Surprise, surprise

Many of you are probably not old enough I'm sure to remember the television program Gomer Pyle! Pyle had a classic line in almost every episode "surprise,surprise." That line would fit quite well. Words eye view was originally in email form to friends, co-workers and family. It kept increasing in length and scope and finally buddy Sean said, "why not in a blog?" I had no idea how to set up a blog so I called on my son Alan to assist me in sitting it up. The balance of the story is history with the exception of the surprise. Readers all over the world have discovered the link, I'm unsure if it's Americans or just folks who live there. Thank you for reading Words, hopefully I will be able to continue providing information, stories and insight on the game I love. Listed below are nations of the world Google indicates read Words eye view.

Malaysia     Sweden     Russia     United States

Germany     United Kingdom     The Netherlands

Canada     India     Denmark

Poland     Brazil     Hong Kong (PRC)

Interesting

SI.com ran a column on "20 Things We'll Miss About the NBA" and "20 Things We Won't Miss About the NBA." In the category we won't miss two items stood out for me. Item 8, Talk that LeBron might be better than Jordan and item 11 In-game interviews with coaches. I'm pleased somebody besides me realizes how stupid it is to even whisper LeBron might be better than Jordan. For the LeBron fans I would state their man should quite his choke jobs in the 4th quarter of key games. Second to that win at least one championship then he might be mentioned in the same breath as Jordan. As for item 11 I truly never understood why a television director thought it would be cool to interview a coach during a timeout or half-time. Coaches respond because they must (under penalty of a fine) most of their response to questions are interesting to say the least.

I've always liked Bryant Gumbel

But he's wrong this time! HBO's Bryant Gumbel concluding his Real Sports program with a statement regarding Commissioner David Stern that caught most of us off guard. I was surprised to hear Gumbel used the term "modern plantation overseer" applied to Commissioner David Stern. Is Stern arrogant, condescending most certainly! It's quite possible we could add several other adjectives but I don't think plantation overseer fits for several reasons. We are not granted the privilege to look inside someone's head (or heart) to determine their thinking or view of any subject matter. Gumbel certainly is entitled to his opinion but my disagreements with David Stern have not been along racial lines far from it. Stern assumed the role of commissioner in 1984 and through his leadership aided in the game's growth world-wide. It's possible other commentaries will be different this is the David Stern I remember. The Charlotte Bobcats had been proposed and two groups were vying for the franchise, one led by Bob Johnson former president and founder of Black Entertainment Television. The media was speculating which group would be awarded the franchise and I informed my wife Johnson would be the winner. Of course I turned out to be correct. In 1989 the Denver Nuggets were purchased by Peter Bynoe and Bertram Lee, although their stock shares total 37% the two were recognized as owners. At the time of the purchase the deal was about to fall apart Stern and others aided in keeping the negotiations alive thus allowing two African-American's ownership of a major professional sports team. Of course when Bob Johnson wanted to sell the Bobcats I'm sure David Stern was working behind the scenes to ensure the ownership remain in the hands of an African American. Finally we come to the recent sale of the Atlanta Hawks, the new owner once confirmed will be Alex Meruelo who will become the first Hispanic NBA owner.

Four questions

I pose three of the four with my son recently, keys I think to Missouri basketball. Two more verbal commits for 2012 for Haith and staff are the latest roster commits. 6-10 forward Stefan Jankovic who I wrote about last week. Originally from Serbia now lives outside Toronto. Jankovic attends Huntington Prep (WV) and is a teammate of
6-7 small forward Negus Webster-Chan. Domonique Bell a 6-4 shooting guard from The Tilton School a New Hampshire prep school gave his verbal as well. It was a very good Friday for the University of Missouri. Haith and staff will have a team comprised of their recruits next season. Four questions, can these guys play, can Haith coach? Which conference, SEC or Big XII? Last question will all recruits qualify academically? An attempt to answer these question can only be speculation at this point but that's the fun part. The two junior college players should have the easiest adjustment having played beyond the high school level. As for the true freshmen only time will tell on their adjustment to collegiate basketball. This should not be consider a knock against Mike Anderson but this mix of talent far exceeds any of Anderson's recruiting classes. Conference affiliation cannot be answered at this time, too many stories circulating as this is written. The same response with the academics, we assume these commits would qualify but there is no guarantee.

Validate

I'm sure you feel the same way I do, your view of a subject is validated by some other authority. That occurred recently in a Fox Sports.com story, NBA's 5 Worst Owners it was titled. James Dolan of the Knicks was number two but the number one worst owner was Donald Sterling of the Clippers.  Sterling's ownership reminds me and others of Ted Stepien former owner of the Cleveland Cavs. Although nothing official (to my knowledge) was ever produced I think Stepien was "forced" to sell the team by other NBA owners. In the three years Stepien owned the team he set a record for futility, firing and hiring coaches, trading key players even firing the play-by-play announcer.  Sterling is that close to duplicating Ted Stepien, wonder if the NBA will force Sterling out one day?

I'm ashamed of me

Because I am reporting a tabloid story, it's basketball related though. The media has been a-buzz with the news Kim Kardashian has filed for divorce from the Nets Kris Humphrey. The NBA lockout is in it's 124 day, this marriage lasted exactly 72 days.

Be not afraid of going slowly, be afraid only of standing still.

Chinese proverb