For Ball Fans Only!

Okay, this is my second post in a row about sports, but it is my first about the NBA. As of 3:00 PM EST today, the trade deadline has come and gone. For the teams who were able to make a move, the trades are having the effect of turning an already interesting and entertaining season into a puzzle that should provide an equally interesting and entertaining denouement.

However, this post makes no attempt to analyze the impact of those trades. I'll leave that to the "authorities". With eight weeks left to the season, I have taken the time to go through the remaining schedule and select what I will call "impact" games, which I will define as a game between teams of such quality which, on its face, would seem to be an exciting game to watch. These games should also have some measure of playoff implication, by providing a look at a team's relative strength when facing a quality opponent.

Of the remaining games in the NBA season there are, by my estimate, forty-eight (48) impact games. My task, performed for your benefit, was to narrow those forty-eight games down to the "ten must-see games" left in the NBA season.

A few qualifying facts are in order. First, the initial forty-eight impact games involve only nine teams: Boston, Detroit, New Orleans, Los Angeles (Lakers), Phoenix, San Antonio, Dallas, Houston, and Golden State. I have neither the time for, patience with, or interest in any of the remaining teams in the league. As such, the initial list, as well as the ten must-see games, reflect my subjective biases and prejudices as to what is and what is not good ball. I invite you to peruse the schedule and make your own choices.

And thus, with much fanfare and without further ado, the choices, listed in order of their occurence in time. Home teams are listed in bold, national network telecasts in parentheses. And if you don't have some kind of NBA package with your cable or satellite, what's up with that?

1. February 22 - Houston vs. New Orleans - New Orleans is currently tied for the best record in the Western Conference and many are questioning whether they truly belong among the league's elite. Houston is making their annual late push for the playoffs, having won ten in a row.

2. February 27 - Cleveland vs. Boston - Cleveland, having acquired Ben Wallace and Wally Szczerbiak, must demonstrate that it can compete with Eastern Conference stalwarts Detroit and Boston. This away game against the Celts gives them the opportunity.

3. March 2 - Dallas vs. Los Angeles (ABC) - Another team with plenty to prove is Dallas, who acquired veteran point guard Jason Kidd shortly before the trading deadline. By the time of this game, Kidd and the Mavericks should have had time to fully acclimate themselves to each other, and perhaps Kidd will have solved his shooting and turnover issues, and his tendency to take nights off from time to time.

4. March 5 - Detroit vs. Boston - The rubber and potential tie-breaking game between the titans of the East, with each team having previously won on the other's home court. Both teams have struggled lately, and both are currently in the middle of the tougher parts of their schedules. Additionally, home-court advantage throughout the playoffs is still in play between these two teams.

5. March 9 - San Antonio vs. Phoenix (ABC) - A reprise of last year's Western Conference semifinal. Phoenix has acquired the Diesel, while the Spurs have picked up Kurt Thomas. This one should be interesting to watch, especially if the Spurs have started their perennial second half surge.

6. March 14 - Los Angeles vs. New Orleans - Many are touting the Lakers as the team to beat, bar none. I'm skeptical. Going into New Orleans and beating the Hornets in their gym would offer some proof.

7. March 24 - Los Angeles vs. Golden State - Funny how the Lakers keep popping up, isn't it? This one should be flat-out fun, with Kobe, Baron, Stephen Jackson, and others. Look for the Warriors to issue a mild upset.

8. March 29 - Cleveland vs. Detroit (NBA) - Just when 'Sheed and the Pistons thought Ben Wallace had been rendered meaningless in Chicago, here he comes back to do battle with them for the Cavs. Look for a gritty, tough Central Division battle.

9. April 9 - Phoenix vs. San Antonio (ESPN) - This one will still have staying power.

10. April 13 - San Antonio vs. Los Angeles (ABC) - This game could portend the changing of the guard in the league - out with the old, in with the new. Are the Lakers really ready for a championship run? Stay tuned.

There you have it. Ten must-see games. And the beauty of it is that there are many other games which just as easily could fit in this category. I invite you to take a look and make your own choices. But most importantly, watch the games.

The NBA, it's fan-tastic.

No Diggity

Good Trumps Evil

Well, it's finally over. The drama, suspense, agony, and ecstasy of the professional football season is over. And guess what? The New England Patriots lost the Super Bowl, 17-14. That's right. Perhaps the 'greatest team of all time' with perhaps the 'greatest quarterback of all time' and the 'greatest coach of all time,' lost. And I couldn't be happier.

