Pre Holiday Comments about the NBA & etc

 Starting with ETC:

Delighted to see Brittany Griner back in the United States and hear she's going to play in this upcoming WNBA season. No American female or male basketball player should play in Russia again, not until the Putin The Evil is gone, hopefully, to the inferno waiting for him in the after life. 

RIP Franco Harris. Can it possibly be that his jersey # has never been retired? Now he is gone and won't see it happen. The Steelers should be ashamed. 

Lionel Messi and Argentina win the World Cup. Finally Messi is his country's hero. What an athlete! Now, if only soccer would do away with their offside rule. 

Okay, it's NBA time:

The Eastern Conference looks to be a 3 way battle at the top between The Bucks, The Sixers, and the Celtics. The other teams should simply concede. There's a generational player in France waiting for them. 

Generational? I prefer to think of those kinds of players that are usually referred to as generational as transformational. 

The Western Conference is not as easy to define as the East. When all the teams in the West are healthy, there are a number of teams that have a chance to win it all. Let's assume all of the possible teams are healthy after All-Star break, here are my picks, not in any order.

The Mavs. They have some rim stoppers now. Doncic will always be dangerous. He's generational. Hardaway back shooting well. I question Jason Kidd's coaching. Not very creative. Still, lots of talent.

The Clippers: Two names: Paul Geroge. Kawhi Leanord. On the court at the same time, puts turns two excellent players into reserves. This makes for a very dangerous rotation. I don't think the talking heads give Kawhi and George enough credit as defenders. Lue is a good coach. Lot's of fire power, lots of toughness. 

The Nuggets:  Jokic. That's all I need to say. MVP x 3. Murry back, more dangerous as the season progresses. If they can space the flor for the Joker, he'll average 30 during playoffs. Not as deep as the Clips, but have a real chance if Jokic can get some rest and not have bear the entire burden.

The Griz: Memphis needs to get their rotations in order. Right now they are relying on Ja. If they get more consistent reserve help, they too have a shot at the top.

The Pelicans: Remember, we're talking all their players are healthy. Zion, One Punch Ingram,  Valancunas, Murphy, McCullum, very scrappy Alvarado. Young, smart Coach Willy Green. All the fixings for a possible run to the top of the West. I have become a much greater fan of Zion than I originally was. Come playoffs, a team needs his kind of muscle. It's the interior muscle that Jokic provides the Nuggets. The muscle Kevon Looney provided the Warriors last season. If Zion could shoot from distance, can you imagine how tough he'd be? 

The Warriors: Last but certainly not least. Yes, a healthy Warriors can repeat. The reason I'm optimistic is what I've been seeing lately. While most, if not all, talking heads seeing the same things I'm seeing, are writing the Dubs off, it's my belief that rather than a negative, it's been a blessing that the injuries have given the Warriors time to play their reserves big minutes.   

The Warriors winning it this year is as much about the reserves as their winning the NBA Championship was about the reserves last season. The Dubs starting SIX (Poole) are championship quality. Now for the reserves: In the last couple of weeks, DiVincenzo has become a solid contributor. His 3 point shot has become more reliable, and he is a scrappy defender. JaMycal Green, whom I despaired of, has turned his game around. All we need from him is a solid ten minutes per game. Kuminga has found a niche as a defender and a slasher. Lamb, when  he's playing with the Big Dogs, is a threat as a defender and corner three point shooter and a hustler. Moses Moody and James Wiseman are still question marks. But because of increased time on the court, I'm seeing glimmers. If Wiseman, in particular, can be the talent he is physically capable of by playoffs, his contribution spelling Looney will be huge. Will he? Not sure, but at least the Warriors know that more G League is not going to help. He's got to have real time with Curry & Co. . 

So, do the Dubs reach Nirvana this season? I've got $ in Vegas on them. 

The rest of the West? Like the rest of the East not named Celtic, 76ers, and Bucks, the remaining Western Conference terams will be looking to le grand joueur Francais, Monsieur Wenbenyama.  The great French player, Mister W

A snow storm, generational, I hear, is pounding the the country east of the Rockies. Here's a snow sports poem

by Conrad Diekmann

WINTER TREES

I think that I shall never ski
Again against so stout a tree.

A tree whose rugged back is pressed
In bas-relief upon my chest.

A tree that with bacchantic air
Wears ski poles in its tangled hair.

I've learned my lesson: Fools like me
Should never try to shave a tree. 

You Got to Name Names & Etc

 I'm reading about Kyrie talking about how he never meant to hurt anyone. That he is an Omnist, (Really?) that he and the Nets are going to pony up $500,000 a piece which is one measly mil, equivalent to 12 pieces of silver - God, it was so patently dishonest I could have puked. Did I hear Kyrie ever use the name Alex Jones? Ever? Did he call Jones a racist, religious and ethnic bigot? Did the Nets NAME Jones? Did the Net's GM call him out? And why, you tell me, why didn't the NBA fine Kyrie? They fined Timberwolves' Anthony  Edwards for making a homophobic comment online. What Kyrie did, is 50 times worse, 100 times worse.  

Stephen A Smith, the talking head from First Take, calls Kyrie out. Stephen A NAMES NAMES. Good for him. 

I'm reminded of the weeny Republicans talking about how awful the invasion of our capital was by Trump supporters without naming Trump who could have stopped the whole thing if he'd wanted to. He didn't. Would the Republicans NAME NAMES? Hell no! Do they NAME NAMES now? Hell no!

In my humble opinion, Kyrie suffers from an undereducated ego. It is a condition that requires some serious time in counseling to correct, if it is at all possible. That it might not be possible is a terrible thought because Kyrie is clearly not stupid, just ignorant. At this point, his is a wasted mind, and that's sad. 

ETC: Ime Udoka will be the next coach of the Nets. I was impressed by Celtics' Jalen Brown's comment that he was glad that Udoka was going to get a second chance to coach which was something that didn't happen in the past. His implication was that in the past black coaches didn't get second chances once they screwed up.   

Let's do another baseball poem. Go Philly!

THE BASE STEALER    By Halvard Johnson

Wanting things to go on foreever
yet craving the apodalyppe.
Reading last few pages at one word a minute.
Wanting to teeter forever at the brink of the abyss.
and loving every minute of it.

The solid single lashed over second.
A shortstop's arms, just long enough to catch it. 

Why I Like the Warriors to win the NBA Western Conference Championship, The 49ers and a few SO FARS.

 I watched the Golden State Warriors play the Denver Nuggets last night and worried through the first half that my belief that the Dubs would be the Dubs again this season was premature. You give up 80 points in a half and something is wrong. Right? Then came the second half and the Warriors almost came back to beat the Nuggets. That second half was the real Warriors, which must still be all about their vets. (that includes Divincenzo and JaMychal. That is, until the young players turn the corner and play like vets. 

Who are these youngsters? Wiseman, Moody and Poole (I have intentionally left Jonathan Kuminga out to be explained later) I need to explain about the addition of Jordan Poole. Poole is almost there. I say this knowing that people will refer me back to last season when Poole played like an All Star. Granted. But one season does not a Veteran make. To be aVet in the NBA, it's all about one's mental game. How to adjust on the fly. How you make your teammates better. How you innovate. How you balance D with O. And when to know which of the two is most important at the time of play. Real Vets know when to geive up their offense to become the best defenders on the court. Jordan has not learned this yet. He will. I have no doubt. But until then, I place him with the Warrior yougster. 

The rest of the youngsters have until All Star break to learn the basics of Veteranship. Wiseman is well on his way. I'm fine with him. Warrior fans will see many years of James Wisman. Moses Moody is also on his way. He's got a little longer path to travel than Wiseman. His growth will come with playing time and defense. The more he learns to be a stopper, the more playing time he'll get and the more playing time he'll get, the better his offense will be. Time will test him. 

Jonathan Kuminga. What about this young talent? I'm afraid JK is not on his way. It may be that he'll need another year of growth before he reaches his potential as an NBA vet. I will leave it to Kuminga to decide if he plans to grow or simply rely on his super athleticism for the rest of his career, in which case he will never achieve VET status. That said, if Poole, Wiseman and Moody become vets by the All Star break, the Warriors win the West. 

Here's why: Two teams stand in the way of the Warriors as I see it. The LA Clippers and the Denver Nuggets. In the case of the Clippers -  let's assume Kawhi and Paul George stay reasonably healthy - I'll take our young fresh legs off the bench over the Clips banch. I actuallly worry more about the Nuggets than the Clippers. But I like the Warriors off last night's second half performance over the Nuggets' first half. Last night, the Warriors would have won with points to spare if they'd played the first half the way they played the second. I was watching the body language of the Nuggets as the Warriors began their come back. Had they not had the 20 point head start to help them, Denver was a beaten team. 

So what about the Eastern Conference? I'll deal with that in a seperate blog. 

ETC: The 49ers trade beaucoup draft choices for running back, Christian McCaffrey. If McCaffrey stays healthy, terrific. However, here's the risk that has not been stated clearly so far that I've read. McCaffrey has been injured 23 out of 33 games he's played for his previous team the Carolina Panthers. He has had six disableing injuries since leaving college. The Injury Predictable Tool, whatever that may be, but it sounds official, states that McCaffrey has an 84% chance of being injured this season. Beign a 49er fand, I hope that's not true. 

SO FAR: McCaffery is paying off big time. A burst of speed guy, I haven't seen in the NFL for a long time.

ETC. Keegan Murry, the Kings prize rookie stretch power forward, was sorely missing by the Sacramento Kings that were beaten by one of the worst teams in the NBA, the Portland Trailblazers. They shouldn't have needed him. It's a worry I wasn't expecting. 

