Official Save Jericho YOUTUBE Campaign

N.U.T.S.

Dirty team with a heart of gold

I'll make this quick, because it's 1:35am and I have work tomorrow. Congrats to the Spurs, who never gave up when it was looking like it was real easy to do in the game and managed to close out game 5 like the champions they're very capable of being. I'm sure tomorrow will bring all the comments from Suns fans about how the Spurs barely beat them undermanned, and when Amare comes back SA has no shot in hell... but for right now, all is right with the world and I truly believe there is such a thing as karma. And how stupid did the TNT announcers sound when they chalked the early poor play by the Spurs up to SA "feeling guilty" about the suspension situation. Dirty but a heart of gold? I guess that means the SAS are Julia Roberts from Pretty Woman.

Close these idiots out on Friday, I've just about lost all respect for every last one of them. Bell's a thug, Nash is a flopper and a great actor, and their coach has absolutely no class whatsoever.





Okay, they're still better than Dallas.

More fun and games with SA-PHX

So in the past couple of days since the incident with Steve Nash and Robert Horry, it seems as if the San Antonio Spurs have become the New York Yankees or Dallas Cowboys of the NBA, the team EVERYBODY loves to hate. This is especially true here in Canada, where the NBA stands for Nash Basketball Association.

I love how everyone's jumping to the defense of the Suns and how it's a shame that Amare Stoudemire and Boris Diaw are suspended for game 5 tonight, that they don't deserve to be sitting out and somehow it's because the league wants the Spurs to win the championship again. That's the most rediculous load of BS I've ever heard, the league wants NOTHING to do with SA even coming close to a championship and it's all due to money. Historically the Spurs in the finals have attributed to the lowest ratings ever, and considering how small the market in SA is to even suggest the NBA wants any championship round other than Lebron/Nash is crazy. The threat of a Detroit/SA rematch probably has several executives ready to jump off the ledge. My initial reaction to the suspensions was dissapointment, because the last thing I wanted to see was SA potentially win the series when their opponents weren't at full strength, thus giving anyone and everyone the opportunity to claim the Spurs as undeserving. But after the countless articles and opinions being put forth by some truly hack sportswriters, that opinion has changed.

The bottom line is this. Diaw and Stoudemire BROKE THE RULES. They came from the bench and charged onto the court during an altercation, which according to the rulebook is an immediate one game suspension. They knew this, and so did the Suns' coaching staff by the way they grabbed them and pulled them back. But regardless of anything else, they VIOLATED THE RULES that everyone else plays by, and deserve to be suspended because of their stupidity (or immaturity or whatever else you want to call it). I've heard several people voice the opinion that they didn't really do anything to escalate the fight... THAT'S ONLY BECAUSE THEY DIDN'T GET CLOSE ENOUGH TO. Stoudemire was charging right for Horry, and the only thing it looked like he had on his mind was a right cross to the jaw. If the coaches hadn't grabbed him and pulled him back, there would have been a full scale brawl. That's called INTENT, folks. And as for Horry's 2 game suspension, I support this too. He levelled Nash in the heat of the moment, no question. He also threw an elbow at another Suns player during the altercation to defend himself, worth another game for sure. But how about the constant 'hard fouls' that aren't called by the Suns' own Raja Bell? This is a guy who CLOTHESLINED Kobe Bryant in the playoffs last year and chalked it up to 'playing good defense'. Stoudemire, D'Antoni and anyone else from the Suns who wants to label the Spurs as dirty should take a good long look in the mirror first.

Now the really stupid part of this is that because of the NBA's ruling, this is all somehow the fault of the San Antonio Spurs organization. It's their fault that two of the Suns were idiots and knowingly violated the rules, and apparently will be "rewarded" for Horry's play. Being thrust into a no-win situation is hardly what I'd call rewarded. If the Spurs win tonight, and the series, they were helped by the league and are 'dirty'. If they lose tonight and the series, the dirty Spurs were rightfully vanquished by the noble and decent Phoenix Suns. For a team that's prided itself on class and not the usual thuggery you see from teams like the Denver Nuggets, New York Knicks or Indiana Pacers, it's complete BS. This series should have gone down as a classic for all the right reasons. Instead, it's been a series full of escalation, bad blood, and the Spurs' reputation being dragged through the mud in the press while everything they do on the court is scrutinized heavily. The Spurs play DEFENSE, it's what they hang their hat on, it's what's won them 3 championships since 1999.

