Someone needs to explain to me the DeAndre Jordan eerily creepy re-signing by the Los Angeles Clippers. Don’t get me wrong, I like watching DeAndre 3000 just as much as the next guy, he’s a beast who runs the floor in one of the more exciting offenses to watch in the NBA. But the way the Clippers went after him, man, I thought that was an episode of NBC Dateline: To Catch a Predator.
Tag Archives: NBA
The Peyton Manning Story starring LeBron James
Another NBA season has come to an end. It’s pretty much the same story every year. LeBron James takes a poorly put together team to the Finals and, more often than not, he loses. This year, it was at the hands of the Golden State Warriors, who was simply the better team.
You know, a team? It’s one of those things that has 8 or 9 solid players that contribute 100 percent of the time. One of those things LeBron James has never really had, because they focus on surrounding him with only two other “superstars”, but have been burned by the depth of other teams like the San Antonio Spurs and Warriors because that equation simply does not work. But I digress.
Once again, with his fifth consecutive trip to the NBA Finals, King James is under scrutiny for where he stands in NBA lore. More specifically, it comes down to, yet again, Michael Jordan versus LeBron. MJ vs. LBJ. Well, I already explained my stance over a year ago. You can take a trip down memory lane with Space Jammin’ on the King if you forgot.
Defining greatness in each of the four major sports is unique. Baseball is based on stats, but stats that are measured differently in each person’s eyes. That started with Roger Maris and that pesky asterisk because people wanted longer seasons, but they didn’t want people to do so well that they broke records with those longer seasons. It hasn’t ended over 50 years later, as now stats that were accumulated during the Steroid Era are thrown by the wayside. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. Unless you want to dump everyone under the steroid umbrella — even those like Ken Griffey, Jr. and Jim Thome who’s names seemingly never came up — then the stats matter. Is Barry Bonds the biggest d-bag of his era? Probably, but he was also one sick player.
In hockey, well, quite honestly, I have no idea what defines greatness. Part of being my age is the fact that in the NFL, NBA and NHL, my generation witnessed the greatest era of each of those sports. Were there greater players before Wayne Gretzky, Mark Messier, Jari Kurri and Paul Coffey upended the NHL? Of course, but there hadn’t been a dynamic like that until then, and there really hasn’t been one since. Maybe Mario Lemieux and Jaromir Jagr, but even Sid the Kid hasn’t come close to that kind of greatness.
The NBA? It’s all about Eras. Bill Russell and Wilt Chamberlain — on paper — were pretty much then two greatest players to put on those legendary short shorts. But we have all heard the argument that they wouldn’t hold a candle to the big men of the 80s and 90s, like Shaquille O’Neal for example. The Dream Team Era (i.e. the era of the Showtime Lakers and the coming of the MJ Age) was the best of all time, so correspondingly they showcased the most of the greatest players to ever suit up. It doesn’t matter how many championships you won, because in the NBA, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Michael Jordan, Isaiah Thomas and Tim Duncan had made it nearly impossible for anyone to do so for the past 30 years.
In football, it’s all about the titles. Seriously, the fact that Peyton Manning is not widely and unanimously considered the best quarterback ever is the prime example of that. Who is? Tom Brady? He is a very good quarterback, but he is also the face of the biggest powerhouse of this millennium, and that certainly helps his reputation. Joe Montana? He’s not in the Top 10 of all time in any stat but passer rating. He took the helms of a team that was full off All Pros and Hall of Famers, manning an offense that had never been seen before, while throwing to a guy who had the best hands and pass running routes in the history of the game. I’m not taking anything away from either of these two, but Peyton Manning is in a league of his own, and he always has been.
King James and Peyton are the same person. They are surrounded by immense talent, but their teams are not built for success. LeBron’s teams have struggled, as I have said, from poorly put together teams. Both in Miami and Cleveland, a bulk of the money was spent on signing a Big Three combo, with little attention paid to the rest of the team. In both cities, LeBron was burned by injuries to those star sidekicks and lacked anyone else to step up. You know who the reigning NBA Finals MVP is? That’s right, the guy who started the Finals as a sixth man. You don’t have depth, you don’t have rings, it’s that simple.
