Stretch Marks in the NFL.

Things are getting interesting in the NFL. Not sure if week 15 did much to clear the playoff lineup and eliminate pretenders, but it did give us two amazing endings. After all these years, one would think we have seen anything and everything in the NFL, but these two endings looked oddly crazy and unique to me. I am talking about the endings in the Steelers-Patriots game and the Cowboys-Raiders game. Both included a well-intended stretch and a not-so-obvious rule deciding the game. The Pats-Steelers game was better than expected and was clearly the game of the year given what was at stake. Antonio Brown's injury in the first half was unfortunate for the Steelers and Brady orchestrated a 2-minute drive that we all saw coming two quarters away. But one mistake Brady did was, he left too much time on the clock for the Steelers. I thought Ben had a shot at a tying field goal, but my man JuJu busted a long one to give Steelers a real shot at a TD and a possible win. Ben then hit his wide open TE esse James in the middle who lunged into the end zone for what we thought was a game clinching TD. 

Unfortunately for the Steelers, the ball hit the ground and slipped and shifted in James's hands. He had not been really touched or made a football move yet, whatever that means. So, it was ruled as an incomplete pass. This has happened before and probably will happen again, but you couldn't help but think that it absolutely looked like a catch through and through. Thats what makes this rule shaky and crazy. I see they are trying to make the concept of a catch fool-proof in the age of replays from 10 different angles, but they might have complicated this too much and taken intuition and common sense out of it. They have to fix this rule again and make it better. But then again, knowing the NFL, they may take a few years to admit and react to this. Ben still had 2 more plays to do something or at least take the field goal on 4th down and get to play an OT. Of course he throws an INT on third down and ball game Patriots! As always the breaks go the Pats way. But it does only because they make their own breaks. They are well-coached, practice hard, play smart, and are disciplined. 

Then on Sunday night, the Raiders were in a similar situation as the Steelers. They were deep in the red zone with the game clock winding down and trailing just by a field goal. A TD there would have ended the Cowboys season for all practical purposes. Instead, what happened pretty much ended the Raiders season, which you could argue was already on life support anyways. Carr drove the Raiders well in that final drive and got close to the finish line. He took off on a scramble and was so close to the pile on. Naturally, he dived and stretched to try and put the ball over it, but ended up fumbling the ball into the end zone as he was also hit by a defender just as he was stretching. A fumble into the end zone is a touch back and ball game Cowboys! Just like that, a touch down and a win became a touch back and a season ending turnover for the Raiders. This rule is actually well thought out and has many reasons for the way it stands, but it's still a little bit of a surprise to the casual fan every time it happens. Thats because the offense always get the ball when they fumble out of bounds, but not in the end zone. 

Now with Ezekiel Elliott coming back, there is a sliver of hope for the Cowboys, but it's still an uphill climb. We can't really blame Carr for the stretch because he saw pay dirt and was so close. How do you not lunge for the glory play? Sure, it's risky, but it would be hard to not make that attempt and play another down instead, though that is the smart, disciplined play. The funny part is, funny only if you are not a Jets fan that is, Austin Seferian-Jenkins has had 2 TDs taken away from him this season due to both these rules in 2 different games after what appeared like a solid catch on both occasion. I later heard that in New England, the players are not allowed to stretch the ball for yards. Thats amazing to me and thats why Hoodie is going to the hall of fame. This is exactly the kind of stuff that makes sure the breaks during the game always goes their way. Remember I said they make their own breaks! Their coaching and discipline make sure they don't make the mistakes and of course when the opponent does make those mistakes, the Pats are ready to pounce on it. It's not an accident. I am sure some Pats receivers still stretch for first down and touch downs and you could even argue you have to depending on the time, place, and situation. For example, on 4th downs if you are short. But I want to watch closely and see if this team rule is indeed followed closely by the Pats. I believe it.

Playoff Winds

Playoff winds are blowing, not just in your fantasy leagues, but in the NFL too. It's pretty messy in the middle, unless you are taking about the AFC West, in which case it' messy even at the top. The Pats and Steelers are looking good in the AFC. Whats new? Absolutely nothing. In the NFC, things are a little fresh. Eagles and the Vikings are looking good. It's pretty interesting beyond those 2. Even the upstart Rams at 9-3 do lead their division, but the Seahawks are right on their tail. The way Russell Wilson is playing,  Rams can't even wink in this race. The Rams are going in to Seattle next week and that game may very well decide the division. Rams may regret losing their earlier contest in LA. The Saints let a golden opportunity slip through their hands on Thursday. They could have wrested control of the division and also put Falcons in their place. Instead, Brees put the ball in place between the numbers of the defender while driving to save the game and ended the Saints hope with a killer interception. That result made it hard for teams like the Packers, Lions, and even the Cowboys as those NFC teams have to look at the wild card as the only route available and the wild card standing is stacked with NFC south teams like the Falcons. Big win for the Falcons, who are not out of the division race either.

There are way too many 6-6 teams in the league and they are all in play for the playoffs. Reminds me of the NBA where more than half the league make the playoffs and usually, there are a couple of mediocre teams fighting for the 7th and 8th spot towards the end of the seasons as if it means something. There are 3 teams at 6-6 just in the AFC West and the once formidable Chiefs are in big trouble. The Chargers may be the best team in that division and the Raiders have to play much better to stay in contention. Hope they are not feeling too good about themselves based on their recent wins against bad teams. Their remaining schedule is brutal and road-heavy starting with their trip to Kansas City this weekend. 8-8 might end up winning that division when it's all said and done. There is so much mediocrity in the AFC right now, even teams like Dolphins at 5-7 can pretend to be in playoff contention. We might as well send the Hoodie and Brady to Minnesota for the Super Bowl today. I don't see any legitimate threat to them in the AFC. Sorry, Pittsburgh. Among the 6-6 teams, I do hope the Packers sneak in somehow in the NFC since Aaron Rodgers will be back soon and they can be formidable regardless of what their record says. The next month in the NFL will be crazy interesting. Happy holidays!

In baseball, the Marlins are spicing up the hot-stove by trading Giancarlo Stanton. Of course, he lands up with the Yankees. The Yanks have been a little quite lately by their standards when it comes to big money deals and off-season moves. This puts them firmly back in the headline. It's amazing to even imagine Aaron Judge and Stanton in the middle of a lineup. Initially, it seemed like the Giants and the Cardinals were in the mix for Stanton and I was all for it, though not a big fan of either of those teams. But now, it's the good old Yankees scoring the hot date again. They get Stanton for the next 10 years with his 295 million price tag. There are a lot of similarities between this and their A-Rod acquisition back in 2004. That didn't work great for the Yanks, but this might. Stanton is only 28 years old and doesn't seem to have the baggage A-Rod acquired along the way. These Yankees do need more pitching, but they should be real good next year. It's not bad to have them be good to root against I guess for fans like me. At least the Yanks didn't get Shohei Otani, the Japanese Babe Ruth, who can supposedly throw 100 MPH fastballs and hit 500-yard homers. Good for the Angels to add some help around Mike Trout, the best player in all of baseball. In other news, Baker Mayfield won the Heisman trophy today. Congrats to him on the hardware and more importantly, for not grabbing his crotch and mouthing obnoxious expletives like he is known for.

Fall colors in the NFL

We are past week 10 in the NFL. There is still not a lot of clarity on the contenders and pretenders. Of course, the New England Patriots are at the top of the heap as always. Nothing new there. The symbol for consistency in the dictionary should be a hoodie! Other than that, the landscape is pretty messy overall. The state of Pennsylvania has 2 good teams. Both the Eagles and the Steelers look ready for the playoffs and are probably primed to go deep. How legit are they as Super Bowl contenders, I am not sure and have my own doubts. AFC continues to be the Patriots' playground. The Bills and the Chiefs have outed themselves as pretenders lately. How excited should we be about the possibility of the Jaguars or the Titans seriously challenging the hoodie? Not much to look forward to there actually. It may once again come down to the Steelers V Patriots like it has so many times in Ben and Brady's careers.

