Let me sum up. In the past 48 hours:
-Tiger Woods wins the US Open on a broken leg on the 91st hole
-The Celtics knock off the Lakers and make Kobe cry
-My ancestral home of Italy knocks off France, gets a must-lose from Romania, and moves on
-4,000 people shout "Save Our Sonics!" at the top of their lungs in downtown Seattle
-One of my best friends gets to meet our childhood hero, Xavier McDaniel
That's a lot for one man to digest in 48 hours, wouldn't you say?
In all seriousness, my sincere congratulations to Ray Allen. I don't think Sonic fans ever completed wrapped their arms around and accepted Allen as one of their own, and I can't quite put my finger on why. Perhaps it was because of the miserable teams on which he played; a fan favorite almost always comes part and parcel with a playoff-caliber team.
Or perhaps it was Allen's personality. Perfectionists are always difficult to love, and Allen's smooth exterior never provided a handhold for Sonic fans to grab onto. Always admired, seldom beloved, that was Ray Allen's tenure in Seattle from my perspective.
Regardless, he is/was one of the greatest players in Sonic history, and one of the classiest men as well. To see that combination be rewarded for his efforts — and to see his one-time enemy suffer on national television simultaneously — well, that was a pleasure to watch.
And, for those keeping track at home:
NUMBER OF SHAQ-LESS TITLES
Ray Allen: 1
Kobe Bryant: 0
That's great for Ray, he deserves this title.
ReplyDeleteAlso great to see that people are still fighting to keep the Sonics in Seattle.
"My ancestral home of Italy knocks off France"
:(
Life without Zidane is going to be tough for us, especially if we can't find a decent coach...
When Ribery destroyed his knee the game was over. The penalty-red card combo (what a dumb foul !) was just a bonus.
I was a huge fan of Ray, but it's true I didn't have the same devotion to him as earlier Sonics greats. Could have something to do with his steely cold perfection. Or it could have something to do with me being older and having more of a life now (not bragging, more like admitting what a hopeless Sonics junkie I was in my youth). Dunno. Good question.
ReplyDeleteCongrats to him, he deserves it.
My condolences, Bob. I don't know of a tougher tournament in the world than the Euros — there just aren't any easy teams that you can rest against. Whether it's tennis, or basketball, or football, or whatever, the best teams usually get a breather in the first round, but in the Euros you're in tough right from the start. Dutch, Italy, France - one of them was going home no matter what.
ReplyDeleteYes, European Championships are really hard. The worst teams are still very solid (a little exception with Austria this year)
ReplyDeleteWould be good to make less stupid rankings to form the groups though. Just amazing to put Italia, France and the Neetherlands in the same one...
yeah, the ranking system they used pretty much discounted everything france had recently done well in, like the world cup. that game was painful to watch.
ReplyDelete-on a different note, did anybody see how stern got booed at the garden last night?
So it wasn't just me, then! I could have sworn that when they first introduced him there was a pretty solid booing going on, but then when the "Truuuuth" cheers started coming later, I convinved myself that they were chanting that the whole time (even Stern seemed to think that as well). Boy, if they were booing him, how far has his stature fallen?
ReplyDeleteThe 2008 U.S. Open was quite possibly the most majestic golf match in history, with Tiger Woods pretty much solidifying his all-time greatness.
ReplyDeleteIt's still sad that a career journeyman in Rocco Mediate, 45, was unable to win his first major tournament in an upset fashion.
That's life, though.
The Boston Celtics proved during the past several weeks that having two superstars who play top-notch defense wins championships in basketball.
I, moreover, have been validated for those years in which I wanted the Seattle SuperSonics to trade Rashard Lewis in a package to the Boston Celtics for Paul Pierce.
Regarding defense, that's why I'm not altogether sold on Kevin Durant. The average fan creams their jeans over Durant, but that's 'cause they're idiots.
Because of Durant's vaginized, pussified defense, he'll never be a winner in the NBA -- รก la Carmelo Anthony, Tracy McGrady, et al. -- thus, the SuperSonics need to build around a two-way interior player who'd be a franchise cornerstone.
Indeed, Durant isn't a superstar.
AK1984-
ReplyDeleteHonestly, you don't think Durant has ANY potential to be a superstar? What makes you smarter than hundreds of professional sports analysts? And take a look at the numbers of the Sonics last game on the home page: 42 points, 13 boards. Them some superstar numbers.
Kevin Durant puts up empty numbers.
ReplyDeleteIt's Durant's peripheral statistics (Net Points Scored Per 100 Possessions: -0.1; Net Points Allowed Per 100 Possessions: +8.8; Net Effective Field-Goal Percentage: -1.5%; Net Effective Field-Goal Percentage Allowed: +4.6%) that tell the tale.
Again, Durant is statistically similar to Carmelo Anthony and stylisitically similar to Tracy McGrady. That, folks, isn't a winning combination.
I was born in Seattle and lived in NW washington my entire life before moving to the LA area for school, and I'm a life long Sonics fan, and a longtime Kevin Garnett fan, yet somwhow still found myself rooting against the Celtics. I think it's because I lived in Boston for a little while and the whole persona over there just rubs me the wrong way. moreso for Red Sox fans than Celtics, but yeah, them and the Lakers fans have been my two least favourite, I was sick when that turned out to bet he finals (although the post Shaq title totals and the historic consequence of the series are still pretty enjoyable)
ReplyDeleteI'm lucky enough to be in the Netherlands right now traveling Europe with my little bro, and the eurocup has been an absolutel blast. it's ridiculous. I'm haf Dutch myself and being here and watching these games.... ahh, I only hope the outcome of hte trial is half as exciting.
oh, and I think the difference between Durantula and someone like a Carmelo is attitude. Maybe it's just my rose tinted perception of the situation, but Durant just seems to have something there in his personality
Forza Italia!
ReplyDeleteHA! Where you been ak1984?? Did you get booted off SonicsCentral and have to come here to continue your petulant whining about Durant, hoping to gain an audience?
ReplyDeleteWell, cheer up dude! I could'nt resist replying. Tell us again how the Rookie of the Year on the Worst Sonics team Ever(playing as the #1 scoring option) has no hope of being a SuperStar.
You've apparently got it all figured out - this skinny 19 yr old NBA ROY needs to be a defensive stopper as well.
If only we could have drafted Oden the Gimp!!
Seattle could have easily won this years Title if they did not draft Robert Swift and let the Celtics take him as they wanted.
ReplyDeleteThe Sonics could have drafted Jefferson, then traded him for Garnett, then kept Ray Allen but traded the Durant pick to the Celtics for Paul Pierce and won the title.
Thus, Boston owes a great amount of gratitude to the Sonics for taking their draft pick in Robert Swift.