My week without sports

March 12, 2011 11:45 P.M.	Since it’s daylight savings time tonight (tomorrow?) 12 PM really won’t happen, so I figured I should probably stop watching sports now. Today some of the conference tournaments concluded, and the rest will finish tomorrow. After the tournaments are over, then the selection committee will announce their decisions, along with Charles Barkley providing commentary. I love Charles just because he’s never half hearted and he never says something that he doesn’t fully believe. Not seeing that part of the festivities tomorrow, though, is not that bad compared to missing the games. UNC vs. Duke is on tomorrow as well, and that means that everyone on twitter and facebook will probably be talking about it and rooting for their team, whether or not they have any affiliation to either school. Duke/UNC is one of those games that EVERYONE has an opinion on, like a uniting factor for college students, working people, and media hosts. I am debating about ignoring facebook and twitter altogether this week since most of the people I follow on twitter voice an opinion about sports often and a lot of the people on facebook will talk about the NCAA college basketball tournament, the NFL lockout, or the sanctions for U.T. We’ll see what happens tomorrow, and I’ll probably set my parameters for the week after that. The good news is that the Arizona vs. Washington basketball game that was on tonight was good so I got some enjoyment before going into exile. (I don’t make a habit of watching Pac 10 basketball, but since Gus Johnson was announcing and it was a close game, I watched the last part of the game.) In anticipation of this week, I’ve stocked up on reading materials and old television shows I want to watch so I can have something to keep me busy. I’m going to be watching a lot of the Wire, I think. Additionally, I should be able to meet up with my friend Ben this week and knock out some movies so I’m not actively trying not to watch anything sports related and I can keep my mind off of it. I’ve got to meet up with my buddy Jason tomorrow, who happens to be big on sports, so that’s my first big test. We’ll see what happens.
March 13, 2011 2:11 P.M.	I keep accidently switching over to ESPN when I change the channel on the television. There’s nothing really on right now, so I’m on automatic, and two of the five channels I check out of habit are about sports. Can’t go to twitter either, since most people are talking about UNC Duke. So I’m reading and cleaning.
March 13, 2011 2:30 P.M.	Still nothing on.  Aside from a comedy involving Nazis on TCM, the only things on are Meet Dave with Eddie Murphy and The Ringer with Johnny Knoxville. I’m not that desperate yet. I hope I never am.
March 13, 2011 10:59 P.M.	I just got back from Jason’s.  It was really hard not to discuss sports. When I stepped out of the car, Jason was wearing his Arizona University athletic shirt. We immediately started a discussion about the game last night. Half way through a sentence, I realized what I was doing and said I couldn’t talk about it. Of course, all I wanted to do for the next ten minutes was finish my thought to him, but I couldn’t. It actually really limited our conversations, because we’d get off on a subject, either movies, books, or Meat Loaf (the musician, not the food) related, and we’d wind up bringing it back to sports, and then we’d have to completely change gears. Towards the end of the night, something popped up on Jason’s phone that made him unhappy, and he said he couldn’t talk about it because it was sports related. It had to be a score or a bracket set up or something. We skirted the sports issue a lot through the night too, talking about things around the games, like the NFL labor policy and the NBA’s culture. In the future I need to avoid this; it’s too close to talking about sports. Once again, though, there’s nothing on television. Jason and I flipped through the channels looking for something that wasn’t sports related to watch, and the only slightly entertaining thing we found was Teen Mom on MTV. Neither of us ever watches MTV, so it was fascinating to see these teenage girls make decisions that had huge repercussions on their children, but it still felt like we were slumming. When I got home there was still nothing on, which seems to be a recurring theme on day one. Actually, while I was typing, the television was on Cartoon Network for a bit, and they had a little commercial where all it showed was the word basketball, bouncing up and down with the sounds of a game in the background. That’s what’s going on in my brain right now, I think. Hopefully tomorrow the boredom and the want to watch will be lowered. I feel like a rat who gets shocked every time he goes the wrong way in a maze. I’m going to watch Hunted with Tommy Lee Jones and maybe an episode of the Wire tonight before I go to bed, since I can’t watch Sports Center to wind down. I might wind up doing laundry as well. I’m really bored.
March 14, 2011 7:40 P.M.	So far today, I have dodged four radio shows, three emails, two questions from friends, and one television special about filling out a bracket. I should also mention that none of these things came from a sports outlet. I’ve given up watching television at this point, since there’s nothing on, unless I want to watch Judge Judy or reruns of Scrubs. I’m probably going to rely on movies and TV shows on DVD again tonight. Since I went in to work today, I’m tired and need to wind down. I might wind up doing some more work later tonight around the house since I’ve got nothing better to do. I’ve considered redecorating my room just for the heck of it at this point, because honestly, I can’t imagine much else popping up for excitement. I can’t meet up with Ben until Wednesday and most of my other friends are either working or out of town. It’s just me and the dog tonight, so I guess I’ll play with him while I watch the Wire. He seems to enjoy it more than when I watch sports. I get too invested in sports a lot of the time, so I’m screaming at the television about the Vols, or whoever it might be, to guard the open man, or to not take a bad shot. Apparently, I believe that by shouting at the television loud enough, they’ll hear me and respond. This has yet to happen though. I’ve also noticed I’ve become a lot expositorier in my thought processes, for whatever reason. I think it might be because I think and dwell on things more, since there’s not a lot going on. When I watch sports, everything happens quickly, because one play follows another, and then when everything is finished, the examination begins. Now, I’m just sitting back, examining what I see a lot more. I should probably play video games or something, I guess, but I just don’t really enjoy them. I’ll probably have a lot of my books to read knocked out soon though. And, I can watch Better Off Dead with John Cusack, since I’ve never seen it. Still trying to find the silver lining at this point.
