And they just got a big dose of reality. This ain't the regular season.
True enough the Rockets took two out of three from the Golden State Warriors during the regular season.
Also true enough they wound up with the best record in the NBA, thereby guaranteeing home-court advantage throughout the playoffs.
But Golden State has obviously been there, done that in the playoffs in recent years, having won two of the last three championships. They likely would have won the other two years ago had not loose cannon Draymond Green finally been righteously suspended for his thuggish on-court tactics during that Finals against the Cleveland Cavaliers. At the time, the Dubs were ahead in the series 3-1 with Game Five at home. It should have been over. But Lebron and Co. exploited the absence of dear Draymond to win a game at the Oracle, and the tide turned. Back to Cleveland for a blowout Game Six, and hey, anything can happen in a Game Seven. It did, and the Cavs walked away with an unlikely title. Heckuva job, Draymond. Though he'd never admit it, he cost his team, city, ownership, and fans a championship because he couldn't behave himself. It was on YOU chump, but he's too dense and cocky to realize it.
And it might just be that while Houston has been so busy busting their butts all season trying to prove something, the Warriors have been laying back and pacing themselves knowing they have what it takes when the grind of the playoffs starts.
Put another way, the Warriors have four All-Stars on their team. The Rockets two. And they're both guards, little guys. And neither has been there, done that before.
On to the Western Conference Finals, and Houston hosting Golden State. In Game One, the Warriors thumped them in their own building to retake home court advantage.
And if the Rockets somehow don't manage to win Game Two, at home, they can kiss this season good-bye. No way are they beating Golden State four out of five with three of them being in Oakland. Ain't gonna happen.
So we'll see.
No pressure.
Monday, May 14, 2018
The scary thing about Boston
When it comes to fans, most would agree that a lot of professional sports towns share something in common. Either you rabidly root for them -- or hate their guts. Boston is such a town. As is New York, Los Angeles, and no doubt Dallas.
But the Boston Celtics, those lovable (or hate-able) shamrock guys are doing something quite amazing these days.
They've advanced to the NBA Eastern Conference Finals and put a gawd-awful beat-down on the Cleveland Cavaliers in Game One. By any standards, a 25 point margin of victory is a blow-out.
True, in the first round of the playoffs the Milwaukee Bucks took those same Celtics to the full seven games, before Boston handily dispatched them in the finale.
And the Philadephia 76ers, a young and upcoming team, put up a valiant fight in Round Two, before succumbing. In a couple years, look out for Philly, if they can stay healthy -- no given -- and keep the team together.
Also true is few expect whoever comes out of the East, be it the Beaners or the Northeastern Buckeyes, to stand much of a chance against the winner of the Golden State/Houston match-up currently underway in the West. But ya never know. Stranger things have happened -- I think. Who saw the Eagles even getting to the Super Bowl last February, let alone taking the Patriots to the woodshed?
Thing is. the Boston Celtics are doing this while severely undermanned. As in missing their two best players -- namely Gordon Hayward and Kyrie Irving. The former an All-Star caliber center/forward -- big man -- and the latter arguably one of the best three point guards in the league. Throw in they're also playing without the services of lesser known Daniel Theis and Shane Larkin -- significant role players -- and they're down to an eight man rotation. And they blew out Lebron and Co. by 25?
It leaves one to wonder just how good the Celtics will be when the likes of Hayward, Irving, and Co. return to the line-up next year.
Yeah, I get it. Sometimes "chemistry" can be a tricky thing. Putting terrific players back into an already successful mix might just upset the proverbial apple cart.
But hey, if you're a Celtics fan, I'm guessing you'd be more than happy to take your chances WITH these guys than WITHOUT them.
And if ever there was a head coach that can make it work, it's whip-smart Brad Stevens. A brilliant hire by GM Danny Ainge.
Of course, time will tell, but the future of the Boston Celtics, again assuming they can stay healthy, would appear quite bright indeed.
Lebron is showing signs of his age in Cleveland. He's even admitted to being "burnt". And the rest of the team around him has been eroding. It's only a matter of time, likely not too long, before the Cavs go into a downward spiral
And yes, Golden State and Houston look to be formidable for the next few years, but only one of them can make it into the Finals every year. Maybe the Warriors will get complacent. Or the Rockets, which depend almost entirely on guard play from James Hardin and Chris Paul, and an offense that apparently has no set plays -- pretty much ad-lib street ball at its finest -- will finally be exposed for what they are. A stretch? Maybe.
But the Boston Celtics have been built to last. And they could be scary in the next few years.
Just sayin'......
But the Boston Celtics, those lovable (or hate-able) shamrock guys are doing something quite amazing these days.
They've advanced to the NBA Eastern Conference Finals and put a gawd-awful beat-down on the Cleveland Cavaliers in Game One. By any standards, a 25 point margin of victory is a blow-out.
True, in the first round of the playoffs the Milwaukee Bucks took those same Celtics to the full seven games, before Boston handily dispatched them in the finale.
And the Philadephia 76ers, a young and upcoming team, put up a valiant fight in Round Two, before succumbing. In a couple years, look out for Philly, if they can stay healthy -- no given -- and keep the team together.