The big list of injuries this season for stars like Aaron Rodgers, Andrew Luck, DeShaun Watson, J.J.Watt, Ryan Tannehill, Odell Beckham Jr., Carson Palmer, Jameis Winston, etc. have made the league way less interesting. There is no real reason to watch the Colts or the Giants or the Texans or the Packers now. But in addition, these injuries have also severely impacted the playoff positioning. Especially in the NFC with Rodgers' injury. It looks like the Eagles, Saints, Vikings, and the Rams are the teams to beat in the NFC. You could make an argument that all 4 are surprising division leaders since none of them even made the playoffs last year. Though in the parity-driven NFL, such power-shifts should never be a surprise. Seattle may get in as well, but with all their injuries, they may not be a legitimate threat this year. I like Brees and the Saints in the NFC all things considered. They have built a legitimate rushing attack this year behind Mark Ingram and rookie Alvin Kamara. And they still have Drew Brees. We may finally get a Brees-Brady Super Bowl. Bring it on.

In the NBA, I am very surprised by all the negative energy around Lonzo Ball. I understand that his dad is to blame for most it. With parents like that, who needs enemies. But still, to say he is a bust already is massive overreaction to say the least. The guy is 20 years old, has barely played 15 NBA games, rebounds very well for a guard, and has scored a triple-double already to become the youngest ever to notch a tripe-double. Most of all, he moves fluidly on the court and looks like he belongs. That used to be enough and considered a great start for a rookie normally. Of course, nothing is normal with Ball, thanks to his obnoxious dad. Lonzo is not scoring or shooting well and I am not saying he is headed to the hall of fame yet, but he is going to be just fine. He is actually going to be more than fine and be good in the NBA. Will he be great or a super-star, time will tell. Everybody needs to relax and let Ball be a normal rookie. Maybe just ignore him and his dad for a while and save all of us some time. It's not like there aren't enough exciting stars or intriguing storylines in the NBA this season. The league is loaded!

The MLB awards all are in. Congrats to Jose Altuve on winning the AL MVP to go with the World Series ring. He is a superstar and seems like a likable guy with a professional work ethic. I am very happy for him. Max Scherzer won the NL Cy Young for the second straight year. I was a little surprised as I thought Clayton Kershaw might edge him for that award. Giancarlo Stanton won the NL MVP and Corey Kluber won the AL Cy Young. This is Kluber's second as well, though not back-to-back. There were no surprises with the Rookie of the Year award as Aaron Judge and Cody Bellinger won the AL and NL respectively representing the 2 coasts. The Astros were deserving World Series champions and should be good for years to come. Nothing is guaranteed in baseball, but they have enough talent and pitching, including a former Cy Young award winner of their own in Dallas Keuchel, to be in the hunt for a few years. The 2014 SI cover story proclaiming them as the 2017 champion got it more than right.

Sportoberfest!

October is always a fun month in sports.  NFL kicks into high gear and the MLB playoffs start. It is pretty much the only month when baseball is relevant and must-watch TV. I follow baseball and keep an eye on it all season long, but I almost never watch an entire game or even a couple of innings straight on TV during the regular season.  I am sure I am less engaged with MLB because the teams I care about, the Oakland A’s and the Arizona Diamondbacks, have not been great the last few years, though the DBacks did have a good season and made the playoffs this year.  But even otherwise, I am just not sure who watches regular season MLB games on TV religiously anymore. There are several reasons for that. The game doesn’t have great stars since the previous generation has left the building and the next generation stars like Mike Trout and Bryce Harper have not been in the biggest of stages or won consistently yet. As much as I didn’t like the Yankee dynasty, the lack of a dominant team like them also hurts the league. Love them or hate them, it turns out we need teams like the Yankees and the Patriots and the Warriors.

Also, I feel like our entertainment choices and consumption patterns have changed even compared to just 5 years back and I can’t imagine people sitting on their couch and watching baseball games uninterrupted these days. If we already had way too many TV channels 10 years back, now we have way too many entertainment platforms, each with multiple binge watching “channels” or options. The net-net of it all is, baseball as a sport is in trouble and is becoming less and less culturally relevant. I do have to say the macro-economic numbers from MLB tells us a different story. They are raking in more money than ever before and the player salaries are sky rocketing as always. Last I heard, the stadium attendance might be going up too and even the TV numbers are not alarming in anyway . Of course, the Cubs playing an amazing 7-game World Series last year helps TV ratings, though the league can’t count on a storyline like that every year.  MLB has been lucky this year too as they got the Yankees, Astros, Dodgers, and the Cubs in the Championship series. That’s 4 of the largest TV markets in the country.

Despite all of that high-level data, there is something off with baseball and it just doesn’t feel like the sport of the future. It doesn’t have the star power of the NBA or the gambling stranglehold of the NFL. With all that said, the MLB playoffs are always watchable and fun. The drama and the level of competition are top-notch. You can’t take your eyes off a Clayton Kershaw versus Dallas Keuchel matchup in the playoffs when a single pitch or a hit can decide the game. Having a likeable superstar like Jose Altuve in the World Series is a huge plus too. Maybe he should be the next big star the game should be pushing. I totally expect the Astros to win this World Series, though the Dodgers are probably more talented on the pitching side. It will be a great story for Houston after the devastating hurricane. I wouldn’t mind a long and exciting World Series given that these really are the only MLB games I have watched all season.

What makes this October especially special is the early start of the NBA season. Right now, we have all three leagues in-season plus College football and the NHL if you care. There are only a handful dates in the history when we have had all 3 pro leagues in action. It’s usually in late October or early November when the World Series is wrapping up and the NBA is starting off. But now, we are having several such days thanks to the NBA schedule change. I do wonder if the early start of the NBA is affecting the World Series ratings. You can’t complain during a week like this one when you can go from Monday Night football to World Series games on Tuesday and Wednesday to a NBA double header on TNT Thursday night back to World Series on Friday and wrap the week up with college football on Saturday and NFL on Sunday. Of course, I left out several other NBA games one could have watched through the week, not to mention the usually unwatchable Thursday Night football. In any case, mucho options for us sports fans! Let’s drink it all in while it lasts.

National Flag League

NFL is coming into it's own after a shaky start on the field for offenses over the first 3 weeks. The quality of the games is now again where it needs to be. The Packers-Cowboys game this weekend was even better than advertised. Watching Aaron Rodger play QB is a unique experience. Nobody quite conducts himself in the field with his confidence and swagger, not even Brady or Manning. But let's get back to the play on the field later. First, the topic thats sweeping the league. For a couple of weeks, the league has been all about the anthem protests as Trump stirred the pot in the deep south. The issue is still lingering on. As most of you know by now, he called the protesting players "SOBs" and asked the owners to fire them on the spot. He also asked the fans in the stadium to walkout and boycott these games if players kneeled and protested. VP Mike Pence actually walked out of the Niners @ Colts game yesterday in his home state of Indiana in what appears now to be a well-orchestrated stunt. But then again, thats what politicians do best!

There is no question what Trump did was unacceptable and offensive. First off, you don't use that kind of language as the president of the United States. That's not leadership nor is it classy. Secondly, it was a divisive ploy at a time when the country is already dangerously divided. And he was being totally insensitive to a part of our citizenry he is supposed to represent. The predominantly Black athletes who are protesting are not fighting for more sugar in their coffee for God's sake! They are concerned about a serious life-or-death issue in our country and their community. For the President to be so flippant about it tells them that he just doesn't care. Thats really the last message our President should be sending to anybody in our country, let alone an entire race. What he did is all bad and that's even before we get in to whether his message is right or wrong. His stand is clearly wrong in my opinion, but he shouldn't have inserted himself into this issue in this manner regardless. Sometimes in life, right and wrong are overrated and perception is reality. Thats the most interesting part of this for me.

That last part is also why I am not a big fan of the flag protests themselves in the first place. You maybe surprised to hear that after reading the first 2 paragraphs. Colin Kaepernick's actions do not upset me one bit and I am totally onboard with the social cause he is espousing. I couldn't agree with him more on issues of systemic racism and criminal justice reform, which is what these protests are supposed to be about. And I respect and want to protect his constitutional right to protest peacefully. None of this offends me personally, not one bit. With all that said, I think disrespecting the flag and the national anthem is just bad strategy for a protest. Socio-political change in a democracy is fundamentally a fight for people's hearts and minds. I don't see how you win over people by disrespecting the anthem and the flag. Lets also be clear on one thing. The players who kneel are of course disrespecting the flag and the anthem. They have the right to do it and I do get where they are coming from. It doesn't upset me personally, but let's go ahead and call a spade a spade. I stand for the anthem only out of respect and not because I want to stretch my legs or anything like that. So, when I don't stand for the anthem, I am refusing to respect it, if not outright disrespecting it.