March 14, 2011 10:40 P.M.	I just accidently clicked the sports page on Yahoo.com. Also on twitter, people have been talking about the NBA game all night. The internet has turned against me. While watching the Wire, I saw them play an NBA game. I think everything is mocking me. It’s not paranoia if they really are out to get you.
March 15, 2011 1:17 A.M.	There’s. Still. Nothing. On. Honestly, at this point, I’m wondering why I have cable outside of sports. The closest thing to anything that I find entertaining, educational, or enlightening is either stuff on PBS or a few things on TLC, but they’ve decided to pump this show called Sister Wives about polygamy, so I’m not really touching that. And, as much as I love the Wire, there’s only so much of that left, and I’m only on my second day, so I can’t rush that. It’s boiled down to me catching up on reading some books and listening to Al Green, Tom Waits, Lyle Lovett, or whoever else is on the random player on my computer. I considered looking into a Netflix subscription, but haven’t done anything yet. On the Brightside, I’ve got some cleaning taken care of, and I’ve got clothes for the next three weeks thanks to my laundry habit. My grandmother would be proud.
March 15, 2011 5:07 P.M.	I just got back from work. Turned the television on for about a minute before shutting it off. I’m too tired to read or to clean, so I’m just going to lay here until I finally get hungry enough to go get dinner. I can’t really do anything that requires too much engagement at this point, since I’m basically fried. That means no games, books, or movies. I’ll probably play with the dog for a bit. I’ve got to go in tomorrow and look at an internship, and then I have to go into work early as well. I need to figure out a way to wind down that doesn’t involve too much effort. Can’t really take a nap, since I’ll have stuff to take care of soon. I kind of want to punch something really hard.
March 15, 2011 8:16 P.M.	I started watching an episode of Glee. I don’t know what’s going on. I think one of the guys in a suit likes another guy in a suit. Maybe they’re in a private school. They’re upset about a bird dying. Just saw a commercial from Kroger about March Madness. I want to break my television. Luckily, Glee came back on. (That’s something I never thought I’d say in my entire life.) Now the two guys are now making out. I’m kind of uncomfortable. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, it’s just not my thing. It feels like I’m peeping in on a private moment between two people. Also, these people look like they’re old enough to have mortgages. I’m going to turn off the television, until I put in a DVD or something. I want to break it right now. There are multiple postings online that I have avoided, and I feel like I’m out of the loop. I haven’t been to The Big Lead or Deadspin in two days, and I feel like everyone else has this secret that I’m not in on. Anytime I go to type in an address on the internet, I have to stop myself from checking out the sports blogs and websites. Guess I’ll just read a book.
March 16, 2011 1:52 A.M.	Knocked out another book. I think the worst part about this so far is that the tournament hasn’t really even started yet. There’s very little out there now than there will be when I get to Thursday. And, seeing as I’ve only got one movie, five episodes of the Wire, and about six books left, I think it’s going to get close as I edge closer to the weekend. Honestly, the way most people react to me, though, after they hear about the project makes me feel like I’m a monk or something, like I gave up something tremendous. It’s been difficult so far, but at the same time, I don’t know that it should have been. While I can’t do all the things that I’d like to do, I also don’t think that sports should have such a huge prominence in my life or in my down time. There’s plenty more for me to be doing, despite what my recent activities have been. I just think I should be doing more with my life than watching or talking about sports all the time. But I guess the problem comes from the fact that sports, at their best, are an expression of humanity and emotion, for at least a little while, and the cycle is always turning. If you’re out of the loop long enough, it takes a while to come back in. I guess being out of the loop right now is a big deal. The other point I’ve noticed is how cultural the NCAA tournament has become. For the past three days, I’ve been subtlety and actively bombarded with messages connected to March Madness, coming from emails, tv spots, and conversations. It seems unavoidable. Even when I go to twitter, one of the top tweets concerns a player returning to play for Duke. The only people who should really care about that are Duke fans. But not in our world. I don’t know, maybe I’m being too analytical about this. Just seems like this is something everybody wants to talk about. But that might be because I can’t.
March 16, 2011 5:27 P.M.	At work today, a coworker named David talked all day about sports from UFC and boxing to the NBA. I didn’t say anything, I just let David talk. It was a bit aggravating, since, as much as I like David, he usually only repeats what he hears others say and rarely voices an opinion that’s…knowledgeable to be polite. I wanted to say something to him about it, about how he should watch more and discover what he thinks about something, correct him in his assessment of boxing vs. UFC (“in a real fight, you’re not going to have boxing rules!”) and so on, but I didn’t. I remained quiet aside from a few “uh-huhs” and “yeahs.” Now, I am far from an authority on the subject of sports, but I do think that I am informed (or at least I would’ve been a week ago) about what goes on. It’s interesting to be unable to correct someone when you know they’re wrong. That’s happened to me before, and I’m sure it happens to everyone, but it still isn’t comfortable, because you can’t have an actual conversation, you have to just bite your tongue. Going out with Ben. Hopefully we can avoid talking sports. I think I might break soon.
