Osaka Sadness and Etc

 As an athlete who's played at the highest level of his sport, I found Naomi Osaka's interview heartbreaking, particularly the part about not being happy with winning, only relieved. Winning tennis no longer makes her happy, she said. Osaka has recently opted out of the last two tour tournaments and chose not to compete in the Olympic games for her country, citing mental health issues. It was very brave of her to share what her problem was. Could she have some back too early for the US Open? I believe her body language on the court proved it even more than the mistakes she would have never made had she been mentally ready and engaged in the game. 

Serena Williams, when asked how she deals with the pressures of professional tennis (the constant attention of media, the demands on one's personal life) she said she had "thick skin." Clearly, Naomi could use a thicker skin. Naomi Osaka's depression and anxiety could have had more to do with her empathy for the suffering in the COVID world around her and her horror over the greedy and power MAD politicians that endanger humanity. Need I mention the environment, the racial divisions, the violence, and the rapidly growing separation between the rich and the poor? Osaka's skin is  not thick enough to withstand such inhumanity. For that, she has lost heart. It will take her time, meditation, love, and support to find her way back to tennis so that she can once again feel the joy of victory. 

Etc:

If Daryl Morey doesn't become more realistic about Ben Simmon's value, he'll wind up out thinking himself. He better ask himself if the 76ers can start the season with this problem still unresolved. Simmons has already said, he's a no show for training camp. 

The Sacramento Kings should take a flyer with Simmons, but only if it requires giving up Heild and Bagley and maybe a first round draft choice down the line. No more. Simmons defense and athletic skills would help to change the defensive culture of the Kings who sorely need to get tons tougher in that category. Not to mention that Simmons at close to 7 feet can run like a deer and finish at the basket. The speed of a Fox Simmons, Davion Mitchell, Terese Haliburton would be impressive and effective. They'd have virtually no consistent 3 pts scoring without Buddy, but at this point in Kings history they need Big D before Big 3

To the PGA, adjust your split screen policy and give a larger screen to the match and a lesser screen to the commercials. Ask yourselves, are you selling products or providing sporting entertainment? 

A lovely little poem for you fly fishermen   by Philip Raisor from his book of poems, Headhunting.  

from Four Legal Weapons.

Before the art comes the hook,
disguise, let's say, as a Wooly Bugger.
I attach a sliver of marabou to the shank
and wrap the hackle feather tighter
than most. Beautiful, yes, but remember:
downstream is the hunger waiting to fry.    

Tony Finau and Other Stuff

 A big HooWah for Tony Finau, a man of color, who won the Northern Trust tourny. He's advanced to the Fed Ex Finals. I'm keeping my fingers crossed. Finau is of Tongan and Samoan descent and the first of Pacific Island heritage to play golf at the highest level on the PGA tour. 

It's not news that are few men of color playing professional golf on the PGA Tour. That goes for the Women's tour as well. But let's stay with men for the time being. Before Tiger Woods took the game to a  new level, there were a few African American men who distinguished themselves: Lee Elder and Calvin Peete, for example. Today on tour there are two noteworthy black players on tour: Cameron Champ and Harold Varner III. It is understandable in a country that is so divided between the rich and poor. Golf is expensive to play and to learn. Similarly, so is tennis. Yesterday I saw two African Americans playing against each other in the first round of the U..S. Open. "Wow!" I said. However, when the camera panned into the stands I also noted there was very little racial diversity sitting watching. Ditto the fans watching golf at the National and the BMW. A sport has to be accessible to youngsters for them to catch the fever. Golf and tennis are not even in the same city let alone the same neighborhood. 

STUFF:

What are the bookies saying about the odds that the 49ers two QB system will work? 

Since defensive linemen in football in a punting situation by rule can release as soon as the ball is snapped, why the heck don't they sprint back to become blockers for the receiver rather than try to block the punt, an act of futility as far as I'm concerned.

There should be a  rule in soccer that says once the ball crosses mid field, it can not come back, which it does so often I'm half asleep before there looks like a reasonable attack unfolding. 

Another NFL question. Why do coaches keep their stars (the ones not coming off of injuries) from getting any real game time during exhibition season? Are they so certain that the vet will be game ready to play from the get-go? I guess we'll find out this season. 

Lots of talk in our sports page about high school athletes leaving their district schools and enrolling in schools with more elite programs. This is a  trend that has been going on now for at least the last 15 years. In basketball, for example, there are basketball academies for the extremely gifted that have their own schedules and play against each other and are scouted by the pros. If this trend continues and there doesn't seem any reason to believe it won't, it is time to consider the European model of school boy and girl sports. No sports in school. Sports clubs for athletics. I love the democracy of high school sports and would hate to see this happen, but it looks to me that sports in our country is fast becoming more of an oligarchy than a democracy. 

Here's a fabulous poem about baseball written by Robert Hamlin from his neat poetry book, Keeping Score

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 litt'uns could also be big'uns.


