Jack’s Blog

It’s off to SoCal and an AAU tournament - the first that son Alex will perform before NCAA coaches.  No pressure on him.  How he does could determine the course of his life - for the next 50+ years.  Relax and enjoy it.  Jack’s Blog will return Sunday.

Yeah, it’s good news - for David Lee.  We often hear about “character” guys in professional sports.  David Lee is the poster child for character guys.   No one with the talent Lee possesses and the effort he exerts - every night - should be stuck in such a mess as is the current Bockers.  Now that they’ve shelled out a max contract for Stoudamire, the Knicks will be forced to let Lee go.  Hooray for Lee! 

Some have asked why Amar’e would go to a club like the Knicks - a perennial loser with awful chemistry, led by Stoudamire’s former coach (whom he butted heads with often in Phoenix) and with no one at the point closely resembling Steve Nash?  Amar’e is considered a defensive liability - so that would explain why he’d want to play for Mike D’Antoni, a brilliant offensive mind who feels defense is something to be tolerated until you can get the ball back.  As for his feelings for Nash, please see my 7/1/10 post regarding Amar’e and it will explain why he doesn’t mind leaving his meal ticket.  Hint: I think he felt if anyone was anyone’s meal ticket, he (Amar’e) was the benefactor.  

Money is the one word answer that explains his decision.  In most players’ minds, that’s what matters.  “Rings” may separate players from each other but money is what separates them from the rest of society - especially the “haters” as they’re referred to.  Teachers are often placed in that category.  And why shouldn’t money be a determining factor?  After all, only one team is going to win the championship and each team begins the year as a 29:1 underdog.

Plus, should there be a lockout after next season, as many expect, Stoudamire doesn’t exactly possess an abundance of skills outside of those that make him one of the game’s best power players, so to lock in that kind of cash sets him up for life.  All his talk at the press conference about the tradition of the Knicks, being in New York and winning championships means squat when someone is putting a nine-figure deal in front of you.  Ditto for Joe Johnson and his agent’s spiel about how, now that Joe inked a max deal - 6 years for $120 million (put your arms around those numbers), his next move is to woo other stars to join him in Atlanta.  Yeah, Joe, the city that’s possibly the worst major market professional sports city in America.  One of the reasons you said you were looking to move.  Could leaving approximately $30 mil on the table had you signed anywhere else have been a factor in you choosing to stay with the Hawks?

Money means a lot to a good portion of society, more so in the NBA because, paraphrasing Mark Victor Hanson:

“Some people tie their self-worth to their net worth.”

Theories, gut feelings and “inside information” (usually by that famous, all-knowing anonymous source) about which free agent is going to pair up with whatever other free agent or whatever current all-star(s) to form a formidable team have been running rampant for quite some time.  Well, at least since last Thursday.  Listening to the talking heads, whatever combination-of-the-day that eventually becomes reality ensures that franchise of not only next year’s Larry O’Brien trophy, but multiple “rings” (which used to be called championships back in the day when people spoke more about team accomplishments than the jewelry that was given to the individual).

A few days ago, it looked like Miami was going to have the Big 3 (Wade, James & Bosh).  Then, following Friday’s meetings, the front runner looked like the Knicks, after seeing and hearing an excited Mike D’Antoni.  Yesterday’s dynasty in the making was Chicago, who would be able to field a team, if all the pieces fell into place, of Derrick Rose, Dwayne Wade, LeBron James and Joakim Noah.  No one mentioned who the fifth starter would be.  Possibly, those four would be enough for the Bulls to place an order with Josten’s.

Once everything finally shakes out and the superstars realize that, while all this attention is intoxicating, they can only play for one team, the next step will be for lesser players to cash in on contracts that, in “normal” times, no owner in his right mind (which includes nearly all of them) would dole out.  This syndrome is similar to the average guy who gets the prom queen because she was on the rebound.  In this case, “lesser” does not refer to guys like Carlos Boozer or David Lee - deserving players whose performances have earned them a big paycheck) - but more like Darco Milicic, Drew Gooden and Tyrus Thomas - guys who have already been offered contracts that are so vastly overpaying them that they ought to collect their checks wearing a mask and carrying a gun.

