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Archive January 2007

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Why the NBA Sucks to Watch Live

I'm a big fan of the NBA - I love the players, and I enjoy watching the good teams play on TV. But on Thursday I went to a Clippers-Nets game - a great game that the Clippers won on a last second three-pointer and that the Nets almost won on a last fraction of a second near-missed tip-in - and it was horrendous. Forget that rookie Marcus Williams played a very solid game alongside Jason Kidd. Forget that Vince Carter shot the lights out and dazzled with some of his moves. Forget the slick spin moves by Corey Maggette, Sam Cassell and even Tim Thomas that resulted in buckets or the long range bombing of Bostjan Nachbar who could emerge as the third option for New Jersey now that Richard Jefferson is out for the season.

The game was unwatchable because of all the side shows, the cheesy music, played at top volume, the cheerleaders who have to run on and do their amateur act every time there's a TV time out, the idiots dancing to win a Subway Sub, the male cheerleaders shooting t-shirts into the crowd, the guy shooting from three in between quarters to win a trip to Vegas, the two fat guys tethered to each other by a bungee cord trying to make layups to win a flat screen TV. The blaring lights, the emcee exhorting us to cheer and playing "Here we go Clippers, Here We Go" music or Dunt-dunt-dunt Dunt-dunt-dunt Dunt-dunt-dunt Dunt-dunt-dunt - TURN THAT GODDAMN CRAP OFF. I'm trying to watch a friggin basketball game.

How f'ing stupid do they think we are - we can't just watch a basketball ball game with some dignity? We have to be told when to cheer? We have to be entertained at every single second with fourth rate amateur acts. Think about the cheerleaders and the fat guys making layups sharing the same court as the NBA players. These guys are the world's elite basketball players - so few have the talent and skill to play in the NBA - and they're sharing the stage with some bimbos and clowns? If you went to hear classical music at the London Philharmonic, would it not be demeaning to have me and the other RotoWire Editors playing pickup basketball on their stage to entertain you during intermissions? Or maybe we'd jam out on the piano and violin for you. Can the teams not have some respect for the players and the game?

And it's not like adverstising which though often horrendous is a necessary evil to pay the bills. The side shows are of marginal monetary value, and the blaring music is completely unnecessary.

If I owned an NBA team, I'd dim the lights in the entire arena except on the court, there'd be NO MUSIC AT ALL, just the sound of the crowd, and people who went to the arena would be there to watch a basketball game, and if that weren't enough for them, then they might want to go somewhere else where there every sense is overstimulated. Maybe a video arcade or an amusement park or the local pornography shop. But my arena would be for basketball games just like a movie theater is for movies, a concert hall is for concerts and an art museum is for art.

The other thing that's stupid is the way the people seated behind the basket wave those sticks to distract opposing free-throw shooters. They just yell and scream and wave them haphazzardly. And it does very little good because it's like white noise after a while - the shooter can easily tune out all that random motion. If they want it to work, they need to shake and make noise as the shooter is getting set. Then stop abruptly and be quiet, then start as he's about the release the ball. All herky jerky. So he can't get used to the stillness or the movement. You'd think those submorons who get the sticks would have figured that out by now.

Aikman and Buck are Killing Me

Are these guys watching the same game as me? They're acting like the Bears are dominating - it's 6-0 after the Saints turned it over twice and also lost 20 yards on another fumble. The Bears offense has done nothing, the Saints have already made a big play and also got a terrible offensive pass interference call... And how about them criticizing Lovie Smith for going on 4th and 1 at the three yard line, saying the in a title game you need to get the three points? Why? Why is three points in a title game different than three points in any other game? No explanation - just those two morons acting like it's a given. Do they break down the likelihood of getting the first down and what it does for the offense to break into the end zone? Of course not.

Why I Never Liked Cal Ripken

A couple of our writers posted in our admin forum that they didn't like Ripken but couldn't pinpoint why. Here's what I think it is:

Because the media and the baseball establishment has a way of taking ordinary, decent guys and trying to make them into icons when they're not. So then you get hit over the head with how great a guy, how amazing of a person Ripken is over and over again, and it starts to get annoying. Muhammad Ali was an icon - Cal Ripken was just a good player who went about his business. As a person, there was nothing remarkable about him. But the sports are always looking for players they can market and hang their hats on. So they blow these guys out of proportion. And it's easy to start reacting to that and feel - what's so special about this guy? Sure, he's good at baseball - I don't begruge him being an All-Star when he's deserved it, but after a while, can't everyone just quit it with the sucking up? Can't a player just be as good or as bad as he actually is without all this EXTRA - this canonizing the guy, the drooling praise from every corner?

It's like a virus that spreads - people realize a guy is a good player, and that, in addition, he has no obvious public relations baggage (no criminal acts, no run-ins with teammates, etc.), and suddenly, it's safe to praise that player through the roof. After all, the fans like him, your colleagues like him - you won't offend anyone by saying what a great guy he is. In fact, you'll look like a great guy yourself by recognizing and confirming everyone's beliefs about him. So it snowballs, and it gets to the point where the announcers are bending over backwards to make excuses for Ripken's lack of range toward the end of his career or for every boneheaded throw Brett Favre makes. There are a few announcers (Cris Collinsworth (whatever you otherwise think of him) is one) who tell it pretty much like it is, but most just spew whatever inane thoughts cross their habit-entrenched brains, and it's basically just what they hear everywhere else.

