The following things are not true, but the Celtics, and Celtics fans as a whole, think they are:
1. The Celtics are a 3-Point Shooting Team:
Before the season, and about 8 or 9 games in, I felt like their shooting beyond the arc was by far their biggest strength. I went insane thinking that they could go 72-10 if they kept their shooting up. I didn't realize at the time that they didn't have the players to accomplish that. Which leads me to my next point.
2. Ray Allen is an asset that you cannot lose in order to win a Championship:
Ray is someone who is a hall of famer, but he is not playing at a hall of fame level at all anymore, which isn't a surprise. What will come as a surprise is his 3 pt shooting percentage right now. He is shooting %35 percent and I know a certain Power Forward who led this team to 2 Atlantic Division championships who was destroyed for shooting at a higher % than that.
3. We can win the Eastern Conference and possibly the Finals if we do not make a player acquisition:
Rasheed Wallace is not capable of being the Garnett replacement. He cannot shoot the 3 (See above), and he cannot play help Defense. I don't think the Celtics need to go out and get David Lee, or an All-Star caliber player, however, I do think they need someone who can play with size, who can rebound, and who can play defense. If this team doesn't make a significant player acquisition and/or trade before the deadline, I would not be surprised if they don't make it out of round 1. Yes, round 1.
4. The Celtics can't lose in Round 1:
See above. Toronto, Chicago, Miami, Charlotte...do you really think it is impossible to lose 4 out of 7 to those teams? I give you Atlanta in '08 and Chicago in '09 as proof that anything is frighteningly possible.
5. The Home Court will get them through Round 1:
I've mentioned this before, but this year's crowd has become complacent. I am partially to blame, I am more complacent, but I think we forget that we were actually crucial and a real factor in the 2007-2008 Championship run. Call me nuts, but I was there for Game 6 and there was no chance that the Celtics were losing that game v. LA - the energy was too great, the players were feeding off of it.
6. Rasheed Wallace is a serviceable replacement for KG or Perkins if either are in foul trouble:
He isn't. I think the team, and Doc Rivers specifically, thinks that he is. Maybe I'm wrong, and Doc is just cooking with the groceries he was given, but I saw Scalabrine take Josh Smith completely out of his game. Against certain players, Scalabrine's existence on the court confounds some amazingly athletic opponents. At times, Scals is the answer, and not Rasheed. The C's staff thinks Rasheed is always the answer.
7. Turnovers are our problem:
They are a problem, but not a real problem. I think, I am not sure, but I think the Celtics led the NBA in turnovers the year they won the Championship. It isn't turnovers that is their biggest problem. It is hustle. It is the fact that they let up offensive rebounds b/c they don't hustle and it is because they don't hustle for 48 minutes. If they hustle more, if they simply commit to hustling and playing harder, they will rebound more, and get more stops. That's their #1 problem.
8. Moments of brilliance by Tony Allen are signs of something to come:
We have been waiting for years for this brilliance to show up. It is never coming. Tony Allen is not one of those players that is capable of taking a good game or a good half, or even a good quarter, and letting that continue. Allen may be brilliant for a 5 minute stint, but it is no indication of anything. In other words, 6 straight field goals or 4 straight smart defensive plays can just as easily be followed by crippling lack of thought or foresight. If you rely on Allen, you are in very big trouble.
9. Rondo needs to be conserved to stay healthy and rested:
Rondo is young, and the only way this team wins is if Rondo is on the floor for 44+ minutes per game. I don't see how a backup PG can be played by Tony Allen or Eddie House. There is a coach somewhere out there who will be leading this C's team in 7 or 8 years who is terrified of what wear and tear may do to Rondo - but that isn't Doc's problem. He has to know that he is the most crucial player on this team, and he has to be on the floor at nearly all times. You have the summer off to get yourself back in shape and rested.
10. This isn't the Celtics year:
Wrong. They have maybe the most talented Roster in the game, definitely in the East. This isn't their year if they think they can rest solely on those laurels. This is their year if they get KG adequate help. This is their year if they play 48 minutes early in the playoffs and avoid playing down to the first 2 rounds opponent's levels. This is their year if the ask/force Rasheed to play inside the 3 pt. line offensively. This is their year if they pick up a player and make adjustements.
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
..."sometimes I feel like we're absolutely nowhere"...
I have to say what I want to say about the election, because I have to.
I am always amazed when people don't understand which way I am going to vote - then I realize that nobody really ever knows which way I am going to vote, so clearly it is in the way I deliver my message more than what message I'm delivering. Not that I'm even delivering a message. I'm just a semi-professional rambler.
First, the facts. I am a Democrat. I was registered Independent for a while after Hillary and Barack decided to act like children during the Primary process. So, in turn, I turned into a child as well and made things worse for myself. I then changed back to a Democrat because I realized that in the future, I want to be able to vote in the primaries.
Yesterday, I voted for Martha Coakley. Coakley is a run of the mill average Democrat, and in my life and my eyes, I'd rather see that than a run of the mill average Republican. This election really came down to, for me, the fact that things have become so bitterly partisan, because of the 60/40 math, that a 59-41 would put this country at a standstill.
I play Fantasy football and I make a lot of moves. Sometimes the moves aren't that good. Another example is that when I used to play Risk, all I wanted to do was bash people and start wars. I didn't care about the long term strategy. Most of me, from playing games to real life politics, feels that being sedentary, not changing, not evolving, is dangerous.
When it comes to politics, I see Democrats as the group that wants to change things quicker, and Republicans as the group that wants to change things slowly. Take a social issue that has arisen in the past 50 years, and Democrats wanted that social action to happen more quickly than the Republicans did. Take my fantasy football and Risk persona, and thats how I am when it comes to politics.
I have no idea what is going to happen in the future, but I can pretty much guarantee that Gays will be able to be openly Gay in the military. And I can pretty much guarantee you that at some point if you are born on American soil, you will be insured as a birthright. And I also can predict, with a certain amount of certainty, that there will or will not be another terrorist attack independent of who the Senator of Massachusetts is.
