NBA Finals Karma

 AP Photo/David J. Phillip

The Dallas Mavericks are the NBA champions. Karmically correct for a number of reasons. The Mavs worked hard, meshed like a championship team and displayed class in winning their first NBA Chamionship. The Miami Heat, surrounded by pomp and circumstance at the beginning of the season ended frayed and lacklustre displaying anything but in the last three games.

Miami’s season began with The Decision and a promise to win another championship adding Lebron James and Chris Bosch to their line-up. As the villains, the Heat were not gaining many additional supporters outside South Beach. With each game and each questionable interview by James, the Heat’s scrutiny under the media’s eyes only grew larger.

The Heat showed at times during the season their inability to gel as a team causing collapses during games and questionable losses. However, early in the playoffs it seemed the Heat found their stride only to lose it in the NBA Finals when the pressure was at its greatest.

The Dallas Mavericks meanwhile compiled a 57 –25 record - 5^th best in the NBA with no fanfare just hard work. They were criticized for their heart and some critics even foolishly suggested they would lose in the first round of the payoffs.

Wade and LeBron's decision to make fun of Dirk's illness on camera last week was more than a passing mistake. It was tasteless and childish, yet Dirk Nowitzki showed no concern for the comment by suggesting he needed no additional fuel on his fire to win an NBA Championship.

On Sunday night, after an absolutely abysmal 1-of-12, three-point first-half, Dirk Nowitzki did what LeBron James has proven he cannot: He embraced the enormity of the moment and chanelled every bit of talent and greatness he had inside of him. His second half was the thing of a champion, literally. He went off for 18 points, he shot 8 of 15 from the floor, and with the game close to begin the final 24 minutes of play, he assured through excellence and clutch play that it would not be as it ended.

In the end, it is not just the question of the frailty of LeBron James that was answered in obvious and brutal form as he vanished with a hollow look in his eyes at the ends of Games 4, 5 and 6 (Tuesday night, he scored three points in the tightly contested third quarter and seven in the fourth, most of them after the game was out of hand). James average 15 points per game over games 4, 5 and 6 and just 17 during the entire finals.

It was the question of the Miami Heat experiment, the idea of talent versus teamwork, of stars with an edge versus a team with absolute resilience that also found its answer.

"(Our team) made a statement that's a colossal statement," Carlisle said. "Not just about our team but the game in general. Playing it a certain way. Our team is not about individual ability. It's about collective will, collective grit, collective guts."

"This is a win for playing as a team on both ends of the floor, of sharing the ball, of passing the ball," Dirk said.

"I learned chemistry matters," team owner Mark Cuban said. "That it's a team game."

And the world learned this: Dirk Nowitzki is a better basketball player than LeBron James. Maybe Dirk is not more talented or more athletic. Maybe he is not more meaningful to the masses or marketable on behalf of big companies. But Dirk Nowitzki showed he was better.

There will be plenty of time in the days ahead to deconstruct the disintegration of the Miami Heat and enormous failing of Lebron James. But for now, for this moment in time just after the end of one of the finest NBA Finals in many years, it is enough to know that a true team won a championship. And that its leader is one of the game's greatest.

Dirk Nowitzki, the 2011 NBA Finals MVP rose above LeBron James, Dwayne Wade, Chris Bosch and the entire league.

Drive to 13,000 Complete in Record Time

The "Drive to 13,000" is complete in Winnipeg in record time.

True North Sports and Entertainment announced on Saturday that it had reached its goal of selling 13,000 season tickets less than 17 minutes after tickets were made available to the public. As of Friday, the group had sold 7,158 packages in a pre-sale to Manitoba Moose season ticket holders and corporate sponsors of the team.

“We would like to take a special moment to thank all of our fans in Winnipeg, Manitoba, and Canada for their support over the past week, in particular, the overwhelming response of our fans which has resulted in a successful ‘Drive to 13,000’ campaign,” said Jim Ludlow, President & CEO, True North Sports & Entertainment. “The success of the campaign is a key ingredient to ensuring the sustainability and long-term viability of NHL hockey in this province. We look forward to seeing everyone this Fall at MTS Centre for opening night of regular season NHL hockey in Winnipeg.”

Fans still wanting to get their hands on season tickets were able to join a waiting list shortly after tickets had sold out, but that was soon filled up as True North capped the list at 8,000 people.

