Am I being fair

I make the statement because I think I might have been unfair to Commissioner Stern. Stories have circulated regarding "hawkish" owners but when time comes to deliver the bad news it's always David Stern's face on the screen. We don't see the Blazers Paul Allen or the Cavs Dan Gilbert two of the reported hard-line owners. We must face the fact--he works for the owners, it's his job to negotiate the best deal for them after all they pay his salary. I have issues with several of the statements he's made regarding the Lockout but they must taken in context. My chief complaint with Stern is his aggorance and condescending manner at times with all parties.

 

What, me worry?

Any of you old enough to remember Mad Magazine the What me worry is a comment associated with comic book character Alfred E. Neuman. Tom Izzo Michigan State coach might have adopted the line too, his team begins the season 0-2. Of course his team's first two games were against (1) North Carolina and (5) Duke, what should we expect? Two important facts, Izzo teams compete so let's not automatically assume this will be a down year for Michigan State. Second point, nobody can accuse Izzo of playing a soft non-conference schedule. Playing a tough non-conference schedule is often beneficial once March rolls around. I will be surprised, no shocked if his Wolverines are not invited to the "Big Dance."

 

Is it necessary

To have a basketball guy broadcast a game? I've posed this question in the past for several reasons. Somehow we assume a person with media credentials has carte blanche to broadcast any type of sport. My response to that statement is an emphatic nyet! I realize there are several broadcasters who are able to move smoothly between basketball, football or a multitude of other sports. TNT's Kevin Harlen, Marv Albert and Gus Johnson formerly of CBS come to mind as broadcasters who are able to do that. I think seem to succeed where others fail in their delivery and passion for the sport. On top of it all it just might be my imagination because I think there better. As for the others it's not the fact they are incapable it's just that I have identified them with another sport. An example is Mike Tirico ESPN/ABC announcer, I've always associated him with golf or the NFL. I'm disappointed when the network chooses Tirico to broadcast an NBA game. You must trust me on this portion of my story, while researching this I came across an interesting bleacherreport.com story. It was titled the "The 10 Best Current NBA Broadcasters," it listed Kevin Harlen at two and Marv Albert at number one.

Do you want this
We are not there yet but I have begun to entertain thoughts of cancelling the 2011-12 season. Of course I have no say so in this matter however my view of a shortened season is not thrilling. Of course I'd like some NBA basketball but I remember '98-'99, I remember how overall play suffered across the association. I also remembered how many games were squeezed into a February to April calendar. I guess cream does rise to the top because the playoffs were good as was the championship. Despite Phil Jackson's incendiary comments regarding the Spurs they are still recognized as NBA champions. For those unfamiliar Jackson was on record stating the Spurs should have an asterisk beside their championship. For baseball historians Jackson's statement was similar to the Babe Ruth-Roger Maris debate. In 1961 Roger Maris broke Babe Ruth's single season home run record. The commissioner ruled Ruth had hit 60 homers in a 154 game season, in 1961 Maris hit 61. The problem (at least for Commissioner Ford Frick) baseball expansion had increased the number of season games. Maris had set the record in a 162 game season. Back to the NBA I have listened and read abounding complaints on the length of it's 82 game season. I guess the thought of a smaller number of games is not the problem it's just the possibility of playing so many of them over a limited time-frame.

Pay attention
The Arizona Wildcats program has a rich and winning history, many of us tend to forget Lute Olson and his successful teams. The program stumbled a bit after Lute Olson retired, as Janet Jackson once proclaimed; "What have you done for me lately." Wildcats must have thought the programs best days were in the rear view mirror. The years between Olson's retirement and Sean Miller's hire were pretty average and certainly didn't come close to the team of the past. The 1997 NCAA Championship had become a distant memory to many Wildcat fans and along comes Sean Miller. After several stops as an assistant coach he was elevated to head coach at Xavier, he took the Musketeers to four NCAA tournaments in the space of five years. In 2009 Miller was hired as head coach at Arizona, this past season he led Zona to a 30-8 and 14-4 Pac 10 mark. I'm adding the Wildcats to my expanding list of teams to track this season.

“I can accept failure, everyone fails at something. But I can’t accept not trying.”Michael Jordan