Wednesdays with jbrater

As many of you (as if our readership can be characterized as 'many') know, one of us lives in the DC area. As at least two or three of you know, frequent pro-Michigan poster jbrater also lives in your nation's capital.

As probably only one of you (jbrater) knows, he and the one of us that lives in DC have spent that last few Wednesday nights at a favorite meeting place to enjoy beverages and Hornets/Pistons games. During these gatherings there three immutable events have occured:

1. We have had a good time
2. The one of us that lives in DC has stolen a few fries
3. The Hornets have performed better than the Pistons

Tonight, the Hornets ran away from the Rockets big time in the 4th quarter while the Pistons suffered through at least a dozen of the worst calls either of us had ever seen in our entire lives.

So, here is the plea. If you know jbrater, please implore him to continue this worthy tradition. The Pistons will surely come through their weekly midweek slump, and it gives a great boost for the best team in the NBA's best conference.

Please. Write your congressman. Do it for the Hornets. Do it for the Pistons. Do it for Andre the bartender. Do it for jbrater.

It Has Arrived

You've been waiting months for this week to get here but it is finally here. You dream about it all year but it is still special when it gets here. That's right, we are talking about:
A) NBA opening night
B) Scott Boras admitting fault for texting Brian Cashman that A-rod would not be returning to the Yankees
C) Hyping the hype of Pats vs. Colts has finally begun
or D) Ryan Perriloux is in trouble again

The answer, of course, is A. That's right, the longest six season in professional sports begins tonight. The sport where even the players don't care about the regular season, where Stephen A. Smith and Charles Barkley are respected commentators, begins tonight. The sport that used to not be dominated by Kevin Durant begins tonight. GO HORNETS!

You Can't Spell San Antonio without "Choke"*

*Well, maybe YOU can.

It's 11:37 PM CST, so this will be brief. But we've just finished watching the Spurs lead Game Four of their series against Phoenix from the middle of the 2nd quarter until the last 2 minutes, and then lose. They led by 5 with under 2 and a half to play, and managed to blow it. This unlikely meltdown can be chalked up to 2 specific failings:

1. The Spurs failed to get themselves open shots in the final moments of the game, instead opting to run the shot clock all the way down and then fling up a wild turnaround jumper. By the time they decided they were actually going to try to score, the Suns were playing adrenaline-laced D and San Antonio couldn't get an open look. Just goes to show: stalling when you've far from wrapped it up will only cause failure. Kind of like the Prevent Defense in football.

2. Steve Nash is an unbelievable passer. The Spurs' D had no idea where the ball was on two crucial behind-the-back passes during the late rally, and Amare Stoudamire ended up with a couple of easy open shots that got the Suns in position to win.

Add in the fact that this game continued the trend of very violent matchups between these two squads, especially with Robert Horry's frustration-inspired linebacker shot on Nash with 20 seconds to go, and you've got yourself easily the most interesting series in these playoffs. At least so far, but we wouldn't be shocked if it was all downhill from here. For our part, we hope it goes 7.

The NBA Playoffs are Officially Cool

We have been hinting at it. We have been inching towards it. We are now officially stating the obvious: while we stand by our belief that the NBA regular season is boring, too long, and completely lacking in a thing called "defense," the playoffs are really sweet. The fact is, if you like basketball at any level then you can't help but enjoy watching the best players in the world when they're acting like every game actually matters.

For starters, having attended the University of Texas, we can't help but giggle a little when both Dallas and Houston entered the postseason with high expectations and both flamed out in the first round. Don't get us wrong, we feel for our friends who are from those two cities; we just have a funny way of showing it. The Mavs lost in spectacular fashion--arguably the most disappointing disappointment in the history of the playoffs. And the Rockets, well...they couldn't overcome the presence of Tracy McGrady. And now Jeff Van Gundy can't take it anymore.

Elsewhere in the Association, the Spurs continued to work their magic on the Suns in Game One. Every year, you look up in May and there's San Antonio. As a side note, the fact that this series is happening in the second round is a travesty. Grand Sultan David Stern needs to revisit the seeding system.