Manning had the same problems. He was always surrounded by top wide receivers and tight ends, but there was very little focus on the running game or defense. When he finally had those defensive pieces in place in Denver, they got smoked in the Super Bowl. Why? They weren’t as deeply rounded as a team like the Seahawks, or teams like the Patriots who don’t have many superstars, but at least solid players everywhere around the field.
They both put up numbers that most athletes can only dream of, but at the end of the day successful role players like Robert Horry and lucky quarterbacks like Peyton’s baby brother Eli have more rings.
Look deeper into the comparison. Both started their professional careers in the midwest. Both moved on to bigger markets who had at least one championship underneath their belts. Both lost their first chance at a title with their new teams to teams that everyone viewed as inferior. And both may very well never win a title again.
Like Peyton Manning, Bron is going to eclipse the most heralded records in his respective sport’s history. If he keeps up his current pace, he’ll shatter the scoring record and also like Peyton, he will probably have the most MVP Awards in his sport’s history by the time he hangs up the ol’ basketball sneakers.
And unfortunately for King James, LeBron is always going to have to live in the shadows of, yes MJ, but even some of his contemporaries. Is Kobe Bryant better? Is Russell Westbrook set to become the best player in the NBA? If that guy can finally get back to staying healthy, he very well could.
Manning and James are both Hall of Famers. They will both be remembered for eternity for their accomplishments, both on and off the playing field/court, because for the most part, they are both pretty standup guys. But both will be haunted by the fact that they couldn’t nail down more titles. If they each had two or three more titles under their belts, this conversation would never be happening. But until they do, I’ll keep on writing away!
The Wacky Week in Sports
Another week is in the books, folks. It’s hard to believe there are only six weeks left in the 2014 year. That means you are six weeks from the First Annual Wayniac Nation Wacky YEAR in Sports. I know, you can hardly contain yourself.
The MLB helped begin to wrap some stuff up as it’s year-end awards had one superstar doubling up on some shiny new hardware. College football saw some history, a few upsets and the return of a once Heisman hopeful. College hoops kicked off their season and Syracuse is undefeated! Six teams with at least seven wins saw action in the NFL on yet another crazy Sunday and Kobe Bryant proved that you can in fact miss shots you don’t take, and thousands of more that you do.
The Wacky Week in Sports
It was certainly another interesting week in the world of sports. It turns out that everyone’s favorite baseball player Alex Rodriguez is a total liar. The Memphis Grizzlies, The Golden State Warriors and the Toronto Raptors are the three best teams in the NBA and that has me freaked out a little bit. There were a few more big upsets and nail-biters in college football on the heels of Division I’s first playoff season. And the Bears played some solid defense in prime time on Sunday Night Football.
The Wacky Week in Sports
Well, folks, after a the NFL brought a whirlwind of chaos last week, things simmered down a bit this week leaving it a bit less wacky than we like here at Wayniac Nation. Simply because criminal activity has simmered down doesn’t mean there is any less to report on the week of sports that was. While some teams have locked up their divisions down the MLB’s final stretch the Wild Card race, especially in the AL, is still wide open. The US of A locked down a World Cup title, however it wasn’t done with their feet. And, as usual, Roger Goodell stayed prevalent for doing and saying all of the wrong things.
The Wacky Week in Sports
We really need the NFL and college football to start their real seasons. It has been another pretty drab week in the sports world, but there is always a few things that keep us interested. This week, while I usually like to keep this light hearted and a bit tongue and cheek, we need to start with tragedy.
THE WACKY WEEK IN SPORTS: #LeBrontoClev #ComingHome Week
The reason I started Wayniac Nation, for those that are still unaware, was my complete and utter disdain for ESPN. I think a majority of their anchors are hacks and that their programming has become complete fluff. As I have said before, they are the TMZ/ Enquirer of sports. I get way more from my daily dose of Chuck and Chernoff than I do from ten minutes of SportsCenter. The coverage of the LeBron James Decision Part Deux has only justified my remorse.
