meta name=”robots” content=”index, follow” Meschery's Musings of Sports, Literature, and Life Meschery's Musings on Sports, Literature and Life: 2013-02-10

What my musings are all about...

Blogging might well be the 21st century's form of journaling. As a writing teacher, I have always advised my students to keep a daily journal as a way of organizing their thoughts for future writing projects, a discipline I have unfortunately never consistently practiced myself. By blogging, I might finally be able to follow my own good advice.

The difference between journaling and blogging is that the blogger opens his or her writing to the public, something journal- writers are usually reluctant to do. I am not so reticent.

The trick for me will be to avoid cluttering the internet with more blather, something none of us need more of. If I stick to subjects I know: sports and literature, I believe I can avoid that pitfall. I can't promise that I'll not stray from time to time to comment on ancillary subjects, but I will make every attempt to be interesting and perhaps even insightful.

Saturday, February 16, 2013

Solution for Deadly Boring NBA All-Star Game

I can't remember when I last watched an NBA All-Star game, perhaps there was a time when the game seemed competitive to me, but when was that? I can't remember when I didn't watch the Saturday night skills competition - a fun time and worth a pizza and beer. But the game itself? Gad, how boring.

It occured to me that a two day series of skill competitions would be one solution, but I doubt if there would be much interest from advertisers. The term All-Star Game means a Game, the greats competing against each other, but of course they don't really compete, do they? Why should they and risk injuries?. So, here's my thinking: lets combine skills competition with the game. It could be done in the following manner:

1) Create a 4 point line.
2) Place a bull's eye logo at center-court. Any player who shoots the ball and makes it from inside the logo
    would earn 6 points.
3) Place two squares 3x3 feet adjacent to the sideline midway between the half-court stripe and baseline.
    Shots made from within that box would be worth 5 points. Referees would determine if a players
    feet were within the box.
4) Floaters shot from beyond the freethrow line would be worth 3 points.
5) Hook shots shot from beyond the freethrow line and below the 3 point line would be worth 3 pts.
6) Hook shots shot from above the three point stripe and below the 4 point stripe would be valued
    at 4 points.
7) A player would get the choice of shooting freethrows with or without a blindfold. A player could double
    the normal freethrow value by selecting to shoot blindfolded. Imagine the game coming down to a team
    down by three points and fouled in the act of shooting with .01 left on the clock. Normally there would
    be no way the shooter's team could win the game, but by selecting to shoot blindfolded, the shooter
    could win the game if he made both shots sightless.
An added attraction for the NBA advertising gurus would be to sell sponsorships for the various new shooting areas, ie: Box shots could be sponsored by box stores (Wall Mart/Home Depot, etc); the bullseye center-court-shot could be sponsored by Target Stores; blind freethrow shooting could be sponsored by Lens Crafters; floaters by United Airlines.

I can think of a number of other fun possibilities. The strategy required to play such a game would invigorate the All-Star Game, make it relevant while keeping the players safe from injury, which is the main reason the players today do NOT compete with vigor.

Think About It NBA! Big Bucks rolling in, lots of fun for fans.

The San Antonio Spurs have just finished their Rodeo road trip - as usual successfully. Is there a better coach in the NBA than Pop?

Here's a Rodeo poem.

The Closing of the Rodeo  by  William Jay Smith

The lariat snaps; the cowboy rolls
      His pack, and mounts and rides away.
Back to the land the cowboy goes.

Plumes of smoke from the factory sway
       In the setting sun. The curtain falls,
A train in the darkness pulls away.

Goodbye, says the rain on the iron roofs.
       Goodbye, say the barber poles.
Dark drum the vanishing horses' hooves.