SO FAR: the Blazers are proving me wrong.

SO FAR: Moody and Wiseman are proving me right, and so is JK unfortunately proving me right. 

SO FAR: It's a tough call about Kuminga. He needs lots of game time and not in the G League, but more time on the court right now doesn't help the Warriors. The young man must learn in sceducled practices of which there are few once the season starts and on his own.

Snow in the Sierra yesterday and more on the way. Here's a poem for the skiers:

SKIER  by Robert Francis

He swings down like the flourish of a pen
signing a signature in white on white

The silence of his skies reciprocates
The silence of the world around him.

Wind is his one competitor
In the cool winding and unwinding down.

On incandescent feet he falls
Unfalling, trailing white foam, white fire. 

NBA 2022/23 Early Season Comments

 If you hear my wife, Melanie, groaning, it's because the NBA season is starting, and I am preping for long hours in front of my TV set watching the new season unfold. It's going to be a good one. The league as a whole will be more competitive. Okay, I said that last year, but I mean it this year. Teams like Orlando and the TWolves will join the ranks of possible playoff teams. A healthy brow automatically makes the Lakers better. Chi town is a question mark but will have enough to keep games close. The Cavs with the addition of Donovan Mitchell will give teams fits. The Pelican's with Z back. (I'm not talking about the great Hawk's HoF center Zelmo Beatty) will be much stronger. The Rockets' offense will make outscoring them difficult. Playing consitent D will be their problem. And, happily, the Sacramento Kings (HooWhah!) will be much improved. I will get to the Kings later. 

There will be bottom feeders: Th Jazz, (dumping) Hornets, Knicks, Pistons, Trailblazers, and Pacers, sux teams that have a good statistical chance of drafting French phenom Victor Wembayma. If you missed seeing him play recently on TV against the NBA G League Ignite, you misseda real treat A generational player, no doubt. Reminds me a lot of Jabbar in Milwaukee, only this kid can shoot threes. 

For the time being, consider that the Clippers will have a healthy Paul George and Kawhi Leonard this season and the Denver Nuggets will return Jamal Murry and Michael Porter J. back. My Dubs look strong again. Our young Big, James Wiseman, is healthy and playing well. I'm particularly excited by the addition of JaMychal Green (another of my favorite underappreciated players) and Donte DiVincenzo. I will leave a more detailed analysis of the Dubs for another Blog. The Phoenix Suns are a veteran winning team and well coached. If Ayton proves he deserves his max contract, the suns will be difficult to beat. The Bucks will be healthy. If they'd been healthy last season, they would have beaten the Celtics. The 76ers will be extremely strong again. Second best center in the league behind The Joker. I've never been a Hardin fan, so I don't think the 76ers, despite being a very dangerous, will get by the second round of the playoffs. Miami Heat will always be tough with Spoelstra coaching, Will Lowry be healthy? I think Jimmy Butler is overrated. (I'll take a few zinners for that.) Will there be help for BAM on the boards? That's going to be important for the Heat to compete. About the Mavs: Tim Hardaway Jr. will has returned from injury, and Javale Mcgee will help Doncic in ways that Jalen Brunson couldn't. I don't buy that Celtic Coach Idoka's suspension is going to drive the Cetlics into the tank. They are stonger at the point guard postion. I think getting Blake Griffin was a solid plus low post bench improvement. I'm going out on a limb to say I think the Rudy Gobbert experiment is going to work for the TWolves. And how about the Nets? Kyrie and Durant are a nightmare offense, but consider the return of 3 pt stretch D Joe Harris, and the addition of some D chops in O'Neale, Markieff Morris and a healthy Simmons. If Steve Kerr was coaching the Nets, they could win the NBA championship. Sorry Coach Nash. They could still win the East as long as they stay MENTALLY healthy. I'm not sure that's going to happen. Moving on, let's not forget the Hawks added Dejounte Murray, one of my favorite young players. That's going to be a very troublesome backcourt to defend. 

Back to the Sacramento Kings: Huge kudos for GM Monte McNair for assembling a roster that for the first time in a LONG time will be able to compete in a strong Western Conference. Starting with the Ox and the Fox; Demontus Sabonis and DeAaron Fox a pick and roll nightmare. And if they can play in a more free style Mike Brown offense, a double nightmare. McNair made three fantastic moves in the off season. He traded for Kevin Huerter and Malik Monk. Both players will be able to spread the court. Monk is an excellent defender. Heurter is above average on D and willing. When it came to the draft, McNair wisely chose for position and took 6'8" Keegan Murry who can play both the 3 and the 4, making Harrison Barnes a difficult match up problem for opposing coaches. Davion Mttchell will be improved (Got to love his toughness). With these additions, and otherrs, suddenly the King's bench looks better. The team as a whole  will have to improve on D. Keeping Matthew Dellavadova on their roster will help in that area, if only to provide veteran modeling in practics. Bazemore will help there too. Rashaun Holmes may wind up being one of the top two best back up centers in the NBA. The top back up center in the league is going to be James Wiseman of the Golden State Warriors, that is unitl perhaps, Kevon Looney becosme the best back up center in the league, if you get my meaning. 

I want to digress some and talk about the Pistons that don't appear to me to have much of a chance, but might surprise: With the rookie phenom, Jaden Ivey matching up with and Cade Cunningham at 1 & 2, that's a stong backcourt duo. The rest of the starters are solid: Saddiq Bey, whom I like a lot, Bojan Bogdonovich with Jalen Duren and Isaih Stewart, who knows, they might be the kind of team that will grow as the season progressive. Concerns about their bench curb my enthusiasm. We'll see where they're at after All Star break. 

Anyone who's ever played on outdoor courts in a big city knows about chain link nets. Here's poem of mine on the subject.

CHAIN     by Tom Meschery 

The ball rose into the air and fell
dead cener. Someone yelled, "Chain!"

We called him, Chain. He never missed.
Chain , someone yelled. His ball was in midflight.

Chain link nets, two links missing.
Charlie was a poet.
He said she had a hole in her skirt. 

Let's Get Real

Ime Idoka has been suspeded by the Boston Celtic's organization, that owns the team he coaches for one year for a consentual sexual relationship with a fellow female employee that breaks company policy. 

Deshaun Watson gets suspended for 11 games for inappropriate sexual misconduct with 20 (Let me repeat, 20) underpaidm poor possibly immigrant massage parlor women. So, he gets fined 5 mil and losses chump change for the 11 games he'll miss. No mention of his 44 million signing bonus. The Browns signed him to a massive $230 million deal.

I'm not condoning what Idoka did. It's lowbrow, particularly since he's in a long term relastionship with the mother of his child. 

Yeah, that's pretty putrid But hey, our recently past president was getting in on with a couple of woemn while his wife was pregnant with his baby. I think that takes the word putrid to another level of putridness. 

So let's get real.

Chnage of subjec. (thank goodness) Kansas State Wildcats upseting the Oklahoma Sooners was fun. I love underdog victories. 

More fun. Andre Igudala will be back playing for the Warriors for his 19th season. How about making it an even 20 seasons?

Susan Bird retires. One of the greatest basketball players in the history of the game. With great admiration. Now let's see the NBA begin figuring out how to pay the WNBA women so they don't have to go play in other countries to make a living playing hoops. The league just needs to take a long term approach about the women's league. Anyone who knows basketball will tell you the WNBA is looking more and more interesting and exciting with each season. Lots more athleticism going on. Except for the power dunking, and a touch more speed, the WNBA is looking a lot more like the male league. 

I'm not a baseball enthusiast, but Aaron Judge hitting 60 homeruns derseves an attaboy. 

Two more days to NBA training camp. HooWah!

A little self interest note: The first novel in my Brovelli Brothers Mysteries: The Case of the '61 Chevy Impals is being launched on October 11. Future Brobewlli Brothers Mysteries will follow every October from Epicenter/Camel Press You can preorder at your local bookstore or through Amazon. My website is tom meschery.com for information about my books of poetry and about the mystery series. 

Here's a short poem written in the voice of Walt Whitman in honor of baseball.

Walt Whitman from 4 Quatrains   by Tom Meschery

I mark'd, where, isolated
On a little mound of earth, he rubberd
The ball, tenderly, 'till he felt its worth
Between split fingers, launch'd it forth.

  

 

   

U.S. Open

 It's a surprisingly interesting new-look U.S. Open this year. Sernea was defeated by the Aussie, Tomjanivich; Nadal was defeated by Francis Taifoe. (I'll get to discussingTiafoe later). Medvedev and Rublev from Russia lost. Djokovic refused to get vaccinated, so he' was not playing. Probably he's somewhere pouting as most unvaccinated persons tend to be, pouters, even while decalaring themselves indvidualists. Give me a break! On the women's side, No Halep, no Azarenka. The only top ten ranked female tennis player left is Iga Swiatek from Poland. It appears that there is a changing of the guard. Lots of new faces. 

 Tonight, in the women's semifinals, I'll be cheering for the Tunisian, Ons Jabeur, even though I love France's Carolina Garcia's game. I just think that any woman from a Muslim country who achieves greatness while living in a society that does not value women except in their maternal roles deserves our support. And I'll be cheering for Swiateek against the Belarussian Sabalenka. I know it's not her fault she's from Belarus, but that country assisted and suported crazy Putin's invasion of Ukranine. 

That said, I think the U.S. Open is being fair allowing players from Russia and Belarus to play. The  solution is let the players play, but do not acknowledge their countries in any way. On TV where a player's names and scores are shown with the flags of their country, the players from Belarus and Russian have blank spaces. 