When this circus finally ends, the NBA will be left with the new superpowers, the  franchises with talent (not only the Lakers and the Celtics, but the Spurs, Magic, Thunder, Jazz, Mavs and probably a few others).  The newly formed mega-team (NFMT) against the Lakers will be must-see TV.  The Celtics vs. whichever other newly formed mega-team (WONFMT) will also peak viewers’ interest - at least the first couple times they face off. 

On the other hand, the teams that weren’t good before and weren’t able to improve will be fodder for the those the first two groups.  This has been the case in the past, but this year’s, for lack of a better word, collusion by the top free agents has not only widened the gap between the clubs that will be able to place a competitive squad on the court and the bottom feeders, but increased the number of those bringing up the rear as well.  Without help, e.g. rookie surprises or divine intervention, there will be some really bad, as in unwatchable, games next season.  

Should things stay as they are, Indiana or Toronto (or the Cavs if LeBron leaves - or, worse, Miami if DWade DParts) vs. NFMT or WONFMT (or for that matter, even the Lakers) will be watched in its entirety by only family members or those who placed a wager on the over-under.  Also, there will be more “bad team vs. bad team” games.  If those teams thought they had attendance problems in the past, be prepared to close about half the concession stands and lay off a great many ticket takers and ushers.

The players who are reveling in all this attention and reaping in the cash now ought to enjoy it because, unless I’m missing something, all that’s currently going on will come back to haunt the (highly paid) worker bees (that includes every NBA player) when the new CBA is drafted, as all this outlay of funds has to strengthen the owners’ case when bargaining time arrives.  A couple of superstars/per team will be highly paid, the rest of the guys - probably including starters - will be making minimum.   

In a battle of monetary attrition between owners and players, my money (however little of it I still have) is on the owners.  Although it was around a century ago that George Washington Carver said the following, it rings so true today:

“We have become 99% money mad.  The method of living at home modestly and within our income, laying a little by systematically for the proverbial rainy day which is due to come, can almost be listed among the lost arts.”�

There’s one thing that’s the same for all of us, independent of how much - or little - money we have.  That thing is time.  Each person has 24 hours in a day.  The difference is how we choose to use that time.

One of the most difficult challenges in life is balancing work and family.  Coaches, especially those who are ultra-competitive, are a highly driven bunch.  In addition, the great ones (and to be honest, the not so great ones) form such a tight bond with their teams that that group becomes, as corny as it sometimes sounds, their second family.

So, although Doc Rivers’ older two children, Jeremiah and Callie, are student-athletes in their senior year in college, the former a basketball player at Indiana, the latter a volleyballer at Florida, and his second son, Austin, a star hoopster at Winter Park (FL) HS, he’s decided to return to coach the Boston Celtics.  Is he choosing work over family?  Hardly.

Four years ago, Doc reportedly spent over $200,000 of his personal money to charter planes to be there at his kids’ games.  It made for a hectic schedule but for guys like Rivers, it’s the only way he’d have it.  Work and family.  Expensive, time consuming, tiring - but worth it.  He happens to be someone with two passions - and finds makes the time to successfully accomplish both at championship levels.

As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, I enjoy audio books when I’m driving.  One I recently listened to was entitled Fifth Quarter by Jennifer Allen.  Other than the fact that it must have been a cathartic experience for her to do the book, I can’t imagine why someone would publicly go into detail assassinating her entire family.  The contents of the book might be the topic of a blog someday, but for now, suffice to say that when Papa George did find time to drag away himself from his job to spend with his family, he - and they - were miserable.

On the other hand, Tony Dungy, no less a coach in the win-loss column than Allen, managed to strike a balance between his two families - the biological one and the team he happened to be in charge of - by encouraging his assistant coaches to have their wives and children around the team and the franchise’s facilities as much as reasonably feasible.

Another coach, Phil Jackson, whose family is grown, but whose body is broken down, made the identical decision as Rivers - even though he has yet to sign a contract and there have been rumors that, while Laker owner Jerry Buss wanted his leader to return, he planned on cutting his $12 million salary in half.  I imagine Phil will get his dough (in addition to the $12M, he received another couple mil for winning the championship).  It just seems that coaching and the competitive drive fuel these guys - so much so that, although one would be content watching his children play and the other happy to allow his body to heal, their lives would somehow be incomplete without their profession.

