Sunday, June 12, 2011
Congratulations Dallas
The NBA Finals just concluded, and Dallas simply wanted it more. It was an intriguing, enjoyable series both in terms of storylines and the games themselves, and in that sense deserved to go seven games, but Dallas had their chance tonight and they took it. They hustled harder and refused to give Miami any sort of opening to squeeze through in the second half. It looked like Miami just gave up about midway through the fourth quarter when they couldn't make a dent in Dallas's 5-6 point lead. This, of course, reflects badly on LeBron James even though he had the highest point total tonight of the "Big Three." Dwyane Wade ran out of gas, and James couldn't step it up. The Heat had a golden opportunity to extend the series with Dirk Nowitzki having an off night, but didn't have that killer instinct, and the rest of the Mavericks were fantastic--they played like champions, cool and determined.
Saturday, June 11, 2011
Stunner in Tampa Bay
In a shocking upset, the U.S. Men's national soccer team just lost to Panama, 2-1, in the CONCACAF Gold Cup (the biannual soccer championship for North and Central America and the Caribbean). It is the first time the U.S. has ever lost a game in the Gold Cup group stage. Their only other non-win was a draw versus Haiti in 2009.
The U.S. was comprehensively outplayed until the final 15 minutes of the match, going down 2-0 at halftime as the result of two defensive breakdowns in their own penalty area, one of which resulted in a penalty kick. The Americans could not maintain possession, were not competitive in the air until late, and frankly looked like they didn't want it as much as the Panamanians did. Panama dominated the first half; it looked like the U.S. was sleep-walking.
In the last 20 minutes the Americans finally played with some urgency and pulled a goal back via a Clarence Goodson header at the end of a Landon Donovan free kick. Afterward they had three excellent chances to score, one by Chris Wondolowski, one by Michael Bradley, and one by Landon Donovan, but none of them were even put on frame. Wondolowski's miss was especially egregious, as he had a tap-in from a beautiful cross by Jozy Altidore from point-blank range, but skied it over the bar.
As a result of the loss, the U.S. is now second in Group C. Panama has 6 points and a +2 goal difference, the U.S. has 3 points and a +1 goal difference, Canada has 3 points and a -1 goal difference, and Guadaloupe is last with 0 points and a -2 goal difference. In order to win the group and thus avoid a much more difficult quarterfinal pairing, the U.S. has to beat Guadaloupe by several goals in its last match (which they should be able to do, but they should have been able to beat Panama, too) and hope that Canada beats Panama so that the U.S. can finish first on goal difference. If the U.S. and Panama finish with the same goal difference, Panama currently has the edge because they have scored five goals and the U.S. has scored three.
It is a little early to press the panic button, but unless the U.S. rebounds during the remainder of the tournament their manager Bob Bradley should be fired. It falls on him to make sure his players are up for a match, and they were not for this one. U.S. soccer is at the point where anything less than an appearance in the Gold Cup final is unacceptable. It is also at the point where it cannot waste time with ineffective coaches. A failure at the Gold Cup is a big enough reason to let Bradley go because there is no way he will be able to lead a successful World Cup 2014 campaign if he cannot even produce a good Gold Cup showing, which takes place in the U.S.! Mexico is the only CONCACAF opponent that the U.S. should ever lose to at home, and that rarely. Hopefully the loss against Panama is what the team needs to get themselves in gear, but they have already dug themselves a difficult hole to escape from.
The U.S. was comprehensively outplayed until the final 15 minutes of the match, going down 2-0 at halftime as the result of two defensive breakdowns in their own penalty area, one of which resulted in a penalty kick. The Americans could not maintain possession, were not competitive in the air until late, and frankly looked like they didn't want it as much as the Panamanians did. Panama dominated the first half; it looked like the U.S. was sleep-walking.
In the last 20 minutes the Americans finally played with some urgency and pulled a goal back via a Clarence Goodson header at the end of a Landon Donovan free kick. Afterward they had three excellent chances to score, one by Chris Wondolowski, one by Michael Bradley, and one by Landon Donovan, but none of them were even put on frame. Wondolowski's miss was especially egregious, as he had a tap-in from a beautiful cross by Jozy Altidore from point-blank range, but skied it over the bar.
As a result of the loss, the U.S. is now second in Group C. Panama has 6 points and a +2 goal difference, the U.S. has 3 points and a +1 goal difference, Canada has 3 points and a -1 goal difference, and Guadaloupe is last with 0 points and a -2 goal difference. In order to win the group and thus avoid a much more difficult quarterfinal pairing, the U.S. has to beat Guadaloupe by several goals in its last match (which they should be able to do, but they should have been able to beat Panama, too) and hope that Canada beats Panama so that the U.S. can finish first on goal difference. If the U.S. and Panama finish with the same goal difference, Panama currently has the edge because they have scored five goals and the U.S. has scored three.
