IS THIS NOW A SPORTS BLOG?
...next thing ya know, I'll be placing bets...
-
DID THIS YEAR'S FOOTBALL SEASON SEEM SHORT?: Most of the time, when I watch football, I'm also online annoying as many people as possible. It's easier to post while watching baseball; the flow of most games allows quite a lot of surfing-time between plays. Last Monday night, I thought I heard one of the sportscasters saying something about "this is the final Monday Night Fooball Game" of the season. Huh? What? Baseball season nowadays ends roughly halfway through the Pro Football season, and Football Season starts earlier than it used to. I remember when there were actual gaps between the end of baseball season and the beginning of football. I've missed virtually the entire Football season now. Usually by now I begin to sort out my playoff favorites and scheme about who'll be in the Super Bowl. But I've been too busy licking my wounds from following the Seattle Mariners ultra-ugly season. It wasn't pretty.
-
This year, I have no idea who's good and who isn't as far as football is concerned. Although Green Bay seems to be on their way to an Undefeated Season...wait...I just checked, and the Packers lost this past weekend. Told ya I had no idea! The 1972 Miami Dolphins who are still alive and well celebrated heartily, I'm sure. (They were the only team to achieve an Undefeated Season.) I didn't watch the Green Bay game, but I've seen games where, once a league championship was secured, the coach would put in the Second Team. Why risk injuring the Star Quarterback? I'm not sure if this happened during the Green Bay game, but if I was paying NFL ticket prices only to find that the scrubs were going to play most of the game, I'd feel tremendously Ripped Off. Sorta like Hopalong Cassidy taking Clark Gable's place in "The Grapes Of Wrath".
-
ONE REASON I DON'T WATCH PRO BASKETBALL: I guess the NBA is going (relatively) strong, with teams playing 66 games in this strike-shortened season. And after the regular season's over, they'll play another 66 games in the playoffs. Well, that's what it feels like. In a closely contested NBA game, there are so many time-outs towards game-end, that the last two minutes end up being as long as the entire 1st half of action. I used to run a Radio Board for a station that carried NBA playoff games. A player in-bounds the ball, the ball bounces once. TIME OUT!!! Then the ball is in-bounded again, to one of the forwards. The other team changes its defensive look...TIME OUT!!! Substitutions made, the ball is in-bounded again, one player passes it to another who jumps up and shoots; instead he passes the ball back because the defense is all over him. TIME OUT!!!

-
After getting the latest play from the bench, Team "A" in-bounds the ball. Team "B" steals the ball!!! Both teams get down to the other end of the court...TIME OUT!!! Offensive Strategy mini-conference.  Back to the court: Before the ball can be in-bounded, Team "B" needs to regroup for an offensive strategy mini-conference. The ball is in-bounded, team "B" passes the ball around the court, not getting a good look for a shot, and one of its players calls 'Time'...you guessed it; TIME OUT!!! Then, play is ready to be resumed. The Whistle Blows...TIME OUT!!! Team "A" needs to counter the offensive changes team "B" made. Play resumes, after which a referee spots a puddle of sweat on the floor. TIME OUT!!! Back to the action. Player Substitution! Before the ball can be in-bounded, however, team "B"'s coach needs to substitute someone to counter the previous player substitution by Team "A"...TIME OUT!!! And in the meantime, you've just been subjected to something like 4,000 commercials. Gotta keep them sponsors happy!
-
That's what it was like in 1999, anyway. It's probably worse now. Remember the "fast break" that high school and college teams would use to change the tempo of the game? Watching an NBA game is like watching one long fast break. I have not watched Pro Baketball since the days of John Stockton and Karl Malone. They really did work well together. I rooted for Stockton, the little guy who always came up big against the giants he faced. But really, I think Basketball is Too Fast. Soccer is too erratic. Football Season is over too soon. Baseball...is  j-u-s-t   r-i-g-h-t. Even if you're a Seattle Mariners fan. And so I wait for spring.
-
This post was going to be about something else altogether. But it wasn't. Which means I already have a couple of ideas for subsequent posts. Unless I forget them. Which could happen...