Good God. This Tiger phenomena has ultimately become one big crap storm. If it isn’t Rick Reilly, it’s ESPN and their Tiger approval rating polls which one is more ridiculous I can’t say. I’m so over this mess, and really wish that the folks over at my favorite sports network would go back to talking about sports, instead of boasting about their Tiger coverage being picked up by the mainstream media. John Daly said it best, you rely too much on Tiger financially to turn on him in such a fashion. I can’t believe I actually have to say this but those that live in glass houses aren’t supposed to throw stones. That axiom goes for everyone including Jim Rome and Rick Reilly; you should consider yourself lucky that you don’t live under such scrutiny.
The Great Disaster
So I was walking through Sears last night, and no, Peyton Manning didn’t come sliding out of a panel behind the wall, but the game was on and that was pretty cool. The score was stunning. The Browns, the Cleveland Browns, yeah those guys were winning the game. In the fourth quarter. By a touchdown. With less than four minutes left on the clock. This, was a disaster.
What really blew me away was that Big Ben Roethlisberger and Hines Ward were both playing in the game. Troy Polamalu was still out but the defense held Cleveland to a few points, it was the offense that couldn’t get it going. This can only be described as one of the greatest collapses in sporting history as the leagues defending champ struggled mightily against sub par opponents with more or less the same personnel as the season before.
Some teams get injured, others lose focus, and since I’m not in the locker room I can’t speculate what’s happening behind the scenes. It just seems as if something intangible has plagued the Pittsburgh Steelers whose playoff hopes have been all but dashed in the face of this current loss. The Steelers are a class organization, hopefully they’ll bounce back and finish the season strong.
The East and West are starting to shape up
The thing about the NBA’s 82 game schedule is that before you know it, the season turns into a horse race for the finish. Those that garner an early lead are constantly looking over their shoulders at the pack until two or three teams can finally run away from the rest of the pack. A lot of times the frontrunners leap out early and it’s fun to watch them fend off the challengers until the end of the season.
Right now it looks like the Lakers and the Celtics are setting the pace for their perspective conferences. The Celtics are on a 9 game winning streak and the Lakers are riding high on a 10 game winning streak of their own. While there is a great deal of parity within the league, we have to admit that the NBA is looking a little out of balance with quite a few teams under performing. The Trailblazers, and Bulls are two teams that come to mind as preseason contenders that haven’t quite turned it around. This trend hopefully won’t continue and teams like San Antonio will start putting a few winning streaks together.
I was talking with a friend about this and we both came to the conclusion that this season has some really high potential. If the Lakers and the Celtics can remain healthy then this might be the most competitive NBA Finals of our generation (I’m from generation X for the record).
Thanks for all the memories
Peter Gammons is leaving ESPN. As an avid baseball fan this saddens me greatly. Baseball Tonight is one of my favorite shows and Peter Gammons has been a part of it since the very beginning. I’m just old enough to remember the early days of Baseball Tonight, but I can’t recall my favorite moment. I can just recall the love of baseball that they shared with the audience.
Mr. Gammons provided sage wisdom about the inner workings of the game we love so much. He never wasted his words, he never seemed off, or like he was phoning it in. It was just plain obvious that he loved the game, despite its flaws that he gave candid input on, he helped me understand baseball better and for that I will be eternally grateful.
I know, I’m acting like he’s passed away, but you have to understand that the end of Peter Gammons career at ESPN is the end of an era, like when John Madden left the broadcast booth. We are constantly standing on the precipice of change, and moments like this serve to remind us of that fact. Thanks again Mr. Gammons, I wish you all the best. Wait a second... he's going to the MLB Network... I think I get that channel... I do! Awesome.
