Posts belonging to Category Basketball

It seems like you cannot watch a professional sporting event these days without being bombarded by advertisements. A NFL coach challenges a play and we see an ad for the Coors Light Freeze Frame. The 15th out of a baseball game is recorded and you are reminded that GEICO can save you 15 percent on car insurance. We watch, what we think is a slam dunk contest, but when Blake Griffin jumps over car, we are really just seeing a cleverly disguised ad for Kia. It’s already out of control— and it’s about to get worse….

The NBA recently announced they would begin to allow advertisements on jerseys beginning in the 2013-14 season. The NBA Board of Governors approved the use of 2” x 2” patches, which they estimate will generate an additional $100 million dollars in revenue.

This is probably just the beginning. All it takes is for one major sports organization to do this. It’s only a matter of time before other major professional sports follow suit. Though Bud Selig, the commissioner of MLB, has already gone on record in saying he wouldn’t allow that. But he’s retiring soon and how do we know the next commissioner will feel the same way? (more…)

Ever since LeBron James has come into the league, he has drawn comparisons to Michael Jordan. Both are unbelievable athletes and the best basketball players of their generations. One of the main differences between the two, aside from the six championships Jordan won and the zero championships LeBron currently has, is that Jordan was universally loved during his playing days and LeBron is hated by just about everyone outside of Miami.

As if you needed more reason to dislike LeBron and all that he stands for, here is an excerpt from a recent Sports Illustrated article. SI caught up with Walter Iooss Jr., who is perhaps the most accomplished sports photographer of all-time. Iooss dished out some interesting anecdotes about his run-ins with some of sport’s most iconic athletes. Of course, he had great stories about both MJ and LeBron. (more…)

October has arrived. Though I do miss the warm weather and good times of summer, October is always exciting because when it comes to sports, there is no better month.

It’s time to neglect your responsibilities and ignore your girlfriend because you have a lot of TV watching to do. With college football on Saturdays, NFL football on Sundays and the MLB playoffs just about every day, there isn’t much time for anything else.

When it comes to sports, there is really no other month that compares. (more…)

It seems like anytime an all-star game approaches, no matter what the sport, there are always people talking about how to make the game more interesting or how to make the game as exciting as it once was.

The truth is, there is nothing anyone can do to makes these games more exciting. All-Star games in any sport are nothing but a glorified, overly drawn out exhibition game.

All-Star games used to be exciting many years ago because sports coverage was very regionalized. Fans could usually only watch games of their local team. To follow the other teams in the league, you either had to read the newspaper or wait till the end of the news broadcast for a sports anchor to scroll scores across the screen.

The All-star game used to be one of the few opportunities a fan would have to see some of the game’s best players. Let’s say you were a fan of a National League team in the 80s. Your only chance to see American League stars such as Don Mattingly or Roger Clemens play was during the All-Star Game. This isn’t the case anymore. (more…)

The big talk around the NBA lately has been about how many of the game’s superstar players are teaming up.   LeBron James and Chris Bosh joined forces with Dwyane Wade and the Heat last summer, and most recently, Carmelo Anthony was traded to the Knicks and teamed up with star forward Amar’e Stoudemire.  Meanwhile, the Celtics have had four superstars on their team for a few years now.

With all these great players on the same teams, the media could not resist assigning nicknames to each group.   Unfortunately these names lack originality.  Take a look at the flowchart I’ve created which shows how NBA superstar nicknames are chosen… (more…)

There is a close friend of mine, whose brother is an alumnus of the University of Maryland. After Maryland lost on a buzzer-beater to Michigan State in the Second Round of the 2010 NCAA tournament, he posted on Facebook that it was the worst sports loss of his life.

That got me thinking. What is the worst sports loss of my life? As a HUGE Yankees fan, I haven’t had too much to complain about over the years. However, there have still been a few heartbreaking losses mixed in with all those titles.

The 2004 loss to the Boston Red Sox in the ALCS is certainly an easy choice for most Yankees fans. Blowing a 3-0 deficit to the hated Red Sox was certainly difficult to swallow.

Yet after thinking about it, there were two other games in my lifetime that hurt just a little bit more… (more…)