By the same token, Kap and these athletes are absolutely NOT disrespecting the military. I have no doubt about that. There is a straight line from the idea of us standing for the anthem to respect for the anthem. There is also a straight line in my mind from us standing for the anthem to the flag just because the anthem is not a physical entity and the flag is always around to be that physical representation of nationhood. But the line people draw from respecting the anthem to respect and love for the military is more of an implicit and imagined relationship. It's convenient for some politicians on the right to draw that line and paint the Kaps of the world as anti-military, but even for some normal people, the flag and the anthem have a symbiotic relationship, if not a symbolic representation of the nation's military. We can sit here and debate whether that connection is logical and real or not, but like I mentioned already, sometimes in life, perception is reality. Thats exactly why I think this is not the best form of protest. Instead of debating the fundamental issues it's supposed to highlight, we are all caught up in these philosophical nuances and emotional interpretations about our flag and the military.  None of this is coming anywhere close to solving the original issue at hand.

Call me an optimist or call me naive, but I do believe the criminal justice issues at hand can be solved from within the system. It's not going to be easy or simple, but we can achieve the progress we want if we have the right leadership and work tirelessly. Thats why I don't like protesting the flag for it. To me, going after the flag is an extreme form of protest. You do it if you are running a separatist movement, which clearly is not the goal here, or if you just want to shock the system and shake things up. This protest clearly has shaken things up and of course the President's comments has resurrected it and made it worse. But I would rather work within the system for these types of issues. Of course, I am not a Black man in America and I have no idea what it means to walk a mile in those shoes. If Black America feels completely disappointed in the system and betrayed by it, I totally get it and who am I to argue against those sentiments? But I am just not there myself yet in terms of shocking the system. If that was the goal, this protest has definitely achieved that.  But it has also made a lot of enemies and distracted us from the core issues. Thats to be expected when you go after symbols of nationalism and thats why I am not a big fan of this form of protest. This protest is starting interesting conversations about individual rights and first amendment etc., but it's not hitting the sweet spot in my opinion.

There is also this argument that these protests are always unpopular when they happen, but they start a movement that wins people over eventually and America embraces the protestors and their ideas later. Mohammad Ali, Tommie Smith, and John Carlos are examples of this phenomenon, though they lived in a different time and place. To that I say it's too simplistic to assume that this is what is going to happen to Kap and these protests as well. Also, we are the best marketing people in the World and nobody keeps up appearances like America. I can totally imagine us as a nation celebrating Kap as a hero and placing his picture in a stamp 30 years from now while also not giving an inch on the criminal justice or racial reform. Lets not assume that respecting and recognizing Kap 30 years from now is progress. Social change and progress is typically engineered by smart and strategic leaders and movements. Leaders like Gandhi and MLK Jr were not great just because they were on the right side of history and morality, but they also knew how to fight, when to protest, when to lie low, who to go after, etc. etc. They were brilliant and strategic leaders.

Of course, it's a totally unfair comparison to put Kap along with those giants, but my point is, not all protests are made equal and what we have on our hands now may not be effective. When Trump brought this issue back into focus, many owners ripped him and supported their players. This brought the players and the owners closer than ever for a moment. There was a lot of show of solidarity and holding hands, though I never understood what holding hands actually meant. I did like Jerry Jones and the Cowboys kneeling together as a team before the anthem to show solidarity for the cause and the standing during the anthem to show respect to the anthem. I thought that made sense. But now, Jones has come out and said he won't let players who don't stand for the anthem play for him and is bossing them around. All of that so-called camaraderie between the owners and players is out the door just like that. The Dolphins are also instituting some form of "no kneeling" rules. These developments must warm the cockles of Trump's heart. Basically, things are now beginning to move sideways. Where actually are we headed and are these protests being effective? I have no idea and I have serious doubts. Only time will tell. In the meantime, let's hope for the best and keep working towards eliminating systemic racism.

Pats and the weak one

What happened on Thursday to Hoodie and Brady is quite rare. Alex Smith and the Kansas City Chiefs handled them rather easily and that just doesn’t happen in Foxboro on championship banner unfurling, season opening, Thursday nights. This game started off very much according to script after a rather showy ceremony where the Pats celebrated all their championships, including the latest one. They earned it of course and we can’t really complain. Not after what the Falcons did in the Super Bowl. Then the game started and Brady drove them down the field to score as he always does. The Chiefs fumbled the ball and gave it right back to the Pats on Kareem Hunt’s first NFL carry. What an inauspicious beginning to Hunt’s career if you are a superstitious person like me.  This is how Pats have been wining for years. They are the better team most of the days, but they don’t have to be. They just don’t make mistakes and they induce the other team in to such mistakes. In football, more than any other sport, mistakes make a huge difference between winning and losing, sometimes winning and losing big. The ball and breaks always seem to go the Pats way. It’s no luck if it keeps happening repeatedly because that means the Pats are doing things a certain way causing the ball to bounce their way.

The Pats drove the ball again after the fumble and seemed to score on an impressive Gronk reception. Seemed like any other typical Thursday night in Foxboro. But the review pulled the ball back as it showed that the ball hit the ground. The drive surprisingly stalled as the Chiefs stopped the Pats when Hoodie went for it on 4th down. This was great for the Chiefs who made the best use of this event. A Pats score there to go up 14-0, this game might have been a completely different story. Instead, the Chiefs steadied the boat and Hunt got going. They went toe-to-toe with the champs, cut down on the big mistakes, and kept scoring. Pats defense didn’t look great. As the second half got going, It became obvious that the Alex Smith led offense had the talent and juice to score. Alex Smith hit Tyreke Hill and Kareen Hunt on long bombs and this KC chiefs offense looked much more potent than it had looked anytime during the last few years. They may have some special weapons, though Jamaal Charles was no joke for stretches during those years. Their defense was better than the Pats for sure and got some key stops. They won it going away at the end with Alex Smith putting up gaudy numbers like Tom Brady and Brady looking a little, shall we say, old. It is too early to write-off Brady. But he does have to get old at some point. Lets see if it is this year.

It is good to have football back and to sit on the couch and watch a game that mattered. Of course, more games that matter are coming our way on Sunday. Not to mention, college football is getting going as well. The first 2 weeks of college football used to be for non-conference pasties. Now, they are switching that up too a little bit to have a strong kick-off week. They play a few big non-conference plays before going into the pasties for a week or two and then jump back into conference play. For instance, Alabama played Florida State last week on prime time and settled into Fresno State this week. Both are non-conference team, both FSUs, but completely different football pedigree. Of course, for Alabama, they all seem like pasties anyways. Coming back to the NFL, the Seattle at Green Bay and NYG at Dallas games are the big ones. I can’t believe Ezekiel Elliott got out of the suspension this year via the legal option much like Brady did 2 years back. I thought he didn’t have the time to pull it off, but the court somehow obliged and gave an early Christmas gift to a whole bunch of risk-taking fantasy football owners who picked EE in round 2 or higher.  Good for EE and his teams, both real and fantasy.

I still don’t think EE gets off the suspension as the arbitrator actually upheld the 6-gamer. The only question is, is he going to serve it later this season or next season like Brady did.  Unless the courts go a step or two further and suspend the suspension, he will miss 6 games at some point. I doubt the courts will do anything more to help EE, but then again, I am not an expert on law or the judges in Texas courts. All I know is, EE is a truly elite player, but this is a bad message to send to the society if he did indeed beat-up the woman. The guy seems like a bad dude and hope he changes his ways. It will also be interesting to see how the players handle these rules in the next NFL CBA. Right now, the Commish has a lot of power and he is not shy about using them. On the field, week 1 will be exciting for everybody. There is hope and excitement everywhere including some of the inferior teams. I am especially curious to see how the San Diego chargers look, what does Leonard Fournette do in Jacksonville and Kyle Shanahan in San Francisco do to their respective teams. The 49’ers host Cam and a tough Panthers’ team, but what can the offense can do? Last but not the least, I am always ready for some Brees. Can the Saints compete this year or they just going to be an offensive juggernaut as always with an added side-show in Adrian Peterson?  We will not have all the answers this weekend, but we will start to learn a lot. And sorry Browns and Jets fans, I still can’t think of anything to  get excited about your teams,

NFL is almost here, but NBA is coming!

