2008 NCAA Basketball Tournament: Betting on UCLA

Today is Feb. 27, 2008. March Madness begins in less than a month, and the regular season schedule is winding down to its final days before the heated conference tournaments begin. (No, you're not included Cornell.)

Parity in men's college basketball has increased exponentially in recent seasons. Some reasons for this? More and more kids seem to grow up playing basketball than ever before. Youth and travel leagues are increasing, and college recruiters seem to have increased and have more "connections" in different parts of the nation than ever before. If you are a star in your area, chances are a recruiter has heard of you and will bombard you with phone calls (or drunk texts at 4 a.m. if you're Kelvin Sampson).

Kids also seem to be growing bigger and stronger earlier in life. There absolutely may not be scientific or genetic proof behind that statement, but when I see 17-year-old boys looking like they should be on "The World's Strongest Man," I feel as if something has changed. Most importantly, the NBA has demanded that the young baller spend at least one year at a college or university before deciding whether they want to enter the NBA draft.

You combine the improved play of the game by children domestically and abroad, as well as improvements in coaching across the American basketball landscape, and the raucous environment that a university's home fans pass on to their beloved team during their home contests, and you have a recipe for parity across the college basketball landscape.

Simply put, it's becoming more acceptable for coaches to spew out basketball cliches, and truly believe what they're saying: "anyone can beat anyone on any given night," "they put their shoes on the same way that we do," "this might be the biggest game of your life." Hey, with the way this season has gone, who knows?

I can't tell you the number of teams who have fallen from their top 10 standing on a nightly basis. The number of "upsets" of top ten teams this season by teams either lower-ranked or unranked is astounding, and the number has to be some sort of record.

The Associated Press and ESPN top-25 rankings have become like a game of musical chairs being played on a scratched compact disc.

The only constant this season has been the No. 1 ranking, and that's been relinquished in recent days by Memphis and the Tennessee Vols, after UT earned the title for an impressive 29 hours after losing to Vandy on the road.

Where am I going with this? Picking a perfect bracket this year is going to be even more difficult than doing so in recent years. March Madness is something I looked forward to each season. In my pre-college years, my team was the Kentucky Wildcats, and I regularly chose them to get to the final four.

After deciding to go to a school in Tulane with no real positive tradition in basketball (aside from its point-shaving scandal in the late '80s that had the program suspended for two seasons), I was left with no real team to bet the house on.

Until this year.

The UCLA Bruins set the standard for college basketball under coaching legend John Wooden. Yet, it appears former-Pitt head coach Ben Howland has brought some wizardry of his own to Westwood in returning pride to UCLA basketball. This is the same program that won 88 consecutive games under Wooden and had a winning record for 54 consecutive seasons until 2002 and 11 National Championships. This year's Bruins team looks to me as if they can get the school No. 12, after coming oh-so-close in 2006 and 2007.

This year's team has flown under the radar once again. Playing their games on the West Coast and getting slightly less TV and press coverage than the Big East and Big Ten teams, UCLA probably doesn't mind. Their records have essentially mirrored those of North Carolina and Memphis - the two teams who have dominated the No. 1 spot this season- yet the Bruins only have owned the ranking for one week, and that was in the ESPN poll, not in the AP.

The Bruins currently sport a record of 24-3, good for No. 4 in the nation in both rankings. Yet, the way they have won has been impressive. A team that has been known for its stifling defense under defensive guru Howland, for the past couple for seasons, the Bruins have improved their offense dramatically this season and have often been able to win games in shootouts. The interior offensive numbers put up by freshman sensation Kevin Love have been staggering. The Oregon native leads the team with 17 and 11 per game. Love is complemented inside by Luc Richard Mbah a Moute and Lorenzo Mata-Real, two veterans who pride themselves on their tough defense and are rebounding machines. The team also makes it a habit of not sending their opponent to the free-throw line. Sounds like a pretty good recipe for success to me.

To go along with their consistent inside play, the Bruins have some of the best guard play in the nation. As the saying goes, "3-point shooting and defense win championships." Well, the Bruins have both of those. Not every contender does. Josh Shipp, Darren Collison, and Russell Westbrook are all highly-regarded pro prospects, who are athletic freaks and play an unselfish brand of basketball. The point guard Collison, who has been to two Final Fours already, averages 14 points and four assists per contest. Veteran swingman Shipp also averages 14 per game and might be the most athletic player on the squad. Sophomore guard Westbrook averages 13 points and 5 assists per contest. He's also the team's most deadly 3-point shooter, to go along with the floor general Collison, and the freak Shipp who also can both stroke it from beyond the arc.

