#TwitterSports AKA Sporting Schadenfreude

For those who follow on Scribe on Twitter, it’s sincerely appreciated. It has allowed for the growth of the blog and a great launching pad for The Exchange. Coupled with exisiting relationships, Facebook and sheer persistence, Twitter has done wonders both professionally and personally that make the journey worthwhile. Sadly, for the good that comes from it must follow the bad, or in the case of last night, the utterly awful.

You may have run upon the hashtag, #TwitterSports, quite often. No, the social media network has not launched a sports division (thank the tech gods for that) nor have major media outlets launched dedicated Twitter-based apps. As long as Twitter exists – who knows how long that will be – the tag is the strongest use of sarcasm and criticism you’ll ever see from this Scribe.

It speaks to a level of irrationality, bias and sheer stupidity which spreads in ‘real-time’ across a given geography. If you thought those inappropriate comments and inane proposed trades in your barbershop or work lounge were bad, take a dip into #TwitterSports. Overreaction is the name of the game here; shock tweets, bad rumors and unverified stories run amok and catch like wildfire. Despite the good folks that are on Twitter to enlighten and more importantly, be enlightened, there are unfortunately, far more vocal, if not numerous idiots as well.

#TwitterSports, friends, is sporting schadenfreude.

Last night, #TwitterSports was in top form. The story of last night’s Game 4 is not about the Dallas Mavericks finishing the job, it’s the Los Angeles Lakers being swept out of the American Airlines Center a broken mess of bad coaching, listless play and one absolutely DUMB elbow thrown by Andrew Bynum.

This was expected. After all, a franchise with the rich history of the Lakers will have as many detractors, jealous fans and uninhibited ‘haters’ as they do fans, homers and star-hoppers (to put it lightly). We can just begin with the fact that they play in Los Angeles; the entertainment capital of the world juxtaposed with so many conflicting factions of daily society of all socioeconomic backgrounds.

And I haven’t mentioned the key players in this stage act. Phil Jackson’s leaving (and Knicks fans better stop running with speculation RIGHT NOW!), the Dwight Howard cloud hangs over Bynum’s head once again, Pau Gasol’s toughness is questioned with more fervor, Ron Artest’s suspension in Game 3 adds to his psychosis, Lamar Odom is caught up in his fragrance and this below [blurred out handle b/c this is enough attention to the stupidity] …

No matter what you believe about Kobe Bryant and the alleged rape a few years ago, is such a cavalier reference to sexual assault necessary?

So instead of giving much deserved credit to Dallas for better coaching and even better execution, we’re using the Lakers’ folly as the warm-up act for the biggest #TwitterSports show soon to come; the eventual end of the Miami Heat season. Whether they win the NBA championship, lose in the Finals or lose before getting to the Finals, the Heat’s narrative for the 2010-11 season was set up for some of the most biting, vitriolic, and vicious commentary we’ve ever seen.

The chatter will be as if LeBron James literally spat in everyone’s face last July.

At its core, #TwitterSports is a phenomena replicated from what you’d hear on a normal day before we go to work or class. It’s what we utter in inebriated tones at the local watering holes after a long day of mounting frustration with the world. It’s an arena of social media where the more brutal, the more immediate attention received. These are the rowdy kids in the school cafeteria that throw food while the principal stops by to make an announcement.

Sometimes, you look and just think “you can’t be serious?”

So, friends, if you thought last night was bad, we have yet to see the nadir of social media and sports. Brace yourselves.

Pluggin’: if you missed the mentions on Twitter and Facebook, tomorrow’s edition of The Exchange will not only feature friend of the blog, Paulsen from Sports Media Watch, but will be extended to 90 minutes. We’re going to truly break down the hackneyed discussion of sports ratings, big versus small markets and, of course, talk about the latest happenings. We’ll be looking for your questions, comments and concerns through the chat rooms, Twitter and Facebook, so let your minds churn. If you haven’t done so already, follow The Exchange on BlogTalkRadio.

For those who missed out on the great November interview from Paulsen, BOOM!

1997-2000: When 'Hating' the Miami Heat Made Sense

Having something to say about the woes of the Miami Heat is as easy as breathing in the blogosphere. This team of Superfriends or the new and rapidly-overdone “Two and a Half Men” has hit some bumps, even being overshadowed by an opponent whose pursuit of excellence eclipsed their significant win that broke a five-game losing streak.

