Why so Friendly?

Welcome back to another edition of Thoughts of a Sports Addict. The NBA lockout has gotten me thinking about what exactly is wrong with the NBA and why the game doesn't seem to be as loved today as it was back in the 1980's and 1990's. Don't get me wrong, the 90's brand of basketball was pretty bad, with lots of defense and a slow it down style that produced some dreadfully low final scores, but I think fans actually enjoyed it more. There is one simple reason for this and the root of the problem is unfortunately not going to change anytime soon. So why isn't the NBA as popular anymore?

The players are all friends.

Really, that's the reason that the NBA is failing right now. While everyone else is pointing towards collective bargaining and revenue sharing, I want to explore the problem of having AAU leagues, nationwide basketball camps, free agency, and an unequal college landscape. The NBA is devoid of real rivalries right now because all the players like each other. Sure there is the occasional outlier that no one likes or that has no real friends in the league that aren't on there own team, but for the most part all the guys in the NBA act like brothers in a fraternity.

Let's look at some of the biggest "rivalries" of the past few years and break them down. One of the biggest ones was the Celtics and the Cavaliers. Boston fans hated Lebron James, Cavs fans hated Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett, but did the players really HATE each other? No, they didn't.

Maybe 20 years ago they would have, but in the age of AAU basketball Lebron was actually a former teammate of Leon Powe and Kendrick Perkins, two of the Celtics premier big men. Now I'm not saying that any of the three were holding anything back in the games between the two teams, but when you've been teammates with someone, it becomes much harder to play with that ruthless aggression that you should. Let's not forget that Delonte West was a Cavalier in those series, but was a former Celtic and would resign with Boston after leaving the Cavs.

Let's look at another rivalry, the Magic and the Hawks. Two teams in the same division that are supposed to be hated rivals. One problem with saying that, and that's that Dwight Howard was actually an AAU teammate of Josh Smith and Javaris Crittenton when they were all in high school and playing for the Atlanta Celtics. You're telling me that Dwight is going to be throwing elbows at someone that was one of his best friends in high school? I don't think so. He's going to play hard, but he's going to be holding something back, even if only subconsciously.

These aren't the only players that were on the same AAU teams. Kevin Durant and Ty Lawson were on the same team in their youth. Kevin Love, Brandon Jennings, and Chase Budinger were all part of the same team in their youth as well. Kobe Bryant and Richard Hamilton played together when they were both AAU players, while years later Greg Oden, Michael Conley Jr., Daquan Cook, and Josh McRoberts teamed up. That's not all though, we also had Eric Gordon playing with Derrick Rose for the Mean Streets Express. Ron Artest, Lamar Odom, and Elton Brand were all on a team from NYC back in the mid 90's. Keep in mind that these are just the people that were teammates on AAU teams, not including college teammates or NBA teammates that are now playing for different teams.

Back in the 1980's AAU was in its infancy, players participated in high school basketball and maybe some private leagues around the area the lived, but there was very little recruitment other than for college. There was no AAU team that had Larry Bird catching passes from Magic Johnson, which everyone should be thankful for, because the Lakers vs Celtics finals from the 1980's wouldn't be nearly as memorable if Bird and Magic had hugged and joked with each other after the games. After reading When the Game Was Ours, the excellent book by Jackie Macmullan, it becomes obvious that Larry Bird truly hated Magic Johnson when the two were playing against each other, and Magic felt the same way. That was the extra bit that made those series so memorable, it was obvious that both teams would do whatever it took to win the game.

Today, Chris Paul has opposing players over his house when they come to New Orleans so that they can hang out. Back in the 1980's Isaiah Thomas wasn't having opposing players over for a pregame meal and video game night, because he was too worried about how he was going to destroy them. The Bad Boy Pistons thrived on intimidation, and that's not present in todays game because the players have grown up together, played AAU together, gone to college together, and played professionally with each other. They all know and seem to be friendly with each other, and it's killing the game.

So for the good of the game, I hope that the stars stop teaming up and let rivalries build. The NBA needs less "Big 3's" and more stars staying with their team, trying to lead them to a title. The NBA, in my opinion, would be much better if free agency was eliminated and players had an incentive to stay with the team that drafted them. It would build up rivalries and breed genuine hatred between players, making for a better game.

