Cavs/Warriors III. Inevitable

The NBA playoffs have taken few, if any, surprising turns this year. The higher seeds have disposed of the lower ones, oftentimes in quick fashion.

Consider the West.

So far the Golden State Warriors have yet to lose a single game. They swept both Portland and Utah without much problem whatsoever. And then they rested while San Antonio was slugging it out with Houston for 6 games. The Spurs would prevail, but also lose the services of guard Tony Parker along the way. A big hit.

Never underestimate the genius of head coach Gregg Popovich and the Spurs' way of playing basketball at the highest level, but likely few thought they could go into Golden State and push the Warriors around.

Yet that's just what they did in Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals. To a point. They had built almost a 30 point lead. Surprise!!  But then all-everything Kawhi Leonard went down with an ankle injury. The Warriors roared back to escape with a narrow two-point victory. Still, a win is a win.

Game 2 was the polar opposite. The Spurs were overwhelmed throughout, and would wind up losing by a whopping 36 points. A rout. A beatdown. Embarrassing even.

It's difficult to imagine the Spurs regrouping enough to be able to defeat Golden State four out of the next five games to move on to the Finals. Especially with Parker still out, Leonard playing at far less than 100% -- if he can play at all -- and Lemarcus Aldredge swooning when he had the chance to step up and be "the man". It's just not going to happen. It would surprise few if Golden State went on to sweep the depleted Spurs as well.

The East presented a similar scenario.

The Cleveland Cavaliers swept both the Indiana Pacers and Toronto Raptors, and have yet to taste defeat in the postseason.

Matched against the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Finals, with the Celtics holding home court advantage, Lebron and Co. went into Beantown and promptly put a spanking on them in their opener. Again, no great surprise.

It did raise a few eyebrows when the Celtics were able to overtake the Cavaliers for the best regular season record and home court advantage through at least the Eastern Conference portion of the playoffs. But perhaps it shouldn't have.

While the Beaners were going the proverbial "balls to the wall", the Cavaliers lost a few games they might have won had they been properly motivated. Yet they decided to put it on "cruise control" of a sort, and not push their players too hard -- gas them -- before the postseason started.

Let's not forget that while Boston was slugging out a long series with the Washington Wizards, the Cavaliers were able to get over a week's rest. That's a lot.

So it should likely come as no surprise either that the Cavs were raring to go when the Eastern Conference Finals started. Might they sweep the Celtics as well? Entirely possible. If they thump them again in Game 2 on Boston's home court, it would be easy to imagine Boston being cannon fodder when they go to Cleveland for the next two games.

On a related note, no, this won't be Boston's year to win a championship. They're not quite ready yet -- but make no mistake -- they're coming and will be a force to be reckoned with soon. GM Danny Ainge has done a masterful job of rebuilding the franchise while stockpiling draft picks he has used wisely. And guess what? They just won the draft lottery and will have the #1 this year too. Then again, this year's draft doesn't have a clear-cut #1 superstud that stands out. Might Ainge swap that pick for a lower one while acquiring even MORE picks this year and next? Don't put it past him.

The Celtics are young and will continue to get better. The Cavaliers, with the exception of Kyrie Irving, are aging. Many of their players, Lebron James included, will be on the back side of their career bell curves soon, if they aren't already. They've been great since James went "back home", but it's not going to last much longer. Father Time will see to that.

In the end, there's no escaping that Cleveland and Golden State will meet in the Finals. And they might both well be undefeated in the playoffs when it starts. 12-0 versus 12-0. The cream of the East vs the cream of the West. Likely the way it should be.

But then something has to give. It seems highly unlikely that another sweep will happen -- either way.

Regardless, one of these two teams, neither of which has been losing anything lately -- is going to get beat 4 times over the course of 7 games. That's just the simple math of it.

True, Boston and San Antonio aren't exactly toast yet, and they will likely both give Cleveland and Golden State some serious competition before their series' are over. Make them at least work hard.

But barring catastrophic injuries to either the Cavs or Warriors over the next week or so, the Finals seem to be pretty much etched in stone.

Cavs/Warriors III.

And that should be quite the shoot-out......

The Syrian soccer team debacle

It appears as if certain political factions are trying to keep the Syrian national soccer team from attempting to qualify for the next world-wide competition. This is wrong. So far, FIFA, the ruling body, to their credit, has resisted. This is right.