I wanted change to happen, and I want it to happen fast, and I think the state of Massachusetts disagrees with my opinion and that is life.
I really am curious as to what this state really wants. I am really confused, actually. How can Ted Kennedy, as far left as the spectrum allows, goes unchallenged, then Scott Brown comes in & v. Coakley, in an election with great turnout, loses. My question is, did people who had been voting for Kennedy all of these years actually vote for Scott Brown - a guy who is pretty much anti any kind of change, anti any kind of progress? That isn't partisan, that's his politics, his beliefs, not mine.
The answer to my own question is that I think that Kennedy voters stayed home, and that the Republicans were motivated to vote, and went out in big numbers. Why did they go out and vote?
1. Obama's Health Care bill has been a disaster since Day 1. It was clear by the way he tried to shove the bill through in July with really no national discourse, or debate. That scared people.
2. Coakley's campaign just felt arrogant even before the media was telling everyone that it was, in fact, arrogant. Her whole platform was, "can you believe this Brown guy? He is in Massachusetts, and he doesn't even believe in Kennedy's values!!! What a JOKE!" That didn't work.
I know for a fact I feel very alienated. I feel like I cannot talk to anyone about this. It's like what happened with the Red Sox - when I used to care, I felt like I couldn't talk to anyone because their opinions were not based on anything they thought of themselves. They really got their opinion from Pete Shepherd (ha! FIRED!) from WEEI, and that killed me.
Now, I don't know what people are thinking. They are approaching politics like it is a game, like it is a point of pride to be right in their vote, as opposed to right in their morals. I am not talking about the result of the election, so Brown won, I'm not going to yell at anyone for it. What I cannot stand are those rubbing it in people's faces, and I cannot stand people screaming about Brown like he is going to single-handedly chop massachusetts off from the mainland and toss it in the Atlantic Ocean.
So now there is an obligation from both parties, and as constituents and residents, it is our obligation to actually objectively judge this particular Senator on his actions. I don't know if we are capable of that, but it is what we are supposed to do. The thing that the Democrats need to do is to actually bring up a candidate that can win (which Coakley could have) and one that will take the campaign process seriously (which she didn't). Entertaining the idea that you might lose 72 hours before the election, is poor preparation. That isn't news, but it is to the Democrat Party for some reason.
The last thing I want to say is partisan, and is a condemnation of the right, and it isn't that bad, so I am sure anyone can stomach it and I can understand a different opinion, but since the days of Reagan, and maybe before, Republicans are basing their feelings on distrust. Distrust of Gov't. Distrust of opposition. Distrust of people who don't look, talk, sound, feel the way they do. I don't know what Democrats base anything on, because we have lost our way, but Republicans are pretty firm in the fact that Gov't cannot be trusted, and they cannot be the ones who steer us through problems.
I just want to finish by saying that kind of negativity permeates the entire message and the entire system. I always laugh at the premise that Gov't cannot be distrusted, because then what the EFF are you looking for in a candidate? I agree with you, this time, Scott Brown isn't going to change America. He isn't going to steer us in the right direction, and I have no idea if Coakley would either, but if you ask for a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, you're not going to get Filet Mignon.
Jed Bartlet in '12.
I am always amazed when people don't understand which way I am going to vote - then I realize that nobody really ever knows which way I am going to vote, so clearly it is in the way I deliver my message more than what message I'm delivering. Not that I'm even delivering a message. I'm just a semi-professional rambler.
First, the facts. I am a Democrat. I was registered Independent for a while after Hillary and Barack decided to act like children during the Primary process. So, in turn, I turned into a child as well and made things worse for myself. I then changed back to a Democrat because I realized that in the future, I want to be able to vote in the primaries.
Yesterday, I voted for Martha Coakley. Coakley is a run of the mill average Democrat, and in my life and my eyes, I'd rather see that than a run of the mill average Republican. This election really came down to, for me, the fact that things have become so bitterly partisan, because of the 60/40 math, that a 59-41 would put this country at a standstill.
I play Fantasy football and I make a lot of moves. Sometimes the moves aren't that good. Another example is that when I used to play Risk, all I wanted to do was bash people and start wars. I didn't care about the long term strategy. Most of me, from playing games to real life politics, feels that being sedentary, not changing, not evolving, is dangerous.
When it comes to politics, I see Democrats as the group that wants to change things quicker, and Republicans as the group that wants to change things slowly. Take a social issue that has arisen in the past 50 years, and Democrats wanted that social action to happen more quickly than the Republicans did. Take my fantasy football and Risk persona, and thats how I am when it comes to politics.
I have no idea what is going to happen in the future, but I can pretty much guarantee that Gays will be able to be openly Gay in the military. And I can pretty much guarantee you that at some point if you are born on American soil, you will be insured as a birthright. And I also can predict, with a certain amount of certainty, that there will or will not be another terrorist attack independent of who the Senator of Massachusetts is.
I wanted change to happen, and I want it to happen fast, and I think the state of Massachusetts disagrees with my opinion and that is life.
I really am curious as to what this state really wants. I am really confused, actually. How can Ted Kennedy, as far left as the spectrum allows, goes unchallenged, then Scott Brown comes in & v. Coakley, in an election with great turnout, loses. My question is, did people who had been voting for Kennedy all of these years actually vote for Scott Brown - a guy who is pretty much anti any kind of change, anti any kind of progress? That isn't partisan, that's his politics, his beliefs, not mine.
The answer to my own question is that I think that Kennedy voters stayed home, and that the Republicans were motivated to vote, and went out in big numbers. Why did they go out and vote?
1. Obama's Health Care bill has been a disaster since Day 1. It was clear by the way he tried to shove the bill through in July with really no national discourse, or debate. That scared people.
2. Coakley's campaign just felt arrogant even before the media was telling everyone that it was, in fact, arrogant. Her whole platform was, "can you believe this Brown guy? He is in Massachusetts, and he doesn't even believe in Kennedy's values!!! What a JOKE!" That didn't work.