When Miami head coach Erik Spoelstra told the media that at least one player began crying after the loss to the Chicago Bulls, it seemed as if there was a far greater reason to not only ‘hate’ on them, but to bring out the Dr. Drew types of the sports world; pop psychiatrists who want to gain some deeper analysis of the mental states of the players. And of course, many of you have come across this through Twitter, where the jokes have been non-stop (though some are rather funny).

There’s no need to do the rundown of how affixed, agitated and admittedly attracted we’ve become to the Heat. From the media coverage to the social media schadenfreude, we’ve taken such a liking to the suffering of this collection of players that not a day goes by without a new meme circling the Internet that further demeans them. Or just Chris Bosh.

It’s gotten absurd to the point that this longtime Knicks fan wishes for the days when ‘hating’ the Miami Heat actually made sense.

For those who need a history refresher, let’s take it back to where it all started. A fax machine at Madison Square Garden.

Courtesy of MSG.com

On June 15th, 1995, Pat Riley – the original persona non grata to NYK fans before Larry Brown, Stephon Marbury and Isiah Thomas – faxed an unexpected resignation as head coach to the team brass. Unexpected because no matter what media may say in retrospect (because they always know all along, right?), there was not a fan across the globe that could understand why Riley would leave the team. After missing out on the team’s first NBA crown since 1973 in the 1994 Finals, New York lost a bitter seven-game Eastern Conference Semifinal series to the Indiana Pacers, a team that the Knicks would have unquestionably met again had Riley not left after the infamous Patrick Ewing missed finger roll.

It wasn’t just that he resigned; having been so close to a title after winning championships with the Los Angeles Lakers might have driven him over the edge in a city obsessed with the Orange and Blue at the time. It was that he resigned to obtain more power with a franchise desperate for relevance.

Now, Miami has never been revered as a passionate sports town, adulation for those championship Dolphins teams and the walking first & second rounds of the NFL Draft called the Hurricanes withstanding. It’s probably gotten worse when you consider that in the past fourteen years, the Florida Marlins won two World Series championships, the Florida Panthers made a Stanley Cup Final in 1996 and only thirty people can recall getting title fever for either team.

Contrast that to a city not known for great weather, unbridled optimism, five borough unity and pristine beaches. A championship parade in New York would have been the biggest, loudest and most joyous New York City had ever held.

After being swept in the first round by arguably the best NBA team of all time, the 1998 Chicago Bulls, Riley reimaged his new empire in a similar mold to his former fiefdom up north. The entire playbook was built around a true center (Alonzo Mourning as Patrick Ewing), a heady point guard with hand-checking skills (Tim Hardaway as Derek Harper), an enforcer at power forward (P.J. Brown as Charles Oakley) and a borderline mad man on the perimeter shooting threes (Dan Majerle as John Starks). There were many other interchangeable parts, mostly at small forward (Jamal Mashburn as a less rugged, better shooting version of Anthony Mason) and key bench positions.

In what became the defining rivalry of the 1990s, the Knicks and Heat played some the ugliest, but honestly enthralling basketball you may ever see in your life. Both teams were vilified for what was suddenly termed “Rileyball”; a physically punishing, defensively-driven, “Lane? What lane?” game. Never mind that neither team possessed the offensive talents of Riley’s Laker squads of the 1980s; in fact, few teams in NBA history could roll out three Hall of Famers on the starting lineup (Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and James Worthy). Never mind that defensive bullies ran shop in the league long before Riley taught Majerle how to foul or Starks how to head butt Reggie Miller.

The pieces did change over the years. Don Nelson – who couldn’t trade Ewing and made Mason a point forward in his Nellieball scheme – quickly became Jeff Van Gundy, a famed Riley lieutenant. The Heat rolled out several foils off the bench for New York; Voshon Leonard, Isaac Austin, Anthony Carter (current Knick), Clarence Weatherspoon (eventual former Knick) and Bruce Bowen. These guys annoyed the hell out of Knicks fans because of singular moments from behind the backboard shots to hard fouls that were sparingly called.

