Dear Readers, were you as thoroughly disgusted with the numbers of commercials that interrupted Sunday's Memorial PGA golf finals as I was? One of the nicest things about watching golf on TV is it's peaceful transitions from the T to fareway to green with few interruption except for the calm and subdued voices of the commentators.
I have recently become a fan of golf playing and watching coinciding with my first feeble attempts at this frustrating sport, and I take back anything I ever said about golf not being a sport. I don't think I have ever seen a golf shot as difficult as the one Tiger made on the 16th to cinch his lead. Let's hope Tiger has finally conquered his demons and will go on to surpass Sam Snead's record of 82 PGA tournament wins. What a great athlete he is.
Speaking of sports commentators. What in the world does Shaq add to the EJ, Kenny Smith, Charles Barkley triumvirate? Sir Charles is far funnier and Kenny more knowledgeable. All I can tell that Shaq does is add to the now interminable guffaws and confusion that prior to Shaq's arrival was manageable and endurable. I haven't heard one interesting insight into the game of basketball yet from Shaq. And all the back and forth between him and Charles is finally annoying and distracting. Adios Shaq and EJ. I'm tuning in to ESPN's Magic, Barry show for real basketball talk.
Despite my desire to see the "old guys" the Celts and Spurs win, I'm fascinated by a Heat Thunder match up. I'll be pulling for the Thunder. I like the steady and smart way they drafted and traded their way to a championship team. Mind you, I'm not against a bunch of good players getting together to play ball, but it's a bit like stacking the deck, isn't it like those playground days when all the best players chose each other so they could kick everybody else's butt and stay on the court.
Lots of ball players heading to the big game in the sky recently: Jack Twyman and Orlando Woolridge. To them I dedicate this poem. Not the most uplifting, but very interesting.
The Advantages of Being a World Class Athlete by Anthony Lacavaro
In the end when the doctors circle around
Like doctors, they can find nothing wrong,
A perfect body they murmur over
And over like a prehistoric discovery,
Nothing wrong, nothing wrong except it's dead.
There will be no reason for this tragedy
Which catapults your death into the world
Of public myth: were you too good
for us, did they take you, or were you not
Of this earth to begin with and just returned.
The results of the tests say nothing about it,
Though one of the doctors speaking
Out of turn, will say softly,
"One foot appears to be larger than the other."
Monday, June 4, 2012
Thursday, May 24, 2012
Warrior's New Arena
In response to Monte Poole's article on Thursday May 24, 2012, in the Mercury News, Oakland Tribune, and Sacramento Bee, "In the NBA, it's not location, location, location," I wrote the following response and sent it to the sport's editor of the Oakland Tribune, for whom Poole works.
No one believes and certainly not the Warrior's administration that a new arena will "magically" provide a winning team. Such an assertion is silly. Joe Lacob and Peter Guber, the new owners of the Golden State Warriors, simply see an opportunity to create a state of the art structure to house the winning team they are trying diligently to assemble (witness the gutsy trade of Monte Elis.) They have that right. They have no hidden agendas. From the start, the new owners have been completely transparent about their goals.
When I played for the Warriors, our jerseys read San Francisco. When Franklin Mieuli, the owner, changed the name to Golden State and moved to Oakland, there was little hue and cry over the move. San Francisco, peninsula, and Marin County Warrior fans jumped in their cars and drove to the East Bay to support their team. (The Trip has become easier these days with BART.) I'm certain Warrior fans from the East Bay will show the same good sense and loyalty. (Bart Travels west as well as east.) We are all the Golden State Warriors.