I know for a fact I feel very alienated. I feel like I cannot talk to anyone about this. It's like what happened with the Red Sox - when I used to care, I felt like I couldn't talk to anyone because their opinions were not based on anything they thought of themselves. They really got their opinion from Pete Shepherd (ha! FIRED!) from WEEI, and that killed me.
Now, I don't know what people are thinking. They are approaching politics like it is a game, like it is a point of pride to be right in their vote, as opposed to right in their morals. I am not talking about the result of the election, so Brown won, I'm not going to yell at anyone for it. What I cannot stand are those rubbing it in people's faces, and I cannot stand people screaming about Brown like he is going to single-handedly chop massachusetts off from the mainland and toss it in the Atlantic Ocean.
So now there is an obligation from both parties, and as constituents and residents, it is our obligation to actually objectively judge this particular Senator on his actions. I don't know if we are capable of that, but it is what we are supposed to do. The thing that the Democrats need to do is to actually bring up a candidate that can win (which Coakley could have) and one that will take the campaign process seriously (which she didn't). Entertaining the idea that you might lose 72 hours before the election, is poor preparation. That isn't news, but it is to the Democrat Party for some reason.
The last thing I want to say is partisan, and is a condemnation of the right, and it isn't that bad, so I am sure anyone can stomach it and I can understand a different opinion, but since the days of Reagan, and maybe before, Republicans are basing their feelings on distrust. Distrust of Gov't. Distrust of opposition. Distrust of people who don't look, talk, sound, feel the way they do. I don't know what Democrats base anything on, because we have lost our way, but Republicans are pretty firm in the fact that Gov't cannot be trusted, and they cannot be the ones who steer us through problems.
I just want to finish by saying that kind of negativity permeates the entire message and the entire system. I always laugh at the premise that Gov't cannot be distrusted, because then what the EFF are you looking for in a candidate? I agree with you, this time, Scott Brown isn't going to change America. He isn't going to steer us in the right direction, and I have no idea if Coakley would either, but if you ask for a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, you're not going to get Filet Mignon.
Jed Bartlet in '12.
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
...Conan's Monologue...
Last night's Conan monologue. The man has a fire under him, and it is completely depressing that the fire is going to be put out until the Fall, wherever he may end up. This is a hilarious monologue, and it is happening every night now...
From last night: "Hello there, I'm Conan O'Brien and I need all of you to write me a letter of recommendation. Things are getting strange. A lot of papers are reporting that I am now legally prohibited from saying anything negative about NBC. So goodnight, ladies and gentlemen, it's been a great show. … A lot of changes, though, here at NBC. NBC has a new slogan. This is true. The slogan is 'More colorful.' They may be telling the truth because they're about to get rid of the whitest guy on television. … Of course, this has been a stunning couple of days for me. It's a bit hard to accept that soon I won't have a show, but Snooki and 'The Situation' will. Only in America. Everyone watch the Golden Globes last night? Last night at the Golden Globes, Julia Roberts said that NBC was in the toilet. NBC was upset, and toilets were furious. … There are much more important things going on in the world. The U.S.government has digitally updated their file photo of Osama bin Laden. They have given him thinner hair and a greyer beard. Also, just for the fun of it, they gave him a tramp stamp. … 'Avatar' is breaking every record in the book. It has made $65 gillion so far. I didn't even make that up. This is the latest. This is crazy. Extreme fans of 'Avatar' have started naming their newborn children after the Na'vi characters from the movie. I think that is ridiculous, and so do my children C-3PO and Chewbacca. … Yesterday, the founder of Taco Bell passed away at the age of 86. Still no word on whether he is going to have a funeral or a funeral supreme. … I have to talk about this because this really did lift my spirits. Apparently, fans of our show organized rallies all around the country. It's very sweet. Today, there were 'I'm With Coco' rallies. I can't do anything about the name apparently. … Since 'The Tonight Show With Conan O'Brien' will probably be wrapping up sometime in the near future, I think it's only right that tonight we take a nostalgic look back at another classic 'Tonight Show' moment. Tonight's classic 'Tonight Show' moment comes from way back in June of 2009. We were all a lot different then. It was a different world. Believe it or not, there was a popular singer in those days who called herself Lady Gaga. The Los Angeles Clippers were then a struggling basketball team. … I want to talk about something else. This has had a huge response and again, I do not know if I'm even legally allowed to do this, but screw it. Last week, I put 'The Tonight Show' up for sale on Craigslist" ("The Tonight Show," NBC, 1/18).
From last night: "Hello there, I'm Conan O'Brien and I need all of you to write me a letter of recommendation. Things are getting strange. A lot of papers are reporting that I am now legally prohibited from saying anything negative about NBC. So goodnight, ladies and gentlemen, it's been a great show. … A lot of changes, though, here at NBC. NBC has a new slogan. This is true. The slogan is 'More colorful.' They may be telling the truth because they're about to get rid of the whitest guy on television. … Of course, this has been a stunning couple of days for me. It's a bit hard to accept that soon I won't have a show, but Snooki and 'The Situation' will. Only in America. Everyone watch the Golden Globes last night? Last night at the Golden Globes, Julia Roberts said that NBC was in the toilet. NBC was upset, and toilets were furious. … There are much more important things going on in the world. The U.S.government has digitally updated their file photo of Osama bin Laden. They have given him thinner hair and a greyer beard. Also, just for the fun of it, they gave him a tramp stamp. … 'Avatar' is breaking every record in the book. It has made $65 gillion so far. I didn't even make that up. This is the latest. This is crazy. Extreme fans of 'Avatar' have started naming their newborn children after the Na'vi characters from the movie. I think that is ridiculous, and so do my children C-3PO and Chewbacca. … Yesterday, the founder of Taco Bell passed away at the age of 86. Still no word on whether he is going to have a funeral or a funeral supreme. … I have to talk about this because this really did lift my spirits. Apparently, fans of our show organized rallies all around the country. It's very sweet. Today, there were 'I'm With Coco' rallies. I can't do anything about the name apparently. … Since 'The Tonight Show With Conan O'Brien' will probably be wrapping up sometime in the near future, I think it's only right that tonight we take a nostalgic look back at another classic 'Tonight Show' moment. Tonight's classic 'Tonight Show' moment comes from way back in June of 2009. We were all a lot different then. It was a different world. Believe it or not, there was a popular singer in those days who called herself Lady Gaga. The Los Angeles Clippers were then a struggling basketball team. … I want to talk about something else. This has had a huge response and again, I do not know if I'm even legally allowed to do this, but screw it. Last week, I put 'The Tonight Show' up for sale on Craigslist" ("The Tonight Show," NBC, 1/18).