After Doc’s performance as head coach following the acquisition of, among others, Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen, I would imagine the Celtics, who compensate him quite handsomely, have inserted a clause which states that he needn’t shell out his own hard earned cash in order to maintain a somewhat normal relationship with his wife, Kris, and their four children.  Leading a team to two NBA Finals in three years, winning one and going to a Game 7 in the other, earn a coach a longer leash.            

Meanwhile, keep in mind that a man of this makeup doesn’t want to leave his other family, especially when the window for winning is closing fast.  That’s why Doc said, “We want to go after it one more time with this group,” meaning, in all likelihood, that Paul Pierce, who recently opted out of his contract to be a free agent, and Ray Allen, whose contract is up, will be offered contracts and will most likely rejoin the Celts to make another run at a title - one they felt, barring the injury to center Kendrick Perkins, would have been their second in three years. 

Rivers’ priorities are properly in line and even the most cynical critic can’t question his integrity, work ethic or results.  The wrap up quote belongs to Doc: 

“It’s not the perfect way to live, but it’s the right way.  I know there are Boston fans out there who think I should live up there.  But if it comes down to upsetting a million people in Boston, or the five people in my family, I’ll figure out a way to deal with the million.”

As the world knows by now, this is the “Year of the Free Agent.”  Never before has there been so much proven talent available to NBA teams.  Although LeBron James is the pearl of this free agent class, followed by Dwayne Wade and then Chris Bosh, there are several other players who have put up BIG numbers.  And those stats weren’t accumulated during high school, college or even in an overseas professional league.  These figures come out of the NBA office.

Some of the gaudiest totals belong to Amare (excuse me for excluding the accent, but I’m not nearly familiar enough with the fonts, etc. to figure out how to include it) Stoudamire.  Basketball people, media members and fans have often compared Steve Nash and Stoudamire to John Stockton and Karl Malone.  Each duo is composed of a crafty (relatively) little white guard and a physically imposing, skilled black forward - with both of the pairs executing pick & roll basketball to perfection, winning way more games than they lost, yet unable to win a championship.  The comparison is an understandable one.

To briefly make my point (and for those who know me, being brief will be more shocking than had I put the accent in his first name), a major difference I’ve observed between the Stockton-Malone combo and the Nash-Stoudamire pair is that Karl seemed to appreciate John a whole heckuva lot more than Amare does Steve.  “Why?” you might ask.  Since I spent 30 years in the world of college basketball, I tend to overemphasize the importance of “the college experience.”

For quite some time I’ve felt that guys who made the jump directly from high school to the NBA (excluding Kobe Bryant whose “out-of-high-school” education came from growing up in a foreign country) haven’t been exposed to enough of a variety of people, be they of similar age (fellow students) or older (coaches, professors, secretaries, staff, etc.)  While it may not necessarily be the determining factor to greater maturity, in my experiences, those youngsters (for the scope of this blog, from the U.S.) don’t seem as socially ready for NBA life.  This is not to infer that attending a university will mean a college player who enters the NBA will be fully (or, in some cases, even partially) mature, nor will the year(s) spent on a college campus eliminate selfishness from a player.  The counterexamples to that statement would be a figure that could be expressed in scientific notation (with 10’s exponent being a positive number for those technical critics).  It’s just that the social experience, if nothing else, adds a little something extra to a person’s life.

I’m not saying that they learned it at Gonzaga and Louisiana Tech, respectively, but Stockton and Malone seemed to have a unique mutual respect for each other, kind of like, “Sure, I could go it alone and be successful, but I’d never reach the level of proficiency I have without you.”  Maybe it’s my personal prejudice against guys who made the leap directly into the league that’s obscured my hearing but I don’t recall Stoudamire being anywhere near that appreciative of Nash.  While I’m not saying Nash claims he can’t survive without Stoudamire, keep in mind that Amare isn’t the first player for whom Steve has gotten easy looks, i.e. while they’re dynamite together, I believe the big guy needs his current partner more than vice versa.

