In response to Will's and the noticeably similar Bill Simmons (just kidding) NBA preview here a few picks and thoughts.
I'm not going to pick the 3-5 spots in each conference because I really don't care where the Bobcats, Hawks, TWolves or Blazers finish in their division. I will just list the division winner and other teams that might have a shot at the playoffs or atleast making a run. I know I will probably be completely wrong with 75-80 percent of these picks, but who cares it's fun.
Pacific:
Suns--I think Grant Hill is a really good addition if he can stay healthy. Nash is still arguably the most important player to his team, and one of the most fun to watch.
Golden State
Sacramento--Because Reggie Theus on the sideline is pretty funny every time I see it.
Midwest:
Nugs--They win the division because I think they have a chip on their shoulder this year and aside from the Jazz this division is nothing special.
Jazz
Southwest:
Spurs
Houston
New Orleans
Central:
Bulls-- Seem to get better and more experienced every year.
Pistons--Seems that fewer people are talking about them with the everyone's thoughts centered on Boston right now.
Southeast:
Heat-- Is it me or is nobody talking about the Heat? Is it the collective health and age of Wade and Shaq? Is it the fact that everytime you look up P Riles is making moves that leave you scratching your head. I will still take D Wade and the Diesel more times than not.
Washington
Orlando-- Dwight Howard is sick.
Atlantic:
Nets-- The Celts are the easy pick here but I think JKidd has maybe one more good run.
Celtics
Raptors
Playoffs:
West-- Spurs over Suns in the Western Conference Finals
East-- Bulls over Pistons in the Eastern Conference Finals
Finals--Spurs over Bulls---As much as I don't want to see it I think it is almost a given unless the Spurs all of a sudden realize they are too old or not motivated.
Random Thoughts--I think Melo has to be the favorite for MVP like Will said, because he somehow gets better every year. I also don't see any other guys having true MVP seasons this year. Nash would be my other pick. I could also see Melo winning the scoring title, which would be amazing with AI as a teammate, but would also be impossible without AI.
Durant is the easy pick for ROY, but I think Al Thornton and Al Horford will be good. I think Thornton is ready to play now, will get good minutes and will have Brand to mentor him. Was it just me or did everyone truly feel bad for Oden when the news came out he was done for the year?
I think the Nugs will win 56 games and will win the division. I also think they will get out of the first round because they will have a better regular season for the first time in the Karl-Melo era which in turn will give them a better first-round matchup.
I also think Melo and AI being together for an entire season will prove to be a big difference.
I don't think the Nugs can beat the best in the west (Mavs, Suns, Spurs) in a 7 game series for a couple of reasons.
1. Every time since Karl became coach I haven't felt good when the Nugs get past Melo, AI, Camby, and a healthy KMart. Linas Kleiza, Diawara, and whatever random guys Karl feels good about that night just don't do it for me. Over the past four years depth has always seems like our biggest weakness. I just don't think you can compete with the best with some of the guys we continue to try and win with.
2. George Karl. I just don't see why everyone loves this guy so much. Has he ever had a team where he did a really good coaching job? Every team he has achieves about to its talent level but never much more. I love George Karl as a person, but I think he is better suited as an analyst.
I hope I'm wrong, but it seems like the same problems never get fixed.
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Wednesday, October 3, 2007
Get On Before It Leaves
Watching the Rockies make their historic run into the playoffs over the past few weeks has (among other things) made me think about the nature of sports fans in Colorado and around the country.
When I was home during the weekend of September 13th the Rockies were in town and were something like six or seven games back in the west and four or five out of the wild card. The Marlins were in town and the Rox had just come off of a huge road trip in Philadelphia, winning two of four from the Phils who were also in the playoff hunt. The thing about watching the Rockies games from a distance since late July was that there have no fans in at the games. Coors has been close to empty all season.