The Bruins have eight solid players who can rotate into the game at any time and give the team a lift. Depth is another factor that can help a team come tournament time.

Some people might think my pick of UCLA is a safe one. Ask how many of your buddies are picking the Bruins to go all the way. No, ask them what the team is ranked this season. Nine out of 10 probably won't know. Most probably will pick North Carolina, Memphis, Tennessee, Kansas, or Texas to win. And they aren't wrong in doing so. But the Bruins are hungry to get over the hump. They've been in the last two Final Fours, and came up short. They have the experience, the coaching, the offense, the defense, and the depth. And they have four very winnable games to close the regular season in Arizona State, Arizona, Stanford (which will be a fun one), and rival Cal.

For the aforementioned reasons, I have the most consistent program in the history of college basketball taking the title in one of the most chaotic, unpredictable, yet exciting seasons in the history of college basketball. Let's hope this trend of parity continues in future seasons.

But, for now, I'm taking the Bruins to bring No. 12 back to Westwood. This may be their best chance as their star freshman already is looking at condos in D-Wade's South Beach building for next year.

Where's the Love, New Orleans?

The Hornets are awesome. It's plain and simple, really. They play a passionate, exciting brand of basketball loved by analysts and diehard NBA fans alike. They are no longer "under-the-radar." Everyone knows who Chris Paul is, and how quickly he has progressed into a top 5 guard.

So why can't the team sell out its home arena on a nightly basis? Why hasn't "The Other City that Never Sleeps" taken to this team yet?

I think I may have some answers:

1. Population and Socio-economic circumstance

New Orleans is not a large city. Before Hurricane Katrina, the city had a population of slightly more than 600,000 residents. In 2006, one year after the tragedy, the city's population dwarfed to a mere 220,000 residents.

Think about that number for one second. I think Green Bay, Wisconsin might have almost as many residents and it has only one professional sports team—one that has had vast amounts of success in a place with nothing else to do besides watch football.

Try being able to support two professional sports teams in a city that got ravaged by the worst natural disaster in American history and has just lost almost 60 percent of its total population.

Today, New Orleans' population has increased to about 275,000 residents, making it the smallest market in the NBA.

Also, most of the team's potential fanbase comes from outside the city.

Due to the fact that New Orleans has become a small city—one with a lower median household income than before the storm—attending NBA games on a regular basis is not easy for fans.
It is a fact that the Hornets have the cheapest season tickets in the NBA, yet when you play 41 home games a season, many coming at 7 p.m. on a Wednesday, you're not going to attract large crowds in a market where many people work jobs until at least 6 p.m. They then have to drive an hour to get to the arena and won't end up returning home until 11 p.m. The same is true with families.

You are not going to find a good deal of bachelors who call themselves full-time residents of New Orleans, unless you count broke college students of Tulane, Loyola, or LSU. Many of these people can't afford to bring their kids to the game on a school night or leave them at home until close to 11 p.m.

Essentially New Orleans' population—both the number and type of residents—is a major reason why the Hornets have been struggling so far despite their on-court success. There's only so much love to go around on the sporting landscape. These latter points will be expounded on later.

2. Lack of Tradition in the Region and Uncertainty About the Future

LSU is located in Baton Rouge, 65 miles from the New Orleans Arena. As a result, at least 2/3 of the houses in New Orleans sport purple and gold LSU flags outside their homes. Makes a whole lot of sense, eh?

LSU pride is pervasive around this city due to the success of the university's sports (football and baseball in particular). Also, at least 50 percent of New Orleans high school grads who are able to attend college end up choosing LSU because "it's close, has good sports, and isn't full of the carpetbaggers who attend Tulane."

The sports scene in the South has always been about football so it should come as no surprise that LSU football and the New Orleans Saints are the hot sells in this city. Heck, even the city's Arena League team the "Voodoo" sells out the same venue more often than the Hornets.
The Saints also decided to return to New Orleans months after Katrina. The Hornets did not. The Hornets were the newer team in New Orleans, and understanding that the city wouldn't be able to handle two sports teams for the time being, the city chose the Saints to return full-time.
The Hornets were banished to Oklahoma City. While the city welcomed new marquee additions like Drew Brees and Reggie Bush with open arms, the Hornets, who had only spent three previous seasons in New Orleans before Katrina hit, were regarded as afterthoughts.

Yes, the team saw solid crowds before the storm, but unlike the Saints, the Hornets were struggling and hadn't fully established themselves with the population. There was no real tradition there.

The New Orleans Hornets? At least the Saints were known for being the "Aints", had Archie Manning, and had their fans wear bags over their faces at numerous games. The Hornets had none of that.