Monday, January 18, 2010
...Revis is Lewis, Lewis is Revis...
I don’t think I can possibly be the first to say this, but it is certainly how I feel right now…the Jets, to me, feel so much like the 2000-2001 Baltimore Ravens. Here are the reasons why.
First, they are both wild card teams that find themselves in the AFC Championship against a team that, without question, was better than them during the regular season. Now I completely understand that the Ravens were 12-4, but they weren’t a team that steamrolled anyone, I couldn’t believe week-to-week how putrid their offense was and how they managed to win games, their Defense was, without question, dominating…but they weren’t a dominant team during the regular season.
The AFC Championship game was against the Raiders, in Oakland, in 2001. Rich Gannon got demolished by Siragusa early on and never came back strong…they were a team that relied on the ONE BIG PLAY (ie, 96 yd td to Sh. Sharpe), much like how the Jets seem to rely on Shonn Greene to make the ONE BIG PLAY…
The Raiders were the better team all year, as are the Colts. The Ravens relied on a ground game that was good, not great, and a defense that was astounding. The Jets, this year, clearly rely on a good ground game, maybe in the top 3 in the league, and rely on a Defense that is turning great, if not astounding.
That leaves me to my last point, which is Darrelle Revis is playing the most dominating defense I have seen from a player in the playoffs since Ray Lewis did in 2000-2001. There was one play that Peter King writes about below, in his assessment of Revis, that I can’t stop thinking about. But before I quote King, I want to remember Ray Lewis and his abilities in 2000-2001. That year, no matter where the play was, or what type of play it was, Ray Lewis was present. He was just present, he was at or near the ball all the time. He was always on the screen, he was always in the way. He was always dominating.
It got to the point where I felt like his energy and his prowess melted on top of the Ravens offense like fondue cheese, and he just was always there – Dilfer knew he didn’t need to do anything special on “O” b/c Lewis would save them (like he did in the AFC Championship, recovering a fumble on the 6 yd line in the 4th quarter, and ultimately, completely dominating the Super Bowl from start to finish.)
But here is Peter King’s quote, and I’ll say what I want to say about the particular Revis play I can’t escape after that:
A cornerback can't play much better than Darrelle Revis did Sunday.
"We've got a ton of respect for Revis, ''Philip Rivers told me Friday at the Chargers' training facility, "but we're not going to avoid him. We'll take some shots at him.''
Oh really? Rivers went back to pass 45 times (40 passes, two sacks, three runs after being chased from the pocket), and I charted Revis' coverage pattern on every one of Rivers' pass-drops. By my count, Rivers threw four passes into the zone where Revis had primary coverage, or to the man Revis was playing man-to-man. One was complete, to LaDainian Tomlinson, for a loss of four yards. One, to Legadu Naanee, was batted down by a diving Revis on a cross route. One, to Vincent Jackson, a deep pass up the left seam, was overthrown, with Revis and Jackson running stride for stride. And the fourth, to Jackson, was up for grabs between the two, with Revis coming down with a juggled ball for an interception in a spectacular play.
Four times Rivers went at Revis in 45 pass calls. One completion, for minus-four. One interception. You cannot play the position better than Revis played it Sunday. I don't care if you're Deion Sanders or Night Train Lane. Revis put on a clinic, a masterful display of clinging coverage and bump-and-run when the situation called for it.
"We were playing a lot of man coverage on his side regardless who the receiver was,''Rex Ryan said, "and on the other side we were running some loaded zones and mixes and things like that. He had the tough guy most of the time.''
I told Revis the numbers in the tunnel after the game, just before he boarded the team buses for the airport. "I guess they gave me a lot of respect. It's my job, to cover guys, and I hope I do it pretty well.''
More than pretty well.”
So what I am reminded of is the -4 yd. loss to Tomlinson. The play, I remember it clearly, was a fake End Around to the right side of the field, then a screen pass to Tomlinson, hoping that the defense would have bitten at the Fake. First of all, the Jets were prepared because 0.0% of the Jets team bit on the fake, they actually probably saw the play coming like someone had pressed guessed the offenses “Up + A” button like in Tecmo…it was shut down completely. But Revis made a shoestring tackle on LT that was awesome, it was one of those tackles and plays that reminded you that no matter how good you are, how tricky you get, Revis is there.
In the absence of the Patriots (or Chiefs) being in this AFC Championship, I am forced to find something else to really care about, and root for. And that is coming in the form of Darrelle Revis. I really like Peyton Manning and his skill – as a matter of fact, he is probably the NFL player I respect the most, and I would like to see him continue his season of dominance, but that could only be trumped, I think, by a virtuoso defensive performance that only Revis is capable of. In 3 straight weeks he has shut down Ochocinco twice, and then Vincent Jackson, who had a Pro-Bowl season.
But this week is like a made-for-TV movie, when the upstart rag-tag group from out of nowhere has to face the big giant and almighty screwballs. Its like Major League when Wild Thing had to strike out that big dumb Yankee who looked like “Andy” from Pee-Wee’s big Adventure. Revis has to cover Reggie Wayne, who put together ANOTHER fantastic performance last week with some mind bottling (yes, bottling) catches. Revis has to shut him down – he has no choice, he absolutely HAS to shut him down for the Jets to have a shot.
I cannot wait for it, I really can’t, and I think this Jets story really is something, if you can remove yourself from the insanity of being a sports fan for 2 minutes, is completely fascinating and overwhelmingly awesome, ala the 2001-2002 New England Patriots.
I just realized I am the Noam Chomsky of sports fans.