 

D2021 Warriors and KIngs & a Few Other Comments

 Warriors first. Jonathon Kuminga No 7. As they say, great upside, but will he learn to shoot free throws?. I've been watching him the last two days playing in the summer leagues. He's 18 yrs old in a grown man's body with marvelous athleticism. Right this minute he is valuable as a rebounder and a downhill scorer. He has a lot to learn. His growth will be better served in practice time and in big boy NBA games. There are a lot of mentors on the Dubs who will provide the rookie with ways to improve his game.  Igudala, for example. Welcome home Mr. Clutch! Now for the 14th pick, Moses Moody. He too has upside, but how high is the question. If it turns out his ceiling is as a strong reserve, well so be it. Bench is essential to winning in the NBA. I'm pulling for Moody because my grandson is named Moses, named for Moses Malone, not the Biblical prophet.  

Sacramento Kings: Davion Mitchell in the first round. He's short at 6 ft. But he's a bulldog with lots of skills. If his Baylor senior year 3 pt shot proves to be his NBA 3 pt shot, he'll help a great deal because he'll be a big plus on D and while not giving up anything on offense. The Kings sure need to improve their team and individual D.  It will be interesting to see what the Kings do with Buddy Hield. Bit of advise from an old NBA Jock: Hield is a downtown proven 3  point threat. Don't give him up unless you get equal value back. No first round draft choices in 2050 and other Sam Presti rookie nonsense. 

Other observations by teams: Miami Heat. I'm going out on a limb and say Lowry will not be the magic bullet at guard the Heat need. I'm not a big Butler fan either. He's a mid range shooting threat and a strong defender, but he's undersized and is no longer the youthful Butler of yore. And, I don't trust a player who bailed the way he did on the Timberwolves and Coach Tibs who gave him his start to fame with the Chicago Bulls. Character means a lot. Anyway, let's  remember Lowry is not a spring chicken himself. Unless Toronto has other ideas for Drajic, the clever vet guard will help the Raptors. Look for Van Vleet to get more open looks with Drajic feeding him. 

Detroit Pistons: Cade Cunningham is the real deal. He will have a long outstanding career in the NBA. Will he be a super star? Maybe, but for sure he's going to be a franchise player, having more to do with leadership and smarts than point totals. Read this morning that he's already being called Motorcade. Kudos to Detroit sports writers.

Cavs: Baring injuries, Mobley is a future Hall of Fame player. Get him into the weight room.

Orlando: Suggs will also have a long career in the NBA. A Billups type of guard. Already asserting his leadership. But wait! It's only Summer League. Franz Wagner? See me shrugging my shoulders. Any team interested in a down-town 29 years old Lativian shooter, keep an eye on Janis Timma. 

Raptors: Don't trade Siakim, Barnes is a question mark. 

Rockets: Green can get 20 easily every night. We'll see how dedicated he is to defense. Wasn't that a recent super star problem for the Rockets? According to my wife, Green gets the most handsome rookie award. 

I'm saving the Olympics for my next Blog, but here's a poem for the 2021 Tokyo Olympic high divers. I got a nose bleed simply watching them.

HIGH DIVER by Robert Francis.

How deep is his duplicity who in a flash

Passes from resting bird to flying bird to fish,

Who momentarily is sculpture, then all motion,

Speed and splash, then climbs again to contemplation.

He is the archer who himself is bow and arrow,
He is the upper-under-world-commuting hero.

His downward going has the air of sacrifice

To some dark seaweed-bearded seagod face to face

Or goddess. Rippling and responsive lies the water
For him to contemplate, then powerfully to enter. 

Random Comments

 Random Comment #1: NBA average free throw shooting percentage: 77.2%; WNBA average free throw shooting percentage: 80.2%

Random Comment #2: PGA of the Tee 290 yards; LPGA of the Tee; 254 yards. Makes one think that if LPGA gals were allowed to tee off 40 yards in front of the men, they could compete at every other level. Make that happen, and wouldn't a competition between genders knock the socks off of any previous golf tournament TV ratings?  

Random Comment #3 Does Ben Simmons  of the Philly 76ers, have no shame? How does a guy pulling down this amount of $ shoot so dismally? 23 % from the field. Less than 30% from the free throw line. Come On, Ben!!!

Random Comment #4: Happy to read the NFL is being sued by Saint Louis folks for the team relocating to LA. through the use of some pretty slimy tactics. How about Seattle filing a suit against the Oklahoma Thunder's owner for his slimy relocation tactic moving his newly bought team to OKC. (When he bought the team he said he wouldn't move it, Right. Liar, liar, pants on fire!)

Random Comment #5: In todays The Athletic, evaluating 2021 NBA draftee: About 3 pt shooting Corey Kispert from the Zags: "Kispert is 22, which is a fossil relative to the other players available. . . "  Takes me back to 1961 when I was drafted #1 by the Philadelphia Warriors (San Francisco Warriors/Golden State) I was a 22 year old fossil and gave the NBA and my teams ten pretty damn good years of production. I'm not sure what the diff between 10 years and 15 years means in the NBA. Lots of first round draft choices who are teens wind up in the G League being paid first round draft choice salaries while not helping the home team at all. I'm thinking of a knock-down shooter like Kisspert and another 24 year old from U of Oregon by the name of Chris Duarte. Both can come in and produce right now, not three years from now. 

