Thursday, December 27, 2007

The state of "Football" in America

And as one might have guessed from the above term being put in quotations, I will indeed be talking about soccer in today's entry! But before I do, I just would like to recognize the comments made by "MisterK" and Peter. First off, thanks to you both.

To address Peter comments directly, I basically agree with your overall assessment of the current Hornets. They have been somewhat inconsistent as I may or may have not pointed out in the earlier entry. It's difficult to figure them out. One night, they'll get blown out by the 4-21 Timberwolves, and the next they'll beat the Mavericks in OT. I honestly don't believe its an issue of effort necessarily. Coach Scott would never tolerate that. One must understand that every team has its off nights, and that other team may happen to make shots that it doesn't typically make. The Spurs may be the only team that has yet to have an off night this season, but each of the other contenders have yet to play flawless basketball through each of their 30 or so games. The Hornets defeated both Phoenix and Dallas at home, and pushed Detroit and San Antonio to the edge at home as well. They beat the Lakers on the road, and have split two games with the Nuggets in Denver as well. As you said, the first few games of '08 on the West Coast may be pivotal contests that could be used to determine this team's place in the Western Conference come season's end. We'll see what happens, but so far, the Hornets have emerged as a playoff contender in the West.

It appears that Chris Paul is well on his way to MVP status. Another 40 point, 10 assist result against the Grizzlies is just another example of how strong his overall game is. He is also making the players around him better. This is the true mark of a point guard, and it has appeared to be realized in the development of David West. D West has been improving recently, and is slowly becoming a bona fide star. The Hornets need West to complement Paul in terms of production and leadership on a consistent, nightly basis. Until that happens, I too, won't consider the Hornets to be an elite team in the West. But they are looking like a sure-fire playoff contender to me.

And the Knicks...well let's just say my discussion of them will be limited. I don't necessarily think it's completely Isiah's coaching that has destroyed this once proud organization, it was his work in creating this team of disasters as a member of the front office. As one might remember, Larry Brown and Herb Williams didn't have much more success than Isiah has. It comes down to drafting players, and trading for players to create what you believe to be a perfect team. It just hasn't happened. Isiah, for whatever reason, has brought guys with a ton of talent but no understanding of the 'team' concept, or great teammates who hustle and do the little things, but have no statistical talent (in terms of like ppg, and assists, etc.). Yes Isiah needs to be fired, but as we found out with Larry Brown and Herb Williams, firing a coach when things are bad isn't always the perfect panacea. It ultimately falls on the players...and if anyone deserves to be booed mercilessly and given the proverbial pink slip, I believe that in this case, the brunt of the blame falls just as much on the players as it does on the coaches. Although, it was Isiah who brought all of these clowns here. Thank god for David Lee. Let's just keep drafting Florida guys and call it a day.


Now to my discussion of soccer this evening. Another reader, "MisterK," hails from the UK, and wanted to hear my thoughts on the general American attitude concerning the World's Game, and the influence of David Beckham and Posh, more specifically, on the states.

