Obviously, decent people follow the NBA, but for those of you who look forward to bowing down to our Canadian overlords once their vast freshwater reserves give them global hegemony, you might want to check out the most comprehensively curated hockey blogroll in the universe.
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The Sport of the Damned
05 Nov 2007 12:21 pm
Comments (30)
I never understood someone bringing up hockey when sports were being discussed. What does one have to do with the other?
That's a 10-minute game misconduct to Steve Duncan for unsportsmanlike.
Is there any way we could get the arrival of that Canadian overlordship sped up by a few decades?
Matt mentioned the NBA, not sports. The league of the fix
Don't worry so much about the Canadian overlords. Water rights are actually a devious scheme hatched by Milwaukee, Cleveland, Detroit, and Buffalo to give people a reason to move to those cities.
/ MKE native
"for those of you who look forward to bowing down to our Canadian overlords once their vast freshwater reserves give them global hegemony..."
...you ought to start stocking up on Toronto Raptors gear now.
...you ought to start stocking up on Toronto Raptors gear now.
Raptors are for real this year. They annihilated the Nets last week in NJ, and played the Celtics to OT yesterday. I kind of discounted them since the Nets beat them in the playoffs last year and all they really did to improve was get Kopono, but, dang, that team can shoot. Excellent drive-and-kick team.
Excuse me, I consider myself "decent," and I don't like the NBA. Drugs, obnoxious superstars, refs fixing games...what's to like?
"Raptors are for real this year. They annihilated the Nets last week in NJ, and played the Celtics to OT yesterday."
Man, that was so weird. I watched the Raps/Celtics game yesterday on League Pass. (Two more free days before you've got to pay.)
Fantastic game. But the Boston TV team lost picture for the final 5 seconds of overtime. So I had to imagine the TJ Ford 3 that tied the game and the Ray-Ray 3 that won it as Tommy Heinsohn did a radio-style call.
TJ Ford really went off yesterday. But I still have my doubts about the Raps this year. Bosh seems fragile, and if that's true, they've got a low ceiling. And even if Bosh has a strong season, they're still a cut below the Eastern elite.
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As far as Boston goes, I've now watched two Celtics games - one pre-season, and the game yesterday. And the thing that jumps out to me is that Paul Pierce looks lost as hell.
He doesn't seem to have a clue what his role in on the team. Ray-Ray is the shooter. KG in the inside man. So what does Pierce do?
He needs to suddenly move from being the Jordan to being the Pippen. And that transition is likely not going to be easy for him.
I even saw an interview the Big Three did in Italy during the pre-season, and while KG and Ray-Ray were perfect with their banter, Pierce seemed like he didn't know his relationship with the other two, even in conversation.
"Excuse me, I consider myself "decent," and I don't like the NBA."
You can consider yourself the King of Siam if you like, but that won't make it true.
As far as Boston goes, I've now watched two Celtics games - one pre-season, and the game yesterday. And the thing that jumps out to me is that Paul Pierce looks lost as hell...He doesn't seem to have a clue what his role in on the team. Ray-Ray is the shooter. KG in the inside man. So what does Pierce do?
Yup. KG's the man now. I say this is most definitely a good thing. I don't dislike PP's game per se, but it's definitely got a lot of limitations, and he's never been a clutch player.
My biggest concern right now is lack of bench strength. Sure, the Celtics' big three are a handful for anybody in the east, but they're averaging, like, 40+ minutes a piece a game already, I think. That doesn't bode well for any Celtics fan envisioning a 17th banner.
I for one look forward to curling becoming a mandatory part of grade school PE.
Well, I did take curling in Grade 13 gym...Yes, Grade 13: another exclusively Canadian micro-phenomenon.
Pierce seemed like he didn't know his relationship with the other two, even in conversation.
Too many shots on that team. Reminds me of the Charles Barkley line (which, AFAIK, was about A.I.) last season: "They're going to need so many shots they'll need both NBA balls [ie. the old leather and the temporary synthetic]"
"(Pierce has) never been a clutch player."
Disagree strongly with that.
The problem is that Ray-Ray is a better clutch player and better outside shooter than Pierce.
I think Pierce will probably figure out his role given time. But he's definitely the one part of that team who looks out-of-sync at the moment.
Go Sabres!