We all know Syria has been embroiled in a civil war over the last few years. The casualty toll has been enormous.

But this is a soccer team. Why should they get caught up in political wrangling? It's not like the players are moonlighting as either government troops or "rebels". They train and practice like every other soccer team.

True, individual players might well feel loyalties to one faction or another. After all, they're human and entitled to such, much like any other citizen in any other country. But as long as they're not active participants in the mayhem -- why should they be denied the opportunity to compete?

Some Syrian players have said they don't wish to compete, as long as the strife continues. That is also their right, regardless of which side, if any, they would rather see prevail.

Yet for those that do, it is colossally unfair for the politicos of OTHER nations to attempt to bar them from the chance.

Again, they're just soccer players, trying to do their best on the "pitch" against whatever competition from whatever other country they may face.

So let them do it. They've worked their entire young lives to become the best futbollers in their country. They should be rewarded -- not punished because other factions are at each other's throats.

Other than the usual power-hungry politicians screwing up and sacrificing the lives of so many innocents -- what's the problem?

Play on.

Let's hope FIFA sticks to their guns -- certainly no pun intended.

Zaza amd Kawhi. Dirty or not?

Much has been made of the play that resulted in San Antonio Spurs star Kawhi Leonard going down with an ankle injury. The debate rages on. Was it a dirty play by Golden State's Zaza Pachulia -- or not?

Seems like that depends on who's doing the judging.

On the particular play, Leonard went up for a jump shot, and Pachulia went up with him to try and either block it or impede Leonard's vision. No contact was made and no foul called.

But whatever goes up must come down and, while Leonard was in the air, Pachulia moved into his "space" a bit. Like any other basketball player a million times over, Leonard wasn't looking where his feet would land when he came back to the floor. As it turned out, his left foot barely -- BARELY -- landed on one of Pachulia's feet and his already weak ankle from a previous injury gave way.

Kawhi won't be available in Game 2, and will likely be at far less than 100% if he can return at all in the series.

To the surprise of few, San Antonio head coach Gregg Popovich cried foul. It was a dirty play, said Pop. Of course he knows that his team would have had their hands full with Golden State anyway, but without a reasonably healthy Kawhi Leonard, the odds against his team pulling off a series victory over the high-flying Dubs get astronomical. Theoretically possible? Yes. So is Halley's comet making a u-turn and coming back again next year -- but I wouldn't exactly count on it.

For the record, yours truly has seen the replay of that play at least a dozen times -- slo-mo and all. While I admire both San Antonio and Golden State for their basketball prowess, I'm a neutral observer and root for neither over the other. Yet after seeing it so many times, I just couldn't see anything intentionally dirty on Zaza's part. In my opinion, it was a fluke play -- unfortunate in the outcome to be sure -- but hardly an intent to injure.

However, there are certainly those that disagree. On an afternoon sports talk show, former player/panelists were asked for their take.

It should be noted that these panelists were African-Americans, as is Kawhi Leonard, while Zaza Pachulia is caucasian.

They deemed it "dirty". The verdict was in. Guilty -- according to them. True, Leonard is a star player while Pachulia is only a reserve, but should that really matter? Once on the court, aren't they all supposedly equal, at least in the eyes of the officials? Remember, a foul wasn't even called on the play.

And that raises some food for thought. Let's hypothetically switch the personnel around and see if they would have come to the same conclusion.

In this scenario, Zaza is not the "offender", but rather Lebron James. And the injured party isn't Kawhi, but rather Zaza himself. Do you think they would see it the same way and label Lebron as "dirty"?

Somehow I seriously doubt that. The guess here is they would have spun it off as the "fluke" play it really was.

And had the injured player been Steph Curry of the Warriors, rather than his own Kawhi Leonard, methinks Gregg Popovich would see it in an entirely different light as well.

Tis in the eyes of the beholder indeed, and sometimes those pesky prejudices seem to get in the way.

Nothing new about that. Checked out the political scene in America lately? And even the hordes of citizens digging in on both sides to defend or attack their heroes/nemeses, regardless of what they do?

It's just the way it is.

Alas......

The Spurs are in deep trouble

It could certainly be argued that, as professional sports franchises go, the San Antonio Spurs have been the classiest of them all over the years.