Also true is few expect whoever comes out of the East, be it the Beaners or the Northeastern Buckeyes, to stand much of a chance against the winner of the Golden State/Houston match-up currently underway in the West. But ya never know. Stranger things have happened -- I think. Who saw the Eagles even getting to the Super Bowl last February, let alone taking the Patriots to the woodshed?
Thing is. the Boston Celtics are doing this while severely undermanned. As in missing their two best players -- namely Gordon Hayward and Kyrie Irving. The former an All-Star caliber center/forward -- big man -- and the latter arguably one of the best three point guards in the league. Throw in they're also playing without the services of lesser known Daniel Theis and Shane Larkin -- significant role players -- and they're down to an eight man rotation. And they blew out Lebron and Co. by 25?
It leaves one to wonder just how good the Celtics will be when the likes of Hayward, Irving, and Co. return to the line-up next year.
Yeah, I get it. Sometimes "chemistry" can be a tricky thing. Putting terrific players back into an already successful mix might just upset the proverbial apple cart.
But hey, if you're a Celtics fan, I'm guessing you'd be more than happy to take your chances WITH these guys than WITHOUT them.
And if ever there was a head coach that can make it work, it's whip-smart Brad Stevens. A brilliant hire by GM Danny Ainge.
Of course, time will tell, but the future of the Boston Celtics, again assuming they can stay healthy, would appear quite bright indeed.
Lebron is showing signs of his age in Cleveland. He's even admitted to being "burnt". And the rest of the team around him has been eroding. It's only a matter of time, likely not too long, before the Cavs go into a downward spiral
And yes, Golden State and Houston look to be formidable for the next few years, but only one of them can make it into the Finals every year. Maybe the Warriors will get complacent. Or the Rockets, which depend almost entirely on guard play from James Hardin and Chris Paul, and an offense that apparently has no set plays -- pretty much ad-lib street ball at its finest -- will finally be exposed for what they are. A stretch? Maybe.
But the Boston Celtics have been built to last. And they could be scary in the next few years.
Just sayin'......
Sunday, May 13, 2018
Danica and Tiger. Wrecking machines
It's difficult to recall any pair of "sports" figures that have been bigger media darlings than Danica Patrick and Tiger Woods. For at least a couple decades, they've been trumpeted to the heavens.
It's like the media wants them to win. They NEED them to win. And they expect the public to follow suit. In many cases, they have. Nobody knows why exactly, but Danica being a woman, sort of, in the typically male-dominated sport of auto racing, and Eldrick Tont being a black man, sort of, in the world of golf long dominated by white guys, might have something to do with it.
At any rate, any little excuse or mini-highlight will set the media off again regarding this dynamic duo. A bazillion replays with screaming announcers is always just a single lap or golf shot away.
See the magnificent Danica, who can't seem to hold onto a boyfriend. Now it's Aaron Rodgers? Really?
See the equally magnificent Tiger, who can't seem to hang onto his latest blond. Your guess is as good as mine who his next "companion" will be.
But they've also been wrecking machines over the years.
In Danica's case, it's difficult to determine just how many race cars she's wrecked over the years, between the Indy car circuit and NASCAR. But a conservative guess of, say 5 a year, over a 20 year period, yields an obvious result.
100 race cars costing upwards of $400,000 a pop comes out to 40 million bucks worth of scrap. While never yielding a single victory, save an obscure race in Japan where most of the top drivers didn't even show up.
And that's just her own cars. How many others has she wiped out with stupid moves during her long path of destruction over the years? Perhaps twice that many? Again, that's a conservative estimate. The actual number is likely quite higher. Nobody keeps track of stats like this in a politically correct world. Only praise is allowed.
At least Tiger had his decade of dominance. Indeed, perhaps the most notable decade golf has ever seen. But that ended a decade ago. Since then, between his personal life imploding -- no surprise -- and various injuries, real or feigned, he's pretty well stunk it up.
Yet we always hear the rumble when either of them is getting close to "competing" again. As the event draws nigh, the rumble increases to a roar.
Behold, Tiger will be back at the Masters Tournament. Alas, he crashed and burned. No big surprise. Just this past week, listen up. Tiger will be entering the Players Tournament, a prestigious event on the PGA tour. At last look, he was 11 shots behind after three rounds, having barely made the cut. The next time a "major" rolls around, the same hype will issue forth from the breathless people that can't seem to get enough of this guy. And he'll disappoint again.
True, he shot an impressive 65 in the third round of the above-mentioned Players Tournament. And of course, the viewing public was force fed a play by play dissection of his round. But Jordan Spieth also shot a 65. No highlights of that. Spieth is a top ten player in the world, and has won a lot of stuff lately. Woods isn't even in the top 300, and hasn't won zip in years. So what gives with that?
But the Indy 500 draws near. Just a couple more weeks until my favorite event kicks off again. Been there many times, always as an infield rat camped out in Turn Four, and never cease to be amazed at how fast those over-grown go-karts are. You can always tell the first-time spectators by their slack-jawed expressions when the cars come around at full speed for the first time.
