The NBA cockbLOCK-OUT

The NBA lockout may be one of the most disgusting and frustrating things I have witnessed in professional sports.  The NBA is my favorite sport to the point that no others are even close.  The steroid scandals and the hypocritical bullshit that MLB and its' sportswriters pumped out after turned me off of baseball so badly I can hardly stand to watch it.  ESPN and Roger Goodell have done such a fine job of murdering the NFL for me that I only casually watch it.  Next time you watch ESPN grab a note pad and count how many times they say things like "in the National Football League", its atrocious.

I can't enjoy collegiate sports like I used to because the NCAA is so badly broken it takes some of the enjoyment out.  Let's punish players who don't have any money because they accepted money someone freely gave them or sold something of theirs while we rake in billions of dollars off of them?  It's time for the NCAA to get real and re-organize its' structure.  I'm not even going to waste a paragraph on hockey, never been interested in the sport, it's like watching soccer on ice.

So that leaves the NBA and basketball, my all-time favorite sport.  This is the only sport where I watch every single playoff game I can.  It's fascinating and so much better if you get to see it live and up close and hear the stuff the players say during games.  Growing up in the '90's I was completely captivated by Michael Jordan, Penny Hardaway and Shawn Kemp. 

To me the NBA is the most entertaining and until recently one of the better run professional sports.  They had a rookie salary structure to prevent flame outs like the NFL has had.  They had a salary cap to prevent over spending like in baseball but offer enough flexibility for teams to still spend money to build their rosters.  The NBA for the most part lets the game flow dictate the commercials and are enjoyable to watch on television.

But what is going on right now is indefensible.  Depending on who you talk to last season was one of the top five most successful seasons ever for the league.  I'm sorry to all my friends in Cleveland but the decision was probaly the best thing that has happened to the league since Michael Jordan but, I'll cover that another day.  Regardless the league and players are mismanaging this thing so badly they are about to Plaxico themselves.

The owners

Let's cover this topic first because I place the majority of the blame on them.  They claim to be losing all this money and are blaming player salaries for this issue.  Are you kidding me?  With a year to go before the end of the old CBA the Magic give Rashard Lewis a $100 million dollar contract.  I'm pretty positive he didn't go into Otis Smith's office like Stephen Jackson outside an Indianapolis strip club and demand this deal.  How can owners blame players for accepting the indefensibly dumb deals they have handed out.  You treat people how to treat you and when you ink guys like Eddy Curry for 10 million a year then players who actually contribute and play are gonna demand more.  Anytime a player becomes a free agent who is reasonably good some team throws more money at him than a New York senator throws at a stripper.  The Hawks gave Joe Johnson a max deal yet he isn't a top 10 player in the league.  I'm not knocking Johnson, he's a terrific scoring guard and who would say no to that deal?  But he definetely isn't going to be the centerpiece on a title team.

Also the owners, who for those who are confused, locked the players out, forcing them into a work stoppage, this isn't a players union strike.  The owners want to pay players less money over less years, alright cool, but do you think they'll lower ticket costs as well?  No way in hell so at the end of the day they are just trying to squeeze as much money as possible out of the players and hope they'll cave like the NHL players did.  They also expect the players to give up 7-9% of basketball related income, which we're talking hundreds of millions of dollars per season.  Show of hands who pays to go to an NBA game to see the owner?  Matter of fact can any of you name all 30 owners without using the internet?  Exactly, I understand the NBA is a business and they're in it to make money so how about you make better business decisions and stop giving out dumbass contracts.

The players

Now I place most of the blame on the owners because they have really put zero effort into compromise and have leaked more information derailing talks than the guy that created wikiLeaks.  However the players aren't without fault either.  Name the first 10 players you think of who got huge contracts and then played well below expecatations.  Didn't take you that long did it?  Fans and owners wouldn't be as upset with contracts if players were living up to expectations and to their contracts.  In fact players job descriptions are rather simple, keep yourself in good shape and play basketball.  I'm not talking about guys who got huge deals and got hurt, that is out of their control, Tracy McGrady was one of the best players in the league before his back injuries derailed his career.  I'm talking about the Antoine Walkers and Eddy Currys, guys who get completely out of shape and become worthless to their teams.  The Knicks paid Curry over $10 million and asked him not to come to any team functions, including practice.  When someone pays you that much money to stay away then there is some serious issues with the structure of the league.  Far too many players make max or close to max money when in reality it is a handful of players who are the face of the league and carry it.  There should only be 10-15 guys who make the max contract and everything else should be fixed accordingly based on value to a team. 

