I can't remember when I last watched an NBA All-Star game, perhaps there was a time when the game seemed competitive to me, but when was that? I can't remember when I didn't watch the Saturday night skills competition - a fun time and worth a pizza and beer. But the game itself? Gad, how boring.
It occured to me that a two day series of skill competitions would be one solution, but I doubt if there would be much interest from advertisers. The term All-Star Game means a Game, the greats competing against each other, but of course they don't really compete, do they? Why should they and risk injuries?. So, here's my thinking: lets combine skills competition with the game. It could be done in the following manner:
1) Create a 4 point line.
2) Place a bull's eye logo at center-court. Any player who shoots the ball and makes it from inside the logo
would earn 6 points.
3) Place two squares 3x3 feet adjacent to the sideline midway between the half-court stripe and baseline.
Shots made from within that box would be worth 5 points. Referees would determine if a players
feet were within the box.
4) Floaters shot from beyond the freethrow line would be worth 3 points.
5) Hook shots shot from beyond the freethrow line and below the 3 point line would be worth 3 pts.
6) Hook shots shot from above the three point stripe and below the 4 point stripe would be valued
at 4 points.
7) A player would get the choice of shooting freethrows with or without a blindfold. A player could double
the normal freethrow value by selecting to shoot blindfolded. Imagine the game coming down to a team
down by three points and fouled in the act of shooting with .01 left on the clock. Normally there would
be no way the shooter's team could win the game, but by selecting to shoot blindfolded, the shooter
could win the game if he made both shots sightless.
An added attraction for the NBA advertising gurus would be to sell sponsorships for the various new shooting areas, ie: Box shots could be sponsored by box stores (Wall Mart/Home Depot, etc); the bullseye center-court-shot could be sponsored by Target Stores; blind freethrow shooting could be sponsored by Lens Crafters; floaters by United Airlines.
I can think of a number of other fun possibilities. The strategy required to play such a game would invigorate the All-Star Game, make it relevant while keeping the players safe from injury, which is the main reason the players today do NOT compete with vigor.
Think About It NBA! Big Bucks rolling in, lots of fun for fans.
The San Antonio Spurs have just finished their Rodeo road trip - as usual successfully. Is there a better coach in the NBA than Pop?
Here's a Rodeo poem.
The Closing of the Rodeo by William Jay Smith
The lariat snaps; the cowboy rolls
His pack, and mounts and rides away.
Back to the land the cowboy goes.
Plumes of smoke from the factory sway
In the setting sun. The curtain falls,
A train in the darkness pulls away.
Goodbye, says the rain on the iron roofs.
Goodbye, say the barber poles.
Dark drum the vanishing horses' hooves.
What my musings are all about...
Saturday, February 16, 2013
Thursday, December 27, 2012
Rethinking the NBA for 2013
I'm looking at the roster of the Timberwolves and the Rockets and imagining them (sans injuries) as playoff teams. Lin and Hardren might turn into one of the great NBA backcourts. Kirilenko of the Wolves continues to show that you can be an All-Star as a defensive player - great hands, great instincts. And he's Russian like me, what more can I say.
When Bogut gets back and in form, count the Warriors into the playoffs and deeper than the first round. You heard it here first.
I don't care how good Nash is, I'm not sold on the Lakers, nor am I sold on the Clippers for exactly the opposite reason: the Lakers have no bench and the Clippers have too much bench. Predictable rotations are essential.
The Heat have a rebounding problem, the Talking Heads say. They may, but LeBron is a powerful force of nature. As I watched the recent Thunder/Miami game, it seemed to me that the players on the Thunder were frightened of LeBron when the big mon made his powerful moves. How to beat the Heat? Let LeBron shoot the long ball and don't let him drive and get cheap baskets. After awhile as LeBron realizes he is being given the free three, he'll start thinking and he's going to start missing.
I do not believe in the Knicks. I am not impressed with Carmelo, nor am I impressed with JR Smith. Great instinctive basketball but no IQ for the game. Kidd might help in that department, but its a long season and he's 38 years old. And Felton is not a starting guard.
