Passing on some links edition!
1) Tom Ziller of NBA Fanhouse has been doing a top fifty players in the NBA writeup. Ziller is a smart basketball analyst, so even if you don't agree with his rankings, you should read his writeups for each player (he's up 43 as I'm writing this.)
2) This is from a couple of years ago - I got the link reading FreeDarko - but it is awesome. It compares college football teams to rappers. For example, Penn State/KRS One. "They'll be the first to tell you how important they are in the scheme of things and new jacks need to give them respect, but that doesn't shake the fact that they haven't been relevant in years."
3) Watch this YouTube video of the intros to the 1989 All Star Game. It's the Ultramagnetic MCs rapping aout each player, and coach. Even the trainer. It's beyond awesome (thanks, Ball Don't Lie and Detroit Bad Boys)
4) Kelly Dwyer taking on Larry Brown.
5) From Bethlehem Shoals in SLAM Magazine comes a pretty hilarious series of columns called "Portraits in Patriotism". Read them all now, or maybe you simply hate freedom and apple pie and your mother?
Friday, August 29, 2008
Monday, August 25, 2008
Dream or Redeem?
Alright folks, you knew it would happen, but now let the debate officially begin. Dream or Redeem, who you got? Ok on the surface everyone says right away, Dream Team no doubt. Well the debate really can’t be complete until the careers of all the member or Redeem team are complete. I guess the best way to do it is to say if you took the teams in the years they played (1992 and 2008) and try and compare them that way. However there is no way you can’t let your evaluations of the Dream Teams overall careers sway your thought process.
Remember in 1992 Bird and Magic were retiring and old and basically crippled, and David Robinson was only in his third year not yet peaked to his MVP form. Also, players like Karl Malone, Patrick Ewing, Charles Barkley and Scottie Pippen still had most of their better years ahead of them. Not much different than this years team, while some of the players are established like LeBron, Kobe, Wade, Melo, and Tayshaun Prince, clearly guys like Chris Bosh, Dwight Howard, Chris Paul and Deron Williams still have bright careers in front of them with multiple MVP’s and Championships possible.
The biggest variable in comparing what the teams accomplished is evaluating the competition. I guess you could make some debate because international players had not yet truly begun to migrate to USA basketball in 1992, but part of that reason was they weren’t good enough. There are the rare exceptions like Arvydas Sabonis who was an All World player over in Europe at the time, but cases like his are few and far between. In 1992 there were only 11 foreign born players total in the league.
In 2008 Argentina has 4 NBA players including All-Star Manu Ginobili, Australia has 1 present, 1 past (Chris Anstey) and two soon to be in St. Mary’s sophomore Patrick Mills and Matt Nielsen who plays for perhaps the best team in all of Europe Lietuvos Rytas, Croatia has one current and one past, Lithuania has 2 current and one past, Russia has one, China has 3 including a multiple time All-Star in Yao Ming, Germany has 2 including former league MVP Dirk Nowitzki, Spain has 6 guys already in the league and Marc Gasol, Rudy Fernandez and Ricky Rubio all on their way, and Greece has 2 or 3 that have been drafted by NBA teams but they prefer to stay home and play because of money.
Now again the old school people are going to tell me how the Dream Team was a collection of some of the greatest talent in NBA history and they were not even challenged. Well I would argue that when it was all said and done Jordan, Bird, Magic and Barkley are the four that would be in the top echelon of great players. And when this group is all said and done with their careers the chances are pretty high that Kobe, LeBron and perhaps one other like Chris Paul or Dwayne Wade could be in those discussions. Also we tend to look back more fondly on some guys like Clyde Drexler and Chris Mullin because they were our childhood heroes. But look at the numbers and guys like Carmelo Anthony and Michael Redd are statistically better players than them.
The Redeem team appeared well on its way to steamrolling everyone until the medal round games. In the semi’s they had a tough match-up with defending Olympic champion Argentina but pulled away to win by 20 in the end. The gold medal game turned out to be one of the truly special games in Olympic and plain basketball history. I like a freak stayed up and watched the whole thing live. Some may also use this against the Redeem team, the fact that they had a tough gold medal game whereas the Dream team dominated Croatia by 32 points. However, I think it shows how this team was constructed as just that, a team. When things got tight it didn’t turn into a who’s who of NBA All-Stars, they continued their high intensity defense and it was clear on offense that when a big play needed to be made the ball would be in the hands of Kobe.
I am not totally sure that if the Dream team would have played tougher competition that thing’s may not have been so rosy with them. They had some big time ego’s on that team with guys like Jordan, Barkley, Malone and Bird to name the 4 most prominent. While the team oozed greatness I think we saw as Americans that we cant just slop together an all star team and run the other countries off of the floor. If Redeem team and Dream team matched up one thing is for sure, the game would be a close contest. I have seen with my own eyes how Redeem team reacts, but interested to know how the Dream team would have reacted.