NHL commissioner Gary Bettman released a statement prior to Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Finals in Vancouver, praising the city of Winnipeg for reaching the 13,000 tickets sold goal so quickly.

"While I had no doubt the 'Drive to 13,000' would reach its destination, the remarkable speed at which it got there certifies the fans' hunger for NHL hockey and their commitment to True North's initiatives." Bettman said.

Now the attention turns from selling season tickets to what the team in Winnipeg will be named. True North communications director Scott Brown revealed on Thursday that the team name would be announced once the Drive to 13,000 had been reached.

National Hooligan League

The sports league with the worst reputation for stopping violence, penalizing and fining appropriately its offending players is the National Hooligan League or the NHL as many hockey fans would call it. There has not been consistency in suspending players and it seems that many are only interested in protecting the violent nature of the game.

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The media is largely to blame, constantly glorifying fighting by showing fights and commenting on this “great scuffle” or that “good ol’ donnybrook”. Donnybrook is a suburb of Dublin, Ireland, and was previously the site of the annual Donnybrook Fair. These Irish fairs were well known for their copious alcohol consumption and the unavoidable results: all-out drunken brawls. In fact, as a result of the violence, the fair was abolished in 1855. Of course, this was after more than 600 years of "We promise we'll behave next time." The word "donnybrook," meaning "free-for-all" or "public quarrel," came from these fairs, and was first seen in print in 1852. [1]

The suspensions that the NHL levies are soft and laughable. The fines are a complete joke and mere pocket change for its multi-millionaire players. Most suspensions are in the 2-3 game range and fines in the $1000-$2500 range. When compared to other leagues that do not tolerate fighting, the NHL should either re-vamp their penalty structure or be abolished like the Donnybrook Fair.

The NHL has recently come under fire for Zdeno Chára’s vicious hit March 8, 2011, on Montreal Canadiens forward Max Pacioretty who suffered a non-displaced fracture to the 4th vertebra and a severe concussion. The force and location of the hit resulted in Pacioretty colliding with the turnbuckle at the end of the bench. He was taken off the ice on a stretcher after lying motionless on the ice for several minutes. For delivering the hit Chara received a five-minute major penalty and a game misconduct, and videotape of the play was sent to NHL VP of hockey operations Mike Murphy for review. Mike Murphy decided no further punishment was warranted. The Montreal police announced that a criminal investigation would take place. Chára is merely a goon in the NHL with 111 goals, 252 assists and 1297 penalty minutes in 12 seasons. 

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When will the goonery be halted? If the NHL has its way, this will never be resolved. There are a percentage of people who believe that fighting in hockey is part of the game and defend it with vigor. Is fractured vertebra and concussions part of the game? How does Colorado's Steve Moore feel after his hit from Todd Bertuzzi? That vicious hit on March 8, 2004 would prove to be the end of Steve Moore’s career. Yes, Todd Bertuzzi was suspended for 20 games, but was that enough? Can we afford to have players like Sidney Crosby sit out with concussions?

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The NHL needs to quit defending the gang warfare that poisons the league. Anytime an opposing player gets too close to another team’s goalie or player along the boards with an incidental bump, the “gang” must now defend their turf. What basically ensues is the team with the “blue colors” threatening the team with the “red colors” to back out of their turf or else.  

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In December, the NBA levied a 15 game suspension to Carmelo Anthony, then of the Denver Nuggets for punching Mardy Collins of the New York Knicks. He did not receive a 5-minute fighting penalty or a game misconduct, he was tossed out of the game for fighting and suspended. Since hockey is a sport that allows body checking and penalizes fighting, fighting should not be part of the game. In reality, the NHL should not have 5-minute fighting penalties; they should have 15 game suspension penalties. If a player repeat offends then his next suspension should be 30 games, then 40 or 50 until the player gets the message that fighting is not allowed or is driven out of the game.

Hockey is wonderfully entertaining game that has an exciting pace without fighting. With scintillating goals, great checks, wonderful passing plays, superb penalty killing, overtime, shootouts, tremendous rivalries and the march to the Stanley Cup, who really needs fighting?

Sources:

[1] The Word Detective, Martha Barnette's Fun Words Archive, Word Wizard

Raonic The Real Deal

Milos Raonic (courtesy Wikipedia.org)

Milos Raonic stands at No. 37 in the world since the new rankings were released Monday morning. He became the highest ranked Canadian tennis player ever, surpassing Greg Rusedski who rose to No. 41 in the world before taking on British citizenship and then rising to No. 4.