The Spurs remain steady and skillful. The key to their winning big will be how healthy the Big Three will be come playoff time. A consistent Diaw, and the continued development of Diago Splitter. I see them upsetting the Thunder and taking Miami to the seventh game. The Winner is: __________________for the NBA Championship.
Chicago. Not this year. But with Rose back, next year might be their time. They should trade to get Korvar back.
What about the Grizzlies? What about them? Pretty predictable if you ask me, which means easy to defend. They can't run with Gasul and Randolph. So Gay, Conley and Allen have to play slow down ball.
Here's a trade for the Grizzlies: The Kings trade DeMarcus Cousins, Tryreke Evans, and Aaron Brooks (Tyreke is a Memphis guy) for Gasul, Randolph and Pondexter? The Kings get a Vladi Devac type player back and a defender in Allen. The Grizzlies could create a running team and clear cap space by getting rid of Randolph and Gasul. Lionel can hire his old teammate Bill Walton to work with Cousins all summer.
What can I say about the Nuggets? Great coach. Faried is fab, but can't shoot a lick. Gallinari is inconsistent. McGee doesn't seem real bright to me, and he's the key to the team going beyond the first round of the playoffs.
I'm going to go out on a limb and say that Jimmer Fredette might actually learn to play in the NBA.
By the end of the season, barring injuries, the most improved team in the NBA will be the New Orleans Hornets. Vasquez is the surprise point guard of the season for me. The Hornets and the Jazz should trade names. There's no jazz in Salt Lake and probably a lot of bees.
One last thought. If the NBA ever wants to create real parity, it needs to increase the 24 second rule to 30 seconds. The additional 6 seconds will allow for four extra passes. The additional 6 seconds will allow a well trained, disciplined team to execute plays better, create a little more slight of hand, and allow coaches more opportunity to coach. It would not inhibit those teams that want to run and overpower an opponent with athleticism, but it would allow a team that does not have those kind of super, super stud stars to compete. Level the playing field and discourage teams like Miami from loading up. Smarts instead of brawn.
Hilarious poem about boxing
The World's Worst Boxer Lucilius translated by Humbert Wolfe
Apis! the men you boxed with, grateful that you
never hit one of them, erect this statue.
When Bogut gets back and in form, count the Warriors into the playoffs and deeper than the first round. You heard it here first.
I don't care how good Nash is, I'm not sold on the Lakers, nor am I sold on the Clippers for exactly the opposite reason: the Lakers have no bench and the Clippers have too much bench. Predictable rotations are essential.
The Heat have a rebounding problem, the Talking Heads say. They may, but LeBron is a powerful force of nature. As I watched the recent Thunder/Miami game, it seemed to me that the players on the Thunder were frightened of LeBron when the big mon made his powerful moves. How to beat the Heat? Let LeBron shoot the long ball and don't let him drive and get cheap baskets. After awhile as LeBron realizes he is being given the free three, he'll start thinking and he's going to start missing.
I do not believe in the Knicks. I am not impressed with Carmelo, nor am I impressed with JR Smith. Great instinctive basketball but no IQ for the game. Kidd might help in that department, but its a long season and he's 38 years old. And Felton is not a starting guard.
The Spurs remain steady and skillful. The key to their winning big will be how healthy the Big Three will be come playoff time. A consistent Diaw, and the continued development of Diago Splitter. I see them upsetting the Thunder and taking Miami to the seventh game. The Winner is: __________________for the NBA Championship.
Chicago. Not this year. But with Rose back, next year might be their time. They should trade to get Korvar back.
What about the Grizzlies? What about them? Pretty predictable if you ask me, which means easy to defend. They can't run with Gasul and Randolph. So Gay, Conley and Allen have to play slow down ball.
Here's a trade for the Grizzlies: The Kings trade DeMarcus Cousins, Tryreke Evans, and Aaron Brooks (Tyreke is a Memphis guy) for Gasul, Randolph and Pondexter? The Kings get a Vladi Devac type player back and a defender in Allen. The Grizzlies could create a running team and clear cap space by getting rid of Randolph and Gasul. Lionel can hire his old teammate Bill Walton to work with Cousins all summer.
