NBA 2016-17: Preseason Shootaround

Washington Wizards v/s Cleveland Cavaliers November 18, 2009 at Verizon Center in Washington, D.C. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

This is the most anticipated season in recent Minnesota Timberwolves history.  With a new coach in Tom Thibodeau, high-quality young players such as Karl-Anthony Towns and Andrew Wiggins, and the apparent return to form of Ricky Rubio, the Wolves are set to contend for their first NBA playoff appearance in over a decade.  But you know they'll find a way to mess it up through injuries, infighting, inexperience, general incompetence and a tough Western Conference.  Just like the Wolves we've always known.

Thanks to the new TV contract with ESPN and Turner Sports (soon to be part of AT&T?), more NBA free agents are taking advantage of all the money that's coming their way by jumping to teams where they think they can win a championship.  Kevin Durant ditches Oklahoma City for Golden State.  Dwyane Wade moves north from Miami to Chicago.  Dwight Howard goes east from Houston to Atlanta.

As most of you know, Kobe Bryant has played his last game for the Los Angeles Lakers.  So did Kevin Garnett and Tim Duncan, who also won championships during their long and rewarding NBA careers.  But Bryant's long goodbye happened to coincide with his team's worst season ever, impeding efforts for them to improve themselves.  Maybe now, the Lakers can move on without Kobe.

New Orleans, not Charlotte, will host the 2017 All Star Game.   The NBA moved the event because of North Carolina's new laws restricting the rights of transgenders.  The NCAA followed suit by taking most of its championships out of the Tar Heel State.  So did companies and entertainers who refused to do business there.  But, the NBA says, Charlotte can have the All Star Game back in a few years if the law is repealed.  Way to take a stand, guys.

Cleveland is the favorite to repeat as NBA champions, now that LeBron James taught the city how to be winners.  If not the Cavs, then Golden State if the chemistry between Durant and Stephen Curry works out.  Otherwise, here's our projected playoff picks.

EASTERN CONFERENCE:  Cleveland Cavaliers, Toronto Raptors, Chicago Bulls, Charlotte Hornets, Atlanta Hawks, Boston Celtics, New York Knicks, Miami Heat.

WESTERN CONFERENCE:  Golden State Warriors, Los Angeles Clippers, Portland Trail Blazers, Utah Jazz, San Antonio Spurs, Houston Rockets, Oklahoma City Thunder, Dallas Mavericks.

WNBA: Sparks Fly to Title

WNBA Finals logo (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

When the WNBA remade its playoff format this season, it was hoped that the top two seeds would meet for the championship instead of one dominant team and one division winner.  And wouldn't it be great if it were decided in the final seconds of Game 5?  Done and done.

The Los Angeles Sparks and the Minnesota Lynx did play five games of mostly tense basketball bookended by last-second shots, both at Target Center in Minneapolis.  In Game 1, it was Alana Beard for the Sparks.  In Game 5, it was Nneke Ogwumike (the league's MVP) hitting one with three seconds left to give the Sparks their first title since 2002, winning 77-76.  Candace Parker, the Finals MVP, had 28 points and 12 rebounds in the final game.  She dedicated the victory to her college coach, Pat Summitt of Tennessee, who died a few months ago.

There was a moment in Game 5 that reminded everyone what a flawed league the WNBA is.  Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve ripped into the officials after the game for not disallowing an Ogwumike basket on video replay, which showed that the ball went in the hoop after the shot clock had run out with a minute left in the game.  The WNBA admitted the mistake, but this isn't the first time a Minnesota pro sports team and its fans complained about a botched call that cost them a playoff game.

The Sparks won this series through grit, determination and the ability to make shots when it counted.  The Lynx, who have already won three WNBA championships in this decade and were going for a fourth to tie the record set by the Houston Comets (1997-2000), were also a determined bunch during these finals.  But their offense sputtered at the worst times despite Maya Moore's best efforts.

Flaws aside, this series was a better advertisement for women's basketball than anything else the WNBA could have come up with in its 20th season.  If the league can match that with better marketing and stable franchises, there's no reason they shouldn't be around for another 20 seasons.

Wild 2016-17: Another Season of Anxiety?

English: Eric Staal Nederlands: Eric Staal (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The Minnesota Wild's 2016-17 NHL season is about two things.  One is to prove that they're more than a mediocre team with high-priced talent in a tough division and conference, always getting into the Stanley Cup playoffs the hard way.  The other is to have your playoff run last longer than the first round, which is what they did not do against the Dallas Stars last spring.

