Is It Just Me
So, I'm going through the digital cable scroll this evening to see what the hell I'm going to watch for an hour before "CSI" comes on, and I see that Comcast (our local cable subscriber for you non-Nashvillian's) has recently added TNTHD; which means we can watch "Law and Order" reruns all day in high definition I guess. I saw that the Heat/Nets game is on. So, I decided to check out some high definition NBA action. I'm watching this fairly boring game for like ten minutes when, through the announcers, I learn it's a playoff game.
Now, I mostly focus on baseball and football, but I consider myself a fairly well-rounded sports guy. I watch my Sportscenter everyday; I read the paper; I even get "ESPN" the magazine. Granted, any time some NBA highlights come up, that's when I usually go to the kitchen to get a drink or take a bathroom break. But still, this is ridiculous, it's the playoffs for christ sakes. I'm thinking back hard at this point and do remember hearing something Saturday about the playoffs starting, and I guess after that I just flat out forgot.
So, is it just me? Because I remember back in the Bull's run in the early to mid nineties, some of these playoff and championship games were getting Super Bowl esque numbers. I also remember the networks actually carried quite a few of the games. Now, ESPN and TNT are covering the majority of the event. I mean; I haven't really cared about the NBA for the last ten years, but I usually at least knew when the playoffs were going on, but this year I got stupid I guess.
The NBA has really taken a crushing in the past few years. There is no one on the planet that doesn't know the NFL playoffs are going on; I think even a few animals are aware. The baseball post season gets a hell of a lot of coverage even if the ratings aren't what they used to be. Even NASCAR and the PGA get quite a few commercials. But unless you're watching TNT or ESPN you are getting no notices on the NBA playoffs, and that is just sad. I could tell you what city a fucking car race is going to be in this weekend (and trust me, I fucking hate NASCAR) before I could name off all of the teams in the NBA post season. Maybe, it's just me; maybe I'm the lone idiot here, but I'm thinking I'm not.
posted by Jonathan @ 4/28/2005 10:38:00 PM
4 comments
4 Comments:
No. You're not a lone idiot. I, also, am an idiot.
Wait, neither of us are idiots. The NBA just sucks. And here's why:
1. The rise of the NFL. No question about it, the NFL is America's favorite sport now...by a large margin. NASCAR is slowly climbing too. Baseball grows a little every year but lost it's title as our country's pasttime because of the lockout.
2. No Jordan. Jordan wasn't the best because he could shoot better than anyone or play defense better than anyone or dunk better than anyone. He was the best because he could do all those things AND still be a team-oriented guy. He had excellent work ethic and character, and was a leader you could look up to.
Kobe and Lebron are good players (from what I hear, because I certainly don't watch), but they're no Jordan. In fact, they both sound a little like whiney bitches to me.
3. Quality of the game. Now this is the main reason I just don't care about basketball anymore, on any level. It's not even the same sport anymore...in college or pro levels (hell, even in high school). I grew up loving the game, watching Bird and Magic. Watching IU beat Syracuse in the National Championship. Today's basketball players are playing an ENTIRELY DIFFERENT GAME.
It's three and a half steps now instead of two (again, as in previous posts...rules are rules darn it, change the rule in the book or call it as written), which leads to rampant travels. It's flash and splash...dunks and alley-oops...It's street ball. The sport is obsessed with solo performance and flair. It's all showboat and no mechanics. Drives me insane and is, quite frankly, BORING!
4. Overall Thuggery. Refs get spit on and kicked in the stomach. Players charge the stands and punch out PAYING CUSTOMERS! Brawls on the court. Technical fouls.
Outside the court there's overall thuggery as well. Criminal behavior is rampant(and yes, the other sports leagues have this too, but not all of them as badly as the NBA, and this is just one of my many reasons...so back off).
4. b. Thugg/gangster/rapper chic. It's "how many tats can I have all over my body." It's "how many swear words can I drop in a locker room interview." It's "How baggy can my shorts be? Can the crotch of the shorts hang down below my knees? Great!" It's not a huge reason the sport is down, but it's a reason. White guys and black. Not a racial thing...it's a fashion thing.
And there you have it. My reasons on why the NBA sucks and is pulling in less viewers than before. If it was actual James Naismith (sp?) basketball...I might watch. But it's not. It's Future Robot Thug Ball where the rules don't count, punching is okay, and 7 foot guys are everywhere. It's just the single most individual-focused and selfish-centered team game on the planet.
The end.
Refereeing has also declined greatly, to the point that people don't trust the NBA anymore.
But that's a minor point, everything else you've mentioned is also true. They should either take out the three point line, or take Bill James advice and deregulate court size, hoop height, three point line, and free throw line distance, so that everyone has a different arena a la baseball.
It certainly isn't just you. The NBA really sucks now. There are too many sub-22-year-olds in the game. For every Lebron or Kobe, there's at least 5 who thought they could be Lebron or Kobe. The arguments for allowing people of this age to enter the NBA (or any sport) are ridiculous--I can't be a doctor if I don't go to medical school, so I don't know why an 18-year-old can assume to enter a profession that is at least 5 years ahead of his time. The problem is that there were some successes besides the aformentioned, like Kevin Garnett--and every kid in the world with some hoops skills thought they could be the same.
There's always the racial angle, blah, blah, blah--it seems as though this sport has been dominated by blacks for some time (well before I was born), and I loved the hell out of this product when it was Jordan and the Bulls, Larry and the Celtics, Magic and the Lakers. Charismatic people who were great at what they did and didn't spout Sprewell lines like, "I can't feed my family on this contract." (this line still irks me) And you have Allen Iverson who doesn't want to practice, and Ron Artest who doesn't want to exhibit human characteristics.
It used to be about skill. And Shaq is the number one star in this league, because he is 300 pounds and can pound people--not fun to watch, really. I miss good shooting. There are those who can do it every once in awhile, but stars they are not.
Don't forget to add Terrell Owens now to that list of ultra-millionaires who spout the "feed my family" line.
I think any pro athlete that uses that line should be incarcerated, because they lack common sense and basic math skills. And they're retards.
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