Just wanted to comment on all the post-game, um, weirdness after Game 6 Tuesday night. Well, really just Garnett's interview with Michelle Tafoya. Tafoya has no problem drinking sweat in order to get the interview and she got right up in Garnett's grill for this one. Anyway, screaming up to the rafters, "anything is possible!" along with all the other nearly indiscernable stuff that came out of his mouth must have made David Stern literally cringe as he looked on. I am an NBA fanatic and will probably always watch, but if anyone thinks that white America got any goose bumps while watching these Celtics celebrate this championship, you're nuts.
How about Scot Pollard trying to look like he was celebrating with his teammates in that Saran-wrapped locker room! Funny stuff. Let's just say it... This was a very 'black' team. The '08 Celts were a team built around a core group of guys who all shared a similar cultural background (and one Alien who fits in well with this particular demographic). A very good group of guys actually. I'll say that again... A VERY GOOD GROUP OF GUYS. All I'm saying is this isn't going to do anything to help bring back the typical 80's, 90's NBA fan who David Stern covets so badly. Garnett assured that, for now, and probably helped further the "white flight" that has plagued the NBA in recent years.
People just can't relate to that stuff... the whole seemingly anger-driven me-against-the-world chip on the shoulder of many of today's NBA players. The display on genuine emotion while you celebrate reaching the pinnacle of your profession is great... and makes for riveting reality television, but let's keep it in perspective. "Anything is possible" ??? Does Garnett realize that some blind guy made it to the top of Mt. Everest recently? THAT guy gets to yell "anything is possible" up to the heavens. You, Sir, do not. Yes Kevin, anything IS possible! But that wasn't the right moment to yell it up to the sky. That was just weird, and you are kind of a weird dude! I know a lot of journalists have written that maybe you aren't a player who rises to the challenge in the big spots but, c'mon man, don't take everything so seriously.
If only Paul Pierce was as white on the outside as he is on the inside... maybe the NBA could get the credit it probably deserves from America (at least this season). A team made up of a solid group of "made in the USA" basketball players just man-handled a team with a large international flair to it and I'm sad to say this weekend's NASCAR race will probably light up more TV sets than this Game 6 did (possibly TV's on cinder blocks in the front yard but TV sets nonetheless). Oh, someone just corrected me... apparently most of those TV sets are sitting up on top of older, broken TV sets. My bad.
I will say this... Garnett's actions do make a lot more sense when thought about as simply the pure emotions of a very child-like NBA player. It was definitely a little goofy. Maybe I'm wrong but Bird, McHale, and Parrish (he was a Chief after all) didn't seem this way to me. These were manly men, and they appealed to other fully grown, sports-loving, men. Garnett is in his 30's, isn't he? So, what I'm really saying is maybe I'm being a little hard on the guy and his antics probably would, maybe, appeal to the little guys out there... all the younger NBA fans. Maybe some of them will catch it on SportsCenter because I'm pretty sure they wouldn't have been watching it live, at 1 AM on a school night.
Any way you cut it... David Stern's job just got a little harder.
So many former NBA fans simply cannot relate to so many of today's NBA stars, be it because of race, culture, and/or age. There's a generation gap and a large cultural divide and disconnect that, UNFORTUNATELY, only grew wider with the 2008 NBA Finals. Sad reality, but reality nonetheless.
I went to Citizens Bank Ballpark tonight to watch my Mets smack up the Phillies. Here are some random observations:
The homeless guy with the sax-o-phone on the corner outside the entrance to the stadium - his rendition of Take Me Out to the Ballgame gets more and more depressing every time I visit this park. I give him no money.
Coors Field East - What a band-box. Balls fly out of this place. Delgado hit a blast into the upper deck in right field.
............GARY PAYTON. He just hit the biggest shot of his entire playoff career. Please retire now.
Billy Wagner needs to buy David Wright a Rolex. Wright saved his freakin bacon tonight. What a game-saving web gem that was. And maybe a season saver for Wagner in terms of his already shaky relationship with Met fans.
Philly is such a bad baseball town. What a bunch of ignorant, no baseball knowledge having, E-A-G-L-E chanting derelicts. They really don't like Abreu here, and David Bell also. They love Rowand because he smashed his face into the CF fence in what was a perfectly planned PR move on his part. You want to endear yourself to these fans... show them you hustle and that you're retarded. Unfortunately for Phils fans, they'll love him right into a nice, long career here in Philly but he's not a real good fit for this ballclub. He's a nice number 8 or 9 hitter on a good team. To ask him to protect Ryan Howard is a whole other story.
............Can't believe the Heat just stole this game, or more accurately, I can't believe the Mavs just allowed the Heat to steal this game. Why am I not excited? I don't think anyone really believes the Heat can win this series anymore. They stole this game and the series is 2-1 now but we're going to need to see more I think. One thing I did see... Shaq grabbed an offensive rebound on the left baseline with no Mav in sight. By the time he was able to set himself and power up for what should have been his easiest dunk of the series I had already had sex with my girlfriend and made myself a sandwich. His red-twitch muscle fibers just don't twitch in a timely fashion anymore. Can you blame them really with what they've been asked to do for as long as they've been asked to do it. It's just like dogs folks. The Chihwawa (How the hell do you spell that?) is gonna live a much longer life than the St. Bernard, with all life's phases spanning a commensurate time period. Centers just break down sooner, and Shaq's entire game is, was, dependent on physical dominance and athletic superiority. I wonder if he will adapt accordingly and accept a limited role, or just retire.
