NBA Finals Finally Interesting

People hate the San Antonio Spurs. There is no way around this fact. They have perhaps the greatest player in the game of basketball today in Tim Duncan. Tony Parker and Manu Ginobli have formed one of the best guard combos in the league today, and have created second and third options to Duncan. Bruce Bowen is without question one of the greatest defenders going today. And then there is the coach. Gregg Popovich has helped put together a dynasty for the new millenium. Yet, this team has been called boring and have participated in some of the lowest-rated NBA Finals since the late 1970's and the games were shown on tape delay.

Cleveland is now the darling of the NBA. They are what this league wants and needs. LeBron James is a superstar on the rise. He's not exactly Jordan, not exactly Magic. Instead of comparing him to other players, he should be seen as the first LeBron James. He has the ability to lead a team and carry a city. He lets the game come to him instead of trying to force the action. And even as James does make his first trip to the finals, he still has so much more room to grow. He's not anywhere close to being an all-NBA defender. Longer range field goals and even free throws are an inconsistent part of his game. But at the age of 22, James taken advantage of a weak conference and an overrated Pistons team to get his team into the finals. My hunch is that King James will be in the finals a few more times.

If you listen to the media, you are listening to the great paradox. On one hand, these finals are the LeBron James show, but the San Antonio Spurs will win this series. It's a slam dunk. The Cavaliers have no chance to win. In fact, they might as well just give the Spurs the trophy now and not even play.

The same has held true in the past of course. The 2002 St. Louis Rams, 2006 USC Trojans, 2007 Ohio St. Buckeyes, 2004 Los Angeles Lakers, 2003 New York Yankees, 2006 Detroit Tigers (That was for you David.), and of course the 2004 New York Yankees. were all stone cold locks to win championships too. And they responded by all being upset. So I'm going against the grain.

I honestly cannot present you with a single fact that points to the Cleveland Cavaliers winning this NBA championship. They don't have near the depth, experience, or willingness to get as dirty as the Spurs can get. The only thing they have is LeBron James and a city that is so hungry for a championship they're like vampires at a blood clinic. But here goes nothing.

Cavaliers in 6.

My sources say Kobe's going to the Suns

This Kobe thing is crazy. I hate to say never, but I NEVER thought this would happen. Even after hearing all these reports, I still am having trouble accepting it as truth.

First, regardless of what Kobe says, it is next to impossible to trade someone of his caliber. There's the salary issue and the fact that there's no way the Lakers are going to get someone of equal value, unless it's two star players or three All-Star players.

This is also eerily similar to the Garnett and Iverson situations. Garnett has been rumored to be traded for a couple of years now, and as far as we know that's nothing but talk. Iverson was the same thing, and he wasn't traded until he 31 years old and arguably at the end of his prime. Kobe is in the MIDDLE of his prime, leading the league in scoring two years running and single-handily taking an awful Lakers team to the playoffs two years in a row.

I'm just having trouble believing that Kobe asks for a trade and before the start of next season he's with another team. History tells us it's not that easy. I can't think of any player on Kobe's level that was traded in his prime. Kareem was traded when he was 27, but that was 30 years ago and I think that a Kobe trade would be an even bigger deal.

I also can't believe that the Lakers are going to go from a team led by future Hall of Famers Shaq and Kobe to a team three years later being led by Lamar Odom and whoever they get for Kobe. That's not bad management, that's unbelievably bad management.

I hear what Kobe's saying, but I'm having a hard time seeing it.

The end of my NBA season

The NBA this year was awesome. Dallas flirted with 70 wins and played two great regular season games against Phoenix, a team that had a 15 and 17 game winning streak. Then there was the Suns game with the Nets in which the teams combined for 318 points.

Gilbert Arenas established himself as the most entertaining player in the league. Future Hall of Famer Allen Iverson was traded to the Nuggets, forming a dream duo with Carmelo Anthony. Kobe Bryant is still good and LeBron James isn't bad either.