First, they are both wild card teams that find themselves in the AFC Championship against a team that, without question, was better than them during the regular season. Now I completely understand that the Ravens were 12-4, but they weren’t a team that steamrolled anyone, I couldn’t believe week-to-week how putrid their offense was and how they managed to win games, their Defense was, without question, dominating…but they weren’t a dominant team during the regular season.
The AFC Championship game was against the Raiders, in Oakland, in 2001. Rich Gannon got demolished by Siragusa early on and never came back strong…they were a team that relied on the ONE BIG PLAY (ie, 96 yd td to Sh. Sharpe), much like how the Jets seem to rely on Shonn Greene to make the ONE BIG PLAY…
The Raiders were the better team all year, as are the Colts. The Ravens relied on a ground game that was good, not great, and a defense that was astounding. The Jets, this year, clearly rely on a good ground game, maybe in the top 3 in the league, and rely on a Defense that is turning great, if not astounding.
That leaves me to my last point, which is Darrelle Revis is playing the most dominating defense I have seen from a player in the playoffs since Ray Lewis did in 2000-2001. There was one play that Peter King writes about below, in his assessment of Revis, that I can’t stop thinking about. But before I quote King, I want to remember Ray Lewis and his abilities in 2000-2001. That year, no matter where the play was, or what type of play it was, Ray Lewis was present. He was just present, he was at or near the ball all the time. He was always on the screen, he was always in the way. He was always dominating.
It got to the point where I felt like his energy and his prowess melted on top of the Ravens offense like fondue cheese, and he just was always there – Dilfer knew he didn’t need to do anything special on “O” b/c Lewis would save them (like he did in the AFC Championship, recovering a fumble on the 6 yd line in the 4th quarter, and ultimately, completely dominating the Super Bowl from start to finish.)
But here is Peter King’s quote, and I’ll say what I want to say about the particular Revis play I can’t escape after that:
A cornerback can't play much better than Darrelle Revis did Sunday.
"We've got a ton of respect for Revis, ''Philip Rivers told me Friday at the Chargers' training facility, "but we're not going to avoid him. We'll take some shots at him.''
Oh really? Rivers went back to pass 45 times (40 passes, two sacks, three runs after being chased from the pocket), and I charted Revis' coverage pattern on every one of Rivers' pass-drops. By my count, Rivers threw four passes into the zone where Revis had primary coverage, or to the man Revis was playing man-to-man. One was complete, to LaDainian Tomlinson, for a loss of four yards. One, to Legadu Naanee, was batted down by a diving Revis on a cross route. One, to Vincent Jackson, a deep pass up the left seam, was overthrown, with Revis and Jackson running stride for stride. And the fourth, to Jackson, was up for grabs between the two, with Revis coming down with a juggled ball for an interception in a spectacular play.
Four times Rivers went at Revis in 45 pass calls. One completion, for minus-four. One interception. You cannot play the position better than Revis played it Sunday. I don't care if you're Deion Sanders or Night Train Lane. Revis put on a clinic, a masterful display of clinging coverage and bump-and-run when the situation called for it.
"We were playing a lot of man coverage on his side regardless who the receiver was,''Rex Ryan said, "and on the other side we were running some loaded zones and mixes and things like that. He had the tough guy most of the time.''
I told Revis the numbers in the tunnel after the game, just before he boarded the team buses for the airport. "I guess they gave me a lot of respect. It's my job, to cover guys, and I hope I do it pretty well.''
More than pretty well.”
So what I am reminded of is the -4 yd. loss to Tomlinson. The play, I remember it clearly, was a fake End Around to the right side of the field, then a screen pass to Tomlinson, hoping that the defense would have bitten at the Fake. First of all, the Jets were prepared because 0.0% of the Jets team bit on the fake, they actually probably saw the play coming like someone had pressed guessed the offenses “Up + A” button like in Tecmo…it was shut down completely. But Revis made a shoestring tackle on LT that was awesome, it was one of those tackles and plays that reminded you that no matter how good you are, how tricky you get, Revis is there.
In the absence of the Patriots (or Chiefs) being in this AFC Championship, I am forced to find something else to really care about, and root for. And that is coming in the form of Darrelle Revis. I really like Peyton Manning and his skill – as a matter of fact, he is probably the NFL player I respect the most, and I would like to see him continue his season of dominance, but that could only be trumped, I think, by a virtuoso defensive performance that only Revis is capable of. In 3 straight weeks he has shut down Ochocinco twice, and then Vincent Jackson, who had a Pro-Bowl season.
But this week is like a made-for-TV movie, when the upstart rag-tag group from out of nowhere has to face the big giant and almighty screwballs. Its like Major League when Wild Thing had to strike out that big dumb Yankee who looked like “Andy” from Pee-Wee’s big Adventure. Revis has to cover Reggie Wayne, who put together ANOTHER fantastic performance last week with some mind bottling (yes, bottling) catches. Revis has to shut him down – he has no choice, he absolutely HAS to shut him down for the Jets to have a shot.
I cannot wait for it, I really can’t, and I think this Jets story really is something, if you can remove yourself from the insanity of being a sports fan for 2 minutes, is completely fascinating and overwhelmingly awesome, ala the 2001-2002 New England Patriots.
I just realized I am the Noam Chomsky of sports fans.
...Running up the score...
The Cowboys need to shut their mouths. I don't have the level of passionate dislike for the Dallas Cowboys that I probably should have. I don't really like them, and I can't see a redeeming quality of Jerry Jones aside from the fact that he really wants to win, and does everything he can to achieve that, but I don't hate them.
Yesterday, however, I started to really dislike their attitude towards the end of the game, mostly surrounding the whining going on around running up the score. First of all, at the Pro level, when your team is paid billions to perform duties, you cannot complain if you lose by a lot of points, and the other team continues to score. You can't. It's not poor sportsmanship, there is simply too much on the line for the winning side, just overperform, overinput, overscore.
In the case of the Cowboys/Vikings game, the Vikings had the game in hand late in the 4th. The Cowboys took issue with the Vikings scoring a passing TD inside the 2:00 warning to go up 34-3 instead of 27-3. I always find it funny when the team that is losing is still trying to score, yet they expect the team that is winning to stop trying to score.
