Basketball, in its early years was dominated by the New York area. It started in the 20's and continued into the 30s, 40s, and 50s, with the the coined phrase "Jew ball" built in the house leagues in New York. This basketball was highlighted with names like Red Auerbach, Red Holzman, Nat Holman. It spread to the local universities like; NYU, Brooklyn College, City College of New York, and St. John's. Until the early 2000s St. John's was a very successful basketball school, competing in arguably the best conference in the NCAA the Big East. But after 2002 their success disappeared into the abyss of the New York City lights.
But, the NBA brought them continued success, their New York Knickerbockers, who was coached by none other than the basketball mind, Red Holzman. Under his tutelage, he made the Knicks a championship contender again in '68, although they didn't win it all, it was a start to a bright future. Two years later they made it to the NBA championships in 1970, where they won it all. Then three years later they won it again.
The Knicks success faltered at the same time St. John's did. Just like the Johnnies the talent of the rest of the country caught up with the Knicks, and they just couldn't find the right fit for them. Whether it was Isiah Thomas' screw ups as a GM, to Stephon "Starberry" Marbury just BEING on the team, it was just one mess up after another for them.
Just as they went out together, they both have recently come back to the spotlight together. The Johnnies hold a 10-4 record and a 3-1 record in a extremely tough and competitive Big East conference. With coach Steve Lavin at the helm, they look to be making strides in the right direction with a bunch of seniors, and a great freshman class coming in next year, the future for the Johnnies looks brighter than the lights of New York.
The Knicks, also with a new coach Mike D'Antoni, and some new "descent" players, Amare Stoudemire, and Raymond Felton. With some good role players around them, they have led the Knickerbockers to a 21-15 record the second best record in the Eastern Conference's, East Division. I am sad to say, because of their success I have started to watch the NBA again, no matter how much I hate it. But i am not the only one, watching the game on Christmas day, I was stunned to see the Gardern almost completely sold out! I had to ask myself, is this really in New York? But it was.
I don't think anyone can argue with me when I say that basketball being back in New York, after a short stint as a joke, is good for the sport. Everyone knows that the Lakers, and Celtics will be there even if they have a few bad years, but their markets are easier to impress than the tough New York crowd. To the rest of the country, watch out, NEW YORK'S BACK BABY!!
Monday, January 10, 2011
Monday, January 3, 2011
Court-side Annoyance
As a rabid sports fan, I know I share this same feeling with many other fans. And that feeling is, the hatred for the obnoxious "fans" who sit in the front row, and act like they "care" about the outcome. As a former leader of my high schools student section, I am appalled when I see these guys yelling at the refs and players. Look man the only reason why you act so excited is because 1. You know you are probably getting on T.V. and 2. You invested so much money to reserve these seats, you don't want to feel like you waste your money.
I'll tell you who the real fans are. They are the ones who are sitting in section 340, continuously bleeding from their nose, behind a pole, shoes sticking to the concrete floor, and paid 40 bucks for nachos, a hotdog, and a beer. Even with all these setbacks, they are still cheering louder, and believe they can be heard. My first experience of this was, sad to say, at the good ol' Veteran Stadium (for new Phillies fans, which is many, is their old stadium) in "sunny" Philadelphia, where I sat in that very section. Surrounded by drunk, loud, REAL fans, is where I began to appreciate the suffering fans go through. I am happy to say the Phillies lost, but while the people behind the plate left, my section (all ten fans) stayed in the same section until the game was over.
Now that is not to complement Philly fans, because I do have a strong dislike for them, but they are an example of real fans. But back to the rich fans, you see them the most on the basketball court. After every foul, big play, or turning point they jump up out of no where and get in the face of the players and refs, which is completely unnecessary. Set a good example for either your kids, or the kids around you watching you act like a fool. Now I understand as a student that we are no saints, we do curse, we do yell at the refs, and players, but we do it because this is our life, we live and die by how our beloved team does. Money is no factor in our cheering.
Yes, this is a shout out to those celebrities like (even though I love him) Spike Lee, and Jack Nickelson. Look you guys are famous enough as it is, you don't need to make more of spectacle of yourselves by acting like children to get the camera's on you. They will be anyway because you're famous. The games focus should be on the players, not you, learn to get that and people wouldn't find you so hard to like when they see you.
Here's to all of you real fans sitting in that section 340, keep yelling, because you're doing it for the love of the game, not for the love of your wallet!