So I never liked Ripken. Peyton Manning, either. Maybe that's partly why everyone gives Manning so much flack for not winning in the playoffs - people are so sick of the praise heaped on the guy (great player, ordinary guy). And maybe that's why Mark McGwire's getting scapegoated for the whole steroid era - because he was built up as the savior of baseball for a while, and the episode in front of congress shattered that.

"The Dream is Still Alive" - Please Let it Die

I think it was Scott Pianowski who threatened to "take a hostage" if he heard that horrendous John Cougar Mellencamp song in that Chevy commerical that plays over and over again on Sunday, and I was right there with him this weekend, only that I would have been driven to kill the hostage and then myself if I didn't have a mute button. During the regular season, I would switch to other Sunday ticket games, but this weekend, I didn't have that.

I'm not sure what it is about that song - the cheesy lyrics, the stupid chorus, the patronizing implication that a truck driving through some rural area symbolizes what we're all about, as if it's been agreed upon, and if so by whom? Don't tell me what "our" country is - I'm trying to watch a football game, not hear some propaganda about the American dream and Chevy trucks. And how somehow it's patriotic to drive a Chevy truck. Hasn't the whole patriotic angle been oversold the last few years anyway? Can't I live in Los Angeles, drive a foreign car, despise everything about Mellencamp's music and still be a patriot? And maybe I could stomach the insult to my intelligence and the affront to my taste that this song is if they played it only twice per game, but they must have run that thing 20 times at least over the weekend's four games. And Scott and I are not alone. I'm sure there's more: here, here and and here.

And to compound it, Troy Aikman is the Joe Morgan of the NFL. Talk about saying either the obvious or absolutely nothing in 500 words or less. On the Eagles game-winning drive, this is Aikman on the Giants' defense (paraphrased): "This is something the Giants do - after the offense puts up points, the defense then seems to have a letdown. This is a really important situation for the Giants defense to step up and play well. This is an important drive for them." You think so, Troy? The last two minutes of the game when it's tied, you think this would be a good time for the Giants not to have a letdown on defense? I started actually to listen to what Aikman is saying, just as I have with Morgan, and it's the same thing - obvious or not saying anything - really pay attention this week, it's amazing how little Aikman's adding. And don't get me started on Joe Buck: "Some Alice in Chains for you..." You listen to Alice in Chains, Joe?... But I bet you've got some Mellencamp in your collection.

The Real MVP

3. LaDainian Tomlinson

It’s impossible to argue with LT’s numbers: he broke the NFL record with 31 TDs, got 5.2 YPC, totaled 2,323 yards and carried countless fantasy teams to titles. Still, he simply wasn’t as important to his team as two other quarterbacks were. Consider Michael Turner, who got 6.3 YPC behind Tomlinson on 80 carries, a decent enough sample size. How many more games would San Diego have lost with Turner instead of Tomlinson in the backfield, one? None?

2. Drew Brees

Drew Brees, on the other hand, led a team that went 3-13 last season to the NFC’s No. 2 seed this year. While New Orleans wasn’t completely void of talent, the team won with offense, and Brees made the likes of Devery Henderson, Terrence Copper and Marques Colston all noteworthy. Brees got 8.0 YPA, led the league with 4,418 passing yards and threw 26 TDs in just 15 games played. Something tells me Jamie Martin wouldn’t have fared so well.

1. Peyton Manning

And then there’s Peyton Manning, who apparently gets overlooked due to continued greatness. Manning got 7.9 YPA and led the league with 31 TD passes. When you factor in his four rushing scores, which was the second most by a QB this year, he accounted for 35 touchdowns this season. He also sported the best TD/INT ratio (3.4/1). He did all of this while facing a difficult pass defense schedule and hampered by one of the worst run defenses in memory, which allowed opponents to dominate time of possession; in fact, the Colts had the fewest number of possessions than any team in the league this year, so Manning had to make the most of his opportunities. On third down passing situations, Manning converted a ridiculous 55.6 percent into first downs, easily leading the league. In comparison, Donovan McNabb and Marc Bulger each had a 38.9 percent conversion rate. If you replaced Manning with Jim Sorgi, Indianapolis would have won somewhere around 3-6 games. Peyton Manning is easily the NFL’s most valuable player.

State of the Giants

As a Giants fan, I hated to see them lose, but the team needs to clean house - get rid of Kevin Gilbride, Tim Lewis, Tom Coughlin et al. and bring in some new blood. The Jets are a team on the rise thanks to Eric Mangini, and the Giants also need to find a younger, more forward thinking coach. I pray to God they don't hire Jim Mora, Jr., who's young, but thinks like a dinosaur - his comments during the Saturday games only confirmed that.