Oh well, I guess that's what you get for being the measuring stick of excellence for the past ten years (and that's not bragging, the SAS own the best winning percentage of any team in the past ten seasons, playoffs and regular season). For years the label on the team was 'soft', but now everybody wants to go ahead and paint this team as 'dirty'?

Be careful what you wish for, you just might get it.

Random crap all falling at once

So it appears that higher powers have seen fit to rain down upon me with quite a few little annoyances today. While it's not official until tomorrow, it appears as though CBS has gone ahead and given the axe to Jericho despite rumors of a second season for weeks now. One of the top new shows to come along in a while is sabotaged by the network thanks to a 3 month hiatus in the middle of the season, and yet absolute crap like Rules Of Engagement are allowed to live on. I can only hope that the talented cast from Jericho manage to find work on other shows I like, because that was one talented bunch of people (Jack Bauer versus Robert Hawkins, now THAT'S a season 7 for 24.)

In general, I'm used to shows that I like being cancelled after a season or less. I've had a lot of practice over the years, and this season is no different. I fought the urge to get wrapped up in DRIVE until the series premiere, and two weeks later the inevitable announcement came. People have talked smack about Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip all season, but I held out hope as long as I could and just recently made peace with it's cancellation (which became official yesterday). But this one really stings. Early in the season, Jericho was mentioned in the same breath as Heroes as the top new shows of the season, and for once the ratings backed me up on it. But in its infinite wisdom, CBS decided to take the show OFF THE AIR for three months. OFF THE AIR. In it's first season. What did they think was going to happen after three months? And added to that, Jericho was left to die up against American friggin' Idol of all things! And then there's the manner in which it screwed with "How I Met Your Mother" and BARELY renewed it at the last second... once again, CBS ignores an actually funny sitcom (Yes, Dear... King of Queens... Still Standing...) and hypes the mediocre shows surrounding it on the schedule. Yes, I'm talking to YOU, Charlie Sheen.

Oh...

And how on earth could I forget the forearm shiver heard 'round the world? Robert Horry, all-round nice guy and San Antonio's "Big Shot Rob", delivers a hard foul on Steve Nash in the closing moments of game 4 between the Spurs and Suns, and the sports community is ready to tar and feather the silver and black. Granted, it was harder than necessary and a stupid move in the heat of the moment, one that deserved a game suspension. But at the same time, this entire series certain members of the Suns have bitched and whined and moaned that the Spurs are a dirty team. Well, congratulations, you got what you wanted. A dirty play, one that could change the balance of the series once and for all because now TWO Phoenix starters are also suspended for game 5, putting them at a severe disadvantage. Taking this at face value, yeah, the Spurs are probably going to be crucified by the average fan for this. But I watched the end of game 4, and what preceded the elbow was an absolute travesty by the referees to tip the scales to Phoenix's favor. Non-call after non-call, an 11 point lead erased and turned into a deficit, all of which boiled over and caused Robert Horry to put a little extra mustard on the foul.

Overall, I'm irritated that the series I was heavily looking forward to between two teams I have (well, had) great respect for has degenerated into the type of chaotic series I was expecting to have with Dallas in the WCF (thank god they choked at least, because after this series they probably would've picked the winner's carcass clean and fluked their way into a title). I'm irritated that the Spurs' character was called into question from almost the start of this series by a whiny, immature jackass who jumped directly from high school to the NBA and thinks he's the uncrowned king of kings or something. I'm irritated that the referees imposed their will YET AGAIN into a potentially make-or-break game the Spurs were involved in. I'm irritated that a Spurs player who's far too good to resort to these type of tactics went as far as he did, potentially tainting this series and playoff run as a whole. And I'm irritated that while the Spurs sure look like the favorites heading into game 5 thanks to the suspensions (2 PHX starters out, 1 SAS reserve out), I can't enjoy these NBA playoffs until this seedy series is over one way or another.

Sorry, just needed somewhere to vent after a really crappy day.