This supposedly is Danica Patrick's swan-song race before she -- mercifully -- moves on to something else. One can only hope she doesn't cause yet another disaster on the track, but given she's been away from Indy car racing for a decade, the likelihood of her splatting her own car and a few others is probably uncomfortably high. Ah well, what's a few more million bucks in high tech racing equipment turned into instant salvage -- right? Pay particular attention to the pre-race prayer this year -- because the wrecking machine is back.
Tiger Woods seems to be stuck in the twilight zone of golf. No, he's nowhere near good enough anymore to compete with the young guns on the tour. And those guys are going to keep on coming from all over the world. But at the age of 41, he's still nine years away from qualifying for the Geezer Circuit, sometimes known as the Champions Tour. Not sure who sponsors that, but it ought to be AARP.
With any luck, Eldrick Tont Woods will someday fade away as well, ala Danica Patrick. And the sooner the better.
All those "mandatory" interviews after every round he plays have gone beyond boring into the world of pathetic hero worship. Even bordering on outrage, given they take air time away from the array of vastly superior players still playing on the course. I mean c'mon. They don't pay that much attention to losers in any other sport. For that matter, none of those folks WANT to have a camera and microphone stuck in their face after they've been vanquished/humbled -- again. They just want to slink away and mope. But not Tiger. He still thinks he's "King". The truly sorry thing is, the media does too. Even sorrier is so many of the public continue to buy into this nonsense. Hey, the dude's washed up. Has been for years. Get used to it, cuz it ain't gonna get any better. Only worse.
But yep, Danica or not, I wouldn't miss watching the Indy 500 for anything, though I won't be able to attend this year. And I'll miss Gomer, sorry, Jim Nabors belting out his "Back Home In Indiana" tune as well. Great stuff and got me choked up every time.
Nonetheless, here's hoping Little Miss Hissy Fit and Stompy Feets doesn't cause too much carnage in her last go-rounds at 220+ miles per hour. You just know it's coming, like all the other Indy drivers, but they can only pray they don't get caught up in it.
And we can only pray she means it when it comes to retiring from auto-racing.
Twenty years of a one-woman demolition derby is quite sufficient, thank you very much.
It's like the media wants them to win. They NEED them to win. And they expect the public to follow suit. In many cases, they have. Nobody knows why exactly, but Danica being a woman, sort of, in the typically male-dominated sport of auto racing, and Eldrick Tont being a black man, sort of, in the world of golf long dominated by white guys, might have something to do with it.
At any rate, any little excuse or mini-highlight will set the media off again regarding this dynamic duo. A bazillion replays with screaming announcers is always just a single lap or golf shot away.
See the magnificent Danica, who can't seem to hold onto a boyfriend. Now it's Aaron Rodgers? Really?
See the equally magnificent Tiger, who can't seem to hang onto his latest blond. Your guess is as good as mine who his next "companion" will be.
But they've also been wrecking machines over the years.
In Danica's case, it's difficult to determine just how many race cars she's wrecked over the years, between the Indy car circuit and NASCAR. But a conservative guess of, say 5 a year, over a 20 year period, yields an obvious result.
100 race cars costing upwards of $400,000 a pop comes out to 40 million bucks worth of scrap. While never yielding a single victory, save an obscure race in Japan where most of the top drivers didn't even show up.
And that's just her own cars. How many others has she wiped out with stupid moves during her long path of destruction over the years? Perhaps twice that many? Again, that's a conservative estimate. The actual number is likely quite higher. Nobody keeps track of stats like this in a politically correct world. Only praise is allowed.
At least Tiger had his decade of dominance. Indeed, perhaps the most notable decade golf has ever seen. But that ended a decade ago. Since then, between his personal life imploding -- no surprise -- and various injuries, real or feigned, he's pretty well stunk it up.
Yet we always hear the rumble when either of them is getting close to "competing" again. As the event draws nigh, the rumble increases to a roar.
Behold, Tiger will be back at the Masters Tournament. Alas, he crashed and burned. No big surprise. Just this past week, listen up. Tiger will be entering the Players Tournament, a prestigious event on the PGA tour. At last look, he was 11 shots behind after three rounds, having barely made the cut. The next time a "major" rolls around, the same hype will issue forth from the breathless people that can't seem to get enough of this guy. And he'll disappoint again.
True, he shot an impressive 65 in the third round of the above-mentioned Players Tournament. And of course, the viewing public was force fed a play by play dissection of his round. But Jordan Spieth also shot a 65. No highlights of that. Spieth is a top ten player in the world, and has won a lot of stuff lately. Woods isn't even in the top 300, and hasn't won zip in years. So what gives with that?
But the Indy 500 draws near. Just a couple more weeks until my favorite event kicks off again. Been there many times, always as an infield rat camped out in Turn Four, and never cease to be amazed at how fast those over-grown go-karts are. You can always tell the first-time spectators by their slack-jawed expressions when the cars come around at full speed for the first time.
This supposedly is Danica Patrick's swan-song race before she -- mercifully -- moves on to something else. One can only hope she doesn't cause yet another disaster on the track, but given she's been away from Indy car racing for a decade, the likelihood of her splatting her own car and a few others is probably uncomfortably high. Ah well, what's a few more million bucks in high tech racing equipment turned into instant salvage -- right? Pay particular attention to the pre-race prayer this year -- because the wrecking machine is back.