And that's what I will always appreciate Ron Artest.....unless he's hitting shots against the Celtics.

Mr. 3000

Welcome back, this has been another wild week in the world of sports. The main topic of this weeks blog will be Derek Jeter and his journey to 3000 hits. As people who know me can tell you, the Yankees are not a team that I generally cheer for and in early October of 2003 they were the bane of my existence, but Derek Jeter is different. So this blog is dedicated to him and his career.

May 30th, 1995. I was 7 years old, Bill Clinton was the President, Shaq and the Magic battled Hakeem and the Rockets in the NBA Finals, and Derek Jeter recorded his first hit in the Major Leagues. It happened in Seattle against the Mariners when Jeter was only 20 years old. While most 20 year old young men are finishing up their sophomore year of college or maybe getting a raise for their second year at a job, Jeter had blazed through the minor leagues and was the number 9 hitter for the New York Yankees. Not to say that everything was easy for Jeter early on. His first year was mired in controversy as he hit a paltry .210 and then followed it up the next year by making 56, yes 56, errors. The Yankees were patient with Jeter though and he quickly became a cornerstone of the franchise.

In September of 2000, Jeter recorded his 1000th hit, a third of the way to the 3000 hit milestone. At this point in his career Jeter had already won the World Series 3 times and was on his way to a fourth. At the time it was a four horse race for the title of "Best Shortstop in the American League". If you remember, in addition to Jeter, there was also Nomar Garciaparra, Miguel Tejada, and Alex Rodriguez vying for the title. At the time Nomar was probably the best all around hitter of the four, while Rodriguez had the most power, and Tejada the best glove. But Jeter had something that the other three would have traded everything for, rings. Another player may have ended up being a case of the too much too soon trap (something I'll go into detail about further down the page), but Jeter has always showed wisdom and class beyond his years.

Jeter's 3000th hit came on a day that was perfect for him. He went five for five including the game winning homerun. He is one of only two players to ever have their 3000th hit be a homerun. As luck would have it for Jeter, the fan who caught the ball had the class to match Jeter. Most fans would have auctioned the ball off to the highest bidder or held the Yankees up for as much money as they could get, but the 24 year old cell phone salesman that caught it asked for nothing. He gave Jeter the ball because, as he said "Jeter deserved it". The Yankees appreciated the fans gesture and rewarded him with multiple autographed bats and jerseys, as well as tickets to every game for the rest of the year. Truly the perfect ending to the quest for 3000.

Let's take Jeter and compare him to someone else who got too much too soon, Lebron James. While Jeter was able to win championships early in his career, James was able to make more money than he could have ever imagined while becoming a polarizing figure for the NBA. They both were excellent candidates for the too much too soon trap, but Jeter was surrounded by older veterans who he could talk to and get advice from, men like Tino Martinez, Paul O'Neill, and Wade Boggs. Lebron was brought onto a team with Ricky Davis, Jeff McInnis, and Darius Miles, not exactly the group of players you want around your 18 year old star rookie. Not to make excuses for Lebron, but maybe that's why he never seemed to mature. Imagine if he had gone second in his draft and gotten to grow up on a team with Chauncey Billups, Rip Hamilton, and Ben Wallace, needless to say things may have gone a little differently for him. Some of the greatest talents in all walks of life have suffered from the too much too soon trap, including Michael Jackson, Eddie Murphy, Vince Carter, and three quarters of the number 1 draft picks in NFL history. Thankfully Derek Jeter wasn't one of these cases.

The most impressive part of Derek Jeter's career isn't that he's gotten to 3000 hits, it's the way that he's done it. He is one of the few players in any sport that can claim no off field issues, he's never been arrested, cheated on his spouse, ripped teammates in the press, or embarrassed his team in any way. Much like Peyton Manning in football, there is just no good reason to hate the man, no matter what team he plays for. So congratulations Derek, even Red Sox fans are happy for you.....even if most of them won't admit it.

Now I need to go take a shower because saying so much good stuff about a Yankee has made me feel dirty. Thanks for reading, and remember to check out my past entries and follow me on twitter: @joshviola19.

The NBA: Where Lockouts Happen

Welcome back to another edition of Thoughts of Sports Addict, today I'm going to talk about the lockout in the NFL, the lockout in the NBA, and some other odds and ends in the sports world. As always, leave a comment to let me know what you think.