To that end, the Wild made some changes--or as many changes as general manager Chuck Fletcher's budget would allow.  Mike Yeo was replaced as coach by Bruce Boudreau, who's had successful runs in the past with Washington and Anaheim.  The best free agent pickup Fletcher could get with the salary cap they've got was Eric Staal, who spent last season with Carolina and the New York Rangers.  The Wild also bid adieu to Thomas Vanek, whom all agreed was an expensive bust, and who has since landed in Detroit.

These changes don't mask the fact that the Wild still have many of the same players who were going to take the team to greater heights, but somehow never do.  Boudreau's challenge this season is, to put it kindly, motivate these highly-paid skaters to start playing better hockey consistently.  If he can do that, then fans can start breathing easier about a playoff spot come march and April.  If he can't, then you can expect another season of anxiety in the State of Hockey.

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After a summer in which the NHL awarded an expansion franchise to Las Vegas, the Canadian team winning the World Cup of Hockey and Ron McLean getting his job back as host of "Hockey Night In Canada", it's time to start the season.  Pittsburgh is the defending Stanley Cup champion, but Sidney Crosby's just had another concussion.  There is still a question mark about NHL participation in the 2018 Winter Olympics, but the 2020 World Cup of Hockey sounds like it's a go.  Edmonton opens the third arena in Canada to be named for the Rogers communications empire, which also holds the country's TV rights to NHL games.  And with that, here's who we think will be around next April for the playoffs:

EASTERN CONFERENCE:  Washington Capitals, Tampa Bay Lightning, Pittsburgh Penguins, New York Islanders, Florida Panthers, Detroit Red Wings, Philadelphia Flyers, New York Rangers.

WESTERN CONFERENCE:  Dallas Stars, San Jose Sharks, Chicago Blackhawks, Nashville Predators, St. Louis Blues, Anaheim Ducks, Los Angeles Kings, Winnipeg Jets.

One Sunday in October

English: (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

October 2, 2016 was a day like any other day in the autumn.  The sun was shining, the leaves were either falling or turning colors.  Yet most of us chose to stay inside and watch sports on TV, with NFL football running on various channels for more than 12 hours (there was a game in London during the morning).  Here's what else happened that day.

U.S. Wins Ryder Cup

Having not won golf's most prestigious international event since 2008, there was plenty of skepticism about the Americans' ability to stay on the same course with Europe's superior golfers.  But at the Hazeltine course near Chaska, Minnesota over the weekend, great golf manifested itself in Rory McIlroy's passionate play and Phil Mickelson's and Sergio Garcia's epic final day match.  The United States defeated the European team 17-11 to take the Ryder Cup.

The event was marred by a few individuals who, fueled apparently by too much beer and paying too much for a ticket, felt it appropriate to yell obscene comments at McIlroy and his teammates.  Because this is not a normal tournament where silence and and polite applause are expected from spectators, cheering and flag-waving are encouraged as if this were the Olympics.  After what happened this weekend, Ryder Cup officials might want to cut back on the booze and the nationalism.

Minnesota Twins:  59-103

Thus endeth this misbegotten baseball season, marking the fifth time in the last six years that the Twins have lost at least 90 games.  The worst record in Major League Baseball is also the team's worst since the franchise moved from Washington in 1961 (and the Senators had some awful clubs too.).

Yes, the Twins need pitching in the worst way.  They also need better fielding and offense, Brian Dozier notwithstanding.  And maybe it's time to concede that all the young talent they've brought up in the past couple of years just isn't working out.  That said, the Twins do have the number one pick in next year's MLB draft.

After much criticism that the Twins Way is woefully out of date in the Moneyball era, the team finally joined the 21st century in hiring Derek Falvey as its Chief Baseball Officer.  Falvey, hired away from a similar position with Cleveland, might know analytics.  But now he has to deal with the whims of manager Paul Molitor and the Pohlad family for the 2017 season and possibly beyond, so office politics might be one thing he should bone up on.  No sense looking for quick fixes here, folks.

Vin Scully and Dick Enberg Retire.  Oh My.

There has been lots of fanfare for Vin Scully, who just did his final Los Angeles Dodgers broadcast after 67 seasons behind the microphone.  He has also been the voice of baseball for almost that long, having called many a World Series or an NBC Game of the Week whether the Dodgers were in in or not.