Stoudamire is reportedly miffed that no one (to date) has offered him a max contract.  Whether my theory is the reason he isn’t receiving the love (and money) he feels he has “earned,” it would still be wise for him to follow the advice of Dr. Christine Northrup:

“Feeling grateful or appreciative of someone or something in your life actually attracts more of the things that you appreciate and value into your life.”�

I’m just not sure what. 

To have a countdown is good theatre but is it that important?  Unquestionably, LeBron James is the most high profile athlete to be on the open market, so to speak, yet where he winds up is limited to a handful of teams, each of which has its reasons why LBJ should establish residence there but anointing this newly formed squad as the latest dynasty might be a little (lot) premature.

Keep in mind that in 2003-04, the Lakers signed Gary Payton and Karl Malone to go along with Kobe and Shaq.  At the press conference, Payton made the classic comment, “You can’t double team all of us.”  On the flipside, I remember wondering how anyone was going to score on them.  In Payton, they had “The Glove.”  Kobe was a lockdown defender even that far back, meaning those two could match up with the best two perimeter players the opponent had, leaving the weakest of the three for whoever would be the fifth starter.  Karl Malone could defend any power forward in the league and just Shaq’s physical presence was enough to enable him to guard a center.  

Yet, not only did they not win it all, they only managed to win one game in the finals, losing 4-1 to Detroit.  Sure, there were injuries - but who’s to say this new superteam that LeBron and whatever other free agent(s) decide to join him, combining with that team’s nucleus, e.g. DWade, or Rose and Noah, or whoever’s left with the Cavs, Knicks, Clippers or even some mystery team - doesn’t encounter the same fate? 

Plus, even with all that megatalent, they won’t exactly have a corner on the superstar market.  I don’t see Kobe joining that bunch and rumor has it that he’s a rather competitive sort, someone who might cotton to the challenge of taking on all comers - especially a “stacked” team.  And, in the process, win his third straight title.  Lest we forget, wherever LeBron takes his talent (unless he fulfills Tiger’s wish), his new (or old) club will be attempting to dethrone the two-time champs.

Then there are other factors that play just as big a role as where the King and his new court, eventually settle.  With the remainder of the talented free agents, how the draft picks perform, sign and trades, and other wheeling and dealing that inevitably will ensue, there are so many other combinations that could arise that one of them, possibly, on paper, could look just as formidable, if not a tad better, than the much awaited consortium, in the process making the new “Unbeatables” the underdog.

Next, throw in the coaching changes that currently exist.  It looks like a few of the soon-to-be co-favorites (Bulls, Cavs and Clippers) will be coached by assistants who have yet to call a time out or by a coach with minimal head coaching experience.  Include the possible (probable?) coaching changes to each of last year’s finalists and it makes for interesting barroom chatter. 

This blog has done nothing but muddle the picture, so the quote that will further confuse the reader.  It’s by that well-known basketball aficionado, William Butler Yeats, and has to do with those fans who dream of multiple championships when the smoke clears:

“But I being poor have only my dreams.  I have laid my dreams beneath your feet.  Tread softly because you tread on my dreams.”

This year is Larry King’s 25th anniversary with CNN.  There can’t be anyone with more connections than Larry King.  He gets nearly everyone he wants on his show.  His guest last Friday night was this (or any other) year’s most sought after NBA free agent, LeBron James.

LeBron, looking extremely relaxed, fit and comfortable (as well as completely recovered from the Cavaliers’ season-ending defeat in the second round of the NBA playoffs), answered the questions Larry (I’ll go to a first-name basis since they’re both referred to as “The King”) posed.  Naturally, a good many of those dealt with his impending decision regarding where he’ll be playing next, and likely, several more years to come.

When Larry brought a small sheet with notes and queried LeBron if he planned on getting together with the other free agents, this being the greatest assembly of talented free agents ever (Wade, Bosh, Stoudemaire, Johnson, Nowitzki, Lee, others) and plotting where each would play, LeBron joked about that being like a “Free Agent Committee.”  Larry agreed, stating that since they all were free agents, the league couldn’t prevent them from doing that - a suggestion I’m sure which was well-received by David Stern.  LeBron, who emphatically agreed with Larry’s crowning him the ringleader of such a group, seemed to think that, while it might not be “to that extent,” it would be intriguing.  I’m not certain LeBron used the word “intriguing,” yet for a guy who never went to college, he was remarkably poised, although he did occasionally butcher the English language as well as repeated the word, “absolutely” a seemingly infinite number of times.

