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Got Sports?
A column by Micah Cosey, Sports Editor
Sports in April: Top ten things NBA fans and players can agree on April 2000
Is it just me or has the National Basketball Association lost its dramatic spunk? Watching an NBA game in the mid-'80s to mid-'90s was like gasping at the epic conclusion to a "Beverly Hills 90210" episode. The heated rivalries, such as the Detroit "Bad Boys" vs. the Chicago Bulls or the Phoenix Suns vs. the Houston Rockets, nearly grabbed television viewers by their necks with the sometimes tear-jerking subplots.
Do you guys (and girls, to be politically correct) remember how the NBA once was? Basketball wasn't just a game featuring overpaid players, it was a soap opera. The game within the game made for spectacular entertainment. The playoffs had more meaning a decade ago than today's NBA playoff scenario. Now you people out there could take my lawful complaints and call me an unappreciative little jerk. And to that I would simply reply, "Hey! Am I really that little?"
The little dramas of the NBA
Anyway, the 82-game NBA schedule this season has presented some interesting subplots. (And no, I'm not talking about the fact that every young player this year is wearing a stupid headband.) You've got to search deep within to find them, but the subplots are there. Let me think. Okay, I've got some.
You've got the Orlando Magic coach, Doc Rivers, who took a band of cast-offs and rejects and molded them into a cohesive unit and a playoff-caliber basketball team. You've got the Chicago Bulls, who basically conceded their entire championship roster over a year ago in order to make room to maneuver under the salary cap in the years to come.
The Chicago Bulls make be lousy now-okay, they are lousy now-but with the highest proposed budget in the league for spending on marquee players in future off-seasons and with two lottery picks in the NBA draft within the next two years in the hands of Bulls owner Jerry Krause, the Bulls may become a force to be reckoned with in a year or two.The L.A. Lakers story
Then there's the Los Angles Lakers saga. Every year Laker executives Jerry West and Jerry Bus empty their piggy banks into some of the league's most riveting and awesome players, only to be eliminated by a more goal-oriented, better-coached group of veterans, such as the Utah Jazz or the San Antonio Spurs.
Despite the Lakers' rampage during the regular season, which consisted of an NBA record two winning streaks over 20 games and a legitimate run at the '98 Chicago Bulls' regular season record of 72-10, I still think this team of young phenoms is a few years away from a championship.
And then there are the Golden State Warriors. Wellokaynever mind
Anyway, here are the top ten interesting subplots of the 1999-2000 season:Top Ten Interesting Subplots of the NBA 1999-2000 Season
10. It's a crime that Miami Heat center Alonzo Mourning has gotten his nose broken this season and Jerry Springer hasn't!
9. If Pamela Anderson-Lee had a dollar for every time Toronto Raptors forward Vince Carter dunked a basketball, she could pay Tommy Lee's bail.
8. Indiana Pacers guard Reggie Miller has lit up the New York Knicks more times than Puff Daddy has Jennifer Lopez.
7. To this day, no one knows what the heck a Los Angles Laker really is!
6. The recently released Dennis Rodman should parade at every NBA game naked-to generate more excitement from the fans.
5. Watching an NBA game still beats listening to Roseanne Arnold sing the national anthem.
4. If the Back Street Boys are really singingthen the Golden State Warriors are really playing basketball.
3. Every team roster should include one cast member from "Friends."
2. New York Knicks center Patrick Ewing looks like Bigfoot. Seriously, he really looks like Bigfoot.
1. The number one of a top ten list always sucks! Yeah!
Sports in March: The year's best love relationships March 2000
Nice of you all to join me once again. Take in a deep breath. Spring is in the air, and we all know that with the joy of spring comes love. Spring is a time for two partners in love to express their feelingslike that of a sports fan for March Madness. Speaking of March Madness in the NCAA, I'm going to pull a very uncharacteristic move for a sports journalist and not talk about it all, but rather the biggest and most glamorous love relationships in professional sports today.Best love/hate relationship: Dennis Rodman and the NBA
In a perfect world Dennis Rodman would bow out of the NBA gracefully and butt naked, with his first ballot Hall of Fame credentials at hand. It also seems evident that Rodman, 39, has finally worn out his welcome with NBA officials.Following his release from the Dallas Mavericks on Feb. 24, Rodman hinted that it was not his play on the court that ended the relationship between the once playoff-bound Mavericks and himself; but rather, it was the lack of testicular fortitude on behalf of the NBA's commissioner David Stern.
