EL BRONX, EL BARRIO – It has been a super long week; finally got a car, now I have to understand the alternate side of the street parking rules. Had physical therapy twice this week… but enough of my whining..Today’s topics: NHL Las Vegas, NBA Finals, IAAF Bans Russia and the Ryan Brothers.
NHL Las Vegas: It looks like the NHL is heading to Vegas baby, Vegas. The days when Las Vegas was persona non grata in the sports world as a place for a pro sports team, appears to be over. The main thing that has happened is that the mobsters have made way for professional gambling and real estate moguls, who build casinos all over the world. Vegas has a new Arena downtown, just south of the Strip – which is a big deal because if it was in the suburbs it would be contending with all of the entertainment in the city.
There has been a growing hockey scene apparently too. What irked me and most hockey fans is that it’s another warm-weather city. The NHL still owns the Phoenix Coyotes for frog’s sake. And I sure the fans are all about a team now but after year one, when that novelty wears off and the team loses 60 to 70 games a season… then what? But the NHL wants to make it their 32nd franchise and they said no to a fine hockey home like Quebec City because they already got a 16-14 East to West split. Let’s hope it goes well but one thing is for sure… with the amount of distractions in that city, high-character guys will be a must.
NBA Finals: So now we are at Game 7. How did we get here? According to some, it is a case of the NBA telling the refs to make sure this series goes 7. The video review/flagrant foul charged to Draymond Green – meaning he would miss game 5 – and then Steph Curry fouling out of game 6, was fuel for the conspiracy theorists. That last bit strikes a nerve because I don’t remember Magic, MJ or Bird fouling out of a finals game, so there might be something there.
I am not sure if it is just on black Twitter or has hit full Twitter, but apparently there is a huge blow-up between Steph Curry’s wife, Aiesha Curry and ESPN’s Steven A. Smith. Apparently, Mrs. Curry took to Twitter to complain about the foul-out and that the fix was in. You may remember that Smith, [insert sarcastic tone] that champion of black women, blamed Ray Rice‘s wife for mouthing off and getting knocked out. Smith wondered why Mrs. Curry wouldn’t stay quiet and watch the game; you don’t see LeBron’s wife tweeting like that. Nice job, Steven. Throughout the history of this world telling a woman, especially a black woman, to shut her mouth and get in her box has always worked. I have no idea what is going now with this fight, I tapped out after my wife told me the story.
IAAF Bans Russia: Due to a systematic doping of athletes, the governing body of track and field – the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) – has banned Russia from participating in the Olympics. This isn’t all Russian athletes. just the track and field types. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) could overrule them but that is unlikely.
The story behind this has two figures with names straight from James Bond. This is fitting because Russian President Vlad Putin, who encourages the doping, looks and feels like a Bond villain. Apparently a few years back, a Russian discus-winner confessed about doping to the World Anti-Doping Agency… and their director at the time [wait for it]… Dick Pound (he goes by Dick and not Richard). Upon finding out, Dick Pound let the IAAF and their vice president Lord Sebastian Coe (legit British Lord with a full title of the Right Honourable Lord Coe) know. The IAAF let the Russian directors know that some athletes were dirty. Nothing happened and upon further review Coe and Co., found out it was systematic from top down, so they moved to ban Russia from the Olympics.
The Ryan Brothers: Sometimes a picture is worth a thousand words. Below are two men on a tandem bike. Yes, I thought it was a man and a woman, too. Those two men are twin brother Rex and Rob Ryan, the head coach and the assistant head coach/defensive coordinator of the Buffalo Bills, taking a ride in the park together. Yeah, I am going to leave it here and let that marinate.
Comeback tomorrow for a man that must only have the Internet on the weekends because he disappears during the week, Cheesy Bruin!