For more on the subject go to my blog: Meschery's Musings of Sport, Literature, and life.com
Sincerely,
etc,etc
Here's the MORE:
I wanted to keep my letter to the editor respectful, so I didn't respond to Poole's use of the word "superficial image" when talking about San Francisco. There's nothing superficial about my home town. We grew up there, went to elementary schools and high schools there, rode on its Muni. buses, and played in the city's streets and gyms. As for the "world class restaurants" in San Francisco Poole refers to, as if that is one of the reasons the new owners are making the move to San Francisco, sure, there are great restaurants in my city, but how many basketball fans will be going to those gourmet restaurants prior to a game? Come on, Poole! It's pizza and dogs before hoops. As for "profiteering off new gear," the owners have already stated they're not changing the name of the team.
I'm surprised by all the whining going on. This is not at all like the Sonics leaving for OKC or the 49ers leaving their fans behind for San Jose. Or the poor Sacramento Kings fans who will probably lose their team to some city. If it's Seattle, let's hear it for irony.
Another writer, Marcus Thompson II's, recently wrote that the Oakland fans have been "jilted". As in,
at the alter? Not sure the metaphor works, dude. Oracle Arena and the Warriors have had a 46 year old marriage. And that's where the extended metaphor should end.
Thompson's lame whine that it was the way the owners announced their intention to move to San Francisco and not the move itself that was wrong doesn't wash. Joe Lacob and Peter Guber put together a splendid coming out party with the Bay Bridge in the background, the bridge as a reminder that all the communities of the Bay Area are connected, such a connection that most people in the Bay Area historically understand.
Let's get real. Oakland had no problem when Franklin Mieuli moved the San Francisco Warriors to Oakland's new state of the art Oracle Arena. Well, maybe they whined a little, but in the end they got in their cars and drove to Oakland to support their team.
While this talk of a new arena is swirling about us, the war in Afghanistan is still going on and baseball season continues its journey to October.
Baseball by Linda Pastan
When you tried to tell me
baseball was a metaphor
for life: the long, dusty travail
around the bases, for instance,
to try to go home again;
the Sacrifice for which you win
approval but not applause;
the way the light closes down
in the last days of the season -
I didn't believe you.
It's just a way of passing
the time, I said.
And you said: that's it.
Yes.
No one believes and certainly not the Warrior's administration that a new arena will "magically" provide a winning team. Such an assertion is silly. Joe Lacob and Peter Guber, the new owners of the Golden State Warriors, simply see an opportunity to create a state of the art structure to house the winning team they are trying diligently to assemble (witness the gutsy trade of Monte Elis.) They have that right. They have no hidden agendas. From the start, the new owners have been completely transparent about their goals.
When I played for the Warriors, our jerseys read San Francisco. When Franklin Mieuli, the owner, changed the name to Golden State and moved to Oakland, there was little hue and cry over the move. San Francisco, peninsula, and Marin County Warrior fans jumped in their cars and drove to the East Bay to support their team. (The Trip has become easier these days with BART.) I'm certain Warrior fans from the East Bay will show the same good sense and loyalty. (Bart Travels west as well as east.) We are all the Golden State Warriors.
For more on the subject go to my blog: Meschery's Musings of Sport, Literature, and life.com
Sincerely,
etc,etc
Here's the MORE:
I wanted to keep my letter to the editor respectful, so I didn't respond to Poole's use of the word "superficial image" when talking about San Francisco. There's nothing superficial about my home town. We grew up there, went to elementary schools and high schools there, rode on its Muni. buses, and played in the city's streets and gyms. As for the "world class restaurants" in San Francisco Poole refers to, as if that is one of the reasons the new owners are making the move to San Francisco, sure, there are great restaurants in my city, but how many basketball fans will be going to those gourmet restaurants prior to a game? Come on, Poole! It's pizza and dogs before hoops. As for "profiteering off new gear," the owners have already stated they're not changing the name of the team.
I'm surprised by all the whining going on. This is not at all like the Sonics leaving for OKC or the 49ers leaving their fans behind for San Jose. Or the poor Sacramento Kings fans who will probably lose their team to some city. If it's Seattle, let's hear it for irony.
