NEW YORK, NY – Good morning, All, and welcome to another Wonderful Wednesday (TM). I don’t want to jinx anything, but the Knicks are on the brink of going to their first Eastern Conference Championship in 25 years. If that’s not a clear sign of the pending apocalypse, I don’t know what is. Wait… of course I do. If the Minnesota Vikings (more on them later) were to ever win a Super Bowl, the final second ticking off would be immediately followed by the rapture, at least saving humanity from one more postgame interview conducted by Terry Bradshaw. Anyway, there’s plenty going on, let’s get to it.
ESPN Sucks. I haven’t watched all that many ESPN/ABC basketball broadcasts, but boy do they suck. To begin, the game broadcasts and broadcast teams are no great shakes. But the studio show is even worse, especially when compared to TNT, which is sadly losing its NBA broadcasting rights. Also… so many damn commercials. Even though the Knicks/Celtics on Monday night was a great game, it was still a tough watch, and I’m not talking about Jayson Tatum’s injury.
Boston Celtics. Speaking of the Celts and Jayson Tatum (and it is not my intention to kick a guy when he’s down with an awful injury), they are 1000x better when they are moving the ball around and getting clean looks for multiple players. Tatum, who was playing an insanely great game on both ends of the floor before he went down, quite often slips into isolation ball, where he clears everyone out and everyone on the floor knows he won’t be giving the ball up until he launches one. He’s a great player, but he ain’t Michael Jordan. Look no further than the Game 3 box score for the Celts where you saw five players in double figures and not a one-man show. I wish Mr. Tatum a full and speedy recovery. And, while it will be tough for Boston to recover form this and claw their way back into the series, maybe, just maybe, the guys that are left will find a way to move it around and at least win Game 5.
Pete Rose and Other Formerly-Breathing Ballplayers Now Eligible for the Baseball Hall of Fame. So Rob Manfred and MLB have removed Pete Rose, Shoeless Joe Jackson, and a bunch of other dearly departed diamond dwellers from MLB’s permanently ineligible list. No word yet on whether there will be a special Blue Ribbon Cooperstown Corpse Committee™ chosen to select which lucky stiff gets in first. This is all fine by me, in case you were wondering. In fact, I can’t wait until Roger Clemens becomes eligible. Ha!
European Vacation? This is slightly nuts, but my Minnesota Vikings will be playing back-to-back weeks in Europe this fall. On September 28th they’ll be in Dublin taking on the Steelers and the following week they’ll be in London playing the Browns. Why am I telling you this? Because I think MTM Management should spring for two roundtrip tickets, tickets to both games, and first class accommodations for both myself and my pal JG Clancy. This is all, of course, in lieu of well over a decade’s worth of backpay I’m still waiting on. Think it over, Boss.
That’s all for today. Come back tomorrow for Mr. Knick, Buddy Diaz.
