Buftex

Yes, it did work for everyone... it could be that two great franchise's knew what they were doing? For Stern and company to pull off that fix (Bird to Boston, Magic to LA) would have taken an amazing amount of Nostrodomian vision. It may have worked out best for all (Boston, LA, the NBA) but who knows...if Magic or Bird had ended up with different teams, maybe we wouldn't even rememmber them now. Good franchises have a knack of making things work out for them.

Well, FOX news is the #1 rated television news channel. Nobody watches CNN anymore, barely anyone watches MSNBC, and the "big three" network news telecasts ratings are at historic lows. I am not even sure how we can define what the "MSM" is any more? All of our news sources are slanted one way or another...it seems logical that the average voter goes to the source that is most in tune with their political leanings. It would seem conservatives should feel very confident about November.

I always liked Lebron, and thought it was cool that he was in Cleveland. I don't begrudge him leaving the Cavs, but it was the way he did it that was so distasteful. I don't think he is a bad guy, but was very immature about the whole situation. As much money as he makes (even when in Cleveland) you would have thought somebody in his inner-circle would have said "the way you are going about this is a big mistake." We are becoming a nation of soft sports fans!

The sith? What about Colin Cowherd?

Glad to see Polish girls getting their proper appreciation!

"ROME" is Jim Romes new show on CBS Sports. Not sure of other cable outlets, but Time Warner only offers the station as part of their "sports package", which is 6.99 a month...Rome does not have a tv show on ESPN any more....he chose not to renew with ESPN a few months ago, to go to CBS Sports, where one of his best friends is in charge.

I don't know all the specifics about Ballard, but it just seems like he kind of got caught up in a battle of "gamesmenship" between two coaches, who have a bit of a rivalry, at this point. Don't know how much more money we are talking about, but my hunch would be, if a guy is injured, he would feel a lot better knowing, when healthy, he will be returning to a situation where he was pretty successful, rather than one wher he is not likely to see a lot of playing time. And, for all we (and Ballard) know, the Pats could just cut him at any point, when they are depleted at another spot... nothing wrong with what the Pats did, and I realize it is all part of the sport...

It sucks most for Ballard. Pats really don't have a need for him, but he is sort of in limbo...

What pains more about the Heat than anything, is what a jerk Wade has turned into...he makes Lebron seem like an elderly statesmen...I always liked Wade...he is obviously not what he was, and to me, he isn't aging with a lot of grace. I have never seen him whine so much.

Sometimes it is, sometimes it isn't...it's what I meant when I said, in an earlier post, what looks like traveling isn't always so....though it is often enough. I am kind of on the fence on this stuff...when I played little league ball, or jr high, even if we could have done the things that the NBA guys do, athletically, the rules would have prevented us from doing it. Personally, I find Rondos fake move pretty awesome...but it does border (or cross the border sometimes) into traveling. It is just funny to me, the arbitrary way they call it. Being a C's fan, I can't notice that they call it on Pierce and Garnett, normally about once a game...and it always comes at a key time in the game...officials seem to really hate Pierce. This doesn't really fit anywhere, with what we were talking about, but you mentioned Rondo, and I thought of a play from Game 7 that totally cracked me up....Rondo with a completely legal, playground move...only 1.2 seconds on the shot clock...genius! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_MpCosIQ2Qo

Charlie Rich reminded me of "Good Time Charlie's Got the Blues"...Dwight Yoakam style...

Awesome pick... Charlie Rich is one of my all-time, all-time faves... he never got the credit he was due, but he was doing, basically the same thing as Ray Charles, back in the 50's and 60's, merging r-n-b with country...and what a great voice. For him, unfortunately, "Behind Closed Doors" and "The Most Beautiful Girl In the World" were his most successful recordings...he hated them. Always loved this song..."She's a Yum Yum"

The Magic to the Lakers and Bird to the Celtics thing weren't really shady. Not sure where that comes from. Bird was drafted, by the Celtics in 1978, with the 6th pick in the draft. He still had a year of college hoops eligibility, which he exorcised. The Celtics were really bad (32-50), and took a gamble, using their first pick, on a guy that wasn't going to play for them, for another year. Just a smart move on their part. They knew it was a high risk, high reward thing, and it paid off. As Red Aurbach said at the time, he knew Bird was draft eligible, and didn't think there was anyone in the draft that year that would help his team more than Bird would in another year. As for Magic Johnson, the New Orleans Jazz signed Gail Goodrich as a free agent, from the Lakers, in 1977. As compensation, pre-agreed upon the Jazz agreed to give up their first round pick in the 1979 draft...as luck had it, they finished with what would have been the first pick in the draft...as they finished with the worst record in the NBA. That pick was, Magic Johnson. Remember, this was before the NBA started the lottery...that didn't happen until 1985. As for Jordan and Ewing, remember, the Houston Rockets and Portland Trailblazers had a chance to take Jordan, and passed. Nobody could have predicted that Jordan, who was kind of a late bloomer, would be as good as he was. As for Ewing to the Knicks...I dunno...if Stern and company have gone out of their way to make so many things happen, as it is alleged, and they made sure that Ewing went to the Knicks, why not assure that he won a ring somewhere along the way?

