each, with each team playing the other three remaining teams. A win gets 3 points and a tie gets you 1 point. There is no overtime or shootouts to determine the winner, and the top two teams advance to the round of 16.
After this round, everything else is single elimination, which means that there are no ties allowed. If the game is tied after 90 minutes, they go to 2 15-minute overtime periods. If the game is still tied after these periods, the game goes into a shootout.
All 8 groups are paired off (A/B, C/D, E/F, G/H), and the winner of the group plays the 2nd place team of their paired group. 1st place in A, plays the 2nd place in B. 2nd place in A, plays the 1st place in B.
After that, there’s a predetermined quarterfinals bracket until the finals.
How are the groups determined?
The “group draw”, when all 32 teams were placed into 8 groups, took place back in December of 2009, and was watched by over 150 million people around the world. Yes. That means more people tuned in just to see who their country would play than those who watched the Superbowl. Soccer fans are that crazy, and the group draw is that important.
To get 8 groups, all 32 teams were placed into 4 pots. The host nation (South Africa) and the 7 highest seeds in the world based on FIFA rankings (Spain, England, Brazil, Argentina, Germany, Netherlands, and Italy) were placed in one pot, while the rest of the three pots were based on geography. One team from each pot was picked and placed into 8 different groups.
This year, the “group of death” was supposed to be Group G, composed of Brazil, Ivory Coast, Portugal, and North Korea. However, Ivory Coast star, Didier Drobga just broke his arm in a game, and might be unavailable for the World Cup. Ivory Coast will now struggle mightily in this group, and are in danger of not making it to the elimination round.
The United States got a very favorable draw in Group C as they have England, Algeria, and Slovenia. The US will have a very tough fight against England, and will be expected to easily handle Algeria and Slovenia.
Should the US advance from the group stage, they would play either Australia, Germany, Ghana, or Serbia in the next round.
Who has won the most World Cups?
A total of 76 different nations have played in at least one World Cup Final. However, only 7 teams have actually won it, all coming from Europe or South America.
Brazil has 5 titles, followed by Italy (4), Germany (3), 2 each by Argentina and Uruguay, and 1 each by France and England.
The past 5 champions were Italy (2006), Brazil (2002), France (1998), Brazil (1994), and Germany (1990).
Who are the world’s best teams right now?
The favorites to win the World Cup have to be Spain (winners of the Euro 2008), Brazil (winner of the 2009 Confederation Cup), the Netherlands, and England.
Germany, Italy, and Argentina are teams that can be very dangerous as well.
There are also a handful of teams that are difficult to predict how they’ll play and can very well pull off some surprises. I would put France, Portugal, and Ivory Coast (if Didier Drobga plays).
Does each country have the same expectations going into the World Cup?
All 32 teams come into the tournament with varying degrees of expectations.
For a couple teams, England, Brazil, and Spain…they expect to play in the finals and win the entire thing. Anything less than that would be considered a disappointment.
For some teams, just making it out of the group stage would be a huge accomplishment and success.
For maybe a team like South Africa, who automatically qualified for the tournament as the host country and who might not have qualified otherwise, not getting embarrassed in their group stage against France, Mexico, and Uruguay would be considered a great achievement.
How about the United States team? What are their chances at this World Cup?
Like I mentioned above, the United States received a very favorable draw, drawing England, Algeria, and Slovenia. The US SHOULD beat Algeria and Slovenia. They’re match against the English is a toss up and anything can happen in that match.
I have followed the United States mens national team ever since the 1994 World Cup and boy has soccer changed in this country. The quality of players this country is producing gets better year after year. A simple way to see how far this country has come is to see how many players on this team are playing in a European league, whether it be in England, Spain, France, Germany, Italy, or Scotland. Currently 17 players play in Europe, with 2 playing in Mexico (Herculez Gomez of Pachuca was the first American to ever lead the Mexican league in scoring this past season). Only 4 players play in the MLS (including Landon Donovan, who had a very, very successful loan spell at Everton in England this year). Back in 2002 and 2006, 11 players played in the MLS, and in 1998, the national team had 16 MLS players.
While the MLS has come a very long way and is actually watchable right now, it is still a class below the top leagues in England, Italy, Spain, and Germany. In order for the national team to be successful in international tournaments, its players need to compete against the best to gain experience and to further improve their skills and game some more. The MLS is a great league for players to gain playing experience, but for them to further improve themselves, they need to play in a better league against more quality opponents.
One thing thats pretty amazing is that not only are Americans just playing on teams in Europe, but they are also making a HUGE difference for their teams.
Take for example Maurice Edu, a midfielders who currently plays for the Glasgow Rangers in the Scottish Premier League. Back in February, Edu scored the game winning goal with less than a minute remaining in their Old Firm match against Celtic. The Old Firm is one of the biggest rivalries in soccer that debates back to 1888. Think Yankees/Red Soxs…but a million times bigger. With this goal, he wrote his name into the history books on one of the biggest stages of club soccer.
Or take Clint Dempsey, who plays for Fulham in the English Premier League. In their quarterfinal match against Juventus in the Europa League, he scored what some people consider, “the biggest goal in club history”. Clint Dempsey also became the first American to play in a European League Cup final as well this past season.