March 16, 2011 11:46 P.M.	Meeting with Ben went well, for the most part. We talked about life, love, God, and Better Off Dead, and only slipped into sports once, when he asked if I knew anything about the NFL work stoppage. Unfortunately, I got a few texts from a buddy, where the only thing we really talk about is the NBA, so I had to politely dodge that. Tomorrow, the tournament starts in force, and already, I feel a bit excluded from a lot of the groups I usually hang out with. Luckily, I didn’t have that many issues tonight, since Justified was on, and Ben and I had a movie to watch. In any other situation, though, I would be concerned about my success rate on a dead Wednesday night. The other problem has been twitter mentions of sports, which has been consistently dogging me. I’m wondering if I should just give up twitter all together. It’s going to be a rough few days.
March 17, 2011 1:31 A.M.	The good news is that I’m working for a while tomorrow. The bad news is that I’m going to want to wind down after that and I’m running out of supplies. Only four episodes of the Wire left in stock, and I don’t know that I have enough time to really crack open some books. I’ll figure something out, but at this point, I’m kind of feeling like a junkie who’s got a short supply.
March 17, 2011 5:23 P.M.	I didn’t even bother turning the tv on when I got home. My boss started talking about some of the NCAA games today while I was working, so I had to work quietly, and keep everything to myself. Twitter is nothing but tournament talk. I’m going stir crazy here. I should, though, be able to watch come Sunday. That just seems so far away right now. Everything has been exacerbated today. I couldn’t even eat lunch in peace because the restaurant had the tournament on. I avoided watching it, but it still sat there, mocking me. I am becoming a study in moppishness.
March 17, 2011 11:13 P.M.	Everywhere I turn, there’s a score, a comment, or a link about sports. I’ve got three episodes of the Wire left, I’m going to watch one tonight and probably two tomorrow. Saturday is going to be the big problem. I’m going to be at home, alone, with nothing to do except read and read and read. When the televisions on, I keep flipping through, looking for something, to make sure I’m not missing anything, and even when I pass over the sports stations, I linger a little longer. Ugh. It’s like I’m a loser who got dumped by a girl and can’t get over it. I have become Howard Hughes.
March 18, 2011 12:56 A.M.	Now, not only can I not watch the tournament, it’s mocking me by moving back other shows that I would’ve watched. Now, instead of Craig Ferguson, the best option available to me is Jimmy Fallon interviewing Howard Stern. Fantastic. What’s weird about all of this is that I don’t necessarily feel that bad about not watching the sports, I just feel bad because that means I can’t really watch anything. I finished another book tonight (that’s 4 down in 2 days,) and even that’s not doing much for me. Unfortunately, I can’t really get anything in from Amazon until after Saturday, so my reading and watching lists are going to take a hit. I would say that the good news is that I can go to bed early, but I really can’t, since I can’t get to sleep. I’m going to have to find something to do that won’t take too much energy, time, or money, or else I’m just going to be staring at the wall for a good long while. Tomorrow’s another day, though, and hopefully, I can get some rest and wind down pretty well. I’m bouncing off the walls, and I don’t see much of an end in sight.
March 19, 2011 12:24 A.M.	Today was a disaster. Everyone talked about the Tennessee game, or around it. There was no reprieve from sports, at work, online, or out to eat. They were everywhere, and I couldn’t do anything to stop them. Even when I got home, I didn’t even read or watch anything, I just worked on the computer, and even then I had to deal with the games. Tomorrow will probably be worse since it’s Saturday. I hope I don’t get mad and hit someone.
March 19, 2011 12:26 P.M.	Well, went to my first day for an internship, and almost slipped into sports talk, just as an ice breaker. There were three guys there, including myself, so we kind of danced around the topic a bit. As more people came in, they talked about the UT game last night, and went on about the Lady Vols game today, with the game on in the office. I felt cooped up, but I couldn’t leave, since it’s, you know, work. Ugh. Hopefully the day will get better.
March 19, 2011 8:22 P.M.	The day didn’t get better. Everyone’s still talking about this game or that game or what an athlete said or what a coach did. It’s driving me nuts. I haven’t turned the television on since I’ve been home. Knocked out another book, waiting on a pizza to get here, since I don’t want to go out. I’ve got work to do tonight, so maybe that’ll keep me busy for a while as well. I’m ready for this assignment to be over. I’m going to finish the season of the Wire I’m on tonight as well. Between that, reading, and work, I should be able to manage without turning the regular television on at all. I still feel stir crazy, though, and the main reason is that to do what I want to do while I relax requires much less brain power than anything I can do at this point. I just want to turn on a game and relax. Tomorrow, though, this will be over. Almost there.
March 20, 2011 2:27 A.M.	Well, after eleven hours of the Wire, 7 books, 5 movies, and a lot of work, I made it through. I think the most difficult thing about this wasn’t the not watching sports aspect, but rather the boredom and isolation that came along with it. I’m going to catch up with what’s happened this week by reading the big lead tomorrow, but honestly, just being able to watch a game with friends is going to be the most fulfilling thing for me. It felt like I didn’t have my right arm a lot of the time. I might consider dropping cable in the future as well, if I can keep up online with sports. It’s been a heck of a week, and it was a lot more difficult than I anticipated, but I’m glad I did it. I’m also glad it’s over.