What can I say about the Nuggets? Great coach. Faried is fab, but can't shoot a lick. Gallinari is inconsistent. McGee doesn't seem real bright to me, and he's the key to the team going beyond the first round of the playoffs.
I'm going to go out on a limb and say that Jimmer Fredette might actually learn to play in the NBA.
By the end of the season, barring injuries, the most improved team in the NBA will be the New Orleans Hornets. Vasquez is the surprise point guard of the season for me. The Hornets and the Jazz should trade names. There's no jazz in Salt Lake and probably a lot of bees.
One last thought. If the NBA ever wants to create real parity, it needs to increase the 24 second rule to 30 seconds. The additional 6 seconds will allow for four extra passes. The additional 6 seconds will allow a well trained, disciplined team to execute plays better, create a little more slight of hand, and allow coaches more opportunity to coach. It would not inhibit those teams that want to run and overpower an opponent with athleticism, but it would allow a team that does not have those kind of super, super stud stars to compete. Level the playing field and discourage teams like Miami from loading up. Smarts instead of brawn.
Hilarious poem about boxing
The World's Worst Boxer Lucilius translated by Humbert Wolfe
Apis! the men you boxed with, grateful that you
never hit one of them, erect this statue.
Sunday, December 23, 2012
The Cousin's Dilemma
It's about time the Kings suspended DeMarcus cousins. Phil Jackson is right to recommend psychological counseling. Without counseling, Cousins will wind up bouncing around the NBA, moving out of trouble into trouble, always far short of playing to his potential, and let's be clear, DeMarcus Cousins has enormous potential. The only quick fix I can think of is trading him to the Boston Celtics and let Garnett, Rondo, and Pierce, and Coach Doc Rivers have crack at him. Perhaps, surrounded by strong, intelligent, hardworking superstar players and directed by a coach with a strong reputation, the kid might, (I stress might) get his act together. The Kings could ask for Jeff Green, Jard Sullinger, Avery Bradley and a first round draft choice. They might go for that, or something close to it. The Kings would get young talent and two first round picks in 2113. The Celtics would be a force with DeMarcus in the middle.
Enough said on the mental health side of things and trades.
Last night as the Cousin's drama was unfolding I was watching NBA Gametime listening to Isiah Thomas talking about how the NBA game has evolved from a center dominated game to a point guard/penetration type game. I knew that, but Thomas provided some extra food for thought.
This morning I read in the sports page that one of Cousin's big grips is that his teammates don't pass him the ball enough or at the right time (the reason he had a fight with Donte Green). Humm, I thought, perhaps the kid has a legitimate grip. As I recalled the King's games I've watched, I came to the conclusion that the ball does NOT go in to Cousins nearly enough. If I had my way, 65 % of the offense would start with the big man. But, that kind of inside/out offense does not fit the new NBA paradigm.
It would be interesting to me to see what would happen if every time the Kings could not create a fast break opportunity (however they wanted to structure that), they started their half court set with a pass to the big man. Cousins is an excellent passer. He has good vision and soft hands. Create a passing and cutting offense, players filling in from the weakside. In and out, set and reset, side to side. The more Cousins becomes a force in the low block the more defenses must collapse on him to help, which opens up outside shooters. Freddette, Brooks, and Thorton shooting without a hand in their face? I like that idea a lot.
As for Cousins, force him to be the player he can be. Make him the lynch-pin of the offense. Tell him exactly what he needs to do: DeMarcus you must produce 18 points a night, 12 rebounds, and 10 assists and block shots. Challenge him to be a triple double man.
Will this happens? Who knows? But, in Cousin's case, it might be good idea to return to the old school post-up offense. Models change all the time. Pendulums swing back.
Here's a small poem I wrote about Michael Jordan.
Michael Jordan by Tom Meschery
His air curves upward
while all the rest of us,
misguided,
say we "hang."
Disconsolate and
earthbound, we know
our air merely descends.
He stays aloft,
legs splayed, tongue
a puppy flap.
Happy, so happy
four centuries later
to prove Newton wrong.
Enough said on the mental health side of things and trades.