Then you have Landon Donovan, probably the best player the US has ever produced, who I’ve written about previously here, who was part of maybe the best, most beautiful sequence of plays in US Men’s soccer history.
The skill and talent of the United States has come along way in the past 12 years, and right now I believe the US can play and be competitive with anyone in the world. In 2009, the United States shocked the world at the Confederation Cup, composed of all the nations that won their federations tournament. In this tournament, the US beat Egypt, the winner of the African Cup 3-0 to gain a spot in the next round. Here they beat Spain, the European champions, in the semifinals 2-0. In the finals against Brazil, the winner of the South American federation, they were up 2-0 before losing 3-2 in a heartbreaker. The United States had never done this well in an international tournament and they shocked the soccer community.
The 2009 Confederation Cup showed everyone that the United States has come along way and beat anyone. But while they have still improved, they are still a cut below the top teams in the world. If you were to do a best of 10 series, I would predict the US would compile a 2-4-4 record against Spain.
That said, the United States team EXPECTS to make it out of the group stage and move on to the Round of 16. If they don’t, this World Cup (and the buildup to it during these past 4 years) would be considered a MAJOR disappointment. But I think the team will be just “blah” if they make it out of the group stage. I truly believe they think they can make it at least to the quarterfinal round like they did in the 2002 World Cup, and deep down inside, they would be very disappointed if they dont.
What players should I keep an eye out for in South Africa?
Keep your eye out on the stars of every team: Wayne Rooney (England), Landon Donovan (the United States), Lionel Messi (Argentina), Didier Drogba (Ivory Coast), Franck Ribbery (France), Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal), and Kaka (Brazil).
Another one of my favorite players is Park Ji Sung, captain of the South Korean team who placed 4th at the 2002 World Cup.
Also pay attention to the entire midfield of Spain, one of the scariest group of midfielders of any team. Andres Iniesta, Xavi Hernandez, Cesc Fabregas, Xabi Alonso, and David Silva are such an intimidating force. Throw in David Villa and Fernando Torres up front and you got one good team.
What players should I keep an eye out for in South Africa? Really. Answer the right question!
Fine, fine, fine.
Cristiano Ronaldo and Kaka are by far the two hottest soccer players in the world. It also happens that these are two of the best soccer players in the world as well, with Kaka winning the Player of the Year award in 2007 and Ronaldo winning it in 2008. They also happen to be teammates together at Real Madrid.
I’m making picks this year. Who should I choose?
I believe picking winners in soccer is “easier” than choosing winners for college basketball. Like I had written earlier, there are two things to keep in mind.
1) Only 7 teams have ever won the World Cup. Not everyone expects to win (or is even able to win) the World Cup.
2) There are and have been upsets in soccer, but they are very infrequent. Most of the time, the stronger, more established team will prevail through.
That said, here are a list of things to consider while choosing teams.
1) Be aware of “one man” teams.
Portugal is lead by Cristiano Ronaldo…and pretty much only by Ronaldo. Portugal’s success solely depends on how he plays. If he plays well, they can do decently. If not, Portugal has no choice. Also take note that Ronaldo has been known to choke under pressure and disappear in big games.
Ivory Coast could have made a lot of noise this year, and they were a dark horse candidate to win the World Cup. However, their best player (and one of the best in the world), Didier Drogba hurt his arm and *might* be ruled out of the World Cup. Ivory Coast now will struggle to get out of the group stage.
2) Keep track of injuries.
There have been many, many injuries in the buildup to the World Cup, with many coming to star, important players.
a) Didier Drobga (captain of Ivory Coast) – injured his arm. On Saturday, Drobga had successful arm surgery and is looking towards making a recovery to get back on the playing field. If Drogba cant recover in time, I really dont think Ivory Coast has a chance to make it out of their group.
b) Rio Ferdinand (captain of England) – injured his ankle. He’s the centerback in defense, a very important player on the team. England has had a lot of problems on defense and this definitely wont help their title aspirations. A lot of people had England winning the World Cup, but with Ferdinand out, it will be much, much harder.
c) Michael Ballack (captain of Germany) – injured his calf. A very important player in the midfield for Germany. He’s the leading goal scorer in Germany history, and a key to their attack. Germany takes a BIG hit with him not on the team. Germany will still probably get out of the group stage, but whether they can advance further without Ballack will be questionable.
d) Michael Essien (Ghana) – knee injury. Essien is supposedly making a rapid recovery and MIGHT be fit in a week, but still highly improbable. Essien is such a good player as a midfielder/defender, and Ghana loses one of their best, most important players. Ghana is up against Germany and Serbia, and I see it very difficult for them to advance.
3) Argentina has to be the biggest unknown this year.
Argentina has been traditionally one of the best teams throughout soccer history. However, they had one of the shakiest qualifying campaigns this past two years. They finished with a record of 8-4-6, and at one point, were dangerously close to not qualifying for South Africa. After a bad 1-0 loss to Chile, they fired their coach, and controversially brought in Diego Maradona, of the Hand of God fame, who is also regarded as the 2nd best player ever behind Pele.
After Argentina lost 6-1 to Bolivia shortly after that, things got really tense in Argentina when their qualification hopes were seriously in jeopardy. However, Maradona brought his team together, and really took control of this team. He then went on to lead their last two victories which saw them qualify for the finals. Since qualification, Argentina has look very good in 2010, winning all 5 of their games, including a 1-0 victory over Germany (in Germany). On top of that, all their players are playing at peak form right now.