I am not sure what all I am saying here, but I think the main point is don’t just sell short the Redeem team. Like I said some of the reasons for doing so is we already know the final accomplishments of the careers of the Dream team and have yet to find that out with the Redeem team. Also, we have fond memories of watching Bob Costas and Matt Goukas announce the games of our childhood heroes’ on NBC on Sunday afternoons, and now maybe we are a little more jaded fans of the game who scrutinize a little more. I for one would take the Redeem team, but maybe I am living in the now too much.
P.S.
Quick question, who the fuck guard LeBron and stops him on Dream Team?
P.P.S.
I don’t know everything in the world, but I know class and people can think whatever they want about Coach K but he is class all the way. After the game was over all the players immediately went over to the announcers table and shook hands and embraced an emotional Doug Collins who was on the 1972 Olympic team that got jobbed out of a Gold Medal against the USSR. I have no doubt that Coach K was the one who orchestrated that, because Collins early talked about how Coach K had him address the team before the Medal Round.
Remember in 1992 Bird and Magic were retiring and old and basically crippled, and David Robinson was only in his third year not yet peaked to his MVP form. Also, players like Karl Malone, Patrick Ewing, Charles Barkley and Scottie Pippen still had most of their better years ahead of them. Not much different than this years team, while some of the players are established like LeBron, Kobe, Wade, Melo, and Tayshaun Prince, clearly guys like Chris Bosh, Dwight Howard, Chris Paul and Deron Williams still have bright careers in front of them with multiple MVP’s and Championships possible.
The biggest variable in comparing what the teams accomplished is evaluating the competition. I guess you could make some debate because international players had not yet truly begun to migrate to USA basketball in 1992, but part of that reason was they weren’t good enough. There are the rare exceptions like Arvydas Sabonis who was an All World player over in Europe at the time, but cases like his are few and far between. In 1992 there were only 11 foreign born players total in the league.
In 2008 Argentina has 4 NBA players including All-Star Manu Ginobili, Australia has 1 present, 1 past (Chris Anstey) and two soon to be in St. Mary’s sophomore Patrick Mills and Matt Nielsen who plays for perhaps the best team in all of Europe Lietuvos Rytas, Croatia has one current and one past, Lithuania has 2 current and one past, Russia has one, China has 3 including a multiple time All-Star in Yao Ming, Germany has 2 including former league MVP Dirk Nowitzki, Spain has 6 guys already in the league and Marc Gasol, Rudy Fernandez and Ricky Rubio all on their way, and Greece has 2 or 3 that have been drafted by NBA teams but they prefer to stay home and play because of money.
Now again the old school people are going to tell me how the Dream Team was a collection of some of the greatest talent in NBA history and they were not even challenged. Well I would argue that when it was all said and done Jordan, Bird, Magic and Barkley are the four that would be in the top echelon of great players. And when this group is all said and done with their careers the chances are pretty high that Kobe, LeBron and perhaps one other like Chris Paul or Dwayne Wade could be in those discussions. Also we tend to look back more fondly on some guys like Clyde Drexler and Chris Mullin because they were our childhood heroes. But look at the numbers and guys like Carmelo Anthony and Michael Redd are statistically better players than them.
The Redeem team appeared well on its way to steamrolling everyone until the medal round games. In the semi’s they had a tough match-up with defending Olympic champion Argentina but pulled away to win by 20 in the end. The gold medal game turned out to be one of the truly special games in Olympic and plain basketball history. I like a freak stayed up and watched the whole thing live. Some may also use this against the Redeem team, the fact that they had a tough gold medal game whereas the Dream team dominated Croatia by 32 points. However, I think it shows how this team was constructed as just that, a team. When things got tight it didn’t turn into a who’s who of NBA All-Stars, they continued their high intensity defense and it was clear on offense that when a big play needed to be made the ball would be in the hands of Kobe.
I am not totally sure that if the Dream team would have played tougher competition that thing’s may not have been so rosy with them. They had some big time ego’s on that team with guys like Jordan, Barkley, Malone and Bird to name the 4 most prominent. While the team oozed greatness I think we saw as Americans that we cant just slop together an all star team and run the other countries off of the floor. If Redeem team and Dream team matched up one thing is for sure, the game would be a close contest. I have seen with my own eyes how Redeem team reacts, but interested to know how the Dream team would have reacted.
I am not sure what all I am saying here, but I think the main point is don’t just sell short the Redeem team. Like I said some of the reasons for doing so is we already know the final accomplishments of the careers of the Dream team and have yet to find that out with the Redeem team. Also, we have fond memories of watching Bob Costas and Matt Goukas announce the games of our childhood heroes’ on NBC on Sunday afternoons, and now maybe we are a little more jaded fans of the game who scrutinize a little more. I for one would take the Redeem team, but maybe I am living in the now too much.
P.S.
Quick question, who the fuck guard LeBron and stops him on Dream Team?
P.P.S.
