Wednesday, February 4, 2009

10 Seconds of Porn Would Have Been Better

Copyright Notice: 2009 NBAE (Photo by Ron Hoskins/NBAE via Getty Images)

During Tuesday's Wolves-Pacers game, I chatted with a NBA League Pass rep, asking them if they had the 10 seconds of porn shown during the Super Bowl. Anything had to be better than what I was watching on FSN. I would have taken even Cinemax soft porn, Showtime's L Word...anything.

Can any of the broadcasters, reporters or bloggers who advocate offense over defense justify a game like this? Does anyone objective still wonder why the Wolves can't consistently beat quality teams? From my Useless Press contacts, I understand even Norm Coleman is demanding a recount of the score...he feels jobbed.

No matter, the Wolves "won"116-111. Randy Foye, awful in the first half, (nine turnovers overall) made a couple of key defensive plays and scored five points in the fourth to secure the win. Secure is a term to be used loosely, because the club suddenly brain-locked late in the fourth and allowed the Pacers a chance to tie the game. TJ Ford, normally a great free throw shooter, bricked the back-end in two consecutive trips to the free throw line to prevent Indiana from extending the contest. I guess they felt the fans had seen enough.

Meanwhile our pro-wrestling television broadcasting equivalent--Jim Petersen and Tom Hanneman--continue to spin to a miniscule audience. Frequently guffawing when Kevin Love grabs a rebound, as if Love just won a tough man competition, Petersen hasn't quite realized that with a half year under the belt, most watchers have developed their opinion of dear, undersized, overweight Kevin. They even are trying to come up with a new nickname--Kevlar--to describe how "rugged" he is. Hanneman marvels what a year Love has had, even though he's only 20. Of course, he neglects to say that most quality college players now only play one or two years of NCAA ball, making them around 20 when they land in the NBA.

For the record, Love was born Sep 7, 1988. Taking a small sampling of those who actually MADE the Rookie Game roster All-Star Weekend, Rose, Westbrook and Lopez were all born in the same calendar year. There are a lot of young'uns making signficant contributions to their club in their rookie year, Tom. Kevin Love is not the baby Jesus, the second coming of Wes Unseld, or even Dennis Rodman. He's an above average rebounder who's at best a mediocre finisher. And, McHale is still cherry picking his minutes, as opposed to the before mentioned rooks who are making noise in the league.

But I guess there has to be some data the Wolves are getting that are telling them their audience is eating this stuff up. If true, it's once again a reminder that stats often don't tell the real story.

For those who really, really must...a video recap of the game can be found here. Here's a hint: Saw V is a classic compared to this.

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