David Stern's Bittersweet Playoffs and the ISB rips another cantankerous columnist

A few thoughts as we embark on one of the better recent sports nights – two monster game 6’s and the Japanese Bukake Sequel at Fenway. Good times.

First, who is not staying up for tonight’s Golden State-Dallas Game 6? I’ll tell you who…about 75% of the country because of the late starting time. That is one thing that nobody talks about in this series – we have all heard how amazing the series has been, how Baron Davis (he of the pear-shaped head and beehive beard) has taken his game to the level he occasionally teases fans with, how Dirk disappeared at crucial moments for 4 and 9/10 games, only to come up big in the crucial 15-0 run at the end of Game 5, how the next step in Stephen Jackson’s insanity is mayhem (as in the charge), etc. But how is nobody talking about how much of a waste this series is for the NBA with the West Coast time slot? David Stern has to be secretly pissed that the most fan-friendly teams (Phoenix and Golden State) played in the West Coast time slot, wasting what has been some truly enjoyable playoff basketball (especially in the GS-Dallas series). As a fan, and one of the 17 people that legitimately like the NBA, my tired ass had a tough time making it through the end of Golden State-Dallas Game 5…although I’m glad I did.

Second, while I thought Golden State would challenge Dallas in this series, I did not think the Warriors’ home court advantage would be as much of a factor as it has been. This is not because I underestimated the Warriors’ fans or the atmosphere of Oracle Arena (Sports Guy was all over this in his Basketball Blog), but that I gave Dallas too much credit. I fell for their 67 wins (in a mediocre season with 3-5 legitimately good teams), for Avery Johnson (a good coach, but getting schooled by Don Nelson at times in this series), for Dirk and the foolish MVP talk (never thought of him as an MVP, but thought he would rise up in the playoffs), for Josh Howard (who may be the first player to go from underrated to overrated to underrated in a 12 month span), and for Mark Cuban (nothing bad to say about Cuban other than caring too much about his team….which is a great thing). I think Golden State closes it out tonight at Oracle, capping off the biggest first round upset in NBA history….and they better do it tonight, because if they don’t, they are staring at blowing a 3-1 lead in the face.

Third, I’ve frankly heard enough of this Dice-K “overrated” crap. I understand the incessant media coverage begets incessant fan scrutiny, but this completely warps everyone’s perspective of this guy. Shit, RJ would like nothing more than this guy’s Achilles tendon to snap, and he’s never even pitched against the Tigers. Heck, Dice-K probably doesn’t even know where Detroit is (hey Daisuke, it’s the city in the Midwest with all the abandoned high rises, decreasing city population and random violence). It is just an example of how this guy doesn’t have a chance of being a nationwide fan favorite…people are sick of his mug already…which sucks.

He hasn’t pitched that poorly in his five starts. Let’s review

Start 1 – Against the AA Omaha Royals – Looked dominant…but again, this was the Royals.

Start 2 – Deserved the win against the M’s (7 IP, 3 ER…one bad inning in giving up two runs after two out), but ran into King Felix…who by the way was coincidentally shelved after I wrote about him…I’m calling it the "ISB Jinx".

Start 3 – Against Toronto, he again had one bad inning (3 walks, two runs), but bounced back to K the next 4 hitters.

Start 4 – Against the Devil’s team, he gave up two in the first after two out (aided by a walk and HBP)…actually, I can’t defend this game…the Yanks beat him around Fenway.

Start 5 – Devil’s team part deux – pitched well for five innings…unfortunately for him, he pitched six innings, including the 4^th, where he gave up 4 runs (based again on three walks)

So what does this all mean? It means he’s not the second coming of Cy Young, and comparing him to the Pedro of 1999 is downright outrageous….but this guy had one bad game and three bad innings. Excusable for a guy that cost the Red Sox $103 million? Absolutely not. Worthy of the media calling him “overrated” and BoSox fans giving up on him already? Equally absurd.

(Note to readers…I wrote this earlier today….only to watch Dice-K walk the based loaded (AGAIN!) and hit a batter in the first, and give up 5 runs against the mighty Mariners before the Sox even got to bat…on only two hits! However, he looks to have settled down, which would be exactly in line with the “one bad inning” theme above. Although if you have learned anything from my posts, I know very little about anything).