The Knicks had guys that still tick off Heat fans to this day: the Save Patrick campaign of the late 1990s introduced Miami to Marcus Camby, Kurt Thomas (who gave Mourning hell during practices as a member of the Heat), Chris Childs and Charlie Ward. Yet, no players boiled the blood of Heat fans quite like the triumvirate of Allan Houston, Latrell Sprewell and Larry Johnson.

Their moments speak for themselves.







There were few times in the NBA annals that two teams could claim an absolute hatred for one another. The Heat-Knicks rivalry was so intense that not this been a regulated professional league, individual contributions on either side could have started riots in senior leagues at Boca Raton and middle schools in Syosset. Save for the Georgetown men of Ewing and Mourning – longtime friends that still had dinner with each other after playoff games – these guys could have held mixed martial arts matches just as well as basketball games to release their rage towards one another.

They shared space in the same Atlantic Division, with Miami winning the division crown four years in a row from 1997-2000. They also met in four straight postseasons during that span of Heat regular season dominance; with each series going the full limit of games. In those Aprils and Mays, New York got the upper hand when it counted; three series wins and 13-11 record in all 24 games). You know the moments, even if you want to erase them from your memory. It wasn’t basketball at its purest or most aesthetically pleasing for those fawning for Michael Jordan’s fade away jumpers. It was like watching the Baltimore Ravens and Pittsburgh Steelers playing each other every other day for two weeks; entertainingly violent, hideous and enthralling.

Probably the best words ever spoken on those days come from the outstanding Free Darko book, “The Undisputed Guide to Pro Basketball History”. Joey Litman said of the rivalry:

“This ugly, malevolent basketball nonetheless aroused so much passion because the theater was authentic and the enmity real. Miami’s Tim Hardaway once said of the Knicks, “I hate them with all the hate you can hate with”. Michael Jordan and the other pretty things of the 1990s may have been pretty and esteemed, but they also held themselves beyond reach, sacrosanct like works of art. The Knicks and Heat played different basketball, the sort that for all of its flaws, was terrestrial, tangible, attainable. It invited fans to experience the rivalry in a more personal manner. Knicks-Heat had an emphatic quality: The players didn’t do anything special – they were just like us, only more so. A common fan couldn’t bang with Charles Oakley, but he certainly understood the floor-bound brutishness in a way he couldn’t understand David Robinson’s assault on physical laws. Fans were free to see the Knicks and Heat as human – humans engaging in a conflict filled with raw, recognizable emotion, especially anger.”

And goodness, there was anger.

So, why the walk down memory lane?

When LeBron James signed with the Heat, he took on American sports’ public enemy number one; for better or worse. For many, it would have been easy to ‘hate’ if he signed with the Knicks; all things New York unearth an often irrational resentment from the rest of the country, but the City itself can take that in stride.

If he signed with a team like the Los Angeles Clippers, despite the potentially great young nucleus of Blake Griffin, DeAndre Jordan and Eric Gordon, he would have been a part of the NBA’s longest-running punch line. After all, how often do you find yourselves saying “but it’s the Clippers”?

If he signed with Chicago, it would have been ego running rampant. He just had to play in the House Michael Built. He just had to one-up the living legend. He just had to be a global icon where Jordan became an actual global icon.

No matter what reporters have said in retrospect, not a soul outside of James, Riley, Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh knew that James would sign with Miami. Remember, the Heat was supposed to lose Wade to Chicago and Bosh was supposed to be a compliment player to anywhere either Wade or James would go to, right? Yet, the Heat, with an apparently apathetic fan base and far too many warm-weather distractions to inspire passions like their northern neighbors, nabbed all three of them for the next six seasons.

‘Hating’ the Heat in 2011 seems too easy, contrived and without roots. It’s the NBA’s version of culture vulturism; something people latch onto in order to get attention or feel part of the inside joke so many seem to be in on. There’s no question that The Decision, Riley’s history and the Miami sports fan base make for an interesting brew while we as fans and media (bloggers count) happily stir the pot.

Yet, not too long ago, there was an actual reason to ‘hate’ the Miami Heat. It had less to do with ill-fated announcements, Trending Topics and arenas not being filled to capacity. It had to do with one slick-haired, Armani suit wearing, brilliantly conniving Hall of Fame head coach that wanted more than another legacy-enhancing championship.