I don’t know everything in the world, but I know class and people can think whatever they want about Coach K but he is class all the way. After the game was over all the players immediately went over to the announcers table and shook hands and embraced an emotional Doug Collins who was on the 1972 Olympic team that got jobbed out of a Gold Medal against the USSR. I have no doubt that Coach K was the one who orchestrated that, because Collins early talked about how Coach K had him address the team before the Medal Round.
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Oh Say
Here's a Nike commercial that features Marvin Gaye singing the national anthem. This should really become the official version - it's about halfway towards my longstanding idea to change the anthem to something new.
Monday, August 18, 2008
Favre, Phelps and Europe (and Lola)
I was going to do separate posts on each of these issues, but I am an important guy with lots of things to do so I will just combine them all into one post.
FAVRE
Listen, we all know I am huge Favre fan, but nobody wanted any of this any less than me. This whole comeback shit was just plain sickening. But at the end of the day I don’t really care. If he really wants to go slop around with the Jets for a year or two, fine that’s his choice as a grown up American.
I hate people who say it will somehow “ruin his legacy.” That is just self important sports fans who like to sound intellectual. It won’t ruin shit, because when I have kids and they ask me about Brett Favre I will talk about all the wins and good times in Green Bay. Does anyone even really remember Michael Jordan playing for the Wizards, I mean the fucking Wizards for crying out loud. Does anyone even remember Magic Johnsons failed comeback attempt?
The one thing I love about the comeback is that he went to the Jets, the most neurotic fan base in all of sports. Had he went to the Vikings they would have done back flips and proclaimed it Brett Favre month in the Twin Cities. They would have held parades and fairs. Even after the season was over and the Vikings won 6 games with Favre they still would have remembered the time fondly, a risk worth taking they would have thought. Not Jets fans, they are practical beside themselves (see Dan’s posts below). Nothing is more amusing to me in all of sports that watching and listening to the wretching of Jets fans during the season. As a great man once said, the Jets can snatch defeat from the jaws of victory better than anyone.
PHELPS
First let’s address the Olympics as a whole. Here is the typical American sports fans view on the Olympics:
About 3 months before the Olympics you see a McDonald’s commercial for the Olympics and you turn to your friend and say, “Oh fuck, the damned Olympics are on. What a crock of shit those things are, I hate the fucking Olympics, no way I am watching any of that shit.”
About 3 weeks before the Olympics there is a report on Sports Center and you turn to your friend and say, “Awww, I hate the fucking Olympics, but I would mind watching Misty May and Kerri Walsh roll around with each other in the sand. Plus I guess that Phelps guy is fun to watch and I want our Negro basketball players dunk on lots of greasy foreigners.”
Then the next thing you know you are in a hotel room in Bratislava, Slovakia watching men’s synchronized diving in German and yelling at the TV about how the Chinese team could have possibly scored a 9.5 on that dive.
Regardless of what your view on the Olympics is you have to marvel at what Phelps was able to do. Though swimming is a fringe or niche sport it doesn’t lessen the accomplishment, just like what Lance Armstrong did in the Tour De France. Phelps set 7 world records, breaking many of his own, and did this all over a span on 9 days. The physical demands of swimming make this and almost impossible feat. To have the ability to compete in such a variety of events and be the worlds best is truly spectacular.
And the race that he won by 1/100th of a second was truly special. Having been a competitive swimmer in my younger days the scenario he and Milorad Cavic found himself in is a nightmare every swimmer has. When you get about 10-12 meters out you know how many strokes it will take to complete the race and you can calculate when you are going to come up short and have to decided to stretch it out (Cavic) or take that awkward half stroke (Phelps). And here is the big kicker, whichever you decided to do has very little determination on whether you win or not. If they both chose to do the same thing another 9 times they likely would have split those decisions. The race was so close, NBC showed Phelps mother and coach’s reaction and they both thought he was touched out for 1st place.
I watched the race from a random bar in Columbia last night, and I have never heard a sustained cheer and then standing ovation for a non city specific sporting event. As the race was about to start the singer playing acoustic guitar continued to play and not a single person was paying attention, as they showed the team the crowd cheer. The ooed and ahhhed a little as Aaron Peirsol swam a slow 50 and then grunted a little as Brendan Hansen struggled in his breaststroke leg, but literally people came out of there seats as Phelps sprinted ahead and gave way to one of the most underrated closers in swimming Jason Lezak who finished off the race in style. The entire last 200 meters the crowd on their feet cheering as if the Gamecocks just scored the winning touchdown in the SEC Championship game.
EUROPE
Greasy foreigners, finally I can say it and have some fucking proof. I spent 8 days in Eastern Europe last week and while we had a blast these people truly despise bathing. Here is a list of some other things they dislike; underpants, especially the women, they hate undergarments of any kind, garbage cans in hotel lobby’s and other random public places it is impossible to find a trash can, leash’s for dogs, they just let these little fuckers roam anywhere, alarm clocks, in the three hotels we were in not one came with an alarm clock, the same can be said for air conditioning, and did I mention bathing?
Here are some things the love; natural breasts, what a refreshing change, 80’s music in every club and bar which was cool, speaking English (at least most people) which makes it easier on asshole Americans like me to travel, beer and lots of it, these people love to party and hate going to work, and American tourists in general, mainly because we have money and love spending it on shit.
We spent a few days in Prague to start our trip off. Prague is a great old world European city obviously overflowing with history. The drawback is that it is a huge tourist attraction and even though strolling through the old town square at night is beautiful it is a little bit of a cross between Main Street in Disney and Times Square. Clearly they try and placate to the American tourist as I mentioned above. While in Prague we had dinner at an old Monastery, visited the Old New Synagogue which dates back to the 9th century in the old Jewish section of town which also had several other temples, and famous Prague Castle the seat of the Habsburg Dynasty and the famed St. Vitus Cathedral. We also took a day trip to Terezin which was an old castle turned into a war prison which was used as concentration camp during World War II. It also housed Gavrilo Princip and the other 5 members of the Black Hand group of Bosnians who assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand which prompted the start of World War I. We actually got a chance to walk into his isolation cell where he was housed for the reaming years of his life (go to this link and you can see some amazing videos of our time at Terezin, it is truly worth it to see these, http://gamecocksonline.cstv.com/sports/m-baskbl/spec-rel/080808aaa.html).
After our time in Prague we then headed to the capital of Slovakia, Bratislava. Much smaller and cheaper than Prague, Bratislava is a quaint little city along the Danube River and Slovak/Austrian border. It has a beautiful town square which we stayed right in the heart of and has some really cool sights to see. Among those sites is St. Marten Cathedral, where 11 kings of the Habsburg Dynasty were crowned, and the Hrav Castle which sits majestically atop a hill overlooking the river. Also the town square (Hviezdoslav Square) was the sight of on e of the first major events that lead to the fall of communism in the Eastern Bloc. In March of 1988 thousands of students and other Slovaks held a candlelight vigil protesting the communist regime, they were repelled and beaten back by the secret police, all while the countries prime minister and other leaders watched from the famed Carlton Hotel in the square. We were lucky enough to also stay in the Carlton Hotel over looking the square, there was definitely an eerie feeling about that.
We then traveled down the Danube (not literally, but figuratively) to the capital of Austria and one of the most famed cities in all of Europe, Vienna. This is a marvelously beautiful city, and so rich in history and tradition. Unfortunately for Vienna the modern world has gotten hold of the city. On one side of the river they built this whole new modern part called Danube City full of these ugly ass post modern buildings that look like they belong in Tokyo or Dubai. It makes a beautiful city fucking hideous. However, if you want you can easily stay on the good side of the Danube and go tour the old city and see Hofburg Palace, St. Stephens Cathedral, the famed Vienna Opera House where Mozart and Strauss operas have been repeatedly performed, among others. You can also spend an evening at the Prater and amusement park just outside the old town square which contains a giant 200 foot Ferris wheel which overlooks the city (and I did not go on because that shit was fucking high). We unfortunately did not have a lot of time in Vienna, we only saw a very small portion of what there is to do there.
All things considered it was a good trip, well except for the plane rides. Listen, there is no way to sugar coat it, 9-11 hours on a plane fucking blows. I don’t care how many movies they show or how many books you have to read, it is still miserable. And no international incidents were caused by anyone in our travel party, and I didn’t take down any historical monuments (ala Clark W. Griswold).
Lastly, while on my trip to Europe I officially became a Godfather. Our good friend Josh and his wife Jennifer gave birth to a bouncing baby girl named Lola Joy Reinitz. And who else to choose as a god father than a fat Italian guy right? Everyone is healthy and fine and the big plus is the baby’s initials are LJ which means a bevy of Larry Johnson throwback jersey’s for the youngster, and no I don’t care that she is a girl she is still getting LJ gear!!!
FAVRE
Listen, we all know I am huge Favre fan, but nobody wanted any of this any less than me. This whole comeback shit was just plain sickening. But at the end of the day I don’t really care. If he really wants to go slop around with the Jets for a year or two, fine that’s his choice as a grown up American.
I hate people who say it will somehow “ruin his legacy.” That is just self important sports fans who like to sound intellectual. It won’t ruin shit, because when I have kids and they ask me about Brett Favre I will talk about all the wins and good times in Green Bay. Does anyone even really remember Michael Jordan playing for the Wizards, I mean the fucking Wizards for crying out loud. Does anyone even remember Magic Johnsons failed comeback attempt?
The one thing I love about the comeback is that he went to the Jets, the most neurotic fan base in all of sports. Had he went to the Vikings they would have done back flips and proclaimed it Brett Favre month in the Twin Cities. They would have held parades and fairs. Even after the season was over and the Vikings won 6 games with Favre they still would have remembered the time fondly, a risk worth taking they would have thought. Not Jets fans, they are practical beside themselves (see Dan’s posts below). Nothing is more amusing to me in all of sports that watching and listening to the wretching of Jets fans during the season. As a great man once said, the Jets can snatch defeat from the jaws of victory better than anyone.