I'll tell you who the real fans are. They are the ones who are sitting in section 340, continuously bleeding from their nose, behind a pole, shoes sticking to the concrete floor, and paid 40 bucks for nachos, a hotdog, and a beer. Even with all these setbacks, they are still cheering louder, and believe they can be heard. My first experience of this was, sad to say, at the good ol' Veteran Stadium (for new Phillies fans, which is many, is their old stadium) in "sunny" Philadelphia, where I sat in that very section. Surrounded by drunk, loud, REAL fans, is where I began to appreciate the suffering fans go through. I am happy to say the Phillies lost, but while the people behind the plate left, my section (all ten fans) stayed in the same section until the game was over.
Now that is not to complement Philly fans, because I do have a strong dislike for them, but they are an example of real fans. But back to the rich fans, you see them the most on the basketball court. After every foul, big play, or turning point they jump up out of no where and get in the face of the players and refs, which is completely unnecessary. Set a good example for either your kids, or the kids around you watching you act like a fool. Now I understand as a student that we are no saints, we do curse, we do yell at the refs, and players, but we do it because this is our life, we live and die by how our beloved team does. Money is no factor in our cheering.
Yes, this is a shout out to those celebrities like (even though I love him) Spike Lee, and Jack Nickelson. Look you guys are famous enough as it is, you don't need to make more of spectacle of yourselves by acting like children to get the camera's on you. They will be anyway because you're famous. The games focus should be on the players, not you, learn to get that and people wouldn't find you so hard to like when they see you.
Here's to all of you real fans sitting in that section 340, keep yelling, because you're doing it for the love of the game, not for the love of your wallet!
Sunday, January 2, 2011
Boise and The Unforced Error
As the college football season comes to a conclusion this week, I’ve been thinking a lot about the non-AQ teams and how you come up with a true champion. More specifically, I’ve been thinking about how you measure teams against one another when they never actually meet on the playing field. It’s the annual BCS throw-down. How can you say now that TCU (are they really going to the Big East?) doesn’t deserve to be considered the national champion after beating Wisconsin in the Rose Bowl? What about Boise State last year? How about Auburn a couple of years back? All were undefeated at the end of play, had garnered glossy portfolios of achievements and all were determined NOT to be the national champion.
Since it doesn’t look like anything is going to change soon, I’ve been trying to come up with a way to think about this. Anyone who knows NCAA football has to give credit to the argument that playing in one of the big conferences is tougher than playing in most of the non-AQ conferences, most years. There might be an exception now and then, but as a general rule, it’s true. And here’s why: it’s the unforced error.
For this post, an unforced error is a mistake that you or your team makes that is not the result of something your opponent did. It’s the dropped touchdown pass on the last play of the game when the cornerback fell down. It’s the fumble in the red zone in the 4th quarter that kills the game winning drive, and of course, it’s the missed chip-shot field goal that send the game into OT, where you lose on another missed chip-shot field goal.
College athletes being who they are, unforced errors are a bigger part of the college game than they are at the professional level. It doesn’t matter what sport you’re talking about. When a bunch of kids two or three years out of high school, who have academic responsibilities play a complex game, they are going to make more mistakes than do paid professionals whose only job is to play their sport well. Because of this, you have to recognize that unforced errors are going to play an important role in the outcome of a lot of games. And THAT is what makes it harder to play in the big conferences and makes it appropriate to give more credit to teams who do.
You see, if you outclass the teams you play from a talent perspective, you can get away with the unforced errors that you are bound to make. If you’re playing in a conference where your athletes are vastly superior to your opponents’, you’re not going to get into situations where the unforced error will cost you the game. It might cost you possession late in the game, but if you’re up by 31 points at that point, who cares? In contrast, if you play in a competitive conference, where you might have better athletes than your opponents but the difference is slight rather than huge, the odds are that you’re eventually going to get burned by one of those unforced errors. Ask Bobby Bowden about wide-left and wide-right. Ask the kid from Boise State that same question.
Basically, I think the non-AQ teams get “disrespected” because they don’t run the risk week-in and week-out of losing on an unforced error. There’s nothing to be ashamed of in losing that way, because it happens to every team that plays somewhere along the line. But it can be heartbreaking. And it does cost you victories and chances at the national championship. If you can survive those brushes with unforced errors, you truly deserve the opportunity to play for the national championship that comes with it. If you never face the risk, or if you only face it once a year, maybe it’s right that you don’t get the same opportunity.