Despite a huge sports weekend in Denver the weekend I was home (nationally televised CU vs. FSU football game on Saturday night and Broncos' home opener) the Rockies couldn't come close to a sellout or even attract extra fans who were in town for other events. The Rockies had lost three in a row at one point that weekend, and their playoff hopes were slim at best. Denver's collective sporting thoughts and attention had already turned to Mike Shanahan's late timeout and win against the Raiders.
Note just for the record: I didn't make it to a game while I was home that weekend, but I did make it to four regular season games this spring/summer, even thought I was out the state and country for more than half of the season.
Fast forward a few weeks and the Rox had won 11 games in a row. All of a sudden a seat at Coors Field was harder to come across than one at Wrigley Field of Fenway. All of a sudden the high-and-mighty Broncos who are normally THE story during late September in Colorado had taken a back seat for their important early season matchup against the Colts. The Rox were the story in Denver for their homestand against the Diamondbacks. The Rockies now had a
legitimate shot to get into the playoffs. I wasn't even in the state and I could tell that the Rockies took center stage on a weekend that CU pulled off an unbelievable upset and the struggling Broncos were lucky to be 2-2. Reading stories on the Rocky Mtn News web site and the Camera site the Rockies feel-good story was on the tip of everyone's tongue.
Were those season-ending games against the Diamondbacks any more important than the four home games just over a week earlier against the Dodgers? The bleachers and seats at Coors were desolate during that stand that featured a couple of the best games of the season. Were they more important than those Marlins games? How about games in April or May? How about games in mid-May when the Rox won seven straight? I was in Europe for that stretch, but remember coming home to the same mediocre attendance that I've come to expect for the past decade.
From memory, the only games the Rockies sold out all year before the DBacks games were: opening day, the three-game set against the Yankees and probably the games during the 4th-of-July series against the Mets. Even after the Rocks lost the opener of the Dbacks series on Friday, putting their backs against the wall, the crowd seemed half-assed on Saturday night.
So were the fans justified in only showing up for the last weekend of the season? After all the Rockies' record over the past 10 seasons hasn't been all that impressive. Quite simply the fans haven't had much to cheer about.
But throughout THIS entire season, while the Rockies have been in the race for the Wild Card the stands have been empty night in and night out. But on the last weekend of the season their the fans were, some holding "we believe" signs, others holding similar signs. Doesn't that contradict the general fans' attitude all season? If you believed why weren't you in the stands cheering in May, or when the club really needed a shot of life in August and early September? It just doesn't make sense to me, but you could see it coming over the past few weeks.
From opening day the support was there this year, more so that it has been in past years. But it was as if people needed something unfathomable, historic, and impossible just to get them out of there homes and back to the seats at Coors. Well the impossible pretty much happened and I think a ticket at Coors might be more difficult to come by next season.
I've seen similar band wagon "hook ups" happen with every sports team in Denver over the past 10-15 years.
Fans whole-heartedly jumped on the Nuggets train after the franchise drafted Carmelo Anthony in 2003, but were noticeably absent in the horrendous years leading up the current turnaround.
Average fans, including myself, jump on the Avalanche wagon when late April and playoff time comes around each year (I've tried to abandon this practice over recent years, but hockey has been tough for me to follow during the regular season). The Avs fans used to sellout pretty much every night, but the increase in "average" fans during the playoffs is incredible.
Finally, the Broncos fanbase is maybe second-to-none in professional sports when it comes to passion and support. But from my experiences during the past 10-15 Broncos seasons there always seem to be a clear surge in fans and support coming out of the woodwork when the Broncos are doing well.
I don't think Colorado is alone in these trends but I heard a comment the other day at FOX along the lines of "Why are fans in Colorado never viewed as fair-weathered?" It wasn't directed at me but when a co-worker asked what I thought it made me want to hash it out in writing.
Most of the people I watch sports with wouldn't fit into this category, (except for the mass increase in Nugs fans after '03) but the majority of the sports fans in Denver I would call fairweather fans.
