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Bow down to the King
May 31, 2009LeBron James won't be going to the NBA Finals, but he should be.
And after averaging 38.5 points per game in the Eastern Conference Finals, there's also no question that, as NBA legend Jerry West said recently, he's surpassed Kobe Bryant as a player.
However, it's because of his "supporting cast" that he had to score or assist on 32 straight points in the fourth quarter of Game 5 just to keep the Cavs alive in the series.
Charles and Kenny were right when they said afterwards that what LeBron had to do was an awful lot just to get a win and they doubted he could do it two more times.
Kobe doesn't have that problem -- his only problem is Orlando and its curious combination of spare parts which Cleveland and Boston had no answers for.
The people around them were responsible for all that Kobe vs. LeBron NBA Finals swag that Nike had to send to the same third-world country where the kids are still rocking those 19-0 New England Patriots t-shirts and Colorado Rockies World Series champions hats.
But, Kobe's bunch still has a shot at a championship ring.
For now.
Posted by Stephen Smith at 12:36 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Sign on the bottom line
May 29, 2009UTEP football coach Mike Price has probably put his trouble at Alabama behind him after six years of watching its image get smaller and smaller in his personal rear-view mirror.
A trip to Pensacola and allegations of misconduct cost him his job with the Crimson Tide during spring practice. And it was easy for Alabama officials to lower the boom on him because he hadn't signed his contract yet.
Maybe the word didn't make it around the coaching circle because Price's hard lesson was apparently lost on former Kentucky basketball coach Billy Gillispie.
Booted from Bluegrass Country after two sub-par seasons with the Wildcats, their fans and that huge sense of entitlement around Lexington, Gillispie fired back at the UK officials on his way out door with allegations of fraud and breach of contract.
The only problem was that Gillispie was working on a "memorandum of understanding" instead of an official contract. Reportedly, this was because of his own quibbling about the contract's language.
Oops.
Predictably, that exactly what UK's counter-suit hinges on.
From the Associated Press:
"UK contends that the (memorandum of understanding) is not an enforceable long-term contract of employment, and that it owes no damages to Gillispie, having paid him for each basketball season in which he coached," the lawsuit says.
Somewhere out in West Texas, Price is probably muttering to himself, "Gee, he really should have signed that contract when he had the chance."
Lesson learned: sign the freaking contract.
Posted by Stephen Smith at 2:18 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
College football's worst-kept secret
May 28, 2009Not that it's going to make a whole lot of difference, but the American Football Coaches Association has decided to keep its final regular season poll confidential.
Yay.
Here's the scoop from the Associated Press:
Beginning in 2010, ballots in the final regular-season USA Today coaches' college football poll will be confidential--one of a handful of changes on tap for the poll that helps decide who plays in the BCS national championship game.
The American Football Coaches Association asked Gallup to study its poll and recommend how to make it more accurate and credible. The AFCA's board heard the results in early May and announced them Wednesday in Waco, Texas
How this really helps anything is beyond me.
Maybe it shields some coach from catching any flack because he cast a vote for or against a conference rival -- but that's about it.
Later in the story, Gallup suggested possibly reducing the number of ranked teams to 10 or 15 as well as reevaluating the preseason poll.
Now there's an idea.
The preseason poll is what causes all the problems to begin with.
It all starts before the season when a certain team is anointed No. 1 -- and not always the defending champion -- and we begin the season on the wrong foot because that's what we've always done.
In short, who cares if the last regular season poll is secret or not?
It's that first one that's the real issue.
Posted by Stephen Smith at 3:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
I hate it when I'm right
May 27, 2009About a week ago I felt something was amiss and I was right.
Maybe Kobe vs. LeBron in the NBA Finals -- sure-fire ratings bonanza that it could be -- wasn't such a sure thing after all.
The Denver Nuggets and Orlando Magic weren't just going to roll over on cue for the casual fan's enjoyment. And, so far, that's been exactly the case.
The Kobe and the Lakers deserve to be in the same 3-1 hole LeBron and the Cavs finds themselves in after Tuesday night. And the only reason they're not is that pesky inbounds pass that the Nuggets keep screwing up.
Apparently though, hope springs eternal -- especially in the world of advertising.
This fading hope was evident when, in the moments following the Cavaliers' 116-114 overtime loss, the first commercial to pop up was the Kobe vs. LeBron Powerade spot.