The only instance I feel where it is right, and this is not even across the board 100%, to be angry about "running up the score" Is when you, as a the losing side, take a knee b/c you are simply overwhelmed by the pounding you're getting (which has never happened, as far as I know), and the winning side would continue to score at will. That circumstance would put me on the side of the losing team – there is no need to score.
But the Cowboys, down 27-3, were in shotgun mode with 5 or 6 minutes left. So say they score, and its 27-10…then they kick an onside and get it and score, and it's 27-17 with 2 or 3 minutes left. Are the Vikings supposed to still sit on the ball and take a knee? So the cowboys can continue to be in shotgun, pass every down, and the Vikings are supposed to take a knee?
I never get it, I never will, and the Cowboys need to shut their mouths.
And there is one other thing, Norv Turner and Wade Phillips are constantly blessed with talented rosters – they are the types of coaches that always get put on teams with fantastic players, and lead those players to absolutely nowhere. I can't stand the thought of them being rewarded for their failures over and over, and that the entire NFL watching world knows those 2 guys are bad coaches, yet they stick around, year after year.
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
...my plan for Conan...
I have an opinion on this whole late night thing, but I am having trouble formulating it. Here are the basic building blocks of how I get to my opinion:
1. I think Conan is tremendously funny. I think he may be the best physical comedian of my generation, without even meaning to be that. I think he is a guy who is born to do something a bit different with the Tonight Show desk, and I can see myself growing old watching him, if I could stay up that late, which I can't.
2. Jay Leno is nothing. He really is absolutely a zero to me. I never laugh at his jokes, his monologue is something that viewers and the audience have bought into, every night. The people who write Leno can literally timeslot the jokes – "at 11:42 you'll make joke B, and it'll elicit laughter. At 11:44 you'll make joke C, and it'll elicit laughter, not to exceed that of Joke B. At 11:47, you'll make joke D which will exceed, in terms of laughter, B+C combined."
3. I think that Jimmy Fallon, however, may be the funniest of the bunch. Mostly b/c he tries new things, and he has always been someone who has not really minded failing, and is sorta good at making failing jokes. I think he is the best "actor" of the late night crowd – he knows how to play with an audience and his SNL training really has made him fight hard for honest laughs.
4. All of these shows are on too late.
So the thing I am most excited about is the universal venom towards Leno right now, from Letterman, Kimmell, Fallon, and Conan. They all are openly talking about their disappointment in him. People, aka NBC, point to Conan and say, "see, Conan is killing the Tonight Show," and they talk about $200mm in losses since he took over. They are leaving out key facts:
1. The Tonight Show desk was sacred when Carson was sitting there – completely sacred. It was Letterman's desk to have, and if you read The Late Shift, you'll see that Leno underhandedly stole the desk out from under him. He is a horrible person, I think people ignore that fact – read the Late Shift and listen to nearly every person he has known for more than 10 minutes and you'll hear a story of an evolution from a great comic to a robotic a**hole.
2. Leno, not Conan, dismantled the Tonight Show desk. I have to stop myself here and just say what I really want to say. Jay's delivery of jokes is embarrassing. He does this thing where he repeats himself after telling the joke while the pre-programmed laughter is graciously filled in by the crowd. It is a sign of comedic weakness, its something a new comic could never get away with, and time doesn't give a comedian the right to be a hack.
3. NBC itself, and network television in general, have destroyed Late Night, not Conan. They "overcommercial" everything, they have allowed themselves to become comfortable with really stale interview content, and it's sad. Conan never bought into that, his interviews are funny, he is okay with being uncomfortable or awkward in an interview, not everything has to be "just ok", it can be great. Jay doesn't give a crap about great anymore.
Let me leave it with this one last thought. Howard Stern is someone who I really admire as a comedian. His time with Sirius is up at the end of this year, and there are varying opinions of his success on his run at Sirius satellite radio. There are 2 truths, however, that you cannot argue about his time at Sirius:
1. The guy changed Satellite radio forever. Sirius and XM existed before Howard, and they'll exist after, but they exist in this grand scale now b/c of him. The medium is struggling, but the medium is amazing. It is commercial free content that you pay for – and the content is amazing, which brings me to point 2.
2. Howard's show, for fans especially, went to a completely new level at Sirius. You can look at it from a juvenile perspective and think its better b/c he can swear, but the truth is those dirty jokes/curses are less frequent than you can imagine. Howard spent MORE time on juvenile behavior and graphic content while on the FM radio, and that was because people cornered him. At Sirius, he is free to be himself. The show is flourishing right now, where 90% of his content is speaking about politics, the news, humor, religion, and not about the elements that people associate with the Stern name.
Now it probably sounds like I'm advocating for Howard to get a late night spot to fill in in all this mess – I don't think that at all. I think that Conan/Kimmell/Fallon can handle this well after Letterman leaves and Leno drops off the face of the earth. They have it covered.
However, I do think that Conan can take all of this disappointment, all of this anger, all of this energy, and primarily all of his talent, and take over for Howard when he leaves Sirius radio in December of 2010. The medium of Satellite radio will need a new champion, one with more mass appeal, and Conan can do it.
I recognize that his physical humor will not be seen on a radio medium, but I think his wit, his bravery, his honesty with fans are the same exact qualities fans love out of Howard, and his more mass appeal could bring millions more to the amazing Sirius platform.
As much as it may not seem this way, TV needs Conan more than Conan needs TV. I literally wouldn't do more than shrug my shoulders if I heard that CBS, NBC and ABC were going under tomorrow. I don't care, who cares. What do they provide me? Entertainment? Okay, I can get plenty from elsewhere. My DVR is basically empty. I don't have allegiance to anything on TV anymore. SNL, sure its funny. Survivor, yah, I love it, but I can live without it.