And now that the dust has settled from last night, if you out there did not witness five and a half hours of record breaking and brilliant tennis by two young men, Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner, shame on you. I condemn you to watching reruns of the recent LIV golf tournament for the rest of your lives. The 19 year old Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz finally won. But what a courageous battle by Sinner. At one point in a rally came one of the most astonishing returns in tennis I've ever seen. Acaraz, during a sustained rally, having over run the ball delivered by Sinner's crushing forehand, returned it by swinging his racquet behind his back for the return in play and the rally continued. The crowd went nuts.   

TENNIS TOURNENT IN CHINATOWN    by Tom Meschery

                      For Peter Sears

His first serve slices pencil thin,
over the net and drops like a broken elbow
skittering to the side out of my reach,
and after his next serve curves like a new moon
to my forehand, then changes direction
like scythe to my back-hand, I know
I'm in trouble. Forty love, the first game
his, won on a squirrelly shot that, were it not
a ball, might well have been a squirrel.

My service, a hard one with top spin

comes just in time to save me from disgrace,

or so I think, in the split second I see it

catch the corner, a certain winner, it returns

to me as a butterfly attaching itself to the silk

thread of the net, as delicate as a brushstroke

before fluttering off where I can't touch it.

I'm thinking this is not tennis but an ancient

form of art, disguised as tennis for the purpose

of torture, invented in the court of the Sung

Dynasty, and it is the sly Emperor Hui-Tang

himself on the other side of the net.

He is staring at me, crouched, his whites

gleaming in the sun, racquet spinning in his hand,

waiting for me to decide how to paint

the rising peacock. Will I paint the left leg

or he right leg first? Meanwhile, I've two balls

in my hand, confused, wondering which one

to serve and which one to place in my pocket. 

It's Not the Same as the ABA vs the NBA

 As far as I can remember, in 1967 no executive of the fledgling American Basketball Association ever had a member of the NBA assassinated and chopped into little pieces the way the leader of Saudia Arabia that sponsers the fledgling LIV golf tour did to fellow Arab, reporter Jamal Khashoggi. Nor did the ABA or people associated with the new ABA ever mistreat women, or financially support Islamist terrorists. Not there were any Islamist back then in the "70's to support. But you get my meaning. This is not about a competitive league. The ABA had every right under our country's laws to compete with the NBA. We are, for better or worse, a capitalist country. That means competition is encouraged, even while it often seems in 2022 that competion is dwindling and mega companies dominating the market. However, that is not my point. Competition is fair under the law in our country and most civilized countries. But if a start-up company is owned by criminaels it should NEVER be supported. The LIV is owned by Saudi Arabians living in Saudi Arabia (Read Saudi Government, a criminal organization, make no mistake about it.) The Arab government is a lawless state with great buckets of blood on its hands. Yet many of our top, even iconic, golfers like Phil Michelson and Dustin Johnston, have decided to play for them - the LIV. Now they too, by association, have blood on their hands. They and all the golfers signed up to play for the LIV should remember what happened to Lady McBeth. Blood can not be washed away. No amount of money will wash the stains away. 

On to a happier subjects. Word is out that the NBA is seriously discussing expanding to Seattle and Las Vegas in the near future. I've heard for the 2024/25 season The talking heads are saying Las Vegas will be owned by LeBron James. Good for LeBron. And, Seattle cerainainly deseerves their Sonics back they way the city was bamboozled by the owner of the Oklahoma Thunder who bought the Sonics and vowed he would not move the franchise. Two more real western teams in the West will allow the TWolves and the Memphis Griz both teams on the east side of the Mississippi to join the Eastern Conference. 

And, by the way, Go Seattle Storm. Win the WNBA!

The Sacramento Bee might be the worst newspaper in America. Let's have a contest. This mornings paper Monday the 29 of August read: Scheffler Takes 6-shot lead at Championship. Really, and what about Rory Mcllroy winning it, for a victory in a major he had not won since 2014, albeit he's one of the best golfers in the biz. Is a newspaper really a newspaper when it contains no up to date news? Why do my wife and I keep our subscription? Sentimental reasons, I guess. We both love to read real print. I like to feel the crackle of paper in my hands. My wife likes the funnies and Dearr Abby. But this is getting ridiculous. This city purports itself to be Big League. Not with a bush league newspaper. 

Got to get this gripe out of my system. How many people watching the PGA hate it on the split screen that the ads get the larger portion of the screen????Cameron Smith made a fabulous 45 foot putt, putt of the day on the smaller screen, while on the bigger screen I was treated to a Rolex ad for a watch I'll never be able to afford. Big screen for the sport, don't you think?

Back to the LIV. Sayonara LIV golfers. The young up-and-coming golfers along with some still youn stalworths, like Mcllroy, Speith, Thomas, Scotty, Rham, Om, Morikawa, Cantlay, Camernon Smith Young, Xander Shauffele, etc, are going to eclipse your memory in no time. You made t a pact with the devil, now you LIV guys must LIV with the devil. 

From my new collection of poetry, just out, from Random Lane Press, a poem called

CHAIN

The ball rose into the air and fell
dead center. Someone yelled, "Chain!"

"Chain," someone yelled, his shot in mid flight.
We called him, Chain. He never missed.

Chain link net, two links missing.
Charlie was a poet
He said she had a hole in her skirt

KD or Nash

 KD has demanded his Net's coach, Steve Nash, and GM Sean Marks go or he goes. The controversy is on, talking heads yapping, and clapping back. All kinds of opinions. Nets holding out for a huge trade package. Doing a Danny Ainge, asking for the moon. I love KD's game and no one doubts Kyrie Irivng is as good as it gets on offense, while being very unenthusiastic on D. If the two stars could mend fences, get it together and ball like they're capable of, with the roster of quality secondary players Sean Marks has put together, the Nets could compete for a championship in the East. But it would require the two superstars to be TRULY on the same page. Moi, I don't see that happening. Sooo, UNCOMMIETED DUO, as good as they are and as decent as the supporting cast is, can NOT get past the second round of the Eastern Conference playoffs.

That said, what's left for the Nets to do? Again, lots of opinions: Trade one, trade both, keep both for a year, since they're on contracts, see what happens, etc, etc. I'm on the side of trade them both. But I have a different take on what the trades should look like from what. I'm not buying in to this value for value nonsense. Define value. Frankly, I don't see a lot of value in either KD or Kyrie the way things are playing out and I don't see teams willing to forfeit their futures to get either of these players. They want them, but not for the MOON. The moon is a long way off as any amateur astronomer will tell you. 

Here's my take on what the Nets should do. Don't shoot for the moon. Stay firmly rooted to the earth. Get rid of these two flacks as fast as you can. Not a fire sale, mind you, but take an offer that provides you with rising young stars and first and sccond round draft choices. But make your asking price that a team would really consider.  

Let's take one trade scenario for example that is probabably still on the table. The Boston Celtics have offered Jaylen Brown, a true rising star, along with Derrick White, a solid mid-age two way guard and an unprotected first round draft choice. The Nets countered that they wanted Marcus Smart too. No, said the Celts. I don't blame them. However, a dynamic duo of KD and Jayson Tatum is far too great an enticement that the Celtics would not entertain a counter offer. How about forgoing Smart and asking for Grant Williams and a second to go along with the 2023 first round unprotected draft choice? The Celts would be nuts not to go for it. Sure, I admit, for the Nets, it would not be value for value, But this is not the point. The Nets need to get rid of the two head-cases and get younger, more stable and more mature. There is a ton of value in Jaylen Brown. And lot's of value in a two-way young wing like Williams. It's reasonable to think that the Nets might be handing the Celtics an NBA Championship, but that's okay. The Nets' only concern at this moment in time is moving on from insanity. 

While the KD trade is going on, the Nets should also be seeking to trade Kyrie Irving. As long as the Nets ignore that silly ass value for value idea, they ought to find a couple of young rising stars and more draft choices that teams would be willing to give up for Kyrie's instant offense. The way the game is being played today, I'm all for finding tall, long two-way players. HERE'S THE DEAL, as President Biden says. Nets, you need to shed the nutjobs, get YOUNG, accumulate FIRST AND SECOND ROUND DRAFT CHOICES. You need to THINK BROOLYN. If players don't want to play in one of the best hoop meccas in the NBA, screw 'em. Let 'em go! Build a team of men, not cry babies. It's ok to pay big $ to grown ups, but not to spoiled children. Right now, for example, if I was Sean Marks I'd much prefer to build my team around Jaylen Brown than KD. And I'd take Jaylen Suggs with Franz Wagner as part of the deal from Orlando for Kyrie in a heart beat. I can think of a bunch more young up-and-comers I'd rather have than Kyrie. 

ZEN OF BASKETBALL    by Tom Meschery

The game is still the game,
round ball, round hoop, glass
through which fans wave to you
to score free points or wave for you to miss. 
What's on your mind is a kind of nothingness.
You crouch, you shoot. The ball will enter or it won't.

Durant to the Warriors???

 This morning I read an article written by Dieter Kalltenbach of the Mercury News about Durant returning to the Warriors that made some sense. Whether the Dubs would entertain such a trade is the question. In terms of solving the Warriors massive tax problem, it seems to be a solution of sorts since Durant is already signed and would be a known financial entity. It also makes some sense because it does not force the Warriors to entirely give up their future team. The writer, Kalltenbach, predicts that the Nets would definetly entertain a package of Jordan Poole, Andrew Wiggins, Jonathon Kuminga and a 2023 first and second round draft choices. It's possible. Say they do agree to this package and the  Curry led team and KD would say no hard feelings and the reunite would happen, what would be the result? Pretty amazing stuff, I imagine. For the next 3 or 4 years the Warriors win the NBA Championshiip. While that is happening, the weriter believes those years would see James Wiseman and Moses Moody (I'm a huge fan of Moody's potential) develop their game. Both have a chance to be excellent, even NBA All Stars. 

