1st, there's the inane dress code, because G-d forbid really conservative whitebread fans think Allen Iverson is "street". At least there hasn't been a "no baggy shorts" referendum yet.
But I say "yet", because part of me (the small, strange part that somehow channels my inner Scoop, my inner S.A.S....which, quite frankly, scares me a bit) wonders if this two-time MVP Steve Nash is just another way for the NBA to delusionally say "Hip-hop culture and the NBA? No way. Pay no attention to those AI and Shaq rap albums behind the curtain."
Are the Suns better with Nash? Sure.
Does Nash create like few point guards? Sure.
Does Nash play D? Hell naw.
And y'all done up and gave this man not one, but two undeserving MVPs. The award was Shaq's last year (and yes, the Diesel did have Dwayne Wade, but don't forget Nash had both Staudamire AND Joe Johnson back then). This year I would rank Nash in my top 5, but behind LeBron, Kobe, Dirk, and it'd be close between the Canadian Coif (really, anyone with that fruity a nickname should be disqualified--you don't see "Starbury" picking up trophies do you?) and 'Melo. Or maybe I'm just pissed. If Nash gets an MVP for excelling on only one end of the court, where's the Bruce Bowen for MVP outcry?
Anyone, great as these playoffs may be, I still have watched nothing more than highlights, and now, thanks to this asinine MVP voting, I shall continue viewing the NBA as "must no really give two shits about" TV.
In other, Red Sox-related news...
First place heading into a series with the NY Chokers is not too shabby when your starting CF is injured and you're scoring with RISP as often as Vito Spatafore with women (*bada bing*).
So let's sweep those asshats outta the Bronx.
And now, someone else's great finally words re Johnny Damon:
You know what my problem all along has been with Johnny Damon? Because to him, It is all about Johnny Damon. It has always been about Johnny Damon. His worries about his reception, his self aggrandizing wave of the helmet, his gestures to the crowd all point this out.
Re. his protestations about the Red Sox not respecting what he had done, Damon would have us believe that it was Johnny Damon who brought all the fans out to see the Red Sox. It was Johnny Damon who Red Sox fans went out to see on the road, it was Johnny Damon who was responsible for selling out Fenway night after night.
Wrong, Johnny. I was watching the Red Sox before you were born, and I will be watching the Red Sox long after you retire. I was watching you play for the Red Sox; I was watching you because you had Boston across the front of the uniform.
Torre's comments feed into this. He implies that it was Johnny Damon, alone, who beat the Yankees. It was Johnny Damon, alone, who beat the Cardinals. He then twists it a little by throwing in a snide comment about 90 years or so. He may have well as said it was Curtis Leskanic who did it. Because, like Damon, Leskanic contributed mightily that October as well.
Wrong, Joe. Maybe if Johnny Damon had gotten a hit or two earlier in the series, it never comes down to game 7. It never comes down to your inspired choice of Kevin Brown, followed by Javier Vazquez. It was the Red Sox that beat your Yankees, Joe, not Johnny Damon.
Johnny, I hate to clue you in on this, but you were not, nor would you ever have been the "face" of the Boston Red Sox. You were an important part of the team for four years, but never the image.
Johnny, the face of the Boston Red Sox is the fan of the Boston Red Sox. It is my Grandad, my Dad and Mom. It is the summer of 1967 spent on Canobie Lake park listening to Ken Coleman and Ned Martin. It is Carl Yastrzemski lashing a single up the middle off of Jim Merritt, and it is Carl Yastrzemski sitting alone at his locker smoking a cigarette and sipping a beer after popping up to Graig Nettles for the last out of 1978. It is Tim Wakefield crying in the lockeroom of Yankee Stadium in October of 2003, and it is Tim Wakefield celebatrting on the Yankee Stadium mound in October of 2004. It is Curtis Leskanic pitching with one tendon connecting his shoulder together for 1 1/3 innings in that same October.
At some point you started to believe all the PR and the hair and the foolshness. It is not about you, Johnny, it never was. Apparently you will never get that.
-From the Sons of Sam Horn
And, because I need to stash a stable pic somewhere for my blogs, here's me:
