The Sports Guru

June is a great month.  The beginning of Summer.  Baseball finally gets interesting.  There are two Champions crowned.  Realy the only month like that, where 2 of the 4 big sport titles are handed out.  Amazingly enough, however, the two series couldn’t be more different in excitement and drama….

I haven’t watched a tick of hockey this season.  I have always felt hockey was better suited to be watched live.  Since Cleveland doesn’t have a team I have 3 teams within a couple hour drive that I can check out — Detroit, Pittsburgh or Columbus.  Two of the three suck, and the third is, well, in Detroit.  So I choose not to watch during the season. 

The playoffs are different.  I love playoff hockey.  The action, the drama, the beards, all of it.  This year was different for me though.  Since the NHL isn’t on ESPN anymore, and I have NO idea where OLN is on DirecTV, I haven’t watched any live action.  Until last night that is.  I turned the game on with 17 mintues to go in the 3rd.  It was a 3-3 tie in a “do-or-die” game for Canada’s latest sweethearts, the Edmonton Oilers.  It was incredible.  Within seconds of turning it on I was yelling and cheering and swearing at the TV like I was a canuck myself.  The Gurette prefers I not watch since every game I do watch tends to go into quadruple overtime and I am stuck up until 4 AM.  It was appearing that way last night until a lazy pass was intercepted by Fernando Pisani and stuffed into the back of the net to keep the Oilers alive for a Game 6 back in Alberta.  Can there be a worse flight than the often travelled Raleigh to Alberta shuttle?!?  Excitement, Drama, Intrigue, Edge-of-Your-Seat stuff here…..

Fernando Pisani Kept The Oilers Alive 

The antithesis of the Stanley Cup Finals are the NBA Finals.  Obviously the cities of Miami and Dallas probably disagree, but they really are anti-climatic to me.  Believe me, I have tried, really I have.  Maybe it’s because I have no idea when the games start.  Sure, in TV Guide it says 8 PM, but when I turn the channel on at that time there is a concert going on, or fireworks, or some other fracus that looks nothing like basketball.  Maybe it’s because I was watching Game 3 when I looked at my alarm clock and it was nearing midnight in a game being played on the East Coast.  Way too late.

No, I think the real reason is just how fundamentally bad basketball has become.  I am a traditionalist.  I like fundamentals in sports.  The NBA has become nothing but 3 balls and long jumpers.  When someone does attack the basket temas are playing sound “defense”, which is really just hack the hell out of the guy going to the hoop.  Worse yet, no one can hit a free-throw.  It really is almost unwatchable to me.  The offense is poor, the defense unwatchable, and fundamentals horrible, and these are the best 2 teams the league has to offer.

Shaq and Riles look like me trying to watch… 

I thought with the Cavs getting to the playoffs and making a run I would feel more excitement towards the Finals.  I just don’t.  It’s bad basketball, however you slice it.  Then add all the B.S. to the Pregame and Halftime, and it is unedible.

I didn’t miss the NHL during the lockout, but having the NHL Finals back is like seeing an old friend for the first time in a while.  It just feels good….

Even the trophy is better…. 

This entry was posted on Thursday, June 15th, 2006 at 8:58 am and is filed under Cavs/NBA, General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.