"the thing that jumps out to me is that Paul Pierce looks lost as hell...He doesn't seem to have a clue what his role in on the team. Ray-Ray is the shooter. KG in the inside man. So what does Pierce do?"
Julius Erving won his only NBA title when he became the third best scorer on his team.
Hockey always suffered from TV. I remember as a kid, trying to figure out where the puck must be from the players reactions. HDTV improves it a lot. I'm watching regular season games again for the first time since the 70s.
people follow the NBA
To the best of my knowledge, this claim is not supported by empirical information such as television ratings.
Yesterday's Celts/Raptors was pretty sloppy, both from the players and the refs. During Friday's blowout of the Wiz, Pierce was outstanding.
Overall, after 2 games Celtic nation is pretty damn pleased with the results so far.
Going to my first game of the season Wednesday--Celts/Nuggets, aka the Petey finals preview.
"Going to my first game of the season Wednesday--Celts/Nuggets, aka the Petey finals preview."
Given the way the Powder Blues have looked in their first three games, given their injury situation, and given the second night of a road back-to-back, I think you'll have a happy evening.
Denver's still in pre-season mode.
Wow, it's depressing that the only hockey post ever on this otherwise excellent blog has turned into a basketball discussion. Allow me to add a suggestion to last week's "What can I do better?" navel-gazing post: more puck blogging. Puck blogging rules. And Matt Y can spend all season watching Ovechkin, who is amazing.
Also:
I remember as a kid, trying to figure out where the puck must be from the players reactions.
I thought this was an urban legend. Canadians like to make fun of Americans for not being able to see the puck, but I always thought that this was one of those exaggerations on par with Americans asking if we all live in igloos. Which I doubt any American has ever actually asked. But now I wonder: do you Americans really have trouble telling where the puck is? I mean, it seems to present no problem in football. I'm genuinely curious.
Um, a football is huge. You can't miss it even on a crappy little tv, and it doesn't move anywhere near as fast as a hockey puck.
Right, but the football is being carried by a huge guy who is covering it up as best he can, while being slammed by other huge guys. Plus, a football is dark, as is the field.
The puck, on the other hand, is black, and is zipping around on a bright white surface. Plus, it's illegal to close your hand over it, so it's mostly out in the open.
I doubt that on any given running play most people can see the actual BALL: that doesn't stop anyone from being able to tell where it is, though. Why doesn't that translate to hockey?
But I'm seriously curious-- can you all not see the puck? Or know where it it? I grew up watching hockey on crappy little black and white TVs with very bad reception, and it's never been an issue for me. But maybe that early training (universal for Canuckistanis over the age of 20) had a bigger effect that I thought.
It's not all bleak here in the U.S., Matt D.
Attendance is up for most teams. As is revenue. The NHL Network has finally arrived. More and more games are being broadcast in HD. And it is looking very likely that ESPN will be carrying games next year. Oh, and the Rangers are losing!
Thanks, Wensink. All of that is indeed good news. Especially the Rangers bit! (Although I'll believe that ESPN rumour when it actually happens. But it sure would be great if Sportscenter showed hockey highlights that didn't involve suspensions.)
To be clear, I don't think that America is a hockey wasteland. There are large parts of the country where there are passionate and knowledgeable fans, and there are some great American players, even on my favourite team, the Canadiens. I'm just puzzled by the 'can't see the puck' thing, which I had (charitably, it seems) put down as urban legend.
"Attendance is up for most teams. As is revenue. The NHL Network has finally arrived."
Are you certain? I'm pretty sure I read that the league folded after the lockout.
I mean, I suppose the league could get relaunched if you wanted to put franchises in fourth tier cities like Trenton, NJ or Columbus, OH. But what kind of league would that be?
I mean, I suppose the league could get relaunched if you wanted to put franchises in fourth tier cities like Trenton, NJ or Columbus, OH. But what kind of league would that be?
Or Oklahoma City?
Anyway, I always thought the problem with seeing the puck derived from it being hidden from the camera when along the near boards (which was why Fox made it glow).
Maybe you don't learn this at Harvard, but the NBA primarily exists to provide future earnings potential so that good athletes flock to the minor leagues.
I still don't understand why the NBA plays in March.
Comments closed November 19, 2007.
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Heads in the Sand
I for one look forward to curling becoming a mandatory part of grade school PE.
Posted by Tom Hilton | November 5, 2007 12:27 PM