The Online Late at Night Thread

[JGlass]

CA Crew Member? I'd be honored. I plan on heading out there once I graduate. That's the dream anyway.

And yes Crocky, I have been to Utah, and it totally blew my expectation out of the water. I went in February for the Sundance Film Festival, and in addition to having the time of my life (literally, it was the most fun I've had in my entire life) at the festival, the scenery was absolutely breathtaking. It was like living in a fucking snow globe it was so perfect.

 

[Ty Burna]

Speaking of Utah, they're slowly crawling back into the game against the Spurs, only down 8 at the end of the 3rd.

 

[The Crock]

I love my Jazz, but we're not feeling it.

Glad you liked it, JGlass.

 

[Ty Burna]

I used to hate Utah back in the Malone/Stockton days for some reason. I have a greater appreciation for how good Stockton was as a point guard now.

Currently I'm a Celtics and T'Wolves fan. Celtics because I followed my favorite player KG to them, and now Rondo is one of my favorite players. The T'Wolves because I've been a fan of theirs for quite some time and Kevin Love is a beast.

 

[Smooth Sexual Chocolate]

I move to instate JGlass as Honorary C.A. Crew Member.

The man has true respect for the beauty that is California, I second this notion, making it official.

 

[The Crock]

I wanna be an honarary C.A. Crew Member!

 

[Ty Burna]

I wanna be an honarary C.A. Crew Member!

I second this. Been there once in my life and didn't want to leave. Especially when the bartender at the sushi bar I was gave me one hell of a potent Crown Coke without carding me when I was only 20. Walked outside for a cigarette, drunk as hell, looked over to see two gorgeous asian women in school girl outfits batting eyelashes at me.

If that wasn't the moment that told me I loved Cali, I don't know what is.

 

[JGlass]

Thank you, I promise to represent the golden state with dignity, class, and unadulterated awesomeness.

And yeah Crock, Utah may have a little to offer for a guy like me, but I can't deny it's a beautiful place.

 

[The Crock]

I used to hate Utah back in the Malone/Stockton days for some reason. I have a greater appreciation for how good Stockton was as a point guard now.

Currently I'm a Celtics and T'Wolves fan. Celtics because I followed my favorite player KG to them, and now Rondo is one of my favorite players. The T'Wolves because I've been a fan of theirs for quite some time and Kevin Love is a beast.

He was amazing. He took defeat like a man. I bring that up because I was there on June 14, 1998... Jordan pushed off of Russell damn it!

 

[JGlass]

When I first came to Boston I was way into the Celtics. Within a year of living here I got sick of their fans and the whole environment surrounding the team. I'm rooting for the Nets again, and I don't care how bad they are. As a Mets fan, I'm pretty used to disappointment.

 

[LSN80]

Its hard for me being from Pittsburgh, because we dont have an NBA team. I sure as hell refuse to cheer for any team from Philly, even the 76ers. I was a Lakers fan as a kid, back in the days of Magic/Kareem/Worthy. I no longer have the affinity for them that I used to, although I wouldn't mind a threepeat if it meant Miami didn't win it.

 

[Ty Burna]

Its hard for me being from Pittsburgh, because we dont have an NBA team. I sure as hell refuse to cheer for any team from Philly, even the 76ers. I was a Lakers fan as a kid, back in the days of Magic/Kareem/Worthy. I no longer have the affinity for them that I used to, although I wouldn't mind a threepeat if it meant Miami didn't win it.

I would be all in favor of a LA threepeat if it meant Lechoke and his cronies go down in flames in the finals. Not to worry, we'll get the Lakers/Celtics rubber match.

 

[JGlass]

Yeah, because the Celtics bringing in Garnett and Allen is nothing like the Heat bringing in James and Bosh

 

[Goliath Uterus]

Heat 4 champs

 

[Ty Burna]

Yeah, because the Celtics bringing in Garnett and Allen is nothing like the Heat bringing in James and Bosh

I can't argue against that to be honest. But you could just as easily point out how much of a steal it was for the Lakers when they traded for Gasol. Teaming stars together does not immediately equal a championship. You have to have the right role players and the team has to gel as well.

 

[Goliath Uterus]

Or you can just put D-Wade and the King together, you're bound to get at least one title outta that....

 

[JGlass]

I can't argue against that to be honest. But you could just as easily point out how much of a steal it was for the Lakers when they traded for Gasol. Teaming stars together does not immediately equal a championship. You have to have the right role players and the team has to gel as well.

I agree, but then why do people hate on the Heat so much? I'm sure they realize just as well as we do that three superstars aren't going to carry them to the NBA finals without solid support players. The Celtics got lucky when Rondo turned into a high caliber PG. The Heat haven't had such luck with their lesser known players this season (as far as I know, I haven't followed the NBA as closely this year as in the past), but I'm sure they are not counting on the big three to do it by themselves.

 

[Goliath Uterus]

You could surrond those dudes with scrubs and they'd still be contenders.

 

[JGlass]

Yeah, but not winners. It's so easy to make the playoffs in the NBA that being a contender isn't enough, you have to win trophies to be memorable. Only the big time sports nerds and basketball junkies are going to remember the team that clinched the three seed in the playoffs, and that's just about where the Heat are right now.

 

[Goliath Uterus]

When I said contenders I meant title contenders brah. And that team (if they stay healthy) will win a title within the next two seasons, you can pretty much book it now. Especially when they get Haslem back, they're a deep and dangerous team, with the best player in the world, the 3rd or 4th best player in the world, and an all star caliber player.

