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By Sam, July 9, 2010 7:11 pm

July 8^th 2010 will go down as one of the strangest days in the history of basketball. It was a day when the self-fashioned king of the sport abdicated his metaphorical throne to go and play a supporting role to a legitimate superstar in Dwayne Wade, and also team up with the biggest tagalong in the NBA Chris Bosh. A sort of disgusting display of narcissism from a spoiled, pre packaged, unintelligent goof ball who likes to throw powder in the air, wear bow ties, and use big words out of context was broadcast live on ESPN for a purpose not known to anyone.  Why in the world was this done? Who likes that kind of thing? And how does this make basketball better? The answers I think are: because LeBron James is surrounded by amateurs who are about as intelligent and savvy as he is, people who lack imagination and love hype, and it doesn’t.

The Miami Heat and when I say the Miami Heat I mean three all star players with no supporting cast, no proven coach, no real fans, and no humility are bad for the NBA.  As of yesterday basketball is once again irrelevant in Toronto and Cleveland except when the Lakers or Heat come to town. Which means there are two more bad teams coming to an NBA city near you. Two more teams that nobody wants to see play. In a league where 22 of 30 teams lost money last season that is a problem. Leagues where more than 2/3 of fan bases know their favorite team can’t win a championship before the season starts have a problem. What you end up with are half empty buildings everywhere but a handful of places, and dreadful ratings for all but a handful of teams.

The concentration of so much talent on one team also robs fans of a chance to watch those players compete against one another. What if Magic and Bird had made the calculation that instead of wasting all of their time and effort trying to be the best and defeat the other they could have simply teamed up and won every year? Would the NBA be a better league? Would they be looked upon as bigger winners? We will never know because both men were competitors and are probably disgusted with what the league has become. The essence of sports is competition. This current arrangement in Miami is not good for competitive balance, and shows a fear of competing on a level playing field. James looks like a coward and the NBA looks like it should never have marketed such a player to such heights.

The perception of NBA players as immature, and selfish was reinforced by the face of the league staging a one-hour infomercial on ESPN to pat himself on the back and rip the heart out of his hometown. He proved himself to be everything his doubters ever thought he was and because of where he went and the role he will play he can never repair the damage he has done to the league and his own precious image. The NBA is in trouble.

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By Rhett, July 8, 2010 9:50 pm

It’s safe to say that the five of us here are hoops junkies. This mean something like this (http://junkiestatus.com/hoops) for the iPhone is right up our ally. Mr. @Peter_R_Casey was kind enough to let me play with this. It’s fun with other guys that hang out and love hoops, which is who I try to associate with as much as possible. Only beef would be that the games are too short. I’d like to go 100 deep, not 10. I’ve got swagger with basketball, and I’m out to show somebody. I give it a 4/5 stars.

Another aspect of my addiction will be fulfilled tomorrow night, with the NBA Summer League setting up shop here in Las Vegas. It’s always fun to see what random players from years gone by (at least the last couple) end up on a team, and fight for a spot on an NBA roster, or even an overseas team. There are always players, coaches, scouts and GM’s walking around taking in the action. Plus, the Cox Pavillion and T&M blast the AC to like 50 degrees, which is nice since we’re well into 100 degree temps here in Vegas.

I hung a giant bracket of last years tournament on the wall above my computer. I have a picture of Steph Curry hanging up next to my desk. Somebody, please, save me.

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By Rhett, April 23, 2010 7:26 am

When Gordon Hayward missed that 3 pointer from half court against Duke a few weeks back, Sam and I ducked out of the building faster than the guy sitting in front of us could rape a prostitute at a lacrosse party. I wanted nothing to do with what was going to happen for the next hour, or the next six months. All of the talk about expansion had me depressed. This past season was awesome, and the tournament was amazing. I had a blast in Buffalo, even though the games we saw were kind of lame. It was even better to be in Indianapolis for the Final Four, yet again, watching the thing come to an end.