It is a little early to press the panic button, but unless the U.S. rebounds during the remainder of the tournament their manager Bob Bradley should be fired. It falls on him to make sure his players are up for a match, and they were not for this one. U.S. soccer is at the point where anything less than an appearance in the Gold Cup final is unacceptable. It is also at the point where it cannot waste time with ineffective coaches. A failure at the Gold Cup is a big enough reason to let Bradley go because there is no way he will be able to lead a successful World Cup 2014 campaign if he cannot even produce a good Gold Cup showing, which takes place in the U.S.! Mexico is the only CONCACAF opponent that the U.S. should ever lose to at home, and that rarely. Hopefully the loss against Panama is what the team needs to get themselves in gear, but they have already dug themselves a difficult hole to escape from.
Thursday, June 9, 2011
Dirk Nowitzki's Narrative
There is an interesting debate piece by J.C. Kang and Bill Barnwell on how to interpret the story of Dirk Nowitzki's NBA Finals performance on Grantland.com: http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/6642375/dirk-vs-heat
Nowitzki is the only Maverick having a compelling series, so it makes sense that he is garnering most of the media attention being directed toward the Mavs, but at the same time, it is necessary to recognize the role that race is playing in this situation which neither writer mentions. Kang writes that in the popular narrative which has taken over the series (note that Kang is not necessarily advocating this narrative, but is simply describing it), Nowitzki stands alone against "Team Villain," that is, the Heat, but especially the "Big Three" of Wade, James, and Bosh. How convenient that the lone hero is white and the "villains" are all African American. This is an obvious point that Kang and Barnwell have no excuse for not mentioning.
On a related note, Nowitski is a great player, perhaps one of the NBA's all-time greats by the time his career finishes, but the recent debate over whether he or Larry Bird is "the greatest white player of all time" is absolutely ridiculous because it is extremely racist. A basketball player is a basketball player no matter what their ethnicity; the only criteria for judging them should be their performance. To divide players into racialized categories is to reinforce the stereotype that blacks are better athletes because they are somehow genetically different from whites (which was one of the arguments used to justify slavery) and to argue that it is necessary for fans to have players that look just like them to root for. It is sad that the mainstream sports media has perpetuated these falsehoods.
Nowitzki is the only Maverick having a compelling series, so it makes sense that he is garnering most of the media attention being directed toward the Mavs, but at the same time, it is necessary to recognize the role that race is playing in this situation which neither writer mentions. Kang writes that in the popular narrative which has taken over the series (note that Kang is not necessarily advocating this narrative, but is simply describing it), Nowitzki stands alone against "Team Villain," that is, the Heat, but especially the "Big Three" of Wade, James, and Bosh. How convenient that the lone hero is white and the "villains" are all African American. This is an obvious point that Kang and Barnwell have no excuse for not mentioning.
On a related note, Nowitski is a great player, perhaps one of the NBA's all-time greats by the time his career finishes, but the recent debate over whether he or Larry Bird is "the greatest white player of all time" is absolutely ridiculous because it is extremely racist. A basketball player is a basketball player no matter what their ethnicity; the only criteria for judging them should be their performance. To divide players into racialized categories is to reinforce the stereotype that blacks are better athletes because they are somehow genetically different from whites (which was one of the arguments used to justify slavery) and to argue that it is necessary for fans to have players that look just like them to root for. It is sad that the mainstream sports media has perpetuated these falsehoods.
Game Fives
We have a special treat in the next two days as both the NBA Finals and the Stanley Cup Final are tied 2-2 going into game 5. Game fives when the series is tied are my favorite games in best-of-seven series aside from game 7 because of the large advantage gained by the victor, which makes the stakes incredibly high. Game sixes almost always seem anti-climactic (the 1986 World Series being a notable exception, of course): the series either ends, which is disappointing because everyone who is a neutral observer is hoping for a game 7, or the team down 3-2 wins and game 6 immediately becomes irrelevant because now there is a seventh game to look forward to.
Although it is ridiculous how many days there are sometimes in between games of NHL and especially NBA playoff series--nothing other than playing a series every other day makes sense--it is a good thing that the two leagues' playoff schedules are now synchronized to have the finals at the same time, which was not the case until recently. I remember back in 1994 the Rangers won the Stanley Cup in seven games, and the Knicks lost the Finals in seven games a week later. Both seasons drag on too long as it is, thus it is nice that the NBA has shortened things up a bit.
An important difference between the two series is the home-away format, as the NHL uses a 2-2-1-1-1 schedule and the NBA uses the more traditional 2-3-2 (as does MLB). This makes a huge difference in the importance of game 5 for the home teams. Dallas has to beat Miami tonight in Texas in order to have a realistic shot at winning the title because they are not going to win two in Miami, but Vancouver could conceivably lose tomorrow night, steal game 6 in Boston (though if they lose tomorrow the Bruins have all the momentum and will probably win in six games), and then have game 7 at home where they would be considered the favorites.