Why teams should be more like the Avengers and less like the Justice League.

In comics, the Justice League of America is (usually) a collection of the seven best heroes in the DC Universe. The Avengers, on the otherhand, are Marvel's premier super team. They have guys like Thor and Iron Man on the team, obviously, but there are also guys like Ant-Man and Hawkeye, guys that can't exactly stop a train by themselves, but guys who bring something valuable to the team because they aren't just muscle. They transform the Avengers from just being a collection of cool guys, like the JLA, into a dynamic collection of individuals who make themselves better by being together. Now, obviously I mean no disrespect to them but the JLA overpowers everyone they face, the Avengers have to outhink their opponents. Teamwork matters more than individual accomplishments.
Since the Knicks landed Carmelo Anthony, the NBA has gone nuts. Everyone is talking about how the “super teams” are going to ruin the league and the small markets are done. That seems asinine to me. Look, first and foremost, if we learned anything from LeBron James time in Cleveland, it should be that success in the NBA comes from teamwork, not one or two players. When the Denver Nuggets had Carmelo Anthony and Allen Iverson, who were both top twenty players in the league at that time, they never made it past the first round of the playoffs. A good team consists of players who understand their roles and accept them. The Bad Boy Pistons were the epitome of this because even though Thomas, or Dumars or anybody else on the team wasn’t better than Michael Jordan on an individual level, as a team they were. The Super Team argument doesn’t work because it makes an assumption that I don’t believe is true: teams don’t need a superstar to succeed. Last year, Charlotte made the playoffs, and their best players were Gerald Wallace and Stephen Jackson, who are both very good, but I don’t think anyone considers them to be “star” players. Now, obviously the Bobcats were the 7^th seed last year, so let’s take them off the table. A team like Atlanta, whose best players are Joe Johnson, Al Horford and Josh Smith, though, are perennial playoff teams, and while all three of those guys are very, very good, none of the three can fairly be considered a star player. It might be that they don’t get the publicity they deserve, because Johnson, especially, is probably the most undervalued player in the league, and the Hawks need him to succeed, but they also do well because all of their pieces work well together. Portland is another team that fits this category, especially this year with Brandon Roy being injured and slow. LaMarcus Aldridge is a very good player, he’s even an All-Star. But he is NOT a superstar. Now that the team has acquired Gerald Wallace, I’m looking forward to watching them play, but Wallace, despite his immense talents, is not a superstar. The NBA isn’t going to disappear in Portland or in Atlanta because they can’t get Deron Williams, Chris Paul, or Dwight Howard in 2012. The league, despite what a lot of pundits would have you believe, is not entirely dependent on where these guys wind up. Obviously it will affect the game, and change a franchise, but it doesn’t mean that everything else just goes away. There’s a strong possibility that Denver is better without Carmelo than they were with him. A team like Memphis can beat any team on a given night because they can make a combination of good pieces like Gasol, Gay, and Randolph work. Heck, the San Antonio Spurs’ biggest star player is five years past his prime. Teams like Oklahoma City work better than teams like the Pistons not because Kevin Durant is so much better than anyone on the Detroit team (obviously, that helps though) but because the Thunder understood how to give the team pieces that would fit well with Durant, players that understood why they were there and what their role on the team was. In New York, unless Amar’e just decides to back off, that’s not going to happen easily. In acquiring Carmelo, the Knicks gave away players that, on an individual level, were decent to good, but on a team level were invaluable, because they did things that no one else on the team could. Raymond Felton, in D’Antoni’s system, was a great point guard. Galinari flung himself at the basket when he had to. That’s not Carmelo’s game, and Amar’e can’t play that way, either. The Miami Heat struggled to put their team together and make it work, but despite the sheer strength of will from James and Wade to make it work, the team is still fundamentally flawed and will have a difficult time in the second round of the playoffs. I have a hard time believing that, if this is the way we’re headed with professional basketball, teams like Atlanta or Portland are just going to disappear because they can’t get three of the top twenty players in the league like Miami or New York. Obviously those teams got better, and will be difficult to handle in the playoffs, but they still have the same issues that caused them go hunting for star players elsewhere, they still have to figure out how they can afford to keep the stars and have enough to provide a decent bench, and they have to make sure everything can actually fit together well. It’s not as easy as just grabbing a great player, throwing him into a random system, and pairing him with another great player, and to pretend it is takes away from the fun and skill of basketball.