Summer is winding down and that means only one thing. NFL is round the corner. We are in the NFL pre-season, also knows as the "rip the season ticket holder of their cash" season. It's good to have the nation's most popular sport back. Summer's reality will give way to fall's fantasy football soon and we will all be sucked in. It will be big business as usual and we will be craving more football every day. With all that said, there is something different every summer these days as we get ready for the national football league. The dark cloud and negativity around the league is only growing. Players are continuing to punch their wives and girlfriends and thats not a good look for any league. The Kaepernick controversy and the rumored black-balling of him is not endearing by any means. Moving 3 teams out of their home markets in less than 2 years shows you NFL doesn't spell either Greed or Goodell without a capital G. NFLPA's executive director DeMaurice Smith tore into the league for their greed and for lying to the players and is threatening a lockout next time around during the CBA negotiations. None of this is great off-season marketing programs for a league and every off-season lately seems to follow the same script.

But the 10000-pound elephant in the room continues to be concussions, brain damage, and the sport's impact on athlete's health. There is no way around it and the sport just can't sustain this way for long. The recent news that 110 of the 111 brain donations of dead NFL players showed signs of CTE was another shocking reminder of how dangerous this sport is. Granted, the science on this is not exact and most donations probably came from players and families who had a reason to suspect CTE, but thats still a sobering number. And then to hear former Raiders QB and legend Jim Plunkett say "his life sucks" because he is in so much pain breaks your heart. Guys have been pummeled to the ground repeatedly for decades and given the knowledge at our disposal today, the sport seems like a flat out horrible idea! As a fan, I can't help but feel complicit in this unintentional crime against these athletes. And given what we know today, is it even unintentional anymore? We know exactly what football is doing to these athletes on the field and it's not pretty. Many fans are walking away from the sport. It's not a financial crisis for the league yet, but it might get there eventually. There is a pall of gloom descending over the sport of football for sure and I don't see how it can survive this way long-term.

The sport has morphed a lot over the last decade, but it has to change drastically still. It almost can't look like football to be safe enough for kids and adults who play it. The biggest challenge for the league is to get there and continue to look like football and retain the fans along the way as this massive transformation happens. Knowing this greedy league, they will continue to move slow until their pocketbooks are hit hard. May be we as fans should force that and they may start to look at the safety aspects of the sport with more diligence and sincerity. Their behavior over the last 10 years on the issue has been pretty shady to say the least. Football is already on it's way to losing the pipeline of future athletes as most parents are not allowing their kids to play the sport. It is going to be the next boxing in the sense that only the desperate and the poor will take to it. Not the best way for a sport to attract top athletes. The sad part is, the real painful stories are probably with the ex-college and ex-high school athletes who never get covered in the media. At least in the NFL, guys make decent money, get some media attention, and have good pension, health care etc. I can't even imagine what current day players in the NFL are thinking and whats going through their head when they take the field. It should be a torture for them everytime their head hits the ground or they get a headache or whatever. To know what they know now and continue to play the sport at this violent level is something I will never comprehend. No wonder some players are retiring very young.

The NFL athletes are also rightfully asking for guaranteed contracts and may fight for it during the next CBA. They see the sky-rocketing salaries in the NBA and the mass celebration and hysteria around free agency every summer and it should feel like an alternate universe for them in the NFL, though they are playing the more popular sport. As for the NBA, they have been enjoying a great renaissance behind transcendental stars like LeBron and Curry, historic teams like the Warriors, and an enchanting style of play. NBA has been dominating the summer for a few years with very interesting off-season chatter. NBA draft, free agency, and trades are almost as popular as their regular season now. Thanks to LeBron's stupid "Decision" in 2010, every NBA summer is now the best reality show on TV. NBA has also learned a few things from the NFL and are slowly mastering the art of becoming a 24X7, 365-day league. They are coming for the throne. NBA's popularity is clearly on the rise and you can just feel it from the chatter in the summer. It will take a while for the NBA to pass NFL in the popularity charts, but the NFL is helping the NBA with every stupid mistake it makes. NBA's momentum is real and many folks are talking about it in the media. One of the reasons for it is also the issues in the NFL.

Even today in mid- August, there is tremendous interest in the Kyrie Irving trade rumors. Speaking of which, the Suns are very much in the chase. They don't want to give up Josh Jackson for Kyrie. Not sure if it's smart or dumb to treat JJ as an untouchable asset when he has not played a single minute in the NBA. But I am OK with it. I trust the Suns front office when it comes to evaluating their young talent and prospects. I expect and trust them to do the right thing here. Also, I am not a big Kyrie fan. He is a phenomenal offensive player. But he is a horrible defender and the rest of the Suns are not great defenders either to compensate for him. Plus, his tantrums and attitude off the field is a little concerning too. I get the feeling the trade will still happen. Suns are negotiating wth the Cavs and will get him one way or the other - with or without JJ. It's a sobering thought that the Suns are expected to finish last in the West even with all the excitement around their young stars. Of course, they are all still too young and will take another year or two to mature. In the meantime, the Western conference is only getting better and better. Kyrie will give the Suns instant credibility in the West, if not more wins and the team will be fun to watch. I say I am fine with those results for 2017-18.

NBA's super problem

NBA free agency is winding down after a nice run. There were some big moves as expected and it was an exciting couple of weeks. Even before the free agency kicked off, the Chris Paul trade to the Clippers and the Phil Jackson firing by the Knicks set the stage for a fun off-season stretch. Even as CP3 left, Blake Griffin decided to stay in LA and canceled a previously scheduled meeting with the Phoenix Suns. I was excited a bit for that meeting, but all things considered, I have to say the Suns dodged a bullet. Blake is too much of a injury risk to invest that kind of money. The unexpected Paul George trade to the Thunder was a nice wrinkle as even the 24X7 NBA twitter machine had no clue about that one. At the end of all of this, the best story of the off-season might have been Kevin Durant taking almost 10 mill less than market this year.

The Warriors were constantly on the off-season news though they didn't have to make any big changes. Just keeping their team together as expected was a big and expensive activity. They super-maxed Curry and brought back Livingston and David West. The guy who proved challenging was Andre Iguodala. He negotiated his way to what I would say is a very generous contract at his age. This meant KD ended up taking a lot less than market to help the team out. The Warriors could have paid 5 mill a year more than what they paid KD and gotten Paul Millsap who can do about half the things on the court that Durant can! While other guys like Millsap were getting overpaid, KD gave money back. Real nice of Durant and the Warrior machine showed once again that it's firing on all cylinders. They didn't stop there as they signed Nick Young and Omri Caspi and also brought back Zaza Pachulia.

Dubs have reloaded and only JaVale McGee is not in the fold yet among the players they realistically want back. They apparently went way over budget and may even be better than last year. Don't forget the 3.5 mill they paid to get the second round pick Jordan Bell in the draft though they didn't have a pick this year. It reminded me of the Suns during the Nash golden era when they were trading away all their draft picks to save a mill here or there. That right there might be the difference between true championship teams and the wannabes. Back then, I didn't realize how stupid the Suns were because we were all entranced by the Nash-Amare-Marion brilliance and thought we don't need no damn rookies! But rookies are cheap and the Warriors know how to use them right. The Dubs are definitely not holding back their wallet and if you are a Dubs fan, you should be very happy about how they run their team.

Gordon Hayward was one of the most prized possession this off-season and his move to Boston was not a major surprise. He did the free agency dance, but ended up where he has been rumored to be going for 2 years now. A big blow to the small market Utah team. LeBron James maybe the only true super star left in a small market team now and if the rumors are true about him wanting to leave Cleveland next year and goto the Lakers with Paul George and others, the league in general and Cleveland in particular will have a tough challenge in their hands. LeBron not actively recruiting free agents this year to the Cavs only strengthens the rumors. Cleveland has spent a lot of money and mortgaged a lot of their future to keep the King's court going. If he bails, they maybe in a worse situation now than in 2010 when he first left town, though the championship he won last year softens the blow for the fans.

NBA has a decent economic system. I rank their system way above the MLB's when it comes to competitive balance between big and small market teams. Of course, NFL is the best system in that regard with their hard salary cap etc., but you could argue NFL is a modern-day slavery involving millionaire athletes. NBA strikes the right balance between player prosperity, flexibility for the teams, and competitive balance. But, despite their best efforts, the teams are having issues retaining their stars. The NBA system always enabled teams to overpay for their own players via Bird rights etc. They expanded this even more in the last collective bargaining agreement, but the players are still leaving their teams to go wherever they want.