True, winning has a bit to do with it (and they've won plenty, including several NBA championships), but it's far from everything. Lots of teams have been dominant but lacked class.

Some were too arrogant -- see "America's team". Others had issues -- see Spy and Deflate gates, not to mention one of their star players getting convicted of murder not long ago -- then taking his own life in jail. Some tried to invent their own class -- see "Showtime". Still others tried to buy it by throwing obscene amounts of money around to procure the best players. And it's darn near impossible to exude class if your team hasn't been any good since forever -- see a football team in Detroit.

Few would doubt longtime Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich is as good as any coach has ever been. It should also be noted that the players over the years have kept their proverbial noses clean. You haven't heard of Spurs players involved in DUIs, domestic incidents, drugs, or other not-so-good antics. It simply won't be tolerated in San Antonio. For this, they deserve a huge amount of credit as an organization. Whatever they're doing, and however they're doing it -- sure appears to have worked just fine.

This is class at the highest levels.

But class doesn't guarantee winning either.

And the Spurs are in trouble.

It could probably fairly be said that most "experts", pundits, and even nitwit armchair hoops fans like yours truly didn't really think they'd get by the Golden State Warriors in the playoffs. While the Spurs are their usual model of excellence, the Dubs appear to be operating at a still higher level.

It would have taken an extraordinary effort by the Spurs to win the Western Conference Finals against such a juggernaut.

Yet the Spurs came roaring out the gate in Game 1 -- @ Golden State -- and built a huge lead. It was just what they needed to perhaps get them "over the hump". Steal Game 1, and who knows? Could they do it again in Game 2, also in Oakland? The momentum would have shifted in a huge way in San Antonio's favor. With the next two games in the friendly confines of Alamoland, things would have been looking up indeed for Coach Pop and his crew.

Alas. A lightning bolt struck. Already minus the services of guard Tony Parker, all-everything Kawhi Leonard went down with an ankle injury. On an innocent enough looking play, he jumped up, then came down, and his left ankle bent in a way ankles aren't supposed to.

At the time, well into the third quarter, the Spurs were enjoying almost a 30 point lead. That's a bunch.

Once Leonard went out, the Warriors flat-out took over. They blistered the Spurs the rest of the way and escaped with a two point win. Had Kawhi Leonard still been available to play, this likely wouldn't have happened. Steph Curry wouldn't run wild and score in bunches with Leonard guarding him.

OK, those things happen in sports. It's unfortunate, but sometimes that's just the way the proverbial cookie crumbles.

True, the series is young, and San Antonio shouldn't be counted out yet.

But they had a golden opportunity to seize control, and managed to blow a colossal lead to lose the opener. A very bad sign for the Spurs and their faithful.

The extent and severity of Leonard's injury is unknown, but even if he's capable of returning, chances are good he'll be playing at far less than 100%. Without him, the Spurs have NO shot.

Unless a key Golden State player or two goes down as well in the very near future. One never knows about such things. It could happen.

But as long as GS remains healthy, and given they now know they can storm back from a deficit against SA, this series might be short indeed.

I, for one, hope not. I'd love to see it go to a Game 7, with a fully healthy Kawhi Leonard giving Steph Curry all he can handle. How great of a game would THAT be to watch?

Yet as is, things ain't looking good for the Spurs.

Win or lose, they'll come out of this series with the class they've always shown. You won't see them trash-talking, sending childish "look at me" tweets, or hawking some lame product (while making fools of themselves) on TV commercials for a few bucks they don't need. That's for players that can't seem to get past the first round of the playoffs -- see a certain LA team.

So if for no other reason except class, here's hoping the Spurs can find a way to get right back in this thing. It sure isn't going to come from the groin kicker -- see a certain GS player.

The only thing more thunderous than his nether region boots is his big mouth which, to date, remains a paragon of ignorance.

This is not even low class.

It's ZERO class.

Maybe he should have spent more TIME in class while at school. They just might have taught him how to behave as a gentleman, rather than the on-court thug he's evidently become.

Just a thought.....

The Danica Patrick train wreck

Yep, she's struck again. This time another driver had to be air-lifted to a hospital. Prognosis unknown.

Danica Patrick has been quite the piece of work over the years in automobile racing. Though official numbers are unknown, it's very probable she's caused more carnage on the racetracks than any other driver in history.

