Its a ratings bonanza!!

The stage is set and its official. The Lakers and the Celtics are going back to the NBA Finals together for the first time since 1987. I don’t know if anyone out there is surprised or even if they should be. Both the Lakers and the Celtics had the best records in their respective conferences. And its no secret that this is the matchup that the league desperately wanted to see. Do you honestly believe that David Stern was going to sit around and let the Spurs play the Pistons again? Outside of the basketball purists, and the fundamentalists, who would watch Borefest ’08? I know I wouldn’t. I’d rather watch Major League Badminton on ESPN8.

How can I possibly ignore this? This is the first time I’ve been anticipating watching the NBA Finals since that ’99 Knicks debacle against the Spurs. This matchup has all the storylines. Can Kobe finally win a ring without Shaq? Can Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen, and Paul Pierce finally get their own rings? Can Phil Jackson become the new Red Auerbach?  Its all enough to give anyone a sports boner. The only question left to ask is whether or not this series is going to live up to the hype. I can answer that right now. Its an emphatic no.  There’s no way this series can live up to the standards set by these teams in the late 80s.

There were a combined seven future Hall of Famers in this series, not including the two Hall of Fame coaches in K.C. Jones and Pat Riley. In this 2008 series, I count 5… four of them are definite. The only difference I can find in this ’08 series is that there’s no clear cut favorite. Back in ’87, the Lakers were well-rested, healthy, and had home-court advantage. The Celtics were coming off of a hard-fought conference finals win over Detroit and they had some injury issues that entire season. It wasn’t going to be a sweep, but it was a foregone conclusion that the Lakers would win. These days, there’s no one with any clear advantage. The Lakers are younger, they play an uptempo style, and Kobe has the ability to take over games whenever he chooses. The Celtics play aggressive defense, they’ve only lost once at home and I really think that Kevin Garnett is going on a killing spree if the Celtics dont win.

As a New Yorker, I despise Boston and everything it stands for. As a basketball fan, I’d like Kevin Garnett to win a championship. He truly is one of the more loyal and hardworking players in the league. On the other side, I think Kobe deserves to win a ring without Shaq, despite his attitude over the past few years. So what it comes down to is that like so many other people getting ready to watch this ratings bonanza, I’m waiting to see a great series between two of the best teams in the NBA. For once, this is something that David Stern can admit to orchestrating.

Here’s a few things going on in the sports world that I’ve been thinking about.

– ManRam has hit his 500th homer and Junior is on his way to 600. Its good to see milestones for players who deserve it.

– Kimbo Slice beat the ear off that Thomson dude on primetime television. Its amazing what Youtube can do for people’s careers. Who knows where Kimbo would’ve ended up if Hurricane Andrew didn’t take everything he had.

– Did anyone really take Vince Young seriously when he said he thought about retiring after his rookie year? He plays the most glamorous position in the NFL, he’s only 24, and there’s millions of dollars left to be made. I don’t think he’s that stupid.

– Jason Taylor knows the Dolphins aren’t going to trade him because when they could have, they didn’t. And believe me, they could’ve gotten a lot out of Jacksonville. Maybe they have a lot in store for him in Miami.

– Literally two weeks ago, the Mets were six and a half games back in the division and everyone was calling for Willie Randolph’s head. Since the Coloradio series, the Mets have won 4 of their last 5 games (5-5 in their last 10) and they’re only 4 games out of first place. A little patience and who knows what might happen.

– The Yankees are almost 100% healthy again and Joba’s about to move to the rotation. Things are looking up for the Bombers. 

– in a country that prides itself on free speech, why was Rasheed Wallace fined 25 grand for criticizing the refs? Sports writers don’t get fined when they criticize players, do they? Refs and umpires have been doing a crappy job all over the place. In the NBA, they don’t call fouls. In Major League Baseball, they don’t call home runs. Sheed was right. Why fine him?

Any questions or comments? Email me at s_talouis@yahoo.com