“You go play here and I go here, . . . ” Larry hypothesized, to which LeBron answered something to the extent that it would be interesting for those guys to get together and do what they could to improve the league, another welcome idea for Stern and the league office to ponder.  Just for kicks, let’s say that these “power-brokers” in fact did decide to plot each other’s course - naturally, with the sole intention of making the league stronger. 

LeBron even mentioned that if it were baseball, they all could go to the same team.  (Hey, why not send Bud Selig to the asylum to give David Stern some company)?  Since they couldn’t, LeBron did propose that some guys could pair up while others would go to locations to be determined by this new cartel.  Since there are 30 NBA teams and, at last count, there aren’t nearly that many free agents who could improve all of the franchises, how, exactly, would this news be welcomed in one of the have-not cities?  Sounds like the makings of a sequel for George Orwell.

As far as where LeBron might wind up, does anybody else find it strange that the Cavs fired their coach and Danny Ferry, their GM, just resigned?  Could those moves mean that, in addition to being able to offer LeBron more money than anyone else, Cleveland might just let him have “considerable” say to who the new coach and general manager would be?  The Cleveland Cavaliers have taken after actress Gena Rowlands who once said:

“I can never have a poker face.  Anybody looking at me can tell exactly what I’m thinking.”        �

One of the first blogs I ever did (4/28/07) was on the NFL draft.  After hearing the hype about this year’s crop, I went back into the archives (you need to click on Aug, ‘07 to get to any blog pre-Sept, ‘08 due to technical incompetence) and re-read what I wrote.  If you don’t think everything still applies, let me know.  

OK, It’s Not a Science. What Is It? Home Ec?
Forever, we’ve heard that draft day is so difficult for professional teams. No one’s sure which list is longer - first rounders who became busts or low draft picks (or even free agents) who became All-Stars.

Each year, greater technology is used but it never ceases to amaze us how wrong certain picks can be. This has to be due to the human element. Way back when, guys were selected though what decision makers, e.g. owners, general managers, coaches, player personnel directors heard about the players from friends, other coaches, confidants and, who knows, maybe even fans or sportswriters. Now, we have combines (I thought that’s how wheat was harvested, not players) and tests, both psychological and written.

It would seem that watching a player play would be a better indicator than how fast someone runs a 40 (if a guy has a great 40 time, you’ll want to play him in case the other team has someone real fast who breaks away and you need to catch him, except when that happens, it’s too late to sub), how many times he can bench press 220 lbs. (”Boy, he looks awful on video but how can we pass on some so strong?), how high he can jump (jumping doesn’t seem to be in the top 5 talents needed to play football) or how well he scored on a test (remember, many of these guys haven’t taken a test without the help of a tutor in years).

Coaches always say, “The film doesn’t lie,” yet film be damned when it comes to evaluating talent (”Just let me see him at the combine or in an individual workout) - where the are no fans screaming, there’s no “team” scoreboard on and the competition are stop watches, free weights and sticks coming out of a pole.

Call me old-fashioned (because I probably am), but watching a player in person - on film if being there’s not possible - of course, taking into account who the opponent is and calling on people you can trust (relationships made throughout a long career) has to be more reliable. Some guys are magnificent performers “until the lights go on” - and with the money and future (your job!) being invested, you’d want to be as certain as possible.

Naturally, one-on-one interviews are a must, but, again, some people can fool you. Using all the modern methods of information gathering isn’t a waste, but the greater variety of these tools used, the greater number of egos become involved. You may tell me he’s fast, but I want to time him (or have one of my people do it). A psychologist has mounds of empirical data from a test (s)he’s developed, along with accuracy of prediction of success. Having things you can trust (a pair of eyes which have watch thousands of hours of video) and an experienced mind (who’s he compare to from years past?) and the opinions of people you would select to be in a bunker with you if it came to it ought to make you more comfortable than a new breed of “experts.”