The Year of the Official
Sporting events final results are suppose to depend on the way each team plays, and always are, BUT sometimes the official likes to put their own little stamp on the game. This year in particular has been substantially worse than the other ones in the past, to my recollection.
My first PRIME example of this took place over the summer, during the World Cup. It was no mystery how bad those officials were, but one was so bad that they were banned from officiating anymore contests throughout the rest of the World Cup? Now that's unheard of! But don't fret he did it, and the next time he was seen on the "pitch" was as the fourth official. For those who don't know they are the one who puts the number on the electronic board for subs, added time, check players equipment and keep decorum on the sidelines respectful. Surprisingly, he managed to NOT screw that up, sorry for all of those who were hoping he would.
But the problems in the World Cup get even better, multiple missed offsides, missed goals, incorrectly made calls (easy USA Goal) caused outburst of disgust from fans who were shown the replay in the stadiums. This prompted FIFA to banned replays to be shown in stadiums, oh you guys are so sneaky! But you forgot one little detail, the fact that the rest of the world not in those stadiums saw every screw up, in slow motion of course (very popular for ABC) around the world.
For every sports fan the clear cut choice for worst missed calls has to be in baseball, but to little fault of the umpire's, due to all the angles and close up's we get from the comfort of our couch's. But i digress, they still mess up for than enough to get this title. Let me cut right to the one example everyone remembers, if you don't i'll explain it to you. Bottom of the 9th two outs, Tiger's pitcher Armando Galarraga is one out away from a memory of a life time, a perfect game. Your call, out or safe? Yes people he was called safe, one of the biggest calls of the year was blown by one of the games Veteran umpires. And who says it is better to have veterans than rookies? He went on to get the next batter out, ended what should have been a day for Galarraga to remember, in a good way, ended up being one people of the sports world will never forget.
Now I must, as a Virginia Tech Student, let a little steam off and talk about the next blown call. In their season opening football game against Boise State (or Girlsy State by Utah's wide receiver DeVonte Christopher ). Virginia Tech up 4 with about 2 minutes left, facing a 3rd and 6 decided that they needed to pass for the first time, and potentially stop the clock for a team that has no time outs, ultimately they did not get the first down, or a catch. So they were forced to punt with 1:42 left on the clock, on the kick the return made it out to about the 42, if I recall correctly. Just wait there should be a flag on the play because a VT player was clearly pushed in the back on the play, and BOOM there is one, this will push them back to the 10-ish yard line! Here comes the ref with the call "There is no flag for block in the back on the play." ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!?!? someone pinch me i have to be dreaming, did he really just say that?
Yes he did just say that, and because of that Boise was left with a short field, and plenty of time with no timeouts to score. And they did just that, and ruined the Hokies dreams for a national title.
There are obviously more from this year, but these are just the best examples, and the most memorable ones. Clearly, I could not repeat the mistake from the Syracuse, Kansas State game, since it was previously mentioned on the blog. I would like to thank the officials from the past year for giving me something to write about for this new blog, I know you guys will continue to feed me with material. Keep up the good work!
I would like to quote my late Grandfather to play this one out "Ehhhhhhhh..... Dere just tryna get their fifteen minutes o fame."
My first PRIME example of this took place over the summer, during the World Cup. It was no mystery how bad those officials were, but one was so bad that they were banned from officiating anymore contests throughout the rest of the World Cup? Now that's unheard of! But don't fret he did it, and the next time he was seen on the "pitch" was as the fourth official. For those who don't know they are the one who puts the number on the electronic board for subs, added time, check players equipment and keep decorum on the sidelines respectful. Surprisingly, he managed to NOT screw that up, sorry for all of those who were hoping he would.
But the problems in the World Cup get even better, multiple missed offsides, missed goals, incorrectly made calls (easy USA Goal) caused outburst of disgust from fans who were shown the replay in the stadiums. This prompted FIFA to banned replays to be shown in stadiums, oh you guys are so sneaky! But you forgot one little detail, the fact that the rest of the world not in those stadiums saw every screw up, in slow motion of course (very popular for ABC) around the world.
For every sports fan the clear cut choice for worst missed calls has to be in baseball, but to little fault of the umpire's, due to all the angles and close up's we get from the comfort of our couch's. But i digress, they still mess up for than enough to get this title. Let me cut right to the one example everyone remembers, if you don't i'll explain it to you. Bottom of the 9th two outs, Tiger's pitcher Armando Galarraga is one out away from a memory of a life time, a perfect game. Your call, out or safe? Yes people he was called safe, one of the biggest calls of the year was blown by one of the games Veteran umpires. And who says it is better to have veterans than rookies? He went on to get the next batter out, ended what should have been a day for Galarraga to remember, in a good way, ended up being one people of the sports world will never forget.