An end. I walked to our car from Lucas Oil Sportz Stadium in a near solitude. Sam and I discussed briefly what could happen, what it would mean, what made sense, didn’t make sense, etc. Finally I ended up leaning against the medical parking garage at IUPUI for about 3 minutes while we waited for the rest of our party to arrive and get us in the damn car. I thought of how far Butler came. I thought of Izzo gaining another Final Four. I thought of Xavier going head to head with Kansas State in a game I did not think could end. What if this was it? What if I had just watched and participated in the last tournament of its own kind? Was I duped into thinking that 96 teams was a reality, and my favorite thing was going to morph into some weird Tetsuo-ized blob of grotesque unfair sportz doucheness?

I think I was.

I don’t think the intention was ever truly there to create this 96 team horseshit. At least not yet. Here we are with three more play in games. You’re full of barney if you think they’re really gonna pit some bubble teams against eachother for the chance to earn a 11 seed or something. It’s going to be four true play in games, all in Dayton. This makes the Play In Game party that much funner, but THAT much shittier for the small time schools who fight and claw all year just to make the damn thing.

It’s the best of a bad situation. I’m going to get a whole new avenue to watch Tyler Perry House of Payne advertisements. I guess I can live with that.

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By Rhett, April 7, 2010 4:12 pm

Yes, I know I just got back from the Final Four. I’m still in decompression mode, trying to figure out a way to plan my day to day operations without a game to attend or watch on TV. It’s pretty hard. An update will be in the right hand column sometime later this week. I’ll just say that we all had a grand ol time, and many things gave us a very great humor.

With that said, I have picked up several new items of hoops swagger over the past couple of weeks that I’d like to share with everybody. If you know me, you know I’m a sucker for picking up gear that marks the stops on my basketball travels, or just hoop gear in general.

Firstly, shout out to my special lady’s mom, and her hooking up of an Oakland U tshirt for my birthday. Thanks Lisa!

Go Grizz

She also hooked me up with some WMU flippy floppies. I hope they fit! (I have a problem with large feet, but these may just fit the bill)

Next, I am the direct beneficiary of Sam picking up a one size too big Western Michigan zippy hoody thing. This is an awesome hoody and quite possibly saved my life last night on several occasions. More to follow on that later. For now, revel in the glory of this baby.

SCHWAGGAH!

Next on the list come two items from Buffalo, our stop for the first and second rounds of the tournament this year. A tshirt was a must, and a shooting shirt was calling my name when we walked by it in the student union gift shop. I am happy with both purchases.

If you look really close, you can see a real authentic bleu cheese stain below the "O", from a real authentic Buffalo, NY buffalo chicken wing.

Sam picked this up for me while at a WMU garage sale a few months back. It’s a real used shooting warm-up shirt. Best I could figure, this #3 is Brian Snider, former point / forward for WMU. I watched him play!

Last, but certainly not least – we all know I couldn’t leave Indy without picking up an article of clothing with my name on it, considering who was playing, and how great it was. G-time baby.

#toobigyo

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By Rhett, April 3, 2010 7:56 am

Sam and I are about an hour outside of Indianapolis, on our way to partake in our share of Final Four activities. It’s raining a ton. We have a lot of Tom Petty on the radio stations and country radio stations. The Tom Petty is appreciated. The country music is spurring some interesting conversations about what Sam’s favorite music will be when he moves to the South.

Basketball is great. We are a part of a huge caravan of random MSU vehicles, making their way to the capital of Indiana for basketball festivities. There are giant Spartan decals and license plates and flags and it’s all cool.

Indiana has a lot of farms.

Good Talk.

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By Rhett, March 31, 2010 6:34 am

I know this is played out a ton already, and sure to be used a ton more before this weekends Final Four. I know that I root for Michigan State, and the rest of the Tourney Trippers do too. That being said, it is awesome that Butler is in the Final Four. I have had this cartoon cut out for about 7 years, and it hangs on my peg board above my desk at work. Before that, it hung above my pops desk. It’s old, but fits, right?

Butler is smashing your lamps fools!

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By Rhett, March 26, 2010 9:47 am

I do not know why, but I picture this to be his themesong. I think it has to do with the giant championship wrestling belts.

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By Rhett, March 26, 2010 9:43 am

Basketball was watched.

http://www.tourneytrip.com/sites/2010-buffalo-ny/

Or, click on the spot in the right hand column where we had a giant picture of buffalo wings for the past year.