PHELPS
First let’s address the Olympics as a whole. Here is the typical American sports fans view on the Olympics:
About 3 months before the Olympics you see a McDonald’s commercial for the Olympics and you turn to your friend and say, “Oh fuck, the damned Olympics are on. What a crock of shit those things are, I hate the fucking Olympics, no way I am watching any of that shit.”
About 3 weeks before the Olympics there is a report on Sports Center and you turn to your friend and say, “Awww, I hate the fucking Olympics, but I would mind watching Misty May and Kerri Walsh roll around with each other in the sand. Plus I guess that Phelps guy is fun to watch and I want our Negro basketball players dunk on lots of greasy foreigners.”
Then the next thing you know you are in a hotel room in Bratislava, Slovakia watching men’s synchronized diving in German and yelling at the TV about how the Chinese team could have possibly scored a 9.5 on that dive.
Regardless of what your view on the Olympics is you have to marvel at what Phelps was able to do. Though swimming is a fringe or niche sport it doesn’t lessen the accomplishment, just like what Lance Armstrong did in the Tour De France. Phelps set 7 world records, breaking many of his own, and did this all over a span on 9 days. The physical demands of swimming make this and almost impossible feat. To have the ability to compete in such a variety of events and be the worlds best is truly spectacular.
And the race that he won by 1/100th of a second was truly special. Having been a competitive swimmer in my younger days the scenario he and Milorad Cavic found himself in is a nightmare every swimmer has. When you get about 10-12 meters out you know how many strokes it will take to complete the race and you can calculate when you are going to come up short and have to decided to stretch it out (Cavic) or take that awkward half stroke (Phelps). And here is the big kicker, whichever you decided to do has very little determination on whether you win or not. If they both chose to do the same thing another 9 times they likely would have split those decisions. The race was so close, NBC showed Phelps mother and coach’s reaction and they both thought he was touched out for 1st place.
I watched the race from a random bar in Columbia last night, and I have never heard a sustained cheer and then standing ovation for a non city specific sporting event. As the race was about to start the singer playing acoustic guitar continued to play and not a single person was paying attention, as they showed the team the crowd cheer. The ooed and ahhhed a little as Aaron Peirsol swam a slow 50 and then grunted a little as Brendan Hansen struggled in his breaststroke leg, but literally people came out of there seats as Phelps sprinted ahead and gave way to one of the most underrated closers in swimming Jason Lezak who finished off the race in style. The entire last 200 meters the crowd on their feet cheering as if the Gamecocks just scored the winning touchdown in the SEC Championship game.
EUROPE
Greasy foreigners, finally I can say it and have some fucking proof. I spent 8 days in Eastern Europe last week and while we had a blast these people truly despise bathing. Here is a list of some other things they dislike; underpants, especially the women, they hate undergarments of any kind, garbage cans in hotel lobby’s and other random public places it is impossible to find a trash can, leash’s for dogs, they just let these little fuckers roam anywhere, alarm clocks, in the three hotels we were in not one came with an alarm clock, the same can be said for air conditioning, and did I mention bathing?
Here are some things the love; natural breasts, what a refreshing change, 80’s music in every club and bar which was cool, speaking English (at least most people) which makes it easier on asshole Americans like me to travel, beer and lots of it, these people love to party and hate going to work, and American tourists in general, mainly because we have money and love spending it on shit.
We spent a few days in Prague to start our trip off. Prague is a great old world European city obviously overflowing with history. The drawback is that it is a huge tourist attraction and even though strolling through the old town square at night is beautiful it is a little bit of a cross between Main Street in Disney and Times Square. Clearly they try and placate to the American tourist as I mentioned above. While in Prague we had dinner at an old Monastery, visited the Old New Synagogue which dates back to the 9th century in the old Jewish section of town which also had several other temples, and famous Prague Castle the seat of the Habsburg Dynasty and the famed St. Vitus Cathedral. We also took a day trip to Terezin which was an old castle turned into a war prison which was used as concentration camp during World War II. It also housed Gavrilo Princip and the other 5 members of the Black Hand group of Bosnians who assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand which prompted the start of World War I. We actually got a chance to walk into his isolation cell where he was housed for the reaming years of his life (go to this link and you can see some amazing videos of our time at Terezin, it is truly worth it to see these, http://gamecocksonline.cstv.com/sports/m-baskbl/spec-rel/080808aaa.html).
