Wolves 2012-13: Lowering Expectations

English: Jerry Buss (LA Lakers owner) playing at the World Series of Poker (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Everyone, from the players to the fans to the supposedly in-the-know, thought this would be the year their NBA team would rise to new heights, taking their place among the elite.  Well, that's what they said about the Los Angeles Lakers.

A not-so-similar situation is taking shape in Minnesota, where the Timberwolves were thought of as this team on the rise and everyone expected big things from them.  Unlike the Lakers, whose goal is that of another NBA championship, the Wolves were battling just to get into the playoffs for the first time since the Kevin Garnett era.

Instead, the Wolves are 19-31 following the All-Star break.  If the season ended today, neither the Lakers nor the Wolves would make the playoffs.

That's where the similarities end.  The Lakers have a serious lack of chemistry in meshing star players Kobe Bryant, Dwight Howard and Pau Gasol into a cohesive unit, resulting in one coach (Mike Brown) being fired and another (Mike D'Antoni) struggling.  The Wolves have a serious lack of healthy and talented players, hampering their playoff quest.

Injuries have hit the Wolves hard, to the point where they have played some games short handed.  Kevin Love has a hand injury.  Ricky Rubio is back in the lineup, but is clearly not the same player he was before he hurt his knee--against the Lakers, as it happens.  This opens the door for guys named J.J. Barea, Luke Ridnour and Nikola Pekovic to get some significant playing time.

Even coach Rick Adelman hasn't been immune.  He took several games off to tend to his ailing wife, leaving assistant coach Terry Porter to man the bench.

A sense of despair lingers over the Wolves.  Empty seats have returned to Target Center.  Nobody talks about the playoffs any more.  Instead, it's another year in which they're just playing out the schedule, and hoping the ping-pong balls don't doom them to another questionable Number One draft pick.

Glen Taylor, who has owned the Timberwolves since rescuing the franchise from going down the Mississippi to New Orleans in the mid-1990s, is in the process of eventually selling the team.  To make it more attractive to a potential buyer, the least Taylor and/or General Manager David Kahn can do is to get more talent to go with Rubio and Love.  Then you can stop making promises you can't keep to the fans.

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Speaking of the Lakers, their longtime owner Dr. Jerry Buss passed away Monday.  He was 80.

Since buying the Lakers in 1979, Buss' teams have won ten NBA titles (16 in its entire history, dating back to when they were in Minneapolis).  That's a span running from Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Pat Riley in the 1980s to Kobe Bryant, Shaquille O'Neal and Phil Jackson in the 2000s.

Buss' efforts made the Lakers the most successful franchise in the NBA, attracting all sorts of celebrities courtside first at the Forum, and now Staples Center.  It also helps that there hasn't been a pro football team in Los Angeles for nearly two decades.

The Lakers will go on with Buss' two children--Jim and Jeannie-- running the franchise.  The question is:  Are they up to the challenge of improving on their father's legacy?  If not, there's no shortage of people who would love to have a crack at owning the Lakers.

IOC Takes Down Wrestling

Pictograms of Olympic sports - Wrestling (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The International Olympic Committee has been taking a lot of heat for its decision to drop wrestling from the 2020 Summer Games (site TBD).  The sport has only been around since the original Olympiad in ancient Greece, in which men competed in the nude.

Granted, there are a lot of other Olympic sports which people would like to see dropped.  Such as rhythmic gymnastics, synchronized swimming and events that belong at the X Games.  Modern pentathlon, a track and field event, ended up spared from the IOC chopping block.

So why did wrestling get taken down?  Maybe the IOC was swayed by the dwindling number of participants.  In the United States alone, the number of high schools and colleges who offer wrestling and the number of athletes who participate have gone down.  School officials cite budget issues, Title IX and feeding the beast that is football.

College wrestling still has a following, if only in the Midwest.  Since 2000, Minnesota, Iowa, Oklahoma State and Penn State have won multiple NCAA titles.

The other factor is TV appeal.  Be honest.  When was the last time NBC aired an Olympic wrestling match in prime time that wasn't packaged as a feel-good story?  Other than that, the sport usually gets shown on one of Comcast/NBC's many cable channels along with field hockey and badminton.

Have you ever watched a wrestling match in person?  Or tried to?  It's like a three-ring circus with several matches in different weight categories going on at the same time.  The scoring system makes roller derby and figure skating seem simple.