That said, the biggest sports news of the week comes from the NBA. First overall pick Andrew Wiggins completely outplayed second overall pick Jabari Parker in their first meeting Friday in the NBA rookie summer league from Las Vegas. Elsewhere, LeBron James, aka The King, aka The Chosen One, also returned home to Cleveland, the place he left four years ago to rise to amazing heights in Miami while Cleveland sunk into obscurity. Fans burned Bron’s jerseys when he left for the Heat, Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert said some harsh words about his character, and people across the nation deemed The Decision as the biggest egotistical piece of horse manure they ever had to endure. And now he is back. The Cavaliers went from 60-1 underdogs for the NBA title to the 3-1 overall favorites to win the whole dang thing. Here’s the thing: if this whole sign and trade with the Lakers and Bulls falls through for Pau Gasol and the Spurs wind up with Gasol, none of this matters. Tim Duncan and Gregg Popovich will have one for the other hand.
This whole thing smells fishy to me. I feel like this was David Stern’s master plan, and if any league in the world would set something up simply for ratings, it is certainly the soap opera that the NBA is. No one cared when Bron was in Cleveland, so did the NBA ship him to Miami, a major market, to revive the fading NBA viewership? You can’t argue that it didn’t work. The NBA is back and now, LeBron can go home. Maybe I give to much credit to the Illuminati, but I feel like that this was all set up four years ago. And now poor Carmelo Anthony has resigned with New York. I guess this guy never wants to win a championship, but at least he got a chip with my boys up in ‘Cuse!
Moving on to futbol, today is the day we find out the kings of the world. The 2014 World Cup concludes today with Agrentina facing off against Germany. Germany decimated host country Brazil, scoring more times in six minutes than seniors do on prom night. It was unreal and seemed entirely too easy. Four goals in six minutes and a nation was left crying. CRYING!!! Could you imagine if Jimmy Dugan was the coach?
Lionel Messi gets the chance to add the final piece to his ultimate trophy collection and prove that he truly is the best player in the world. Argentina advanced to the finals after a grueling 120 minutes of nothing. Seriously, that game was why it is so hard to get Americans to completely convert to futbol. Then, when nothing was decided, they turned to penalty kicks. I like the concept of penalty kicks, but I do have a problem with such a big game being decided by them. They are largely luck, either the goalie chooses correctly and dives in the right direction, or you lose. Regular season games, sure. Quarter final games, why not? But once you are in the semi finals, I think you play until someone scores. And if players start collapsing then so be it! Could you imaging Game 7 of the World Series tied after 10 innings and they go to a home run derby to decide the world champion? Wait a second, that actually sounds amazing!
Speaking of the MLB, Clayton Kershaw and Tim Lincecum continue to do ridiculous things with the baseball. Kershaw’s scoreless innings streak was snapped at 41 yet he still hurled a complete game. His last seven starts are video game-esque: he has allowed a mere three runs while striking out 71 and walking six with a no hitter along the way. The Freak has been equally superb allowing just one run over his last four starts with a no hitter as well. Meanwhile, the Yankees have one, ONE, starting pitcher in their rotation that started the season with them. Looks like I picked the right year to start writing for my favorite team. Oooo, can I really line up that Jeff Francis interview now?
The NHL free agency period continued this week.
Lastly, the Andre Johnson soap opera continues out of Houston in the NFL. Andre wants out, but John McClain, who knows more about the Texans than Gary Kubiak ever did, says Johnson isn’t going anywhere. Due to his hefty contract, the Texans won’t trade Johnson and eat all of that money, so the question remains whether he will hold out or play. Across the state in Dallas, Kyle Orton still hasn’t reported either, leaving Brandon Weeden the backup for Tony Romo. That is the worst sentence ever typed in the history of the NFL.
Another week of sports is in the books. We have a lot on deck here at Wayniac Nation this coming week, including a look into why minor league baseball is so much fun. When you are finally Bron-ed out, come on back and check out some quality sports insights! Till next time.. MESSI MESSI MESSI!!!!
THE WACKY WEEK IN SPORTS: Independence Day Style
Yet another week of sports has found its way into the books. (Incidentally, I always wondered what books stuff seems to find its way into, especially with the Internet and Wikipedia these days. But I digress…) It’s also the last day of my ten day road trip up and down the east coast. After taking in a lovely Single-A Hickory Crawdads baseball game last night, I am ready to head home. But not before one last week in review from the road!