It's not so much that the good guys won. I mean, other than a New Yorker, who gives a rat's ass about the New York Giants? Other than Eli Manning, a rather bland fellow, and Michael Strahan, who can be marginally annoying, this group of champions are a mostly nondescript bunch. You don't hate them, but you don't love them either. At least, not until last Sunday night. We gotta whole lotta love for the G-Men now.

The Patriots, on the other hand, have provided a fair amount of drama all season. First, the cast of characters. At the helm, you have Tom Brady, the rather goofy-looking poster boy quarterback of the team, equally known off-the-field for dating the supermodel Giselle Bundchen and impregnating actress Bridget Moynahan. At wide receiver, you have the brilliant but previously troubled Randy Moss, who seemed to find himself again with this team, but who will be a free agent after the season. On defense, there is my homey (he hails from the suburbs of Chicago) Rodney Harrison, who was twice voted the NFL's dirtiest player by his peers, and was suspended four games this season for use of human growth hormone. There's also Junior Seau, who announced his "retirement" from the San Diego Chargers in August of 2006, only to "un-retire" 4 days later to sign with the Patriots. This is also the same guy who once jokingly uttered a racial slur against former teammate LaDainian Tomlinson ('the way to stop L.T. is to keep feeding him chicken and watermelon'). Finally, there's Richard Seymour, who was called "a dirty, cheap little pompous bitch" by San Diego Chargers center Nick Hardwick after the Pats beat the Chargers in the AFC Championship game earlier this year.

The Patriots started the year off with a cloud of shame, after it was revealed that they had been filming their opponents defensive signals from across the field, ostensibly to gain a competitive advantage. Further allegations have surfaced that the Patriots may have been employing this tactic for quite some time, and may have even filmed a practice of the St. Louis Rams prior to the Pats upset victory over the Rams in Super Bowl XXXVI.

Caught red-handed, the Pats took much umbrage at the notion that they were cheaters (true), or needed to cheat to win (debatable). Their extremely dour and ungracious coach, Bill Belichick, used the allegations as a rallying point for his team, with the Pats being determined to show the world that this was a great team - so much better than the rest of the league that cheating was at best, a superflous activity. The Patriots then proceeded on an impressive and unprecedented winning streak, finishing the season at a perfect 16-0.

It wasn't just that the Patriots won, it was how they won. Simply put, they ran up the score against their opponents. Scores of 38-7, 48-27, 49-28, 52-7, and 56-10 provided ample evidence to the league that the Patriots were indeed, a superior team. Long after games had been decided, the Patriots played their starters, scoring meaningless touchdowns, going for it on fourth downs, eschewing relatively easy field goal attempts. Belichick argued, unconvincingly, that his team needed to play a full 60 minutes of every game to prepare itself for their ultimate goal, the NFL championship.

And there's the rub. Anybody who has played competitive sports on any level at any time, either amateur or professional - or even video games for christ's sake - knows and respects that maxim that you do not rub your opponents face in crap. Now, there are exceptions for excessive trash talkers or to retaliate for a well-documented diss, but as a rule you do show some respect for a vanquished opponent. Once you've conclusively settled the outcome, you ease up and play your second or third units. Come to think of it, this doesn't just apply in sports, this is how civilized people behave generally.

And that's how the Patriots, a previously respected franchise on the verge of acheiving dynasty status, became symbolic of evil and all that can be wrong in the world. They became extremely....irritating. People all over the country suddenly became very interested in Patriot games, and not to see if they would run the table and finish the season undefeated. They wanted the evil guys to lose.

And for one of the few times in recent memory, judgment came swiftly and with finality. The Giants bitch-slapped and smacked the pretty boy QB in the mouth and showed that he too, is human. The Pats defense that was just good enough during the eighteen previous wins showed its age and vulnerability. The Giants played with guts, determination, and the gods were on their side when it mattered. And David Tyree made one hell of a catch.

Even more satisfying, it was a really good game, perhaps the greatest Super Bowl ever. After it was all over, as I watched the post-game stupefied looks of Brady, Belichick, Seau, and other Pats, one of my favorite lyrics from the 70's soul group The Stylistics came to mind:

"Payback is a Dog"

No Diggity