Month: June 2008

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If Politics Was A Sport…

Got this from a friend earlier today…

Some in the media are declaring the series over because the Boston Celtics have won four of the six games played so far. But I don’t understand why, with a series this close and hotly contested, anyone would want to shut it down before we play a seventh game and have all the results in. As anybody who follows the NBA knows, a seven-game series would be good for the league, and the added competition would make the eventual victor, whomever it might be, a stronger opponent against the Los Angeles Lakers in the Finals….

Yes, Boston has won four games and Detroit only two. But it’s hard to imagine a more arbitrary and undemocratic way to determine this series’s outcome than “games won.” It is, after all, a bedrock value of the game of basketball that all points must be counted. But how can that be the case when every point beyond the winning point is ignored? There are literally dozens of layups, jumpers, free throws, and (yes, even) dunks that our opponents want to say don’t count for anything at all. We call on the NBA to do the right thing and fully count all of the baskets that were made throughout the course of this series.

Once you abandon the artificial four-games-to-two framework that the media has tried to impose on the series, a very different picture emerges, with the Celtics leading by a mere 549 points to 539. Yes that’s right, the margin between the two teams is less than one percent — a tie, for all intents and purposes. This is probably the closest Conference Finals in NBA history, though I will thank you not to check on that.

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NHL Resurrection in America?

The Stanley Cup Finals deserve more than one post. So they’ll probably will end up getting at least two.

What a Stanley Cup Finals it has been so far. With Game 6 slated for 8 PM tonight in Pittsburgh, one can only hope it goes to a decisive Game 7. The ratings for the triple-overtime Game 5 were through the roof and can only help develop the game in the United States once again.

Crosby and company have their work cut out for them and they can’t expect to get outshot 2 to 1 and think they’ll pull out another victory tonight. Marc-Andre Fleury and his 55 saves really did save their season Monday night and I have a feeling he’s gonna be on top of his game yet again. The Penguins are a +2 goal differential in their 2 wins (you do the math, that means they won each game by a goal) but are an awful -8 in their 3 losses (0-4, 0-3, 1-2). They’ll need to generate a lot of offense and will need to be led by Evgeni Malkin who just had a tremendous regular season with 47 goals and 59 assists in 82 games and has a respectable but not great 9 goals and 20 points in the post season.

I knew their streak was long but I did not know that the Red Wings have finished 1st or 2nd in their division in points for a remarkable 16 consecutive seasons – reaching triple digit points in all but 4 of those seasons.

The Penguins on the other hand were basement dwellers for 4 consecutive seasons in their division with 69, 65, and 58 points twice before getting 102 and 105 the past two seasons. They have gone from worst to first in just 3 seasons and would have had it last year – losing out the division title to the Devils by a mere 2 points. Let’s not have too much pity for the Penguins who had made it to the playoffs (and won two Stanley Cups) in the previous 11 seasons before their miserable streak started in 2001-02.

I don’t know how many teams have done this but the Penguins when they won back to back Stanley Cups in 1990-91 and 1991-92, did it under two different coaches (Bob Johnson and Scotty Bowman) – Bowman who would later coach the Red Wings to 3 Stanley Cup Championships himself.

So what’s it gonna be? Are the Red Wings gonna close it out on the road or do the Penguins have it in them to completely turn this series around and put Detroit’s backs against the wall and force a Game 7?

Game 6. Tonight. 8 PM. NBC.

P.S. Wrote this post for my buddy Rusty who every now and then leaves me a reminder to ABG this or ABG that. Last night, it was “ABG the Stanley Cup Finals”.

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I’m White. I’m Entitled?

So here is a clip of Father Michael Pfleger, speaking Sunday at the Trinity United Church of Christ, where he said Hilary Clinton was a white supremacist who believed she would win the nomination because of “white entitlement.” I wonder if this will be a lingering issue as Pfleger has been a noted spiritual advisor for Barack Obama for decades while he has lived in Chicago. Even though he has since apologized for his words, these types of problems continue to linger on for Obama and will start to stick sooner or later.

Any comments or thoughts on what the guy said? Makes interesting points regardless of the matter he said it in… I’m not sure there really is a proper way to say what he said.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TWigzBClEk8

Here is a short text of the most controversial part of his speaking…

I really believe that she just always thought ‘This is mine’. ‘I’m Bill’s wife. I’m WHITE. And this is mine. And I jus’ gotta get up. And step into the plate. And then out of nowhere came, ‘Hey, I’m Barack Obama.’ And she said: ‘Oh, damn!’ WHERE DID YOU COME FROM!?!?! I’M WHITE! I’M ENTITLED! THERE’S A BLACK MAN STEALING MY SHOW. SHE WASN’T THE ONLY ONE CRYING! THERE WAS A WHOLE LOTTA WHITE PEOPLE CRYING!

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Stevens Coach To Commentate For NBC At The 2008 Beijing Olympics

Well this is some great news out of Stevens Athletics. I really did not expect to follow the fencing events but I think I am going to be watching some of them now to see Coach Sankofa and what he has to say. The original link to the article is here by Rich Coyne.

HOBOKEN, N.J. (May 20, 2008) – Head Coach Maestro Mika’il Sankofa of the Stevens Institute of Technology men’s fencing team has been selected as the NBC analyst for the 2008 Beijing Olympics. With over 30 years of experience in the sport of fencing, Sankofa was selected for his expertise as a competitor, coach and commentator at the national fencing competitions.

“This is really a tremendous honor and I’m really looking forward to calling the various fencing events,” said Sankofa. “America is sending some very talented athletes to the Olympics, and I’m looking forward to educating viewers – new to the sport – as well as bringing the excitement that Olympic fencing competitions always generate.”

A U.S. Fencing Hall of Famer and member of the 1984, 1988 and 1992 U.S. Olympic fencing teams, Sankofa will be calling the Women’s Individual Sabre event scheduled to air on the USA network on Saturday, August 9. Then on August 14, the Women’s Sabre Team event will be broadcasted on MSNBC followed by the Men’s Sabre Team event on August 17.

In 2007, Sankofa was featured in the NCAA’s 100-year commemorative book. He was recognized for having won four consecutive national championships as a New York University student-athlete marking his accomplishment as one of the 50 greatest moments in NCAA history. Furthermore, Sankofa has posted 34 wins through his four years as head coach of the Ducks. He recently helped to produce the first foilist in Stevens’ history to have advanced to the NCAA Finals.