I was one of the people most skeptical when hearing words like "HUGE" "LIFE CHANGING" and the multitude of comparisons of David and the Beatles arriving in the U.S. Of course, I wish soccer would be adopted by the American masses, but unfortunately, I knew better. Importing Pele, Beckenbauer and friends to play for the New York Cosmos in the defunct USSL made headlines for a couple of months, but never fully transformed soccer into a sport loved by Americans as much as by citizens of any other nation. It's difficult for me to pinpoint as to why exactly soccer has never taken off in this country. I think one reason may be that America's most zealous sports fans often reside in less urbanized areas in the south, and the midwest for example. Soccer is thought of as a "game played by foreigners" by many of these people, and the thought of our nation participating in a sport that wasn't invented in the "Good Ol' US of A" is something that many Americans are not intrigued by. Soccer also doesn't require the traditional American ideologies of athleticism, meaning that an athlete is someone who needs to be huge, extremely strong, and fast all in one. Soccer also requires its participant to be able to run for 45 straight minutes, without many stoppages. Most American viewers are captivated by the major American sports because they are divided up into quarters and innings. The American viewer does not want to be bored by what he is watching. To them, sports like soccer, and hockey to a lesser extent here, have not caught on because points are rather difficult to come by. People will watch the World Cup because of the spectacle and its repuation, but they won't take the time to watch a NY Red Bull vs. DC United match, or even a Arsenal/Chelsea match because the players often aren't American, and those who do play, are thought to be lesser because "they weren't good enough to become professional football or basketball players, so they play soccer." As I continue to state, I have a tough time really thinking of reasons as to why soccer hasn't taken off here as it has in other countries. Even the name of the sport makes it sound "different" and "other," something not American, and therefore "worthy of American attention." It is just something that wasn't established when the older generations (including the baby boomers and the "great generation" primarily born in the post WWI years) were growing up. Maybe as soccer has become more and more popular among the younger generations, it will become a force in the world of American sports. But I'm not so sure about that.

One obvious reason as to why Beckham himself has yet to uplift soccer to the same status as American football, basketball and baseball is simply the fact that he has yet to really play. When it was first announced that Beckham and Posh would be arriving in the states, the tabloid magazines were going crazy. It seemed like the fact of him playing for a team in Los Angeles meant that this was a story more fit for the "National Enquirer" than ESPN. And in fact, it really hasn't amounted to more than that. Beckham hasn't done a whole lot on the field that has been recognized. ESPN ran a bunch of stories on him and the MLS during the time of his signing, but the fact that he never debuted when everyone thought he would, and the string of injuries he endured during his first month or so with the Galaxy sort of spelled doom for the David Beckham experiment. As a result, I couldn't tell you any of his stats right now, nor could I tell you the record of the Galaxy, even though I know they struggled this season even with him on the field. I do know, however, that Houston beat the New England Revolution in the MLS Cup final this season...I doubt many other American sportswriters can tell you that!

The point being that Beckham and Posh made headlines upon their initial entrance into America and made an imprint on American culture. Yet that imprint has not lasted, and we are hearing fewer and fewer stories about the couple. If anything, more attention is being paid to Posh rather than to David. It's unfortunate for all of us soccer fans in the states that David couldn't do more to bring some long-term visibility to the sport here in America, but I won't say that I'm surprised that the experiment failed to work. The Beckham hysteria is not as great as you may think it may be here in America. The couple covered the tabloid headlines for a couple of months, and the ESPN discussion for a couple of weeks, but their impact hasn't appeared to have lasted....hope this helps!

Tuesday, December 25, 2007

Merry Christmas!

Just taking a minute to wish all of my viewers a very Merry Christmas, and a fruitful New Year! Enjoy the sports lineup today as the Heat travel north to take on the Lebrons before Cleveland travels down to the Big Easy to face the Hornets on the 29th. Later, the Suns travel up to Hollywood to face the Kobes. Should be two relatively entertaining matchups for the NBA aficionado. While checking on these two contests, I will spending the rest of my Christmas Day messing with my new iPhone, swinging my new King Cobra s9 irons (arguably the best golf clubs on the market right now), and stuffing my face on this most glorious of days. I'll be blogging intermittently this week, with the majority of my entries coming at the end of the week as we approach the much anticipated final week of the NFL regular season. Salud!

Wednesday, December 19, 2007

Welcome Back Kotter...and the Hornets

I have decided to resume my summer-long sports blog...back by popular demand. I currently intern for the NBA's New Orleans Hornets in their Game Operations Department, which has rekindled a love for professional basketball that had escaped my being since the beginning of this decade. Rooting for the Hornets is perfect for me. They're team that has not had a whole lot of success in their history, has a small fan base, plays in a city that demands its fans to be intoxicated while viewing, and is considered an underdog among its geographic and divisional neighbors, which in this case consist of the dreaded "Texas Triangle": Dallas, Houston and San Antonio. They're essentially the Mets with more black people. Hopefully they can emulate the recent success of the Mets (and by recent I mean before October, '07), but this will be difficult.