Last night as the Cousin's drama was unfolding I was watching NBA Gametime listening to Isiah Thomas talking about how the NBA game has evolved from a center dominated game to a point guard/penetration type game. I knew that, but Thomas provided some extra food for thought.
This morning I read in the sports page that one of Cousin's big grips is that his teammates don't pass him the ball enough or at the right time (the reason he had a fight with Donte Green). Humm, I thought, perhaps the kid has a legitimate grip. As I recalled the King's games I've watched, I came to the conclusion that the ball does NOT go in to Cousins nearly enough. If I had my way, 65 % of the offense would start with the big man. But, that kind of inside/out offense does not fit the new NBA paradigm.
It would be interesting to me to see what would happen if every time the Kings could not create a fast break opportunity (however they wanted to structure that), they started their half court set with a pass to the big man. Cousins is an excellent passer. He has good vision and soft hands. Create a passing and cutting offense, players filling in from the weakside. In and out, set and reset, side to side. The more Cousins becomes a force in the low block the more defenses must collapse on him to help, which opens up outside shooters. Freddette, Brooks, and Thorton shooting without a hand in their face? I like that idea a lot.
As for Cousins, force him to be the player he can be. Make him the lynch-pin of the offense. Tell him exactly what he needs to do: DeMarcus you must produce 18 points a night, 12 rebounds, and 10 assists and block shots. Challenge him to be a triple double man.
Will this happens? Who knows? But, in Cousin's case, it might be good idea to return to the old school post-up offense. Models change all the time. Pendulums swing back.
Here's a small poem I wrote about Michael Jordan.
Michael Jordan by Tom Meschery
His air curves upward
while all the rest of us,
misguided,
say we "hang."
Disconsolate and
earthbound, we know
our air merely descends.
He stays aloft,
legs splayed, tongue
a puppy flap.
Happy, so happy
four centuries later
to prove Newton wrong.
Friday, November 30, 2012
A Couple of Days of the Sports Page + etc
Is there any naive soul out there who believes that Bonds, Sosa, and Clemens did NOT take steroids and other physical enhancement drugs? I know what the courts ruled, but check out how their bodies grew while they broke records. Seeing is believing as my Patron Saint, Thomas, used to say. For me, the decision whether these men should be in baseball's Hall of Fame is simple: You cheat, you don't get in. Period. You never get in. End of story.
As for Bob Dutton of the Kansas City Star, who said he's voting for them because, "If Major League Baseball took no action against a player during his career for alleged or suspected steroid/PED use, I'm not going to do so in assessing their career for the Hall of Fame." Interesting argument. Actually a Logical Fallacy. What you're saying Bob, is your going to perpetuate stupidity and culpability by adding to it. MLB was wrong back then, now you're going to be wrong.
Speaking of wrong. Isn't it time for Ndamukong Suh to get anger management counseling?
Hurrah for Rajon Rondo for defending a cheap shot on his teammate Kevin Garnett, although I'm reasonably sure Garnett might have found a way to retaliate had Kim Kardashian's ex-hubby not been ejected. What do you think?
Someone at the Seattle Times calculated what it would cost to take four people to a Dallas Cowboy game with hotdogs, Cokes, parking, and some souvenirs? $634.78. I'm assuming these are decent seats. I'm sure that you can get off cheaper if you're willing to sit in the stratosphere, which can not be better than sitting in a comfortable chair in front of your 50 inch TV with a bottle of brew and guacamole and chips.
Speaking of brew? How is it possible that anyone really buys the swill that the football game beer ads promote? Bud, Coors, Yuk. Boggles the mind and the taste buds. Ah, for a frosty mug of Anchor Steam or Nevada Pale Ale!
Wow, and I'm only on page 2 of today's sport's page.
Any bets that Rolondo McClain's career is over? After football, he might want to open up a gun shop. McClain is a member in good standing of my Knucklehead Club.
Amphetamines? Really? I'm sooo surprised that our boys in the NFL are using them. Now there's talk about Viagra our brave lads are using. You gotta be kidding! The image conjured by a field of football players who've recently swallowedd some erectile dysfunction tabs defies humor. I'd be particularly worried if I were the center, and the quarterback was, how can I say it delicately, "in a state."?
