Will You Be Watching?

The NBA has always had superstars. It's always had great teams. But in my opinion its really only had one true golden age which was the 80's and early 90's. That is until now. The 60's were dominated by Bill Russel and the Celtics. The biggest news from the 70's was the ABA merger and Julius Erving's hair. The 90's were dominated by that MJ fella and the early 2000's were the Lakers and then the most boring dynasty in NBA history the Spurs. However the 80's was a spoil of riches unlike any other in NBA history. A multitude of transcendent superstars where the only thing that matched the quantity was the quality. And even with that being said there were two that outshone all the rest. Julius Erving, Moses Malone, James Worthy, Robert Parish, Isiah Thomas, Kareem Abdul Jabar, Hakeem Olajuwon, Clyde Drexler, and a young Michael Jordan all were stuck outside of the spotlight that was dominated by Magic Johnson and Larry Bird. Luckily for us, the spoil of riches is back. And if you're not watching NBA basketball you need to, be because you're missing out.

First of all the two in the spotlight: LeBron James and Kobe Bryant. They battle for the title of Best Player in the World on a nightly basis. To me its not really a question as amazingly brilliant as LeBron is. The best player in the world is Kobe Bryant. He's a better shooter, a better defender, can get to the rim at ease (even if he can't do it with the authority LeBron can), and the thing that separates him most from King James is he's an assassin. His nickname is the Black Mamba for a reason. He has no mercy and wants to rip your heart out. Interestingly enough if you ask LeBron James he agrees with me, saying Kobe is still the best. However LeBron is catching up quickly and in large part to Kobe and the time the two spent together on Team USA. LeBron has gone, in a year, from a defensive liability to an elite defensive player. He's also a greatly improved shooter, specifically from the FT line meaning you can't tackle him when he goes to the rim anymore (although he usually would still get at least the two anyway).

But the spoil of riches doesn't end there. Right outside the spotlight is a man, who unlike LeBron, already has a ring. Dwayne Wade is without a doubt to me the 3rd best player in the world. He's an elite defender, a great rebounder despite his size at 6'4", he can score in bunches from inside and out, and like Kobe has a killer instinct that makes him lethal on both ends of the court as the clock winds down. We saw this in the 2006 finals as he single handedly beat the Mavs but then he got hurt. And then he got hurt again. And again. And then, last year, the Heat did a brilliant thing. They sat him. They let him get healthy, and even when he could have played they made him sit. They weren't going to make the playoffs even in a horrid Eastern Conference and so they made sure he was 100%. And then the Olympics happened and Dwayne Wade was the best player on the floor, a floor that includes the two guys I've already talked about. This year he's had many magical moments and has found himself in the middle of every MVP discussion and his case is getting stronger with the more wins he wills his mediocre team too.

After that there is a significant drop off. Oh wait. No there's not. Not even close. To make it easier we'll go by position:

Point Guard: Its an argument we'll be having for years, who's better? Chris Paul or Deron Williams. It's also possibly a future blog topic. Both can pass, score, and our tremendous leaders. Most people say Paul has the edge and I agree but Williams is ridiculously close. Add in Devin Harris, Derrick Rose, and Tony Parker and we might have the highest quality of PG play the NBA has ever seen.

Shooting Guard: You can't start here without saying that Kobe and D-Wade got their own paragraphs. Next is Brandon Roy, who, ever since trading his Washington Purple for Portland Red he's been a stud. The future is also here in O.J. Mayo. He, along with Rudy Gay, might actually make the Grizzlies relevant sometime soon.

Small Forward: LeBron has his own paragraph above, nuff said about him. One of his best friends could also easily have his own paragraph and that's Carmelo Anthony. Melo has had his share of off the court problems but on the court he's been nothing short of spectacular. He can score with anybody and thanks to some quality time with his old college coach Jim Boeheim and Coach K this summer he now plays defense. From what seems like out of nowhere a guy named Danny Granger has emerged to be a 25+ ppg player who will eventually find his way out of Indiana and be a major player in this league. Also, Kevin Durant is still skinnier than me and only in his 2nd year and is already averaging 26 a game.

Power Forward: Relatively speaking Power Forward is a shallow position in the NBA right now. The argument for the best PF starts and ends with Chris Bosh. He's skilled and he's long which is a lethal combination. He's a great offensive player and a very good defensive player. The ugliest game in the NBA also resides in this position in Dirk Nowitski. He's not a good defender but he's 5th in the league in scoring and is every year. He's also capable of hitting the big shot. The future here isn't here yet but it's coming. His name is Blake Griffin and he's a monster. He's a freakish athlete and brutally strong. He's gonna give NBA forwards and their coaches fits for years to come. Don't sleep on last year's Blake Griffin either...yeah that Michael Beasley fellow. He hasn't been spectacular this year but he was just as dominant in the Big XII last year as Griffin was this year and he's a much better shooter than Griffin. We didn't get to see them battle as much in college as we would have liked but these two horses could be battling for years on the block in the NBA.