Another writer, Marcus Thompson II's, recently wrote that the Oakland fans have been "jilted". As in,
at the alter? Not sure the metaphor works, dude. Oracle Arena and the Warriors have had a 46 year old marriage. And that's where the extended metaphor should end.
Thompson's lame whine that it was the way the owners announced their intention to move to San Francisco and not the move itself that was wrong doesn't wash. Joe Lacob and Peter Guber put together a splendid coming out party with the Bay Bridge in the background, the bridge as a reminder that all the communities of the Bay Area are connected, such a connection that most people in the Bay Area historically understand.
Let's get real. Oakland had no problem when Franklin Mieuli moved the San Francisco Warriors to Oakland's new state of the art Oracle Arena. Well, maybe they whined a little, but in the end they got in their cars and drove to Oakland to support their team.
While this talk of a new arena is swirling about us, the war in Afghanistan is still going on and baseball season continues its journey to October.
Baseball by Linda Pastan
When you tried to tell me
baseball was a metaphor
for life: the long, dusty travail
around the bases, for instance,
to try to go home again;
the Sacrifice for which you win
approval but not applause;
the way the light closes down
in the last days of the season -
I didn't believe you.
It's just a way of passing
the time, I said.
And you said: that's it.
Yes.
Sunday, May 20, 2012
Grumpy Old English Teacher
I've been told that professional athletes can't help it if they speak the English language improperly; it's the way they've been raised. Because I was an English teacher for twenty-one years, this drives me crazy. So, at the risk of sounding elitist, I suggest that the vast majority of people no matter their culture, race, or economic condition can learn, if they want to, the rules for basic English grammar. They can learn that double negatives such as a recent quote by LeBron James, "I'm no monster; this ain't no horror movie. I'm not trying to scare nobody," is a double negative and flat wrong. So is "Me and coach have been together for nine years..." as spoken recently by D Wade improper grammar. It should be coach and I. James and Wade are athletic super models for a ton of youth and constantly on radio and television. James has recently sponsored a wonderful t.v. ad promoting school attendance, which I vigorously applaud, but he could walk his talk more by putting in a little time studying English. It is really not that hard, I promise.
Track and Field doesn't get nearly as much publicity as the "Big Three" sports. So, bravo to the University of Oregon's Women's Track Team for winning the Pac 12 title and to all other winning track and field programs. The Summer Olympics are coming. Your brief time to shine is almost here. Perhaps the interminably long NBA season will be over by then, while the interminably long baseball season continues on, followed by the interminably long football season.
What ever happened to the first round of the NBA Chmpionship being a five game series? Ah, I forgot about the interminably long need for more $.
Pole Vaulter by David Allan Evans
The approach to the bar
is everything
unless I have counted
my steps hit my markers
feel up to it I refuse
to follow through
I am committed to beginnings
or to nothing
planting the pole
at runway's end
jolts me to my task
out of sprinting
I take off kicking in
and up my whole weight
trying the frailty
of fiberglass
never forcing myself
trusting it is right
to be taken to the end
of tension poised for
the powerful thrust to
fly me beyond expectation
near the peak
I roll my thighs inward
arch my back clearing
as much of the bar as I can
(know the best jump
can be cancelled
by a careless elbow)
and open my hands.
.
Track and Field doesn't get nearly as much publicity as the "Big Three" sports. So, bravo to the University of Oregon's Women's Track Team for winning the Pac 12 title and to all other winning track and field programs. The Summer Olympics are coming. Your brief time to shine is almost here. Perhaps the interminably long NBA season will be over by then, while the interminably long baseball season continues on, followed by the interminably long football season.
What ever happened to the first round of the NBA Chmpionship being a five game series? Ah, I forgot about the interminably long need for more $.