 

[Ty Burna]

I agree, but then why do people hate on the Heat so much? I'm sure they realize just as well as we do that three superstars aren't going to carry them to the NBA finals without solid support players. The Celtics got lucky when Rondo turned into a high caliber PG. The Heat haven't had such luck with their lesser known players this season (as far as I know, I haven't followed the NBA as closely this year as in the past), but I'm sure they are not counting on the big three to do it by themselves.

Well comparing to how the Celtics came together, everyone wanted KG to leave Minnesota, but he had too much pride to demand a trade. So he was a sympathetic figure. Ray Allen was similar in Seattle. Pierce was trying to keep a horrible Celtics team afloat that hadn't been relevant in years. Not to mention none of the Big Three were really in their primes like James, Wade, and Bosh are. It was almost a feel good story to team three career strugglers to try and win a championship for one of the most historically successful teams that had fallen on bad times.

Now look at the Heat. Won a title fairly recently, there was the big Free Agent Bonanza that surrounded all three of them along with Amare. So they soaked up all that publicity and attention as much as they could. Some people may resent that type of attitude. The biggest reason why people resent the Heat though, is not necessarily a reflection on Wade and Bosh, but it's James himself. Everyone knows how bad Cleveland as a sports city has had it. They're the sympathetic figure in this. They hoisted James up onto a throne like his nickname sake. He OWNED Cleveland, just like Jordan owned Chicago. Take a look at when Braylon Edwards got into it with one of James' associates. Braylon was shipped out damn near overnight to the Jets. The entire town was basically at Lebron's beck and whim. He was their savior, the sports messiah. And he goes and turns on that love and adulation to run to Wade's Miami Heat team to go party. Rather than fight for the team and city that are lapping at his feet, rather than hoist a constantly heart broken city on his shoulders and deliver the championship that has eluded them, he stomped on their love with a size 15 boot, especially the way he went about it.

So all that said, Cleveland was the sympathetic figure. Nearly everyone not living in Miami felt their pain. So that automatically cast Lebron as the hated villain. That hatred automatically spreads out to the rest of the team that he is on, which includes Wade and Bosh. It's a matter of perspective if you want to think of it that way. There was no victim in the Celtics' Big Three Formation, but there definitely was in Miami's formation.

 

[JGlass]

I understand where you're coming from Ty, but this is professional sports. The whole hometown hero is a romantic tale, but very rarely do athletes look for the storybook ending. Anyone who expects LeBron to turn down the opportunity to win NBA Title rings and cement his legacy as one of the all time greatest players to be the hometown hero is shitting themselves. In the end of the day, LeBron James needs to worry about what LeBron James wants and what LeBron James needs, not what some Joe Schmo in Cleveland wants.

On a totally separate note: I just referenced South Park in an essay I'm writing and it totally fits. I'm writing about intended vs. interpreted meaning for a communications class, so I brought up The Tale of Scrotie McBoogerBalls and how, despite the fact that it was meant to have no meaning, the adults interpreted it to mean many different things.

 

[Ty Burna]

I understand where you're coming from Ty, but this is professional sports. The whole hometown hero is a romantic tale, but very rarely do athletes look for the storybook ending. Anyone who expects LeBron to turn down the opportunity to win NBA Title rings and cement his legacy as one of the all time greatest players to be the hometown hero is shitting themselves. In the end of the day, LeBron James needs to worry about what LeBron James wants and what LeBron James needs, not what some Joe Schmo in Cleveland wants.

And that's exactly what adds fuel to the fire as well. In this day and age you don't get that hometown hero anymore. Hell Brett Favre played for the Vikings. If you told me 8 years ago Favre would play for the Vikings, I would have asked if you had a bridge in Brooklyn to sell me to go with that statement. Lebron was supposed to be the "next Jordan". The man who turns around the luck of a franchise, He was supposed to be the man for the Cavs for his entire career. Yes it probably was a fairy tale idea, but it was an old school mentality that many had hoped would ring true at least one more time. With that said it also nags those fans with that type of mentality. Back in the day NBA players hated each other. It was about proving who was the best. The common example would be if Larry Bird and Magic teamed up on the same team to win a title. It never crossed their minds because they were so focused on defeating the other. If Lebron and Wade played in the 80's this sort of thing would have never happened. Hell in the 90's I highly doubt it would have happened. Instead of Lebron taking that route and being the alpha male for his own team, he jumped ship to join a different alpha male's team if you will. That bothers the living hell out of fans that you don't want to be "the" guy for your team and rather join another team where you could be seen as second fiddle to someone else when you have all the capability in the world to be the very best.

Now I know the Shaq/Kobe thread to this can/would be brought up. They were both alpha males on the same team, but at the same time look what happened towards the end. The team fell apart because neither wanted to give up that spot of the team belonging to them. Kobe stayed, Shaq went. It very well could happen to Wade and Lebron if things don't go according to plan. Then who stays and who goes?

 

[DirtyJosé]

Everybody, tell me how my ass tastes.

 

[Big Sexy]

The Celtics getting KG and Ray Allen was a little different then what Miami did. The C's traded for two guys over the age of 30 to join their own star who was just turning 30. They knew that their window with those 3 was only going to last a few years. Now with Rondo being as good as he is the window has stayed open longer but that has more to do with Rondo then the big 3.

Miami signed two guys still toward the beginning of the primes of their careers. Bosh was 26 and around a top 10 player in the league. LeBron was 25 when this season started and arguably the best player in the league. These two joined a team that already had a top 5 guy in Dwayne Wade and Wade was 28 when the season started. That's two top 5 NBA players on the same team along with a borderline top 10 guy all in their prime.

LeBron/Wade/Bosh in their primes > Pierce/Allen/Garnett in their primes

LeBron/Wade/Bosh in their primes >>>>> Pierce/Allen/Garnett all 30+

Similar scenario but different talent levels.