The Basketball Post
One of the things I hoped to accomplish with this blog was to have it be a resource for people who are thinking about doing an MBA and considering attending Rotman. I've tried to give a non-censored insider's perspective and post some B school-related commentary and links along the way. As you may also be aware, the official Rotman site also hosts student journals. The journalists do a good job, but are limited by their non-blog format (no photos, no links) and I can only assume they aren't really at liberty to criticize Rotman when appropriate, being that the journals are posted on Rotman's website. I've had a lot of great feedback from prospective MBAers and others on TAML. I thank everyone who has taken the time to e-mail me or to post a comment about the Rotman or business-related stuff, but today March is here and it's all about the roundball. So without further ado...
Firstly, a belated review of this year's Dunk contest. In a word - meh. I thought it was better than last year's snoozer, which I wrote about here, but still largely disappointing. There were some very nice dunks, especially the Amare Stoudamire off Steve Nash's head jam, and Josh Smith giving props to the 80s by donning the old-school jersey of fellow Hawk Dominique was a nice touch, but the whole event had no flow. The "birdman" saw to that by missing the same dunk about nineteen times. I think they need to change the rules so that never happens again. I also like Magic Johnson's suggestion to increase the prize money to something meaningful to an NBA player. Bring back the past champions over the last few years and put a million bucks up for grabs. Then you have something.
Traditionally the two seminal events of my February that temporarily chased away the winter blahs were the dunk contest and the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue. The dunk contest is waning, and the impact of the swimsuit issue has been diluted by the omnipresence of the cruder, creepier likes of Maxim, Stuff, and FHM. Like Renton said in Trainspotting "its a shite state of affairs".
In other hoop notes, the NCAA tournament is fast approaching and I'll be hosting a March Madness pool on CBSSportsline.com this year. I'll post a link once the brackets are announced later in the month. Watch out for the Tar Heels this year - they won't be stopped. In Canadian University hoops, my UVic Vikes are ranked 5th in the nation and rolling through the Canada West Tourney.
As usual at this time of year, I'll also be keeping a close eye on the B.C. High School Basketball Championships. This will be easier to do from Ontario this year then it was in '04 thanks to Live Webcasts of every game! I can't tell you how happy I am about this development, but its going to cut into my studying time in a bad way. Alas, it does not appear the West Vancouver Highlanders will make the tournament this year. Things today just aren't the way were back in the day when the circa-1988 trio of Weitzel, Gurney & Hughes dominated on the court and with the ladies. (Actually the teams I played on never made the Provincial Championships either)
The greatest basketball movie ever made, (and what Sports Illustrated calls the greatest sports movie ever made) is being re-released on DVD today with a whole boatload of new extras:
Finally, I present the reasons why the city of Vancouver was screwed over by the NBA with regard to our "franchise" The Grizzlies. Like a divorce or the death of a loved one, it has taken some time, but I'm finally ready to talk about it.
1) It's a minor complaint in the grand scheme, but the first regular season game the franchise played was on the road. The NBA made Vancouver play its inaugural game at Portland. Who ever heard of this happening? It was a slap in the face that was a portent of what was to come.
2) The Grizzlies franchise was not allowed the first overall pick for the first 5 years of its existence. This was an absolute killer. If you award a city a franchise, it should have every chance to win that the other franchises do. The problem at the time was that when the Orlando Magic where awarded a franchise they drafted Shaq and Penny in consecutive years and got to The Finals right away. Other perennial losers didn't like this (hello Washington, I'm looking at you) and petitioned the NBA to handicap the Grizzlies and the Raptors. So, even though the Grizzlies were last overall in each of their first three years, we could never draft first. This bit us in the ass in 1996 when we finished last, won the draft lottery but ended up with Shareef Abdur-Rahim instead of Allen Iverson.
3) The incident in 2000 when the Grizzlies were robbed of a victory over the Lakers in L.A. I remember this well, Vancouver led by 1 point and L.A. had the final possession. What should have been the final shot went up and missed then the clock stood still at 1.3 seconds as Shaq grabbed the rebound and put it in. The replay clearly showed the clock did not run for a least 3 seconds when the whistle never blew. The L.A. announcers chalked it up to just a little "home cooking" from the scorers table. The Grizzlies went ballistic and eventually filed an official protest with the NBA that was denied. Yes, it was just one game, but a win over Shaq, Kobe and the eventual World Champions in L.A. could have done a lot to turn the franchise around.
When the franchise moved to Memphis people said Vancouver just wasn't a basketball town. People like me know different. The NBA never gave the city a fair shake.
