Fab Five Furor

Grant Hill has responded to Jalen Rose's "Uncle Tom" comment during the Fab Five documentary. I'm not sure he has the right angle on what Rose said, but he makes a very valid point in any case. Many of the comments are worth reading, also.

Weekend bullet points

In a packed weekend for me, a few observations and news items:

• St. Kilda and Collingwood continued a recent run of dramatic, tense Grand Finals (2005, 2006, 2009) by turning in a thrilling draw. Back next week for more...
  
• Gotham Girls Roller Derby regained the Eastern Region Championship, taking out the Derby in the Burbs tournament with a 30 point win over a fast finishing Philly team.
  
• My vote for best bout of the weekend, though, goes to Steel City's huge comeback win over Carolina to take 5th place. From 43 points down at half time, the ladies of Pittsburgh came out like a whole new team - super organized and disciplined - and won by 36. Amazing stuff.
  
• If you umpire a mostly social sport purely for the fun of it, you'll soon stop when the fun goes away. And believe me, the fun goes away very fast when people start sniping from the bench, openly questioning good decisions, and screaming in your face.
  
• Alabama retained the Silver Ball once more, although the underdog Razorbacks of Arkansas gave everything in their pursuit of the mythical trophy, barely falling short in a 24 to 20 game. Next week, previous holder Florida visits the Tide.
  
• Columbia ran away from visiting Towson, 24 to 10. Go Lions!
  
• Carmelo Anthony could be a Brooklyn Net soon. Stay tuned.

Aw, damn

The Knicks won't be consulting with renowned front office guru and noted feminism activist Isiah Thomas, after all. Florida International, keep enjoying the ride.

That sound you hear? A collective sigh of relief from around 8 million people.

Stupidity knows no bounds

Yes, the Knicks will be paying Isiah Thomas as a consultant, even as he continues to coach FIU. Which, to be fair, has not been the kind of abject disaster as his earlier Knicks and CBA train wrecks.

Why, though? Do the Dolans really think they need further consultation on how to suck the life out of a franchise? Is this some kind of grand, public piece of performance art, an ode to the masochism of the idle rich? Does Isiah have dirt on the Knicks organization and this seems to be the best way to pay for his silence? Is this a ploy to force Mike D'Antoni to resign and forgo a massive buyout?

It's like paying an abusive ex lover to hang around the house and offer romance advice. Nothing about this idea makes sense. Nothing at all.

Except one thing: it's the Knicks.

I'm interested too, but really?

Lebron James will be announcing his free agency decision live on ESPN, reports the NY Times. The elevation of a single player above the league is now official.

Seriously, he's a great player and all, but this is ridiculous.

June 17, 1994

This 30 for 30 film series on ESPN really has been special. I'm watching one today that is just brilliant. It tracks the events of June 17, 1994 - a day that saw Arnold Palmer's last ever round in a US Open at Oakmont, the New York Rangers' first victory parade in 54 years, the opening ceremony and first game of the World Cup in Chicago, game 5 of the NBA finals between the Knicks and Rockets at Madison Square Garden, Ken Griffey Jr hitting his 30th home run of the season off David Cone in Kansas City, keeping pace with Babe Ruth, and, trumping everything, OJ Simpson disappearing, leaving an apparent suicide note, and finally being spotted in a white Ford Bronco...

The down side

When you follow as many sports teams as I do, once every few years comes a week where everything goes wrong. Your football team loses two games it should win, with a young star wrecking his knee. Your national soccer team is humiliated on the biggest stage, and the other team you adore is victimized by one of the worst refereeing displays in living memory. Your basketball team loses a heartbreaking game 7 in the NBA finals. Your baseball team goes into its annual, deep, interleague death spiral.

Tonight, the Brooklyn Cyclones hold their home opener, against the Staten Island Yankees. They could make up for everything, in one go. Or it could get that much worse...

Guess where my money is.

Nightmare in the Hub

The Bruins were up three games to none, and lost to the Flyers. The Celtics were up three games to none... now it's three to two... and remember the Celtics led the Magic three to two last year, and lost the series. Could two Boston teams really choke up 3-0 leads in the same season? Really?

Red Sox fans: you might want to miss the playoffs this year.

How 'bout dem Nets?

Nets 90, Spurs 84, and that's 10-64. The NBA's all time futility record remains with the 9-73 76ers. And I can stop calculating probabilities.

Same old Nets

The Bulls returned the Nets to reality last night, pounding them into the court. The outright record may have been staved off, but there is work to do to avoid a tie, with NJ at 9-64 with nine games to go.

Chances of winning 9 games exactly: 31%
Chances of winning 10 or more games: 69%

Also, in NCAA news, with Kentucky's loss my bracket is now officially tapped out at 49 points, setting a lifetime record for my worst ever performance. I am not thrilled.

