You will read many stupid stories in the weeks ahead about the Olympics, but none will exceed the stupidity of Jim Caple's latest at espn.com.
To wit:
Sportswriters moaning about Internet firewalls and governmental snooping in Beijing are both flattering themselves that a Chinese bureaucratic gnome actually cares what we write about LeBron James' shooting percentage ...
Actually, Jim, nobody in any country wants to read your drivel. What the complaints are centered around is the fact China blocks sites such as the BBC, and not because of sports reporting, but because of political reporting on stories within China.
And yes, Beijing is so polluted there may be more toxic waste at the Games than at any sporting event since Lenny Dykstra retired. But Vancouver, which hosts the next Winter Games, dumps untreated sewage into coastal waters.
I live in Vancouver, and I can confirm that, yes, Vancouver does dump sewage into its waters. But to compare Beijing's skies to Vancouver's waters - wow, that's a leap of idiocy only a Bush Administration official would attempt.
For its faults, the nation continually offers more options and freedom to its citizens than one or two generations before.
So, if I understand correctly, a woman whose husband previously beat and raped her should be happy when he only beats her? That's called improvement?
You can color these Olympics any way you choose, but the fact remains that the China is the most repressive nation to have hosted the Olympics since the USSR in 1980 or Germany in 1936. The fact Jim Caple gets to stay in swanky hotels and eat dinner on ESPN's dime doesn't change any of that, in spite of all of his whimsical nonsense.
Wednesday, August 6
Tuesday, August 5
Pat on the Back from Winnipeg
My first instinct on seeing this story at sportscolumn.com was, "Great, some twit from Vancouver thinks he knows what it feels like to lose an NBA franchise, and he expects me to appreciate his condolensces."
But, instead, Scott Gilmour has penned a thoughtful piece on the common language of despair and frustration now shared by fans of the Seattle Sonics and Winnipeg Jets. Normally, I'd look askance at someone telling me they "know how it feels" to lose your favorite team.
But when that someone is from Winnipeg, a city where 40 below is a high in mid-January, and where the only thing to look upon with pride was yanked away to a bunch of unappreciative retirees in Arizona, well, I think that someone knows from where he speaks.
But, instead, Scott Gilmour has penned a thoughtful piece on the common language of despair and frustration now shared by fans of the Seattle Sonics and Winnipeg Jets. Normally, I'd look askance at someone telling me they "know how it feels" to lose your favorite team.
But when that someone is from Winnipeg, a city where 40 below is a high in mid-January, and where the only thing to look upon with pride was yanked away to a bunch of unappreciative retirees in Arizona, well, I think that someone knows from where he speaks.
Less Than a Shocker
The predominant message we hear regarding the US men's team as the Olympics approach is one of predestination, that this team "gets it" and Coach K and Jerry Colangelo are the elixir to what has ailed men's hoops in international competitions.
Then Tuesday happens.
Now, I'm not going to go into some ridiculous diatribe about how this year's squad is just as bad as its predecessors. Obviously, with names such as Wade, Bryant, Anthony, and James on the roster, this is perhaps the most talented team since 1992.
However, I wouldn't exactly be devastated to see this incarnation of the Dream Team go up in flames, if for no other reason than to see the Mike and Jerry Show be taken down a few pegs.
For the last little while, you couldn’t go more than a day without reading about how wise Coach K is, how he "understands" the international game better, how his many successful years at Duke have earned him respect from the players, a respect that Larry Brown was unable to achieve.
Likewise, Colangelo is somehow smarter than all the previous folks who ran USA Basketball, and his “team first” mindset will be the key to unlocking the gold medal cabinet for the US after an embarrassing bronze medal in Greece four years ago.
Well, color me skeptical. I’ve never especially liked either of the two gentlemen, and I believe that 90% of the country would be on my side, at least in the general feeling about Duke basketball. It bothers me that people such as Larry Brown or George Karl are so easily dismissed, as if their contributions to basketball are nothing when compared to the Great Coach K, a man who has never ventured beyond the cozy confines of his fiefdom, where he is annually presented a silver platter full of prized basketball recruits, and where his roster is routinely of a higher quality than his opponents.