Finally, finally on a lighter note, I'd just like to say that my favorite sports mascot of all time is the Denver Nuggets' Rocky the Mountain Lion. He's got this schtick where he makes a half court shot backwards over his head, then shrugs his shoulders as if to say "what's the big deal". It's classic.
Firstly, a belated review of this year's Dunk contest. In a word - meh. I thought it was better than last year's snoozer, which I wrote about here, but still largely disappointing. There were some very nice dunks, especially the Amare Stoudamire off Steve Nash's head jam, and Josh Smith giving props to the 80s by donning the old-school jersey of fellow Hawk Dominique was a nice touch, but the whole event had no flow. The "birdman" saw to that by missing the same dunk about nineteen times. I think they need to change the rules so that never happens again. I also like Magic Johnson's suggestion to increase the prize money to something meaningful to an NBA player. Bring back the past champions over the last few years and put a million bucks up for grabs. Then you have something.
Traditionally the two seminal events of my February that temporarily chased away the winter blahs were the dunk contest and the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue. The dunk contest is waning, and the impact of the swimsuit issue has been diluted by the omnipresence of the cruder, creepier likes of Maxim, Stuff, and FHM. Like Renton said in Trainspotting "its a shite state of affairs".
In other hoop notes, the NCAA tournament is fast approaching and I'll be hosting a March Madness pool on CBSSportsline.com this year. I'll post a link once the brackets are announced later in the month. Watch out for the Tar Heels this year - they won't be stopped. In Canadian University hoops, my UVic Vikes are ranked 5th in the nation and rolling through the Canada West Tourney.
As usual at this time of year, I'll also be keeping a close eye on the B.C. High School Basketball Championships. This will be easier to do from Ontario this year then it was in '04 thanks to Live Webcasts of every game! I can't tell you how happy I am about this development, but its going to cut into my studying time in a bad way. Alas, it does not appear the West Vancouver Highlanders will make the tournament this year. Things today just aren't the way were back in the day when the circa-1988 trio of Weitzel, Gurney & Hughes dominated on the court and with the ladies. (Actually the teams I played on never made the Provincial Championships either)
The greatest basketball movie ever made, (and what Sports Illustrated calls the greatest sports movie ever made) is being re-released on DVD today with a whole boatload of new extras:
- Audio Commentary by Director David Anspaugh & Writer Angelo Pizzo
- "Hoosier History: The Truth Behind the Legend" Documentary
- Deleted Scenes With Introduction by Director David Anspaugh & Writer Angelo Pizzo
- Milan vs. Muncie Indiana High School Championship Game
- Photo Gallery
- Original Theatrical Trailer
Finally, I present the reasons why the city of Vancouver was screwed over by the NBA with regard to our "franchise" The Grizzlies. Like a divorce or the death of a loved one, it has taken some time, but I'm finally ready to talk about it.
1) It's a minor complaint in the grand scheme, but the first regular season game the franchise played was on the road. The NBA made Vancouver play its inaugural game at Portland. Who ever heard of this happening? It was a slap in the face that was a portent of what was to come.
2) The Grizzlies franchise was not allowed the first overall pick for the first 5 years of its existence. This was an absolute killer. If you award a city a franchise, it should have every chance to win that the other franchises do. The problem at the time was that when the Orlando Magic where awarded a franchise they drafted Shaq and Penny in consecutive years and got to The Finals right away. Other perennial losers didn't like this (hello Washington, I'm looking at you) and petitioned the NBA to handicap the Grizzlies and the Raptors. So, even though the Grizzlies were last overall in each of their first three years, we could never draft first. This bit us in the ass in 1996 when we finished last, won the draft lottery but ended up with Shareef Abdur-Rahim instead of Allen Iverson.
3) The incident in 2000 when the Grizzlies were robbed of a victory over the Lakers in L.A. I remember this well, Vancouver led by 1 point and L.A. had the final possession. What should have been the final shot went up and missed then the clock stood still at 1.3 seconds as Shaq grabbed the rebound and put it in. The replay clearly showed the clock did not run for a least 3 seconds when the whistle never blew. The L.A. announcers chalked it up to just a little "home cooking" from the scorers table. The Grizzlies went ballistic and eventually filed an official protest with the NBA that was denied. Yes, it was just one game, but a win over Shaq, Kobe and the eventual World Champions in L.A. could have done a lot to turn the franchise around.
When the franchise moved to Memphis people said Vancouver just wasn't a basketball town. People like me know different. The NBA never gave the city a fair shake.
Finally, finally on a lighter note, I'd just like to say that my favorite sports mascot of all time is the Denver Nuggets' Rocky the Mountain Lion. He's got this schtick where he makes a half court shot backwards over his head, then shrugs his shoulders as if to say "what's the big deal". It's classic.
2 Comments:
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