Tiger Woods seems to be stuck in the twilight zone of golf. No, he's nowhere near good enough anymore to compete with the young guns on the tour. And those guys are going to keep on coming from all over the world. But at the age of 41, he's still nine years away from qualifying for the Geezer Circuit, sometimes known as the Champions Tour. Not sure who sponsors that, but it ought to be AARP.
With any luck, Eldrick Tont Woods will someday fade away as well, ala Danica Patrick. And the sooner the better.
All those "mandatory" interviews after every round he plays have gone beyond boring into the world of pathetic hero worship. Even bordering on outrage, given they take air time away from the array of vastly superior players still playing on the course. I mean c'mon. They don't pay that much attention to losers in any other sport. For that matter, none of those folks WANT to have a camera and microphone stuck in their face after they've been vanquished/humbled -- again. They just want to slink away and mope. But not Tiger. He still thinks he's "King". The truly sorry thing is, the media does too. Even sorrier is so many of the public continue to buy into this nonsense. Hey, the dude's washed up. Has been for years. Get used to it, cuz it ain't gonna get any better. Only worse.
But yep, Danica or not, I wouldn't miss watching the Indy 500 for anything, though I won't be able to attend this year. And I'll miss Gomer, sorry, Jim Nabors belting out his "Back Home In Indiana" tune as well. Great stuff and got me choked up every time.
Nonetheless, here's hoping Little Miss Hissy Fit and Stompy Feets doesn't cause too much carnage in her last go-rounds at 220+ miles per hour. You just know it's coming, like all the other Indy drivers, but they can only pray they don't get caught up in it.
And we can only pray she means it when it comes to retiring from auto-racing.
Twenty years of a one-woman demolition derby is quite sufficient, thank you very much.
Saturday, May 12, 2018
From the mind of Kobe Bryant. LOL
Sorry, but that very phrase makes me chuckle. As if the former Laker hoops player ranks right up there with Aristotle, Hawking, Einstein, or even Mad magazine writers. You know, the geniuses.
But evidently there are those that think Kobe Bean is some sort of mental heavyweight, and will hang on his every word of "wisdom". Oops, another bout of uncontrollable laughter has set in.
OK, sorry, better now. But sappies will shell out big bucks to get schooled by THIS guy? REALLY?
Dang. What could be the next big hit? The art of the perfect golf swing by -- Charles Barkley?
How to be the ideal husband by -- Tiger Woods?
The secret to exquisite public rhetoric by -- Shaq?
101 ways to be a he-man by -- Caitlyn Jenner?
No doubt, there are those that would buy into such premises as well. Giggle, choke, snort.
But back to Bryant.
His very name itself makes one wonder about a couple things.
Why would any sane parents give their child the middle name of "Bean"? Was he green when he popped out of the womb? Waxy-looking? Did his daddy have a favorite Pinto he drove?
Kobe beef is a delicacy in Japan. It's been said it can fetch upwards of $300 a pound. But it's still a hunk of beef, which comes from a cow, like all other beef.
So pick any part of a cow and tell me this -- would you pay $300 for a few slices of it? Good grief, prime rib and porterhouse steaks, superior cuts both, can be had for under $10 a pound. And if these "special" cows, raised in a special "prefecture" in Japan, are worth three C-notes a serving -- how much does a whole one cost? A couple million? For a cow? Are they feeding these things Franklins instead of grass or corn to, excuse the pun, beef them up?
Oops. I'm laughing again.
So we've got a ridiculously expensive hunk of meat combined with the name of an average veggie any idiot can grow in their garden -- and now it supposedly has a great mind? Worthy of showering even MORE money on for its latest pearls of wisdom? That used to play basketball, and never heard of a thing called "defense"? And there are folks out there dumb enough to buy into this?
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.
Only in America. The land of opportunity -- and also home of so many mental midgets.
Next thing ya know, the guy currently occupying the Oval Office will come out with a guide to being humble, acting like an adult, and above all, always being truthful. And it will fly off the shelves as a #1 best seller.
Sorry. It's too much.
I'm losing it again.....
Hats off to you, Kobe Bean. You've taken P. T. Barnum's famous quote a giant step further. There's not a sucker born every minute, but millions of them out there already waiting to cough up their hard-earned dough on such insanity. And will love it.
Actually, it's really not funny.
Just sad, pitifully so.
But evidently there are those that think Kobe Bean is some sort of mental heavyweight, and will hang on his every word of "wisdom". Oops, another bout of uncontrollable laughter has set in.
OK, sorry, better now. But sappies will shell out big bucks to get schooled by THIS guy? REALLY?
Dang. What could be the next big hit? The art of the perfect golf swing by -- Charles Barkley?
How to be the ideal husband by -- Tiger Woods?
The secret to exquisite public rhetoric by -- Shaq?
101 ways to be a he-man by -- Caitlyn Jenner?
No doubt, there are those that would buy into such premises as well. Giggle, choke, snort.
But back to Bryant.
His very name itself makes one wonder about a couple things.