Hey, I'm all for equal rights. always have been. There was never a good reason -- none -- why certain people should have been denied opportunity just because of their gender, race, skin color, religion, or whatever. That would likely explain why I've always been against such things as "affirmative action". It has never been more than a discriminatory policy which gives bonus points on the basis of skin color, while unfairly punishing those who have earned opportunities for advancement on their own merit. It's wrong, and always has been as well.

Once upon a time, Danica Patrick was an Indy car racer. She was provided top-notch gear. But she never won anything, save for an obscure race in Japan which many of the top teams didn't even bother to show up for.

True to form, the ever politically correct announcers would pounce on every opportunity to hype the good Ms. Patrick. OMG, she's leading the Indianapolis 500. What they never bothered to explain was that her pit crew would have her stay out on the track for another lap of two while the competitive cars were pitting. Once the field got sorted out and reset, Danica would predictably fall well back.

As a very young man, yours truly was an Indy fanatic. I was at the track in 1977, in the craziness of the infield, when Janet Guthrie became the first woman to pilot a car in the fabled race. That was back in the days of Foyt, the elder Unsers, Mario Andretti, Tom Sneva, Wally Dallenbach, Danny Ongais, and that bunch. Janet didn't fare well that day, though she didn't have top-notch equipment either. And it's probably fair to say the "boys" back then weren't exactly fond of her presence on the track. But I thought it was pretty cool. History had been made.

So no, Danica hardly broke new ground when she appeared on the circuit.

It became obvious Patrick was never going to be competitive in Indy cars, so what did she do?

Grab a NASCAR ride, of course. Let the endorsements and hype roll in. And oh my, did they ever. Sure, NASCAR benefited from her presence and marketed it up the wazoo. But, like her Indy car days, she would never be any good.

Though he was slammed for it, Kyle Petty once publicly said Danica knew how to go fast, but she'd never be a true racer. In hindsight, it's difficult to dispute the younger Petty's prediction. Danica hasn't won squat on the NASCAR circuit either in all the years she's been there. Yes, she indeed qualified for the pole position for the prestigious Daytona 500 once. And was competitive throughout the race -- until it mattered. Towards the end the "big boys" went blowing by her. Kyle Petty was right. She wasn't ever going to win anything. Typically, Danica will finish somewhere between 15th and 30th. Not really competitive, but not quite a bottom feeder either. Yet remember, like in her Indy days, she always had first-class equipment in her NASCAR rides as well. The "bottom feeders" we see every week -- do not. A difference. A big one.

The apologists want us to believe that dear Danica should think long and hard about continuing her NASCAR career. After all, so many high speed crashes are bound to take their toll on her eventually, right? Even though she's pretty much remained unscathed throughout all of them over the years.

Sure, she's stomped her feet, flapped her gums, and otherwise thrown hissy fits here and there when things don't work out for her, but a lot of it, perhaps most, has been her fault all along.

Yep, she's been in, and caused, a lot of wrecks. But let's not forget the "other guys". Those cars cost a few hundred thousand to build and replace too when they get trashed. It is highly likely many veteran NASCAR drivers consider Danica Patrick to be a menace on the track. An accident waiting to happen. But they can't say that, for fear of the politically correct backlash they would surely face.

It's just not cool these days to criticize a woman in a predominantly male sport, even if she has it coming for her own ineptitude and the mayhem that results from it.

Would that be considered true equal rights? Somehow, call me skeptical. It is what it is, and Danica ain't no good.

All the photo shoots and other endorsements aren't going to change that.

I mean, good grief, how many $400,000 race cars has this lady got to wreck before somebody gets tired of replacing them? Remember her sponsor Go Daddy? Daddy be gone. He most likely couldn't afford it any more.

That's not even counting all the equally valued cars she's trashed over the years that were driven by others. Her total tab to date in wreckage is unknown, but it's certainly well up in the millions of dollars.

God bless her and may she live long and prosper, but dang, somebody has to sit up and acknowledge Danica Patrick has been a train wreck throughout her racing career. The carnage she's caused is incalculable.

Despite all the politically correct fodder, apologists, and so-called "equal rights" blather, folks can't change the obvious.

It just it what it is, and has long since been.

Slice it and dice it however one wishes, but Danica just wasn't cut out to be a successful race car driver at the highest levels.