Most of us now consider wrestling to be a TV show, where athletes who are given flamboyant names choreograph their moves in front of sellout arenas and pay-per-view audiences, and storylines are written for their characters.  The WWE long ago admitted that their product is not exactly on the up-and-up, which is why they're now known as World Wrestling Entertainment.

The wrestling federations, who were blindsided by the IOC's decision, have a slim chance at getting the committee to change its mind.  If that fails, then the 2016 Games in Brazil will be the last time you'll see grapplers at the Olympics.  It'll also be the first time you'll be seeing golf as an IOC-sanctioned sport.

One question:  Can anyone imagine Extreme Chariot Racing as an event in the original Greek Olympics?

Grammys: Are We Having fun. Yet?

Cover of LL Cool J

Last year's Grammy Awards were dominated by two female artists--one who had passed away the night before the ceremony, and the other who took home six of those little gramophones for an album that still tops the record charts.  This year, nothing like that happened.  But the latter woman--Adele--who now spells her name in all caps took home another one tonight.

Instead, the 55th Grammys were kind of underwhelming.  Yes, there was "Alice In Taylorland" as Taylor Swift's opening number and Justin Timberlake channeling his inner Bobby Darin. (Look out, ol' Justin is back!)  Other than that, most of the performances weren't that great. But the night belonged to artists who have been around for years, yet the public has never heard of them until now.

The band fun. were rewarded with the Best New Artist and Song of the Year awards for "We Are Young".  Record of the Year went to Gotye for "Somebody That I Used To Know", who seemed awestruck at getting the award from Prince.  Album of the Year was "Babel" by Mumford and Sons.

Everyone seemed to be on their best behavior tonight, having gotten the memo from CBS that no revealing dresses or butt cracks would be tolerated (this means you, Jennifer Lopez).  This from the network that once filmed Elvis Presley from the waist up on the "Ed Sullivan Show" back in the 1950s.  The Grammys, run by an equally conservative organization called NARAS, have had their awards televised by CBS for the last 40 years.  They deserve each other.

The telecast was hosted by LL Cool J, a rap artist who just happens to star in the CBS crime procedural "NCIS Los Angeles".  He would have been a much better host if he made the show less about himself, as illustrated by a clip they showed of his appearance on "American Bandstand" as a way of saluting the late Dick Clark.  But then, Clark had been running a competing awards show, the American Music Awards.

The night wasn't a total bust.  There was a rousing rendition of "The Weight" by Elton John, the Zac Brown Band, Mavis Staples and others as a tribute to Levon Helm, a member of The Band who died last year.

The Grammys are "Music's Biggest Night", all right.  Maybe they should consider cutting back on some of the performances because the running time of the telecast is approaching Oscars territory.  It is now three and a half hours.  We bailed after the Record of the Year was announced, skipping a performance by LL Cool J.  There is such a thing as too much fun.

Super Bowl 47: How Bizarre

Baltimore Ravens logo (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Maybe it could only have happened in New Orleans.  The Baltimore Ravens jumped off to a 28-6 lead over the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl 47, capped off by a 108-yard second half kickoff return by Jacoby Jones.  Then half of the Superdome was bathed in darkness as a power surge caused the lights to go out, delaying the game for more than half an hour.

Then things really got weird.  The 49ers' major comeback in the third quarter got to where they trailed the Ravens 34-29 with not much time remaining.  Quarterback Colin Kaepernick threw for the winning touchdown, only to see it fall incomplete.  Some say there should have been an interference call, but the referees disagreed.  And the Baltimore Ravens, for the second time since moving from Cleveland, is taking home the Vince Lombardi Trophy with a 34-31 win over the 49ers.

This means that, in the battle of the coaching Harbaugh brothers, John came out on top over Jim.  The Ravens beat Denver in double overtime and New England in the AFC Championship game to get here.  Ray Lewis, after a 17-year career, gets to go out a champion whether he deserves it or not.  And quarterback Joe Flacco is the Super Bowl MVP.