Speaking of quarterbacks, Kaepernick it is, but please don't call him Kap. There is only one Kap in Football - Joe Kapp of the University of California Bears (of The Play fame) and the Minnesota Vikings. This same guy nicknamed "Injun Joe" who said running out of bounds was for "Gringos." And threw 7 touchdown passes in one game., and who was the best street fighter I've ever seen, as some of my St. Mary's buds who tried to crash a frat. party back in 1960 and had to face an angry Kap would confirm.
As quiet as it's kept, the Memphis Grizzlies keep winning. Bravo Coach Leonel Hollins. Watch out for the Minnosota Timberwolves once Rubio is back.
Great Warrior win last night against the Nuggets. I'm completely sold on the Nugget's Faried. What a hustler. Not only does he haul in rebounds, both offensive and defensive, but he disrupts and gets his hands on balls, which often leads to turnovers. Tips that lead to turnovers or offensive/defensive rebounds should be a statistic. I think Dean Smith used to do just that.
As for Bogut. Micro-fracture is a scary word. If I were the Warriors, even as late and as weird as everything has evolved, I would have Bogut's doctor(s) and physical therapist(s) lay out for Golden State fans exactly what is going on - in medical detail, even if it reveals that Bogut will not be able to play for a couple of months. The Bogut deal is still a good one, in my mind. The Warriors are playing well. Lee, Landry, and Ezili are doing yeoman's job on the boards. What a pick up Landry has been Bravo Meyers! Ditto picking up Jack. If ONLY someone, anyone, could teach Beidrens to shoot freethrows????? I'm tossing my name in the hat. Give me one month with the kid. "Listen to your ego," my wife says. "No," I say,"I'm not kidding. I've studied the kid's form. I know exactly what's wrong. It's not psychological, it's physical."
Aren't Blogs fun?
David Stern is right. People pay good money - in this day and age, with what little entertainment money their budgets can afford - to see great basketball. I think Pop could have supported his argument had he rested only his Big Three, but by adding the young, third year Green kid, it looked more like a mind game he was playing on the Heat players and coaching staff. On the other hand, I don't think any of the fans would argue they didn't see an exciting game. I watched it and loved every minute of it. Right on Patty Mills, Aussie Galloping Gael!
With all the negative stuff happening in professional sports and that includes professional college sports, I've selected a poem about a pure sport: climbing. You hang by your fingers above nothing but death, now that's sport.
The Rock Climbers by Robert Francis
In this soft age, in my soft
middle age, the rock climbers
Who giving all to love
embrace cold cliffs
Or with spread-eagle arms
enact a crucifixion
Hanging between the falling
and the not-attaining
Observed or unobserved
by hawks and vultures-
How vaulting a humility
superb a supererogation
Craggy to break the mind
on and to cool the mind.
As for Bob Dutton of the Kansas City Star, who said he's voting for them because, "If Major League Baseball took no action against a player during his career for alleged or suspected steroid/PED use, I'm not going to do so in assessing their career for the Hall of Fame." Interesting argument. Actually a Logical Fallacy. What you're saying Bob, is your going to perpetuate stupidity and culpability by adding to it. MLB was wrong back then, now you're going to be wrong.
Speaking of wrong. Isn't it time for Ndamukong Suh to get anger management counseling?
Hurrah for Rajon Rondo for defending a cheap shot on his teammate Kevin Garnett, although I'm reasonably sure Garnett might have found a way to retaliate had Kim Kardashian's ex-hubby not been ejected. What do you think?
Someone at the Seattle Times calculated what it would cost to take four people to a Dallas Cowboy game with hotdogs, Cokes, parking, and some souvenirs? $634.78. I'm assuming these are decent seats. I'm sure that you can get off cheaper if you're willing to sit in the stratosphere, which can not be better than sitting in a comfortable chair in front of your 50 inch TV with a bottle of brew and guacamole and chips.
Speaking of brew? How is it possible that anyone really buys the swill that the football game beer ads promote? Bud, Coors, Yuk. Boggles the mind and the taste buds. Ah, for a frosty mug of Anchor Steam or Nevada Pale Ale!