Why would any sane parents give their child the middle name of "Bean"? Was he green when he popped out of the womb? Waxy-looking? Did his daddy have a favorite Pinto he drove?
Kobe beef is a delicacy in Japan. It's been said it can fetch upwards of $300 a pound. But it's still a hunk of beef, which comes from a cow, like all other beef.
So pick any part of a cow and tell me this -- would you pay $300 for a few slices of it? Good grief, prime rib and porterhouse steaks, superior cuts both, can be had for under $10 a pound. And if these "special" cows, raised in a special "prefecture" in Japan, are worth three C-notes a serving -- how much does a whole one cost? A couple million? For a cow? Are they feeding these things Franklins instead of grass or corn to, excuse the pun, beef them up?
Oops. I'm laughing again.
So we've got a ridiculously expensive hunk of meat combined with the name of an average veggie any idiot can grow in their garden -- and now it supposedly has a great mind? Worthy of showering even MORE money on for its latest pearls of wisdom? That used to play basketball, and never heard of a thing called "defense"? And there are folks out there dumb enough to buy into this?
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.
Only in America. The land of opportunity -- and also home of so many mental midgets.
Next thing ya know, the guy currently occupying the Oval Office will come out with a guide to being humble, acting like an adult, and above all, always being truthful. And it will fly off the shelves as a #1 best seller.
Sorry. It's too much.
I'm losing it again.....
Hats off to you, Kobe Bean. You've taken P. T. Barnum's famous quote a giant step further. There's not a sucker born every minute, but millions of them out there already waiting to cough up their hard-earned dough on such insanity. And will love it.
Actually, it's really not funny.
Just sad, pitifully so.
Friday, May 11, 2018
The Matt Patricia debacle
When the current smoke finally clears over the Detroit Lions new head coach once being accused of sexual assault -- and it will -- there will be only two people who know for sure what happened on that "fateful" day way back in 1996. The initial accuser, and Patricia himself. All the rest, now and into the future, will be no more than idle speculation. Did he do it or not? We'll likely never know.
Yes, like most other things these days, many will jump on one side or the other, but it doesn't matter.
Here's what should.
The responsibility for this "mess" rests squarely on the shoulders of the Detroit Lions organization -- hence the Ford family and their minions. This never should have happened. Why?
Because any semi-competent billionaire, which the Fords surely are, should have done more homework before signing Patricia as their latest head coach.
Tell me a billionaire doesn't have enough "juice" to get the FBI to run a thorough background check on a future high profile guy, and I'll tell you I don't believe it. The Fibbies run countless thousands of such checks on various individuals every year. The sexual assault charge, regardless of how long ago it was, and even minus a trial, much less a conviction, would have shown up on their radar in about 5 seconds. The Fords would have at least known about it.
But OK, let's assume the G-men aren't for hire by "private citizens", which they technically should not be. Right.
That's still no excuse. For the price of a few thousand bucks, five figures tops, a drop in the bucket (chump change) to the Fords, any semi-competent private investigator could have done at least a basic background check on his/her computer within no more than a few hours. For a small fee, web sites are even available whereby even the average citizen can type in a name and gain access to a whole slew of background info on them. Age, date and place of birth, places of residence, phone numbers, email address, parents, kids, other relatives, education where and when, marriages, divorces, job history, the whole shooting match of their life. Which also includes any brushes with the law, whether convictions resulted or not. If a private John/Jane Doe citizen can access all that, how much more could a skilled private investigator turn up?
But the Fords/Lions didn't see fit to do that.
So now they're stuck with potential egg on their faces -- again.
True, the Patricia case from so long ago is deader than Jimmy Hoffa. No way will it ever be resurrected again, at least officially. Originally, the accuser refused to testify, citing she didn't want to go through the rigors of a trial, hence the charges were dismissed.
Even if she were to come forward today, having changed her mind, there's two good reasons why it wouldn't make the slightest difference.
One, the statute of limitations has long since run and expired.
And two, even if it hadn't, no judge is going to allow such a he said/she said case to come back alive 22 years later in his/her courtroom. They have better things to do with their always crowded dockets than take up the court's (and potential jurors) time with such a non-starter.
What is somewhat comical is New England Patriots' head coach Bill Belichick stating on the record that he and that organization knew NOTHING about Mattie P's brush with the law.
They still don't know anything about Spygate or Deflategate either. Right. So they highly recommended Patricia to the Lions.
But let's give the Hoodie Man the benefit of the doubt. Maybe he and the Pats DIDN'T know.
After all, Patricia started off his tenure in Foxborough as nothing more than a lowly assistant. Nobody checks out those guys too closely. And he eventually rose through the ranks to defensive coordinator. If he'd been a loyal and and upstanding employee all along, and getting the jobs done very well, who would think to delve into his past? And why would they?
But being a coordinator is a very large step BELOW that of a head coach. The latter are high-profile figures that represent the faces of the franchises, and make millions of dollars more every year to boot.
Hiring a new head coach is a huge deal for any NFL franchise. So one would expect them to have done their due diligence in thoroughly checking him out before inking him to a multi-year contract and introducing him to their fans/public, and media.
But the Lions obviously didn't do that. And now this little PR mess has blown up in their faces.