The league also switched to a more up-tempo style, with nine teams averaging at least 100 points per game. Last year only five teams averaged that many points and in 2003-04, only two teams averaged that many.

What made all this better was that the playoffs initially appeared to be an improvement. Golden State was 33-39 on March 26 and a playoff afterthought. They then won nine of their final 10 games to sneak into the playoffs and followed that by destroying the best team in the league.

The Warriors series with the Jazz was short, but entertaining. The Suns and Spurs second round series was incredible for many different reasons. The Bulls toyed with coming back from a 3-0 defecit and put on the first watchable Eastern Conference series.

And now we've reached the Conference finals, and I'm done. After a season this great, we're left with Detroit, Cleveland, San Antonio and Utah. Thanks, but no thanks.

Detroit is great, but boring and without a true superstar (sorry Chauncey). Aside from LeBron, Cleveland is a bad team. I actually enjoy watching the Jazz, but in all honesty they have no chance against the Spurs, the most evil team to ever step on a basketball court. Not only are the Spurs the most boring and personality-deprived teams of all-time, they also eliminated the two most entertaining teams in the playoffs already.

While there are plenty of great things to take from this season, I can't help but be left with a bitter taste from a disappointing ending.

NFL's Elite going to the Dogs

Based on the latest edition of ESPN's Outside the Lines, Michael Vick is in deep trouble. And even though this isn't drunk driving or domestic abuse charges, it's still a P.R. nightmare for the NFL and commissioner Roger Goodell. Yes, dogs are not human beings, but surely they don't deserve to be unwillingly thrown into fights against other dogs. The NFL even made it clear in a statement they released to Outside the Lines.

The reality according to ESPN is that many more professional athletes are involved besides Vick. This means, that like steroids, there is more to this than meets the eyes. And now the world of dogfighting, which a lot of people knows exists but very few people talk about, may now hit the mainstream.

As a pet owner, and not even someone who likes dogs for pets, this whole situation just bothers me to know end. I find it bad enough that some cultures eat house pets as food, but at least they're doing it for survival. But if NBA and NFL players are involved in this animal abuse, then they need to be exposed as quickly as possible so that this sub-culture can be severely damaged. Obviously, there's no way we can ever be rid of something like this, but something has to be done.

UFC: The Next Big Thing?

So the results are in: The Oscar De La Hoya and Floyd Mayweather apparently drew in over two million total buys and $120 million in revenue. That's all well and good, but the question I asked myself in all the hype was "What's the point?" Sure, there are two great personalities with De La Hoya and Mayweather, but the fact that they were fighting for any sort of championships was barely even mentioned by any of the writers or by the announcers.

And now, just two weeks later, Sports Illustrated examines whether or not UFC is the next big thing. The answer to that question is blatantly obvious. No. Why no? Because it is already a big deal. And although many of the fighters are anonymous to a mainstream audience, they already average with a paid audience, what the NHL playoffs drew on the Vs. network. For fifty dollars and an average of just under one million buys for 2006, According to a story on SI.com, UFC's 2006 PPV revenues were almost $223 million, compared with $177 million for boxing on HBO and $200 million for WWE.

And UFC is already training the next generation of fighters with a reality television show on the Spike TV channel. A recent episode 1.2 million viewers. And although this is only just a decent number for cable television the holy grail demographic, 18-34 males , continues to do very well. And this season has seen growth in the over-35 crowd, traditionally a tough crowd to grab for what some people still think of as bonafied human cockfighting.

But UFC has cleaned its' act considerably since being purchased by boxing promoter Dana White in 2001. Since then, the company has experienced all of its' mainstream growth. Spike has the reality show. HBO, the channel that's kept boxing breathing the last 15 years, will begin broadcasting UFC events very soon. UFC also bought out one of their top competitors, PRIDE. Copycat leagues have formed and will continue to form. And many states are beginning to allow MMA events. Illinois recently loosening its' laws has already caused copycat International Fighting League (IFL) to run a show and Dana White had talked of running the Allstate Arena or United Center for a big UFC Pay-Per View.