The Value of Losers

When did we decide that winning was the only thing that mattered? The Super Bowl is next week, and even though the winner will be declared the greatest team to ever play football (this year) I’m pretty sure the fans from both teams are happy enough that they’re even in the big game. In fact, I’m pretty sure some teams were excited to make the playoffs (Chiefs, Seahawks, Bears,) and I’m also sure that there were plenty that were ecstatic with how this season went even if they didn’t make them (Rams.) But we won’t hear about these teams and players because they “fell short.” Fell short of what? For a team to win a Super Bowl, everything has to be perfect. They have to avoid or overcome injuries to key players, everyone has to be exceptional at their job when they’re required to, they have to be in the exact spot at the right moment, not too late not too early, and the refs have to make calls in their favor. It’s a Herculean and almost impossible task. There are thirty two teams in the National Football League, sixteen in each conference, and only six make the playoffs. That means that over 62% of the League doesn’t make the post season. It means that a team only has a little greater than 3% chance of winning everything. Winning a championship is as much about luck as it is about skill because in any sport, success and failure are only a torn ACL away from each other.

This is why I think we need to step back a bit here as fans. Dallas fans, for instance, I think are screwed every year. Regardless of what the team actually looks like, there are mounds of pressure heaped on the Cowboys every year, even though the last time they won more than one game in the playoffs was over a decade ago. Their expectations are so astronomical that making the second round of the playoffs, an achievement many teams would kill for, is a letdown for Jerry’s Boys. I can’t believe that the only measure of success in a game of inches and teamwork is by rings. Trent Dilfer has more rings than Dan Marino. Kevin Faulk has more rings than Barry Sanders. I wouldn’t take Trent Dilfer over Dan Marino or Kevin Faulk over Barry Sanders NOW. No one’s ever going to say that Dilfer was better than Marino or Faulk was better than Sanders because it’s simply not true. Dilfer’s ring was incidental. Faulk was an important cog in a bigger machine. While both did their jobs, that doesn’t mean that they were the reasons behind the wins. This is the same fallacy people often bring up in the Peyton Manning vs. Tom Brady discussion. But what people forget is that, despite his three rings to Manning’s one, Brady has never played and won with a subpar defense or without a coach widely considered to be a genius. Marino never played with Ronnie Lott or with Emmitt Smith. Team success is not a fair measurement of individual achievement.

This is the same in the NBA. The best team in the last decade for my money didn’t win a championship. The 2004-2005 Phoenix Suns boasted Steve Nash, Amar’e Stoudemire, Shawn Marion, Joe Johnson, and Quentin Richardson, and were coached by Mike D’Antoni. Nash won the Most Valuable Player award and D’Antoni won the coach of the year award, and the team helped reinvent basketball. D’Antoni instituted the seven seconds or less rule, and the Suns flourished. And yet, the team went out in the Western Conference Finals. No team before or since has had the same kind of impact without winning a championship. They are, I think, the ancestor for teams like the Golden State Warriors, Minnesota Timberwolves, and the Los Angeles Clippers who are entertaining despite the lack of wins. They’ve brought fun back to the game despite the sport and they’re probably never going to make the Finals.

Sports are entertainment, but they are also a form of expression. Games are a display of humanity. Seeing a group of men come together for one reason is not only entertaining, it’s inspiring, whether they win or not. You play together or you die alone, and sometimes, even when you play together you lose. The wins and losses aren’t what matter though. The past two years, the best games I’ve seen from the NFL had only one playoff team (Browns vs. Lions two years ago, Packers vs. Steelers last year.) It comes down to the same thing we’ve heard since we read the Odyssey in high school: the destination isn’t as important as the journey. Why can’t we enjoy the ride any more?

The Forgotten Legend

In sports, statistics are used to quantify data that is, intrinsically, qualitative. That is, they attempt to explain something that has to be experienced. By definition, they are deceptive because looking at a box score rarely, if ever, tells the full story of a game. I’m relatively sure Bill Russell should be the all time block leader in the NBA, but, unfortunately for Russell, they didn’t record that particular stat at that time. Chamberlin demolished every statistic known to man when he played, and, presumably, would own almost every record if he played today. The all time points leader in the NBA, though, is Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. This is a testament to Kareem’s dominance and the overwhelming power of his sky hook, and helped solidify his place as one of the all time greats. It’s part of the reason he’s so well known and respected. There’s no mistake: everyone knows Kareem, and everyone knows it’s his record.