The NFL lockout started over a hundred days ago and is still going strong, albeit with a light now almost visible at the end of the tunnel. Since it has begun, the NFL lockout has provided fans with very little entertainment. NFL Live has turned into a show that is 90% lockout talk and 10% fantasy football, you either need to have passed the bar exam or be Matthew Berry to actually enjoy the show. In other NFL related news, 3 time Superbowl champion Tom Brady can be seen hanging out in Brazil rocking a pony tail and riding down water slides in the most effeminate way imaginable. Can we all now finally agree that Giselle Bundchen is the Yoko Ono of the New England Patriots? Before she came into Tom Brady's life he had a beard, short hair, and a game face that was matched by no one else in the NFL. Now he looks like this....

I can't be the only Patriot fan that has watched his entire career and can honestly say that they didn't see this coming. Somehow I can't see Joe Montana, John Elway, or dare I say it, Peyton Manning allowing themselves to get distracted like this and stop coming through in clutch situations. With all that said, lets hope Tom Brady was watching when Tim Thomas and the Bruins won the Stanley cup, because if he was I don't think there's any way that he didn't immediately go to the bathroom, grab a straight razor and shave his own head. Just in case he forgot, the Patriots are now the Boston team with the longest championship drought, so lets go Tom Terrific, it's time to lead us to another Superbowl.

The NBA has just entered into the infancy stage of its own lockout, and this one has no end in sight. Most experts agree that this lockout, unlike the NFL lockout, may take out the entire season. For NBA nuts like myself, they may just as well have said that Christmas had been cancelled. I love basketball, I love the NBA, and most of all I love the Celtics. Don't get me wrong, I like all sports and all the Boston teams, but the Celtics are by far my favorite. I watch all their preseason games, I watch all their regular season games, I get nervous for playoff games, and to be completely honest, I cried when they won the Eastern Conference championship in 2008. Sure it was great to watch the Red Sox win the World Series in 2004 and 2007, the Patriots win the Superbowl in 2001, 2003, and 2004, and the Bruins win the Stanley Cup this year, but none of those put me even close to tears. This NBA lockout has me very concerned that I may have seen the last game of the Big 3 era for the Celtics and that they're going to go out with a loss to Lebron James. If they do indeed miss the entire season, then Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen will both be free agents, unlikely to be resigned.

Taking the emotion out of it, the NBA lockout is happening because 22 of the 30 teams lost money this year and with a soft cap, the rich teams gain a competitive advantage and the equity of the league gets thrown off. Superstars have started joining forces and going to big market teams in order to win championships, which is killing the smaller markets. Teams like Sacramento, Milwaukee, and Charlotte, can never compete with the larger markets because superstars will never sign with them. The solution to this is a hard cap. A hard cap would be much like the NFL system where teams aren't allowed to go over a certain salary threshold. This would help the smaller markets because the superstars are money motivated and will go to where the money is, which means smaller markets can pull in superstars with more regularity. It will also prevent superstars from teaming up, unless they take very large pay cuts.

So right now, lockouts are the popular thing to do in sports. This fall, let's hope that both the NFL and the NBA are starting on time, because it will be a long winter without football or basketball. Thank God the Bruins are good, because hockey may be all we have.

ODDS AND ENDS

-Charlie Furbush, the pride of South Portland, makes his first start for the Tigers on July 4th. He has been sensational in relief for Detroit and hopefully can roll that momentum into his first major league start.

-The NBA draft happened amid the lockout talk last week. The big news was Kyrie Irving going first and Kawhi Leonard dropping all the way to 15. I think the guy to watch out for is Kemba Walker, he showed his true colors this year leading UCONN to a national championship. Another thing to remember is that if the NBA does lockout all year, we'll have 120+ rookies next year vying for the Rookie of the Year honors.

-The Red Sox have been surprisingly terrible at interleague play, dropping series to the Pirates and Phillies.

-The All Star rosters were announced today, and for the first time I have no complaints about either roster. I don't know if that's because I haven't been paying real close attention to baseball this year, or because the coaches, fans, and players did a good job. Either way I like it.

Well that's all for this week, be sure to leave a comment, and even follow me on twitter: @Joshviola19