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Philly new

I must replace my reporter, he’s supposed to always be scouting for new basketball stories and updates, he missed this one. To clarify the development in Philadelphia, an arena is going to be built replacing Wells Fargo Center present home of the Sixers and NHL Flyers. Instead of downtown as was originally planned the new arena will be constructed in South Philadelphia. As far as I can determine funding for construction would be provided by partners (Sixers & Flyers) plus Comcast Spectacor.

The groundbreaking ceremony for the arena is scheduled for 2026 with a planned opening in the fall of 2031. The architect firm for the project is Populus which is headquartered in Kansas City (MO). They are local architects with a national and international background who will take on this project. If this follows the trend of most arenas there will be a lesser number of seats but an enhanced view of the action on the floor. As for the opening of this account I cannot fire my reporter for a simple reason, whether he is me or I am him its clear he needs to do a better job regarding updates of stories especially those of a repeating nature.

I keep forgettin’

The title above references a 1982 hit tune by Michael McDonald played across a number of musical genres. Of course by now you have figured out sometimes a title has little if anything to do with the account you are about to read. Yes, I’m guilty, I keep forgetting some inside and others outside sports media are entertainers. I’ve always looked at what is written or said to be informative and that is not always the case. This might be artificial but sports media began a slow change IMO in 1979. That was the first year ESPN began broadcasting sports events, it has grown to the point where often those who deliver the word have become more important than the word they are reporting. You are familiar with the names and truth is the vast majority are employed by The Worldwide Leader, no need of giving them a greater voice due them by naming them. The issue is mine (and maybe yours), I want to become more informed about an athlete, his team or its front office politics.

Naturally, this calls for speculation at times by the reporter but that is actually okay for me. The Highway to the Danger Zone are the instances that media member becomes the “Coach/Manager, GM or owner.” If that media person fails to have access to all the information it becomes simply his or her opinion…it should be taken at that. The last sentence you just read is where I get in trouble, something is said in print or electronically and my initial response. “How did _______ come to that conclusion” without me failing to realize they are entertaining? Some of you reading this might believe it’s denigrating the role of sports media that is certainly not the case. My issue for several, when they receive pushback their response is sometimes “I have inside information or connections.” If you do name them otherwise it becomes your opinion only and not fact. I believe 98% of those in sports media perform an admiral service but the 2% make it intolerable for sports fans like me. This is how I address the issue, I no longer listen to local sports talk radio. I take this one step further by limiting the number of televised talk programs I view, in addition all pre-game, halftime and post-game conversation is omitted from my ears.

The word

Unlike the college season of 35+ games played by Cooper Flagg at Duke he’s about to face the real thing in a few short weeks. An 82 game season, it runs from the end of September through June for the two teams competing for the championship. I’ve stated over and over my belief that Flagg is the real deal however only outstanding competitive play on his part will prove me correct. The young man has already gotten off to an outstanding start for me, some of you might remember the Mavs grounded him after his second game.

Despite what they did this was his mindset, this from a Mavs front office person, “He shot like crap in his first game here (Las Vegas). Second game he dominated. We had a plan to play only two games. Cooper comes to us and the coaches and asks to play a third game. We laughed and told him, ‘No. Yours’re good.’ And he goes, ‘I just don’t want people to think the good game was a fluke.’ All we could do was laugh, but it shows how much he wants to be great.” If you are expecting Flagg to be a 30-10-10 guy you are in for a disappointment, that ain’t the game Flagg possesses. I believe Flagg is going to undertake all those key issues that are contributors to team success. I am unsure if just being named NBA Rookie of the Year matters for one simple reason. At least three Rookies of the Year with short NBA careers, they fizzled out after an outstanding rookie season.

Via Spotrac 

Different Numbers

NBA players love their jersey numbers, they love it to the point unless there is a trade or free agent move they always attempt to maintain it. We could look at Kobe Bryant first, he began his Laker career wearing number 8, eventually he would undergo a change and 24 would become the number familiar to most. As a youth in Adidas ABCD camp jersey Kobe wore 8 (1+4+3=8), in high school it was jersey 24. Where did Luka Doncic’s 77 come from, he was an admirer of Greek player Vassilis Spanoulis who wore number 7, the number was unavailable when he joined the NBA so Luka decided on 77 to honor his hero.

The Bulls retired 23 immediately after Michael Jordan left the NBA, when he returned to the game he wore 45. What caused the return to his prior number, former NBA player Nick Anderson made the statement “45 isn’t 23.” More recently this occurred with newly arrived Lakers, Deandre Ayton wore 22 with the Suns. That number was not obtainable since it was retired and belonged to Elgin Baylor Laker great but there is more. Jake LaRavia wore number 33 last season with the Kings, that number was not available because it belonged to the Captain, Kareem Abdul Jabbar. Major League Baseball retired number 42 in honor of Jackie Robinson, no baseball player after a time would be issued the number. In the NBA LeBron James wore number 6, the NBA honoring Celtic legendary great Bill Russell retired 6, LeBron changed his jersey to number 23.  

Best nickname

Nicknames place an athlete in exclusive company, generally speaking that name belongs to that athlete. The only feud I can think of as I’m writing this was between Dwight Howard and Shaq. Both claimed Superman as their nickname. Personally, my preference for Shaq was the ‘Big Aristotle.’ LeBron James was given ‘King James,’ which I never liked but that’s me, how about Kevin Garnett i.e. ‘The Big Ticket’? Back to Shaq, I believe he might have been the individual to tag Tim Duncan ‘The Big Fundamental.’ Big Kobe Bryant fan here, despite my statement I never embraced ‘Black Mamba’ although I guess he liked it, I think ‘A.I.’ was good because it does represent Allen Iverson.

‘The Klaw or Claw’ for Kawhi Leonard, I never use it although his huge hands and long arms are the basis for his nickname. There are at least two, ‘Air Jordan’ and ‘MJ’ for Michael Jordan, my preference is MJ of course. I guess Julius is a long name it became much easier and faster to simply say ‘Dr. J.’ The late Red Auerbach of the Celtics said this of Jim Barnes; “Jim’s many friends and associates affectionately called him ‘Bad News’ (for the damage he did to opposing teams and players, but he was always ‘Good News’ to me. He played defense on opposing players like a glove, they nicknamed Gary Payton ‘The Glove’ due to that fact. At Auburn he was dubbed ‘The Round Mound of Rebound,’ later in the NBA it became ‘Sir Charles’ for Charles Barkley. I preferred ‘Larry Legend’ for Bird over ‘The Hick from French Lick.’ Okay of all the names submitted which one is best for you, I’ve given you an indication of those I prefer.   

Wikipedia