Now, think of the all time assists leader. It’s not Magic Johnson. It’s not Oscar Robertson, either. It’s not even Isaiah Thomas. The all time assists leader is John Stockton, of the Utah Jazz. If you don’t remember Stockton too well, you’re not alone, even though you should. He was part of the famed 1984 draft that brought multiple future Hall of Famers into the Association. He was part of the Olympic Dream Teams of the 90s. He’s also the all time steals leader. Stockton played 19 seasons in the NBA, all for the Jazz, leaving in 2003, when the Jazz had drafted somebody named Deron Williams. After his rookie year, he never averaged less than seven assists per game. He, along with Karl Malone, made back to back trips to the NBA finals, only to lose to Jordan’s Bulls both times. That would be more devastating to his resume, I think, if it wasn’t Michael Jordan on the other team. Stockton played in the league for nineteen years, and even in his last year in the league, when he was forty one, he started every game. In that last year, he averaged 7.7 assists per game, and took his career total to 15806, which is more than 4500 away from Jason Kidd in second place. That record, I would imagine, is going to be nearly impossible to break for anyone. What’s astonishing to me, though, is that we hardly ever talk about Stockton.

Stockton is easily one of the top five point guards of all time, but very few people will call him the top pg ever, despite the stats. I think this speaks to the relative anonymity Stockton has now outside of Salt Lake City. Stockton never had a flashy or even well rounded game (he only recorded one career triple double) but he was effective, never more so than when he worked with Karl Malone. Masters of the pick and roll, Stockton and Malone were perfect pieces for Jerry Sloan’s system. The Jazz, though, amounted to white noise during the mid to late nineties, aside from their two trips to the Finals, and even then it was Malone who was played off as the opposite to Jordan rather than Stockton. No one talks about him because there are so many more entertaining and exciting figures to discuss, I suppose. From his draft class alone, Stockton takes a backseat to His Airness, holy man Olajuwon, and the Round Mound of Rebound. He was never a highlight reel player, and never garnered much attention because he was in Utah. The big cities had their own stars (Magic, Ewing, Shaq, etc.) to pay attention to, so why would they focus on that guy out in Mormon Country?

Even Stockton’s “dirty” plays are kind of boring. Illegal screens? Really? Stockton played both ends of the court well, as evidenced by his steals numbers (1,000 more than Michael Jordan has at number two,) and was as quick as he was efficient. Let Malone have the points, Stockton was happy getting him the ball. Never before has anyone seemingly been solely focused on getting assists, even if they were trying to get a triple double. Stockton wanted to pass more than shoot which defies every human impulse. Even though he could score, he didn’t seem to care enough to put any effort into it. Stockton led the league in assists for nine years while Magic and Isaiah were still in their primes, and during that stretch he never dropped below 11 assists per game. Again, it’s odd that someone who was so dominating in one aspect of the game remains all but forgotten in our collective consciousness. We remember everyone else with a certain reverence and in a certain role. Magic was the guy everybody liked and the triple double machine. Bird was the perfect shooter. Jordan was God. Hakeem, the big man who defied the laws of physics; Barkley, the odd duck with talent and a temper; Isaiah, the bad boy; Ewing the rock; and so on and so on and so on except Stockton. Even people like Reggie Miller got some kind of classification. Stockton, though, in conversation might merit an “Oh yeah!” and not much else. We focused, I guess, on the scoring Malone provided. When you watch old clips, Stockton almost always dishes, but he’s also sure to steal as well, so not only did he generate scores, he generated more possessions. In a weird way, it’s a strategy that is a companion to Russell’s strategy of block and pass. Stockton would steal and throw, letting the defense generate more offense with his trusty scorers out there. For defenders, the dynamic duo of Malone and Stockton had to be almost impossible to defend against. Between Stockton’s no look passes and Malone’s versatility, their fast break was all but unstoppable. Stockton, really, was the consummate point guard and teammate, and what’s more: that’s what he wanted. He may very well be the purest point guard in basketball history, taking his position to heart and defining himself as a passer, a distributer, a floor general. Today, players like Chris Paul and that Williams guy are refining their own games, albeit with more flash than Stockton ever had, and while there are terrific point guards like Derrick Rose out there who are almost complete opposites of Stockton’s style, there are also players like Rajon Rondo who excel with similar methods. Honestly, I think we forget Stockton because he never wanted to be remembered. He was more than content in his role, and that’s probably why he was successful. I think this is just who he is. In interviews, he will always give credit to Sloane and Malone, even though he was integral to their success, probably more than they were to his. When he made his Hall of Fame induction speech, he was clearly uncomfortable being the center of attention. "I was always the second best player on my team." he said. He accepted his place on the court, and decided that it was better to enhance the people around him than it was to focus on his own stat sheets. In a time when basketball players were becoming bigger than ever, Stockton was a piece of the classic style. He was always out place, and really never got the proper amount of attention because of where he was. He's probably never going to surpass Magic, and that's probably how it should be. Stockton embraced the point guard in the classic sense, and defined himself as an assistant, living in the box while other guards changed it. Regardless of all of this, though, he represented a purity of the game, and, if nothing else, that should be respected.