When it comes to technology, I agree with Dale Carnegie:

“As technical skills have gotten better, communication skills have gotten worse.”

The overwhelming majority of people in and out of football - from those who know just a little something about the game to the “experts” claim that quarterback is the most important position on the team.

If that’s so (and who out there says it’s not?), then using a draft pick - especially a high one, e.g. the first three rounds - must take considerable thought and planning.  Yet, a number one overall pick like Peyton Manning threatens to break every record for that position in the history of football, while a number two overall pick (the same year) like Ryan Leaf threatens seemingly everything (and everyone) else.  Tom Brady gets drafted late and several other QB’s go before him.  I’d imagine there was considerable reevaluating the draft decisions that year. 

Bill Parcells, legendary coach and now president of the Miami Dolphins, seems to have found the “Rules to Draft by” when it comes to picking future signal callers.  These were announced during last night’s Dolphins-Jets Monday Night Football game and, while they may seem rather restrictive, Parcells (and his track record in the game) are not to be scoffed at, lest the “scoffer” be ready for battle, as Parcells has be known to threaten a time or two.

Whatever the case, here are the Tuna’s rules for drafting a quarterback:

1) He must be a senior.  (Bill’s not known for his patience and, usually, the younger the QB, the more time he takes to properly master the job).

2) He must be a graduate.  (Hey, if you’re paying your guy a lot of money and he’s going to handle the ball on every offensive play, he’d better not be a quitter.  Rather, you want someone who takes his responsibilities seriously, e.g. no blowing off the spring semester to get ready for the combines).

3) He must be a three-year starter.  (Once again, a lot of dough, as well as a good portion of the game plan, goes to this guy and it would be awful to get stuck with a “flash-in-the-pan,” someone who waited, got his opportunity but what was overlooked, was that he took over a veteran team that only needed someone to keep a ship from sinking, not one to direct it to the shore).

4) He must have at least 23 wins.  (It’s too easy to put up big numbers with a losing team who chucks it 50 times a game). 

Very stringent demands and not every year will they be met.  That must be exactly what’s behind the big guy’s thinking.  And if no one meets the standards, there’s always a trade, or easier yet, free agency.

After watching the show Chad Henne put on last night - in a game that Steve Young called the best duel he’d ever seen between two young QB’s (and Steve’s someone with the creds to judge quarterbacks), the Dolphins seem to have found their quarterback of the future - and maybe, the present.  Then, again, one-year-starter Mark Sanchez (whom even his own college coach, Pete Carroll - also no stranger to success - said he needed another year of college) looked mighty promising.

Yet, one of the qualities a leader must have is decisiveness and Parcells certainly qualifies in that category.

I have no idea who Eric Langmuir is, but, when his quote is put in the context of drafting a quarterback, it becomes one of the greatest understatements of all time:

“A decision without the pressure of consequence is hardly a decision at all.”

One of the industries hardest hit by the economy is college athletics.  With administrators coming to the conclusion (between 30-35 years later, depending on the institution) that when Title IX was passed in 1972, it meant it was a law, something that, if you didn’t follow, you would wind up paying dearly.  

No budget-slashing idea has caught on at the University of Tennessee where they make certain they’re in compliance, yet still manage to find upwards of $3.3 million - for salaries for their assistant football coaches.  That means if the Vols went 13-0 (a respectable year, from the fans’ viewpoint), their football staff, not including head coach Lane Kiffin (whose annual package is in the seven figure category, similar to the way it was when I got there in 1980 - except all seven figures are to the left of the decimal point, not just five of them like it was in those days), would cost the school over a quarter of a million dollars per game - and you’d be hard pressed to find a single soul in Knoxville who wouldn’t think every cent was justified.  Possibly because if they went 0-13, the cost would be even more - the $3.3 mil, plus moving expenses, a nationwide search and even more for the next coaching staff.  Orange might be the favorite color in TN, but green follows closely behind.

On the professional front (for some reason, UT is still considered amateur), Eli Manning recently signed a contract which will pay him an average of $15.3 million annually, exceeding his brother, Peyton’s, contract of $14.17 mil per year.  But don’t feel too sorry for his older bro; he’s more than making up the difference in endorsement dough (a talent he seems to have that might not equal his QB skills, but only because his QB skills are the best in the game - which, by the way, is why his next contract will be even more than Eli’s).  