Granted, losing Poole and Wiggens are significant losses, Kaltenback writes, but Durant is Durant. As much as Wiggins is a fabulous wing scorer and defender, he is not KD. Poole is a future star, and his presence in the post Curry era would be missed, but for a player like Durant a team must be willing to give up a great young player. With that deal with the Nets made and Durant back in the linewup, the writer suggests the Warriors would still have part of their strategy of growing a future dynasty in place and time during the championship years to keep building on the Wiseman, Moody core. A still young Divenzenzo could remain. The Warriors would still have their two draft choices: Patrick Baldwin Jr. and Ryan Rollins. Throw in a fiesty young Mac McClung and whomever the ever creative Warrior GM Bob Myers could discover, hey, worth thinking about seriously?

What do I think of this scenario? Well, according to the writer, it would help the Warriors tax situation, and God knows, Joe Lacob has been totaly generous, and could use a break. That said, Warrior ownership is very smart and determined. I suspect they'll give it some  consideration. But will they go for it? I think a lot would depend on KD. According to the Kalltenback article, KD admitted he made a mistake leaving the Warriors. I checked all through the internet and found no such public admission. Lots of ex-players-talking-heads are saying it, but not from the horse's mouth. Another thing to consider and it's Big, The Warriors think-tank believe in its present old and young core. They feel they have the players in place NOW. Why reinvent the wheel, even for KD? In addition, and the writer did not point this out, there's going to be a huge uptick in the cap-space with the new TV contract the NBA is about to sign. So, perhaps solving the luxury tax problem is not so crucial. 

Okay, Meschery, we're getting old out here. Yes to this scenario or no? Oh, I dearly love KD's game, but here's my answer, Drum roll please! This old Warrior predicts there would be lots of discussion, but in the end the Warriors would stick to their plan.  

Next, one of the top ten funniest sport's poem I've read:

I TRY TO TURN IN MY JOCK   By David Hilton

     The way I see it, is when I step out on the court
      and feel inside that I can't make the plays,
      it'll be time to call it quits - Elgin Baylor

Going up for the jump shot,
Giving the kid the head fakes and all
'Till he's jocked right out of the door of the gym
And I'm free at the top with the ball and my touch
Lofting the arc off my fingertips,
I feel my left calf turn to stone
And my ankle warp inward to form when i land
A neat right angle with my leg,
And i'm on he floor,
A pile of sweat and sick muscles,
Saying,
Hilton,
You're 29, getting fat,
Can't drive to your right anymore,
You can think of better things to do
On Saturday aaafternoons than be a chump
For a bunch of sophomore third-stringers;
Join the Y, steam and martinis and muscletone.
But, shit,
The shot goes in. 

British Commonwealth Games and Game Changers

COMMONWEALTH GAMES

When you think careflly about the Commonwealth Games, you can't help but come to the conclusion that it is one of the best political flim flam jobs perpetrated on a group of independent countries in the history of the modern world. Something akin to Pax Romana at a time when there certainly was not the advertised peace the Roman Emperors purported to exist. 

Just give eit some thought: How can you account for Pakistan, a staunch Muslim country, the island countries of Oceaana, Bangladesh, Ireland, Australia, India that fought like tigers for their independence, Create and Canada, and many other nations, all at one time ruled with an iron hand by the British, with the help of the greatest navy extant, to come together in the spirit of joyful athletic? 

Whoa, Dude, who though this up? It had to be some ad guy sitting in his London office, leaping suddenly from his desk and saying, "Baby, let me twll you what I just came up with!" Okay, so it was a guy named Melliville Mark Robinson in 1930 whose idea it was. Ad men ween't around in those days to say "Aha, let's throw this against the wall and see it it sticks." Give him credit when credit is due. 

In 1930 to  1950 the games were called The British Empire Games, a Pan Britannic Pan Anglican Cntest and Festival. In 1962, the name was changed to The British Empire and Commonwealth Games. In 1974 the name became the British Commonwealth Games. Today they are called The Commonwealth Games. Historically, these games celebrated the British Empire. Today they celebrate countries with a common language - English. I guess that's why the United States is not invited. 

Am I making a point? Probably not. I could suggest that people with a common language don't always produce the best athlete. For me, I just couldn't stop thinking that this was the Commonwealth Games was the nation of England's greatest PR victory, and just slightly linguistically arrogant. 

GAME CHANGERS

There have only been 3 Game Changers in the history of basketball. Maybe 4 if you count James Neismith who changed the game from its origian Azetc version. 

Before I say who the 3 are, it's necessary to acknowledge those players who evolved the sport of basketball. Evolved is different from changed. The evolutionary players were, in my opinion, those who improved on and advances the skill-sets of the day. Centers: Mikan to Chamberlain to Olajuwon to Jabbar to Shaq. Guards: Cousy to the Big O to Earl the Pearl, to Magic to Iverson to Stockton. Forwards (stretch 3s): Elgin, to Julius Irving to The Hawk, to Bird to the  Ice Man t to Jordan. Forwards (stretch 4s): Heinsohn and Pettit to Zelmo to Mauric Lucas to  Karl Malone to Tim Duncan to Draymond Green. I'm leaving players out. Your call to add to the list.  I won't argue. For ecample Scottie Pippen could be in either the stretch 3 or stretch 4 catergory. The criteria is that they advanced the skill-set in that position. 

But only THREE basketball players did more than just imporve the way the game is played through their talent, but changed the game itself to something different. The three are in my opinion: 1) Angelo-Giuseppi "Hank" Luisetti who turned the game upside down by popularizing the jump shot. Prior to that the game was played on the ground. After Hank, the game would be played in the air. 2) William Felton Russell. Bill made the NBA change its rules for playing in the paint, no funneling the ball into the hoop, no blocking the shot on the way down The design of the key was changed. 3) Stephan Curry. Steph Curry turned the game of basketball into a 3pt game. (The ABA deserves a nod here as the 3 pt line was the invention of that red, white and blue league.) However, it is no coincidence that after Steph Curry there is not a high school or college player who does not concentrate on perfecting or improving his 3 pt shot. The game today is played entirely on the perimeter because of Steph.  

Here's one of my all time favorite baseball poems. It deserves repeating.

PASTTIME   by Emilio de Grazia

A girl, nine years of wonder
still on her face,
stands directly on third
running amazed fingers along the wrinkles
of my old leather mitt.
It is  the bottom of  the ninth
and everywhere in the world 
the bases are loaded.

William Felton Russell

 I never seen an Eagle with a beard. This was the first line of a poem I wrote about Bill Russell at a time when I had no idea how to write poetry. t was in 1970. my last year in the NBA, in Seattle as a Sonic. I was trying for a predator bird image. Eagle seemed right to me and regal enough to describe the way Bill Russel, already a legend with the Boston Celtic, would swoop down upon his opponents and block shots or so intimidate them that there was no recourse except to give up the effort and pass to a teammate. Upon hearing of Bill's death, my son found a photograph of me playing against the Celtics. I was crouched in the paint, holding the ball in my hands, looking up at Bill Russell between me and the basket with his long wings of arms spread high above me. I was probably thinking to myself, "What the f--k do I do now?"

 Bill Russell grew up in Oakland,CA. i grew up just across the bay in San Francisco. Bill was four years older than me, so we never played against each other in high school, but we played against each other, not often, but occasionally on the playgrounds. I was in the stands in Kezar Pavilion when Bill's team, the USF Dons destroyed the University of California Bears, a team that was considered at the time to be one of the best college basketball teams in the country. Their center, a 6'10" All-Star, Bill Mckean, couldn't get a shot off with Bill's long wings guarding him. KC Jones was the point gfuard on that team. KC would follow Bill to the Cettics and would eventually, like his teammate, join him in the Basetball Hall of Fame. I was a high school baller about to go to college with no idea that in the future I would find myself in the Bosgton Garden, crouched in the paint with Bill Russell hovering over me wondering how I got into this mess. 

Many years later, both of us retired, Bill Felton Russell wrote a wonderful blurb for the back of my third collection of poety: Sweat: New and Selected Poems About Sports. For whic I remain eternally grateful. 

So much has already been said about Bill in the newspapers and in the media and on the internet that there is little more I can add in the way of flattery. He will always be the greatest defensive center in basketball. i daresay there is not a center that ever played in the NBA, in the present and in the futrure, that Bill would not be able to shut down. There is not a player at any position, past, present or future, be he Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, Luka Doncic that would not, like this writer, wind up in the paint with the ball in his hands crouching and looking up terrified at the looming presence of William Felton Russell above him. 

As for his well known advocacy for his race, like his play on the court, Bill would swoop down upon the racists. They felt his talons. He gave them no quarter, he suffered no fools. He will be looking down upon them in their darkest hells from his greaestt heights.

Here's the poem I wrote in 1970 from my first collection of poetry, Over the Rim All I can think of as I read this poem now is how menacing I must have thought of Bill's defense. 

To Bill Russell       by Tom Meschery

I have never seen
an eagle with a beard
but if there is
in some strange 
corner of the world
and the Hindu 
belief is true,
you will return
and beat your wings
violently
over my grave. 
 