Can I live without Sirius at this point? I'm not sure. The 25 minutes of commercials per hour on regular radio is embarrassing, its an assault on my sensibility, its demeaning, its degrading, its just brutal. Can I live without the internet? No, it's the best way to get information that has ever been dreamt of. Can I live without Cable TV? Probably not – I need my Celtics, and I need Mad Men, and I needed the Sopranos and Deadwood. I have Netflix, too, I can live my life just fine.
I feel like Conan has finally figured out what he needs to do – and getting distance from NBC and network TV is in his near future.
Monday, January 11, 2010
...Long Winded 2010 Disney 1/2 Marathon Experience...
What: Walt Disney World 2010 Marathon Weekend
Where: Orlando, FL
When: 1/7 – 1/10
Who: Nick Fisher, Alison Fisher, Andy Joynt, Steve Joynt, Judy Joynt
Thursday, January 7th – Boston to Orlando
Thursday night I met Alison at Logan to fly down to Disney for our ½ marathon. Without a doubt, this was the most prepared for a race I have ever been, and most prepared for a ½ marathon without question. This was my 3rd ½ marathon, but I had not ever run from start to finish – I had to walk at the 2 previous events, once because of injury and once because of poor training.
We arrived in Orlando at around 10.15 pm, and waited a few minutes to meet up with Steve who was arriving at 10.45. This was going to be Steve's first ½ marathon. Andy and Judy had arrived at Disney earlier that day, and we were meeting them at our hotel room.
We got to the Hotel (Animal Kingdom Lodge – Kidani Village) at around 11.30. Andy and Judy had already checked in, so we went straight to our room. As soon as we got off the plane, the reality that the weekend was going to be colder than it should be became a reality. It wasn't freezing cold, but it didn't feel like Florida.
Friday, January 8th – Hollywood Studios, Marathon Expo, Magic Kingdom
On Friday morning, the 5 of us woke up and had breakfast in our room – we had a 2 bedroom Villa at the Lodge with a Savannah view, however we were at the corner of the Savannah and rarely saw any of the wildlife, which was a minor disappointment. We had cereal in our little dining area, and gathered up our stuff in order to get out and hit the parks as quickly as possible.
We were at Hollywood Studios for the opening of the park, in order for us to all ride Toy Story mania. We went directly to Toy Story first, followed by walk over to the Muppet 3D show, which was pretty much empty. After that, we took our time walking out of the park to head to the Marathon Weekend expo to pick up our goody bag and race numbers. We did make a slight detour to watch little kids fight Darth Vader in the Jedi Training sessions at Star Tours, which actually were kinda funny.
At the expo, the crowds were big, but manageable. Everything in the expo was warning us it was going to be cold, but that switch in your brain that tells you that the reality is actually true wasn't clicking for me…it wasn't going to be THAT cold, and no way was there going to be sleet, it just wasn't possible!!
After picking up our race numbers, we went directly to the Magic Kingdom to spend a few hours before heading back to rest and relax for the race. Our first stop in the Magic Kingdom was Cosmic Ray's for lunch. After that we went to what I consider the highlight of the trip (aside from the race), which was the new Hall of Presidents. The updates were major – the video is new, the narration is new, the overall feeling is much more of a realistic and optimistic patriotism – it talks about a few of the key Presidents and how their actions shaped our country. Of course, the new Barack Obama animatronic was cool, but it was by no means the most impressionable thing in the update.
After the Hall, we wandered over to Pirates of the Caribbean, which is always a big favorite of mine, and Andy's. When we finished Pirates, Andy, Alison and I grabbed Fastpasses for Thunder Mt., and we all went as a group to the Haunted Mansion, where Judy took a quick nap in the cars. I hadn't experienced this in a while, but they stuck all 3 of us in the same car, good thing we were in training mode – we barely fit!
After we exited Haunted Mansion, we remembered that the Muppets were debuting in the parade that day to celebrate the "Give a Day, Get a Disney Day" promotion which gives guests a chance to do a volunteer service day anywhere in the US and get a free Disney Park pass. The pre-parade featuring the muppets was cool – Miss Piggy, Sweetums (Life sized) and Kermit were in the parade, Andy let me take video on his flip, hopefully I'll be able to download it soon. Alison was star struck seeing Kermit, she really was…
After watching that parade, we shot up the whole town in the Frontierland Shooting Gallery, and then ran over to use our Fastpasses for Thunder Mt. Again, they jammed all 3 of us in those little cars, I don't understand how we all fit but we did. It was cramped, but fun. And friggen cold. So cold. Steve and Judy took in a rousing show of the Country Bear Jamboree while we enjoyed the Mountain.
Following that, we made our way to Fantasyland where we rode Small World & watched Philharmagic, it was nice to be warm in the theatre. We didn't have much time but the 5 of us squeezed into a Tomorrowland Transit Authority car and once again braved the cold to see the sights in Tomorrowland, before we went as a group to Tony's on Main St. to meet Alison's coworker Ainsley and her fiancée Rich who were both running the ½ Marathon.
The 7 of us had a great dinner at Tony's, spaghetti and sausage as well as a fantastic Butternut Squash soup got us prepared to run.
At this point, we finished dinner and went straight back to our hotel room to prepare for tomorrow's race day. Most of us were in bed around 9 am, as our wake up alarm was set for 3:00, in order to be on a bus by 3:45 or so.
Saturday, January 9th – ½ Marathon Race Morning, Animal Kingdom Lodge
Our alarm went off at 3am, and our first test was the weather. We had all spent a TON of time putting together our layers. In January of '07, the first time Alison and I ran this race, we left our hotel room at 3:30 am or so wearing only a tee shirt and shorts, it was beautiful. This day was much different. I had on the following layers: Long Sleeve running shirt, short sleeve running shirt, long sleeve running shirt, long sleeve running shirt, Jacket poncho on top. Compression Shorts, compression tights, shorts on bottom. As well as winter hat and gloves. And we all were freezing. We got off the bus and gave our bags to the bag check, and just had to wait. We huddled like penguins for about 1.75 hours before heading to our corrals, at which point the Sleet started coming.