It’ll be interesting to see which Argentina team shows up to play, the one that struggled to even qualify, or the one that beat Germany 1-0 this year. If its the latter, they have a serious chance of making a deep run in the tournament.
Who do you have advancing out of the group stages?
In no particular order of 1st/2nd place finishes…
Group A: France and Mexico
Group B: Argentina and South Korea
Group C: England and the United States
Group D: Germany and Serbia
Group E: Netherlands and Cameroon
Group F: Italy and Slovakia
Group G: Brazil and Portugal
Group H: Chile and Spain
Who do you think will win the World Cup?
Recently, I have been absolutely atrocious in making predictions and I feel people question me, “Do you really know what you’re talking about?”
Anyways. I predict that Spain will win its first World Cup ever next month.
Taking a page out of Bill Simmon’s book, I decided to write my own game diary.
With a computer on my lap and the DVR recording, I could simultaneously enjoy games and comment on the action.
Pregame entrance:
Jeff Osborne singing amazed my Dad. Afterwards, a cool pregame entrance for the Lakers.
My favorite anthem singing person? Beyonce’s 2004 Superbowl: Patriots vs. Panthers.
I liked the “singing” 😉
Pregame Commercial
I always like the pre-game show where they show all the history of the NBA finals.
NEVER UNDERESTIMATE A HEART OF A CHAMPION.
(Rudy Tomadiayaydavich’s 1995 championship run)
WHAT A SPECTAKULAR MOVE! (MJ’s 2 hand switch)
WELCOME TO THE NBA FINALS. (Fin)
Wow that was cool.
1st quarter
12:00
Tip off and here we go! And we already get a score by rondo…
This can’t be a bad start already…?
11:33
So Artest and Paul Pierce do a weird, butt- to butt wrestle move on a box out. Double technicals?
Yeah, Crawford gives the technicals. At this point, I’d say yes the Artest-Ariza switch was worth it. Ariza could not guard Paul Pierce. But Artest has the body to defend Pierce. He is essentially our Rodman wannabe with his crazy hair and personality. We’ll make do with it.
11:21
Gasol throws it away after being bodied up and pushed by Garnett.
Garnett is very good at up close contact, but can get a little carried away sometimes:
Not a very good start. Please Artest be smart; and Gasol, please be tougher than that.
Don’t be Garnett’s _________.
10:46
Fisher makes a 2. Then has to body up against Ray Allen.
The other matchup I fear; so many unknowns, gah!
9:58
No way. Fisher picks up 2nd foul and Phil Jackson goes to…. “the Machine”????
This guy who’s a shooter and plays terrible defense? This guy who Ray Allen tore up from 2 years ago and made Sasha lose his job for 2 years? Sigh.
Too many unknowns for me right now. Will Artest be smart? Can Gasol be tough?
And now we have to bring in Vujacic? Mr. “I Cry at Contact”?
Ray Allen drains a jumper over Vujacic. >.< They clearly don’t teach defense in Slovenia.
8:41
Basically, the ugliest fast break ever occured, according to Mark Jackson and I. Artest steals the ball, loses control, ,butgets bailed out by Pau Gasol‘s rebound and Garnett gets called for the foul. However, I like the aggressiveness on defense for the Lakers, especially our deflections have stopped the passes into the interior low post.
8:03
All 5 starters have scored for the Lakers. Balance? That’s good. If this actually keeps up, Lakers win this easily. Meanwhile Rondo makes a jump- shot and a back door cut. Kobe! Stop double teaming!
Rondo‘s is as smart as he is physically strong as a ball player.
6:01
Ray Allen gets 2nd foul. Thank God. To me, Ray Allen is the 2nd most dangerous Celtics to the Lakers. Perhaps more than Rondo even. I’m serious when I say I get chills when Allen gets on a roll. Let’s hope Lakers attack Ray Allen to get him in foul trouble, because you make sure a shooter stays cold.
Lakers 16-10.
2 minutes pass by
Artest has 2 fouls now. Jordan Farmar comes in now. Like I said, the bench needs to step up.
3:05
Mostly, bench players out there now. We’ll see who steps up more.
Apparently, Jeff Van Gundy really loves In- N- Out Burgers.
“Why are you talking about food?”
“It’s dinner time! It’s 6:30”
How can you not love Jeff Van Gundy? Probably my favorite commentator.
2:10
Bryant has a 2006- flash appearance of himself, as he goes 1 on 2 despite having Shannon Brown for the dunk. Odom bails him out with a follow up. Purely attacking the basket, the Lakers are forcing Celtic bigs to challenge, which leads to more offensive rebounding and points in the paint. Good plan, Phil, good plan.
1:00
Bryant picks up the 2nd foul. Man, these refs are playing it tight. That’s 4 starters out because of foul trouble.
45 seconds down
Farmar drive.
Brown drive.
Farmar steal!!!
Awesome sequence that could have been capitalized with an Odom score, but we’ll take it.