Pole Vaulter by David Allan Evans
The approach to the bar
is everything
unless I have counted
my steps hit my markers
feel up to it I refuse
to follow through
I am committed to beginnings
or to nothing
planting the pole
at runway's end
jolts me to my task
out of sprinting
I take off kicking in
and up my whole weight
trying the frailty
of fiberglass
never forcing myself
trusting it is right
to be taken to the end
of tension poised for
the powerful thrust to
fly me beyond expectation
near the peak
I roll my thighs inward
arch my back clearing
as much of the bar as I can
(know the best jump
can be cancelled
by a careless elbow)
and open my hands.
.
Friday, May 18, 2012
2012 NBA Playoffs, Early Rounds
Two All-Stars doesn't make a team. This is the hard lesson the Miami Heat is learning. Bosh went down with an injury, and guess what, the coaching staff is struggling to figure out how to fill the void. It should have been obvious to them from the get-go. A team means five starters who matter, not two starters and three players who don't matter, a bench that has no collective umph because they too know they don't matter. All offense goes through D Wade and James. They remaining trio and the bench are players of last resort. When the Heat added Battier and a healthy Miller, I felt at the time, they had added enough pieces to take them to the Eastern finals and perhaps win it, even with a healthy Chicago Bulls. But the Heat coaching screwed up big-time. The didn't create A TEAM. Miller, Battier, Haslam, and Jones have been relegated to after-thoughts. No championship for the Heat. The Indiana Pacers, A TEAM, will beat them. Then another TEAM, the Boston Celtics will beat the Pacers, but many kudos to the Pacers; they play bball they way it should be played, unselfishly.
In the West the best TEAM, the San Antonio Spurs, will play the Celtics for the NBA Championship.
One of the great TEAMS to win the NBA Championship was the New York Knicks of Willis Reed fame. I wrote this poem for one of the penultimate team players, Bill Bradley
Bill Bradley by Tom Meschery
The sameness of your jumpshot
was your secret. I know
that now. Age has taught me
how repetition wears a person down.
Newspapers wrote about your habits
shooting hundreds of shots
from exactly the same place
on the court, top of the key,
free-throw line extended until
you knew those spots by heart.
I had a coach who called it
muscle memory: what you must do
to be great. Today, that dedication
wears me out.I"d rather think
of Dick Barnett, your teammate,
who never kicked back the same
crazy jumper twice, and one time
from half court, the moment
the ball left his hand, turned
to one of those recorders of the game,
keeper of the clock and said,
"Baby, we are in oo-ver-time."
In the West the best TEAM, the San Antonio Spurs, will play the Celtics for the NBA Championship.
One of the great TEAMS to win the NBA Championship was the New York Knicks of Willis Reed fame. I wrote this poem for one of the penultimate team players, Bill Bradley
Bill Bradley by Tom Meschery
The sameness of your jumpshot
was your secret. I know
that now. Age has taught me
how repetition wears a person down.
Newspapers wrote about your habits
shooting hundreds of shots
from exactly the same place
on the court, top of the key,
free-throw line extended until
you knew those spots by heart.
I had a coach who called it
muscle memory: what you must do
to be great. Today, that dedication
wears me out.I"d rather think
of Dick Barnett, your teammate,
who never kicked back the same
crazy jumper twice, and one time
from half court, the moment
the ball left his hand, turned
to one of those recorders of the game,
keeper of the clock and said,
"Baby, we are in oo-ver-time."
Tuesday, May 8, 2012
NBA Playoffs
Is anyone concerned about how many no call blocks and strips there are during a game? Are players that talented these days that they can slap the ball cleanly out of an opponent's hands without whacking the wrist? (I understand hand is part of the ball, but the wrist isn't, nor the forearm.) Ah, well, it is the playoffs. Still, these no calls bother me the most when a player struggles mightily to grab an offensive rebound (not an easy thing to do) then goes up and an opponent slaps the ball (quesionable) the wrist (very likely) and forearm (also likely) while body slamming him to the floor. Offensive rebounders unite! You're losing points on the line. Do you know that one offensive rebound could be valued at six points, even as high as 8? If you ask me, I'll tell you.