Sleet, in Florida. It was 5:40 am when the wheelchair division kicked off and then runners in Wave 1 started going. Alison and I had dropped back to Steve's corral in order to all run together, and we didn't start running until about 6:10 or so. The first place runners were more than ½ way through the race before we started, while standing and waiting in the sleet!
The race started, finally, and all was well. We spent the majority of the first 2 miles bobbing and weaving through the slower runners in our Wave/Corral – it was tough to land on a pace and we actually started out a bit too quick. I don't remember my splits exactly, and my Garmin, unfortunately, had a bit of a fit during my run, adding some mileage to everything, so that was a bummer, but Alison had her watch. We were running very consistently the whole time, usually keeping a 9:45 or so pace, but slowing down at times based on traffic patterns.
I had a stretch goal of running in 9:15 pace – around 2:02 for the entire race, but that was really stretch and pie in the sky. We ended up coming in just under 2:10, 2:09:35 to be exact, which is 9:52 pace. I am very happy with that. Steve, Alison and I stuck together the whole time, we didn't have to walk, we didn't have to even really ever slow down, we just kept going and going and going, it was a fantastic feeling. I am 100% convinced the weather and crowds had something to do with our time, in other words, I really could imagine running a ½ marathon in that stretch goal of 2:02 or at the very least, 2:05 some day. It just won't be at Disney, most likely, because of the crowds.
After the race ended, we had a very tough time getting our bags we had dropped off – the system seemed scrambled and completely hectic. People had lost their bags, the lines were essentially non-existent, it was just mass chaos. It was the lowlight of the trip, I would say, and very unlike the Disney race series – we couldn't figure it out. We stood freezing, literally freezing, for about 15 minutes waiting for our bus to come to get us back to the hotel, but once it did it was glorious.
Alison and I were in the King suite in our room and we had a Jacuzzi – which I took full advantage of. Boiling hot water…so awesome. We all spent the next hour or so showering, changing, warming up and thawing out. We didn't leave the lodge property the remainder of the day. Kidani Village is a very odd place – it doesn't have a Quick Service food area, so you have to go back to Jambo House, which is right next door but a very long walk, especially in the freezing cold. We were told we could get breakfast at Jambo, so we walked over at about 11:15 and found out that breakfast was over. We had been craving eggs so badly, and realized we missed it, so that was a disappointment. We made Andy come pick us up in the rental car b/c the walk was so long and we were exhausted…
After lunch, Alison and I drove Andy to the airport – he was heading to Nicaragua for a friend's wedding. It was actually really nice to sit in a warm car and just do nothing for a bit. After driving Andy, we stopped off in Celebration, FL to look at the town and see what it was like – we got a cup of tea at the Coffee shop, and just took our time getting back to our hotel room. At that point it was 3:15 and we didn't leave the room again except to get dinner at Boma, which was completely fantastic. Alison and I had been very careful with what we had been eating since Christmas, and it was an awesome departure to completely pig out on Saturday night at Boma, which is one of my favorite places to eat in all of Disney World.
After dinner, we watched some football but retired to our beds by 10am and slept straight through til 8:30. It was a fantastic day with great experiences all around, running with Steve & Alison the whole time, crossing the finish line as a group was so amazing, and we had so much to be proud of for the run.
Sunday, January 10th – Epcot
Sunday morning we woke up at 8:30, refreshed, relaxed and warm…however it was still freezing cold outside, probably colder, albeit more dry, than Saturday. Our first order of business was to pack, eat a breakfast in the room, and get ourselves out to a park. We chose Epcot, and eventually got there after some road closures due to the full marathon. The runners were doing their best in the freezing cold – it was so hard to watch some of these folks in pain and struggling at mile 17 or so, I didn't envy them at all.
We got to Epcot and had to fight our way through race crowds, but finally went straight in to Soarin, which had a :45 wait or so, but still had Fastpasses available. We grabbed fastpasses and then rode Livin' With the Land, which was fun. Our next stop was over at Nemo to do the ride and see our old Manatee pals, Kringle and Lou, who were eating. They are huge, and only eat lettuce. Weird.
After the Seas, we went back to Soarin' to ride what may be the best ride in Disney World, it is what I think may be the perfect ride. Following that we set our sights on Canada, to watch the new Martin Short version of the Canada video, much improved over the last one – made us all want to book a trip, which I know the Canadian Tourist Board would love to hear. By this point it was lunchtime, and we were eager to get to the Rose & Crown in the UK where we had dining reservations, to get out of the cold. We watched some last minute stragglers about 5.5 hours into their marathon, at mile 24.5 or so. They looked tired, awful, sick, beat up…but some were in great spirits.
The Rose & Crown was a sad one for us – they seated us outside, yes, outside, covered by an awning and a plastic walls that somewhat protected us from the wind, but not really. My legs remained frozen, and I don't feel like we had a chance to really enjoy the Pub b/c we didn't even go inside at all. The food was good – nothing incredible, but the burger hit the spot, and I hadn't had French Fries in a while, so that was a big win for a guy like me. I want/need to go back to the Rose & Crown in order to feel satisfied with the experience.
It should also be noted that Disney World is not really Disney World when it is freezing. A little cold here and there, maybe a night or two where you need a long sleeve, that's one thing. But to be frozen, chilled to the bone by biting winds, it just makes it feel so odd, not right. Andy put it best when Alison was murmuring to herself, while freezing before the race started, "Think of a happy place, think of a happy place…" and Andy said, "Yah, Disney World." Something just didn't feel right all weekend when it came to the weather.
After lunch, we started went back to Future World where Alison tasted Coke from all the crazy countries, we took a look at Sum of All Thrills, the new Innoventions ride where you create your own ride, then ride it, while in a giant pod – hard to explain, but it looked fun. However the lines were long, and wanted to make sure we got on Spaceship Earth, which we did as a closer to our day in Epcot.
Our last mission was to find ice cream, so we decided to go over to the Polynesian where we hoped we'd find some, but we didn't. Time was passing so we decided to get to the airport early and went our separate ways to get back to reality. The airport was crowded, but all in all it was relatively smooth. Boarded the flight, got back home, and I immediately signed up for a 10k in late February.
I am going to crush it.
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