The Bulls-Pistons series is reminiscent of some of the great playoff matcups of our youth, with Isaiah's Pistons and Michael's Bulls duking it out frequently. This series lacks that level of star power, but both squads are fun to watch, and the Ben Wallace link between them makes for an intriguing back-story. Detroit leads 1-0, and if they go up 2-0 it may be insurmountable for Chicago.

The Cleveland-New jersey series has LeBron James. Which, for casual fans like us, is enough.

Finally, way out west, the Warriors will try to continue their unlikely playoff run against the Jazz in Game One tonight. These guys are easily the best story in the '07 playoffs thus far. Experience tells us that it's hard to keep a full head of steam after pulling off a huge upset. But then again, we saw the Fiesta Bowl. Which is to say, anything's possible.

So the NBA Playoffs are entertaining. But we still won't budge on NASCAR.

Thoughts Upon Successfully Getting Through Customs

• As some of you may have known, this half of "us" has been in Israel for the past week or so. The Other Half (insert married couple joke here) performed ably despite a very busy schedule, as anyone who knows him should of course have expected. It's nice to be home.
• While in the Holy Land, we couldn't help but hear about the tragic and untimely passing of Josh Hancock. In the shadow of the Virginia Tech shootings, it seems a bit crass to make a much bigger deal out of this tragedy over that just because we like the team he pitches for. Still, Josh was a Mississippi boy--we even have a mutual friend--and a member of the Cardinal family, and he will be sorely missed. The Birds' losing streak does not appear to be such a big issue in the wake of his passing.
• We had the opportunity to visit the offices of Maccabi Tel Aviv, Israel's preeminent pro basketball powerhouse. They have a list of the years Maccabi has won the Israeli championship and the Euroleague championship on a big board in there. Since 1950--the first year of the Israeli league's existence--Maccabi has failed to win the championship of Israel only 6 times. When you get past the fact that it's really just a bunch of American guys who couldn't cut it in the NBA, it's pretty amazing.
• The NBA playoffs have been very entertaining so far. For (over-) informed commentary, refer to frequent commenter Benji Orlansky.
• And finally, a quick on-the-field thought on America's Game. Barry Bonds gets closer and closer to Hank Aaron's record each week, and our stomachs get more and more nauseated. Even if the steroids thing wasn't an issue--and it is--this is about the least likable baseball star since Ty Cobb. Athletes may not owe it to us to be nice guys; but we certainly don't owe it to them to cheer for them if they're jerks. Along those lines, the most interesting idea we've read on the topic was offered by Rumors and Rants. You can read the full piece here, but the most important point is that if/when Bonds breaks the HR record, baseball may find a new savior in...Alex Rodriguez. For the time being, however, we'll stick to anti-Bonds voodoo.

On MLB, NBA Playoffs and Texas Longhorns

Now that we're settled back into full off season mode, it's time to take a look at the rest of the sports world.

On the MLB front...

The Red Sox will take a break from beating the Yankees to play a non-AL East opponent for a few games. The Yanks may be 9-14, but if we've learned one thing over the last decade it's that Torre will get the Yankees into the playoffs. It would be nice to think somebody else can win that division, but it ain't happening.

Additionally, last night the Tigers and Orioles took one step closer to being the most vicious rivalry in all of sports. Baltimore and Detroit seem to be becoming natural enemies like Scots and other Scots.

Damned Scots! They ruined Scotland!

On the NBA front...

Big shot Bob is just that, the Wizards were easy targets without Agent Zero, the Raptors aren't relying on TJ enough, D-Wade is a pansy, Kobe clearly isn't taking enough shots, Rockets fans would probably trade it all for VY, apparently German people have no heart, and we've already met our quota for Detroit reference in a post so there's no need for another.

On the Horns front...

Austin Wood was named Big XII pitcher of the week after picking up victories on Tuesday and Sunday. Additionally, since moving to the lead off spot, Jordan Danks has been struggling, to the point where he was moved to the 7th spot on Sunday. Finally, 40 Acre Sports will be beginning to scout out the Texas Longhorn football schedule. Over the next few weeks we hope to bring you detailed analysis and information on the 2007 football season to the point where the season is so boring and predictable for our readers that they may prefer not to watch the games.