Unless the chalk-throwing Chosen One can will three straight wins out of his supporting cast, Kobe vs. LeBron goes the way of the Dan vs. Dave leaving the NBA to try to get us hyped about Dwight (Howard) vs. Carmelo (Anthony).
Good luck with that.
Posted by Stephen Smith at 12:42 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
A Star is Born
May 25, 2009The NBA's next star rose last week among the tattoo-covered members of his own team.
And if those same team members could find a way to execute an inbounds pass in the waning moments of a game, the Denver Nuggets could be up 3-0 and heading into Monday night's Game 4 one step away from their first NBA Finals appearance.
Instead, they're in a must-win game, needing a victory to avoid a 3-1 hole.
Regardless, Carmelo Anthony's star is on the rise.
The addition of Chauncey Billups and the subtraction of Allen Iverson helped the already prolific scorer round into the go-to guy the team needs and the franchise hasn't had since the days of Alex English.
Anthony, who's almost never in the conversation when the Kobes and LeBrons come up, has a chance to change all that with three more victories to eliminate the Lakers.
Now, if he can just get the rest of his teammates to come along for the ride...
Posted by Stephen Smith at 5:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
A Dick Cheney sighting
May 22, 2009When Halliburton came under fire for alleged war profiteering, you couldn't find him.
When he was Vice-President under Dubya, you didn't see him.
But now that he's retired to the private sector, you can't shut him up.
It's no secret that the GOP is trying to re-vamp its image after losing the White House and Congress to the Democrats, but trotting out Cheney as a foil to President Obama in all things related to Guantanamo Bay probably isn't the way to do it.
Cheney comes off as someone out strictly to protect his legacy and that of the Bush Administration, and in part, of the Republican Party as well.
It's still very early in Obama's presidency and he's not infallible -- no one is.
However, if you're trying to clean up someone else's mess, why would the person who made the mess in the first place have the audacity to question the way you choose to do it?
Go back to the private sector, Mr. Cheney.
You've done quite enough.
Posted by Stephen Smith at 7:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
My, that's odd - Volume I
May 19, 2009I've said it before and I'll say it again -- I love XM Radio!
However, since all I listen to is sports radio, I'm a little behind on what's hot music-wise these days.
My MP3 player is a tribute to old songs with just about every genre of music represented from George Strait (All My Exes Live in Texas) to T-Pain (Buy U a Drank).
Somewhere in the middle lies Jennifer Lopez' 2001 hit "Aint that Funny" featuring one the strangest rap hooks I've ever heard from none other than Ja Rule, who's been laying low for the past few years -- that is, as far as I know.
Anyway, his chorus goes, Baby, is that your girlfriend? I got my boyfriend, maybe we can be friends..."
What?
I've heard men use the terms "my boy" or "my friend," but never heard a dude combine the two before that infamous line.
My, that's odd...
Posted by Stephen Smith at 11:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Why I loveThe Daily Show
May 18, 2009I stumbled across Comedy Central's The Daily Show quite by accident a few years ago after a couple of episodes of Chappelle's Show (whatever happened to him, by the way?) But, I'm glad I did. I've gotten to the point where I actually pay more attention to Jon Stewart's daily take on the "unfair and unbalanced" national media. Politics really does make strange bedfellows and even stranger opinions on mustard choices, honorary doctorates and whatever the heck the "We Hate Obama" news mob is going to come up this week.
The economy was already in ruins when the man took over and everybody knows it. Are you telling me that the last eight years have been one big picnic and things suddenly went awry in mid-January?
Spare me.
Since I find the "real" news so distasteful most of the time, thank goodness there's someone out there who thinks the people who report it are as ridiculously biased and dangerously unstable as I do.
God bless you, Jon Stewart!
Posted by Stephen Smith at 4:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Kobe vs. LeBron still on...for now
A dramatic Game 7 Sunday fizzled as the Rockets crashed in L.A. and the Magic made the defending champs disappear before our very eyes. This, of course, leaves the much-anticipated Kobe vs. LeBron marquee match-up a distinct possibility.
Still, it's not done until it's done.
Seventeen years ago, Reebok poured money into an ad campaign hyping Dan (O'Brien) vs. Dave (Johnson); two decathletes on the fast-track to a gold medal in the 1992 Summer Olympics. Things were all good until Dan failed to qualify for the Olympics and fell apart even more when Dave walked away with bronze instead of gold.
Lesson learned: beware the over-hyped match-up...
Posted by Stephen Smith at 4:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
