I remember a time when Sundays following football season meant more than just another day off school. It meant NBA basketball at its best.
Come noontime on these days, I would often tune in for what would be the first game of either a double or triple header. Back in the day, this usually meant match ups like Michael Jordan’s Bulls against Patrick Ewing and the New York Knicks, The Charles Barkley led Phoenix Suns taking on the Orlando Magic and Penny Hardaway, or my personal favorite rivaly, The Indiana Pacers against the Knicks. Watching Reggie Miller torch Spike Lee’s favorite club is a cherished memory of mine.
So we got nearly nine hours of great basketball, all on NBC. Unfortunately, the aforementioned no longer exists. Not because those great players have all retired, but because of the network that now carries nationally televised games.
The NBA chose not to renew their contract with NBC Sports back in 2002, instead making a deal with ABC and ESPN to broadcast games. That meant no more double and triple headers, no more brilliant pre-game vignettes, and no more of that NBA on NBC theme music that every basketball fan will remember as long as they live. To sum it up, the NBA on Sundays became a shell of its former self.
It’s amazing what changing networks can do to the whole aspect of a sport. NBC made even regular season games seem important. They portrayed the drama and suspense that should be a part of the game, making you want to watch every bounce of the ball. The classic moments of the NBA on NBC are countless. They were the moments that inspired kids to spend hours playing ball in their driveways, imagining that they were on sport’s biggest stage making the game winning shot. This, people, was NBA basketball.
Today is a different story. Now we’re lucky to get one decent Sunday game. Not only that, ABC and ESPN’s coverage is downright terrible. Gone is the Jonh Tesh’s “Roundball Rock.” Gone are the well thought out game intros that told the story of what we were about to witness. Gone is the spirit of the NBA.
Instead we get The Pussycat Dolls “singing” and prancing around like whores to open the games. Yes, they are nice to look at, but I’m here to watch basketball, not a burlesque show. I want to hear about the quest for a trophy, or about two bitter rivals going head to head.
And forget kicking back and taking in a whole day of NBA ball. According to NBA Commissioner David Stern, the fans don’t want to watch three games in a row.
What?! Since when? But maybe he’s right. With ABC’s coverage, I can see why fans have lost interest. I guarantee if the NBA were still on NBC, this would not be a problem. And until the league does what’s best for the game, don’t expect any meaningful or exciting coverage of NBA games on Sunday afternoons.
The NBA Playoffs started this week, and it’s gotten me in a nostalgic mood. People don’t get excited for NBA basketball like they used to, mainly due in part to the fact that the NBA is no longer on NBC (more on that later). But I did find a clip that I remember dearly. This still gives me goosebumps. Enjoy!
Now that NBA commissioner has instituted a zero tolerance rule for complaining to officials, players are now whining about not being able to whine. Gimme a break.
I for one am all for this rule. Complaining about the officiating in the NBA has become too commonplace. Refs are going to make bad calls. It’s just a fact of the game. But I don’t need to see a player hollering, throwing his arms up, and rolling around on the floor everytime a whistle blows.
Take Rasheed Wallace of the Pistons, who has four technical fouls in four games so far this year. The man goes nuts after every call or no-call. It’s pathetic. He looks like a little kid out there, throwing a tantrum after mom refuses to buy him that new toy. Act like an adult for once, ‘Sheed.
In addition to his on-the-court protests, Wallace had this beacon of wisdom on the new rules:
“I know they’re going to have to do something about this crazy zero-tolerance law. That’s retarded. In my mind, it’s kind of like a slave and master or father and son. You’ve got your little son and (you say) don’t say nothing back to me - and to me, that’s totally wrong. It ain’t like that in any other sport.”
Take a moment to try and make sense of that rhetoric. Just forget everything you know about sense or proper English.
Is showing respect to the referees too much to ask of this guy? Is it also too much to ask to play basketball and not throw all sense of composure out the window when you disagree with a call? I think for Rasheed Wallace, it just might be.
All these players are claiming that the new rules “take the emotion out of the game”. If I remember correctly, guys like Jordan and Bird played with as much emotion as anyone in the NBA, but they didn’t look like kindergarteners. They channeled that emotion into the game itself, not at the referees.
Charles Barkley used to always say that NBA stood for No Babies Allowed. It’s apparent that several managed to make it in anyway.
That’s right. At the risk of suffering from foot in mouth syndrome, Angry Ken is not saying anything about the game this weekend. I’m not even going to try to predict what might happen in this game. I just hope the Bengals come out on the winning side.
But don’t get me wrong. I still hate the Steelers. More than any team in sports, but I’m not getting into a trash talking war.
And you have to admit that this is now the biggest rivalry in the NFL. I can’t wait until Sunday.
It’s no secret that I am not a Cowboys fan, but the fans in Dallas officially make me sick. Anyone that would give a guy like Terrell Owens (who has already caused a circus without even stepping on the field) a standing ovation is an absolute disgrace, not only to football, but to the sports world in general. Maybe Dallas is the right place for T.O. I would say that the people in Dallas should be ashamed of themselves, but it’s clearly evident that they have no shame to begin with.
I hope these fans get what they deserve with TO. Apparently they learned nothing from what he did to the Eagles. Just you wait Cowboy fans. We’ll see if you’re cheering that sack of sh*t a couple months from now.
