Optimism!!!

I think I can state all of us were probably optimistic last Thursday, from all media indications it appeared owners and players would meet on Friday and resolve the lockout but that wasn't to be. "We were had! Been took! Hoodwinked! Bamboozled! Led Astray!" I apologize I thought the Denzel Washington line in the movie Malcolm X might be appropriate. In any event the commish announced the balance of the November NBA schedule has been cancelled.

I finally understand
Why LeBron James is so universally disliked except South Beach. It's the over the top hype job done by the media, the chief culprit being ESPN television and ESPN.com. Recently ESPN.com conducted a survey to determine the number one player in the NBA, I didn't bother reading how the criteria was determined I knew ahead of time the results (maybe you did too). I've had to defend myself on numerous occasions regarding James and I will do so again. There is no doubt LeBron James is a tremendous talent, there are a number of players who would love to have his athletic ability. The downside is his head, he makes dumb off the court statements and moves which are often called into question. We must guess maturity is a factor in several of these decisions and statements. On the court his "disappearing" act has exhibited itself in crucial games over and over again. This disappearing act occurred in Cleveland and followed him to Miami. Someone said, "I doubt if any of James vehicles have a clutch in them!" How dare ESPN pronounce him number one, shame on you ESPN hype machine!

I said
Once If you have half an ounce of basketball potential somebody is gonna find you! With that said keep this name in your memory bank, Jordan Omogbehin. Omogbehin from Nigeria is enrolled at the University of South Florida. Can he play, I have no idea however he's 7-3 and from the YouTube video seems to move up and down the court swiftly. I'm unsure if he has a deceit shot because all I saw were dunks. Omogbehin will not gain NCAA eligibility until January at the very earliest.

Kemper Arena
A proposal to tear down Kemper Arena was recently announced by the Kemper family. This family named arena opened in 1974 and was home to the Kansas City Kings, NHL Scouts and soccer Comets. The building's rich history includes hosting the 1976 Republican National Convention. Kemper was to hold a number of Rock, Country and Soul artists and groups over the next 20 years. Numerous NCAA regional's were held in the building and the NCAA awarded Kemper the 1988 championship game. The year is significant because 1988 was the last year a championship game was held in a basketball designed arena, going forward football stadiums configured for basketball was the choice. Sprint Center which opened in 2007 become the destination of choice for sport and concerts once held at Kemper. Kemper certainly was adequate the problem were the streets surrounding the area. Streets were never upgraded despite earlier promises to address the traffic problems. Kemper's "one way in one way out" traffic patterns were a constant headache to most visitors. The flow of traffic in and out of Sprint Center is far superior to that of Kemper Arena, it's downtown location is the key.

Geography be damned!
"We don't care where we go as long as we get paid" is today's motto. That seems to be the theme with the continued effort to create super conferences, all these moves or potential moves are driven by money, football and the BCS. West Virginia to the Big XII, Morgantown is 5,000 miles from KU (okay I exaggerated a bit). Missouri shares a border with Kentucky, Tennessee and Arkansas of the Southeastern Conference, doesn't matter if you agree with the move they are nearby. Syracuse and Pitt in the Atlantic Coast Conference, the conference was dubbed Atlantic because the majority of schools are located quite near the ocean of the same name. Syracuse University in upstate New York probably lies farther away from the Atlantic Ocean than any other ACC school. Of course I've excluded Pittsburg which lies in Western Pennsylvania which is farther away from the ocean. Although there is some movement the schools dubbed mid-major remain pretty much intact.

A word to the wise ain't necessary - it's the stupid ones that need the advice.
Bill Cosby