Other things in and around the Super Bowl:

• Before the game, Jennifer Hudson and a group of students from Newtown, Conneticut sang "America the Beautiful".  It's a pretty safe bet that, if there hadn't been somebody who shot up an elementary school in that very town a few weeks ago, there's no chance this would have happened.  Leave it to the NFL to exploit a tragedy like this.
• Beyonce, fresh from her non-performance of the National Anthem at President Obama's inauguration, did her halftime show in what we believe was her own voice.  She even brought out members of her previous group, Destiny's Child, to perform a number or two such as "Single Ladies".  But the 21st century Diana Ross already has a ring on it, thanks.
• The commercials, like the game itself, also took a bizarre turn.  Plenty of wish fulfillment, coupled with some weird beer ads.  Bar Refali making out with Pocket Protector Dude in a Go Daddy commercial?  Yeah, right.

 It was a great game, despite the weirdness of it all.  At least now we won't ever hear from the 49ers fan in the Bud Light ad who crashed into his old apartment just to sit in his lucky seat.  Your team lost, dude.  Get your own apartment.  As for you folks in Baltimore, go celebrate.

Of Cheaters and Liars

Lance Armstrong riding to victory at L'Alpe d'Huez. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

There are plenty of people in our daily life who have abused the public's trust at one time or another, and don't feel the need to apologize for it:  politicians, religious figures, business leaders, and so on.  Now you can add sports figures to the list.

When Lance Met Oprah

Lance Armstrong, the disgraced cycling champion, admitted to Oprah Winfrey on national television that yes, he did take all those performance-enhancing substances that helped him to win many a Tour de France.

The much-hyped interview accomplished a couple of things:  (A) It helped Armstrong state his case and why he did what he did in the closest forum he could get without having to swear under oath, and (B) it brought eyeballs and free publicity to the former Queen of Daytime Talk's struggling Oprah Winfrey Network, so much so that she extended the interview over two nights.

Armstrong is by no means out of the woods.  He still faces charges based on what he said--or didn't say--on TV.  He just lost his bronze medal from the 2000 Sydney Summer Olympics.  And even if what he did say is the truth, does anyone believe him now after he has hurt and intimidated so many people?

Imaginary Lover

Now we know why, in the same BCS Championship football game where ESPN's Brent Musburger made an idiot of himself over a beauty queen in the stands who happened to be Alabama quarterback  A.J. McCarron's woman, Manti Te'o and his Notre Dame teammates played a lousy game against the Crimson Tide.

It turns out that Te'o's "heartwarming" tale, which the sports media had bought hook, line and sinker, of a girlfriend of his who died of a fatal disease was starting to unravel.  There was no girlfriend, living or dead.  Te'o claims he had been the victim of an elaborate hoax, in which he had been set up by some supposed pals of his.

Not to play amateur psychologist, but maybe there's something going on in Te'o's life that neither he nor Notre Dame cares to talk about.  Is he part of the hoax?  Are there issues about his sexuality that caused him to create a girlfriend?  Are there aspects of this case that might interest the NCAA, local authorities and the federal government?

Whatever the case, the least of Te'o's problems is how high he'd go in the upcoming NFL draft.  Now he has to wonder if there's any future in football at all for him.

An Empty Hall

The Baseball Hall of Fame faced a dilemma.  When the time came to elect new members, should they include those whose career numbers didn't come naturally?  We're speaking, of course, about Barry Bonds, Sammy Sosa, Roger Clemens and others who stand accused of using performance-enhancing drugs, and are now eligible for admission into Cooperstown.

The baseball writers who were charged with making this decision ended up making a statement of their own this year.  Rather than elect members with questionable methods of how to achieve greatness, they chose to admit no one.  Not even former players whose careers pre-dated the Steroid Era.

So the likes of Bonds, Sosa, Clemens, et al, will have to wait another year to get inducted.  Or maybe they'll end up like Pete Rose and Shoeless Joe Jackson, who never got into the Hall at all.

Wild 2013: The Wait Is Over

Minnesota Wild (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Now where were we when we were so rudely interrupted?  Oh, yes . . 

Welcome to the most anticipated NHL season in Minnesota Wild history, made even more so by the recently concluded lockout.

You remember last season, under first-year coach Mike Yeo, where the Wild started out spectacularly good at the beginning, then took a just-as-spectacular nosedive that ended with their missing the playoffs again.  Well, owner Craig Leipold did something about that over the summer, throwing a July firecracker over the rest of the NHL with the signings of free agents Zach Parise and Ryan Suter to megalong, megabucks contracts.