Now I must, as a Virginia Tech Student, let a little steam off and talk about the next blown call. In their season opening football game against Boise State (or Girlsy State by Utah's wide receiver DeVonte Christopher ). Virginia Tech up 4 with about 2 minutes left, facing a 3rd and 6 decided that they needed to pass for the first time, and potentially stop the clock for a team that has no time outs, ultimately they did not get the first down, or a catch. So they were forced to punt with 1:42 left on the clock, on the kick the return made it out to about the 42, if I recall correctly. Just wait there should be a flag on the play because a VT player was clearly pushed in the back on the play, and BOOM there is one, this will push them back to the 10-ish yard line! Here comes the ref with the call "There is no flag for block in the back on the play." ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!?!? someone pinch me i have to be dreaming, did he really just say that?
Yes he did just say that, and because of that Boise was left with a short field, and plenty of time with no timeouts to score. And they did just that, and ruined the Hokies dreams for a national title.
There are obviously more from this year, but these are just the best examples, and the most memorable ones. Clearly, I could not repeat the mistake from the Syracuse, Kansas State game, since it was previously mentioned on the blog. I would like to thank the officials from the past year for giving me something to write about for this new blog, I know you guys will continue to feed me with material. Keep up the good work!
I would like to quote my late Grandfather to play this one out "Ehhhhhhhh..... Dere just tryna get their fifteen minutes o fame."
Saturday, January 1, 2011
Wacky, Wild, Bowl Week
That's it?
For those of you who were living under a rock for the last couple of days you missed a lot in college football, but here are some coaching/officiating debacles. The Big East's University of Syracuse (8-4, 4-3 Big East) faced off against the Big 12's Kansas State (7-6, 3-5 Big 12) in the first ever Pinstripe Bowl, held in non-other than the New Yankee Stadium. This back and forth battle continued until the final minutes of the game, where K. State down 8 with 3:07 left to play in regulation needed to score on their final drive, to keep their hopes of a bowl win alive. They did just that, Carson Coffman threw a 30 yard touchdown pass to receiver Adrian Hilburn. All of the Wildcat fans who made the trek to New York rejoiced! And so did the players, whose salute to the crowd cost them 15 yards on an excessive celebration penalty, and ended up costing them the game, and the pin stripe bowl, but was it really deserved?
Now on to the next wacky finish, The ACC's UNC (8-5, 4-4 ACC) squared off against the SEC's University of Tennessee (6-7, 3-5 SEC) in the Franklin American Mortgage Music City Bowl. The game was at a stand still at 17-14 from the second quarter until about 5 minutes left in the 4th quarter when UT's freshman quarterback Tyler Bray hooked up with his receiver Justin Hunter for an 8 yard touchdown pass. With the remaining time UNC had to score, but when UNC's Dwight Jones dropped a 4th down pass from his QB T.J. Yates, things looked grim for the Tar Heels. But with enough timeouts to leave time on the clock for them to score, insanity then ensued. At their own 20 UNC started their drive almost perfectly with a 28 yard from Yates to Todd Herrelson, during the catch Herrelson was absolutely DRILLED in the back of the head by UT's safety Janzen Jackson, receiving a personal foul penalty, adding an additional 15 yards onto the big gain. After a 12 yard pass to Jones again, Butch Davis' choice for another play was a run to Shaun Draughn with about 16 seconds left on the clock, and no timeouts, genius right? Shades of Les Miles when they played Tennessee? As time continued to tick off UNC's field goal team started to rush the field, while the offense still need to stop the clock, it took about 10 second for Yates and the offense to realize they should just take the five yard too many men on the field penalty, and stop the clock. Once the ball hit the ground, the refs threw their flags, but ruled the game over, and UNC loses by 3. BUT WAIT! the booth buzzes them to check the replay, and after only a few short minutes the call was just as expected (five yard penalty and 1 second was put onto the clock) with that kicker Connor Barth hit a frantic 40 yard field goal to send the game into overtime. After trading touchdowns in the first overtime, a bit of karma hit Bray when after the TD made a slashing motion across his neck to the UNC sidelines, threw an interception to give the Tar Heels just a chip shot of a field goal to win the game. History tends to repeat itself, and this game was no different.
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