The players do seem to be leaving for the right reasons, but the small-market teams are hurting in the process. They seem to be leaving mostly to win and to play with other stars they like. LeBron started this trend, but everybody is trying to create their own super teams now. So, Harden recruits Chris Paul and CP3 joins him forfeiting a more lucrative contract with the Clips. Though the rumor is, Clips didn't want to pay CP3 that much and he decided that in that case, he will just go to Houston. Hayward gave up extra years and money too when he decided to move to Boston. I think 2 things are happening here. One, the off-court earnings for superstars like Durant are so high that they don't mind giving up some shekels for a ring and to play with friendly superstars. You would think this may actually be good news for small market teams.

While the big market teams definitely have more money, cachet, and sex appeal to bring multiple superstars together, the fact the stars are chasing winning and friends more than money should mean the market size matters less. If the small market team and their incumbent superstar play their cards well, they should be able to attract other stars to town to build a winning roster. They may have to go over the luxury tax threshold and thats a challenge for smaller markets, but it's doable. If this doesn't ever work in their favor and if smaller market teams are perennially hurting, I am sure the NBA will bring an even bigger hammer to the next collective bargaining negotiation and make sure the luxury tax penalties are even more severe and the players have to give up even more to leave their home markets to go to greener pastures. I trust the NBA process and they will figure this out.

Secondly, there may be a temporary phenomenon at work currently with the players. The sudden 35% jump in salary cap last year has thrown the salaries out of whack. This generation of stars were hoping to score a max contract in the range of 18 to 20 million a year until last season. Suddenly, their choices now are either 32 mill or 38 mill a year depending on where they want to play and I think even the players themselves are confused and overwhelmed by it. They think it's great to make 32 mill and win with a star teammate of their choice rather than mortgaging everything for a 38 mill contract. It's all huge money anyways. So, who cares if it's 5 or 6 million less! This might change with the new crop of stars starting with the Lonzo Ball era as these kids may expect to make those kinds of money and they may be less willing to give that up. Their reference point may be different. Thats just my theory. Lets see if I am right in a couple of years.

In short, the players seem to have all the leverage, especially the stars. They pick the city, the teammates, the contract, and the options on when to become a free agent again. In some ways, the teams have themselves to blame. They wanted shorter contracts and more flexibility. But this also means the players have more flexibility as well. It feels like every star is a free agent every other year. It's fun for the larger NBA fan base in the off-season, but stressful for the GMs and the home town fans who are worried about their stars. On top of that, this season, it's very clear that the Warriors have sent every team into a frenzy. Every team is looking to build a super team to challenge them and the stars are obliging.

It almost feels like fantasy basketball as teams like Houston go get CP3 and are still in the market for Carmelo. And they have committed almost 220 mill to Harden. Wonder how much more he can make if he plays defense too! Cavs want another piece, Boston wanted a couple of pieces, John Wall was trying to get Paul George to Washington, and there are already rumors of how LeBron will join Paul George with the Lakers and get John Wall to join him too next year. John Wall coincidentally is represented by LeBron's buddies at Klucth sports and Wall is refusing to sign the big money extension with the Wizards. The league is gone crazy in a good way and the Warriors are pushing them over the edge. LeBron started the super-team trend in 2010 and it's getting worse now.

NFL has always been the envy of every other league. They have the most fans with the most attention span throughout the year and other leagues were trying to mimic them and steal their ideas. But when it comes to free agency, NBA has got it figured out. Even NFL has to be jealous of all the hype and attention the NBA free agency generates. The calendar is not even well thought out because it was not that big a deal in the past. Most big signings happen during the July 4th long weekend, which is not ideal for the media hype cycle, but the whole free agency period still generates intense buzz for 2+ weeks. As stupid as "The Decision" show was in 2010, we have to thank that for what has now become the modern free agency. Nobody will do that kind of a show anymore, but the activities of player movement and super team creation in July have become a yearly trend now.

This is all good as the NBA keeps us busy and occupied during the dog days of summer. NBA is experiencing a definite renaissance and you could attribute it to many things including a new set of talented stars and a fan-friendly style played around the league. And don't forget the health and concussion problems hurting the NFL either. But it recently struck me when I was listening to Bill Simmons talk about this that we have had couple of historic NBA records and events happen just within the last 2 years. I personally thought I will never see a team win more than 72 games a season or anybody average a triple-double in a season. The Warriors last year and Russell Westbrook this year achieved those 2 amazing feats. Those things are real fun to watch and track and no wonder NBA is on a magical run. The attention it draws during free agency and it's summer league may be the best proof of it yet. Hope the good times keep rolling for the association!

Dubs Dynasty

The Warriors wrapped it up in 5 like I had predicted at the start of the finals. Me and 2 billion others called it the same way of course. It was really a no-contest at the end, but a riveting finals nonetheless. The reasons for the excitement were a few different things. The fact that there was history between these two teams meeting in the finals for the third straight year was a huge factor. Also, the monumental collapse of the Warriors last year gave folks false hope and anxiety depending on which side you were and made this contest look a lot closer than it really was. I have never seen a more nervous fanbase of a team that was up 3-0 and then 3-1 in a series returning home for a game 5 than this version of the Dubs fans. They were a lot more confident for game 7 last year than they were for game 5 this year! Last but not the least, the star power in the series and the great play by all of those stars made it worth the watch. Finals MVP Durant was unstoppable the entire series and so was MVK (Most Valuable King) James. Curry was great too, except for game 4, and so was Kyrie except for the first 2 games. We got to see basketball at a very high level. Hope we all appreciate that we saw LeBron become the first player to average a triple-double in the finals with a 33.6 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists series. 

There was a lot of talk about how the quality of play and the level of talent on display in these finals were off the charts. It sure was in my eyes too. We know that just the Dubs roster features 4 of the top 15 talents in the NBA today, possibly 4 hall-of-famers. And then you add one of the best players in the history of the game in LeBron James and another 2 All-Stars on the Cavs roster, you got some serious heat on the floor. One of the major reasons why the games looked so impressive was the style of play in vogue in the NBA today. Both these teams like to go up and down the floor shooting 3's and they did shoot real well in this series. All of that made the talent in this series look way more impressive than the matchups I had seen in the last 15 years or so. However, there is also a definite recency bias in all our assessment as this is not the first rodeo for the NBA Finals, which always features top teams by design. For instance, how much more talent did we really see here compared to the Bird-Magic finals or the MJ-Magic or even the MJ-Malone/Stockton finals? Hard to quantify, but this one was fun. The other reason we focused more on the talent in this one was because of the recent emergence of the "super team" concept. The older "super teams" were mostly built organically and we didn't obsess about the collection of talent on the floor all that much.

It sure was a riveting trilogy and the TV ratings bear that out. But the domination of these 2 teams through the playoffs meant lot fewer games and lower eyeballs on the TV overall for the NBA and the TV channels. I totally expect a 4th installment of this rivalry next year. LeBron is going to push for some upgrade of his roster and we may have an even better matchup next year. Boston with all it's assets is the only serious threat to dethroning the King in the LEast, but even they may be a year away from things coming together nicely. Dubs-Cavs it is for 2018. The question is, how and what does the King force the Cavs to do this off-season? They don't have a lot of flexibility, but may be able to trade Kevin Love. It would be a mistake to trade him for somebody like Carmelo, but will be an upgrade if they can score Paul George. I bring up Melo only because LeBron is friends with him. So is CP3. But I won't trade Kyrie for CP3. Kyrie is not a prototypical PG and doesn't play great D, but it is still going to be hard to get a better side-kick for LeBron than Ka. He is an amazing offensive force as he showed all finals. Plus CP3 is older and injury prone.

There is also a Boogie Cousins rumor for Love. Out of all the rumors, the one that should scare the Dubs most is Paul George ending up with LeBron. They would get somebody who can guard Durant and is also a well-rounded and tall offensive player. But can they still play well together and challenge the Dubs, who play great team ball to expertly mesh all the talent they have? The Cavs will have 3 great 1-on-1 players if PG joins them and they can take turns scoring. That should help when LeBron goes to the bench. The Cavs outscored the Dubs in many of the stretches when LeBron was on the floor and still lost the series 4-1. Thats an amazing +/- for the King and having PG on the floor during those times will be a huge upgrade. The problem is, Ty Lue and the Cavs culture may still play 1-on-1 ball with all 3 and it will be up to the King to involve everybody and bring this together. It's also easy to under-estimate Love's rebounding. PG can't rebound the same way. At least PG plays D. With Melo, you lose both the rebounds and don't upgrade the D either. There was a stretch in game 3, which Steve Kerr specifically called out in the presser, when Love got 3 offensive rebounds and completely dominated the Dubs and almost stopped their momentum. Cavs must tread cautiously with Love. However, LeBron will make the calls and he has to live or die with it.