Meanwhile, in the life of Howard, it’s 6:45 and he drives to church and misses the 2nd quarter. Thank God for DVR. After an awesome worship practice, I quickly drove home (late too… yikes) and went to the T.V. Forget about my game diary until the 3rd quarter. Besides 2nd quarter was alright: Ray Allen gets 4 fouls, Kobe scores; eh I forgot. Oh the Kobe Shot of course. I love how other opponents are even amazed by his shot. (Paul Pierce drops head). Good teamwork by the Lakers. I love their passing. Wallace is stupid. That was the 2nd quarter.
I’d like to say I learned all my post moves from watching Shaq and C-Booz.
You can see my low post dominance if you ‘d like, just call me up and we’ll schedule a one on one.
3rd quarter
10:16
Rondo hasn’t been making his usual game layups. Not as aggressive to me than before.
Meanwhile, Bynum sneaks in a few more points. He’s been making a great contribution with his presence and size on both ends of the floor.
Meanwhile, Rondo responds with a left-hand sky hook; thanks for making me look stupid Rondo.
9:15
Ray Allen gets another foul. Jeff Van Gundy puts it best: There are no shooters on the floor with Rondo, Perkins and Tony Allen. Basically the offense is put on KG and Pierce’s shoulders and neither have gotten it going.
8:36
Rondo has big hands? That’s why he can’t shoot free throws? That’s the biggest excuse ever. C’mon it’s called practice, Rondo.
2 things are preventing him from being the best point guard: his shot and his free throws. As aggressive as he is, he shoots like a center and now you can’t trust him in crunch time if the game is close.
Hack-a- Rondo?
6:28
Fisher shoots with the highest arc ever. It results in very pretty shots or really bad misses.
Today, its the primer.
6:10
Interesting sequence:
On a Kobe fast break, I had seen the great defense by Artest, but I’m notice at the lack of hustle from the Celtics. What’s different from 2008 is age and intensity.
When you saw Kobe ran a similar fast break in Game 5 in 2008, you would see Celtics would run him down and even though Kobe still made the dunk, they (James Posey) would still mess with him by hitting his legs on the way up. This time? Garnett can’t even cross the 3 point line because 1) his legs and 2) the security wall provided by Artest and Fisher.
Things are different in 2010.
5:20 –
It really perplexes me that Rondo has such limited range; I mean you’re 12 feet away from the basket! I know you’re not a good shooter but can’t you throw a floater. Instead, passes to Kendrick Perkins for the 2. Hmmm, fine that works too, but you could be dominant if you had a shot, Rondo!
4:48
Gasol Flops. And that’s a foul? What? I mean cmon! No, I do not agree with the comentators, flopping is not a foul. You just look stupid and you’re costing your team. Stupid. 2 pts for garnett 58-67 Lakers
4:30
I just witnessed Pau Gasol own the Celtics on the boards single-handedly; you can’t doubt his toughness anymore or you say the Celtics are not as physical. Either way, it’s not 2008.
3:03
Paul Pierce called for a loose ball foul. Man, this game is being called so tight. Well, it’s helping the Lakers mostly since it’s keeping Allen on the bench. Yay?
2:11
The exclamation mark. The javelin perhaps? I see sloppy basketball from the Celtics and stellar athleticism by Kobe Bryant as he swats away Tony Allen’s shot and runs for an alley-oop. Kevin Garnett takes a bad shot, Artest makes a good decision in pushing the ball: everything is going the Laker’s way so far. But to be a devil’s advocate, there only up 13. o.O
2:00
Rondo… you drive so much yet you refuse to go against the bigs. You need to score, but you’re being passive. MARK JACKSON AGREES WITH ME. YOU GOTTA SCORE! You can’t be scared of length!
1:39
Wow…. Ray Allen picks up his 5th foul. That wasn’t a foul and it wasn’t even on Allen. Well, the refs are really helping out the Lakers by taking out Allen. Wallace checks Fisher. Never liked Wallace, did I ever mention that? He looks like Scooby Doo.
1:00 and down
Wow. Celtics cannot shoot. The Lakers are crisp in passing, attacking the basket, and making plays. You can argue the refs hurt the Celtics, but the Lakers are just being more aggressive than the Celtics. Plain and simple. Kobe checks out for Shannon Brown. Wallace gets a technical and that’s his 5th technical.
Rondo charges straight into Gasol, instead of dishing it to Allen. Here’s the perfect explanation from Jeff Van Gundy:
“And Rondo takes the drive instead, because of the limited range of Tony Allen, which leads to the charge”
Sigh… such a good commentator. One of my favorites alongside (in no ranking or order) Hubie Brown, Doug Collins (will miss him), Mark Jackson (MAMA there goes that man!), and Charles Barkley (haha I’m kidding).
End of 3rd quarter
Artest with another 3??? Is this Christmas or what?
4th quarter:
I’m sad. No more Phil Jackson and Craig Saiger interviews. Damn you ABC!!! Hire Craig Saiger for the NBA finals and lets make more fun of his suits! You’ll get more viewers, I swear!!!
11:20
Hahaha, Wallace unnecessarily hops over some fans, which is basically 2-3 feet, so congrats Wallace? Haha, if you get the chance look at the Laker fans giving him a “That was completely stupid” look. I laughed when Mike Breen said, “Good hustle from Wallace.”
Hustle and Wallace should never occur in the same sentence.