I believe that no matter how many things the team has done in the community and on the court, it still hasn't fully regained the trust of this football-crazy city. Time will tell if the Hornets will begin to establish their own tradition and it all starts with winning.

Lastly, weekly rumors of the team leaving town don't help the franchise to attract new fans.

3. The City of Entertainment and Tourism: "A One Night Stand?"

New Orleans is full of things to do: Bourbon Street, Pat O'Briens, strip clubs, jazz clubs on Frenchman Street, Riverboat rides on the Mississippi, Beignets at Cafe du Monde, Harrah's Casino on Canal Street, Tipitina's Music Club uptown. God knows I'm forgetting the countless marvelous restaurants and other cauldrons of debauchery that can be explored in this effervescent city.

New Orleans is a tourist's paradise, chock full of crazy activities to partake in. Yes, the insanity has been tempered since the Hurricane, but this city has so many things to do.

Step away for a second, and think about this: New Orleans is known for being a haven for tourists, like Las Vegas, with a relatively small resident population. As a tourist what would you rather do? Go to the strip clubs on Bourbon Street, hit up the jazz clubs on Frenchmen, or go to an NBA basketball game? Ding Ding...If attending an NBA basketball game was the last thing you would choose on that list, congrats! The point is that you aren't alone in your beliefs. The problem for the Hornets is that there are too many tourists who would rather partake in these activities, and not enough full-time residents who are devoted to this team and its players.

Conclusion:
All three of those factors, on top of a cable dispute with Cox Sports TV that has refused to carry Hornets' home games to suburban residents of New Orleans living in the affluent North Shore who would like to see their "new" team play but can't afford to drive 45 minutes across Lake Pontchartrain every night to do so, problems have arisen, resulting in low attendance figures.

The New Orleans Hornets are a mystery to many New Orleanians who can't remember the last time they played a full season in their city because it happened before Hurricane Katrina.
For many, one life ended as a result of the storm and a new one began months after. They have completely forgotten the team that tried to represent New Orleans.

Thanks to recent national attention for the Hornets' superb play in overcoming these odds, and the announcement of the NBA All-Star Game (an event loved by all sports fans regardless of city locale or sporting preference), the Hornets attendance began to increase as the All-Star Break beckoned. Cox Sports (CST) even allows the majority middle and upper-middle class residents of the North Shore to view an increased amount of the games on TV.

As most marketers understand, the only way to reestablish a fanbase that has been all but lost and forgotten is to allow it to see the team from afar first. Then they can decide if they want to make the 23-mile trek across the lake to the Arena to see their new favorite team in person.
Like the city of New Orleans, the Hornets are rebuilding their franchise faster than expected. They went from 18-64 to 36-15 at the All-Star Break. For both the work is far from done, but with the recent surge in attendance for recent games, the future appears bright.
The last home game was against lowly Memphis. The first time these two teams met attendance at the arena was barely more than 9,000. The second time they met in New Orleans happened to be the Saturday before All-Star-Weekend. Attendance?

A sellout.

So my advice to the reader? Pay attention to this team. If you don't live in the area, take note of what the Hornets are doing against the odds.

If you do live here, get your lazy ass to the arena on Girod Street next to that other sporting venue you may have visited once or twice called the Superdome.

Bourbon Street is open 24 hours. The Hornets close at 9:30 p.m.

The Eagle Has Landed!

After months of speculation, rumors, and incessant examination of Matthew Cerrone's "MetsBlog" by the hour in search of updates on the neverending Johan Santana saga, it all finally ended today. January 29th, 2008.



The New York Mets attained the best pitcher in baseball this decade: Johan Santana. The price? Well for now, it appears to have been a bargain. Carlos Gomez, Phil Humber, Delois Guerra, and Kevin Mulvey.

It appears to me that Guerra is the only player in this deal who has the potential to be a legitimate stud. Gomez may be a solid ball player as well, but he was extremely inconsistent during his time in New York, and while he showed flashes of brillance on the basepaths, and pop in his bat, he didn't hit for a particularly high average. Switching from the grassy meadows of Flushing to the Minneapolis turf may help his speed-driven game, and turn those groundball outs at Shea into infield Texas Leaguers at the Metrodome. I honestly don't see Kevin Mulvey or Phil Humber becoming any more than #3 starters during their Major League careers. But only time will tell, and there's a reason I'm not someone who evaluates talent for a living. I could be completely offbase in my predictions of these four ballplayers.