The season is over, the finals are over, and even the parade is now done. The Dubs did it. Their entire roster now feels like headed for free agency. So it will be a fun off-season for the Dub nation to see who they re-sign and surround the big 4 with. Curry will finally break the bank. It was nice to see KD publicly offer to take just a little less to enable the team to make a competitive offer to Iggy and Livingston. Both may get great offers from other teams too. Let's see how this plays out. You can never fault the players for maximizing their earning potential. Both those guys are probably looking at the last major contract of their careers. Livingston especially deserves every dime after almost losing his leg in that horrific injury earlier in his career. Overall, the Dubs are in a good spot. The team will look different, but the front office has been immensely successful the last 5 years and it will be interesting as a basketball fan to see how they cobble up another team around the big 4. Special shout-out to David West for taking much less money to go through a championship experience. He got it done and was a key contributor as well.

I am really surprised and impressed with folks like West giving up their role and money to win a championship. I can see super-stars wanting the ring as winning a Finals MVP is a huge boost to KD's legacy for instance. But West winning this as a bench player is not a life changing event, but they still appreciate and chase that ring. I respect that! Not sure how many of us will give up serious money for a championship ring. West declined a 12 mill option with the Pacers last year to join the Spurs for 1.5 million. He then signed a similar contract with the Dubs this year. And his quote about how "you can't take the treasure with you as Egyptians learned" was a classic. Probably the best post-finals moment, way better than all the real or fake twitter wars between Draymond and LeBron. Speaking of, LeBron's take that he has never been a part of a super-team was ridiculous! He and his Heatles buddies were the creator the whole concept. Thats why what he did was so much worse than Durant. Without LeBron's precedent, the whole idea of Durant joining the Warriors might have not even crossed the minds of Draymond or Durant or anybody. LeBron is the pioneer of the concept and he has to forever share some of the blame for these other super-teams in this era.

I can't believe I am saying this, but I agree with Stephen A in that, from Duran't personal perspective, his move was weaker or a easier way out than what LeBron did. Joining a 73-win team is an easy way out. But thats not the point and I am not too worried about Durant as an individal. He can take care of himself and his own legacy and I don't care about that all that much. But in terms of what it means to the NBA as a league and it's competitive balance, LeBron's move was much worse because he set a precedent that folks like Durant can follow. What LeBron did was repeatable and stars are trying to hook-up every off-season these days. Sometimes they are successful, sometimes they are not, but they all seem to try. On the other hand, Durant joining the Warriors was a unique situation created by a confluence of a few lucky breaks for the Dubs that may never happen again. The salary cap doesn't jump 35% every year. The 2-time MVP of the league (Curry) rarely enters that same season as the 82nd highest player in the league, thus enabling the team to chase another superstar with all that extra cap money. Without these two major aberrations, I don't think KD joins the Dubs. This obviously impacts the competitive balance in the short-term, but I am not worried about the long-term impact of this KD move. LeBron's move to Miami and even back to Cleveland with Kevin Love was different, more repeatable, and lethal development for the league. With all that said, super teams are here to stay in 2018 and we can only hope somebody steps up to challenge the Dubs. My smart money is still on the King and the Cavs.

Ka is Key

I heard in a podcast that the nickname for Kyrie Irving in his inside circle is Ka. Whatever his name is, he is the key to the rest of the NBA finals. He is the one who won them last year's finals too. I am not saying this just because he hit that game winner in game 7. But what he did throughout that game 7 and earlier in game 5 when both LeBron and him scored 41 each to will the Cavs to a victory was sensational. That was the turning point in the series. They could not have come back from 3-1 and won that series without Kyrie and the 41 he dropped in that game 5. LeBron is great and is the heart and soul, but as great as LeBron is, he can't do it alone. Not last year against that talented Dubs team and definitely not this year against the even more loaded Dubs roster. So LeBron absolutely needs Kyrie. The guy is unstoppable even against a great defender like Klay. And when he is in that mode, Dubs are in trouble. Kyrie has been that good in game 3 and 4 in Cleveland this year much like games 5 and 7 last year. Also, in game 4 against Boston in the previous round this season. He was not that great in games 1 and 2 of this finals and the Dubs won both easily. So, the Dubs better have an answer to Ka if they want a parade in Oakland this year.

Kyrie is not LeBron, but is a difference maker. Thats because LeBron's 30-10-10 is already accounted for. We might as well put that in the game 5 box score right now. He has been ridiculous throughout these playoffs and the finals and we all take his performance for granted. The guy is averaging almost a 32-12-10 in these finals and we don't even talk about him that much. And even with that, the Dubs dominated the series over the first 3 games. But once Kyrie got in on the act, Dubs have had their hands full. Through the nineties and early aughts, NBA was all about individual superstars playing isolation and 1-on-1 ball. It was fun watching MJ do it, but it got boring at some point and the league became a drag. The game opened up, thanks in part to some rule changes and thanks in part to teams like the CWebb-Kings and the Nash-Suns. They revolutionized the game, especially the mid-aughts Suns. Now, the Dubs have taken that Suns' style to a 'hole 'nother level with superstar talent up and down the roster, robust team defense, passing, and deadly 3-point shooting. Even with all that in place, even in this day and age, sensational 1-on-1 talents like LeBron and Kyrie can cause so much havoc.

No wonder stars always had the reputation of having all the power and basically running the NBA because individual talent impacts this game so much even against a well-oiled offensive and defensive juggernaut like the Warriors. Kyrie can again be a thorn on the Dubs side the rest of the way starting with game 5 tonight. Dub-nation has to be slightly nervous after what happened last year. It's again 3-1. Sure, it was 3-0 and then 3-1 unlike last year, but there are some similarities. The smart money for game 5 is still very much on the Dubs. It's basically the same matchup, except the Dubs have added  to that game 5 roster Durant and Draymond, who was suspended for last year. Thats a huge upgrade and even without them two, it took a sensational 41 point night from both LeBron and Kyrie for the Cavs to win last year. The chances are, those 2 are going to bring it again, but just like in game 3, the Dubs may still have enough to wrap this up. If not, oh boy! They will be in a lot of hurt! The pressure will be intense and they will probably lose game 6 on the road to force another game 7 at home under immense pressure with the Cavs knowing and feeling like they can win a game 7 at Oakland just like they did last year. The Dubs don't want it.

So, they better wrap this up today. This is why KD came to town and if he can't finish this, this whole season will be a bigger bust than last year when the Dubs won 73 regular season game and blew the finals. Few things in the world live up to the hype. There are 2 things in this series that have exceeded the highest of expectations. One, the entire career of LeBron James. No one was more hyped as a teenager and very few have delivered more as an adult than LJ. The other hyped up event that has played according to the script is KD joining the Dubs to make this a super-team. Some super-teams don't work out, but this one has worked out to perfection. They made it to the finals and were 3-0 and are now 3-1. They better finish that to make this a storybook ending. The longer this series goes, the more pressure on the Dubs. They have to contain LJ and Ka to wrap this one. One of the under-rated aspects of this 3-point driven league today is, how it's harder to double team stars. They are just going to kick it out to the shooters and you may give up 3 instead of 2. So, you have to single-cover the LeBrons and the Kyries of the world and hope a great defender like Klay can slow them down. Thats what the Dubs will do, but they need more than hope to drive this to the ground in game 5. They just might get it done.

Almost a sweep

The third installment of Cavs versus Warriors in the NBA finals starts tomorrow. Pretty much the entire World penciled this matchup in back in November. Of course, it took us 7 months and God knows how many games to actually get to this finals. Usually, at least the playoff games along the way are interesting. Not so much this year. The Dubs are 12-0 and the Cavs are 12-1 after 3 round of playoffs. I predicted a competitive conference finals, but that was not to be. Kwahi and Isaiah's injuries took away whatever little intrigue and challenge was left in the conference finals. This leaves us with these finals as the only hope for an intriguing playoff contest this season. This is the first time the same teams have met in 3 straight NBA finals and that tells you how rare and good these 2 teams are.