Nets tie '76ers with 10 games left

With a huge sigh of relief, the suddenly hot New Jersey Nets stayed cool in the clutch, making a seemingly endless parade of free throws to hold off the Pistons, 118 to 110. Now 9-63, the Nets cannot set a new record for single season futility. Can they still tie the record? They'd need to lose their last 10:

Chances of winning 9 games exactly: 26%
Chances of winning 10 or more games: 74%

I'm happy for them. It's been an awful, awful season and they have never stopped trying.

Nets turn the corner?

The Nets beat up the Kings in New Jersey tonight, improving to 8-63 and dramatically decreasing their estimated probability of taking the new NBA loss record. The latest:

Chances of winning 8 games exactly: 27%
Chances of winning 9 games exactly: 38%
Chances of winning 10 or more games: 36%

Apologies for the effects of rounding error...

Latest on the Nets

Following last night's loss to Miami and accompanying paper bag incident, the Nets stand at 7-63. Here are the latest stats:

Chances of winning 8 or fewer games: 66%
Chances of winning 9 games exactly: 23%
Chances of winning 10 or more games: 11%

One step closer?

The New Jersey Nets lost again tonight, 100-90 to the Toronto Raptors. The Nets dropped to 7-62, with 13 games still to play. Using a crude binomial method, I have estimated the probability of NJ setting a new standard for NBA futility. Remember, they are chasing the '76ers classic 9-73 mark.

Chances of winning 8 or fewer games: 61%
Chances of winning 9 games exactly: 25%
Chances of winning 10 or more games: 14%

I'll try to keep this updated as the season winds down.

Anyone interested in a trip to East Rutherford to catch a piece of history?

The Brighton Beach Nets?

The NY Times has a mini-profile of the Nets' potential Russian owner. Which is all very well. What struck me was this line:

If and when, the Nets will matter in a way they have only dreamed of since they were born in 1967 as the New Jersey Americans of the American Basketball Association, cash-poor and attention-starved.

Seriously? The Nets didn't matter when they had Doctor J? ABA or not, he changed basketball. And he did it in a New York Nets uniform. How soon they forget.

Brooklyn Nets Arena Design v3

Here is the latest from Forest City Ratner. According to the NY Times, someone actually listened to the howls of protest at Ellerbe Beckett's arena generica, and had Shop Architects modify the design. This is a substantial improvement. My money still says it will never happen, though.

Keystone State on top

It only just occurred to me that three of the four major team sports champions in America currently reside in Pennsylvania: the Steelers, Phillies, and Penguins. The 76ers remain the odd team out there, with the Eagles, Pirates, and Flyers granted a pass. I'm sure this has been the subject of several thousand columns already, but it is kinda cool. I wonder when (if ever?) they have all been in the same state. It looked likely they might all be in Massachusetts, not so very long ago...

Finally we see it

Lebron James - posterized.

Well, it's big

The good people at Forest City Ratner have seen fit to commission a new design for the Atlantic Yards arena. Submitted for your consideration, a large lump of nothing much at all.

For the record, if you follow that link, you'll find a critic who did like the original design. I do not subscribe to that school of thought. The whole idea sucked from the get go.

We hardly knew ye

Q: What do Australian basketball and origami have in common?

A: A whole lot of folding.

The South Dragons are no more. Considering they are the reigning champions of the National Basketball League in Australia, that's not an especially good sign for the sport. As an aside, they were my team. Here's a brief history of my teams in the NBL...

First, there were the Nunawading Spectres. I thought that was an amazingly cool name, and they had the best logo ever, so when Victorian Basketball Association games were on TV, I'd go for them. That organization still exists, by the way, but not at the top level.

The original teams in the NBL were outgrowths of local organizations, like the present day Spectres. The whole club would operate teams at all age levels and in all sorts of leagues, not just the NBL. The only remaining team built on this model, and in the NBL, is the Melbourne Tigers.

Anyway, Nunawading joined the league, and changed name at some point to the Eastside Spectres. Meantime, the once-powerful St. Kilda Saints merged with Kilsyth (from the state league - I forget their name) to form the Southern Saints. Then, around 1991, the Saints and Spectres merged to form the Southeast Melbourne Magic. They won titles in 1992 and 1996, defeating the hated Melbourne Tigers both times.

A few years later, the Magic merged with the struggling North Melbourne Giants to form the Victoria Titans. See how the nicknames reflect the merger of the old nicknames? I like that. Anyway, that team went nowhere, and folded. As did a re-animated Victoria Giants franchise.

Then, two seasons ago, out of nowhere, the South Dragons appeared. This seemed to be the nearest thing to my old Magic, so I stuck with them. After a truly awful start, they came home strongly in the first season, with coach Brian Goorjian from the (folded) Sydney Kings in charge. He had also been coach of the Spectres and Magic, way back when.

2008/09 - the Dragons dominated the league, and beat the hated Tigers to take the championship. Imagine my joy. Now, with the league being reshuffled and reformed in a new financial model, the Dragons are gone.

I give up.