Observation from an Infamous Night

In class, we continually have discussions about the business motives in the communications industry; media companies, advertising agencies and individual media participants. While we all desire more stories to be told or certain stories to have extended coverage, we constantly return to the classic adage, “if it don’t make dollars, it don’t make sense.”

Now, these conversations aren’t just based on the ivory tower of academia. In any MBA program, you will find yourself around professionals who are currently active or at least spent significant time in the working world. Conversations on theories and case studies tend to have a bit more realism because everyone brings their experiences to the fold, not just opinions. Because this is a media program, all of us are or have been in the industry in some fashion; sales, marketing, accounting, public relations, research, etc. We have a greater understanding of the business principles, even if we struggle to agree with methods.

So as two major stories across the nation were playing themselves out last night, we were having this conversation for the umpteenth time.

Photo Credit to the Associated Press

One of the underlying reasons, if not, THE most significant reason why entertainment vehicles – sports, movies and music, specifically – tend to take up so much bandwidth is that they are traveling road shows. These entertainers perform far beyond one city or region. In fact, the most talented individuals (well, in sports, that is since talent is fleeting elsewhere) perform across the nation and across the globe. They make their presence known in your city and if you wish, you can attend live, watch on television, listen on the radio, whatever.

Knowing this, media companies will flock to give these roaming shows as much coverage as the public demand warrants. There’s a vested financial interest from all parties that keeps the story going, for better or worse. The entertainment company pays not only for producing the product, but to promote it. The media outlets, ad agencies, representative firms and other communication professionals pay to connect themselves to the product. The fans pay to consume at least once; in-person, on TV, on DVD, etc.

Meanwhile, hard news stories of crime, complaints and criticism are so common in the local news that unless there is a truly sensational or tragic element to a certain story, it will never move beyond that specific region. Even then, because we are so overwhelmed with individual travails and concerns about local communities, these larger stories tend to get pushed to the wayside far quicker than merited. Why, you may ask?

Because there’s not enough money behind keeping them in the limelight.

Photo credit to Advance the Struggle

Fair or not, there’s not as much financial investment to cast a larger and more intense spotlight on a story like the Oscar Grant trial. This comes from all fronts; in the place of the entertainment company is the Grant family and supporters who don’t have the resources compared to, say, a ticked-off team owner. Unless it’s an election year and there are national races of note, media firms don’t see much, if any, return on investment in hard news. Most of all, consumers aren’t shelling out dollars to catch up on news these days; newspapers in decay, an orgy of free sources on the internet, shifting television viewing habits, etc.

What exasperates matters is that in this era of media, you would think that there’s an outlet for whatever tickles our fancy. Newspapers are still printing and TV stations are still broadcasting the news, but they’re building web presences in order to keep up with the times (and are scared as hell to not follow the trend). Online resources in blogs, full-fledged multimedia websites and message boards give voices to those who may have not spoken in the last days of unchallenged traditional media dominance. TV itself grew to previously unheard of heights as many of the major players built niche channels; not only creating new programs, but breathing life back into old shows in syndication.

Yet, in reality, that’s just not happening. Talk up sites like Deadspin and Drudge Report all you want, but the most popular media on the web comes from established media companies such as the New York Times, Wall Street Journal and ESPN. For whatever reason – money, lack of vision, undefined markets and/or sheer laziness – this revolution that we hoped for is far slower to come than we expected.

With the biggest brands dominating in all aspects of media, it’s only natural that the same stories they profit from are the same stories we consume over and over and over again.

We continually get upset when an entertainer’s exploits receive far more attention than a tragedy of someone a bit closer to you and me. Even with that, compared to musicians, actors and actresses, we get even angrier when it’s the exploits of a professional athlete; someone who is essentially told to just shut up and play at every turn. Yet, all of that anger is just that; anger.

Meanwhile, the reality of this era is that those greater tragedies always return to being local stories. This isn’t like the civil rights movement; the brutality crystallized in pictures and television was just the next level of the daily pains of millions. It was easier for people to attach themselves to those tribulations because it wasn’t that difficult to imagine being victimized in the same manner. In this era, we’ve become so fragmented that it’s going to take the most extreme tragedy – another successful terrorist attack, perhaps? – for a nation to take notice.