We needed this matchup for a fair and equal contest if not for anything else. The first year they met, LeBron carried the Cavs without Kyrie and Love and almost shocked the Warriors. Then, last year, the Warriors dealt with the Draymond suspension and a banged up Curry in addition to Iggy and Bogut's injuries mid-series. So, though this is the third time they are meeting in the finals, this is really the first time both rosters as constructed are engaging in a healthy contest. Hope it stays that way through the series. My heart almost stopped when Kyrie twisted his ankle and went to the ground against Boston. Luckily, he not only got up, but dominated that quarter and the subsequent quarters in that series. He looks ready to roll and so does LeBron who has had an amazing playoffs this year.

The Warriors are clearly the better team, but the Cavs are the closest and the most serious competition. Curry had a very mediocre finals last year and the Warriors still were dominating until game 5 when Draymond got suspended. Thats how good the Warriors team is and they have added Durant to the mix. So it's almost stupid to pick against them in these finals. But this is sports and last year's finals showed us that anything can happen. If anybody has a shot against these Aarriors, it's this Cavs team. The Cavs are a super-team themselves and are the closest to the Warriors in terms of talent. Kyrie steps up against the Warriors and Curry to make it even more equal. Last but not the least, the Cavs have the best player on the court in the form of LeBron whenever they suit-up against whoever including these Warriors and the best player makes more of an impact in basketball than any other sport.

Given all that, this has a chance to become another epic finals like last year. But it also can end up being a sweep because these Warriors are so good. I think the biggest challenge for the Warriors is going to be mental if these games get tight. They have not been challenged a lot all season and a close game this late in the season might stress them out in new ways that they may not be entirely comfortable with. More importantly, it may bring some bad memories from last year and even the Christmas day matchup. A close game with the ball in Kyrie's hands will be the dubs worst nightmare. That may be the Cavs' best hope in this series - force a few close games and see if the Dubs crack under the pressure as LeBron and Kyrie execute flawlessly. Easier said than done against these Dubs. So I call this for the Warriors 4-1.

The Dubs are going to go for a sweep. I believe thats the new challenge they will be chasing now after all that happened last year. They won't talk about it, but thats the mindset they are going in with. It's going to be hard for the Dubs to sweep just because of everything this matchup brings including LeBron. It's his 7th finals and thats an amazing feat. Given the one week gap leading into game 1, all of the angles for this matchup has been a bit over-analyzed much like the Super Bowl. One common topic was whether LeBron will be ranked higher than Jordan if he wins this one. Interesting question, but let him get there first before we start breaking that down. The other topic that has been over-thought and analyzed is whether the best starting 5 from both teams combined will actually have 3 Cavs factoring in the positions? I don't think so. It still has to be Curry, Klay, LeBron, Draymond, and Tristan. Some folks are giving the PG spot to Kyrie over Curry and manufacturing some excitement by making a case for the Cavs starting lineup being better. Real cute and nice try! You can slice and dice it anyways, but 4-1 for the Warriors it is.

Law of enlarging returns.

There is always great expectation before the start of all playoffs, especially in the NBA. But once it starts, you always feel bit of a letdown. It's only natural as nothing in life is as great as we expect it to be before it happens. Except for LeBron James' career that is. The law of diminishing returns eventually kicks in. So, every year, I get jacked up before the NBA playoffs and then when it starts, it is usually great and I enjoy every bit of it. But I do feel just a little bit of a letdown in the early rounds. I call it human nature. But there is nothing "human nature" about the early rounds of this year's playoffs. It's been truly disappointing and a blowout-fest to the point that even Charles Barkley, who works the TV shows covering these playoffs and has every incentive to keep our collective butts in front of the TV, calls it the worst playoffs ever.  There has been several reasons for this. Number one, the dominance of the Cavs and the Warriors in either league and the inability of any team to even come close to challenging them. They are both sitting pretty at 8-0 going into the conference finals. But it's more than just the sweeps.

Typically, playoff games are competitive. I remember several sweeps even going back to the Michael Jordan years where the team will win the series 4-0 but every game would be a 2 to 5 point nail-baiter. This year is exactly the opposite. Not only are the Dubs and Cavs winning their games by 20 points, even closer series that take 6 or 7 games are featuring a bunch of blowouts. I blame it on the 3-point shot. There has been a lot of talk about the pros and cons the 3-point shot and how it is changing the game. I like the new NBA. But the underrated aspect of the 3-point shot might be the impact it has on victory margins, especially in the playoffs.  Somebody will study this soon. While the 3-point shot makes it easy to mount a 26-point comeback like the Cavs did against the Pacers in round 1, it also inspires a lot of 26 point blowouts. I was really excited for OKC-Houston and even the Portland-Warriors round 1 matchups, but both were duds. Portland never really challenged the Warriors after a half and Houston won easily in 5. The Boston-Washington series in round 2 is giving us a game 7 tomorrow, but they have only given us 2 good games out of the 6 so far. No complaints though since those 2 games were terrific and probably the best in these playoffs so far.

As the field narrows, the dominance of the Cavs and Dubs is expected to continue and the inevitability of their finals matchup looms large with a threat of the Dubs crushing the Cavs in the finals. Basically, there are 2 great teams, out of which one is a historically special team. That skews the whole setup. But fear not. I expect the conference finals to be competitive. Boston or Washington will have something to offer to the Cavs, whether its Boston's defense and toughness or Washington's speed and athleticism. The real story though is in the West. We have been waiting for and even ridiculously blaming the Warriors for missing the Spurs in the playoffs the last 2 seasons. They lock horns starting today. The Spurs are no match to the Dubs in terms of talent on paper, but you know Pop and Kwahi won't go down easy. They will show us new wrinkles and expose hitherto unknown weaknesses in the Dubs to give us decent theater. At least, it will be different from watching the Rockets go down to the Dubs again in the playoffs. If the Cavs stay the course in the East and meet the Dubs in the finals, that will be competitive too despite the Dubs being the better team. Look where that got the Warriors in last year's finals! And even if the Celtics get past the Cavs (and the Wizards), they are one of the few teams that give the Dubs some trouble.

Long story short, playoffs are going to get better and give us better returns starting today. I don't think the Dubs go 16-0. They go 8-3 the rest of the way to win it all. I will leave it to the reader to decide which series goes 4-2 and which one goes 4-1 :-) Hint: look at the order in which I mentioned 4-2 and 4-1. A record of 8-3 doesn't scream exciting basketball, but better than what we have seen so far in these playoffs. I will gladly take it and so should you.

Draft Heist

The NFL draft is now in the books. It was a major event like every NFL event tends to be these days. They moved it from the weekend to a Thursday kickoff a few years back. I don't know why, but should be for money and prime-time viewership or something like that. I have not really kept up with it that closely ever since it moved to Thursdays - I liked round 1 better on Saturdays. But I did catch some of it this year. The first big news was the Niners swapping their 3rd pick for the Bears 2nd pick plus a bunch of extra assets. The Bears then took North Carolina QB Mitchell Trubisky. The experts say he is a very inexperienced QB and a shaky pick at best. The fact that Bears traded up to get him makes it worse. But the real head-scratcher was them moving up just one spot to get him ahead of the Niners. That makes no sense unless there were other teams trying to trade with the Niners for him and undercut the Bears. Supposedly that was not the case at all and the Bears seem to have successfully bargained and negotiated with and against themselves. If the team right ahead of you is willing to trade that pick, that means they are not interested in the player you want at that spot. If they were, they wouldn't be trading that pick with you and willingly losing that guy to you.

So instead of rolling the dice, calling the Niners bluff, sticking with the 3rd spot, and picking their guy, they gave up a lot of assets to get to 2 from 3. Worst case, you won't get Trubisky and have to settle for another QB at 3. It's not like you are losing out on a consensus number 1 QB like a Peyton Manning or an Andrew Luck. Believe me, if it was Andrew Luck, Niners would have been trading up to 1 instead of dropping down to 3. The irony is, the 2 teams ahead of the Bears were probably the only teams that needed a QB worse than the Bears. Still, neither cared about Trubisky and the Bears went after him like he is Tom Brady and Cam Newton rolled into one. On the flip side, the QB position is the most important one on the field and I guess you go after the one you like at all costs. May be the Bears know something the rest of us don't. They may not deserve credit for being smart with this pick, but kudos to them for being brave. It was a great start to the draft providing folks like me on the couch a nice chuckle. Good luck to Trubisky and the Bears. After all, he can't be much worse than Jay Cutler, another QB the Bears gave a lot to acquire back in the day. I was driving from Chicago to Champaign, Illinois for work around that time and I still remember how excited the Bears faithful sounded on the radio the entire drive about Cutler.