Center: This is always the weakest position in the NBA league wide because a great true center is hard to find. However there is one in the league right now and he's not going anywhere. Shaq may have been the original superman but Dwight Howard is the real deal. He is a young Shaq with a little less offensive game. He's got athleticism you're simply not supposed to have at his size. I sound like a broken record but Howard benefited immensely from his time with Team USA the past few summers because he had to play defense. Howard often found himself on the bench in favor of Chris Bosh because he couldn't defend the pick and roll. So he learned. And now he's the leagues leading shot blocker and rebounder and his offensive game is coming around.

You might say ok, that's a nice list of good players, but then you'd be selling yourself and those guys short. Every single player I named is or will within the next two years be a bonafide superstar. And it gets better. In 2010 many of them (including D-Wade and LeBron) could be finding new homes in major cities. You could have LeBron and Bosh in Madison Square 41 nights a year while D-Wade and D-Rose play in the house that Michael built in Chi-town while Kobe and his amazing young supporting cast are lighting up LA. Add in the fact that the Boston Three Party is already in Beantown and you're the 76ers giving Andre Iguadala some help more and better than Elton Brand from every major classic NBA team being a power house at the same time, for the first time in NBA history. It's coming people. Get ready. We're at the beginning of a golden age in NBA basketball and it's only going up. All the players I named with the exceptions of Kobe, Dirk, and Tony Paker were drafted after 2003 (the year of Lebron, D-Wade, Bosh and Melo). Not only are all of these players great but they're young. Really young. They'll still be around in 10 years and these 10 years will very likely be the best 10 years the NBA will see for a long long time. So as the ball goes up and the records go down the only question is, will you be watching?

What'd you expect me to write this on?

Contrary to popular belief, THIS is the most wonderful time of the year.  December is great with the holidays and the bowl games but you cannot honestly tell me that it's better than the NCAA tournament and the start of Spring.  The only question is whether to go outside or inside and the only answer is depends on what day it is.  For the purpose of this blog I'm going to focus on Thursday-Sunday when the answer is clearly stay in.

As I said, bowl games are great.  There are match ups every night that you otherwise would never see, but they don't really count for anything.  On the other hand right now there are games going on constantly that you would never otherwise see that matter, and they mean everything to everybody.  Theoretically all 65 teams that make the tourney have an equal chance to win.  Obviously talent and such comes into it and those odds are greatly skewed but no one would argue that each team, player, and coach in the tournament has an equal chance to go down in history with their own unique tournament moment.  It can be a little guy on a little team like Bryce Drew and Valpo or a big guy on a big team like Hakeem Warrick with Syracuse.  Either way, all I have to do is say a name and the moments come to mind.  Drew, Warrick, Laettner, Valvano, and the list goes on.  From the first round to the championship game there is absolutely nothing like the moments in March.

Yes there are moments in other sports:  Manning to Tyree, baseball to the outfield behind Buckner, MJ's shot in the 98 finals.  But nothing is as pure as the excitement in college sports.  Its amateur athletes playing for school and personal pride.  They're also playing for us, the fans, and in particular us the students.  During the Big XII tournament Bill Self did one of the greatest thing I've ever heard a college coach do.  After his Kansas squad lost in the first round he took them back home and back to class simply saying "I'm going to let them explain to their classmates why they're back in class and not still playing basketball."  College sports is a "we" thing.  We as fans of the school that we attend or did attend can truly say "we".  Sure we say it all the time for our favorite pro sports teams but we're not really a part of that franchise and thus "we" aren't really "we".  I however am part of Middle Tennessee State University and thus I'm allowed to say "WE got hosed by the women's tournament selection committee" and I'm right on all accounts.

It's this personal connection that makes college sports great.  These are our classmates and friends and they are representing us.  Add in the office pools with the lady who picks on mascots, the fact we can compare brackets with our President, the endless list of memories that is ever expanding, the constant David vs Goliath match ups that inevitably give way to epic Goliath vs Goliath match ups and you've got something special. It's one amazing month that culminates in "One Shining Moment" so sit back, relax, and enjoy the real most wonderful time of the year.

I Hate You

Its no secret what drives sports.  It's the fans.  It's my teams better than yours and you're gonna like it.  This is taken to the extreme in rivalries.  This is the case for two reasons.  One, rivalries are often geographic and thus the fans know each other and the smack talk is real.  And, two, the players often don't like each other and this elevates the rivalry to a whole new level.  Two rivalries in sports often seem to transcend all others and I have a rooting interest in both: Yankees/Red Sox and Duke/UNC.  And since the Tarheels and my beloved Blue Devils are squaring off this weekend I figured I'd explore these rivalries and some other ones that make sports great.