After the Mets put up their 9th run of the game the fans started showing their true colors. Lots of people got escorted out of the ballpark. It was great. The place erupted into a mess of alcohol-fueled screaming matches between some of the finest people this part of the country has to offer. I can't imagine this ever happening in St. Louis of San Francisco. If only Phillies fans would show up and support their team in person maybe there wouldn't be 10,000 Met fans here. I really think Philadelphia fans are the worst in the country. Nowhere else will you find such a high concentration of reasonably empowered white trash with extremely limited brain power as you do in the Greater Philadelphia region. I think they mainly come from the Northeast part of the city and all points West. Conshohocken maybe, or Chester, PA.
Which makes me think about this stadium, and all new stadiums. Once the bloom is off the rose and the "new" stadium just isn't so new anymore, there's a tendency for the ballpark to revert back to it 's original state of existence. In the end, it's the people who dictate what kind of experience one will have at the game. In this case, it's already beginning to feel a little like the old Vet in here. More and more empty seats each season. A team that can't seem to win over their fanbase, in large part because they're simply not good baseball fans and/or are too busy getting drunk and participating in the Eagles chants. Why is there no culture here, no history, no baseball tradition?
I think the homeless sax guy finally closed up shop for the night with just enough loot to get his cheesesteak and a 40 oz (not in that order).
Best ballparks to see a game? Anybody want to weigh in? Fenway? Wrigley? the Bronx? Chavez Ravine? This joint in South Philly?
We saw this coming. We being me, Bill Simmons, and everyone else whose been paying close attention to these NBA playoffs. Flip Saunders just inserted Tony Delk in one last desperate attempt to salvage this game, this series, and whatever remaining credibility he has as an NBA coach. A one-handed Antonio MacDyess just subbed in as well. Does anyone need to see any more of this? Give me Dallas in 5.
And in a strange twist of simultaneous coaching lunacy, Joe Torre just brought Kyle Farnsworth into a 1-out, bases loaded situation hoping (I guess) that he'll be able to preserve a 1-run Yankee lead and nail down the 5-out save. I really think these coaching moves happened at the same exact time. Wait, let me check my TiVo to make sure I'm watching both in real time... yup, I am. So strange. I can only assume Torre is playing the "these are the Orioles" card.
Is there any doubt what Dwyane Wade's strategy was coming into this potential close-out game 6? Sure, he had flu-like symptoms. I'm sure there was some truth to that, really I believe it. But, it was never anything that was going to get in the way of what he felt he might have to do here tonight. I actually think he's a little disappointed that he wasn't really needed. He came to the gun-fight with 3 bullets and a plan how to maximize their impact. Finally he realized his bullets weren't going to be needed so he just reeled them all off at the end of the 3rd. It was fun to watch.
Poor Michael. Just when it looked like his legacy would be preserved indefinitely, the league comes back to life with a vengeance. The NBA was less alive than Julia Roberts in the scene from Flatliners where you get to see her bra. And then comes Kiefer, Kevin, that guy from Huff....err, I mean LeBron, Dwyane, and an 81-point game to bring the NBA back to the front pages (sort of). And they aren't being too gracious about it either. Wade has the flu before a major playoff game, and Kobe is changing his number to twenty....FOUR. C'mon guys. Just do your thing. The newest NBA fans will be loyal to you as long as you wear your straight-billed hat to the side in the post-game interviews. Leave Jordan out of it.
Farnsworth can't get the save, but he does get the win. God the Orioles suck. Lee Mazilli caught giggling in the dugout, sitting next to a guy who also had flu-like symptoms tonight but couldn't give it a go. But we already know he's nothing like Dwyane Wade (read: not clutch at all). Then again, baseball is such a painfully intense sport, nothing like basketball. Whatever.
82-81 after 3 and Tim Thomas is now drawing automatic double-teams. Vegas changing the odds to win the NBA Title as I type. But what I really need to know is this- Did you see what Devin Harris did to that poor lady in the 2nd row? He does that anywhere else in the state of Texas and he's doing some time, or worse! Literally punched her in her mouth, groped her across her chest, and then ripped her blouse off. I could not be more entertained right now. Well, yes I could, but as dreary as my life currently is, this is the tops! Remember the Seinfeld episode when Mel Torme thought Cosmo Kramer was mentally challenged? He thought Kramer was the "tops". And the Seinfeld sitcom continues to permeate my daily vocab. What is this thing that Tim Thomas does in celebration of his made shots? It looks like something I've seen Will Ferrell and/or Madonna do in their respective professions? He couldn't have gotten it from either of them though (Based on some of his comments about where he's from and who his people are, I'm guessing those entertainers are off limits to him). So, not possible. He's from Jersey by the way. Remember when he said Kenyon Martin was "fugazy?" I just saw an old white guy with the letters D-I-R-K stenciled in blue across his forehead. Only in America. 112-98. Nowitzki is a freak. I can just picture him as a lanky, awkward young boy back in Germany watching the original Dream Team light up the scoreboard and his living room. He must have immediately taken his finger out of the dike, painted a swoosh on his wooden klogs, removed his hand from his weinerschnittzel, and started shooting jumpers. 50 points! We are all Nowitznesses. Goodnight.