This whole lockout has me disgusted and the worst part is that both sides over estimate how much love they have from the fans.  Dear NBA, no one is going to miss you until after the Superbowl.  Let's face it, football is America's favorite sport and as long as there are games on Saturdays and Sundays no one is going to miss you.  For the casual basketball fans they will fill your time slots with plenty of college basketball, you think ESPN is gonna lose money on you not having a season?  No way, they will just air college basketball on the nights of your cancelled games. 

Also thanks for helping to add to the unemployed rate, as arenas and teams start laying off people who desperately need jobs while you asses fight over how to split millions of dollars.  Cities are facing to lose millions of dollars.  Millions of dollars thay pay for schools, police and fire departments and public transportation, just to name a few.  So thank you NBA and NBPA for ruining the winter for people like me who love the NBA and will be back no matter what, but thanks even more because when you do come back you will have lost everything you gained the last five years.

A Team Half-Empty, A City Half-Full?

Yesterday I gave my thoughts on what has been the biggest negatives for the Cavs this season and now it is time to find the silver lining and see what positives we can take out of this season.  Everyone deep down knew the Cavs would not make the playoffs, barring a miracle, but realisticly I expected a 30 win season, my thoughts were 30-52, which is still possible but somewhere between 20 and 25 seems more likely at this point.

Mo' Losses, Mo' Problems

Let's face it, the Cavs are currently among the worst teams in the leauge.  ESPN's Marc Stein has them rated last in his most recent power rankings.  They have lost 17 of 18 and are currently on a seven game losing streak.  With the Browns season over and their head coaching search underway the Cavs are the only ticket left in town, although the Cleveland State Vikings are off to a great start and could make some noise in March Madness this year.  It's time to take an in-depth look at all the factors that have contributed to the Cavs' early struggles and to focus on both the negatives and the positives.

Mangini and the future of the Cleveland Browns

Another Browns season is in the books and another disappointment leaving the future of the Browns in a cloud of mystery. finishing at 5-11 for the second straight season it appears that the Eric Mangini era will officially come to an end sometime tomorrow which would clear the way for the 6th different head coach since the Browns have returned in 1999. But is this the right move?

Honestly, I had to wait some 5 hours before writing this in order to gather my thoughts and not be tempted to blast off after watching that despicable performance to close the season against the Pittsburgh Steelers. But I feel that Mangini does deserve at least one more year to improve this team and bring back the glory days of Cleveland Browns football for a multitude of reasons:

Former Buckeye Leads Cavs Affiliate

Former Ohio State Buckeye forward Ivan Harris leades the Erie Bayhawks, Cavs D-League Affiliate, in scoring with 17  points per game.  Harris' rights are not owned by any team but his play is leading the Bayhawks who are 10-6 and are currently fourth in D-League standings.

2011 Sleepers

Now 30+ games into the season for NBA teams, some evaluation can take place.  The league's best and worst teams are obvious but some records can be deceiving and some teams are obviously using this season for improvement.  Here is a look at the top five sleeper teams that could make noise next season and possibly even this season.

No More Patrone?

Sad day for Chinese basketball fans today.  Ricky 'Patrone' Davis and Mike James were both cut by their respective teams.  Davis is being replaced by former NBA 1st Round pick, Antoine Wright. 

James' case is much funnier however, he was averaging 28.7 points in the first eight games but team officials felt he wasn't trying to involve teammates offensively and did not practice hard.  He will be replaced by another former first round pick, Marcus Williams. We can only hope someone in the NBA will sign Davis to a contract soon, or maybe he can team up with Greg Ostertag in the D-League.