It’s gotten to the point now where you can put the names of the
commissioners of the big 4 North American sports in a hat, pull 1 out and
complain about them for 30 minutes. So somehow I’m going to bypass the
commissioner who has brought on his 4th work stoppage in 20 years
during his tenure. Somehow I’m going to avoid talking about the commissioner
who is lobbying for 18 game seasons while player safety is becoming an
increasingly dangerous predicament for the league. Somehow I’m going to ignore
the commissioner who is about to see 3 stars go onto their first Hal of Fame
ballots, but all 3 have a cloud of steroid mystery around them. Yep – David Stern,
this one is ode to you.
A few hours before tip-off the San Antonio Spurs announced their
intention to rest their star players vs. the defending champion Miami Heat. Tim
Duncan, Manu Ginobli, Danny Green and Tony Parker were all given the night off
put on a commercial flight back to San Antonio to rest up and be ready for a
home game against the league leading Memphis Grizzlies (Vancouver fans take a
moment to cringe). The game they skipped also happened to be nationally
televised and would have meant a nice ratings pull for the NBA as they squared
off against the NFL’s Thursday Night Football lineup of New Orleans vs.
Atlanta. And it took the NBA’s head office no time at all to say “nah-uh.”
Before the game NBA Commissioner David Stern weighed in on the
news saying “This was an unacceptable decision by the San Antonio Spurs and
substantial sanctions will be forthcoming.” Apparently Stern adheres to the age
old adage of “fool me once shame on you – fool me for a 6th time
shame on me.” (Ok ok you got me, that’s not an age old adage) because the Spurs
have done this numerous times since 2008. Prior to a game last year in Utah
last season, NBA Deputy Commissioner Adam Silver even backed the Spurs that
time because it’s “within the discretion of the team” to do so. Duncan is 36,
Ginbobli is 35 and Parker is their spry counterpart at 30, averaging out to
33.6 years old for the trio. So rather than have that aging trio play their 4th
game in 5 nights in a season that is a marathon not a sprint, it was
strategically planned months ago by Spurs coach Gregg Poppovich to give them this
night off. And guess what, the short-handed Spurs nearly won against the defending
Champs losing 105-100. But the league still finds it necessary to bring down
sanctions on the Spurs. Forget trusting one of your most reliable franchises.
This sort of stunt can’t be tolerated by the league apparently.
And for what? We’re talking about a league that is notorious for
having its bad teams absolutely tank games at the end of seasons to improve
their odds in the Draft Lottery. Where were the sanctions last year against
Golden State when the effectively killed their season at the trade deadline.
The Warriors had a 1st round pick that they would retain only if the
pick was in the top 7 of the lottery. So what did they do? Traded Stephen
Jackson, a reliable scorer and solid defender, for Richard Jefferson who hasn’t
been relevant since about 2007. But they didn’t stop there. Next they moved
their most explosive scorer in Monta Ellis for a PLAYER THAT WAS INJURED AND
COULDN’T PLAY THE REST OF HE SEASON in Andrew Bogut. The result? The Warriors
went 5-21 after the trade deadline. A move that scored them, you guessed it,
the 7th overall pick in the Draft. But that, according to the
league, was ok. The league also turned a blind eye last season when Miami and
Boston combined to rest 6 All-Stars. But that too was ok.
The real problem here is David Stern kicking up a fuss at a
problem he’s created. You have already been down the road with San Antonio
resting its players (and previously refused to impose sanctions), and if having
this game be a marquee event for TV viewership, why did you make a schedule
that had this game being a 4th in 5 nights for the aging Spurs? This
coming off a lockout shortened 66-game season played over 168 days last year, add in the playoffs
AND it was an Olympic year. NBA players in this calendar year have had to play quite
a bit of basketball, and only now has Stern decided to draw a line in the sand.
I understand the leagues position on this, with many teams opting for dynamic
ticket pricing (varying prices for home games pending on the visiting team), it
also hurt fans paying more to see a big-name team along with the TV Ratings and
the viewers at home. But if it’s their job to ensure their product is at a
premium for 82 games, they’ve been wildly inconsistent about enforcing it. It’s
also Poppovich’s job to ensure his team is ready come April for the NBA
Playoffs. This game to the Spurs is a non-conference game at the end of a
road-trip. Pop is running his team how he sees fit. Be mad at yourself David.
All regular season games mean the same in the standings, but now according
to the league office, not all of the games are equal.
Onto the Week 13 Picks. Home team in CAPS.
Saints (+3.5) over FALCONS
Falcons won 24-14 on Thursday Night.