Random Comment #6: As per John Hollinger in The Athletic talking about Free Agency: As a result, teams are likely to pump the brakes on a max deal for Lonzo Ball. Something in the range of 100 million over 4 years seems more likely. As my wife said, "Awh, poor baby, how will he ever manage?"

Random Comment #7: Big ATTABOY to Jacob Stenmstz, the first Orthodox Jew to be drafted #1 in the MBL. Reminds me I need to re-read Chaim Potok's The Chosen. The first part of the book takes place on the baseball field.

Random Comment #8: Nigeria and now the Aussies beat our boys in red, white and blue. And the Argentinians pushed USA hard. Now JaVale Magee joins the team. Really???? 

Random Comment #9: Congrats to Natalie Diaz for winning a Pulitzer Prize this year for poetry for her Post Colonial Love Poem, published by Greywolf Press. Natalie played basketball for Old Dominion and pro ball in Europe and Asia. Makes one think basketball players should write more poetry. 

Natalie doesn't write poems about basketball as far as I know. She does start one stanza on the Teotlachco ball court. If you're scratching your head, the Aztecs invented basketball. 

Instead of a poem, here's one of a series of Why Indians are Good at Basketball written by Nicole Tower, a journalism student at Arizona State University

We know how  to block shots, how to stuff them down your throat because when you say, "Shoot!" we hear howitzer and Hotchkiss and Springfield Model 1873.

Nigeria Beat USA + Nostalgia

 I just finished watching Nigeria's Olympic Basketball Team defeat our Team U.S.A. in a practice game in prep for the real thing in Japan. It was a first effort by both teams and could easily be an indicator of the teams' strengths and weaknesses. It was clear to me that this game was not being taken lightly by both teams. I was cheering for our guys, but by the fourth quarter when it appeared that Nigeria might upset us, I suddenly found myself cheering for the Nigerians to win. That's exactly what happened. The green and white beat the Red, White and Blue. 

 A team from the continent of Africa has never beaten a basketball team from the Untied States before. How good must the Nigerian players feel being the first. Forget, this was a practice game. It was a W. The Nigerian players will not only be heroes in their own country but in all the countries of Africa. It is probably a good time to be sure all my readers understand, there was no dearth of NBA players on the Nigerian team. Over the years the countries of Africa, primarily of West Africa, have sent the NBA some fabulous athletes, beginning with legendary Hall of Fame center for the Houston Rockets, Hakeem "The Dream" Olajuwon. And I should point out that many of the great European basketball players that played in the NBA in recent past and play now have West African family roots. 

I was not being disloyal pulling for Nigeria to win, I was remembering fondly and with a modicum of pride, that I was one of the first NBA players to bring basketball to West Africa. In the Summer of 1963, Bill Russell and Bob Cousy of the Boston Celtics, as part of a joint NBA and United States Information Agency (USIA) good will project, traveled to West Africa to hold basketball clinics. They worked only in the country of Senegal. The following summer, John Havelick, KC Jones, and I made the same trip to Senegal and to three additional countries: Mali, Ivory Coast and Liberia. To say basketball was in its infant stages is an understatement. Many of the young men and women we coached didn't have athletic shoes. Some played in their bare feet. Many shot the ball with two hands.The following summer I went back to West Africa with Siugo Green, point guard, of the Saint Louis Hawks, to coach again. And after I retired from the NBA in 1971, I returned for four months to West Africa in the fall of 1981, By then,  our earlier coaching lessons had taken root and many of the players were demonstrating great promise. In the 21st century, the NBA has benefited greatly from that promise.  

That was the last time I was in Africa, but I've traveled there often over the years in my memory and in my heart.  So, right on Nigeria! Right on West Africa! I'll bet you Hakeem The Dream watched tonight's game and was smiling at the outcome.

I wrote this poem for my third book of poetry, Sweat: New and Selected Poems About Sports. 

Hakeeem Olajuwon

           aka Hakeem The Dream

In Africa each morning practice starts
with warm-ups. The youngest on the team,
perhaps sixteen, always the first waiting for me,
sit in the thin shade below the backboard, 
reading the latest article about Hakeem.  
We stretch hamstrings, then slow jog
around the court. He keeps pace, all the while
talking about The Dream. "Dis donc," he says,
"With The Dream we would defeat Senegal
and be Champions of West Africa   
"Que pensez vous, entraineur?" What do I think?
I can't think about anything other than the red
and smoky sun rising over the opposite basket,
the heat already seating my shirt, and how
the rains suddenly begin half way through practice.
I shag his jump shots, the ones he says 
are like Hakeem's. He says he too will attend
the University of Houston, later play in the NBA.
"Vous m'assistez?" But his shots are ugly, too flat;
they lack the back-spin, the softness of the Dream's.
I nod my head, whatever I can do - my best shot,
I am in the country of Burkina Fasso.
Its name means Land of Up-Right people.