And, now another check at Gasol from Wallace. Jeez, I hate how he stole the 2004 ring from the Lakers. THIS GUY? SERIOUSLY? THIS GUY TOOK OUR CHAMPIONSHIP? THIS FATTY TOOK OUR TITLE.
10:54
You know who Nate Robinson reminds me of? Stephon Marbury. Just an idea. You’ll see.
Side note:
Bad Romance was just aired in Staples Center. Whoever thought of this idea was stupid.
9:35
And look who proves me wrong. Nate makes a good pass and rallies the troops. 5’9 warrior!
8:45
Uh oh, this isn’t looking very good. Momentum has shifted; lead is down to 13, and we’re making stupid plays. >.< (God, please not let this be Game 4 2008.)
Chris Rock’s interview:
Weirdest interview as Chris Rock is more focused on the game than the interview.
Meanwhile, Farmar saves the Lakers with a momentum stopping layup. And Ray Allen is back in. I expected that, since the momentum was shifting to the Celtics, but now Gasol adds 2 more points with his pretty Abdul-Jabbar hook. Lakers up 15. It’s all good for now.
7:17
My DVR stopped recording the game segment. Luckliy, I’m smart to record the next segment after the game. I hate that, I mean seriously can’t the DVR be smart enough to like extend the recording?
I was robbed earlier this year when I watched the NFC championship from 1st quarter to 4th quarter. That game went to OT and I’m rooting for Favre as they drive down the field, and then that annoying message pops up:
YOUR RECORDING IS OVER.
It might as well just have said:
YOUR ENTIRE DAY GOT SCREWED OVER. THANKS FOR WATCHING.
I had to watch the highlights just to see what happened. And the Vikings lost.
Bad day in general.
Oh shoot. Back to the action:
Gasol has an awesome left hand dunk off the Ron Artest wrestle steal from Glen Davis, and Ron Artest screams the Kevin Garnett-like scream: ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE!
Artest has played so well; I just hope he keeps it up for 6 more games.
6:00
Doc River finally puts in the right person: Glen Davis. Kendrick Perkins is basically a boot for this Celtic’s Car; hahaha like the analogy? Seriously, Perkins is such a liability on offense, the Celtics are playing 4 on 5, as Bynum or Gasol can play off Perkins and help on Rondo Drives or Ray Allen shots.
Yeah he’s your defensive stopper, but Davis has shown he can do that as well.
Woah two defining plays happened: Kevin Garnett’s airball put back and the Gasol to Lamar alleyoop
Basically, Garnett’s failed attempt at a dunk could mean 1) his aging and 2) summarizes the entire Celtic night. I mean Kevin Garnett 2 years ago would have easily downed that ball. Now? Barely got above the rim. A night full of lackluster intensity and no flow.
At the same time, the Lakers showed they are unstoppable when all the starters are in rhythm. You can’t stop two 7 footers and Kobe and Artest. The surprise was Artest shooting, but the Celtics can live with that. They can’t live with 8 offensive boards for Pau Gasol. If this low post domination continues, don’t even think about Game 6 or 7 at Staples. Lakers could easily end this in Boston.
4:30
Kobe grabs another offensive rebound. That’s just desire. Like Pat Riley said, No rebounds no Championships. Another example of Kevin Garnett’s gradual decline as a player. 2008: would he have let Kobe take that board from him? Heck no. 2010: My knees are too old!
Side note:
Wow. Did they just play “Baseball Tonight’s theme music” for a Spelling Bee competition?
(Did I just recognize the theme music for an analyst segment of a sport I don’t even like that much? Wow, I watch too much t.v.)
3:50
Nice Dish. Kobe’s on fire.
3:02
Kevin Garnett’s passive. Rondo’s passive. He’s way too intimidated by the length of the Lakers and settling for jump shots.
2:29
Turnover for Celtics. 82-95 Lakers.
2:07
Phil Jackson is 47-0 when he wins Game 1.
LAKERS NBA CHAMPIONS in 2010!
I hope it’s not 47-1.
1:49
Artest another 3. This is just too much. It’s like my birthday combined with Easter.
48 seconds
Haha, Kobe wanted the 30 points when he went for the 3 pointer.
45 seconds later….
Kobe gets his 30 points with a 3 pointer.
Kobe gets what he wants. That is the world today.
Things are looking good
102-89 Lakers.
Overall summary:
Lakers played great despite some turnovers and the referee calls.
Big story: Ray Allen’s non-existence because of the foul calls.
Not too sure if the Lakers will get that same officiating in the future.
Lakers have game one in the books, now it’s time for Game 2. This is crucial for the Lakers to secure home-court. Boston will be fresher and more intense in Game 2, so the Lakers will have to respond.
The 2 days rest will be good for both teams, but I look for Ray Allen, Rondo, and Pierce to pick it up for the Celtics. But I’m glad that the Lakers showed how tough they were.
Side notes I also learned:
I kinda want to watch Get Him to the Greek after all these commercials
Grown Ups looks really funny.
And my taste in movies has gone down a little.
Also glad I got my first game diary out of the way.
Whew. I must say Bill Simmons does a good job. But then again this is his only job.
Anyways, enjoy the NBA finals as the Lakers wrap up Game 1.
The perfect game. One of sport’s greatest achievements. It’s a complete game. It’s a shutout. It’s a no-hitter. It’s a game when you dont walk anyone. No one reaches bases. 27 batters. 27 outs. perfection.