If I were a Twins fan, I wouldn't be particularly happy with the trade, but would understand the perdicament that the front office was in. The team had a free agent pitcher that it could not afford, and one who wanted to play for a contender, but was stuck with a good baseball team that doesn't seem to have the resources to build itself into a great one. GM Bill Smith and friends are hoping the four prospects they get from the Mets will play pivotal roles in making this Twins squad a playoff contender for years to come, but I don't particularly see that panning out right now to be frank.



As a Mets fan, I am ecstatic at the moment. The Mets just acquired the best pitcher in baseball for four prospects who could be good major league players, but are virtual unknowns. Johan Santana is a proven commodity. Barring any injuries, you know he will give you a chance to win every single time he steps on the mound. Having a shutdown starter like Santana also gives the team around him confidence, and will push them to perform to the best of their abilities. The Red Sox play better baseball when they know Josh Beckett is going to be on the hill. As in most sports, all of these guys are professionals, and although some are better than others, confidence plays a HUGE part in the long-term success of a team. Acquiring a player with the name and pedigree of Johan Santana will make every single member of the Mets excited to return to work, step on the field, and win a world championship. I can't underscore this fact enough: Johan Santana's influence will not solely be seen through statisitics.



This has to be a great day for all Mets fans. The incessant saga that we have been following for months has finally come to an end, and much to our surprise, we got our man...for once. Omar Minaya saved his job.



As great of a moment as this is though, it puts even more pressure on this club to compete. For this first time since the late 80's, one could argue that the New York baseball team with the higher expectations and increased pressure to win immediately would have to be the Mets. Brian Cashman and the front office is finally committed to building its club for the future, and from within. This is why they did not gamble away the house to attain Santana. The Mets, on the other hand, had to. They endured a collpase of monumental proportions, and needed something to re-energize the players and its hungry fanbase. Plus, the team had a bunch of #2 starters, but didn't have that top-flight, shutdown starter that could go out every fifth day and give the ballclub at least seven solid innings. As I said before, the effect of that cannot be measured statisitically. You want to use your bullpen as little as possible, and this is something that will make Willie Randolph's job far easier...especially as someone who was oft criticized by a certain blogger for using his bullpen WAY too often.



Of course, I will be following this story in far more detail in the next two to three days as a final extension is finally hammered out between Johan and the Mets. Best of luck to the Twins. I hope our prospects end of being valuable additions to your major league roster one day, but hopefully not too valuable. There was a reason this process took so long. We held these guys in high regard, and hopefully they will deliver for you as long as its not during interleague play. But for Met fans, this is a day to exhale and rejoice. Of course, Johan Santana will not single-handedly carry the Mets to the NL pennant, but as long as he is healthy, he will bring a phenomenal effort to the game every time he takes the mound. And best of all, Johan Santana will bring a confidence and a heightened swagger that this team, organization and fanbase DESPERATELY needs.

YA GOTTA BELIEVE!

Super Bowl XLII

After another brief hiatus, I have once again returned to preach to the masses and continue the blog. As one of the most grandiose and most popular sporting events of the calendar year falls upon us, I felt this would be the appropriate time to speak about Super Bowl XLII, the 2008 edition of American football's championship game. This year's matchup has a northeastern flavor. No it's not Yankees/Red Sox, Knicks/Celtics, or even Rangers/Bruins, but rather the New England Patriots and the New York Giants. Although they are two franchises that have long histories and are geographic neighbors, there has never really been a rivalry between the two squads. They have rarely been relevant at the same time. In fact, up until this decade, the Patriots were one of the typically one of the league's worst performing teams. Now they fall under the same category as the Steelers of the 70's, the 49ers of the 80's, and the Cowboys of the 90's. This year's Super Bowl once again gives the nation's most obnoxious, self-promoting and self-centered region a chance to once again serve as the center of the world for one weekend. Boston versus New York. To us North-easterns, it doesn't get much better than that. New Yorkers think of Bostonians as dirty, uncouth, loud-mouths with massive inferiority complexes. Bostonians think of New Yorkers as arrogant pussies who are mostly transplants and aren't as great as they believe they are. Recent sporting history would prove the last few words of that sentence to be the case, but in measuring other characteristics of each city, both are unique and intriguing cultural centers in their own right. If the game itself and the extra-curricular theatrics that always come with the Super Bowl Package aren't entertaining enough for middle America, the back and forth banter between natives of these two rival cities should make up for any lack of actual sporting drama.