Wow, and I'm only on page 2 of today's sport's page.
Any bets that Rolondo McClain's career is over? After football, he might want to open up a gun shop. McClain is a member in good standing of my Knucklehead Club.
Amphetamines? Really? I'm sooo surprised that our boys in the NFL are using them. Now there's talk about Viagra our brave lads are using. You gotta be kidding! The image conjured by a field of football players who've recently swallowedd some erectile dysfunction tabs defies humor. I'd be particularly worried if I were the center, and the quarterback was, how can I say it delicately, "in a state."?
Speaking of quarterbacks, Kaepernick it is, but please don't call him Kap. There is only one Kap in Football - Joe Kapp of the University of California Bears (of The Play fame) and the Minnesota Vikings. This same guy nicknamed "Injun Joe" who said running out of bounds was for "Gringos." And threw 7 touchdown passes in one game., and who was the best street fighter I've ever seen, as some of my St. Mary's buds who tried to crash a frat. party back in 1960 and had to face an angry Kap would confirm.
As quiet as it's kept, the Memphis Grizzlies keep winning. Bravo Coach Leonel Hollins. Watch out for the Minnosota Timberwolves once Rubio is back.
Great Warrior win last night against the Nuggets. I'm completely sold on the Nugget's Faried. What a hustler. Not only does he haul in rebounds, both offensive and defensive, but he disrupts and gets his hands on balls, which often leads to turnovers. Tips that lead to turnovers or offensive/defensive rebounds should be a statistic. I think Dean Smith used to do just that.
As for Bogut. Micro-fracture is a scary word. If I were the Warriors, even as late and as weird as everything has evolved, I would have Bogut's doctor(s) and physical therapist(s) lay out for Golden State fans exactly what is going on - in medical detail, even if it reveals that Bogut will not be able to play for a couple of months. The Bogut deal is still a good one, in my mind. The Warriors are playing well. Lee, Landry, and Ezili are doing yeoman's job on the boards. What a pick up Landry has been Bravo Meyers! Ditto picking up Jack. If ONLY someone, anyone, could teach Beidrens to shoot freethrows????? I'm tossing my name in the hat. Give me one month with the kid. "Listen to your ego," my wife says. "No," I say,"I'm not kidding. I've studied the kid's form. I know exactly what's wrong. It's not psychological, it's physical."
Aren't Blogs fun?
David Stern is right. People pay good money - in this day and age, with what little entertainment money their budgets can afford - to see great basketball. I think Pop could have supported his argument had he rested only his Big Three, but by adding the young, third year Green kid, it looked more like a mind game he was playing on the Heat players and coaching staff. On the other hand, I don't think any of the fans would argue they didn't see an exciting game. I watched it and loved every minute of it. Right on Patty Mills, Aussie Galloping Gael!
With all the negative stuff happening in professional sports and that includes professional college sports, I've selected a poem about a pure sport: climbing. You hang by your fingers above nothing but death, now that's sport.
The Rock Climbers by Robert Francis
In this soft age, in my soft
middle age, the rock climbers
Who giving all to love
embrace cold cliffs
Or with spread-eagle arms
enact a crucifixion
Hanging between the falling
and the not-attaining
Observed or unobserved
by hawks and vultures-
How vaulting a humility
superb a supererogation
Craggy to break the mind
on and to cool the mind.
Tuesday, November 20, 2012
A Few Comments
From the Sacramento Bee Sport's Page, November 20, 2012
Basketball
I'm not arguing that Geoff Petrie shouldn't go, but for Sacto Bee reporter AileneVoisin to write the words, "give Petrie the boot," about a man who put together one of the great sports memories in Sacramento history, lacks, to put in mildly, grace and sensitivity and, perhaps, a misunderstanding of the dynamics that govern the 21st century NBA.
So what if Geoff Petrie doesn't have the Twitter, Facebook, personality that Voisin seems to say defines good management? That sounds like good sense to me, as we are awash in such technological blather. Yada, yada, yada, who cares? The problem that faces Geoff, the one he has not addressed, which is at the core of his downfall - should it happen - has far more to do with an ownership without the financial resources to allow Geoff any flexibility to work the increasingly complicated NBA marketplace.