As a New Yorker, I’m reminded of how the world outside of the Boroughs forgot about Abner Louima, Patrick Dorismond, Amadou Diallo or Sean Bell. It’s not because people didn’t care, but it was because real life isn’t built like entertainment.

There’s no traveling road show for tragedy.

I ask this question without being jaded, rhetorical and bitter. In fact, I’m genuinely interested in your answers: what are we going to do about it?

Phil or Pat? Who Would You Take?

Color me amazed!

A question to Scribe’s Twitter followers got the attention of @NBA_on_ESPN_RV and has inspired a pretty good debate. To elaborate on those 140 characters:

You’re given a team that has been in the middle of the road for some time. There’s playoff potential, but equal potential for them to get embarrassed in the first round. Because of that treading-water phase of the franchise, you haven’t been able to draft a can’t-miss player and cap space is preciously thin. However, while your squad doesn’t have superstars, some players are on the radar of contending teams.

You have a chance to grab one of these two all-time great coaches. Which would you take: Phil Jackson or Pat Riley?

Of course, the question was inspired by Jackson passing Riley as the winningest coach in Los Angeles Lakers history last night.

Personally, I know who I’d make the case for, but I would hear what you have to say first.

State your case in a comment here, Facebook or on Twitter.

Noise

From watching what had been a pretty physical Game 5 in Atlanta between the hometown Hawks and the visiting Miami Heat, the most intriguing facet of the game was not necessarily how should-be-but-won't-be-MVP Dwayne Wade tried to pull himself from back spasms, but how much the crowd reactions had or had not affected the game.

In the first half, Wade collided with Joe Johnson Josh Smith when going for a loose ball. With the Heat star writhing on the ground, the Hawks faithful took no issue with booing. Mike Fratello, the former coach and TNT color commentator, questioned the crowd’s motive behind letting their feelings be known at that instant.

On a fast break in the early part of the second quarter, a trailing Wade tried to block the ball from Atlanta’s Maurice Evans as he rose for a fast break dunk. With both players having fallen to the floor – Evans hitting his head on Wade’s right knee en route to the floor – the crowd lustily booed again. Fratello reiterated his apparent frustration with the crowd reaction, but in this instance, he mentioned that the fans may have believed that they could influence the officials into calling a flagrant foul on Wade (which they did moments later).

I mention these two scenarios because while the Hawks took their South Florida rivals to the woodshed nearly from the outset, it appeared that maybe, just maybe, the crowd set the tone for how the game would be played and officiated. Yet, I wonder what you all think. Have all the hollering, booing and thundersticking ever had an affect on the games you attended in person?

Say What?!?!: By the way, if you're on Facebook and you have yet to do so, join the network.

Falling

The ‘best of’, ‘worst of’ and those highly-pretentious ‘most important’ lists will come in droves over the coming weeks. Being that these are the final days of an interesting, surprise-filled, sense-jolting, reality-checking, sometimes depressing, but consistently intriguing year in sports, it seems as if every blog should participate in the fun. Yet, being a bit different, something else came to mind about sports in 2007.

While watching the Houston Rockets take on the Miami Heat on the night after Thanksgiving, a graphic came up on the screen that showed how mighty the 2005-06 NBA Champions had fallen. In the season-plus since bringing the NBA title to Miami, the Heat have garnered a record of 48-48 in the regular season (46-47 at the time of the game), were swept by the Chicago Bulls in the first round of the ’06-’07 playoffs and even lost all seven preseason games. Yikes! There’s an unofficial statistic of note that will come up later, but along with the above, these numbers signifies a drastic change of titlists and title contenders in the major sports this year. Three teams experienced tremendous falls from grace after playing for the championships of their sports not long ago; the aforementioned Heat in the NBA, baseball’s Detroit Tigers, and the NFL’s Chicago Bears*. This isn’t an exhaustive list as other sports have had their shares of teams and players that have made complete 180 turn, yet with the high expectations after stellar seasons, it’s just amazing how these three sports witnessed these collapses all at once.