After our time in Prague we then headed to the capital of Slovakia, Bratislava. Much smaller and cheaper than Prague, Bratislava is a quaint little city along the Danube River and Slovak/Austrian border. It has a beautiful town square which we stayed right in the heart of and has some really cool sights to see. Among those sites is St. Marten Cathedral, where 11 kings of the Habsburg Dynasty were crowned, and the Hrav Castle which sits majestically atop a hill overlooking the river. Also the town square (Hviezdoslav Square) was the sight of on e of the first major events that lead to the fall of communism in the Eastern Bloc. In March of 1988 thousands of students and other Slovaks held a candlelight vigil protesting the communist regime, they were repelled and beaten back by the secret police, all while the countries prime minister and other leaders watched from the famed Carlton Hotel in the square. We were lucky enough to also stay in the Carlton Hotel over looking the square, there was definitely an eerie feeling about that.
We then traveled down the Danube (not literally, but figuratively) to the capital of Austria and one of the most famed cities in all of Europe, Vienna. This is a marvelously beautiful city, and so rich in history and tradition. Unfortunately for Vienna the modern world has gotten hold of the city. On one side of the river they built this whole new modern part called Danube City full of these ugly ass post modern buildings that look like they belong in Tokyo or Dubai. It makes a beautiful city fucking hideous. However, if you want you can easily stay on the good side of the Danube and go tour the old city and see Hofburg Palace, St. Stephens Cathedral, the famed Vienna Opera House where Mozart and Strauss operas have been repeatedly performed, among others. You can also spend an evening at the Prater and amusement park just outside the old town square which contains a giant 200 foot Ferris wheel which overlooks the city (and I did not go on because that shit was fucking high). We unfortunately did not have a lot of time in Vienna, we only saw a very small portion of what there is to do there.
All things considered it was a good trip, well except for the plane rides. Listen, there is no way to sugar coat it, 9-11 hours on a plane fucking blows. I don’t care how many movies they show or how many books you have to read, it is still miserable. And no international incidents were caused by anyone in our travel party, and I didn’t take down any historical monuments (ala Clark W. Griswold).
Lastly, while on my trip to Europe I officially became a Godfather. Our good friend Josh and his wife Jennifer gave birth to a bouncing baby girl named Lola Joy Reinitz. And who else to choose as a god father than a fat Italian guy right? Everyone is healthy and fine and the big plus is the baby’s initials are LJ which means a bevy of Larry Johnson throwback jersey’s for the youngster, and no I don’t care that she is a girl she is still getting LJ gear!!!
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Here Come The Warm Jets: Favre Clarification
For most people I associate with, I'm one of if not the only Jets fan they know.
Which means that they've all been asking lately what I think of the Brett Favre trade. So I tell them.
That, of course, gets the follow up of, "What, are you nuts? How, as a Jets fan, can you not be excited?"
Allow me to explain.
First, allow me to qualify. I fully understand that as it seems right now, 38 year old Brett Favre is better than Chad Pennington, and better than Kellen Clemens. Meaning, I fully understand that having Favre on the team makes it more likely that the team will be better this year. If the equation is "better team" = "happy fan" then I seem to be mathematically eliminated from hating this deal.
There are a few mitigating factors to it, which should make it clearer why I still stand by my initial reaction of being filled with expletive-laden frustration.
1 - He is not our guy. Brett Favre is a Packer. He is the Jesus of Green Bay. He took a dead franchise and dead fan base and revived them both. Seeing these types of athletes on other teams always feels wrong; it feels somehow fake. Sure, he'll be wearing the jersey and helmet of my favorite team, and once the games start I'll be able to push these feelings aside. But once the games are done, it'll feel like a sham, somewhat emptier than normal. And for those making the Vinny comparison, at least Vinny was a New York guy. Vinny was a Long Island paisan coming home, making the home fans proud. Favre, as well know, is from Mississippi. He's going even further from home, certainly from a cultural standpoint. Maybe if he was from Lodi I'd feel different.
2 - The team was going to be better this year without him. As I've pointed out before, last year the team had seven losses by seven points or less. So, sure, they were 4-12, but with some breaks and better line play on both sides of the ball, they could have just as easily been something like 7-9 or 8-8. They spent a lot of money in the offseason fixing the problems on the lines, so the odds were that the team was already going to be in the vicinity of 7 to 9 wins, even with Clemens or Pennington at QB. Bottom line is that no QB is good behind a crap offensive line (or even a line playing like crap for one game, just ask Tom Brady after the Super Bowl.) The line getting better means Clemens or Pennington were going to be better. Now Favre comes in, and say the team wins 9 games, Favre just gets to add to his mythology without really earning it.
3 - If the team isn't ready to win right now, why waste a year of developing a young QB? No one reasonably thinks that the Jets are winning the Super Bowl this year. At the very least the Patriots, the Colts, and the Chargers are better teams, not to mention Pittsburgh and Cleveland. And that's just the AFC. So, if that's the case, why not see what you have with Clemens? If he starts to come into his own, you are in great shape for 2009. If he's awful (which is what he was looking like last year) then you get a good draft pick and take another young QB in the first or second round and start over from there. Now we get one year of Brett Favre, two at the most, which means a year or two (but probably just one) of just good enough to be watchable but not good enough to do anything really interesting, which means a middle-round draft pick and another year or two of Clemens getting no game action. If it's not getting the team any closer to the Super Bowl now or next year or two years from now, why is this supposed to be exciting for me?