A Few Brief Comments

Because I would never be able to top Rick Reilly's article in the Washington Post entitled "College Football Lunacy Isn't Permanent, and will Get Worse," I just say DITTO! What college football teams likr USC, UCLA, U of Texas and Oklahoma (and more to follow in their footsteps) are doing STINKS. So football fans wind up with two mega-confereces, the SEC and Big 20 or 39 and all the TV money in their pockets. Where does that leave the rest of the college football teams? Maybe those left over like the Pac 10 teams should find worhty partners around the country that are going to be snubbed by the mega conference and form their own mega-conference called the Bridesmaids. I like Northwestern and Notre Dame for starters. 

Did you know that the IOC recently restored the Olympic Gold Medals to Jim Thorpe on the 110 anniversary of his winning the decathlon and pentathlon in the 1916 Olympic Games? How kind of them. A liitle known fact: the athlete who came in 2nd in the pentathlon, Westlander, never accepted the medal that he said was meant for Thorpe. That's moral courage. 

As a writer, I'm always looking for metaphors and similes. Here's one: Watching the NBA Summer League is like watching a pinball tournament. I'll let you figure it out. I understand shutting top rookies down after they've proven their worth. Why risk injuries for nothing that counts? But I would have loved to see Paulo Banchero play at least one more game. How about a rule that the top rooks have to play at least three games? 

I used to feel sorry for most of the guys playing in the NBA summer league. They are so eager and trying so hard to make it into the NBA. Remember, these are all the best players from their various colleges. They are used to being the Big Dogs only to find by comparison to some of the top draft picks they are still puppies. Hard on their egos. Made me sad knowing dreams would be crushed. But that's not the case anymore. Players who don't make it in the NBA have a lot more options. Dreams are not lost or need to be deferred. There are pro basketball leagues all over the world looking for American players to bolster their rosters. I recently checked what some of these teams pay Americans. Not too shabby. For example: the average Euro League, the top league in Europe, pays players between $500k & $800k. Turkish teams will pay top players $250k to 450k per season. American players can make up to $3 million in China. And lets look at some of the lesser leagues around the world that look to add a few American players: The Japanese pro teams will pay $275k; the Australians, $150k;in Israel an Ameerican player can make from $140k to $350k. So you're not a top dog American? Hook up with a Greek team and earn $60k to $250k or gett to Iealy and La Liga. They pay $7k to $8k per month. Hey, all this while sitting around sidewalk cafes and eating crepes or mousaka or drinking German beer or yummy potstickers while learning new languages and and learning about new cultures. 

Poem for today. A repeat but I love it for the end of the NBA until the fall. I guess I gotta watch baseball. 

WHEN I GOT IT RIGHT   by Carl Lidner

The ball would lift
light as a wish
gliding like a blessing
over he rim, pure
or kissing off glass
into the skirt of the net
Once it began
i couldn't miss 
Even in the falling dark
the ball before it left
my hand was sure. 

th

 

TALK ABOUT SHAMEFUL

 J'accuse (I accuse you), WNBA/NBA. You know darn well that fining WNBA players who play overseas for every day they are late for training camp is going to hurt a lot of the women's ability to increase their annual earnings. The Euroleague teams pay far more than the WNBA. Euroleage woemen's teams that extend their seasons into playoff rounds do not complete their seasons until after the WNBA training camp begins. You know that. This places your players in a unfair position, of having to chose to leave theiir international sisters during their crucial playoffs in order to return home and avoid the fine. It's wrong of you to do this to your women players. It is also gender discrimination. Let me know if you'd fine Steph Curry if the table were turned and he showed up late for training camp were he playing in some Euroleague playoffs. Okay, the ansewre is yes. I get it. The Warriors are paying Steph BIG BUCKS. So, why not pay the WNBA women BETTER BUCKS. Your WNBA salary scale presently SUCKS. ChecK it out readers. Pretty damn shameful at a time when the WNBA women are gettting more and more skilled, more athletic, faster and quicker. Their game is evolving. It will never be as high flying circus act as that the NBA is, but it will be equally attractive to watch. I never used to watch the WNBA much.  I do now. I will in the future. If you truly believe women have the right to excel, owners and league, get out your pocketbooks! AND, how about some of the NBA superstars ponying up. I'd bet you the bank, Kobe would have to watch his daughter play in his footsteps. Good subject for a Draymond Green podcast. 

Another not so good subject for Darymond Green's podcast: the Dallas Cowboys signing a contract supporting a coffee cmpany that advertises its blends of coffee in terms of firearms. That can't be true, you say. Given the terrible numbers of shooting deaths in our country, no one would be that frigging STUPID. Well, Jerry Jones' Cowboy organization sure as hell is. They support coffee blends called AK -47 espresso and Silencer Smoothies. Really! I couldn't make this kind of insanity up. In the future, let's rename the COWBOYs NRABOYS.  "Welcome to NFL Sunday. This afternoon's game will be the Dalles NRABOYS vs. . . 

We shouldn't give cows a bad name. 

Here's a lovely little poem about baseball

THEEXTRA INNING BALLGAME   by Halvard Johnson

Wanting things to go on forever,
Yet craving the apocalypse   
Reading the last few pages at one word a minute
Wanting to teeter forever on the brink of the abyss,
And loving evey minute of it.

The solid single over second.
A shortstop's arm, just long enough to catch it. 

THE ART OF DRAFTING

 They analytics foks would prefer I defined drafting as a science. They would have me & you believe that statistics provide the best clues a GM needs to select wisely. Cold numbers leave me cold. I can't get excited about decimal places and %. I do not mean they are not worth examining and taking into account. But as a criteria for the best draft choice, I think it is better to look at art as the model. 

There are many definitions of art, some so vague as to be too mentally exhausing to matter. I like the definition that art is harmony that parallels nature. Harmony is such a telling word when it applies to sports teams. The Golden State Warriors, 2022's NBA Champs are one of the best examples that consider harmony to be one of the most important elements of their team philosophy. Thus they seek players who they believe will FIT, a sports way of saying harmony. Four championships out of eight years and six Western Conference Championship during those same eight years should be enough for GM's, not named Bob Myers, around the league to look at the Warriors as models to emulate. 

Which brings me to the defination of art that I think should be the first consideration for coaches and GM's and scouts as they make their final draft decisions. Plato said it: Art is MIMESIS. in Greek, this means copying and imitation. Here's how this applies to sports teams Teams need to identify the very best teams in NBA history and use them as models for futiure draft choice. What did their rosters look like? What skill sets did the players on those teams possess? What mix of reserve players did these teams have on their benches? What was the psychological attitudes of the players on their teams? An example of the later criteria would be the Chicago Bulls trading for one of the most unhinged human beings I 've ever watched on a basketball court in Dennis Rodman. What does that tell a GM getting ready to draft in 2023? It's okay to have one crazy. As long as the rest of the players are in harmony. I daresay two Rodman-types on the Bulls might have very well destroyed the harmony of the Bulls and cost them the championship.  

But I'm getting ahead of myself. The Sacramento Kings have been criticized for drafting Iowa's Keegan Murry and not the the supremely talented guard Jaden Ivey. GM Monty McNair is accusedod drafting for need. I suggest that NEED is just another way of asking the following: Do you know of any championship team that didn't have a multilevel defender/stretch shooter at the three and the four? Name me one. McNair could have drafted Ivey and then found the player who better fit a championship model through a trade. I blogged before the draft that had the Kings drafted Ivey, they could have wound up with a bunch of young vets from the Wizards who coveted Ivey. McNir choose to selct a young, but seasoned basketball player with hieght and length and two-way chops. At twenty-one years old, a player who would fit harmoniously in his opinion with the players he already has on his team. Did analytics play any part in McNair's choice? Sure, the stats demonstated exemplary growth, but what matters and mattered is that there has always been a similar type player on every significant NBA championship team. On can argue player skills, but now the Kings have all their primary positions covered and some of their reserve positions covered. McNair has more work to do. But if he follows Plato's definition of art, he'll wind up with the team the Kings need to get into the playoffs and hopefully beyond. 

The NBA is over. It's baseball season. Here's a little  poem about our National Pastime:

THE BASE STEALER    by Robert Francis

Poised between going on and back, pulled
Both ways taut like a tightrope -walker,
Fingertips pointing the opposites,
Now bouncing tiptoe like a dropped ball
Or kid skipping rope, come on, come on,
Running a scattering of steps sidewise,
How he teeters, skitters, tingles, teases,
Taunts them, hovers like an ecstatic bird,
He's only flirting, crowd him, crowd him,
Delicate, delicate, delicate, delicate - now!

A FEW OBSERVATIONS ON THE NBA 2022 DRAFT

You'll get plently of information from the talking heads about this season's drafts' winners and losers and which of the top draftees will impact from the get-go. They will discuss trades, and endlessly go over Kyrie Irving's inexplicable stalemate with the Nets' management over playing next year for a paltry $37 million plus dollars. Inexplicable to at least 90 % of the American population. (Are we at all bored yet????) The 10 remaining %, given their propensity for greed might understand such behavior. Trump and his minions for example, but even they might wonder about turning down $37 million dollars for a year's work playing hoops. So, what can I add to the palaver? 