Seahawks (+3.5) over BEARS
The Seahawks losses this year have come
by margins of: 4, 6, 7, 4, and 3. The Bears defense has masked how actually not
good the offense is. The Bears average starting field position is 2nd
highest in the league a credit to their defense and special teams. Well for
starters, return specialist Devin Hester is out this weekend and the Seahawks
have done a great job protecting the ball in the past month and only have 15
give-aways on the season. That might negate the Bears field-position advantage
and to make matters worse the Bears offense averages a shockingly low 25.5
yards per drive which sits 4th worst in the league.
PACKERS (-8) over Vikings
Consider this a bit of a statement game for the Packers coming off
that beat-down they were given to from the Giants. Plus you know, Christian
Ponder on the road.
RAMS (+7) over 49ers
In their last matchup the Rams actually
out-gained the 49’ers by more than 100 yards and probably should have won the
game. It ended in the league’s only tie so far this season, but with a home
underdog spread over a touchdown, I’ll take the Rams.
JETS (-4.5) over Cardinals
This’ll be 2 weeks in a row I selected
the Jets. But really, after what can only be called “The
Butt Fumble” they can only go up from here right? Also this will be the
game of the week that NOBODY will watch.
Panthers (-3) over CHIEFS
No wait, maybe this will be the game NOBODY watches. Man the
morning schedule is brutal this week. Also remember earlier in the year my rule about
picking against the team that starts Brady Quinn. Well the Chiefs are starting
Brady Quinn here.
LIONS (-5) over Colts
I’m assuming that because the Colts are on the road, that Chuck
Pagano won’t be there to inspire the Colts. But if I find out on Sunday morning
that the Colts team is waiting in the locker room to have a Skype Date with
their head coach, I reserve the right to flip this pick.
JAGUARS (+6) over BILLS
I’m taking the Jaguars for 1 reason. 1
of my friends in my fantasy football league has been having a tortured season.
Every decision he makes seemingly goes wrong and it ends up in him just being infuriated,
which is wildly entertaining. His fantasy playoff hopes rely on him beating the
owner that currently holds the final playoff spot. That owner is starting Chad
Henne. If there’s ever a “HOW THE HELL DID CHAD HENNE DO THAT VERSUS ME?”
moment... this is it.
Patriots (-8) over DOLPHINS
I actually really want to take the
Dolphins because this has back-door cover written all over it, but after that
brutal play (Tannehill – Thomas penalty) last week where Miami got spotted a
fresh set of downs and subsequently scored to tie the game vs. my Seahawks....
I hope the Patriots just whoop them.
Texans (-6) over TITANS
I’m pretty much going to avoid picking the Titans every week from
here on out. Texans might have already clinched the division but this game has
some importance for them since Baltimore refuses to go away in the hopes of
grabbing that #1 seed.
Bucs (+7) over BRONCOS
Mr. Josh Freeman aka King of the backdoor
cover given a touchdown spread. Plus with the Saints loss, and a potential
Seahawks loss, Bucs will be fired up trying to grab that 6th playoff
spot.
RAVENS (-4) over Steelers
The Ravens are 1 of the few teams that have a true home field
advantage, and the Steelers have.... Charlie Batch.
RAIDERS (-1.5) over Browns
I’m going with the Raiders because why
would the universe with all of its mystical powers allow the Cleveland Browns
to win back-back games?
Bengals (-1.5) over CHARGERS
This game will be played on December 4th, the 4th
day of the Advent Calendar as the countdown towards Christmas. We need an
advent calendar for a countdown until Norv Turner and all management for San
Diego will be fired.
COWBOYS (-10) over Eagles
I’m 100% fully prepared to have this one blow up in my face. There’s
really no reason why the Cowboys should be favoured by this many but with
DeMarco Murray back, aren’t the Cowboys just setting us all up for a “This Is
Why You Should Believe In Us” game? Only to let us down next week when they
play on the road in Cincy?
REDSKINS (+2.5) over Giants
I bemoaned last week at the atrociousness of the Monday Night game
between Philly and Carolina and claimed that I wouldn’t watch a second of it.
Pretty proud to say that I didn’t. I’m going to watch every second of this
game. Not only will my eyes be glued to the TV to watch RG3, my ass will be
glued to the sofa. Watching the 2nd quarter of that Thanksgiving day
game was pretty exhilarating because they put up 28 points before you could ask
when dinner was being served. Blink and you would have missed a touchdown. I
thank my lucky stars that St. Louis traded that pick and let Washington snag
him because I would hate having my Seahawks play him twice a year. I’m taking
the ‘Skins not only because of RG3 but because they were a freaky 77 yard Victor
Cruz TD away from beating the Giants earlier this season. As a home ‘dog, I
think they can pull it off this week.
This Week: 0-1
Last Week: 7-7-1
Season: 86-87-2
No comments:
Post a Comment