The Wild will belatedly open their season Saturday, January 19 at home against the Colorado Avalanche, as part of the made-for-TV "Hockey Day In Minnesota".   With a 48-game schedule against Western Conference opponents that runs from January to late April, this time there's no margin for error.  One long winning streak can send you into the playoffs.  One long losing streak can take you out of it.

That means more goal scoring from Pierre-Marc Bouchard, Dany Heatley and Mikko Koivu, in addition to Parise and Suter.  That means a better year in the nets for Niklas Backstrom and Josh Harding.  And that means improving the power play, staying out of the penalty box, and staying healthy--something that would be more difficult to do in a shortened season.

This is not the year for the Stanley Cup to take up residence in Minnesota, because there are already too many teams with more talent and playoff experience than the Wild do.  But this shortened season can be a good first step towards becoming a team that can do more than just get by on a seventh or eighth place finish.
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Since the lockout ended, the NHL and its teams have been on an apology tour of sorts.  Everyone from commissioner Gary Bettman to the players on the ice have been telling anyone who will listen how truly sorry they were for screwing up the season.  You'll notice, of course, that they've stopped short of saying that they'll never do it again.  Some fans will claim that (in the words of Taylor Swift) they will NEVER EVER EVER go to a game again.  But most will take the NHL back, because it's hockey.  And the NHL knows it.

A couple of reminders:  In case anyone's forgotten, the Los Angeles Kings are the defending Stanley Cup champions.  And the Phoenix Coyotes are still in the league, still waiting for a buyer.  Here's who we see as the next contenders to the Kings' throne come May:

Eastern Conference:  Pittsburgh Penguins, New York Rangers, Philadelphia Flyers, Tampa Bay Lightning, Washington Capitals, Boston Bruins, Ottawa Senators, Florida Panthers.

Western Conference:  Detroit Red Wings, Chicago Blackhawks, Los Angeles Kings, Vancouver Canucks, St. Louis Blues, Minnesota Wild, Phoenix Coyotes, Edmonton Oilers.

NHL Lockout: January Thaw

English: NHL Commisioner Gary Bettman in 2007. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

It took four months, 113 days and over 500 canceled games, but the National Hockey League and its players association finally came up with a tentative agreement to end the owner-imposed lockout that threatened to cancel an entire season for the second time in a decade.

The agreement, pending approval of both the owners and the NHL Players Association, goes like this:

• A 10-year collective bargaining agreement with a mutual opt-out for both sides after 8 years.
• Player contracts are limited to seven years.  If you're a team that wants to re-sign a player, that'll be eight years.
• The salary cap will be between $60-70 million.
• Revenue sharing will be around $200 million.
• The date of free agency remains July 1, though it will be slightly later this year due to the lockout.
• Participation in the Winter Olympics and realignment isn't part of the agreement, but they will be decided on at a later date.

What people really want to know is when the puck is going to drop.  That hasn't officially been determined, but the most likely scenario is a 48-game schedule (similar to the one that followed the 1994-95 lockout) starting January 19, with teams playing within their own conference.  The Stanley Cup finals won't begin until mid-June.

There are a few questions we have about this long, unnecessary lockout.  The first is why did it take until five days before the drop-dead date to cancel the season to get a deal done?  Will this new agreement mean the end to mega-contracts, such as the ones the Minnesota Wild gave to free agents Ryan Suter and Zach Parise?  Will NHL commissioner Gary Bettman keep his job after presiding over the third lockout of his tenure?  Will NHLPA executive director Donald Fehr keep his?  How long can some of the league's franchises in the South and Southwest expect to survive in the lockout's aftermath?

Most of all, for the fans who have felt abandoned by this and other sports labor disputes in the past, the end of the lockout has generated mixed emotions.  Some of them have vowed to boycott games, while others claim they've found something better to do than watch hockey.  That's a noble sentiment, given that the average fan will not make the kind of money in their lifetimes that pro athletes do in one year.  But that attitude can only last for so long because, once you're tired of "Storage Wars" and "Pawn Stars" reruns, you're gonna hit that remote, find a hockey game and get hooked again.

We are now entering a decade of labor peace in pro sports, which is how long the new CBAs and most TV contracts will last.  Who knows how they will be used and abused before the next round of negotiations begin?