Sports is like any major organization in business, in politics, in education; the buck must stop at the top, the very top. Geoff is one step removed from the top of the hierarchy. Let's lay the blame where it belongs first, fix that problem, give the Maloofs "the boot," and bring in ownership with financial muscle. If Geoff can't cut it after that, then, of course, he needs to go.
Football
Colin Kaepernick is the 49ers quarterback of the future. I make this statement based less on his maginificent performance last night against the Bears, as on his personality, body language, and leadership demenor. Years and years ago, I remember when Rick Barry arrived at the Warriors training camp, a first round draft choice from the U of Miami. I'd just come off an All-Star year, and was looking forward to many more. It was not to be. It only took me a couple of pre season practices to see that Rick was the real deal, The Star, which he turned out to be. You can feel stardom as well as see it. Ask any athlete. It's not cockiness, it's a kind of electricity. I'm afraid Alex Smith is going to have to come to that realization that Colin is the man.
I've always love poems sports metaphor poems, in which sports and the true subject are intertwined.
Here's one of my favorites.
The Stadium by William Heyen
The stadium is filled
for this is the third night the moon
has not appeared as even a thin sickle.
We light the candles we were told to bring.
The diamond is lit red with torches.
Children run the bases.
A voice, as though from a tomb,
leads us to the last amen of a hymn.
Whole sections of the bleachers begin to moan.
The clergy files from the dugout
to the makeshift communion rails
that line the infield grass.
We've known, all our lives,
that we would gather here in the stadium
on just such a night,
that even the bravest among us
would weep softly in the dark aisles,
catching their difficult breath.
Basketball
I'm not arguing that Geoff Petrie shouldn't go, but for Sacto Bee reporter AileneVoisin to write the words, "give Petrie the boot," about a man who put together one of the great sports memories in Sacramento history, lacks, to put in mildly, grace and sensitivity and, perhaps, a misunderstanding of the dynamics that govern the 21st century NBA.
So what if Geoff Petrie doesn't have the Twitter, Facebook, personality that Voisin seems to say defines good management? That sounds like good sense to me, as we are awash in such technological blather. Yada, yada, yada, who cares? The problem that faces Geoff, the one he has not addressed, which is at the core of his downfall - should it happen - has far more to do with an ownership without the financial resources to allow Geoff any flexibility to work the increasingly complicated NBA marketplace.
Sports is like any major organization in business, in politics, in education; the buck must stop at the top, the very top. Geoff is one step removed from the top of the hierarchy. Let's lay the blame where it belongs first, fix that problem, give the Maloofs "the boot," and bring in ownership with financial muscle. If Geoff can't cut it after that, then, of course, he needs to go.
Football
Colin Kaepernick is the 49ers quarterback of the future. I make this statement based less on his maginificent performance last night against the Bears, as on his personality, body language, and leadership demenor. Years and years ago, I remember when Rick Barry arrived at the Warriors training camp, a first round draft choice from the U of Miami. I'd just come off an All-Star year, and was looking forward to many more. It was not to be. It only took me a couple of pre season practices to see that Rick was the real deal, The Star, which he turned out to be. You can feel stardom as well as see it. Ask any athlete. It's not cockiness, it's a kind of electricity. I'm afraid Alex Smith is going to have to come to that realization that Colin is the man.
I've always love poems sports metaphor poems, in which sports and the true subject are intertwined.
Here's one of my favorites.
The Stadium by William Heyen
The stadium is filled
for this is the third night the moon
has not appeared as even a thin sickle.
We light the candles we were told to bring.
The diamond is lit red with torches.
Children run the bases.
A voice, as though from a tomb,
leads us to the last amen of a hymn.
Whole sections of the bleachers begin to moan.
The clergy files from the dugout
to the makeshift communion rails
that line the infield grass.
We've known, all our lives,
that we would gather here in the stadium
on just such a night,
that even the bravest among us
would weep softly in the dark aisles,
catching their difficult breath.
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