What I love about the San Antonio Spurs is their dedication to teamwork on both ends of the court. I don't know if the Spurs will win the championship, but there chances the way they're playing looks good. Miami should win the East, and OKC and the Spurs should play off for the West.
My pick for NBA Champs is the San Antonio Spurs.
Isn't it great St. Mary's College fans that Patty Mills has found a home in San Antonio? The Galloping Gael Aussie has loads of talent and being mentored by Tony Parker will be a plus.
Was anybody puzzled during the NFL draft, that many of the college players were sporting huge diamond studded wrist watches. Unless those were zircons, were talking big money. Amateurs? Not really. The NCAA better figure out a better definition for college athletes.
Nothing to do with sports, but was anybody troubled by Charlie Sheen's ex getting $55,000 per month to raise her children? What does it cost the rich - that includes professional athletes - to raise their children?
Really scary message printed in the inside of football helmets; we're talking about the manufacturers of helmets warning us not to play the game because it's too dangerous.
Why is this college basketball draft being described as a good year? I can't see a franchise player (ie: a starter who makes a difference) in the whole bunch.
Will Tyreke Evans ever learn to shoot a consistent jump shot?
Will Steph Curry ever have an injury free year?
How about this trade? Jeremy Lin for Steve Nash. (Nash lives off season in the Big Apple) Suns get youth, the Knicks get a shot at a championship.
How is it that Shaq can have an EdD and still use double negatives when he speaks?
How to Play Night Baseball by Jnathan Holden
A pasture is best, freshly
mown so that by the time a grounder's
plowed through all that chewed, spit-out
grass to reach you, the ball
will be bruised with green kisses. Start
in the evening.Come
with a bad sunburn and smelling of chlorine,
water still crackling in your ears.
Play until the ball is khaki -
the girls' bare arms in the bleachers are pale,
and heat lightning jumps in the west. Play
until you can only see pop-ups,
and routine grounders get lost in
the sweet grass for extra bases.
What I love about the San Antonio Spurs is their dedication to teamwork on both ends of the court. I don't know if the Spurs will win the championship, but there chances the way they're playing looks good. Miami should win the East, and OKC and the Spurs should play off for the West.
My pick for NBA Champs is the San Antonio Spurs.
Isn't it great St. Mary's College fans that Patty Mills has found a home in San Antonio? The Galloping Gael Aussie has loads of talent and being mentored by Tony Parker will be a plus.
Was anybody puzzled during the NFL draft, that many of the college players were sporting huge diamond studded wrist watches. Unless those were zircons, were talking big money. Amateurs? Not really. The NCAA better figure out a better definition for college athletes.
Nothing to do with sports, but was anybody troubled by Charlie Sheen's ex getting $55,000 per month to raise her children? What does it cost the rich - that includes professional athletes - to raise their children?
Really scary message printed in the inside of football helmets; we're talking about the manufacturers of helmets warning us not to play the game because it's too dangerous.
Why is this college basketball draft being described as a good year? I can't see a franchise player (ie: a starter who makes a difference) in the whole bunch.
Will Tyreke Evans ever learn to shoot a consistent jump shot?
Will Steph Curry ever have an injury free year?
How about this trade? Jeremy Lin for Steve Nash. (Nash lives off season in the Big Apple) Suns get youth, the Knicks get a shot at a championship.
How is it that Shaq can have an EdD and still use double negatives when he speaks?
How to Play Night Baseball by Jnathan Holden
A pasture is best, freshly
mown so that by the time a grounder's
plowed through all that chewed, spit-out
grass to reach you, the ball
will be bruised with green kisses. Start
in the evening.Come
with a bad sunburn and smelling of chlorine,
water still crackling in your ears.
Play until the ball is khaki -
the girls' bare arms in the bleachers are pale,
and heat lightning jumps in the west. Play
until you can only see pop-ups,
and routine grounders get lost in
the sweet grass for extra bases.
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