Friday May 18th, 2012
I'm tired talking about how much LeBron James sucks in the playoffs and how he can't perform in pressure situations. I don't wanna hear or talk about something I already know; it's redundant. We don't talk about plants needing sunlight to live, humans needing food for nourishment, or Metta World Peace being crazy. The reason why we don't talk about them is because they're constants; constants aren't talked about, they're understood. Until LeBron James takes over a Conference Finals and NBA Finals and wills his team to a championship; I don't wanna hear about him choking. I will say though that last night's Pacers/Heat game was the perfect time for LeBron to start being clutch, but shockingly enough he didn't pull the trigger. Not only did he not pull the trigger, LeBron got punked out by Danny Granger. Have you ever seen Danny Granger try and punk out anybody...ever? The answer to that questions is an emphatic no, so the fact that he made an effort to punk out LeBron last night shows how much respect that other players have in the league for LeBron. Dwayne Wade had an absolute awful game last night; he scored 5 points, shot 2-13 from the field, turned the ball over 5 times, and had 1 screaming match with his coach Eric Estrada, I mean Erik Spolestra. LeBron could have saved his team last night by taking over the game and willing his team to a W, instead he had 22 points and 7 rebounds. WOMP WOMP WOMP. But enough about him, I wanna talk about the Miami Heat as a whole. I know that the following statement might sound ridiculous and blasphemous; but the Miami Heat really seem like they miss Christina Bosh. Before that, you could have argued that Christina was the fourth most valuable player on the Heat, behind Wade, LeBron and Mario Chalmers. Ever since he got hurt in game 2 of the series, the Heat have looked deflated and beaten. You would think that after you suffered a gut wrenching loss on your home court in game 2, a key player was injured, and you saw the other team celebrate on your court you would come out firing on all cylinders. Yeah the cylinders were firing, of the bus that brought the Heat to the area, but after that they stopped working and the Heat got stomped. But let's give credit to where credit is due; The Pacers are a really good basketball team. They have a lot of what you need to be successful in the NBA; an above average big man that can score and rebound (Roy HIbbert), a go to closer for down the stretch of games (Danny Granger), a ball handler that you can trust to make the right decision and hit big shots (George Hill) and a good bench to come in during the mid-second and fourth quarters to change the pace and make an impact (Tyler Hansborough, Leandro Barbosa and co.). They haven't gotten the credit that they deserve; mainly because they're in a small market and not flashy in any sense of the word. Perhaps the Pacers style of basketball is the perfect formula to beat Miami. They're tough, talented, and match up well against the Miami Heat's weak points, which is at center and point guard. It will be interesting to see come Sunday if the Heat are going to make a series of this. Because if they lose on Sunday, this series is as good as over. If Heat lose this series, I really believe that Pat Riley is gonna have to shake things in South Beach. For as much noise as the New Big Three made prior to starting their inaugural season (Not 1, Not 2, Not 3, Not 4, Not 5, Not 6 and so on), they haven't lived up to expectations yet. Yes they've done well in the regular season, but when you make the kind of noise they did, and you have the kind of superstars they do, it's title or bust every single year.
Thursday May 17th, 2012
There's an old saying that I'm sure that everybody's heard before; "If it ain't broke, don't fix it". Well, I like to use another saying, "If it ain't broke, do everything in your power to not break it". The New Orleans Saints seem like they're trying everything to break ties with franchise Quarterback Drew Brees. Contract negotiations have been at a standstill for months and we're not that far away from mini-camps. Hey New Orleans, this is the last guy you should be taking our your frustrations of BountyGate on, open up the checkbook and pay the man already. Drew Brees has done more for the Saints organization than anybody in history...yes more than ANYBODY. Archie Manning might have put the team on the map in the 70's by his play, but they were still perennial losers. Drew Brees took the Saints to a Super Bowl, and won. If you would have told any Saints fan 25 years ago that they would eventually win a Super Bowl, they would have told you "Dat won't happen". Not only has Drew Brees won a Super Bowl in New Orleans (which should be enough), not only does he have them in the running for a division title every year, but he has put up some of the most earth shattering stats that we've ever seen at the Quarterback position. Through six seasons, here are the numbers that he's put up with the Saints:
2006-2011: 28.394 YDS, 201 TD's (and only 73 INT's, which almost makes a 3 to 1 touchdown to interception ratio), an average completion of 68%, and his win loss record is 62-33 in the time period.