I obviously don't live in, or claim to know fully about other cities and how fans treat sports teams across the country. But from my observation, cities like Chicago, New York, Boston, the Bay Area and yes even Philadelphia seem to consistently sellout games no matter how good or bad their teams are doing. I've been to regular season and a few playoff games in NY, the Bay and Philly and know how passionate these fans are. I would assume that the fan base in all of these areas swells during good seasons, runs and championships, and I know Denver is not alone. I don't know that the mentioned cities swell up and down, back and forth, as much as it does from year to year, season to season in Denver.
So as I watch the Rox continue their run I question the sincerity of the majority of the fans who will give the team support. Are they there because they want to see the team do well? Because they truly enjoy the sport, the players, or the experience of an MLB game? Or is it the talk of the town, the popular place to be, the top story on the news and at the watercooler? For sports teams and fans in Denver, I've unfortunately come to think it is more the latter than the former.
When I was home during the weekend of September 13th the Rockies were in town and were something like six or seven games back in the west and four or five out of the wild card. The Marlins were in town and the Rox had just come off of a huge road trip in Philadelphia, winning two of four from the Phils who were also in the playoff hunt. The thing about watching the Rockies games from a distance since late July was that there have no fans in at the games. Coors has been close to empty all season.
Despite a huge sports weekend in Denver the weekend I was home (nationally televised CU vs. FSU football game on Saturday night and Broncos' home opener) the Rockies couldn't come close to a sellout or even attract extra fans who were in town for other events. The Rockies had lost three in a row at one point that weekend, and their playoff hopes were slim at best. Denver's collective sporting thoughts and attention had already turned to Mike Shanahan's late timeout and win against the Raiders.
Note just for the record: I didn't make it to a game while I was home that weekend, but I did make it to four regular season games this spring/summer, even thought I was out the state and country for more than half of the season.
Fast forward a few weeks and the Rox had won 11 games in a row. All of a sudden a seat at Coors Field was harder to come across than one at Wrigley Field of Fenway. All of a sudden the high-and-mighty Broncos who are normally THE story during late September in Colorado had taken a back seat for their important early season matchup against the Colts. The Rox were the story in Denver for their homestand against the Diamondbacks. The Rockies now had a
legitimate shot to get into the playoffs. I wasn't even in the state and I could tell that the Rockies took center stage on a weekend that CU pulled off an unbelievable upset and the struggling Broncos were lucky to be 2-2. Reading stories on the Rocky Mtn News web site and the Camera site the Rockies feel-good story was on the tip of everyone's tongue.
Were those season-ending games against the Diamondbacks any more important than the four home games just over a week earlier against the Dodgers? The bleachers and seats at Coors were desolate during that stand that featured a couple of the best games of the season. Were they more important than those Marlins games? How about games in April or May? How about games in mid-May when the Rox won seven straight? I was in Europe for that stretch, but remember coming home to the same mediocre attendance that I've come to expect for the past decade.
From memory, the only games the Rockies sold out all year before the DBacks games were: opening day, the three-game set against the Yankees and probably the games during the 4th-of-July series against the Mets. Even after the Rocks lost the opener of the Dbacks series on Friday, putting their backs against the wall, the crowd seemed half-assed on Saturday night.
So were the fans justified in only showing up for the last weekend of the season? After all the Rockies' record over the past 10 seasons hasn't been all that impressive. Quite simply the fans haven't had much to cheer about.
But throughout THIS entire season, while the Rockies have been in the race for the Wild Card the stands have been empty night in and night out. But on the last weekend of the season their the fans were, some holding "we believe" signs, others holding similar signs. Doesn't that contradict the general fans' attitude all season? If you believed why weren't you in the stands cheering in May, or when the club really needed a shot of life in August and early September? It just doesn't make sense to me, but you could see it coming over the past few weeks.
From opening day the support was there this year, more so that it has been in past years. But it was as if people needed something unfathomable, historic, and impossible just to get them out of there homes and back to the seats at Coors. Well the impossible pretty much happened and I think a ticket at Coors might be more difficult to come by next season.