Eli Manning is a good athlete, and he can make all the throws, but he has poor instincts as a quarterback. During one third and goal play, he had all day to throw, and he forced the ball into a very well covered Jeremy Shockey for an incompletion. It was as if that was the called play, and that was the receiver he had locked onto, so there was no room for improvisation. There was no pass rush near him, and even if he had taken the sack, it still would have been the same chip shot field goal. The team needs to call less predictable plays and also get him receivers that get space and provide options as he goes through his progressions. But even so, it might well be that Manning simply doesn't have that instinctive quality. He also doesn't seem to inspire much in his teammates

Plaxico Burress played a tremendous game - catching touchdowns, making key first downs and drawing a big interference penalty. Jeremy Shockey also showed a lot of heart.

The positives: the team has a good offensive line (especially when Luke Petitgout comes back), good defensive ends (even if Strahan doesn't regain is pre-injury form, they'll still be strong with Umenyiora, Kiwanuka and Tuck and two very skilled receivers in Shockey and Burress. They desperately need to draft a shutdown corner and a quality safety. They need Sinorice Moss to develop in Year 2, and they can get a RB in the middle rounds. For better or worse, they're stuck with Eli for at least one more year, if not two. Probably limits their ceiling, but it would be nice to see what he could do with a real offensive coordinator.

Chambers vs. Evans

Chris Chambers just finished possibly the worst season a wide receiver has ever had in the history of the NFL. Chambers was targeted 154 times this year, the fourth most in the league. He turned all of those looks into just 59 catches, a historically low 38.3 percent reception rate. Of the top-16 most targeted receivers, every other one eclipsed 1,000 yards, with most in the 1,200 range. And then there’s Chambers, who finished with just 677 receiving yards. Terry Glenn was targeted 44 fewer times, yet accumulated 1,047 yards. And don’t blame poor quarterback play, as the rest of Miami’s receivers combined to catch 63 percent of intended passes. In 64 fewer looks, teammate Marty Booker accounted for nearly 100 more receiving yards and two more TDs, while hauling in 61.1 percent of the passes thrown his way.

In contrast, Lee Evans was probably football’s most productive receiver. While Chambers got 4.4 yards per target, Evans got 9.4, second only to Reggie Wayne (9.6), who had far superior teammates. Defenses needed to worry about stopping Marvin Harrison and the best QB in the game, while Buffalo is bereft of talent. Evans also hauled in six passes for 40 yards or more, and if JP Losman continues to improve (7.1 YPA this year), Evans could easily crack the top-5 as a fantasy WR next year.

Speaking of which, props to RotoWire’s Chris Liss, who was ahead of the curve regarding Evans. In the preseason rankings, Liss had Evans pegged as the #11 fantasy WR. RotoWorld had him #26, Fanball #24, TheHuddle #23, etc. Liss was also the only one to rank Evans ahead of Chambers, so we can forgive him for putting Derrick Mason above TJ Houshmandzadeh.

Bottom line, Chris Chambers is a dreadful receiver in real football, and it finally translated into the fantasy realm this year. Lee Evans is already a top-5 WR talent in the league, and fantasy owners should take notice, as his numbers will reflect this as soon as next year.

Random question: How do Drew Brees and Carson Palmer finish 2nd and 3rd in Comeback Player of the Year voting? It’s one thing for Brees to rebound from that 24 TD, 7.2 YPA, 16 games played 2005 season, but how about Palmer bouncing back from his 32 TD, 7.5 YPA, MVP-worthy 2005 campaign? Someone get the AP a dictionary.

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NFL Notes
A look around the league regarding Week 10:
Week 10 Observations
  • We've beaten to death Bill Belichick's decision to go for it on 4th and 2 in Sunday night's game (the best take on it I've seen is here), but the real takeaway is how much Cris Collinsworth, Al Michaels, Tony Dungy and Rodney Harrison felt it was their duty to spout the conventional wisdom without even attempting to analyze Belichick's basis for the decision. Throw in Bob Costas, and it's appalling that five guys collectively making more than $10 million a year to interpret the sport for us didn't even consider the issue from a probability standpoint. Sadly, the NBC crew is probably the best one on TV. (Update: Jon Gruden just defended Belichick's call on MNF - good for him).
    • Dominant Offense but Shaky Defense...Barkley and Dirk
    This topic is a spin-off from the Michael Jordan thread of last week.  In the excellent discussion on that thread a mini-debate broke out as to how Charles Barkley compares to Kevin Garnett.  The gist of the brief debate was to question whether Barkley was enough better than Garnett offensively to make them comparable in value as overall players despite Garnett’s huge defensive advantages.  The thing is, though, to me there is a much better comp for Barkley in this generation than Garnett:  Dirk Nowitzki.
    What is Iverson's Legacy?
    What are we talking 'bout? We're talking 'bout *IVERSON*.
    Jennings vs Rose
    Last year Derrick Rose was the NBA Rookie of the Year.  One year later, would you take him over current rookie point guard phenom Brandon Jennings?

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