4 - I'd rather have relevance from success than from purchases. Maybe this is some warped old-world immigrant way of thinking, but I hate that the columnists all say that this finally gives the team relevance. It's not relevance earned, it's relevance paid for, which feels phony (and goes back to point #1). If the Jets were going to be relevant on the NFL landscape, I'd like it to be because they did the right thing as a franchise, built a tradition of drafting and signing the right players, being smart about how to build a team, and creating an overall culture of excellence. Like the Steelers have done, or the Pats have done under Kraft. I actually thought the Woody Johnson-Mike Tannenbaum-Eric Mangini regime was starting to do this, laying the foundation that might have started paying real dividends in the next three years. I'm not saying that the Favre thing undermines it altogether, but it certainly doesn't feel as genuine as the alternative.
5 - He's 38 years old. I've been of the opinion that Brett Favre has been washed up for about five years. He did have an excellent year last year, but that seemed to have as much to do with having an incredible defense and a strong offensive line than anything he was doing on his own. In his prime, Brett Favre by himself wins you an extra two to four games in a season. Now? You're lucky to break even, given how many bad interceptions he throws (see: the NFC Championship game against the Giants last year.) Old QBs can get really old really fast. Does he even have one more good year in him? I'm not totally convinced.
Look, I'll be super honest: if the Jets start out something like 6-2 and Favre looks like the real Brett Favre and he's making Coles and Cotchery look like Toon and Walker circa 1986, I'm sure I'll be giddy and writing laudatory columns on this site looking to name Favre President for Life. Right now I've got misgivings and feel like this move doesn't at all align with my personal philosophy, but I'm not that much of a masochist.
At the same time, the one thing I want more than anything as a Jets fan is to see the team win the whole thing. Not as a fluke, and not as a stunt. And let's be honest about something else - if the Jets do win the Super Bowl this year or next year, what does the story read? It reads "Brett Favre wins Super Bowl." Not the Jets, but Brett Favre. I'm not saying I'd hate that necessarily, but I'm not sure, today, that I'm going to love it as much as I should, either.
Which means that they've all been asking lately what I think of the Brett Favre trade. So I tell them.
That, of course, gets the follow up of, "What, are you nuts? How, as a Jets fan, can you not be excited?"
Allow me to explain.
First, allow me to qualify. I fully understand that as it seems right now, 38 year old Brett Favre is better than Chad Pennington, and better than Kellen Clemens. Meaning, I fully understand that having Favre on the team makes it more likely that the team will be better this year. If the equation is "better team" = "happy fan" then I seem to be mathematically eliminated from hating this deal.
There are a few mitigating factors to it, which should make it clearer why I still stand by my initial reaction of being filled with expletive-laden frustration.
1 - He is not our guy. Brett Favre is a Packer. He is the Jesus of Green Bay. He took a dead franchise and dead fan base and revived them both. Seeing these types of athletes on other teams always feels wrong; it feels somehow fake. Sure, he'll be wearing the jersey and helmet of my favorite team, and once the games start I'll be able to push these feelings aside. But once the games are done, it'll feel like a sham, somewhat emptier than normal. And for those making the Vinny comparison, at least Vinny was a New York guy. Vinny was a Long Island paisan coming home, making the home fans proud. Favre, as well know, is from Mississippi. He's going even further from home, certainly from a cultural standpoint. Maybe if he was from Lodi I'd feel different.
2 - The team was going to be better this year without him. As I've pointed out before, last year the team had seven losses by seven points or less. So, sure, they were 4-12, but with some breaks and better line play on both sides of the ball, they could have just as easily been something like 7-9 or 8-8. They spent a lot of money in the offseason fixing the problems on the lines, so the odds were that the team was already going to be in the vicinity of 7 to 9 wins, even with Clemens or Pennington at QB. Bottom line is that no QB is good behind a crap offensive line (or even a line playing like crap for one game, just ask Tom Brady after the Super Bowl.) The line getting better means Clemens or Pennington were going to be better. Now Favre comes in, and say the team wins 9 games, Favre just gets to add to his mythology without really earning it.
3 - If the team isn't ready to win right now, why waste a year of developing a young QB? No one reasonably thinks that the Jets are winning the Super Bowl this year. At the very least the Patriots, the Colts, and the Chargers are better teams, not to mention Pittsburgh and Cleveland. And that's just the AFC. So, if that's the case, why not see what you have with Clemens? If he starts to come into his own, you are in great shape for 2009. If he's awful (which is what he was looking like last year) then you get a good draft pick and take another young QB in the first or second round and start over from there. Now we get one year of Brett Favre, two at the most, which means a year or two (but probably just one) of just good enough to be watchable but not good enough to do anything really interesting, which means a middle-round draft pick and another year or two of Clemens getting no game action. If it's not getting the team any closer to the Super Bowl now or next year or two years from now, why is this supposed to be exciting for me?