I still enjoy the game, but there was a point (during the MJ era) where it seems the refs were encouraged to put their whistles away, if it meant cancelling out a great athletic play. The one that drives me crazy (and every team gets away with this one) is when a guy is driving to the basket, and at about the foul line, they tuck the ball under their arm, take about three steps and launch themselves in the air...it is almost always a blatent travel, and to make it even more galling, often the call "blokcking" on the defender, when, in my mind, it should be a charge by the ball handler, or a travel at the very least. But peolple want to see guys flying through the air...best way to do that, is to get a running start. That said, some guys look like they are traveling, and they are not. Some are so good at moving everything, but their feet, to create space, and create their shot.

If by "walking" you mean "travelling", the rule is still on the books, but it is only called, at inopportune times against "plodders" like the Celtics, when they can't figure out anything else to call on a given play. If you watch enough NBA, you will realize that DWade and Lebron never foul anyone...as Lebron said "I know how to play the game of basketball well enough that I don't need to try to go outside the rules to get an advantage on someone".

To be fair, it has been unwatchable for about 8 years now, maybe even a little more.

Nah...funner to let them figure it out for themselves!

I gotta admit, I didn't see much of the game last night...but isn't it amazing (I think it is anyways) how a team can shoot a high percentage for one quarter, or a half a game, and then go completely cold the next? Sometimes, it is due to defensive adjustments by the other team, other times though, it is like a collective chill on a teams' shooting. This playoff season has been marked by series of teams simply trading lopsided runs with one another, until one wins. Could be a sign of lack of depth, all around, by most NBA teams. All I heard was emeging Kevin Durant fan-boy, and Lebron jock sniffer, Colin Cowherd assure everyone that the first game went "pretty much exactly how I thought it would"...then I had to turn it off, becuase, you know, it is Colin Cowherd.

New York loves the Knicks...the whole "Lin-sanity" illustrated that...you would have thought it was the second coming of MJ, when the Knicks strung together a nice winning streak...that is how long it had been. The Knicks have been so mis-managed for so long, maybe they are turnig a corner, finally. The Knicks-Nets now will actually have a real rivalry. I know ESPN will over-do it with the hype (which will turn a lot of people off), but it should be a great story. Still curious to see who the Nets get to build their team around. I can't stand Howard (a bigger a-hole than Lebron, IMO) but he would bring them instant crediblity on the court.

Knicks will always be #1, but I think the Brooklyn Nets are going to have an appeal that the other secondary teams never had. First, it's basketball...second, it's Brooklyn. New Yorkers are as trendy as anyone...it is part of what makes NYC what it is. The Brooklyn team is going to be located in, perhaps, the trendiest area in the city...I think they will draw well, and sell TONS of merchendise. I am already hoping to score tickets to see the Celtics play in Brooklyn...I think this is one of those expansions that is a plus for it's league, rather than a minus. The New Jersey Nets, even when decent, have been a non-entity for most of their existence...Brooklyn Nets already have a much higher profile.

Easy answer: Harlem Globetrotters! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QlwEAHOObcw&feature=fvwrel

I am not sure that all "country" fans are the simpletons that you seem to suggest.

Yeah, you are right...didn't even really think of that scenario. I suppose, if team Pegula didn't want to use Neale, they could have just canned him...the money wasn't likely a factor. I kind of liked the old-timer feel he lent to the broadcasts, but I never felt that his knowledge of the Buffalo Sabres was more than surface, hence, the filler stuff that he usually spoke. As the linked Pergament column points out, he did have a good sense of humor. But even there, I think RJ has always had a sort of sublime sense of humor. RJ isn't the demented "puck-head" that he sometimes sounds like...he is actually pretty witty in ways that I am sure everyone does not pick up on. I think he and Neale just never had much chemestry in that area. It's weird. I moved away from Buffalo in 1988, so for most of my life, Ted Darling was the "voice of the Buffalo Sabres", while Van Miller the "voice of the Buffalo Bills". When I was a kid, if you had to hear Van Miller doing Bills games (or Braves games for that matter), or Rick Jeanerett doing Sabres games, it meant, basically, you were listening to them on the radio, and couldn't see them on tv. That never made me happy. So, I never appreciated RJ as much at that time...or Van Miller for that matter. Not to take anything away from Murphy, as I realize he has been involved with Bills radio, in some form or another for a long time, but I don't really hear anything very distinctive about the Bills radio broadcasts any more. When I hear the odd radio highlight on ESPN, or something, I have to listen really close to tell if it is Murphy, or the other teams announcing team.

What is that?

Shoot, us old-timers will just have to settle for wireless internet connections and rabbit ears!