I've seen similar band wagon "hook ups" happen with every sports team in Denver over the past 10-15 years.
Fans whole-heartedly jumped on the Nuggets train after the franchise drafted Carmelo Anthony in 2003, but were noticeably absent in the horrendous years leading up the current turnaround.
Average fans, including myself, jump on the Avalanche wagon when late April and playoff time comes around each year (I've tried to abandon this practice over recent years, but hockey has been tough for me to follow during the regular season). The Avs fans used to sellout pretty much every night, but the increase in "average" fans during the playoffs is incredible.
Finally, the Broncos fanbase is maybe second-to-none in professional sports when it comes to passion and support. But from my experiences during the past 10-15 Broncos seasons there always seem to be a clear surge in fans and support coming out of the woodwork when the Broncos are doing well.
I don't think Colorado is alone in these trends but I heard a comment the other day at FOX along the lines of "Why are fans in Colorado never viewed as fair-weathered?" It wasn't directed at me but when a co-worker asked what I thought it made me want to hash it out in writing.
Most of the people I watch sports with wouldn't fit into this category, (except for the mass increase in Nugs fans after '03) but the majority of the sports fans in Denver I would call fairweather fans.
I obviously don't live in, or claim to know fully about other cities and how fans treat sports teams across the country. But from my observation, cities like Chicago, New York, Boston, the Bay Area and yes even Philadelphia seem to consistently sellout games no matter how good or bad their teams are doing. I've been to regular season and a few playoff games in NY, the Bay and Philly and know how passionate these fans are. I would assume that the fan base in all of these areas swells during good seasons, runs and championships, and I know Denver is not alone. I don't know that the mentioned cities swell up and down, back and forth, as much as it does from year to year, season to season in Denver.
So as I watch the Rox continue their run I question the sincerity of the majority of the fans who will give the team support. Are they there because they want to see the team do well? Because they truly enjoy the sport, the players, or the experience of an MLB game? Or is it the talk of the town, the popular place to be, the top story on the news and at the watercooler? For sports teams and fans in Denver, I've unfortunately come to think it is more the latter than the former.
Initial Thoughts
"If you are a writer, the assimilation of important experiences almost obliges you to write about them. Writing is how you make the experience your own, how you explore what it means to you, how you come to possess it, and ultimately release it."
I've long been an advocate for the benefits of writing thoughts down, but initially I didn't think this wouldn't be something I would like to try. The more blogs and columns I read or come across the more things I want to write down myself. Writing helps me to think through things and come up with conclusions I'm not able to get to in other ways.
I wouldn't actually call this a blog, but rather a place to just sift through some thoughts of randomness. Anything I come across or want to write about I will throw in here.
I came across Will's blog earlier in the summer and also across Derek's blog at some point. Both had some things I found interesting. I like the keep-in-touch factor without the over the top nature of facebook and myspace. If someone is interested they can check it out if not no big deal. I also like the idea of being able to look back and have my thoughts and other's archived.
I don't plan on many people seeing this, but figured if I'm going to spend time writing it I might as well share it. This is also much easier than actually hand-writing things down, which is a discipline all its own.
So...
I've long been an advocate for the benefits of writing thoughts down, but initially I didn't think this wouldn't be something I would like to try. The more blogs and columns I read or come across the more things I want to write down myself. Writing helps me to think through things and come up with conclusions I'm not able to get to in other ways.
I wouldn't actually call this a blog, but rather a place to just sift through some thoughts of randomness. Anything I come across or want to write about I will throw in here.
I came across Will's blog earlier in the summer and also across Derek's blog at some point. Both had some things I found interesting. I like the keep-in-touch factor without the over the top nature of facebook and myspace. If someone is interested they can check it out if not no big deal. I also like the idea of being able to look back and have my thoughts and other's archived.
I don't plan on many people seeing this, but figured if I'm going to spend time writing it I might as well share it. This is also much easier than actually hand-writing things down, which is a discipline all its own.
So...
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