And what has ever been the point of a NASCAR owner putting Patrick in a car, when they already know she won't finish in the top ten, and will likely wreck either herself or somebody else during the race?

At a recent race in Kansas City, Danica Patrick had the utter gall to get up in Joey Logano's face because something broke on his car at high speeds which led to a wreck, Dear Danica got caught up in it. Logano is a highly successful racer by any standards.

But Danica threw yet another hissy fit because, OMG, this was one wreck she didn't cause. Let's all cry huge crocodile tears for poor, poor Danica.

Please.

This woman is a menace in more ways than one......

The Washington fold act

Was anybody really surprised when the Washington Caps of the NHL bowed out to Pittsburgh? Even though the deciding Game 7 was on the Caps' home ice?

It's just what they do. In recent times the Caps have won the President's trophy often for having the best regular season record. But they haven't made it out of the second round of the playoffs for a quarter century. When the going gets tough, the Caps get choking.

In the NBA, the Washington Wizards forced a Game 7 with the Boston Celtics. It will be played in Beantown. Who do you think is going to win THAT one to advance to the eastern conference finals? Here's a semi-educated guess -- it won't be a Washington team. Their fold number is overdue to pop up.

Consider the NFL. The Redskins, once a proud franchise, haven't been any good since Joe Gibbs quit as head coach. You remember Joe. He was the all-American boy, red, white, and blue all the way. A humble and deeply religious man. The good Mr. G decided to pursue a future as a NASCAR owner.

That's great, but also raises an interesting question -- if he was such a patriotic God fearing flag waver, why, tell me WHY, did he choose Toyotas for race cars, and hire a heathen like Kyle Busch as his lead driver? Ford or Chevy likely would have been more than happy to supply him with cars and motors, but no, he had to go the Japanese route. Something was always wrong with this picture. Still is.

Who does that leave? The Nationals of Major League Baseball. Currently, they sit atop their division and are cruising right along. The Nats have talent galore.

But wait until October. They'll fold, like they always do. Because that's just the way things are in DC.

Good grief. Even the politicians have (again) joined the losing act. One would think they have plenty of pressing issues to deal with. To build or not to build the "wall", revamping health care, simplifying the tax code, reducing that pesky deficit, getting a handle on the immigration/refugee crisis, improving care for injured veterans at VA facilities, and let's not forget the crumbling infra-structure in America. Or the legions of homeless that desperately need a roof over their heads and something to eat.


But no, all that has been kicked to the curb. Not important enough. Now they're busy arguing among themselves about why an FBI chief got fired. Let the hearings begin and the partisan sniping continue. All while nothing else gets done. It's a convenient cop-out of their responsibilities, but it sure doesn't help John and Jane Citizen much in the real world. It's just one more example of how Washington seems to breed losers when the pressure ratchets up. Must be something in the air.

On a lighter note, consider the Washington Generals' record against the Harlem Globetrotters. Though exact stats remain sketchy, it's no secret the Trotters won well over 10,000 games against the Gens, while only losing one. That's a very impressive percentage, even though the games were -- shhh, it's a secret -- "allegedly" rigged. Still, the Washington squad managed a single victory. That was way back in the Nixon era, not long before that Watergate thing reared its ugly head. In hindsight, it seems ironically fitting enough.

So no matter how you want to slice it or dice it, when it comes to Washington DC, be it hockey, football, basketball, baseball, or even politics, they have long since earned the reputation of being chokers and losers in the end.

Perhaps the most trusted TV news man (Walter Cronkite) of all time said it best when he signed off every day....

And that's just the way it is.

Either that, or the Warner Brothers cartoons folks nailed it with their famous Looney Tunes bit at the end of a show.

Th-th-th-th-that's all folks.

Give it up to the Spurs

Like them or not --  and how can anybody hate such a class organization? -- you gotta give it up to the San Antonio Spurs. The game they just played against the Houston Rockets -- no slouches -- was something to behold. It was the series clincher and the Spurs move on, while the Rockets go home.

Which isn't far, given the drubbing NBA fans just witnessed that happened in Houston. The Spurs put a 39 point beat down on the Rockets in their own house. Oh my. Nobody saw that coming.

Both teams had previously won on the other's court and Game 5 had gone to overtime in San Antonio. It appeared to be a neck and neck series indeed. Hard fought throughout.