The Unbearable Weight of Big Men

*I’m writing about sports again, trying to sound smart. I worry that I just copy brilliance from the likes of Free Darko and Bomani Jones. But, regardless, here’s me rambling.

It’s hard not to feel bad for Yao Ming. The guy is a freak of nature, and is incredibly dominant…when he can play. And, judging by the news today, he may never be able to play again. This is incredibly sad to me because Yao was entering the prime part of his career and had the potential to be a Bill Russell type of player on defense, that changed the way the offense operated and allowed the Tracy McGradys and the Aaron Brooks of the world to prosper even further. But, some things are just not meant to be. When both Yao and McGrady were healthy, the Rockets looked like a team destined to win a Championship. McGrady would show up on Sports Center showcasing amazing talent, and Yao would walk away from every game with jaw dropping defensive numbers. But then, injuries set in. McGrady and Yao were never healthy at the same time. McGrady wound up getting traded to the Knicks and now plays with Rip Hamilton in Detroit, which  isn’t nearly as good as it sounds. And Yao apparently can’t walk up and down a hard wood floor without getting hurt. Now, we’re left with a guy who was entering his prime who will probably face serious consequences if he ever tries to play again. This is the same guy who brought the NBA to an entire culture, that has had more economic and global impact for the Association than almost anyone in the past few decades besides 23 (the first one,) 24, and that guy who played Kazam.

I guess it’s stuff like this that makes me realize how great the old great ones really are.  Yao’s body couldn’t handle the strain of the sport, and the way he was treated in games, being limited to 24 minutes a game, having all kinds of protective measures, it was like he was the NBA equivalent of a Tennessee Williams character. That kind of makes me appreciate the Russells, Chamberlins, and Olajuwons more, and how rare those guys are. And that those guys were never just big walls of height, either. All three of them were elegant power given form, and completely changed the way the game was played. I’m biased a bit here because I saw Olajuwon as I grew up, and as a result, he is my favorite player, so I want to make sure I don’t undersell the two giants from decades ago. In their book, Free Darko describes Russell and Chamberlin as the representatives of opposite sides of every argument: defense vs. offense, team vs. individual, left vs. right, righteousness vs. sin. Regardless of which one you prefer, both represented a cosmic shift in how basketball was played, especially at the time. Wilt broke every record known to man. Bill has more rings than MJ. They were forces of nature that were undeniable and have showed their impact through the ages. Everything they did defied logic. Bruce Lee famously described how we should attempt to be like water: infinitely adaptable, powerful movements without exertion, an irresistible force. And, really, that’s what these two were: fluid force incarnate.

Olajuwon is slightly overshadowed by that other guy who played when he did, Michael Jordan. Many argue that the Rockets rings during that period don’t count because Jordan wasn’t in the league, but that, as Bomani Jones has said, ignores what Olajuwon was. Olajuwon had everything. It was unfair having to play him. He was big. He was fast. He had a post game. He had a jump shot. He had that incomparable “Dream Shake.” And, to top it all off, he was smart. He understood how other players approached the games, and could shut them down because of it. If setting up on the outside didn’t work, he could always move past them. He blew past defenders because they often underestimated what he could really do. After winning his fourth ring, Kobe Bryant went to Olajuwon to make himself better, to gain insight from the master. For me, Olajuwon is the reason Yao was always so great to watch and Dwight Howard is so infuriating: every once in a while, Yao would show a flash of understanding what Hakeem knew, and Howard, despite his unparalleled potential, hasn’t pushed himself to that level yet. Dwight has the potential and the size to be a new Olajuwon, but for whatever reason, whether it’s because he’s too nice, or more in tuned to the defensive part of the game, or whatever, he hasn’t hit that yet, when he could be doing so much more. But, I’ll keep watching him, waiting, hoping for that light to go on, and for him to move immediately after he gets the ball before the defense can get set, for him to use his intuition and understanding more than his long arms.

That’s, for me, what makes basketball so entertaining: that blend of pure athleticism with grace and intelligence. Wilt could have plowed over guys, and Russell could have one more on offense, but neither did it because they didn’t have to. Olajuwon’s presence on the court has never really been measured by stats, because with him on the interior, especially coupled with Cylde Drexler, it opened up shots for Kenny Smith and others beyond the arc. There are plenty of assists from Olajuwon that were never recorded because of an extra pass. By stepping on the court, he changed how the game would be played. Playing him one on one was never an option, since it essentially meant leaving him open. To see that happen is so rare, it’s impossible not ot get excited when there’s a possibility. While the Lebrons, Kobes, and Michaels of the world (rightfully) get applause for their feats, and the Tim Duncans (though there really may only be one of him) get respect for understanding their role and excelling at it, the Howards and the Amares of the world are the players I watch intently because so much of what they do can go unnoticed if they play the right way. And, if we’re all lucky, one day we’ll see a Yao, a Dwight, or an Amare become a Russell. And that day, giants will walk the earth once more.