Prior to their acquisition of Dennis Rodman, the Mavericks were just two games out of the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference. But after three weeks of childish antics and hand gestures of "The Worm," the Mavericks fell faster than the movie career of actor Charlie Sheen.
I feel kind of bad nowus tabloid people are always in Dennis Rodman's relationship business. Remember his little rendezvous with Madonna? What about his recent marriage with Carmen Electra? That lasted about as long as Michael Jordan's receding hairline.But Dennis' newfound love/hate relationship with the NBA should last awhile. Heck! Rodman already has his dress. I can see it nowRodman and NBA commissioner David Stern in locked arms.
Most dominant partners in a relationship: The Golden State Warriors and the San Francisco 49ers
In their devious plan to rule the world, the Golden State Warriors and San Francisco 49ers' front-office management teams (collectively known as the New Bay Area World Order) have been bluntly up-front in their overall mission: to destroy any and every professional sports team in the world! Creepy isn't it?Well, let's hand it to 'em-both teams seem to be on the right track. "Master Mind" and 49ers General Manager Bill Walsh has been hell-bent on ridding the 49ers roster of everyone anyone has ever heard of and replacing them with has-beens and underrated rookies.
And then there are the Warriors. Although they were successful in their recent acquisition of Larry Hughes, let's get real, people! The Warriors couldn't complete another positive trade if one were to fall out of the clear blue sky with a note attached that said, "This is a positive trade."
It's all a part of the devious plan of the New Bay Area World Order. Fans beware! The hedonistic Bill Walsh is leading the chargeyour teams could be next. Take warning from us Bay Area sports fans, as our only hope lies in the hands of Oakland Raiders owner Al Davis. A man we once deemed "The Los Angles Trader" is now being relied on to apply his snakelike tactics to derail the Evil Empire of the New Bay Area World Order. Stay tuned.Cutest new couple in a relationship: Mike Tyson and the Continent of Europe
Ya know, I can just feel the sentimental love between professional boxer "Iron" Mike Tyson and Continent of Europe. Tyson, 34, is single with three kids and enjoys gnawing off Evander Holyfield's ears during his spare time.After a sluggish attempt to return to the ring in the United States, Tyson has generated a lot of excitement in Europe. Maybe the teenyboppers feel they can relate to Tyson's squeaky voice. Or maybe it's the way the sun glints off Tyson's gold tooth? We'll never know.
Good riddance to old major league baseball parks November 1999Why are so many teams in major league baseball unhappy with their stadium situations?
Many insiders say that perhaps the trend of owners coveting new ballparks began with the construction of Camden Yards, the model of downtown ballparks, seven years ago. This occurrence spawned a new era of ballparks in major league baseball.New ballparks = More $$$
New ballparks do tend to bring out more fans. In the inaugural season of their new home field, Safeco Park, the Seattle Mariners placed last in the final American League West standings during the 1999 season-but they sold out every game. And statistically, new ballparks do generate more revenues in their respective communities. There was a 30 percent increase in spending in the area surrounding the new Bank One Ballpark in Arizona.With all of these new ballparks, can teams afford to hang on to sentimental history such as the 76-year-old Yankee Stadium or the two oldest ballparks in professional baseball, Fenway Park and Tiger Stadium?
Traditional baseball parks are disappearing as fast as pop singer Michael Jackson's marriges. Like many traditionalists, I love the older ballparks.
It is a hallowed tradition in baseball to grieve over the loss of an old ballpark. Tears are being shed over the loss of Candlestick Park, Tiger Stadium, the Astro Dome, and when Fenway Park's water finally runs dry and willows away, I will send my condolences...honest...I will...
Oh, the memories, oh the memorieshold meI don't know if I can take it. The older stadiums are monumental landmarks, but they are not as safe as they used to be and they just cannot compete in this new era of ballparks.