If anything, the Spurs were at a distinct disadvantage. Besides playing on the road -- where Houston is formidable at home -- they had recently lost the services of guard Tony Parker. A torn quadriceps tendon ended his season and, given his age, might well spell the end of his illustrious NBA career.

If that weren't bad enough, the always quiet and humble, but quite lethal Kawhi Leonard had twisted his ankle in the previous game and wasn't available either. Many have said Leonard is the best two-way player in the game today. People tend to think of him as a "little guy", but he's really not. Leonard stands 6 foot 7, just an inch short of that Lebron guy, and an inch taller than that Michael guy of old. From scoring, dishing out assists, rebounding, ball handling, and playing tenacious defense on the other team's best player, KL can pretty much do it all. But he doesn't seek the limelight like so many other NBA prima donnas. Leonard just quietly gets it done in a large way.

After the nip and tuck Game 5, most would have thought Game 6 at Houston, with the Spurs down two of their best players, would be a blow-out the other way.

But twas not to be. Quite the opposite happened, no doubt to the surprise and chagrin of Houston and their fans.

So yep, ya gotta give it up to Coach Pop and his Spurs. A lot of guys saw way more minutes than they normally would, but came through in a spectacular fashion. Very few turnovers. Always finding the "open" guy with a crisp passing game. Knocking down the "open looks" when the multiple passes got the ball to a shooter. Crashing the boards and allowing Houston few second shots. A swarming, quickly switching defense that made things difficult for the Rockets all night. Holding James Harden and Co. to a mere 75 points on their home floor was quite a feat indeed. Especially without Kawhi Leonard available to guard him.

In the end, it was "Spurs basketball" at its finest. Coach Pop has to be proud of the job his guys turned in shorthanded.

But it doesn't get any easier. Next up for the Spurs are the Golden State Warriors. The Oakland crew has yet to lose a single playoff game this post-season, and will have home court advantage in the western conference finals.

San Antonio will be a heavy underdog. And while Parker is most definitely out, nobody knows for sure if Leonard will be ready when the next round starts in a few days. And even if so, how effective he might be, if still a bit gimpy.

Sure, even since the beginning of the season, all the "experts" have predicted Golden State and the Cleveland Cavaliers were destined to meet for the third time in a row in the Finals. It might well come to that. The Cavs await the winner of the Boston/Washington series and will be heavily favored to dispatch either of them as well, even though the Celtics would have home court advantage.

But how can anybody root against the Spurs? They lost Tim Duncan to retirement. The Warriors added super-star Kevin Durant through free-agency. Parker's gone and Leonard's a maybe.

In the absence of head coach Steve Kerr, still out with back problems, Golden State has plugged in Mike Brown, pretty much a loser every other place he's been (see multiple firings). What could they possibly have been thinking bringing this clown on board as a #2?

On the other hand, Gregg Popovich has not only proven himself to be a championship winning coach, but also the epitome of class over the last couple decades. Has there ever been anybody, anywhere, at any time, that has had a single bad word to say about this man? Not that yours truly can remember.

Class will do that for you over time.

So here's wishing him and his Spurs the best.

But they're certainly going to have their hands full with the Warriors over the next couple weeks.

Those guys are really, REALLY good.

They're SUPPOSED to win.

But who, other than the Golden State faithful, wouldn't be tickled if the Spurs somehow found a way to pull off a huge upset and get back to the Finals?

Betcha Cleveland (their likely opponent) would also agree. Given a choice between a depleted Spurs team and a healthy Warrior one looking for revenge after what happened in last year's Finals, you just KNOW which one they'd rather face.

But that's getting ahead of ourselves.

Like they've long said, that's why they play the games.

Bring it on and let's see what happens.

Somewhere in the middle of all that, yours truly is going to call a time out and officially tune out the NBA. That's when the Indy 500 hits in a couple weeks.

Basketball, schmasketball. Some things are just more compelling to watch. If you can't do 225 MPH all the way around the track, don't even bother to show up? These guys and gals make NASCAR look like a slow motion bumper-car contest. This is SERIOUS racing. And only once a year.

No way would I ever miss that, though I no longer have the fortitude to spend a few days down there partying and running amok in the infield like I used to during the race itself. It's big screen only of late.

Geez, those were the days indeed.

Sigh......