Hey, nobody expects the doddering old widow Martha Ford to get things right, when even her late husband William was clueless for decades. I mean c'mon. This is the same Martha that hired an "estate manager", you know, a guy who's expertise is in wills and trust funds, to be President of a professional football team. Even HE admitted he was clueless regarding NFL football. But he's still there. It's the Ford way. So were Edsels, Pintos, and those pesky exploding tires a while back. And, of course, the cursed reign of Matt Millen, which took them eight -- count em -- EIGHT years to realize he was even more bumbling and ignorant than they were.
Nevertheless, here's wishing Matt Patricia the best in his tenure with the Detroit Lions. Maybe he can finally be the one that guides the team into some semblance of respectability. But he's facing long odds going in.
The Lions are where head coaches go to die. Many have come and gone, with no shortage of clowns in the mix, but they've all had one thing in common over the decades.
None, not a single one, even in today's world of the merry-go-round of head coaches, has ever gone on to a different head coaching job after travelling through the twilight zone that is the Honolulu blue and silver. A coordinator here and there, but never again trusted as the head field general.
So step right up, Mattie P. Collect your millions from the Fords and try to whip that sorry bunch into some sort of contenders. Good luck with that.
And we'll forgive you for whatever it is you did or didn't do way back in the middle of the Clinton administration. Old Willie got away with a few things two, if memory serves.
But know this will be your last stop.
Yes, like most other things these days, many will jump on one side or the other, but it doesn't matter.
Here's what should.
The responsibility for this "mess" rests squarely on the shoulders of the Detroit Lions organization -- hence the Ford family and their minions. This never should have happened. Why?
Because any semi-competent billionaire, which the Fords surely are, should have done more homework before signing Patricia as their latest head coach.
Tell me a billionaire doesn't have enough "juice" to get the FBI to run a thorough background check on a future high profile guy, and I'll tell you I don't believe it. The Fibbies run countless thousands of such checks on various individuals every year. The sexual assault charge, regardless of how long ago it was, and even minus a trial, much less a conviction, would have shown up on their radar in about 5 seconds. The Fords would have at least known about it.
But OK, let's assume the G-men aren't for hire by "private citizens", which they technically should not be. Right.
That's still no excuse. For the price of a few thousand bucks, five figures tops, a drop in the bucket (chump change) to the Fords, any semi-competent private investigator could have done at least a basic background check on his/her computer within no more than a few hours. For a small fee, web sites are even available whereby even the average citizen can type in a name and gain access to a whole slew of background info on them. Age, date and place of birth, places of residence, phone numbers, email address, parents, kids, other relatives, education where and when, marriages, divorces, job history, the whole shooting match of their life. Which also includes any brushes with the law, whether convictions resulted or not. If a private John/Jane Doe citizen can access all that, how much more could a skilled private investigator turn up?
But the Fords/Lions didn't see fit to do that.
So now they're stuck with potential egg on their faces -- again.
True, the Patricia case from so long ago is deader than Jimmy Hoffa. No way will it ever be resurrected again, at least officially. Originally, the accuser refused to testify, citing she didn't want to go through the rigors of a trial, hence the charges were dismissed.
Even if she were to come forward today, having changed her mind, there's two good reasons why it wouldn't make the slightest difference.
One, the statute of limitations has long since run and expired.
And two, even if it hadn't, no judge is going to allow such a he said/she said case to come back alive 22 years later in his/her courtroom. They have better things to do with their always crowded dockets than take up the court's (and potential jurors) time with such a non-starter.
What is somewhat comical is New England Patriots' head coach Bill Belichick stating on the record that he and that organization knew NOTHING about Mattie P's brush with the law.
They still don't know anything about Spygate or Deflategate either. Right. So they highly recommended Patricia to the Lions.
But let's give the Hoodie Man the benefit of the doubt. Maybe he and the Pats DIDN'T know.
After all, Patricia started off his tenure in Foxborough as nothing more than a lowly assistant. Nobody checks out those guys too closely. And he eventually rose through the ranks to defensive coordinator. If he'd been a loyal and and upstanding employee all along, and getting the jobs done very well, who would think to delve into his past? And why would they?
But being a coordinator is a very large step BELOW that of a head coach. The latter are high-profile figures that represent the faces of the franchises, and make millions of dollars more every year to boot.
Hiring a new head coach is a huge deal for any NFL franchise. So one would expect them to have done their due diligence in thoroughly checking him out before inking him to a multi-year contract and introducing him to their fans/public, and media.
But the Lions obviously didn't do that. And now this little PR mess has blown up in their faces.
Hey, nobody expects the doddering old widow Martha Ford to get things right, when even her late husband William was clueless for decades. I mean c'mon. This is the same Martha that hired an "estate manager", you know, a guy who's expertise is in wills and trust funds, to be President of a professional football team. Even HE admitted he was clueless regarding NFL football. But he's still there. It's the Ford way. So were Edsels, Pintos, and those pesky exploding tires a while back. And, of course, the cursed reign of Matt Millen, which took them eight -- count em -- EIGHT years to realize he was even more bumbling and ignorant than they were.