And there will be a few other signal callers who will sign mega-deals, thanks to Eli - and David Tyree, the receiver who trapped the ball against his helmet, keeping what turned out to be the game winning drive alive - in the Super Bowl!  In the process, it cost me $240 in our annual  pool, which is based on scores of each of the participating teams at the end of each quarter (as if watching the Super Bowl isn’t entertaining enough).  One of my “boxes” (I sprung for $20 for two of them) had the AFC team’s final score ending in 4 and the NFC’s participant ending in 0, so a 14-10 Patriots’ victory would have suited me just fine.  Not because I wanted them to win - a Giants’ 20-14 would have been just as nice. 

So, with all my that money riding on the game, Tyree’s miraculous catch - under that kind of pressure - was nothing short of remarkable.  I guess that’s what separates the great ones from the guys who sit on the edge of their chair, waiting for the game to end, knowing if the Patriots can just shut down the Giants - and close out a 14-10 victory, I get what amounts to someone else making (one of) my February car payments.    

This past basketball season, many teams in the NBA “tightened their purse strings” during the free agency signing period, waiting to open up the pocketbooks and “let the green flow” when next year’s uber-crop of free agents hit the market.  The names of those who won’t have to worry about filling out the short form for quite a while are: LeBron James, Dwayne Wade, Chris Bosh, Amare Stoudemire, Paul Pierce, Ray Allen, Tyson Chandler, Manu Ginobili, Richard Jefferson, Joe Johnson, Tracy McGrady, Yao Ming, Dirk Nowitzki and Michael Redd.

This year’s belt tightening meant Hedo Turkoglu who, at 6′10″ can run the NBA’s offense-du-jour-decade (the pick & roll/pop), left Orlando, where he played more than a bit part in leading the Magic to the NBA Finals, to chase the money - all the way across the border, to Toronto, for the sum of $53 million over five years.  Chicago’s Ben Gordon, this century’s version of Vinnie “the Microwave” Johnson, i.e. a guy who can churn out points in huge numbers in a hurry (at both ends of the floor, but fans only know how many are at the offensive end - because those are the ones that are printed in the paper), turned down a $56 million/5 year offer from the Bulls before the season, then was offered only $51M/5yr following their playoff defeat to the Celtics in an epic seven-game battle.  He showed Chicago - by turning down that puny offer to sign a deal for an additional $4,000,000 from the Detroit Pistons (coincidentally, the Micro’s old squad).  What this means is he actually lost a million from the original offer he turned down.  You’re thinking, “So, he lost a million.  He’s still making an average of $11 mil/year for the next half decade.”  Go ahead, pooh-pooh it.  Just remember, a million here, a million there, it starts to add up.

The “making lemonade out of lemons” award goes to the Lakers who were snubbed by their young, talented forward, Trevor Ariza, a critical piece of their run to the title.  Ariza bolted LA for Houston and its five-year, $33 million offer.  How would the World Champs deal with the depletion of such a critical rotation player?  Simple.  Make the identical offer to Houston’s Ron Artest, essentially trading youth for experience - and, arguably, improving the champs’ roster.  And all it took was $53 million over five years.  Not sure I’d have made that deal but, then again, not having that Super Bowl money Tyree’s catch cost me is probably clouding my thinking.  

But for sheer, unadulterated spendthrifting (if that’s a word - and if it’s not, he could buy its way into Webster’s), Jerry Jones is right where he wants to be - at the top.  The size of scoreboard alone of his newest toy, the football stadium for his Dallas Cowboys, is 160′ x 72′ and weighs 1.2 million pounds - yet isn’t high enough to avoid a booming punt.  Jerry paid $1.15 billion (yeah, the amount Dr. Evil finally came up with) - and, I believe I read somewhere that with transactions such as these, all sales are final.  Somehow, I don’t think Jerry’s going to tire of his hobby anytime soon.  Anything over a cool bil kinda locks you in forever.       

The sporting world seems to have fallen in line with Oscar Wilde’s feeling toward “doing it huge:”

“Moderation is a fatal thing.  Nothing succeeds like excess.” �