See, I'm not the only weirdo sports fan out there (go to BugMeNot if the site bugs you about a login). I got home from work and, in a very disciplined manner, ate dinner and took care of a couple of other errands, all with the full knowledge that the Spurs had a chance to go to the Finals tonight. I finally flipped the TV on at about 9 pm to the beginning of Sportscenter, where I was greeted by the words, "You've just finished watching the Spurs put away the Suns...", which was my signal to fire up the DVR and watch how they did it. I swear, the last few seasons whenever I'm watching live, it seems as though Duncan is having his worst game. On recording, it's much easier to see why he's considered by all to be top 3 in the league. He did it all tonight... on O, post play, facing up from 15 and driving (with either hand) or dropping the banker, grabbing offensive rebounds and loose balls and capitalizing, and drawing double teams and finding the open man... on D, shutting down the baselines, helping to stifle anyone not named Nash or Amare, and containing Stoudemire until the 4th.
At first I thought that Amare was a product of Nash's sublime PG skills. After watching him take over in the 4th quarter of the last two games, I'm revising my opinion. The guy's a monster - one of the few who can't be stopped when he gets on, even by double teams. However, I don't think he'll ever have the defensive impact on a game that a KG, Duncan, or even Shaq can have... he's just not long enough, even if he does have the occasional exciting spike block. Offensively though... he could turn into a bizarre combination of a prime Shaq and prime Mailman.
The Sports Guy has this amusing section in his mailbag today:
Q: In the "More Cowbell" update on 5/23, you sort of implied you hadn't yet seen the new Star Wars movie (which is understandable, having a new baby and all). I'm sure many readers are curious as to your thoughts, but I'm specifically wondering as to your thoughts about its impact on sports. How many kids, from 1977 to this week, shunned sports growing up, either as participants or observers, because they were watching "Empire" for the 50th time, or were playing with their action figures or were discussing script rumors on the Internet? Now that the series is finally over, will the youth return to sports in record numbers? Or will they just latch on to something equally as tragic?
– Adam Woodyard, Dallas
SG: It's tough for me to comment since I was the same kid who probably watched 1,000 hours of pro wrestling growing up. And I don't know if everyone's elementary school worked like mine did. But in my school, the kids who liked "Star Wars" didn't like sports, and vice-versa. There were no crossovers. I just remember being totally confused by the whole thing – they kind of kept to themselves, almost like cross-dressers in a penitentiary, and it was like they were talking another language. Nobody really bothered them. But after elementary school, I made at least 4-5 friends who were sports fans and loved "Star Wars." So I think it depends on the school.
I look at it this way: Everyone needs something growing up. For some kids, it's sports. For other kids, it's "Lord of the Rings," "Star Wars" and whatever goofy fantasy thing is out there where you get to watch something 20 times, dress up like the characters and say things like, "The movie is coming out in three weeks, wanna go to our local theater and wait in line with 250 other guys?" Again, since I count Superfly Snuka and Hulk Hogan as two of the 10 most influential heroes from my childhood, I'm in no position to judge.
(As for your question, "Will they just latch on to something equally as tragic?" – the answer is obviously, "Unquestionably.")
Based just on my last five posts, you can probably tell that I'm one of those sports fans who has also become quite into Star Wars and Lord of the Rings. That probably didn't (doesn't?) leave me many mental cycles to expend elsewhere to make me a more well-rounded person. That reminds me, I have a longer opinion post to write on sports fandom, but that will have to wait until another time.
At first I thought that Amare was a product of Nash's sublime PG skills. After watching him take over in the 4th quarter of the last two games, I'm revising my opinion. The guy's a monster - one of the few who can't be stopped when he gets on, even by double teams. However, I don't think he'll ever have the defensive impact on a game that a KG, Duncan, or even Shaq can have... he's just not long enough, even if he does have the occasional exciting spike block. Offensively though... he could turn into a bizarre combination of a prime Shaq and prime Mailman.
The Sports Guy has this amusing section in his mailbag today:
Q: In the "More Cowbell" update on 5/23, you sort of implied you hadn't yet seen the new Star Wars movie (which is understandable, having a new baby and all). I'm sure many readers are curious as to your thoughts, but I'm specifically wondering as to your thoughts about its impact on sports. How many kids, from 1977 to this week, shunned sports growing up, either as participants or observers, because they were watching "Empire" for the 50th time, or were playing with their action figures or were discussing script rumors on the Internet? Now that the series is finally over, will the youth return to sports in record numbers? Or will they just latch on to something equally as tragic?
– Adam Woodyard, Dallas
SG: It's tough for me to comment since I was the same kid who probably watched 1,000 hours of pro wrestling growing up. And I don't know if everyone's elementary school worked like mine did. But in my school, the kids who liked "Star Wars" didn't like sports, and vice-versa. There were no crossovers. I just remember being totally confused by the whole thing – they kind of kept to themselves, almost like cross-dressers in a penitentiary, and it was like they were talking another language. Nobody really bothered them. But after elementary school, I made at least 4-5 friends who were sports fans and loved "Star Wars." So I think it depends on the school.
I look at it this way: Everyone needs something growing up. For some kids, it's sports. For other kids, it's "Lord of the Rings," "Star Wars" and whatever goofy fantasy thing is out there where you get to watch something 20 times, dress up like the characters and say things like, "The movie is coming out in three weeks, wanna go to our local theater and wait in line with 250 other guys?" Again, since I count Superfly Snuka and Hulk Hogan as two of the 10 most influential heroes from my childhood, I'm in no position to judge.
(As for your question, "Will they just latch on to something equally as tragic?" – the answer is obviously, "Unquestionably.")
Based just on my last five posts, you can probably tell that I'm one of those sports fans who has also become quite into Star Wars and Lord of the Rings. That probably didn't (doesn't?) leave me many mental cycles to expend elsewhere to make me a more well-rounded person. That reminds me, I have a longer opinion post to write on sports fandom, but that will have to wait until another time.
posted by Bob at
11:50 PM
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