The final four in the World Cup is set. The host nation of Brazil is set to take on Germany on Tuesday, while the upstart Netherlands club, who sent my beloved Ticans of Costa Rica home yesterday vi penalty kicks, is ready to play Argentina. The big news moving forward is that two of the biggest names in the world will be absent from the pitch for the remainder of the Cup. Sergio Aguero of Argentina remained sidelined but hopes to be prepared for the semi finals, although it looks bleak. Brazil lost Beats By Dre spokesperson Neymar for the remainder of the Cup. He broke a vertebra in his back on a controversial play against Colombia and would eventually be airlifted to a hospital. His absence could invoke them to play stronger to bring home the Cup for him, or it could be a devastating blow as he is their clear cut leader. This past Tuesday brought an end to the United States impressive run. Although many were happy and proud of this team, I saw it a little differently. In case you missed last Wednesday’s story, here are the three reasons you should not be happy with the USMNT performance in the World Cup. Also, as depicted in the picture above, the largest locust in the history of the world assisted in a goal for Colombia’s James Rodriguez. After the game, the locust tested positive for PEDs.
Does Josh Gordon simply not want to play in the NFL? Justin Blackmon Part Deux was arrested on Saturday morning for a DUI after blowing a 0.9. This of course comes after he was caught in May for marijuana. While Gordon seems like a blast to hang out with, his 2015 season and career are clearly in jeopardy. This would be a huge blow to the Browns and fantasy geeks nationwide. For those of you who don’t know Josh Gordon, he was the guy who made Brandon Weeden, Brian Hoyer, and Jason “Captain Checkdown” Campbell look like NFL quarterbacks last season. Johnny Manziel reportedly tweeted how angry he was at Gordon as Mr. Football felt he was the only Browns’ player allowed to hog the limelight. In other big NFL news, Jimmy Graham was declared a tight end and not a wide receiver as he had hoped in his franchise tag ruling. So if you get a chance, please tweet Jimmy (whose own Twitter account says he’s a tight end, Einstein) and tell him how sorry you are for him that he has to make ONLY a little over seven million this season while he negotiates what will most likely be the largest tight end contract of all time.
Queen James and the Big Three are still currently unsigned in the NBA. Early reports were that LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh were negotiating amongst themselves to figure out a way to get all three back together on the Heat next season. Now, there are reports surfacing that James may indeed go his own way, with Phoenix being a potential suitor. I guess he figures Phoenix will be a shorter flight home from San Antonio when he loses to Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, and Manu Ginobili, aka The Real Big Three, again next season. In other NBA news, the 2014 draft picks have started play in the Orlando Summer League. Shabazz Napier and Marcus Smart had shaky debuts but finished out strong. Nerlens Noel impressed everyone, dropping 19 points while grabbing two boards, and adding three assists, four steals and one block in his first professional performance.
How do you describe the play of Clayton Kershaw of late? Gnarly? Sick? Silly? Whatever you choose, Kershaw has decimated MLB lineups and has now dealt 36 consecutive scoreless innings over 32 innings while allowing a mere 13 hits while striking out 44 and walking four! That’s insane. Kershaw is honing in on his second consecutive season with an ERA under 1.90 and back-to-back Cy Young Awards. That would give him three in four years at the age of 26. That’s right, folks, Kershaw is just hitting his pitching prime. Throw on top of it that he just got paid some serious loot and unlike other divas in the world of sports, he’s still actually performing! We are watching something truly special in LA and pretty soon everyone of his starts is going to be a prime time game. Across the country, this past July 4th marked the 75th anniversary of Lou Gehrig’s immortal farewell speech. The greatest first baseman of all-time gave a speech on July 4, 1939 that rivals any ever given. It evokes tears and gives chills to every sports fan to this day.
BONEHEAD OF THE WEEK AWARD: Finally some NHL news that is worthy to write about. Philadelphia Flyers’ captain and forward Claude Giroux was arrested on Canada Day in Ontario for repeatedly grabbing a male police officer’s rear end. Seriously. I didn’t even have to make any of that up, so I say thank you Claude. According to USA Today, Giroux said, “”I regret my actions on Canada Day and sincerely apologize to my fans, teammates and the Philadelphia Flyers organization for my misguided attempt at humor.” Don’t sell yourself short, pal, you’re the funniest hockey player to ever live. Well, next to these guys at least:
There you have it. An entire week in less than 1000 words. Hope everyone had a good Fourth of July Weekend and stay tuned for another wacky week of sports!!!