The Niners under the rookie GM John Lynch deserve a lot credit for that Bears heist. He then used some of the assets at his disposal to trade back in to the later stages of the first round to get Alabama's Reuben Foster, who was free-falling due to off-field issues. The fact that Lynch was considering Foster even at 2 or 3 tells you how highly he thought of him. Lynch was supposedly talking trade with every team from pick 12 or 13 once Faster started to slide. Niners finally got him at 31 just as the Saints were calling Foster to inform him that they are going to pick him at 32. Little did they know the Niners stepped in ahead of them to take Foster. Great rookie draft for Lynch and I will give him a high grade overall. The third round QB pick of Iowa's C.J. Beathard was questionable. But you could tell that was coach Kyle Shanahan's choice. You have to trust his offensive instincts and hope Kyle is right for Lynch's sake. The Arizona Cardinals did good with their picks too. I like how they focussed their high value picks on defense. It was a surprise that they did not draft a QB though they can use one and they also hinted all along they would draft one. The consensus grade for them seems to be hovering around a B. I give them A+ for the names they drafted. You can't go wrong with a Budda and a Haason.

In the NBA playoffs, the first round had lesser drama than I expected. Houston dispatched Oklahoma rather easily and only the Clippers-Jazz went to a game 7. Not sure why though. Once Blake Griffin was hurt, Jazz should have run the Clips off the joint. They did not, but they won games 5 and 7 on the road to put the Clippers to bed. The Jazz have to play a lot better against he Warriors if they want to be a legitimate threat. They have some pieces that can cause the dubs some discomfort. But they can't play young like they did against the Clips. It looks like we are headed towards a Rockets-Warriors western conference finals anyways. I doubt if the Spurs can beat the Rockets. The Rockets are the kind of team that the Spurs can totally handle in the past. But this Spurs team is not in the same class anymore. They have the coach, experience, championship respect, and pedigree. But they don't have the same players on the floor. There is only so much Kwahi can do on both ends of the floor and they need to resurrect a versions of LaMarcus Aldridge and Pau Gasol from 3 years back to fortify this roster. The Rockets should have enough firepower to beat the Spurs 4 out of 7 times and if the Rockets want to show us that they can threaten the Warriors for real, they have to dispatch the Spurs in 5 or 6 games.  If Houston makes it, the Warriors would have missed the Clippers and the Spurs entirely in the last 3 playoffs.  No big deal and definitely not the dubs' fault, but it is an amazing and a very unlikely coincidence in the West.

The big NBA story this off-season  is going to be about what happens to the Clippers with the pending free agencies of CP3, Blake, and Redick among others. "Blow them up" seems to be the consensus, but I am torn. I am always wary of blowing a good team up when their stars are still young. Sure, this group is not able to get over the hump. Actually, they don't even seem to be able to get to the hump to try and get over it. So may be they have to rebuild. But then again, how easy is it to find players like Chris Paul and Blake Griffin again? Let me tell you that it's real hard. Those kinds of players don't grow on trees. I never understood how blowing up a team with such players who get your team to the top half of the Western Conference every year is going to help. I would tweak it rather than blow it up. Thats what they may do anyways and it does make sense in one respect. Blake seems to be injury-prone and may be you don't want to back up the Brinks truck for him. If you can swap him for some younger assets, may be reloading around CP3 and that younger asset is the way to go. Of course, that may not be ideal for CP3 personally and he may want to go somewhere he can win right away. In that case, may be blowing this up and rebuilding might be a necessary evil and thats probably where the media is coming from in the first place with that take. If I was Clippers owner Steve Balmer, I will try to keep CP3, trade Blake and go from there. Lets see what the crazy maverick does.

Sixteen Chapel

I thought the Warriors-Blazers series was over right after game 1. The Blazers came at the dubs in game 1 at Oakland with everything they got. Their best 2 players, CJ.McCullum and Damian Lillard, were both sensational the entire game and ended up scoring 75 combined points. They outplayed the famed Warriors back-court convincingly, especially in that first half. At the end of the day, the Blazers lost that game by a dozen points. That told me all I needed to know about the ceiling of the 2 teams. The Blazers' ceiling was basically about 15 points behind the Warriors. I can't even say that fourth quarter was the Warriors ceiling, but was definitely Draymond Green's magnum opus. Thats what makes the dubs a true super-team. You would think Draymond is their fourth wheel, but he is actually a superstar who does everything except score for this team. When he takes over a show like he did in game 1 on the defensive end and kills the Blazers independent of what his 3 superstar buddies did on the other end, you know this team is scary good. There is a block of Dame Lillard in that game that I would advise everybody to look up on YouTube. Draymond is guarding somebody on the perimeter on the strong side not far from Dame. Dame drives on his man from the same side and goes to the hoop. Somehow Draymond decides to chase him down and is right there to block his shot at the rim. Dray had no business being even in that TV frame, but he was there waiting for Dame. It captured not just his effort and his deceptive athleticism, but also his high basketball IQ. Long story short, the Blazers had no shot in the series, and when they fell short after their best effort in game 1, I knew they can't win this fight. I thought they may steal 1 in Portland if the Warriors fell asleep, but not so surprisingly, the Warriors put them away even without Durant in a convincing sweep. 

Of course every round of the playoffs become increasingly difficult and it's not uncommon for us fans and media to fall in love with a team after round 1 only to see the team struggle in the next round and lose in the round after. Even within a series, fortunes can swing big time. Ask the Warriors about the finals when they lost after leading 3-1 or Durant about his Thunder team losing after dominating the Warriors to a 3-1 advantage in last year's Western conference finals. So lets not get carried away and award the finals to the Warriors and the Cavs after their respective first round sweeps and hand the ring over to the Warriors yet. With all that said, the Warriors are the best team and the prohibitive favorites to win it all this year. There are several ways to look at this team and explain how it is one of the most historic collection of talent in one roster. I am not a basketball historian, but I can't think of another team where 4 of the top 20, may be even top 15, players in the entire league playing for the same team in their early or peak primes of their careers. Thats the other scary part. Klay and Draymond are probably still getting better. But the clear proof that the dubs are a scary good super-team has been in display the last several weeks and in this Portland series. Kevin Durant is a top 3 talent in the league today and is arguably the Warriors' best player. And they are a true contender without Durant suiting up. That blows my mind. If Durant sits out the rest of the playoffs, their odds will drop, but they will still be the favorites in Vegas to win it all this year. Thats like the Cavs being the favorites even without LeBron or the Rockets without Harden. Those teams sure don't have the talent or depth to pull that off. 

All of this brings us to the key question. Can the Warriors go 16-0 in these playoffs? This may sound presumptuous, but this questions is definitely making the rounds in the Bay Area and elsewhere and rightfully so. I have to say the dubs won't go 16-0 because it's hard to do. Also, the history says no as no team has done it before - only the 2001 Lakers came real close with a 15-1 run. Plus this dubs team could have a bad shooting night and lose one on the road. They do have a shot if Draymond makes it his mission to get to 16-0 like he wanted the 73-win season last year. If they make a commitment and go after it, we might see it, but I wouldn't bet on it. And the main reason they may not make it is the sad story of coach Steve Kerr's health. Kerr has had some major ups and downs in his life, but his health complications from the botched back surgery is really a depressing story. He has a team of a lifetime in his hands and is seriously staring at a legendary run that would rival the Phil Jacksons and Gregg Popovichs of the world if everything breaks the way we expect it to over the next few years. This is hard to walk away from and he might have to. Given his situation, his continued health and wellbeing is way more important than what happens with his coaching career. I wish him the best and would love to have him back, but if he can't coach again, I sure hope and pray that he can at least live a normal, healthy, functional life. But Kerr's potential absence might be the biggest challenge to the dubs going 16-0. The dubs are a well-oiled machine and I like coach Mike Brown, but I am not a big fan of Mike Brown's X's and O's capabilities. Not having Kerr on the sidelines is going to cost the dubs a game or 2. Thats usually a big deal in the playoffs, but when we are talking about a tram going 16-0, losing a game is not the end of the world. But this does mean I don't expect the dubs to go 16-0. With a healthy Kerr and Durant, it will still be a tough deal, but they may make it interesting and get real close. If they do, it's going to be another cherry on top of this amazing playoffs. This year's playoffs has been very entertaining and hoping the stories only get better. We don't need any more of these Blake Griffin injury, and Steve Kerr's ailment, and Isiah Thomas's sister's passing. But bring on the sweet sixteen!