Yes, the Hornets have proven to be a highly legitmate squad throughout their first 25 games. They have a record of 15-10, and are on track to be a mid-seeded playoff team in the Western Conference. Yet, like with my favorite baseball team, I have my doubts with the Bees. They have an impressive starting five, consisting of: Morris Peterson, Tyson Chandler, Peja Stojakovic, David West, and the floor general Chris Paul. Each of these guys individually has a ton of talent, but can they translate it into a successful season free of dire injury? I'm not so sure. And as with most teams, the Hornets can't afford to lose any of their starters for an extended period of time and expect to survive in the NBA's Varsity conference.

Chris Paul is phenomenal. You really have to see him live to understand how great he is. He penetrates as good as any point guard I've seen in a while, he's an assist machine, plays solid defense, and has improved his shot immensely. Most importantly, Chris has become the go-to-guy when the game is on the line. Especially with Peja being in and out intermittently due to injury, Paul has become the team's most consistent clutch shooter. What used to be a criticism of his has now become one of his strong points. If I'm not mistaken, he's actually shooting around 40% from 3-point line. This kid is really good, and has established himself as the most underrated, under-the-radar point guard, if not player in the NBA. The only thing that concerns me about Chris is his on-court leadership. He sometimes appears to be too harsh on his teammates. I watched some highlights of the Portland game on Monday, and the Hornets looked awful on both sides of the ball. Granted, Portland has won like 7 in a row and seems to be playing nice basketball, but the Hornets looked tired out there. At one point late in the game while the Hornets were getting thrashed by a team it destroyed at home at the beginning of the season, Paul and D West were seen getting in a shouting match on the court in the middle of the game. That might be worse than Zach Randolph arguing a call while play was still going on, and neglecting to play defense. Chris is 22 years old. West has to be close to 30. The point guard is supposed to be the leader of the team, but Chris has not garnered the respect or experience of a Steve Nash or even a Tony Parker to get away with barking at his players in medias res. As a former goalkeeper in soccer who served as the team's on-the-field general, I understand that yelling criticisms at your teammates doesn't typically get them to improve their play. If anything, it gets them more flustered and causes them to respect your advice even less. Chris Paul has a great future in this league, but he needs to learn how to become a better leader, and understand his role on the team. While he should be urging on his teammates and setting the tempo of the play, he needs to find more constructive ways in doing so. One rarely sees Steve Nash publically admonishing his teammates during the game. Getting flustered in the heat of competition is understandable, but you can't afford to isolate yourself from your teammates in the process.

The Hornets have a great chance to be a contender in the West. They have a superb point guard, sharpshooters at the 2 and 3 spots, a nice power forward in West and a solid rebounder in Chandler. I would like to see the Hornets improve upon their toughness though. They got beat up by Detroit and Orlando in two of their losses. Granted few teams can effectively match up with Dwight Howard or the Pistons' big men, but the Hornets got severely dominated inside in both of those games, which led to losses to other playoff contenders. I feel that they might need to sign a more physical big man to come off the bench if they really want to reach that next level. Melvin Ely may end up serving in that role of "enforcer", and he's actually done a pretty decent job lately off the bench. But I'm not sure if he will be sufficient. Only time will tell.

I know this is often the case with most NBA teams, but the Hornets NEED to stay healthy if they want a chance making the playoffs. They don't have a dominant center in terms of scoring, and they have two streaky shooters in their starting lineup. Chris Paul cannot be counted on to produce 20 and 10 every night as a point guard. If the Hornets want to be a legit playoff team, they need someone besides Paul to step out and become a consistent play maker. West has shown signs of being that player, but not consistent ones. Until that happens, I don't see the Hornets gaining a home series in the playoffs, but I do believe they'll be in the final 8 when mid-April rolls around.