How about Paulo Banchero winning the Best-Dressed-Award? Or Jaden Ivey complety brought to tears that he was drafted #5 by the Detroit Piston. Got to say, I love it that his mom played in the WNBA. I could predict that my Golden State Warriors might have landed a possibly great player in 6'9" wing Patrick Baldwin, at the 28th pick, given his injury history is not ongoing. I can say I'm toitaly baffled by the Charlotte Hornets giving up 6'11' Jalen Duren, a pretty niffty pick-and-roll center, who is not simply a rim protecctor or a catch and dunk post. So what if they have two talented centers. Mark Willimans at 7'2" will definatly provide rim protection. Oh well, it is Michael Jordan's call becasue he was a player, he knows, right? I seem to recall a time when Jordan picked a young high school player as the # 1 pick in the 2001 NBA draft named Kwame Brown and paid him huge bucks for zero production. The real problem is the Hornets really only got a bunch of 2nd round draft choices in return for a player with a huge upside. Or, i could congratulate GM Monty McNair of the Sacramento Kings for drafting for need and selecting a future All Star in 6'9" wing defender and 3 point shooter Keegan Murry, while he still has a lot of trade flexibility left and money in the bank. Or I could say that it's time for GM Sam Presti to stop collecting first round draft choices and start building a team that can compete, but the talking heads are all over that subject. 

Instead I want to talk about parents. Back in the day -  as they say - that being before the turn of the century, on NBA draft nights, it was a rare sight when a selected African American player would be joined by his father. Not so, these days. Proud African American dads have joined proud African American moms to celebrate their sons making it into the NBA. It is also worth noting that some of the parents are of mixed racees. How cool is that? How this must gall the racists in our country that still trumpet the cause of white supremacy. Trumpet aa in Donald Trump and his white Republican devotees. And it is not just the NBA, this country is fast becoming multi racial and multi cultural. About frigging time. HooWah!!! 

Not a sports' poem, but one of the great poems about fathers by African Amercian poet Robert Hayden

THOSE WINTER SUNDAY     by Robert Hayden

   

Sundays too my father got up early

and put his clothes on in the blueblack cold,

then with cracked hands that ached

from labor in the weekday weather made

banked fires blaze. No one ever thanked him. 

I'd wake and hear the cold splintering, breaking.

When the rooms were earm, he'd call

and slowly I would rise and dress,

fearing the chronic angers of that house.

Speaking indifferntly to him,

who had driven out the cold

and polished my good shoes as well.

What did I know, what did I know

of love's austere and lonely offices. 

  

The NBA Parade & etc about the 2022 NBA Draft.

 Driving down Market Street in the Warriors NBA Championship Parade was like coming home. I was raised in San Francisco, played my high school ball at Lowell High and my college hoops across the bay at Saint mary's College. My best NBA playiing days were spent as a power forward for the San Francisco Warriors. My jersey #14 hangs from the Chase Center Arena rafters. I am the local boy made good. I like to think of myself as the First San Francisco Warrior. My teammates and opponents knew me by my nickname, The Mad Manchurian because I was born in Harbin, a city in the previously indempendant country of Manchuria -  now part of China. The Mad part has to do with my on-court intensity, which at times I've been told appeared to possesses some of the qualities of madness. 

This small history of Tom Meschery was going through my mind as my wife, Melanie and I were driving down Market Street in a pomegranate flame plainted Chevy lowrider convertible with all the hydraulics. Melanie and I have been part of all the Warriors' victory parades since the first of the Dubs era in 2015. For the last two, we took Melanie's grandson John-Clark and the following year, my granddaugher, Carson, both were avid hoopster. This year, back in San Francisco, where this team originally began in the fall of 1962, my son Matthew and his 10 year old son, Leo, were with us. I instructed them to make sure they waved to all the old people in the crowd lining the sidewalk who might have seen me play. I think they thought I was joking. Hall of Fame Warrror's legend, Rick Barry, who brought the NBA title to San Franciso for the first time in 1975, was riding in the yellow jeep in front of our car. Although in his late seventies, the fans recognized Rick instantly. Some imitated Rick's underhand free-throw style to prove it. Rick was a heck of a better player than I was, but our parade lowrider outshone his jeep. Such little competitions between teammates never end, do they? The Warriors players were in open air busses in front of us. At times the parade came to a halt and some of the players descended onto the street to greet their fans. It looked as if half the City of Saint Francis was out to honor their Dubs. On our drive home from the parade, I told my wife to prepare for next year's parade.  Considering the return of injured frist round draft choice 7 foot 1 James Wiseman and the improvement of this years' two outstanding rookies, Mosed Moodey and Jonathon Kuminga, the Warriors could very well be a better team next season. 

ETC ABOUT THE DRAFT

i have changed my mind about Chet Holgrem, His slight 7 foot body weighing in at 196 pounds might be sturdier than I first believed. If this is the case, Chet with his superior skll-set should go number one ahead of Jabari Smith. Paulo Banchero, who is half Italian and holds dual Italian U.S. citizendhip might be the most NBA ready. Banchero value is well known by the teams. Except the Italian part. My wife and I love Italy, Florence escpecially, and for that reason would select Banchero number one. This is called subjective analytics. 

The mock drafts are all showing the Kings picking Jaden Ivey at number 4. I predict if they do, it will be to trade him to the Washington Wizards, who covet Ivey, in return for a vet power forward, a defensive minded wing and our choice when their seleciton comes at ten. It's the smart move to get veteran help. We'll see if i'm right. If they keep Ivey, then they made a huge mistake, which has often been the case with the luckless Kings. I hope I'm wrong. I like Coach Mike Brown and wish him only the best as he takes over the Sacramento Kings. 

The Warriors pick at 28. They were lucky with Jordan Poole at that late pick three years ago. Crossing my fingers. I wouldn't be surprised if they chose a pure point guard. Curry will need rest in the future, and really Jordan is best as a scorer. But the deal these days is tall, long and athletic. 

Keep your eyes on the Spurs. Pop and Co alwasy manage to find someoen good out of the hoard of wantabees. 

My choice of a poem today is all about nostalgia. Guess it had something to do with being in San Francisco, driving down Market Street, thinking of past glories.  

EARL HE PEARL MONROE  by Tom Meschery

In the rec league
they called me Black Jesus.
When I walked onto the court
the crowd parted like the Red Sea.
In college someone found a rhyme
and I became the Pearl
I guess I've been a mixed 
metaphor ever since.
Today, when I back a player
down toward the paint
and spin into my shot,
I know before the ball leaves
my fingers it's going in.
At that moment I can heal the lepers,
raise the dead. 

One Happy Warrior

 The Dubs are back doing the work of Dubs, winning NBA Championships. My wife Melanie and I watched and cheered as the Warriors, led by a brillian offensive performance by Steph Curry and a relentless defensive performance by Andrew Wiggins steadily and convincingly out-smarted the athleticism of the Boston Celtics. I was surprised after the game, watching the presentation ceremony how demonstrative Curry was, who even when excited is not overly emotional. This Championship must hve meant a lot to him, perhaps more than any ohers. Perhaps it had something todo with the pervious two horrivic losing seasons, that and perhaps having the Core triple sec vets of Splash Brothers and Drayone back together healthy. And perhaps it had to do with mirroring the first championship of 2015, the oen without Durant. I'm only guessing that there was someting to prove. 

What needs to be said is that as good as this tem is, next years' Warriors, barring injuries, should be stronger and deeper. The CORE vets of Curry, Thompson, Green, Wiggins & Porter will be back Poole and Little Glove, Payton ii, will return more seasoned and improved. And the roster will round out with improved rookies: 7'1' James Wiseman, first rounders Kuminga and Moody will be ready to contribute after a summer of work and a complete training camp under their belts. 

On Monday my wife and I will be in he Championship Parade again. We've been in all ofthem so far. This year we will ake my son Matthew and his son, Leo, my 10 yaar basketball playing grandson. I hope rubbing elbows with usch NBA luminaries will inspire him to continue with the sport. I will get the chance to visit with old teammates, Rick Barry, Al Attles and other NBa players from my time on the court, like the Jim Barnett. Good times, great memoires and a historic future to look forward to. 

From my upcoming new collection of poetry: Clear Path from Random Lane Press

WATCHING THE WARRIORS ON TV

      for Melanie because I promised

Of course you are right as you remind me, don't you,
that it's you sitting beside me as I watch the Warriors
play whomever. Aren't you? Because there have been 
twelve years of opponents, equal to the years we've 
been married and three ouy of four championships rings,
not on our fingers, but for us, gold wedding bands
that mean we're also winners. See my darling
how I've woven in as cleverly as Gerard Manley
Hopkins' spring rhythm, you, deserving of praise.
How could I be a fan without you by my side,
looking up occasionally from the book you're reading
to make a sly but knowledgeable observation.

.

The Right Side of History

 Laking about the LIV, Rory McIlroy said it without being explicit that he is on the  "right side of history." Let me explain how I interpreted his words. The LIV is not about a competitive tour. The ABA had every right to form a new league competing with the NBA, so did World football have the same right to compete with the NFL. We live in a free market economic systerm. The problem with the LIV is it is sponsored by killers and misogynists. So, Rory, even if you don't want to come right out and say it, you ARE on the right side of history. 

The PGA has suspended the golfers who are playing in the LIV.  I'll be sorry not to see Dustin Johnson, little Kevin Na, DeChambeau and his strange mechanics, but they are not on the WRONG SIDE OF HISTORY. I'm reasonably certain that the Old White Men who cntrol the PGA are not suspending these golfers because they are playing in a league that is supported by killers and misogynists, but I could be wrong, being an old white male myself, I should cut others of my ilk some slack. 

So, in the world of golf, it seems that greed has, for the time beomg. won over moral and ethical behavior. It is a lesson that is a legacy of four years of Donald Trump's opening his can of greedy worms. It is a legacy we should all regret. But then, I don't have a lot of gambling debts the way Lefty has. 