People can choose to hate UFC. I've remained ambivalent to this point about the fights, but with all the attention it's getting, there's a good chance I too may become a fan. Especially when certain leagues continue to screw their fans by charging increasing amounts of money for a depleted product. Here is a sport at its' purest. Two men getting into a ring (or in this case Octagon) and settling a score. Not a single fighter has died in a UFC ring. And White has put certain rules (no eye-gouging, fish-hooking, or choking) to make sure that UFC is relatively safe.

While UFC is nowhere near the NBA, MLB, NASCAR, and especially the NFL, it certainly is a big thing.

America's Most Wanted

Never mind the fact that Michael Dwayne Vick has failed to live up to the expectations that accompany the highest paid contract in NFL history to date.

Never mind the fact that in seven seasons in the League he's yet to ever complete more than 60 percent of his passes, throw for more than 20 touchdowns or have a passer rating higher than a B- by even the most generous of collegiate grading standards.

Never mind the fact that in a single off season he's been a part of two potentially image devastating scandals that have been sandwiched around a horrific shooting at his Alma mater.

Despite all of that, Michael Vick is still the brightest, most entertaining, creative, explosive, intriguing player in the National Football League.

Just as another prolific young star found out the hard way, it's not easy being a well-known and generously paid African-American professional Global Icon. However, just as that other well-known and generously paid African-American professional Global Icon quickly figured out; the cure for such a perplexing position is winning and doing what he does best-- ENTERTAINING THE PAYING FANS!

In a recent interview with a Washington radio station, (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18783681/) Clinton Portis said "I don't know if he was fighting dogs or not, but it's his property, it's his dog," Portis told WAVY-TV. "If that's what he wants to do, do it. I think people should mind their business."

Now although I don't support animal cruelty in anyway, I do agree with the premise of what the former University of Miami running back is proposing. Essentially, it's not my place or any fan's place to judge what the outstanding community activist, Vick, does in his spare time. However, if the media feels the need to publicize his off-season ventures, there should be an equal platform for the charity work that the VICK Foundation did during the past year, or the amazing amounts of money that he doled out for the families of the Virginia Tech massacre, or the work Vick does with the Boys & Girls Club of the greater metropolitan Atlanta community, or the dozens and dozens of other great things that Vick does in his spare time.

As Lucky 7 embarks on his Golden Season in the National Football League it can be more than expected of him to elevate his level of play and prove all of his critics, doubters, naysayers, conspirators and antagonists wrong by showing why he was the number one draft pick in the 2001 Draft, the recipient of the highest paying contract to-the-date in the NFL on December 23, 2004, and the most sought after figure in the league of shoulder pads and helmets. Although Vick isn't perfect, I feel more than confident acknowledging that none of us are either.

Nonetheless with so much controversy surrounding the made-for-silver screen talent, it will truly be a colossal endeavor that the fleet-footed southpaw prepares to undertake.

I don't care about feelings

Days like yesterday make love Chicago. During his post-game interview yesterday, Ozzie Guillen's wife texted him that she was watching him on TV and he starts talking to her, telling her he'll pick her up at the airport at 11. Hilarious, Ozzie is great.

Not to be outdone, Lou Pinella called out his closer and informed a group of reporters that he doesn't care about feelings. For most managers, this would have been a meltdown, but this was nothing by Lou's standards. Ryan Dempster alone is going to be worth 5-6 screamdowns this year.

What I'm really hoping is that they can keep it up with the Cardinals already 8.5 games out of first place and our top pitcher out for 3 months. Would it be too much to ask for a reality show with Lou, Ozzie and a group of reporters (including Mariotti)? Somebody should get on this.