Fourth, this is a note for anyone who reads the Boston Globe. If anyone sees the Curly Haired Boyfriend aka Dan Shaughnessy, tell him he’s a piece of shit. Seriously. And let him I know said it. For those who don’t know “Shank” Shaughnessy, he’s been a Boston Globe reporter for over 20 years, and a curmudgeon for the last 7. He single handedly caused the rift between Larry Luchino and Theo Epstein, has blasted every significant Boston athlete from Larry Legend to Curt Schilling, and recently had nothing better to do but blast the Patriots fans for being supportive of the Randy Moss trade. The link to the article is below:

http://www.boston.com/sports/football/patriots/articles/2007/05/01/shame_is_fleeting_and_love_is_blind/

If the Curly Haired Boyfriend had his way, the Pats, Red Sox and Celtics would only have eagle scouts and alter boys play on their team, which would cause them to suck, which would ensure he would have some local team to bitch about (maybe it could be his new standby article since the Red Sox destroyed his old standby…you may have heard of it…the “Curse of the Bambino”). He stands on his moral high-ground and demands that only so-called angels play for the teams he writes about….

For anyone who needs to get this straight, the Patriots are no different than any other NFL team – they have "high character" guys and "bad character" guys (anyone remember LT blasting Bill Belichek for Ellis Hobbs’ dance). The aspect of the Patriots that differentiates them from the rest of the NFL is that their “high character” guys are their premier players (Brady, Bruschi, Vrabel, Seymour, etc.). Heck, people now even lump Rodney Harrison into the “solid support system” Randy Moss will have….although he is still viewed as (1) the dirtiest player in the league; and (2) a former malcontent.

Once players get on their team, they seemingly fall in line (call it the anti-Bengal affect), and that is attributed to one thing, and generally one thing only...winning. Corey Dillon. Bryan Cox. The Pats have taken chances on players with, er, checkered pasts, but most of them work out (Jonathan Sullivan being one that surely didn’t). The Pats, like every NFL team (save for the Lions) design their team each year to win, and because they’ve been the best team in the salary cap era, it is like the Lakers of 3-4 years ago, the Yanks of the late 90s, the Celtics of the mid-80s, etc. – veteran players want to come to Foxborough and get a ring. The veterans are sensing their proverbial career clock ticking, and put their egos aside in hopes of tasting that championship champagne. And because of that, they just happen to have fewer problems when they get there…which is all that matters. Amazing how winning changes players’ attitudes. They may have taken more risks this offseason with Moss, Stallworth, Meriweather, etc., but let’s see how it plays out before crucifying the Pats front office. I'm pretty sure if they are raising the Lombardi trophy, it means there were little to no problems this season.

Which brings me back to Shaughnessy…fine, you blast the team, second guess their picks and make the argument that giving up a 4^th round pick for a wideout that loafs on plays (the biggest concern) and is considered by all a malcontent, is a bad move. You criticize management for taking a flier on guys with a checkered past that ruins the squeaky clean image of the team (did anyone hear Tom Brady knocked up Bridget Moynahain and is tagging a Victoria Secret model?) and make the point that it is a superfluous move given the current talent. But where the hell do you get off criticizing the fans? That makes as much sense at Drew Barrymore on the cover of People’s 100 Most Beautiful People. The fan base are your readers, and you decide to use your page space to blast their judgment on players? This was a team that barely anyone cared about ten years ago, but it is now front page news due in large part to their success. Unfortunately, the situation resembles every other shitshow involving some asshole who stirs up a firestorm – from Don Imus to Paris Hilton. The controversy this asshole stirs keeps him in the spotlight. It’s ridiculous. Well CHB, if you ever read this blog, understand that at least one fan thinks of you as nothing more than a washed up, cantankerous, has-been who somehow thinks you have a pedestal to stand on. As a fan, I could care less what this guy did or supposedly how bad a teammate he was on his other two teams. If he falls in line here, like many have done, it is a great move. You can keep your moral high ground, CHB. What an asshole.

Finally, as a diehard Pats and Red Sox fan, I could give a shit if Tom Brady wears a Yankee hat, likes the Yankees, or impregnates the entire Miracle Bra model contingent As long as he wins Super Bowls, that’s all I care about. This is a joke of a news story.