The NBA Slam Dunk contest is stupid

For obvious reasons, one or two of the televisions in the locker room at my gym is always on the NBA Network.  This week, they’ve been systematically broadcasting apparently every single year of the NBA’s dunk contest.  Recently, I got to thinking about just how stupid the dunk contest really is.

As much as I understand the appeal and occasional functionality of dunking, I can’t help but thinking that a contest of dunking without defenders, a clock or any resistance is pretty much the dumbest thing in the world.  And it gets worse with every single year, with players looking to add gimmicks, costumes and props to their foolish exhibitions in order to impress designated judges who assign scores based on, lord knows what.

And with each passing year, much as there are more crowd shots of other players and devastated fans, out of their seats, OHHHHing and making guttural sounds of approval at what they witnessed, there have been more and more people in the locker room glued to the televisions, making much of the same reactions.  And for what?  Guys that are taking a basketball, and doing whatever they can possible in the fractions of a second before they attempt to force it into an uncontested hoop.

Continue reading “The NBA Slam Dunk contest is stupid”

Abby Wambach looks like the guy from Wanted

Everytime I see this commercial, I can’t help but think this.

I vaguely know the name Abby Wambach, because I look at enough sports websites on a regular basis for osmosis to eventually absorb, or maybe it was during the time when the whole world was fascinated with Hope Solo that some of her teammates names manage to float around or something, but I had no idea of what she actually looked like.  So I really had no idea that the “protagonist” of this Gatorade commercial was Abby Wambach until the descriptors in the YouTube video revealed such information.

But watching this commercial, I’m always thinking that Abby Wambach looks like the main character from Wanted.  That crappy movie which also had Angelina Jolie and Morgan Freeman, where the concept of curving and hooking bullets came from, which I’ll occasionally rage-complain/reference while playing L4D, when I’m picked off around a corner, miraculously.  But I mean, come on – look at the picture; they totally look alike.  The swimmingly-green eyes, the Penguin-like hook nose, and even the furrowing of the brow, in intense agitation.

So now that the comparison is complete, it’s deduced that the guy from Wanted apparently plays professional women’s soccer when not making shitty movies.  Ironically what he does off-screen is reminiscent of the Rodney Dangerfield flick, Ladybugs, which focused around a dude playing soccer on a girls’ team.  And much like the character he played in Wanted was a gigantic pussy, the guy from Wanted waits until his defender is fatigued and feebly weak before exploiting it for the win.  Granted, I’m not above accepting wins no matter how they come, but ideally, nothing is more gratifying than beating an opponent when they’re at their best, not when they’re on their last legs.

But whatever – Wanted was a shitty movie anyway, and I stopped drinking Gatorade for the most part.  Too much fucking sodium.

The irony is that he’s not even retired yet

Nor has there been any mention yet of his retirement, or shown any legitimate signs that retirement is really imminent, either. Ironically, you’d think I write something about Chipper Jones, my favorite player on my favorite team, in my favorite sport, who actually has declared that 2012 is his last year and that he’s retiring when it’s over, over writing about Tim Duncan. The world works in strange ways sometimes.

But this Deadspin story about how Tim Duncan sat out of a game due to “being old,” makes me realize that the end has to be near for Tim Duncan, who is without question, one of the greatest basketball players in NBA history, and one of the few that I actually still like. Maybe one reason why I actually feel inspired and melancholy about the notion of Tim Duncan retiring is because unlike Chipper Jones, I’ve actually been witness to pretty much his entire career.

Continue reading “The irony is that he’s not even retired yet”

A little bit of live brogging

I know the game is over.  Once Mason Plumlee makes the highlight reel with any sort of flashy dunk that happens for no other reason than the opposition being so flustered by defending the three, that they leave his lily-white ass open to do as many impressions of Dominique Wilkins as he wants.  Seriously, is there anyone in organized basketball that’s more goofy and oaf-like than Mason Plumlee?

As I type, Tech’s got 38 points, and I’m pretty sure that 36 of those points are either from three-pointers of free throws.  I’m not entirely sure why I’m still watching this game other than the fact that my other television is occupado with some Mass Effect action going on, but it is certainly brutal.

This game has been a big of a prick tease as they come; Duke’s missing most of their threes, but the problem is that Tech can’t make a bucket in the paint to save their life.  Tech is owning the boards and making their free throws, but someone forgot to let them know that they still need to occasionally make some actual field goals to put those requisite points on the scoreboard.  The game has been completely winnable for the Hokies, but so far they’re the only ones beating them, because it’s certainly not Duke.

Suck it, Climpson

Sure, they’re probably going to obliterated by Duke tomorrow, with insulting sights of Mason Plumlee and Ryan Kelly dunking all over the place when Doc Rivers’ kid isn’t going apeshit from beyond the arc.

But if for one night only, it’s great to see Virginia Tech not pull a vanishing act in a postseason game, and actually look like a good athletic program.  Sure, they still did their typical bonehead shit like five-second violations and was easily confused by a full-court press resulting in an egregious use of timeouts, but when it came to the important stuff like making their free throws, they sank them confidently and kept the pressure on Clemson to try and respond and it certainly didn’t help that suddenly they’re the team that can’t make a free throw to save their life.

It was refreshing to have watched, and it puts me in a jovial mood.  I can wear my Tech shit to work tomorrow proudly, because tonight, we’re the winners.

Conspiracy Theory: Jeremy Lin, the NBA’s Prodigal Son

Don’t get me wrong, seeing Jeremy Lin tearing up the NBA right now is a pretty cool thing going on right now.  In spite of all the controversy behind race, upbringing, race, education and race, Jeremy Lin is making a league vastly composed of everyone not Asian, look like his personal playground.

I’ll enjoy the Jeremy Lin highlights as he continues to make them happen, and I’ll laugh mockingly at all the horrible Jeremy Lin puns that are sprouting and spreading like AIDS in Thailand, but I have to excuse myself and be one of those guys, at trying to contain some excitement.  Forgive me, for I come from a baseball-first fandom in which nothing is sustainable, everything has an end, numbers rule all, and I’m only allowed to suspend disbelief for those within the Atlanta Braves organization.

That being said, my latest crazy conspiracy theory goes along the lines of this:

Jeremy Lin is being allowed to run amok and dominate the shit out of the NBA, because the NBA needs it.

Continue reading “Conspiracy Theory: Jeremy Lin, the NBA’s Prodigal Son”