We (and when I say we, I mean all of us who don't have the ability to make millions of dollars per year) wine all the time about athletes getting overpaid. No person, let alone an athlete, should be able to make that type of money. Although all of that might be true, if there was a person who is close to deserving that money, it's Drew Brees. Now I know that all Patriots, Packers, Broncos, Cowboys, and Giants are going to get mad at me. But the reason why Drew Brees leapfrogs them all is that he took a franchise who had a history of losing (every other team I mentioned was successful before their current quarterback arrived) and brought them to the promise land. But most importantly, Drew Brees is a bigger part of the city he plays for because of what he did after Hurricane Katrina. He has done so much charitable work for that city and its people, that Drew Brees has become the face of the city. So to the New Orleans Saints, not only are you absolutely insane for not paying Drew Brees and giving him what he deserves, you're also hurting your public image with your fans because he's done so much for the city. You've lost your coach and starting linebacker for a year, and your general manager and assistant coaches for half the year. Do you really want to lose your quarterback too? Some might make the argument that losing Drew Brees would outweigh the people I've mentioned. Because not only are you losing the leadership and numbers he puts up, you might be losing your fans' respect as well.
2006-2011: 28.394 YDS, 201 TD's (and only 73 INT's, which almost makes a 3 to 1 touchdown to interception ratio), an average completion of 68%, and his win loss record is 62-33 in the time period.
We (and when I say we, I mean all of us who don't have the ability to make millions of dollars per year) wine all the time about athletes getting overpaid. No person, let alone an athlete, should be able to make that type of money. Although all of that might be true, if there was a person who is close to deserving that money, it's Drew Brees. Now I know that all Patriots, Packers, Broncos, Cowboys, and Giants are going to get mad at me. But the reason why Drew Brees leapfrogs them all is that he took a franchise who had a history of losing (every other team I mentioned was successful before their current quarterback arrived) and brought them to the promise land. But most importantly, Drew Brees is a bigger part of the city he plays for because of what he did after Hurricane Katrina. He has done so much charitable work for that city and its people, that Drew Brees has become the face of the city. So to the New Orleans Saints, not only are you absolutely insane for not paying Drew Brees and giving him what he deserves, you're also hurting your public image with your fans because he's done so much for the city. You've lost your coach and starting linebacker for a year, and your general manager and assistant coaches for half the year. Do you really want to lose your quarterback too? Some might make the argument that losing Drew Brees would outweigh the people I've mentioned. Because not only are you losing the leadership and numbers he puts up, you might be losing your fans' respect as well.
Feels Like Home - Wednesday May 16th, 2012
Okay, so I know it's been a while. Two years to be exact. A lot has happened since the last time I wrote for this website; LeBron choked in the NBA Finals against the Mavericks which then created the slew of "can't perform in the fourth quarter jokes" (my favorite is "LeBron thought he was on NHL time during the entire playoffs, he thought he only had to play 3 quarters"), Albert Pujols won a World Series for the Cardinals then went to the Angels for 240 million reasons, Ron Artest decided to change his name to what sounds like a character from a 70's undercover cop movie, the Pats got beat...AGAIN by Eli and Tom Coughlin, Joe Paterno passed away, and instead of celebrating what the man did for college football, he was attacked as much as a man who preyed on the vulnerability of small boys and scarred them for life, both the NBA and NFL went through lockouts, Dwight Howard wanted to be traded, then didn't want to be, then he did, then he created one of the most awkward moments in sports history by embracing his coach who five seconds earlier told the world that Dwight wanted him fired, some pitchers from the Boston Red Sox enjoyed Ludacris' album "Chicken and Beer" a little too much and decided to incorporate that into their daily lives, and finally the Green Bay Packers won a Super Bowl with a quarterback who was passed up by 23 other teams the year he was drafted. (And who did the 49ers select with their number one overall pick, Alex Smith. Every 49er fan's butt hole just puckered a little bit by reading that statement.) I wanted to come back and write because during this day and age where ESPN is king, I feel that it's better to get your daily dose of sports from small websites/blogs rather than going to the World Wide Leader. ESPN has so much money and power that it could care less what you or I say, nor should it. However, ESPN has so much pull and control, that it can get into bed with LeBron James during the "The Decision" fiasco, and run absolute garbage during their "news" programs and get away with it because their is no competition to keep them honest. So the smaller blogs and websites, who aren't tied to corporations, can give you the truth or truly honest opinions because there is no money or threats to prevent them from doing otherwise. I don't care if you like what I write, or you don't like what I write, as long as you feel something. If I can get you to react, I've done my job. If halfway through one of my daily posts or topic pieces you think "Man I really wish I shouldn't have eaten that burrito last night", or "I wonder if I locked the door to my garage before I left this morning", it's doing neither of us any favors. This isn't a mission statement, or even a warning, just letting you know what's going to be happening on Giff's Take.