Now for my game-relevant thoughts about this matchup. I am a Giants fan. I will make that be known at the outset. I always have been, and always will be. In fact, the Giants are my second favorite franchise in all of sports, behind the Mets, of course. As ecstatic as I am that my favorite football team has made it to the zenith of its sport, I am understandably quite shocked, and have properly failed to fully absorb the fact that the Giants made it to their championship game before the Mets made it to theirs. I'll admit that I was one of Eli Manning's harshest and most outspoken critics for the duration of the regular season. After the fiasco at home against the Vikings, I said that even if the Giants had made it to the playoffs (which considering the amount of talent on the team, and the lack of quality in the NFC it would have been monumental had they not), that Eli should not come back next year as the team's quarterback. This is a team that is built to win now, with a demanding fanbase that expects its team to perform at the highest level. The feeling is that if you play for and represent the most important city in the country, the teams' results should mirror that eminence. Is that a fair statement or belief? Not necessarily, but being a lifelong New York sports fan, this is a sentiment that is popularly echoed and supported throughout the tri-state.

Yet, something happened to this team during the second half of the Week 16 road game in Buffalo that altered it's destiny. The Giants were getting whipped by a Bills team that had far less talent than they, and nothing really to play for aside from the role of spoiler. The Giants had a ton to play for: their playoff fate was hanging in the balance. If they lost, they would need to defeat the perfect Patriots in order to make the playoffs as a wild card road team. Great. What exactly happened during that game, I'm not sure. Was it a combination of Kevin Gilbride's playcalling being properly carried out or improved? Was it an improvement in the play of the Giants' offensive line? Was it the increased focus of the team's wide receivers? Was it the weather, Ahmad Bradshaw, a healthy Brandon Jacobs, and a mediocre Bills defense? Did Tom Coughlin make a ridiculous halftime speech that would dwarf anything the writers at "Friday Night Lights" could ever concoct? Whatever happened at halftime of that game, the Giants offense finally woke up, and started pouring it on the Bills through the atrocious weather that typically defines Western New York in December. One of the most scrutinized teams in professional sports found itself amid the blustery conditions of a Buffalo winter. Fitting, dont ya think?

As we all know, the Giants continued their strong play from the second half of the Buffalo game that assured the team of a playoff spot. They seemed to gain a new confidence through succeeding through that blustery weather. They gave a solid effort in the final game of the season, and almost came out on top against the Patriots at home. Contrary to popular belief, I actually felt that more confidence was gained after the difficult win in Buffalo, then after the close loss against New England. It's difficult for any team to gain confidence after losing a game, and I don't buy the hype that they felt better about themselves after Week 17. With a confident Eli Manning trusting his teammates and his playcallers, the Giants defied the odds by winning three consecutive road games. Throughout recent weeks, they have begun to look more and more like the Pittsburgh Steelers Super Bowl Championship squad from two years ago. A team with a young quarterback that brought a conservative gameplan to life, executing it to a "T." A team with a multi-dimensional running game, a physical offensive line, and a hard-hitting defense. As we all know, professional sports is full of parody. Of course, some teams are better than others, and some players are better than others; but how much better can they possibly be? All of these players and coaches are professionals after all. The name of the game is confidence, and this team now exudes plenty of it. This is a confident team that a confident city should be proud of.

With ALL of that being said, I still don't think the Giants will win the Super Bowl. Kind of a letdown, eh? To be perfectly frank, I believe that the Patriots are just too good at each and every position. It's tough for me to admit Boston's superiority in anything, but there is only so much confidence can do for one team, especially when its opponent is just as confident, has more talent at all of the key positions, and has failed to lose a single game. Lets face it, while the Giants are on a recent hot streak, the Patriots have been on a 5-month hot streak. I love my Giants, and I would love for them to win the Super Bowl and shut up those obnoxious brutes from Boston, but you're giving this New England coaching staff two weeks to prepare for a quarterback who has made his fair share of bad on-the-field decisions over his brief NFL career. Brady was able to torch our secondary late in the teams' first meeting, and the Patriots offensive line was able to handle our vaunted D-Line. When you give Brady ample time to throw (as with almost any NFL starting quarterback), he will find ways to find open receivers and pick you apart. The offensive line is the key to that team, and unless our front four can manage to physically dominate their O-Line, I'm not sure if we can hold them under 30 points. I compared these Giants two the Super Bowl winning Steelers of two years ago. Unfortunately, this Patriots team is the best in NFL history, and they would have defeated those Steelers in a dogfight. I believe the same will be the case with this game. It will be a close contest going into the fourth quarter, 24-20 in fact. Yet, I believe that the Pats will manage to find a way to torch the Giants secondary late in the 4th quarter as they did in the previous meeting, and close Super Bowl XLII out: 31-20.

I really hope I'm wrong, and I hope Harry Carson, LT, and Phil Simms, among others show up for this game. This squad needs all the luck and inspiration it can get. Where are Bill Buckner and Jim McMahon when you need them? GO BIG BLUE!

Thoughts?

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!

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!

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.