4 - I'd rather have relevance from success than from purchases. Maybe this is some warped old-world immigrant way of thinking, but I hate that the columnists all say that this finally gives the team relevance. It's not relevance earned, it's relevance paid for, which feels phony (and goes back to point #1). If the Jets were going to be relevant on the NFL landscape, I'd like it to be because they did the right thing as a franchise, built a tradition of drafting and signing the right players, being smart about how to build a team, and creating an overall culture of excellence. Like the Steelers have done, or the Pats have done under Kraft. I actually thought the Woody Johnson-Mike Tannenbaum-Eric Mangini regime was starting to do this, laying the foundation that might have started paying real dividends in the next three years. I'm not saying that the Favre thing undermines it altogether, but it certainly doesn't feel as genuine as the alternative.
5 - He's 38 years old. I've been of the opinion that Brett Favre has been washed up for about five years. He did have an excellent year last year, but that seemed to have as much to do with having an incredible defense and a strong offensive line than anything he was doing on his own. In his prime, Brett Favre by himself wins you an extra two to four games in a season. Now? You're lucky to break even, given how many bad interceptions he throws (see: the NFC Championship game against the Giants last year.) Old QBs can get really old really fast. Does he even have one more good year in him? I'm not totally convinced.
Look, I'll be super honest: if the Jets start out something like 6-2 and Favre looks like the real Brett Favre and he's making Coles and Cotchery look like Toon and Walker circa 1986, I'm sure I'll be giddy and writing laudatory columns on this site looking to name Favre President for Life. Right now I've got misgivings and feel like this move doesn't at all align with my personal philosophy, but I'm not that much of a masochist.
At the same time, the one thing I want more than anything as a Jets fan is to see the team win the whole thing. Not as a fluke, and not as a stunt. And let's be honest about something else - if the Jets do win the Super Bowl this year or next year, what does the story read? It reads "Brett Favre wins Super Bowl." Not the Jets, but Brett Favre. I'm not saying I'd hate that necessarily, but I'm not sure, today, that I'm going to love it as much as I should, either.
Thursday, August 7, 2008
I Am Filled With Expletives And Not Much Else
Brett Favre is a Jet.
This would be great news if it was 1996.
Unfortunately, it is 2008. So this is the opposite.
The only thing that would make me happy right now is if the Packers signed Browning Nagle, for symmetry.
The only good news is that they didn't give that much up, I guess.
Am I supposed to say that I can't wait to watch him throw all those "adorable" interceptions that make him so endearing to people like Peter King?
Am I supposed to say that this is going to take the team to the Super Bowl when I know that it won't?
No. I'm supposed to say fuck a lot. Which is what I'm doing, believe me.
Fuck.
This would be great news if it was 1996.
Unfortunately, it is 2008. So this is the opposite.
The only thing that would make me happy right now is if the Packers signed Browning Nagle, for symmetry.
The only good news is that they didn't give that much up, I guess.
Am I supposed to say that I can't wait to watch him throw all those "adorable" interceptions that make him so endearing to people like Peter King?
Am I supposed to say that this is going to take the team to the Super Bowl when I know that it won't?
No. I'm supposed to say fuck a lot. Which is what I'm doing, believe me.
Fuck.
Monday, August 4, 2008
Across the Pond
Yeah, I know I havent been around much lately. Usually my summers are filled with trips to the beach and lots of golf, but a new coaching staff has squashed all that nonsense. This has been perhaps the busiest summer of my life, and it only promises to get more so as we lead into the fall.
I will be taking my many talents, including my unwavering patriotism and complete hatred for all foreigners, across the pond to our sister continent, Europe. I will be traveling with the University of South Carolina mens basketball team over to the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Austria. As always, I will be representing my basketabll team and my university as I go on this trip. Moreover, I will be representing the great DeBlasio family name, the town of Teaneck where I was reared, the great state of New Jersey which mad me the jaded soul I am today and the country of America (the self proclaimed, a proclaimaition I happen to agree with, greatest nation on the planet).
I plan to do this in pure George W. fashion, by making fun of things I don't understand, not caring when I pronounce foreigners names wrong and generally being an obnoxious American. Wish me luck, and lets hope I dont create and international incident.
MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!!!!!
I will be taking my many talents, including my unwavering patriotism and complete hatred for all foreigners, across the pond to our sister continent, Europe. I will be traveling with the University of South Carolina mens basketball team over to the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Austria. As always, I will be representing my basketabll team and my university as I go on this trip. Moreover, I will be representing the great DeBlasio family name, the town of Teaneck where I was reared, the great state of New Jersey which mad me the jaded soul I am today and the country of America (the self proclaimed, a proclaimaition I happen to agree with, greatest nation on the planet).
I plan to do this in pure George W. fashion, by making fun of things I don't understand, not caring when I pronounce foreigners names wrong and generally being an obnoxious American. Wish me luck, and lets hope I dont create and international incident.
MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!!!!!
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