Sacramento Kings' fans should cry out in a loud voice, "Not Jaden Ivey!" The Kings need long, tall and athletic wings, they already have speed and handles.

Warriors get on the boards! Shameful what the Celtics did to you on the glass.

I don't blog much about baseball, so here's a fine small poem about America's pastime by Robert Hamblin. 

A HERO FOR ALL SEASONS

I remember Eddie Yost

who raised the base on balls
to the level of art.

Who took batting practice
to practice not to hit.

Who once fouled off nineteen
third strikes to earn a walk.

Who persuaded kids too small
for football and too short
for basketball
that littil'uns could aso be big'uns. 
  

If You're a Fire Guy, , , some thoughts on the 2022 Finals

 It's hard if you're  a fure guy to control the flames. Guess about whom I'm talking. Draymond, are you reading this? Prrobably not, already in Boston in a hotel room dreaming about tying up Horford again, as you did in Game Two at Chase Center. You were "The Man" my man. You set the tone for the rest of the game. Your teamates picked up your vibe. The Celtics did not shoot so well with hands in their faces, did they? I loved the Fire, Draymond. But, please be careful that the flames don't burn you. The Warriors must have you playing not sitting in the locker room waiting for the league to fine you for a Flagrant Two. 

I wonder how many people listend to Coach Kerr talk about Steph Curry's physical conditioning. All of us who've been Curry fans from the day that he stepped on the court at Oracle Arena should be able to see the difference between Steph's shoulders then and now. It's a visual. Coach Kerr praised his super star for that growth, for that intelligence of growth, for Steph's indomitable will. My wife, Melanie, once told me that Steph Curry is every grandmother's wish for a son-in-law. It's a good way to put it that as a model for youg men, there is no better one than Steph. 

I was delighted to see how much better Jordan Poole played. I was delighted to see how delighted Steph Curry was when Poole hit that incredibly long jumper almost at the half court line. Leadership???

If thee is a most valuable player on the Warriors over the length of the playoffs, may I sugges he is Kevon Looney. I'm sure not one Warrior would argue with me. In the "old days" when I played, there used to be a way of describing Looney's talent for rebounding. We'd say, "he has a nose for the ball." We're not always talking about centers. 

Shout out for Gary Payton II, coming off a fractured left elbow, his shooting arm, and playing D the way he did, and scoring and bringing energy up and down the court. You've found a home in the Bay Area and in the hearts of all Warriors fans. 

There is a constant truth in the NBA: NBA Finals Championships are won by DEFENSE. End of story. 

End of Blog. 

PS. When will the NBA stop treating the Playoffs as a separate part of the season and wait until the playoffs are over to hand out individual awards. When? Write the  NBA. Complain. I hope you flood the office. Most of the awards are usually right on, but others are not, such as Coach of the Year and Most Improved Player. Write, Write, Call, Instgrapm. Tweet, Email. Blog. 

ODE TO THE GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS 2015   By Tom Meschery

One small change and the line begins: Good luck,
timing, and the stars. This morning I’m still seeing
Curry’s three float through the sky of the arena
reminding me of a lesson in geometry:
An arc is a segment of the circumference
Of the circle – from foot (the flat plane of release)
that travels in silent degrees over the moon.
That it drops into the hoop is a matter
both of mathematics and imagination.
 
I am watching this arc with my arm in a sling
Having had my shoulder replaced with titanium,
A science of a lesser degree than the one
Curry, and his teammate, Thompson,
use to turn mathamatics into a sport.
 
As far as my titanium shoulder will allow,
I raise my arm to salute the Splash Brothers
And their teammates, three out of five,
Bogut, Barnes, and Green
And all the other players off the bench, Iguodala,
No small part of the equation called teammates.
And raise it up again through pain
To honor the others: players and coaches,
Gentry, Adams, and Kerr for his coaching
That were it not intense, looks much like joy.
 
Something so old inside me called desire
Yearns to play again, to shake off years,
Travel through the television screen
And be six-six again, called undersized
Like Draymond Green snatching rebounds,
Playing beyond our skills because we will it,
Because we know that timing gives us wings.
 
And wherever they are, the old Warriors,
Nate and Rick, Al and Jeff, I wonder, if like me,
They’re watching these new Warriors, Dubs,
Seeing how luck, timing, and the stars triangulate.
 
            
          

A Little Bit of a Lot

Do yourselves a favor and read the article in The Athletic today about Ukranian Slava Medvedenko, Shaquille O'Neal's backup on the Lakers' teams of the early 2000's. Slava is defending his country from Putin's army. It is a story of bravery and resolve. He has invited Shaq to come to his home country to visit and appear in support of the Ukranian people. The minute  the playoffs are over, Shaq should go. 

I've become a big fan of Marcs Thompson's sports writing. How can you not with lines such as these, talking about our dear Dubs: "The Warriors have shown they can take their foot off the pedal. If they've got room for error, they're not above using it." Makes an old retired rhetoric teacher's heart glad. Let's not take the foot off the pedal tonight, okay?

When I read that the Sacramento Kings have hired two assistant coaches and it is not mentioned that newly hired Coach Brown has not approved the hire, I start to worry. Hiring assistants should be exclusively the job of the head coach, not the job of the GM or the owner. 

Absolutly loved the comeback by the Warriors reserves two nights ago. Kerr kept them in even after a worried Coach Kidd brought back his starters. The comeback continued until the 25 plus deficit was reduced to 8 points. Might have been interesting to see what the reserves could have done had they been left in after that. I believe in miracles. 

Glad to see the 49ers comitt to Trey Lance at QB for next season. Also delighted to see that the Raiders are evaluating Colin Kaepernick as a back up QB. What I saw breifly on TV, Colin looks in great shape. Congrats to the Raiders for showing some courage, giving Colin that chance to prove himself when no other NFL team had the cajones. 

Joel Embid complains about not being selected NBA MVP, "What more can I do?" He asks. Okay, for starters: learn to shoot deep 3 pt shots like Jokic; learn to pass/assist like Jokic; learn to facilitate the offense like Jokic. End of story. jokic is Chapter One, you're Chapter Two. 

Great Coach Kerr line about Luka Doncic, "He can make 3 pt jumpers in his sleep." I think Kerr was talking about nightmares. Still, the ball stays in Luka's hands too long. When the rest of the Mavs' team is handdling the ball and getting shot opportunities, the Mavs are a much tougher team than when they rely mostly on Luka. Tonight at Chase Center we'll see if the Warriors can close out the series. 

Don't forget WNBA star, Brittany Griner, a prisoner in Russia. Write letters, Email, Instagram, get on Facebook. Get angry sports fans!

While 50 Republican Senators refuse to pass a basic gun control law HR 8 that would tighten background checks, another 19 elementary school children have been murdered by a guntotting crazy in the town of Uvalde,Texas. (The greatest of shame upon you senators.)

The following poem was written after the Nazi airforce bombed the city of Guernica during the Spanish Civil War. God will do the same for the dead children of Uvalde, I pray.

IN GUERNICA THE DEAD CHILDREN   by Norman Roston

In Guernica the dead children were laid out in order on the sidewalk

In their white starched dresses.

In their pitiful white dresses.

On their foreheads and breasts, the little roud holes

Where death came in like thunder

While they were playing their important summer games.

Do not weep for them Madre

They are gone forever, the little ones

Straight to heaven to the Saints

And God will fill their bullet holes with candy.

 

Wiggins, My Take & The Kings

Mainly the question Warrior Andrew Wiggins' presence poses Is he the wing answer to the Warriors concept of deep shooting, defense and movement? This year, really the first year that fans should judge his performance, Wiggins played like a star through the first half of the season and was named to the starting five on the West's All Star team. Some pundits questined whether he belonged. I didn't. That is not until the second half of the season when Wiggins game went south or north or whereve disinterest or confusion or lost spirit takes a player. I texted coaches and knowlegable NBA sources, what was going on with Wiggins? How could a player who played so well before the All Star Game, play so unenthusiastically the rest of the way? I got all sorts of possibilities. None satisfied me. Wiggins is a 6'7" swift, leaping, slashing, shooting wing with a 7 foot wingspan. Past perfomances prove he is cabable of sustained greatness. Why then, now does he not perform at that level all the time?My wife, who is an artist and sees life in terms of esthetics, joked that perhaps Wiggens sees himself as a ballet dancer and not a pro-basketball player. "Ha, ha!" I said. Later, I began thinking about what Melanie's joke. What if? Which is the question one always asks oneself if one is a mystery writer, which I happen to be (See my website Warrior14.com for info. on my upcoming first mystery novel) What if Andrew Wiggins doesn't see himself as a star? I played in the NBA for 10 years. I've been around the sport all my adult life, even while I was teaching and in retirment. Every NBA star I ever knew or every spent any time examing possessed a very strong and clear image of himself as a GREAT player, a STAR. There are no modest superstars. They may say the right things and people may thing they are being modest, but it is fiction. They actualize how they see themselves. And they see themself in the heavens in the galazies of brilliance. The more I thougt about this, the more it made sense to me. Every thing i've ever heard about Andrew Wiggins is that he is a gentle, thoughtful young man and a great teammate. What if the answer to his inconsistency is his inability to visualize himslf in the role of a superstar. In some ways I understand. I was selected to the West's 1963 All Star Team. If someone had asked me back then was I an All Star, I would have probably said no. I had a good season, that was it. That response for all intents and purposes predicted the way I would play and whee my game would lead me. For the next nine years until I retired, I was a reliable, defensive minded, rebounder, an important cog in the machine of the team, but I would never be an All Star again. 