Worst Possible Outcome

As I’ve said before, in a lot ways, I’m a Philistine when it comes to sports and my insight into basketball is limited, but I figured I’d say something anyway.

Tomorrow night, the Miami Heat will play the Cleveland Cavaliers. In the grand scheme of things, this game means nothing. It's a game between a team that's a little less than .500 against a team that's a little greater than .500 in December. Ordinarily, the only people who would care are the fans of the respective teams and maybe a few NBA diehards. But we all know that's not really the case.

LeBron James will be back in Cleveland. That means this is the biggest game of the year. One fan referred to it as "Game 7 of the Finals."

Now we can argue back and forth about whether LeBron should be applauded or slammed for his decisions this summer. Many have blasted him, calling him a spoiled child or worse, while others believe he's just trying to win. I'm not educated enough to offer an informed opinion about how the man thinks or why people view him differently (Bill Reitner does a great job of that here) and really, my opinion on James is inconsequential, but just for the record: I'm not a big fan of James as a player or as a person other than to say that he's very good at what he does. He's not as good as he thinks he is, but that comes with the territory of being an athlete. I love Michael Jordan, Hakeem Olajuwan, and Toni Kukoc, but I'm sure that they walked onto the court every game thinking they were the best basketball players to ever walk the earth. Well, except Kukoc, since he played with MJ. And to be fair to MJ and Hakeem, they were both two of the greatest to ever play the game, but I digress. LeBron's a great player. He may not be what everyone wants him to be, but he's still excellent at what he does. He also, if reports are to be believed, someone who buys what he's selling. That's never a good sign. When a salesman buys his own pitch, it's a bad sign because they can't be objective. They become too invested in a product, and they can't do their job.

Now, all that being said, if you look at where the Heat are compared to where they were supposed to be, you can't help but be shocked.

After LeBron decided to take his talents to South Beach, everyone, and I mean everyone except Bomani Jones (who is excellent and who everyone should listen to. Seriously, one of the best sports guys out there) said the Heat were supposed to be incredible. They were supposed to change how we viewed basketball, and be the most dominant team we've ever seen. They were going to shatter the Bulls record and walk to the playoffs. The only possible speed bumps were the elite teams like Orlando, Boston, and, of course, the Lakers. The combination of All-Stars like James, Wade, and Bosh would be all but unstoppable unless teams brought the best they had. They were going to be revolutionary.

Fast forward to December.

The Heat have one win over a good team. They lost to the Pacers at home. Chris Bosh has no inside presence and can't defend well. The scrubs at every other position aren't good enough to be considered role players. Wade's gotten hurt a few times. James is fighting with Coach Eric Spoelstra. This isn't how the script was supposed to go.

While everyone expected there to be some trouble early on, this wasn't supposed to happen. Now, again, we're not even in January yet, so a lot of this is premature and some of the problems should get fixed when everyone's healthy. If Wade and James can work together better, which should happen, that’ll certainly help a lot as well. But that's not going to solve the glaring weaknesses here. Good point guards, like Rondo, Rose, and Williams can exploit their defensive holes. Teams with good power forwards or centers like the Magic can score at will because Bosh is a homeless man’s version of Dirk Nowitzki. Solid teams, like the Jazz, Mavericks, and Spurs, can not only run with them, they can beat them, and they can do so without any more effort than they give against the Nuggets.

The Heat, at least right now, are mediocre.

This is the worst thing that could have happened. They certainly aren’t anywhere near as dominant as we thought they would be. They can’t really be viewed as villains any more, can they? A good villain has to be powerful so it takes a lot to overcome them. All it takes to beat the heat is Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah. But they aren’t terrible either. And there’s the rub. If they were terrible, people would pay to watch the train wreck, to see Dwayne and LeBron do their circus dunks and get embarrassed. People would still be watching because of who was involved. Now? They’re lukewarm. They’re sloppy. They’re not entertaining. They can beat teams like the Wizards but not teams like the Hornets. Unless they improve by June, we’re going to see a team that makes the playoffs in a weak Eastern Conference and might make it to the second round.

I don’t think this is what anybody thought they were signing up for. It’s more than possible that the Heat will lose to the Cavs tomorrow night. The problem now, though, is that it really won’t mean anything. Rooting against the Heat isn’t worth my time. I might catch glimpses of the game or see the highlights later on, but not if something more engrossing like “When Harry Met Sally” or “A Few Good Men” is on for the millionth time. For the time being, the Heat are little more than a cardboard cutout of a team I should dislike. Think about it. Do you know any obnoxious Miami fans? Every team that’s worth hating has their delusional fan bases (Yankees, Red Sox, Lakers, Celtics, Steelers, Patriots, Cowboys, USC, etc.) You’re seeing the worst case scenario. No one cares, or cares that much. It’s like watching the Late Show on CBS. It’s not good, but it’s not bad enough to make me want to turn the channel. I can ignore it. And that's what's really surprising.