Raonic lost to No. 8 in the world Andy Roddick 7/6 (7) 6/7 (11) 7/5 in a 2 ½ hour war. He saved many match points and showed the poise of a top ten player while playing the championship at the ATP Memphis event against Roddick who bagged his 30^th career title.

Raonic is the real deal. He is confident, motivated and playing some fantastic tennis. A stint in Spain at the end of the year with his coach Galo Blanco to work more intensely on a few areas of his game proved golden. Blanco also tore into Raonic about his lackluster performances to date. A switch suddenly flicked in Milos’ brain and he went on a tear ever since, reaching the 4^th round of the Australian Open, winning in San Jose and now reaching the final in Memphis.

Most Canadian players tend to get buried in the rankings anywhere from 100 to 400 in the world. Only a few manage to break the top 100. Frank Dancevic of Niagara Falls more than three years ago reached a high of No. 65 and back in 1989 Andrew Snajder reached a career high ranking of 46.

Raonic is different. He is well spoken, calm, confident and determined. His fitness has improved tremendously and he has lost the chunk that had him losing to top Canadians just two years ago. At 6’ 5” tall, Raonic is terrifying with his huge serve, powerful forehand and backhand, net game and great mobility. He is not the typical sloth-like tall guy, rather a powerful puma.

You better believe Milos Raonic will hit the top 10 before the end of this year. The question is how high can he go and when will he win his first Grand Slam title. Watch out Nadal, Djokovic and Federer – Milos Raonic is coming.

Nadal Voted Sportsman of the Year

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World tennis No 1 Rafael Nadal of Spain recently won the Sportsman of the Year award at the Laureus World Sports Awards. He capped a brilliant year winning three Grand Slams titles – at Roland Garros, Wimbledon and the US Open. Nadal won his first Laureus Award in 2006 capturing the Breakthrough Award.

Laurius is comprised of the Laureus World Sports Academy, the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation and the Laureus World Sports Awards. Collectively, these three elements form the essence of Laureus, harnessing the power of sport to promote social change and celebrating sporting excellence.

The Laureus World Sports Academy is made up of some of the greatest legends from sports. Once brought together, their reach, support and investment help social projects around the world that are using sport as a tool for social change. The Laureus Sport for Good Foundation funds the initiatives of social change that seeks to inspire hope and positive change for children around the world.

The Laureus World Sports Awards is an annual celebration of that achievement. The world’s media and the legends of the Laureus World Sports Academy judge athletes from across the sporting spectrum where the world of the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation is showcased. 

Nadal created The Rafa Nadal Foundation in 2007 after a trip to Chennai, India, to focus on social work and development aid particularly on childhood and youth. He feels that he is doing very well and owes society. He plans to be more active in this role after he retires from competitive tennis.

In 2010 Nadal matched legendary Rod Laver by winning the French Open, Wimbledon and US Open in the same year, a feat not achieved since 1969. He showed the stunning versatility of his game by becoming the first man ever to win three Grand Slams in a year on three different surfaces – clay, grass and hard court. Nadal joins a who’s who of great athletes who have won this award such as: Usain Bolt, the Spanish Football Club, Serena Williams, Lance Armstrong, Anika Sorenstam, Esther Vergeer, Roger Federer and Justine Henin.

It’s not only Nadal’s on court prowess that leads one to admire this mature 24 year old, but his sportsmanship after a loss and in press conferences. Nadal is seen after matches hugging opponents and praising them after losses. He deflects questions about injury or poor performance that are aimed by the press to take away from his opponent’s victories. This cannot be said of many of tennis greats of the past and present. Some recent examples: Serena’s 2009 meltdown again Kim Clijsters at the US Open and Roger Federer’s 2009 meltdown at the Australian Open Finals Trophy presentation.

Handling winning and losing with grace is where Nadal can be compared to the all-time great Rod Lavar who also never made excuses, worked hard at perfecting an all-court power game and achieved greatness both off and on the court.

With good health this may be the first of many Laureus Sportsman of the Year awards for Rafa. And at the pace he is going, Nadal may be destined to become not only the greatest tennis player in history, but the greatest athlete of all time.