“The NBA is as scripted as any professional wrestling match…” –Cheesy Bruin
MARLBORO, NY – I’d like to sincerely thank all of the ordinary men and women who did the extraordinary as members of our Armed Forces in helping us maintain all the freedoms that we take for granted. These soldiers paid the ultimate sacrifice for all of us, enabling us to do things we like – like talk sports. Using that freedom today, I’d like to vent about what’s bothering me when I tune in to any game on the tube.
Basketball: The N.B.A. and when did we start referring to the league simply as The Association? Do Parent Teacher Associations around the country do the same? It bothers me to want to make something so boring sound so cool. But that’s not even the crux of my angst. The NBA is as scripted as any professional wrestling match and upsets rarely, if ever, happen in the playoffs. It seems to me that the first team who has a ten point lead ultimately loses just like the villain who gets the upper hand in the WWE (formerly the WWF) early in a match. I also do know that if an NBA game is choreographed then there exists a good chance that the game will be close to a fix with regards to the Las Vegas point-spread. Just like wrestling referees, basketball officials see what they want to see and do a poor job calling a game both ways. Why does the home team get the benefit of calls going their way? A foul is a foul no matter where the game is played, right? And there’s no doubt that the Finals series goes seven games in order to maximize the profit$ for the league.
Hockey: My only issue with hockey are the gindaloons in the stands who rise out of their seats and turn around to wave at the television camera knowing that the play is in front of them and the camera follows the action. We don’t want to see your dopey asses. Not to be outdone are the complete and utter fools slapping the glass like a caged wild animal. It doesn’t matter what the score or what is happening in the game in front of the ice level seats. A scrum develops and you see the morons pounding the plexiglass as if they want in. Puck battles ensue and there you see them again. The only pass I give to this type of action is when the home team scores a goal and fans naturally get excited along with the players.
Baseball: Does anybody hit .300 anymore? When it comes to batting, it seems like .280 is the new .300 and .180 is the new .200 with the proliferation of strikeouts and defensive shifts. The lack of runners on base are evident in home run hitters RBI totals–12-15 dingers has seen RBI totals in the twenty-something range. And teams don’t play “small ball” anymore, although I did see a Pirates player bunt for a base hit on Jose Reyes at third base the other night. Take what the defense gives you is a heady play underutilized in this modern era of baseball. Little things like moving runners over, a timely stolen base, and dare I say a suicide squeeze are the exception rather than the norm. It just isn’t fun watching a ballgame for me these days with the specialization of the game, the analytics and the saber-metrics.
Football is something I’ll get to around the fall because I’m over my 500 words and I’m sure your tired of hearing this old-timer bitch about the good ol’ days.
That’s it. Please comment below and come back tomorrow for a man who makes sports fun again, DJ Eberle. And please follow us on Twitter – @CheesyBruin & @MeetTheMatts, @Matt_McCarthy00, Instagram @MeetTheMatts and like our Facebook page, Meet The Matts.
