Tag: sports

LeBron James actually did it

~ dannyhong ~ Leave a comment

The funny thing about sports is that seldom does the likely ever actually occur; especially when it comes to championships.   When was the last time a team favored to win it all from the start of the season actually win it all?  How many times do we see a college football juggernaut, ranked #1 from the start, falter and fail to even make it to the championship game?  How many athletes have we witnessed state their intentions to succeed and make promises that they have little chances of fulfilling?

I remember the rise of LeBron James.  Hearing about this kid in Ohio who was an absolute physical freak of nature, even whilst in high school.  He was a decade ago, basically what Bryce Harper was just a few years ago, this teenage phenom that was destined to easily succeed in the professional ranks of their respective sports.  LeBron was anointed a Next Jordan in a time when doing such was the equivalent of a career kiss of death; but that’s just how much of a sure thing he was believed to be.

I remember when the Cavaliers drafted him following the 04-05 season, it was the start of a truly storybook story, of the hometown kid being drafted by franchise in his state.  He said he wanted to “do his best” to bring a championship to Cleveland.  In his first regular season game as a Cavalier, he nearly had a triple-double.  I was impressed at how good he was from the onset.

Continue reading “LeBron James actually did it” →

Shunning power

~ dannyhong ~ Leave a comment

One of the biggest obstacles I face in the light of server downtime is the obvious out-of-sight, out-of-mind mentality that emerges from time to time, when it comes to the pursuit of trying to write on a regular basis.  Sometimes it’s on account of knowing there’s nowhere to post to, however there are the times in which I simply don’t either have the time or the simple drive to write anything.

At the time I’m writing this, I realized that in a hypothetical online status, I’d have gone four days without taking the time to write something, which I would have chastised myself for being unacceptable.  Usually, I like to write to what I like to call, more organically, which is to say things that are happening fairly current to the particular day, and I write immediately after finding something that piques my interest.

Failing that, there’s the well of topics that I notate in a Gmail draft, or a Notes file on my phone, that I feel like I can dip into from time to time in order to have something to write about, when current events seem dry.  This post, is one of them.

I came across this article written by Michael Wilbon, a sportswriter I’ve typically been supportive of, from his time at the Washington Post, as well as being the less-insufferable voice of Pardon The Interruption.  Long story short, it’s an article about how African-Americans aren’t into statistics as it pertains to professional sports as much as others are.

First of all, I didn’t even know what The Undefeated was, until after I read this article.  After a little bit of research, I deduced that it’s the “Black Grantland,” that was a contributor to the death of “regular Grantland (which had several black authors)” that was initially helmed by noted race-card wielder, Jason Whitlock. 

Continue reading “Shunning power” →

A little bit of basketball talk

~ dannyhong ~ Leave a comment

In a perfect world, the NBA schedule would have had the final regular season Lakers game on Tuesday, and the final regular season Warriors game on Wednesday.  Instead, both games are on at the same time, in the same time zone, in the same state no less, as in Oakland, the Warriors are knocking on history’s door, as they go for record-setting win #73, while in Los Angeles, Kobe Bryant suits up for his last-ever NBA game.

Now I’ve made no secret of my general ambivalence towards today’s NBA, often waxing philosophy that it’s putrid shit compared to the golden age of NBA I was a huge fan of throughout the 90’s.  But I’d be the first among many to admit that on April 13, was a one-in-a-million kind of magical night that, even for one night, a curmudgeon like me can even sit back, look at the night as a whole, and go god damn.

The Warriors broke the record that I’ve said time and time and time again would probably never be broken in my lifetime, and Kobe Bryant hangs 60 points on the Jazz on his way out the door.  I had and still kind of have a difficult time in thinking about which was more impressive, because sure the Warriors winning 73 games is now going to be the new record we’ll probably never see get broken in our lifetimes, but a talent like Kobe Bryant is a guy that we’re probably not going to see in equally a long time.

Continue reading “A little bit of basketball talk” →

I’m sure this logo will look great underneath a giant orange THE HOME DEPOT logo

~ dannyhong ~ Leave a comment

Long story short: Atlanta’s future Major League Soccer team unveils its team’s logo (above).