Back to Adnew Wiggiins and his performances in this seasons playoffs. Suddently Wiggins has left whatever kept him playing so lacklusterly in the second half of the season and is playing like an All Star. His guarding of Super Star Luka Doncic (Here' a guy who has a firm image of himself in the role of super hero) was magic. What I'm hoping for is this: Andrew Wiggins is finally seeing himself as a bone fide super star. 

Cloe your eyes Wigs. There's a picture there. It's of you flying through the air dunking on Wilt Chamberlian, or of you slashing past Bam Adebayo, or sinking a three over the outstretched hands of Magic Johnson. It's you. You beleong you belong in the same realm as Steph and Klay and LeBron, and KD. 

SACRAMENTO KINGS

A couple of quck thougts about the Kings. They lucked out by jumping from the 7th lottery postion to 4th and a chance to get a really solid college player in the draft. The most essential thing right now is that the owner Vivak Ranadive must get off the dime and externd GM McNair's contract so the Kings will finally have some continuity. McNair has earned it, making some difficult but smart moves, so that for the first time since I moved to Sacramento, the Kings have a chance to create a playoff team. No ownership meddling any more. 

Ode to the Golden State Warriors 2015    by Tom Meschery

 

One small change and the line reads: Good luck,

timing, and the stars. This morning I’m still seeing

Curry’s three float through the sky of the arena

reminding me of a lesson in geometry:

An arc is a segment of the circumference

Of the circle – from foot (the flat plane of release)

that travels in silent degrees over the moon.

That it drops into the hoop is a matter

both of mathematics and imagination.

 

I am watching this arc with my arm in a sling

Having had my shoulder replaced with titanium,

A science of a lesser degree than the one

Curry, and his teammate, Thompson,

use to turn mathamatics into a sport.

 

As far as my titanium shoulder will allow,

I raise my arm to salute the Splash Brothers

And their teammates, three out of five,

Bogut, Barnes, and Green

And all the other players off the bench,

No small part of the equation called teammates.

And raise it up again through pain

To honor the others: players and coaches,

Gentry, Adams, and Kerr for his coaching

That were it not intense, looks much like joy.

 

Something so old inside me called desire

Yearns to play again, to shake off years,

Travel through the television screen

And be six-six again, called undersized

Like Draymond Green snatching rebounds,

Playing beyond our skills because we will it,

Because we know that timing gives us wings.

 

And wherever they are, the old Warriors,

Nate and Rick, Al and Jeff, I wonder, if like me,

They’re watching these new Warriors, Dubs,

Seeing how much luck, timing, and the stars triangulate.

 

      

          

Today's Warriors vx Mavs & etc

 How to stop the Slovenian Superstar? t=That is the question. Whether tis noblier to have Klay guard him or Andrew Wiggings or suffer the heartgache of Draymond getting into foul trouble early. Must give the Warriors pause. To stop Luka is devoutly to be wished, but why not stop the secondary shooters? And not dream of stopping Doncic and suffer the heartache and the thousand natural shocks that his jumper from all angles will inflict? 

This is my answer to the question about how to stop the Slovenian Star. Make of it as you wish.

And without the Shakespeare, the Dubs better stop the errant passes, turnovers, "throwing the ball around like a canine owner playing fetch with his dog." Compliments to whoever wrote this on Facebook this morning. 

Ime Udoka called out his two veteran stars, Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown for letting the team down in the second half of their first game of the Eastern Conference series against the Miami Heat. Some might say it was unwise, considering the Celts had a perfect excuse for their second half woes, the absense of their toughest defender, Marcus Smart and arguabley the second best paint defender in Al Horford, the Dominican star who my wife insists is French because of his long eyelashes. But no. Coach Udoka did not fall into the excuse trap. He learned well under the tutelege of Pop in San Antonio. If your vets are never called out, the rest of the team will seee it as favoritism, not somethng you want when dealing with a bunch of professionals, all no matter bench players or not, with big egos. You set standards or you don't. If you don't, you will perish as a coach in the NBA. Go, Coach Udoka!

I'll not pretend to know at this point who the winner of the Western Conferece will be. If the Warriors can stop their turnovers and limit their opponents to difficult shots with no seond chance shots, the Dubs will be victorious. On offense, they have too many weapons for the Mavs, who relie almost entirely on Luka. If Luka is smart and become a true point guard and shares the basketball with his teammates, and said teamated make a high % of heir shots, the Mavs will win. 

As for the East, I have to admit that Butler, Athogh I don't like him, a reason I made clear in a previous blog, is a bona fide Super Star. I do believe that the Celts will win if they get Smart and Horford back. Miami will win the next game in Miami. The Celts win both games in Boston, and the next two for the Conferenc championship. 

Which leads me to my next question, which is one of my favorite NBA pet peeves. Why on earth are MVP and other league awards awared before the end of the Playoff???? Is that enough qustion marks? Dumb and dumber! Monty Willims did a hell of a job during the season, but I offer Steve Kerr and Ime Udoka and Miami Heat Coach Spoelstra as better complete ecamples of the total season. MVP, sure the Joker deserved it, but what is the 76ers had won the East and Joel Embiid kept up his maginificent league performance? What about Jayson Tatum? Butler? Best  defender. Okay, probably got it right with Marcus Smart, but what if he flopped during the playoffs. Does he still deserve the award if he can produce defens in crunch time? Most imporved? How about Jordan Poole? Maybe not, but why not wait until the most important part of the seaon is over, wait until we see who produces at the highest level during CRUNCH TIME? Awards before the playoff are STUPID. And the NBA should not want to look STUPID. 

An etc pet peeve. Please comment if this bothers you as much as it does me. When watching golf on TV, why do commercials get the bigger of the split screen? Is it all about greed? I hold my hand up and shiled the ads in order to see the teeeeny figure of Jordan Spieth hit one hell of a drive that I can baredly see if it was a wide screen and damn near impossible on the little teeeny weeny screen that the PGA offers me. I want to see the putt, I don't want to be distracted my a beer commercial or a ROLEX ad. Who gives a sh-t?

Let's keep sending weaposn to the Ukrainians. The underdogs are making life miserable for Putin's army. Putin is not doing well in his version of the playoffs. No MVP for him. And when will our governent stop dragging its feet and shut down every single money-grubbing Russian oligarth from their money??????  

Brtttany Griner, hang in there. We love you.

It's baseball season. Here's an old standard for an old standard.

HITS AND RUNS   By Carl Sandburg

I remember the Chillicothe ball players grappling the Rock

     Island ball players in the sixteen-inning game ended by 

     darkness.

And the shoulders of the Chillcothe players were in red smoke

     against the sundown and the shoulders of the Rock

      Island players were a yellow smoke against the sun-

      down.

And the umpire's voice was hoarse calling balls and strikes

     And outs, and the umpire's throat fought in the 

     the dust for a song. 

Im

Playoffs 2022 & etc

 The playoffs are well under way and I'm behind writing about the games. I might have had something to say aboutr the TWolves surprisingly strong showing and not surprisingly final loss to the Griz. I might have said the TWolves need a smarter point guard who they don't need to score but can defend. I might have said that Parrick Beverley often looks as crazy as Wiley the Cayote as he mistakes leadership for physicality. (Is physicality a real word?). And physicality for brute force. That said, the TWolves would not have gotten as far as they did without him. I might have said all these things, but I didn't. I've been usy editing the galleys of my upcoming first mystery novel: The Brovelli Brothers: The Case of the "61 Chevy Impala that is due out sometime in November. There, I got in some early advertising. 

It is the second round. Joel Embid is out with and injured eye and a concussion. Without Emibid, the 76ers have no chance to defeat the Heat. I am totally sorry for Joel, who I like as player immensely. I do not like James Harden, although I realize he is an offensive weapon. Read the adjective anyway you want. The way Harden has disappeared in close important games and the way he left his Rockets and Nets teammates offends me.  I wish Embid well, I do wish he'd not decided to leave his Cameroon Olymic teaam to join the French team. Coould it be Hardin's personality is rubbing off on him? The heat wins. The Heat wil not win the East. 

The East belongs to /the Greek Fleet -of-Foot nd his teammates who will finally defeat a tough Boston Celtic team. Can the Bucks win it all? Not without Middleton.

Now that sharpshooter Booker is back, the Suns look to be the overall strongest team by position and reserve strength. They will defeat Doncic and the Mavs. I worry about Doncic. He over controls the Mav offense. All one has to do is compare the way he plays point guard to the way Chris Paul  does off the dribble. It seems to me that Luka looks for his shot first and teammates second, the reverse of what CP3 does.I was hoping Jason Kidd who change the way Doncic plays point, but I was wrong. 

My Warriors and Memphis Griz will battle to seven i'm afraid as long as they allow Ja Morant to score over 40 points a game. In the end, the Dubs will win because they are more patient and have the edge o deep playoff experience. One can't help but be impressed with Ja. There are only three players at the guard position that I can equate his skill set too and they are Earl the Pearl Monroe, Pistol Pete, and Allen Iverson. 

In closing, the NBA has got to do something about the refs constantly reviewing every singe hit to the head or rough body contact. I understand the importance of eliminating dangerous plays, but the excessive delays interfere with the flow of the game. And I daresay sometimes to detriment of a team by changing the tempo. 

Here's a small poem I've used before but it seems appropriate during Playoffs/ I let you decide why. 

CHINESE CHECKERS by Arleen Cohen

The dragons

tell me how to move

like a grasshopper across

the multi-colored field

springing from hole to hole

outmaneuvering the beetles.

I see the sacred star

and one by one

I  deposit my eggs

until it is 

filled and full. 

 

Ba