2-2-1-1-1 is slightly fairer to the lower-seeded team, so how one feels about which format is better depends on how one feels about how much of an advantage the higher-seeded team deserves. The extra travel involved in a 2-2-1-1-1 series should not count against it because it affects both teams equally, and the extra revenue generated from making the playoffs makes the higher travel expenses a moot issue. I prefer the 2-2-1-1-1 format from a logical point of view that believes playoff series should be as competitive as possible--if I were NBA or MLB commissioner I would switch to this format--but the traditionalist in me loves 2-3-2, especially in baseball.
Although it is ridiculous how many days there are sometimes in between games of NHL and especially NBA playoff series--nothing other than playing a series every other day makes sense--it is a good thing that the two leagues' playoff schedules are now synchronized to have the finals at the same time, which was not the case until recently. I remember back in 1994 the Rangers won the Stanley Cup in seven games, and the Knicks lost the Finals in seven games a week later. Both seasons drag on too long as it is, thus it is nice that the NBA has shortened things up a bit.
An important difference between the two series is the home-away format, as the NHL uses a 2-2-1-1-1 schedule and the NBA uses the more traditional 2-3-2 (as does MLB). This makes a huge difference in the importance of game 5 for the home teams. Dallas has to beat Miami tonight in Texas in order to have a realistic shot at winning the title because they are not going to win two in Miami, but Vancouver could conceivably lose tomorrow night, steal game 6 in Boston (though if they lose tomorrow the Bruins have all the momentum and will probably win in six games), and then have game 7 at home where they would be considered the favorites.
2-2-1-1-1 is slightly fairer to the lower-seeded team, so how one feels about which format is better depends on how one feels about how much of an advantage the higher-seeded team deserves. The extra travel involved in a 2-2-1-1-1 series should not count against it because it affects both teams equally, and the extra revenue generated from making the playoffs makes the higher travel expenses a moot issue. I prefer the 2-2-1-1-1 format from a logical point of view that believes playoff series should be as competitive as possible--if I were NBA or MLB commissioner I would switch to this format--but the traditionalist in me loves 2-3-2, especially in baseball.
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
More Thoughts on the Relationship Between Sports and Intellectual Life
I just posted further thoughts on the creation of The Bearded Doctor Sports Blog on my other blog, A New Yorker in Exile (http://anewyorkerinexile.blogspot.com/). Check it out!
Manifesto
Welcome to The Bearded Doctor Sports Blog, which will unsystematically present my thoughts on sports in general, but especially on sports and sports fandom as sociological phenomena. I am interested in the spiritual (the faith, the psychological scars), the material (scarves, jerseys [especially retro jerseys], print culture, decisions about the proper attire to wear to a game...), and the day-to-day (e.g., reacting to last night's game/match) aspects of what it means to be a fan.
The blog swears loyalty to the New York Mets, the New York Jets, the New York Knicks, the New York Rangers, Manchester United Football Club, Syracuse University basketball, Penn State football, U.S. national teams (especially men's and women's soccer), and Red Bull New York until MLS gets a team that actually plays in New York. The blog believes it is always a sin to root for the fucking New York Yankees.
The blog supports old-school practices such as the brushback pitch, hockey fights, and basketball bitterness McHale-Rambis style:
The blog embraces the rebelliousness embodied by teams such as the 1968 Jets, the 1970 Knicks, and the 1986 Mets, and players such as Willis Reed, Joe Namath, Keith Hernandez, and Eric Cantona.
Writerly influences include Bill Simmons, Chuck Klosterman, Roger Angell, Bill Buford's Among the Thugs, Nick Hornby's Fever Pitch, When Saturday Comes (http://www.wsc.co.uk/), the New Yorker, and MetsBlog.com.
The blog swears loyalty to the New York Mets, the New York Jets, the New York Knicks, the New York Rangers, Manchester United Football Club, Syracuse University basketball, Penn State football, U.S. national teams (especially men's and women's soccer), and Red Bull New York until MLS gets a team that actually plays in New York. The blog believes it is always a sin to root for the fucking New York Yankees.
The blog supports old-school practices such as the brushback pitch, hockey fights, and basketball bitterness McHale-Rambis style:
The blog embraces the rebelliousness embodied by teams such as the 1968 Jets, the 1970 Knicks, and the 1986 Mets, and players such as Willis Reed, Joe Namath, Keith Hernandez, and Eric Cantona.
Writerly influences include Bill Simmons, Chuck Klosterman, Roger Angell, Bill Buford's Among the Thugs, Nick Hornby's Fever Pitch, When Saturday Comes (http://www.wsc.co.uk/), the New Yorker, and MetsBlog.com.
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