Nevertheless, here's wishing Matt Patricia the best in his tenure with the Detroit Lions. Maybe he can finally be the one that guides the team into some semblance of respectability. But he's facing long odds going in.
The Lions are where head coaches go to die. Many have come and gone, with no shortage of clowns in the mix, but they've all had one thing in common over the decades.
None, not a single one, even in today's world of the merry-go-round of head coaches, has ever gone on to a different head coaching job after travelling through the twilight zone that is the Honolulu blue and silver. A coordinator here and there, but never again trusted as the head field general.
So step right up, Mattie P. Collect your millions from the Fords and try to whip that sorry bunch into some sort of contenders. Good luck with that.
And we'll forgive you for whatever it is you did or didn't do way back in the middle of the Clinton administration. Old Willie got away with a few things two, if memory serves.
But know this will be your last stop.
Thursday, May 10, 2018
Ohio. Whatzamattuh you?
Don't look now, but when it comes to professional sports teams, the entire state of Ohio seems to have become, shall we say, mentally handicapped.
The Cleveland Indians, loaded with talent and not far removed from a World Series championship -- can't seem to get out of their own way. At last look, they were only a .500 team in, by far, the weakest division in Major League Baseball.
How long has Marvin Lewis been the head coach of the Cincinnati Bengals? 15 years or so? He can't get his team to win a playoff game, let alone compete for the Super Bowl? Fifteen years of this bumbling, losing nonsense and he's still there? What gives?
The Cincinnati Reds are the worst team in MLB -- and it't not even a close call. They stink. So what was their latest move? Trade for a pitcher, one Matt Harvey, who is not only clearly on the decline, but also has an attitude/ego problem. Even though he's getting lit up on the mound like the proverbial pinball machine lately, he still thinks he's great. He's not. He stinks.
What were the Reds thinking of bringing this guy in -- if they're capable of thinking at all?
Yes, the Cleveland Cavaliers are heading back to the Eastern Conference NBA Finals -- again. Lebron James has become a one-man show, much like he was in his earlier stint with the team. But even if they get by the Boston Celtics to go to the Finals -- no given -- they have little to no chance of beating whoever comes out of the Golden State/Houston series in the West. Forget that.
But they have a duh problem as well, and it's name is Tyronn Lue. Their head coach.
Not long ago dear Ty took a medical leave of absence for mysterious reasons. Maybe because the team wasn't paying any attention to him. Alas, the mental strain of it all. While gone the team went 9-1. Since he came back, they've looked rather ordinary. Besides, it's long appeared as if James is a player/coach and quite capable of running the on-court show.
So here's the question -----
Why are the Cavaliers paying Lue millions of bucks every year when the team has shown they play better without him around? They went from clueless Mike Brown, to even more inept David Blatt, and then hired THIS guy? Who might be next? Judge Judy? Caitlyn Jenner? A Kardashian? Could they be any worse?
It's gets even sadder in Cleveland. Consider the plight of the long woeful Cleveland Browns. Their head coach (Hue Jackson) is a pitiful 1-31 over the last two seasons. ONE AND THIRTY ONE and he hasn't been fired? What other team/town in what other state would put up with such bottom feeding? Hue, Lue, Lew, whatever, it's pitiful.
Straighten up Ohio. Yeah, I know it's pretty much a boring state, especially to drive through, but c'mon, you gotta be able to do better than this in the world of sports.
Keep this up, and next thing ya know, your pro teams -- and coaches -- might be as sorry as your Michigan neighbors to the north.
And how absolutely humiliating would THAT be?
The Cleveland Indians, loaded with talent and not far removed from a World Series championship -- can't seem to get out of their own way. At last look, they were only a .500 team in, by far, the weakest division in Major League Baseball.
How long has Marvin Lewis been the head coach of the Cincinnati Bengals? 15 years or so? He can't get his team to win a playoff game, let alone compete for the Super Bowl? Fifteen years of this bumbling, losing nonsense and he's still there? What gives?
The Cincinnati Reds are the worst team in MLB -- and it't not even a close call. They stink. So what was their latest move? Trade for a pitcher, one Matt Harvey, who is not only clearly on the decline, but also has an attitude/ego problem. Even though he's getting lit up on the mound like the proverbial pinball machine lately, he still thinks he's great. He's not. He stinks.
What were the Reds thinking of bringing this guy in -- if they're capable of thinking at all?
Yes, the Cleveland Cavaliers are heading back to the Eastern Conference NBA Finals -- again. Lebron James has become a one-man show, much like he was in his earlier stint with the team. But even if they get by the Boston Celtics to go to the Finals -- no given -- they have little to no chance of beating whoever comes out of the Golden State/Houston series in the West. Forget that.
But they have a duh problem as well, and it's name is Tyronn Lue. Their head coach.
Not long ago dear Ty took a medical leave of absence for mysterious reasons. Maybe because the team wasn't paying any attention to him. Alas, the mental strain of it all. While gone the team went 9-1. Since he came back, they've looked rather ordinary. Besides, it's long appeared as if James is a player/coach and quite capable of running the on-court show.
So here's the question -----
Why are the Cavaliers paying Lue millions of bucks every year when the team has shown they play better without him around? They went from clueless Mike Brown, to even more inept David Blatt, and then hired THIS guy? Who might be next? Judge Judy? Caitlyn Jenner? A Kardashian? Could they be any worse?
It's gets even sadder in Cleveland. Consider the plight of the long woeful Cleveland Browns. Their head coach (Hue Jackson) is a pitiful 1-31 over the last two seasons. ONE AND THIRTY ONE and he hasn't been fired? What other team/town in what other state would put up with such bottom feeding? Hue, Lue, Lew, whatever, it's pitiful.
Straighten up Ohio. Yeah, I know it's pretty much a boring state, especially to drive through, but c'mon, you gotta be able to do better than this in the world of sports.
Keep this up, and next thing ya know, your pro teams -- and coaches -- might be as sorry as your Michigan neighbors to the north.
And how absolutely humiliating would THAT be?
Wednesday, May 9, 2018
Stan Van Gundy fired
And it's about time. Long overdue, actually.
The face of the Detroit Pistons for four miserable years could be summed up in two words -- colossal failure.
It leaves one to wonder about owner Tom Gores sanity. What could he possibly have been thinking when he put the recent hierarchy of the Pistons in place?
Van Gundy was the President of the franchise. Underneath him were two -- count em -- TWO general managers, whose responsibilities, if any, were never clear, other than collecting hefty salaries. And underneath them was the head coach, who was -- you guessed it -- Stan Van Gundy.
So who reported to who? Nobody knew. It was like Abbott and Costello's classic "Who's On First?" comedy routine.
And BTW, the Pistons were terrible for those four years, and don't look like they'll be getting any better any year soon. They gave a max contract to the likes of Andre Drummond? The same sort of dough guys like Kevin Durant and Lebron James make?
The same guy that has no jump shot, is totally ineffective more than 6 feet away from the basket, and shoots free-throws like Stevie Wonder? They crippled themselves in the salary cap world for THAT guy?
Of course, this was the same Tom Gores that grossly overpaid for the team, had a world class venue totally paid for (The Palace in Auburn Hills) by his predecessor (the late William Davidson), located in an easy to get to crime-free location, with major highways right around the corner for convenient transit....
And moved them back to the sorry depths of blight ridden Detroit, into an arena built for a hockey team -- where he has to pay rent? Do you see something wrong with this picture?
But back to Van Gundy, the squat little man that roared, but couldn't seem to figure out how to shave on a regular basis.
It would be pretty tough for Stan to complain about finally being kicked to the curb.
After all, as Prez, he oversaw such things as the draft and free-agent signings. He basically put the roster together.
As head coach, he got to dictate the various strategies used on the court by the players.
Top to bottom, old Stan had his hands all over the franchise.
So when they kept crashing and burning, guess who should be held accountable?
See ya bud. You were way over your head to start with.
And if there was a way to fire the owner, that clueless Gores, Pistons fans would be a whole lot better off. Pick somebody else -- ANYBODY else -- and give him or her a shot at running this once proud franchise.
Because under the likes of Gores and Van Gundy, it's been the proverbial train wreck.
The face of the Detroit Pistons for four miserable years could be summed up in two words -- colossal failure.
It leaves one to wonder about owner Tom Gores sanity. What could he possibly have been thinking when he put the recent hierarchy of the Pistons in place?
Van Gundy was the President of the franchise. Underneath him were two -- count em -- TWO general managers, whose responsibilities, if any, were never clear, other than collecting hefty salaries. And underneath them was the head coach, who was -- you guessed it -- Stan Van Gundy.
So who reported to who? Nobody knew. It was like Abbott and Costello's classic "Who's On First?" comedy routine.
And BTW, the Pistons were terrible for those four years, and don't look like they'll be getting any better any year soon. They gave a max contract to the likes of Andre Drummond? The same sort of dough guys like Kevin Durant and Lebron James make?
The same guy that has no jump shot, is totally ineffective more than 6 feet away from the basket, and shoots free-throws like Stevie Wonder? They crippled themselves in the salary cap world for THAT guy?
Of course, this was the same Tom Gores that grossly overpaid for the team, had a world class venue totally paid for (The Palace in Auburn Hills) by his predecessor (the late William Davidson), located in an easy to get to crime-free location, with major highways right around the corner for convenient transit....
And moved them back to the sorry depths of blight ridden Detroit, into an arena built for a hockey team -- where he has to pay rent? Do you see something wrong with this picture?
But back to Van Gundy, the squat little man that roared, but couldn't seem to figure out how to shave on a regular basis.
It would be pretty tough for Stan to complain about finally being kicked to the curb.
After all, as Prez, he oversaw such things as the draft and free-agent signings. He basically put the roster together.
As head coach, he got to dictate the various strategies used on the court by the players.
Top to bottom, old Stan had his hands all over the franchise.
So when they kept crashing and burning, guess who should be held accountable?
See ya bud. You were way over your head to start with.
And if there was a way to fire the owner, that clueless Gores, Pistons fans would be a whole lot better off. Pick somebody else -- ANYBODY else -- and give him or her a shot at running this once proud franchise.
Because under the likes of Gores and Van Gundy, it's been the proverbial train wreck.
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