Dick Enberg, another broadcasting legend from Southern California, also chose to sign off after nearly six decades.  Most of us know him as the sportscaster who covered the big events like the Super Bowl, Final Fours in men's college basketball, tennis' Grand Slam tournaments and many others.  But Enberg began his career in the Los Angeles area, calling Angels baseball, Rams football and UCLA sports.  He's spent the past few years as the TV voice of the San Diego Padres.

It's nice that both Scully and Enberg left the broadcasting booth on their own terms, instead of having to be dragged off.  They were both the soundtrack of our lives, and it will be hard to replace them.  Now they can just enjoy the game like the rest of us.

Semi-Official World Series Matchup  

Boston Red Sox vs. San Francisco Giants

Arnold Palmer (1929-2016)

YN3 Arnold Palmer, 23, played in the North and South Amateur Golf Championship held at Pinehurst Country Club, Pinehurst, N.C., April 20, 1953, while on leave from his yeoman duties in the 9th District Auxiliary office. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Before Arnold Palmer came along, golf was a game played almost exclusively at country clubs by (usually White Anglo Saxon Protestant) men who wanted something to do besides count their money.

Then, beginning in the mid-1950s, Palmer began his career. He looked and played like no one else on the pro golf circuit then, establishing a following so large that they were dubbed "Arnie's Army".  Then TV took notice with its coverage of tournaments, increasing the size of Palmer's "Army" even more.

Between 1958-1964, Palmer was a seven-time winner of golf's majors (four Masters, two Open Championships and one U.S. Open).  He won 62 career PGA Tour events, putting him fifth behind Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods and Sam Snead (among others).  As part of golf's Big Three with Nicklaus and Gary Player during the 1960s, Palmer was engaged in many memorable duels on the course.

Once Palmer's professional career began winding down, he became a successful businessman.  He designed courses, lent his name and image to everything from golf clubs to his own clothing line, did TV commercials including the ones starring his old tractor, and even had a nonalcoholic beverage named for him.  He made more money from all of that than he ever did during his pro career.

Arnold Palmer died Sunday at 87.  He left behind not only a legacy as one of the greatest golfers in history and a father figure to his successors on the PGA Tour, but also as an inspiration to the millions of weekend hackers who would never have picked up a club if it weren't for him.

EmmysSoDiverse

Months after the Academy Awards were criticized for a ceremony in which the nominees where all white, the 68th Primetime Emmy Awards were being praised for doing the opposite in honoring TV shows that cast their staffs regardless of race and gender.  Most of the shows that were nominated aired on a diverse group of pay cable and streaming services, meaning that the average cord-cutter had little access to them because of the lack of diversity in their bank accounts.

African-American actors were well represented in winning the dramatic categories.  "The People v. O.J. Simpson", which won for Best Limited Series, featured Sterling K. Brown as Best Supporting Actor and Courtney B. Vance as Best Actor.  Regina King won Best Supporting Actress in a Limited Series for her role in "American Crime".  And the comedy duo of Key & Peele scored an Emmy for best sketch series.

In addition to saluting lesbian actresses Sarah Paulson (Best Actress in a Limited Series for "People v. O.J.") and Kate McKinnon (Supporting Actress in a Comedy for "Saturday Night Live"),  the Television Academy took pains to do the same for transgenders.  But not real transgenders.  Louie Anderson (Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy for "Baskets") and Jeffrey Tambor (Best Actor in a Comedy for "Transparent") won Emmys as old white men playing women, a tradition that on TV dates back to Milton Berle.

New faces also surfaced in the dramatic acting categories:  Rami Malek won Best Actor for "Mr. Robot", and Tatiana Maslany of "Orphan Black" captured Best Actress honors.

Other than that, the usual Emmy suspects collected their trophies.  "Game of Thrones" became the most-honored series in history with 38 awards, including this year's Best Dramatic Series.  "Veep" retained its Best Comedy Series title, while its star Julia Louis-Dreyfus won a Best Actress in a Comedy Series award for a sixth time.

Jimmy Kimmel did a good job as the Emmy host, although some of his bits did give us pause.

• Mispronouncing Melania Trump's name as Melaria.
• Giving out PB&J sandwiches made by his mother to the audience, just like Ellen DeGeneres treating her Oscars studio audience to takeout pizza.
• Poking fun at the lack of diversity in his own category, as one of the nominees for best late night variety show, dominated by white guys.  "Last Week Tonight"  was the winner.
• Needling Maggie Smith for not bothering to accept her past Emmys in person.  Well, she won again for Supporting Actress in a Drama Series for "Downton Abbey"--and still didn't show up.  Neither did Ben Mendelsohn, who won for Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series for "Bloodline".
• We could have done without the footage of the "ABC News Special Report" on O.J. Simpson's slow speed car chase in the opening sketch.