It’s only happened 18 times since 1900. Some of the greatest pitchers of all time have thrown a perfect game: Cy Young, Addie Joss, Sandy Koufax, Catfish Hunter, and Randy Johnson.
However, there is a whole list of “greatest pitchers” who have never thrown a perfect game: Walter Johnson, Roger Clemens, Nolan Ryan, Greg Maddux, and Phil Niekro…just to name a few.
If you throw a perfect game, you enter baseball immortality. You can retire the next day and never pitch again, and you will be forever remembered for that one single game.
Tonight, Armando Galaragga was one batter away from a perfect game. On the very last out of the game, Jason Donald hit a short grounder to the first baseman, who then proceeded to throw it back to Galaragga for the out at first. However, the 1st base umpire, Jim Joyce, incorrectly said that Donald was safe. As you can see from the picture below, Donald was clearly out.
And with that mistake, Galaragga “allowed a hit” and lost his perfect game. What a way to ruin a kid’s dream. After the game, Jim Joyce was clearly distraught over the fact that he made such a bad call. He clearly knew that he stole something away from Galaragga, and nothing that he could do would bring it back. After the game, he went into the Detroit locker room and apologized to Galaragga for his mistake. A very classy move. It’s not going to fix anything, but at least he manned up and admitted his mistakes.
Obviously, many fans are outrageous over this mistake. A lot of people have called for the commissioner, Bud Selig, to overturn the decision of the game, and retroactively grant Galaragga an official perfect game. This is a bad idea, and fortunately, will not happen. Referees are part of the game, and have a big impact on the game. Unfortunately, refs are human and are prone to making mistakes. Obviously they strive for perfection, but they will not be able to achieve it.
This is where instant replay comes in. Instant replay is the perfect way to help refs/umpires know if they made the correct call. Football allows for a “coaches challenge” where a coach can challenge any non-penalty play on the field: touchdowns, incomplete passes, interceptions, etc. Hockey uses it the most extensively out of all 4 majors sports. Any goal that is questionable is sent to the video goal judge to be reviewed, even without the coaches request. The NBA uses video replay on instances to see whether or not a shot beat the buzzer. Tennis uses a instant replay as well, where a player can challenge a judge’s decision on whether the ball hit the line or not on a shot.
Baseball has some form of video replay, but only on disputed home run instances, to see whether or not a ball is a homerun, or foul ball, or not. However, baseball needs to keep up with the times and expand their instant replay to include cases like this: if a batter is safe at the base or not. I can also see video replay covering disputed instances where the ball might be fair or not.
Now, obviously a coach can’t call for an instant replay on every single play, since that will be long and annoying (and we already dont want baseball games to drag on any longer). That’s where you take a page out of football and tennis’s playbook and only give the coach only one challenge a game. It’s a situation that will be pleasing and beneficial to everyone. If instant replay had been used today, Galaragga would have gotten his perfect game, and Joyce would have been redeemed. Everyone makes mistakes. Instant replay would have correctly caught these mistakes.
Its unfortunate that Galaragga couldnt secure his place in history. But I dont believe we should go back and change history and give it to him. What’s happened has happened. What this should be is a catalyst for change in the future. Bud Selig and the rest of the owners need to really look into expanding instant replay in the sport.
Galaragga will always be remembered as the “guy who almost had the perfect game but had it stolen from him”. Hopefully he’ll also be remembered as the person who changed the rules of the game for the better. Maybe 20 years down the road, some young pitcher will be in a similar situation where the umpire made an incorrect call, but instant replay bailed him out.
Hopefully he’ll have Armando Galaragga (and Jim Joyce) to thank,
“This will be the 12th Finals meeting between the league’s two storied franchises. When they’re done, the Lakers and Celtics will have accounted for 33 of the NBA’s 64 championships” (via Yahoo! Sports)
As my friend said, “Damn!”
Indeed.
You’re talking about the two most famous franchises in the NBA’s history that have had the biggest stars in league history: Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Bill Russell, Bob Cousey, Jerry West, Kevin McHale, Bill Walton, etc.
The list goes on and on.
Now, this year’s NBA Finals will add another chapter to this historic series, including a lot of subplots, as both the Lakers and the Celtics have a lot to prove.
For the Celtics:
Ray Allen is almost 35. Kevin Garnett is 34. Paul Pierce is almost 33.
People were talking about how old the Celtics were in 2008; now they’re back, but 2 years older, yet they have been able to play at an intense level to return to the NBA finals. However, the new addition is of course, Rajon Rondo. If he could shoot normally, I personally think Rajon Rondo would be one of the NBA’s best point guards ever.