Memorial Day: Remembering the Greatest Athletes to Serve ‘Merica
Happy Memorial Day, America. It’s a time for barbecues, heading to the beach, and enjoying a long weekend with family and friends. There is usually a ton of booze involved and maybe you sneak in a two minute glance of one of the most famous non-stop left turns ever in the 98th running of the Indy 500. It is also a time to remember… hence the clever Memorial Day tag.
The sports world has long been filled with athletes who remember that, although sports are entertaining and indeed a job, they are also just a game. Endless amounts of athletes have put their careers on hold to serve this country. While some of us spend this weekend celebrating relatives or friends who have served, lets take a look at some of the more memorable athletes to put America above their stats and illustrious careers.
Sterling Silver Balls
A few months back amid Michael Sam coming out and Jason Collins officially becoming the first openly gay athlete in the Big Four sports, people asked me to blog about my thoughts on the topic. I refused for two reasons. The first was that I was new to the blog community and didn’t want to go down a controversial road and rub readers the wrong way so early in my young career. Secondly, I didn’t think it was much of a story. Let me explain.
By no means am I a hippy-dippy-let’s-all-be-happy type of person. I am neither a racist nor a homophobe, though. I simply tend to have a general disdain for every walk of life, which I believe was spawned from two things: teaching teenagers and working in the service industry. In both of those professions I have learned one thing. You can be black, brown, yellow, green, purple, gay, straight, or an asexual hermaphrodite, a majority of the time, I am going to assume that you are a douche. And I’m not the greatest person for that, but at least I don’t discriminate. When my good friend asked me recently why I decided to make this blogging thing a long term goal as a profession as opposed to a hobby and get out of the service industry, my answer was simple. I don’t like people. Obviously, that is spoken in hyperbole, because as I sit here with my new fiancé making our wedding invite list, we are freaking out over how many people are on it. All I really mean by it is that the reason I don’t like someone isn’t the color of their skin or who they decide to shack up with at the end of the night. Maybe I’m just old and bitter!
Anyway, I do believe what Michael Sam and Jason Collins did does have some heroism behind it. I think it’s great that now aspiring youngsters don’t need to worry about their sexuality in pursuing their dreams. But what I really think it shows is a disturbing trait in our society that this even matters. Why a gay person has to hide who they are to get ahead in America, the land of the free, the land of opportunity, the land where people can come to from any walk of life and have a chance to turn it around, is disgusting in my opinion. Now, Donald Sterling has poked his warped head and people want to know what I think.
The remarks made by Sterling just ten days after the nation celebrated Jackie Robinson Day are obviously disturbing to me. I have already explained to you that I am not racist, so why waste my time preaching about what everyone else has already said. There is so much more to this story that people don’t want to touch upon because what this story is really about will piss them off.
For those of you who live under a rock, let’s do a quick recap. TMZ leaked a tape in which he and his fellow waste-of-newsworthy-space mistress, V. Stiviano, got into a lover’s spat over a picture on Instagram with Magic Johnson. What ensued was some incredibly stupid and somewhat racist remarks by Sterling about who his girlfriend was allowed to bring to his Clippers’ games (I wonder who his wife is allowed to bring to Clippers’ games?). Adam Silver quickly stepped in and banned Sterling for life and is currently imploring all NBA owners to unite in forcing Sterling to sell the Clippers.
Racism has always been overtly blatant in European sports, specifically soccer. Many futbol fans have been talking about how small an issue this is compared to what goes on overseas. Barcelona defender, Dani Alves, was the most recent recipient of a banana thrown at him. This disgusting display of racism has happened for awhile in soccer, and now players are standing together and fighting back in a no racism campaign. My favorite Premiere League Team is often the brunt of anti-Semitism. The Tottenham Hotspur players and fans are often attacked and called “Yids” which is a very derogatory term when used incorrectly towards Jewish people. It is so bad that several players have been accused of making the Nazi salute during games against Tottenham. Racism has and always will occur in the world, especially in sports. Sports is where all walks of life come together. It is a powder keg for bigots to self-implode. This stuff is hardcore. This is racism at it’s worst. What Sterling did was plain old ignorant.