It bothers me that Colangelo – who has never won a championship in the NBA – has been elevated to the know-it-all of international basketball. Mind you, this is the same man who thought that Luke Ridnour merited an invite to the Team USA tryouts while Allen Iverson did not. Mull that one around on your tongue for a second.
And here we sit, four years after Team USA became known as the gang who couldn’t shoot straight, where every fourth-grader in the country knew the biggest problem facing the team was a lack of outside shooting ... and what happens in our first near-loss of the year?
A lack of outside shooting.
Shooting is erratic. Fine. I get it. But aren’t Colangelo and Krzyzewski supposed to be providing the answer to that problem? Isn’t their combined genius up to the task? If Krzyzewski is such a great motivator, why is that the team came out of the second half “lazy,” as Dwyane Wade put it? Shouldn’t Coach K be the one in charge of stuff like that?
When you add in the fact that the best player on Australia’s roster, Andrew Bogut, didn’t even suit up, or that this same Australian team lost to Argentina just a few days ago, well, am I the only thinking that the opener against China on Sunday night might be prime-time for a loss?
Personally, Colangelo and Krzyzewski remind me of Howard Schultz circa 2000. Schultz came into ownership trumpeting a five-year plan to restore the Sonics to greatness, that he was going to use the same brilliance he wielded at Starbucks in the NBA.
Now, less than a decade later, not only are Schultz’ Sonics out of the NBA playoffs, they’re out of Seattle altogether.
What was it they said about the best laid plans?
Then Tuesday happens.
Now, I'm not going to go into some ridiculous diatribe about how this year's squad is just as bad as its predecessors. Obviously, with names such as Wade, Bryant, Anthony, and James on the roster, this is perhaps the most talented team since 1992.
However, I wouldn't exactly be devastated to see this incarnation of the Dream Team go up in flames, if for no other reason than to see the Mike and Jerry Show be taken down a few pegs.
For the last little while, you couldn’t go more than a day without reading about how wise Coach K is, how he "understands" the international game better, how his many successful years at Duke have earned him respect from the players, a respect that Larry Brown was unable to achieve.
Likewise, Colangelo is somehow smarter than all the previous folks who ran USA Basketball, and his “team first” mindset will be the key to unlocking the gold medal cabinet for the US after an embarrassing bronze medal in Greece four years ago.
Well, color me skeptical. I’ve never especially liked either of the two gentlemen, and I believe that 90% of the country would be on my side, at least in the general feeling about Duke basketball. It bothers me that people such as Larry Brown or George Karl are so easily dismissed, as if their contributions to basketball are nothing when compared to the Great Coach K, a man who has never ventured beyond the cozy confines of his fiefdom, where he is annually presented a silver platter full of prized basketball recruits, and where his roster is routinely of a higher quality than his opponents.
It bothers me that Colangelo – who has never won a championship in the NBA – has been elevated to the know-it-all of international basketball. Mind you, this is the same man who thought that Luke Ridnour merited an invite to the Team USA tryouts while Allen Iverson did not. Mull that one around on your tongue for a second.
And here we sit, four years after Team USA became known as the gang who couldn’t shoot straight, where every fourth-grader in the country knew the biggest problem facing the team was a lack of outside shooting ... and what happens in our first near-loss of the year?
A lack of outside shooting.
Shooting is erratic. Fine. I get it. But aren’t Colangelo and Krzyzewski supposed to be providing the answer to that problem? Isn’t their combined genius up to the task? If Krzyzewski is such a great motivator, why is that the team came out of the second half “lazy,” as Dwyane Wade put it? Shouldn’t Coach K be the one in charge of stuff like that?
When you add in the fact that the best player on Australia’s roster, Andrew Bogut, didn’t even suit up, or that this same Australian team lost to Argentina just a few days ago, well, am I the only thinking that the opener against China on Sunday night might be prime-time for a loss?
Personally, Colangelo and Krzyzewski remind me of Howard Schultz circa 2000. Schultz came into ownership trumpeting a five-year plan to restore the Sonics to greatness, that he was going to use the same brilliance he wielded at Starbucks in the NBA.
Now, less than a decade later, not only are Schultz’ Sonics out of the NBA playoffs, they’re out of Seattle altogether.
What was it they said about the best laid plans?
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