(It’s ridiculous to think that the Phoenix could have kept him; instead they traded him away for 3 million dollars… Sigh. The Phoenix Suns could have had Rajon Rondo and Steve Nash on the same team; it’s already hard to guard Steve Nash and his accurate passes, just imagine how much the Suns would score if you had two point guards with that much talent! Stat lines would be 18-4-18 for Nash and 20-10-15 for Rondo. Howard, the chemistry would not work at all, Nash and Rondo are ball-handlers; hey, I can dream ok. Just imagine this was NBA Live and you had both guys on your team. That would be a freaking ridiculous combo. Howard, they would get killed defensively, Steve Nash is already a liability and now you want to put Rondo as your 2 guard on a Kobe or a Vince Carter? SHUDDUP! It was just a dream scenario ok? Anyways…)
My main point, the Celtics are old. The Big Three won’t be playing at this level for much longer. In fact, most people disregarded them during the 2nd half of the season for the Celtic’s “legs” or their health factors. The time is now for the Celtics with everyone healthy and a bench that has been responsible as much as Rondo’s superiority. The Celtics basically have one last shot at a title, and unfortunately this could be it before a big swing in the NBA of 2010 free agency. Orlando couldn’t get it together, Cleveland went from champs to beggars, pleading for Lebron to stay, and other teams tanked for 2010, leaving Celtics with an easier path to the title.
What could happen in 2010 if D-Wade and Lebron and Bosh collaborate to form a super team. No one, including the Celtics could keep up, and maybe the Lakers would have a shot, but if that happens, Lebron gets another 3 rings, perhaps. (Heck no Howard, not after that weak stuff I saw from Lebron, he needs a lot of help. I know, the main idea is that 2010 is a crazy year. Win one before the chaos ensues. Hey Howard, whatcha think about Delonte West sleeping with James’ mom? If it’s true…, but if it’s true?, West, one she doesn’t look that hot…, and you’re stupidity just cost Cleveland another title and perhaps the greatest player they will ever have. Hope it was worth it. :P)
So what does this 64th Championship mean for both sides?
A lot.
This NBA title would impact 4 of the Celtic’s careers forever.
For the Big 3, it cements their legacy as hall of famers and the idea that ubuntu is real, (that 3 guys were Superstars on their own teams, yet champions together for the Celtics). Ray Allen would not be Reggie Miller. Kevin Garnett would not be Karl Malone. Paul Pierce would not be Shawn Kemp. Shawn Kemp….? Really? Couldn’t think of a better example? Fine, Tracy McGrady if that example fits more. There we go. Shawn Kemp seriously?? Alright alright.
Simply put, these guys were already hall of famers, and this ring can put them in higher levels in the hall of fame ring, and in Celtics history.
For Rajon Rondo, this signifies the beginning, the making of a superstar. Similar to Kobe’s situation in 2009, Rondo will have the chance to win a championship as the leader of the team. Danny Ainge is now lucky and can now build around Rondo once the Big 3 are gone. Remember, last year when the rumor was floating around that Ray Allen and Rajon Rondo were being traded for Ben Gordon and Rodney Stuckey? At that time, it was already one sided, but now the idea is completely ludicrous. Rondo can “write his own future” and certify himself as the new point guard of the league above Deron Williams and Chris Paul, become an All Star for next 8 years, and hopefully win more titles.
Well where does he rank now? Hrm, probably top 3. I don’t like discounting Chris Paul since he was injured, but I must say Rondo already beat a lot of point guards. Well a list… perhaps? Fine.
Deron Williams, Rondo/CP3, Nash, Derek Rose. What??How do you put Deron Williams above him? He got bumped out already!!! By a good Laker’s team. Deron Williams has the strongest build and speed, dishes as good as anyone, and has range. I’m knocking rondo for that. Anyways…
On the flip side, the Lakers also have a lot to gain:
Kobe Bryant‘s Legacy
I don’t care what the haters say, but if you win 5 titles, you’re pretty legit.
Kobe Bryant has a lot of things to assert himself as the most dominant player of this era, and the comparisons to Michael Jordan are no longer that far-fetched. Even Kobe has followed the Michael Jordan blue prints of how to succeed, developing a fallaway jumper and an offensive game that no longer relies on young legs to spring for a 540 dunk anymore.
(Kobe Bryant only won 1on his own! I hate that statement, I mean Scottie Pippin won 6 titles. He’s as much of a factor to Michael Jordan’s Success as MJ was to him! I mean yeah if you’re Sun Yin on last year’s Lakers, then yes, you did not win the championship on your own, but stop this whole “Those are Shaq’s titles!” comments.
Kobe Bryant would pass Tim Duncan and Shaq on the active players’ rings with 5, and basically reasserts his dominance in the league. 5 rings. One Hand. I really like Kobe’s game now, you basically witnessed an offensive masterpiece in Game 6, as Kobe silenced the crowd with repeatedly difficult jumpers and even lovetapped Alvin Gentry. You can do that if you’re that good and Kobe is that good. MJ good? We’ll see.
Bill Simmons wrote in his book, The Book of Basketball, (It’s a long book… but very entertaining, though not recommended for anyone under age 13), that Kobe Bryant “wins one more championship…. he quickly jumps Oscar and West to become the third-best guard of all time” (Simmons 529) ß Yeah 529 pages… that’s only ¾ of the book.
Well, this was written in early 2009. What about now? What if Kobe wins another title “on his own”? Where does this put him in the “greatest category”? I never thought there would be another Michael Jordan, and I probably still think that today. But watching Kobe is eerily similar to watching Michael Jordan. We’ll see in 5 years.
The other Lakers? They get rings?
I don’t really care, I mean they’re there for Kobe and they get more famous?
Honestly, it’s not like Farmar and Walton can say HEY I want to go now, because I’m on the best team in the NBA, but I’m not getting enough recognition. You’re the backup pointguard and perhaps the future after Derek Fisher. Quiet now.