1) Yankees/Red Sox

I'm not going to rank the rivalries because I haven't been able to experience all of them but if I was this one would no doubt be number 1 for one simple reason, it's a national rivalry.  No matter where you go there are always Yankees fans and there are always Red Sox fans.  It's "the nation" vs "the evil empire".  It's hard for people in the south to understand the depth of this rivalry because its a pro sports rivalry but up north, where this rivalry is centered, fans have the passion for pro sports that fans down south have for collegiate teams.  That being said all rivalries are made by the moments and no rivalry has the moments that Yankees/Red Sox has.  From Bucky "Bleepin" Dent to fights to Aaron "Bleepin" Boone to more fights this rivalry has enough moments to make the ESPN montage people giddy.  The next element of a rivalry is history.  This rivalry involves two of the most storied franchises in baseball history.  The Yankees: 26-time world champions and many of the greatest names ever to play the game.  And the Red Sox: 4-time world champions, also many great players, and one of the most storied title droughts in sports history. 

That's where this rivalry gets fun (and for me as a Yankees fan starts to suck): in 2004 the Yankees and Red Sox were playing in the ALCS and the Yankees had a 3-0 lead in the series and a lead in the 9th inning of what should have been the decisive game 4.  Instead the Red Sox had a 9th inning comeback and the first 3-0 series comeback in MLB history with the aid of a bloody sock and a few idiots and more history in this rivalry was made.  It's this combination of monumental moments mixed with monumental history that elevates this rivalry above all others.

2) Duke/UNC

This weekend the #1 and #3 teams in the country are meeting in Pittsburgh yet you've heard nothing about it.  Instead you've only heard what's going to happen in Chapel Hill where Duke and UNC will square off yet again.  These teams always meet twice a year and often a third time in the finals of the ACC tournament and every time is an event.  This rivalry has every aspect of the Yankees/Red Sox matchup except the national fan bases.  It has the names: Jordan, Carter, Stackhouse, Wallace, and Felton for UNC and Hill, Lattener, Redick, Williams, and Battier for Duke that are permanently printed in college basketball history (not to mention that Hansbrough fellow who will pass Redick as the ACC's all-time leading scorer by the end of the year).  It also has the moments: Jason Capel's half-court shot in '94, Chris Duhon's reverse lay-up ten years later, Gerald Henderson breaking Psycho-T's nose, and of course Speedo Guy.  Finally it has the history:  the teams have met 124 straight times when at least one of the two teams were ranked, including 65 when both have been.  Also as a fun fact, the first ever "air-ball" chant occurred in this rivalry per the Cameron Crazies.

3) Intrastate Hate

In some states there are a multitude of teams that all can't stand each other.  Florida has Miami, Florida, and Miami in a triangle of football powerhouses.  California has USC, UCLA, and Cal all in the LA area.  Texas has Texas, Texas Tech, and Texas A&M.  These states don't seem to have the hatred that states like South Carolina, Alabama, Oregon, and Arizona which all have 2 premier athletic schools both of which are state schools.  Clemson and South Carolina, Auburn and Alabama, Oregon and Oregon State, and Arizona and Arizona State all divide their respective states in two.  Even if you are a fan of another team you like one more than the other.  You have no choice.  Now add in the various fights (see Clemson/USC in 2004 with Dr. Lou in the middle), daily trash talk, and recruiting battles and you've got what makes sports great on a day to day basis.

4) Ohio State/Michigan

In terms of passion college football probably takes the cake nationwide and Ohio State/Michigan is historically the cream of the crop when it comes to college football rivalries.  Heisman winners such as George, Howard, Woodson, and Archie Griffin (the only two-time winner) have laced it up in The Big House and The Horseshoe for THE Ohio State and the Maize and Blue.  This rivalry however hit its peak in an era known as the ten-year war from 1969-1978 when Bo Schembechler was walking the sides for Michigan and Woody Hayes for Ohio State.  Schembechler was an assistant under Hayes and an Ohio State grad who invented what it meant to be a Michigan man.  Over the ten year period Michigan went 5-4-1 giving the student a slight edge over the teacher.  Since the ten year war the rivalry has continued to be one of the greatest in sports giving us moments like Desmond Howard striking the Heisman and Charles Woodson paying homage to him years later.  Also in 2006 it gave us a thrilling #1 vs #2 match up on the last Saturday before Thanksgiving for a spot in the national title game.

5) Other Honorable Mentions

There are many other great rivalries in sports and there are many top 5, top ten, and top (insert number of rivalries you want to rank here) lists out there and here are a few that always make those lists:

• Cubs vs Cardinals-Two franchises with great history and a great rivalry because of their division battles and close proximity.
• Pittsburgh vs West Virginia-called "The Backyard Brawl", these two rivals play every year in football at the end of the season and in recent years Pittsburgh has ruined high hopes for West Virginia including a shot at the national title game in 2007.
• Celtics vs Lakers-This rivalry is finally back after a 20 year hiatus by the Celtics from basketball's elite.  It all started in the 60's and hit its height in the 80's with the epic battles between Magic and Bird and is now fresh again with Kobe and crew versus the Big 3.

These are just some of the rivalries that make sports great.  There are many more from the pros all the way down to rec leagues across the country.  All of these rivalries have their unique aspects yet all have the same ingredients that make them great.  So as you sit down to watch Duke and UNC hopefully battle twice in a week remember you're watching part of history.  So pick a side and root hard.  And if you pick the lighter shade of blue, I won't like you.  Nothing personal though.