There were two separate tributes to comedian Garry Shandling and producer Garry Marshall.  The "In Memoriam" segment wasn't messed around with like it usually is.  But why were Prince and Glenn Frey, musicians who didn't have much to do with TV, included?

The ratings tell us that 11.3 million of you watched the ABC telecast, making this the lowest-rated Emmys in history.  That's to be expected when your competition is an NFL football game and a JonBenet Ramsey special.  It's also to be expected when most of the nominees and shows are not well known to audiences without access to cable or Netflix.  Diversity, however noble, does have its drawbacks.

Vikings '16: New Stadium, Old Problems

English: Sam Bradford before a game in Denver on 11-28-2010. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

After successfully convincing a skeptical Minnesota Legislature and its constituents that a new stadium would be an asset to the community (otherwise they'd move to a different community), the Minnesota Vikings will start play this season in a new football palace in downtown Minneapolis that resembles a glorified greenhouse more suited to growing plants and crops.

The team, having won the NFC North division title last season, considered themselves Super Bowl contenders this season.  With coach Mike Zimmer in his fourth season, the offense would be led by quarterback Teddy Bridgewater and running back Adrian Peterson--though their offensive line is rather iffy, and the defense is one of the best in the NFL.  What could go wrong?

Well, something did go wrong.  Bridgewater wrecked his knee during a practice and is out for the season--and maybe beyond.  Concerned that their number one starter might not be the same player he once was if he ever plays again, and that veteran backup Shaun Hill isn't the answer, the Vikings traded their top draft pick in 2017 to Philadelphia for Sam Bradford, a quarterback the Eagles and their fans have soured on.  We'll have this season to figure out why they were more than happy to get rid of him.

Literally overnight, after Bridgewater went down, the Vikings went from Super Bowl contenders to also-rans in the eyes of oddsmakers and football experts.  They have just handed the division championship to the Green Bay Packers, provided that quarterback Aaron Rodgers stays healthy.  With Bradford on board, though, a wild card spot isn't out of the question.

But hey, at least you can use this season to get acquainted with the new stadium as the Vikings struggle to make the playoffs.  The stadium you helped pay for, that is.

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Meanwhile, back in the NFL . . .

• Commissioner Roger Goodell is in his tenth season.  Where has the time gone?  Why, it seems like only yesterday . . . 
• The Rams have returned to Los Angeles after a two-decade sojourn in St. Louis.  Will the San Diego Chargers or Oakland Raiders (if they don't gamble on Las Vegas) join them there?
• As of September 6, Colin Kaepernick is still a member of the San Francisco 49ers.  He'll inspire a lot more folks to kneel down instead of stand for the National Anthem, but he also won't be playing a lot.
• Peyton Manning retired as an NFL quarterback after leading the Denver Broncos to the Super Bowl championship.  He'll continue to be a presence this season through TV commercials and taking in brother Eli's New York Giants games.  How can we miss Peyton if he won't go away?
• Johnny Manziel, having partied his way out of the NFL, is reportedly going to classes at Texas A&M University.  If this is part of the path to a new and more mature Manziel, then we're all for it.
• NBC joins CBS and the NFL Network as the league's Thursday night TV partners this season.  Now, what does NBC do with Mike Tirico, who left ESPN to be Al Michaels' or Bob Costas' heir apparent?  Tirico was scheduled to work the Thursday night games until the NFL decreed that Michaels must call those games along with "Sunday Night Football".  Something to do with using the same network crews in prime time for familiarity's sake.  Meanwhile, Sean McDonough becomes Tirico's replacement on ESPN's "Monday Night Football".
• Behold, our predictions for division winners and wild cards.  You're welcome.

NFC NORTH:  Green Bay Packers
NFC SOUTH:  Carolina Panthers
NFC EAST:  Washington FC
NFC WEST:  Arizona Cardinals
WILD CARDS:  Seattle Seahawks and Minnesota Vikings

AFC NORTH:  Cincinnati Bengals
AFC SOUTH:  Indianapolis Colts
AFC EAST:  New England Patriots
AFC WEST:  Kansas City Chiefs
WILD CARDS:  Baltimore Ravens and Houston Texans