As for Phil Jackson?
I dunno, I hope he stays; I think he’ll ride Kobe for one more year and get 12 rings and be on 4 3-peat teams (that’s definitely a record), being a part of MJ, Scottie, Shaq, and Kobe’s ride. Crazy.
Anyways, the reason I’m cutting short is I just realized I have typed nearly a 1000 words, and I have yet to talk about the prompt Jon gave me. The actual finals… Hmmm. Oops, guess thats what they teach you in school, “Address the prompt.”
Anyways here it goes, my opinion is Lakers in 6 or 7.
Rondo is the new bonus, but so is the Laker’s front court.
Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol are already a formidable front court with Odom waiting in the wings. Yes, Bynum is not as effective with that knee drained and limited mobility, but his presence is already enough. He’s basically Kendrick Perkins with a better offensive game. Look for him to try to score early in the 1st half, before Phil Jackson takes him out for Lamar.
That’s the key to this series- How well the front court plays because Celtics have the advantage unfortunately with the back court. Paul Pierce and Ray Allen can keep pace with Kobe and Rondo has everything on Fisher. (Ray Allen scares me. Yeah, don’t worry, he scares me too. I get nightmares of his off-ball screens and basically he runs around and gets off a 3. Then I wake up in a cold sweat and realize, wait… crap! That actually happened today. I know, me too L.
This means either Pau Gasol is going to take off some of the pressure on Kobe or the bench or Fisher will have to provide some scoring. In the Suns series, it was more Kobe and whoever can help him out that day.
That can’t happen in the Celtic Series.
Kobe and Pau have to be consistent and with the added play of the bench or Odom/Artest, and the Lakers can take it easily in 6.
Yet, this is not a perfect world. I can only hope Artest doesn’t blow a brain-fart and shoot and have the entire Staples Center yell at him. You can’t be that lucky, especially in two series. The Lakers can pull out this series victory if Ron Artest does his job and shuts down Paul Pierce; Artest is perfect for defending Pierce with his upper body strength; (Artest is the master of bodying, which I will write another article explaining the art of bodying up), however the question remains, who guards Ray Allen? (He scares me! Is he even human? No one can be that bald! So early!) At least he’s not like DJ Mbenga.
Kobe would guard Ray Allen, then Fisher would guard…. Rondo. >.<
Kobe would guard Ray Allen, then Fisher would guard…. Rondo.
Kobe guards Rondo, and Fisher guards…. Ray Allen?
Picture in my head: Ray Allen runs around the base line with Derek Fisher chasing him, getting clocked by Kevin Garnett, flopping into the stands, yet the refs don’t call anything, and Ray shoots a 3. Yeah? Well imagine that for 48 minutes… Oh…. Yikes.
Kobe guards Rondo, and Fisher guards…. Ray Allen
I don’t know if they have an answer for it. I truly don’t know. Maybe we can call on the Machine?
For Boston, the key is shutting down Kobe, which they have done before and establishing front court dominance, to force Gasol and Odom into foul trouble, which leaves Josh Powell and DJ Mbenga as backups. Pierce and Allen can get hot whenever, but if Kevin Garnett gets hot? That would be too much for the Lakers to handle.
Here’s my take on the series:
The 2-3-2 format favors the away team, putting more pressure on the home team to secure home court advantage.
Whoever wins the first 2 games will win the series.
Lakers have to win Game 1. They’re just better and Phil Jackson is unbeaten if they win game 1.
It’d be great if Lakers win both, putting them in a great position to steal a game at Boston before returning home.
If Boston wins 1 out of the 2, this sets them up for a 4-1 closeout at home possibly.
Essentially, Kobe will not allow his team to cough up a game at home and certainly has the capability to steal one at Boston. If they do, Boston’s done.
However, I think Boston is too jaded and worn down by the East Conference.
Wallace and Davis who are the heroes for the Celtics run are a little banged up and we’ll see if they can be the effective role players they were before.
The Laker’s length will help, but the bench will be a nice bonus. So far the Laker’s starters have had to pick up the slack for the bench play (Sasha…. Slovenia lives in terror!)and if the bench picks it up alongside the starters play, Celtics would not be able to compete.
Result:
Lakers in 5-6. (If bench plays well, and starters are consistent)
Celtics in 6-7 (If bench, Big 4 play well, and Lakers bench plays worse)
Let’s just hope Farmar, Walton, Shannon Brown, came ready to play.
Overall:
Sigh… a year ago, Paul Pierce tweeted about his opinion of the NBA Finals in 2009.
“Looked like a German shepherd vs. a poodle. That’s OK the Rottweiler Celtics will b back in 2010”
And who would have thought that Mr. Pierce would have held up on his own guarantee.
The Celtics are back indeed and will have the chance to reassert themselves against the Lakers.
So much on the line including history, legacies, and of course the NBA championship.
Like Mr. Johnson says, get ready this is Christmas for all NBA fans. Just enjoy it. I can even though I’m a Lakers fan, I can enjoy good basketball when I see it. This will be great basketball; no more shallackings that we’ve been seeing in the NBA playoffs. I expect super close games and hopefully a 3OT game 7 with Kobe game winner. But then again? ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE!
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