Like the vast majority of the newer sports logos coming out, Atlanta United FC (Futbol Club)’s newly unveiled logo, is basically a pog. And why wouldn’t it be? Pogs are perfect circles and perfect circles are safe, sort of versatile, and nothing says “trying to fit in,” like doing what everyone else is doing, when it comes to the notion of branding a professional sports franchise.

Well, it really could have been worse, and frankly, Atlanta United FC is a way safer name than if it were something that were trying to pay too much homage to the city, like one of the various corporations that runs roughshod throughout the rest of the city.

But the reason that I decided to take this story and brog about it, is naturally all the rhetoric that is spewed out to justify a design, because when the day is over, most of it is utter bullshit, and really boils down to the fact that those in charge, AKA those who paid the most money, AKA probably Arthur Blank, co-CEO of Home Depot, decided that something fit their personal aesthetics.

Continue reading “I’m sure this logo will look great underneath a giant orange THE HOME DEPOT logo” →

Oh, that’s what they meant

~ dannyhong ~ Leave a comment

Impetus: after the Atlanta Hawks were unceremoniously swept out of the NBA Playoffs, the Hawks organization published this statement that tried to accentuate the good of the season, right after the biggest of bads just occurred.  The tagline of the entire statement was that the Hawks finished the year “True to Atlanta.”

Honestly, I don’t blame any Hawks fans for wanting to read this gigantic wall of text, but basically it’s a written list of all the good things that happened to the Hawks throughout the course of the 14-15 NBA season.  Including things like their franchise best 60-win season, the first time ever to the Eastern Conference Finals, and being one step away from contending for the NBA championship.

Ultimately, it’s no different than any other team-mandated post-season letter thanking the fans and investors (but mostly investors) for their support, but what I think that makes this worse than any other letter sent by any other organization is their choice of tagline, and the unintentional irony behind it.

Continue reading “Oh, that’s what they meant” →

Amateur thoughts on MayPac and the future of boxing

~ dannyhong ~ Leave a comment

I’m one of likely millions who were more or less disappointed with the result of the much-anticipated Mayweather-Pacquiao fight.  To no surprise, Mayweather won via decision after 12-rounds, like he’s won the five fights prior to Pacquiao, which I pretty much predicted, if he didn’t outright knock him out in an early round.

I don’t know much about the technical aspect of boxing, but it’s still a sport that I enjoy watching, so I’m sure I’m very subject to criticism about my thoughts that I’m writing now.  But the fight was boring, because of the uber-defense tactic employed by Mayweather, and the fact that he fired basically fewer than 50 strikes, as opposed to only throwing punches in counter to the numerous blows fired by Pacquiao.

The fight was pretty much decided by the fifth round, when the constant updates of the score gradually updated Pacquiao’s inability to connect with blows in spite of throwing so many, and the monumentally higher accuracy in which Mayweather was connecting, because he only threw punches in defense basically.  It was agreed upon with the people I was watching with that if Pacquiao didn’t outright knock out Mayweather, it was just a ticking countdown until Mayweather was going to be declared the winner.  And naturally, Mayweather turtled himself to victory by basically dancing around Pacquiao for the remaining 21 minutes.

Continue reading “Amateur thoughts on MayPac and the future of boxing” →

Anyone else think Mayweather wins, easily?

~ dannyhong ~ Leave a comment

I can’t say that I’m the biggest follower of boxing, but anyone who watches any sort of sport is cognitively aware of the existence of guys like Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather, Jr., and that they’re going to be having their long (long) overdue boxing match very soon.

The general consensus is pretty consistent all across the board: it’s five years too late, and most people don’t care nearly as much as they would have, like five years ago, but whatever it’s finally going to go down.

If I were the type to put money on sport (anymore), I wouldn’t hesitate to bet on Mayweather.  Not for a second.  Ask me on the street who I think is going to win, and I’m saying Mayweather before the question is even finished.

Continue reading “Anyone else think Mayweather wins, easily?” →