A lot of people have commented the last few days that Sterling is simply a product of his time and that most really old, rich, white guys are racist. Sterling just got caught saying what they all think, they’ll tell me. Is this somewhat true? Yes, as an 80-year old man, he grew up in a very different time in America. He witnessed when it was legally acceptable to be separate but equal. Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King, Jr were at the forefront of the Civil Rights Movement while Sterling was in law school planning on how to make his first million. Most people have tried to learn from the actions of that era and have moved on, but for people who were alive before that era, it is simply a way of life. Does that make it right? Is Sterling the victim here? By no means would I defend this swine, his statements in that recording were racist as were his actions several years before this. That’s not the real problem here, however.
Sterling went and said something in private about a race of people that turned him into the magnate he is. Adam Silver took action and delivered a harsh but very just punishment. Sterling is the first owner banned for life by the NBA, but in the end, he still wins. If he is forced to sell the team, he will be awarded billions. If he remains a stubborn old mule, he will still profit greatly, no matter how many sponsors and athletes pull their support. The real problem here is that when you are mega rich, there is little risk in the actions you take.
Sterling is just another example of why it is good to be rich and have celebrity status in America. If someone like you or I, dear reader, would have done something like this, believe me, the results would be much worse. But for Sterling, he stands to profit off of being an ignorant fool and offending an entire race of people along the way SEVERAL times. But since he has money and fame, his only real punishment is that he isn’t allowed to go to NBA games anymore. O.J. Simpson ring a bell, anyone? Go ahead, try it out. Flee a murder scene with two dead bodies on your own property in a Ford Bronco while eluding tons of police officers and resisting arrest all on national television. Then I implore you to use your one phone call and tell me the outcome.
What it really comes down to isn’t race. It is about a stupid man being able to get away with it and most likely not learn a lesson. Have you seen how many more times O.J. has been in court or gone to jail? Sterling got in trouble in the early 2000s for being a racist and he got in trouble again nearly a decade later for the same thing. And, just like last time, the end result is that Sterling is being set up for a huge pay day. Is his image smeared? Absolutely. But he is an 80-year old man, how much do you think he cares what myself or a bunch of millionaire basketball players think of him? Sure, he was fined the maximum amount permissible by NBA rules, but what’s 2.5 million dollars to a man worth billions?
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, in an article for Time magazine, summed it up perfectly:
I’m bothered that everyone acts as if it’s a huge surprise. Now there’s all this dramatic and very public rending of clothing about whether they should keep their expensive Clippers season tickets. Really? All this other stuff I listed above has been going on for years and this ridiculous conversation with his girlfriend is what puts you over the edge? That’s the smoking gun?
He was discriminating against black and Hispanic families for years, preventing them from getting housing. It was public record. We did nothing. Suddenly he says he doesn’t want his girlfriend posing with Magic Johnson on Instagram and we bring out the torches and rope. Shouldn’t we have all called for his resignation back then? (Taken from the Washington Post blog.
Kareem is a very outspoken athlete in his beliefs, but it is hard to disagree with him. It wasn’t until it home to millionaire athletes and coaches that something was done. When he was turning away tenants in his housing projects and being sued in courts of law for overt racism, David Stern sat back and did nothing. Sterling screwing over the lower class based on their race was apparently A-Ok then, as long as he wasn’t doing it to his highly paid superstars. (Incidentally, should the players and coaches have truly walked away from the NBA like they threatened, they would still be millionaires. If someone like myself or you, my loyal followers of Wayniac Nation, did the same to our job, we would be in dire straits.) Now, all of a sudden we care. I think Adam Silver was fair and just in his actions, however there is only so much he can do as a commissioner of a sport. But he certainly laid down the law and let the NBA know there is a new sheriff in town. Only time will tell how Sterling responds.
I need to cool off. Until next time folks, we are just days away from the NFL Draft!
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