Pity the poor Yankees
The New York Yankees have the second highest payroll in all of baseball, partly due to their owner, George Steinbrenner, and his ability to intimidate his employees and New York City citizens alike. The Yankees also pulled in one of the highest annual revenues in all of sports this year; yet Steinbrenner claims that their stadium just cannot compete going into the next millenium.Translation: Yankee Stadium is holding really well, with the ballpark already sold out throughout the 2000 major league baseball season, and with the Yankees' popularity the team will be basking in its own wealth for years to come. Hence, being the political snake that he is, Steinbrenner will use his team's worldwide fame and success to maneuver his way into more of the New York taxpayers' hard-earned dollars at any cost. If it comes in the form of a new stadium in the Bronx, so be it, but he will move the team, should the situation present itself.
Yankee Stadium was built during the roaring '20s. The Yankees owner has been very blunt recently about wanting to move his team out of the Bronx. Just think: What would baseball be without Yankee Stadium? It'd be like actress Pamela Anderson-Lee without silicone. Just imagine that for a minute-hideous, isn't it?
Tell them good-bye
The San Francisco Giants, Houston Astros, Milwaukee Brewers, Detroit Tigers, and Cincinnati Reds are all expected to open new ballparks near the turn of the century. Most of the new ballparks will be made smaller in order to generate more high-scoring games.
The new baseball parks are being built with too many gimmicks and too little game. Watching the game is just one of many options. Soon it will be possible to entertain yourself at a professional baseball game without even watching the game.
Sports in October: Major League Baseball Fever October 1999
This October's modified version of the Major League Baseball playoffs has generated so much exciting play that we ought to be thanking God like a Pop-Boy-Band at the MTV Video/Music Awards. The previous baseball post-seasons have been more boring than watching the Godfather trilogy.
If you ask me, the last two years of Major League Baseball have been political. Heck! The two previous National League Champions, the Florida Marlins and the San Diego Padres, both depleted their rosters before the start of training camp the following year. What's going on? Nowadays, success during a prolific 162-game regular season and the big payoff in making the post-season doesn't depend as much on an organization's farm system or a general manager's ability to maneuver the transaction wire as it does an owner's balance in his/her bank statement. Give me a break!
I'm actually very pleased with the way league officials, players, and coaches have conducted this post-season thus far. The LCS round of both the American League and National League playoffs pitched two great rivals against each other in two epic series.
The Boston Red Sox vs. the New York Yankees
In the American League, the Boston Red Sox and the New York Yankees continued their 99-year-old feud. The Boston Red Sox front office has been openly criticized by media and fans for many of their transaction decisions. However, no decision generated more criticism than when the team sold a young pitcher by the name of Babe Ruth to Colonel Ruppert's New York Yankees for $125,000 to pay off a debt. Babe Ruth went on to become Major League Baseball's all-time home-run king and to this day he remains the icon of Major League Baseball. This transaction directly influenced the Yankees' climb to the top of the professional baseball world (MLB Record: 21 World Series Titles), while the Boston Red Sox were left to suffer under the "curse of the Bambino."Ironically, the Red Sox and the Yankees had never played a post-season game against one another until this October. Nevertheless, for the third time in four years, the New York Yankees won the LCS series, this time in five games. Some Red Sox fans say that it was due to the ghost of the deceased Bath Ruth, who was keeping score at Boston's Fenway Park.
The New York Mets vs. the Atlanta Braves
As for the National League's side of the LCS, the New York Mets vs. the Atlanta Braves series also had a great subplot. Many New Yorkers were hoping for a New York Mets series win, culminating in a highly anticipated Subway (World) Series against the cross-town team, the New York Yankees. This was a grade "A" series, won by the Atlanta Braves in six games. Game 5 of this series lasted 15 innings and was the longest playoff game in MLB history. Atlanta's pitching performance outdueled the Mets' in this exciting, highlight-filled series.And so, for the second time in four years, the Atlanta Braves will oppose the New York Yankees in the World Series.
Fans have been anticipating some excitement in Major League Baseball games since the George Bush Administration. This year, it's good to see the excitement back in the MLB post-season.