Miami Heat: Pat Riley – love him or hate him – is arguably the best coach of the past thirty years in the NBA. Sure, it’s very easy to say Phil Jackson because of his nine titles with two superstar-driven franchises and Gregg Popovich gets no love, considering the Spurs imprint on basketball in the last nine years. Yet, Riley has been able to take three different teams of three different styles and blends of talent to the NBA Finals. From the Showtime era of Magic Johnson, James Worthy and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to the defensive-minded Knicks of the nineties to a veteran-laden Heat led by Dwayne Wade, Riley had been able to exert the best of his team’s strengths to the max and tested the conditioning of his players throughout his years as coach.

Something happened, however, after the Heat snatched the NBA title away from the Dallas Mavericks in June 2005. The team got old, unathletic and tired despite little roster turnover in the following season. Shaquille O’Neal got hurt. Wade got hurt. Even Riley got hurt. Outside of those three, there was little else to fear regarding this team. Other than the maddeningly streaky Antoine Walker, who was shipped out to Minnesota before this season for Ricky Davis, there was little offense to buoy the team to another 50-win season. Wade missed 23 games last season for a dislocated shoulder, O’Neal sat for over thirty. Add Riley’s hip and knee ailments and you have a group that, to date, has only shared the same arena floor an astonishing fourteen times since winning the title. Was it really a surprise that the Bulls swept them in the first round of the playoffs back in May? To many who feel that having Shaq and Wade on the floor at the time, yes. So how would they respond to their current 4-10 record?

The Heat can only hope that the Orlando Magic lose grip of the Southeast Division and the Washington Wizards begin to struggle offensively without Gilbert Arenas. It’s unfortunate to say that both of their stars are injuries waiting to happen, but until O’Neal and Wade can prove otherwise, this is not a playoff team. What hurts them is the lack of perimeter shooters and someone other than Ricky Davis that can create offense on his own. Even losing Jason Kapono to the Toronto Raptors has left a sting for a team that will need to battle for wins in an improved Eastern Conference.

Detroit Tigers: When the Chicago White Sox won the World Series in 2005, they won with a deep rotation, timely hitting and a sick defense. Their addition of Jim Thome in the following offseason was supposed to signal a new era of dominance in the American League as they added more offense to an already potent lineup with Jermaine Dye, Paul Konerko and Joe Crede. No one really talked about the Southsiders’ chances to contend in ’05, but trading for Thome meant that this was a team you wouldn’t forget by any means. Yet, in 2006, the pitching fell apart and they lost ground in what was a competitive AL Central Division. What does this have to do with the Tigers? Pretty much everything. Detroit crept up in a similar manner. You knew that the team had to be better than the 2003 model that lost 103 games as management decided to put their young players through the fire of losing in order to come out stronger in the future. They made incremental improvements, but with baseball fans affixed to the AL East, it was hard for people to appreciate what was happening in Motown. Over the last few years, the Tigers added the right veterans to bolster the roster; Ivan Rodriguez, Kenny Rogers, Sean Casey, Gary Sheffield and as of early November, Edgar Renteria. As the White Sox slid down the Central ranks following their title run, Detroit and the Minnesota Twins battled for the division crown until the final weekend. Both played saluchi the lead, but the Tigers would enter the playoffs as the wild card… and as the New York Yankees learned, Detroit was a dangerous wild card. The Tigers rode momentum all the way to the World Series before being defeated by Mother Nature and the St. Louis Cardinals.

Unlike those Cardinals, you knew this team would be back in 2007 to contend. Sheffield’s addition was likened to when Thome joined Chicago the season before. The team wasn’t bad offensively at all, led by MVP runner-up Magglio Ordonez. Yet, Sheffield started slow and also got hurt. Rogers didn’t rejoin the rotation until mid-June. Power reliever Joel Zumaya missed three months (and will miss time again in 2008). Outside of Ordonez, the team couldn’t muster enough offense to get past eventual division winner Cleveland.

So far, the Tigers have addressed a need at shortstop when they traded two prospects to the Atlanta Braves for Renteria. Not only is this a defensive upgrade, but offensively, he’s one of the best 2-spot hitters in the game. This allows them to keep switch-hitter Carlos Guillen by moving him to first base in hopes of getting production from a consistent sore spot.

Chicago Bears: If people thought that Common and Kanye West’s Super Bowl song was a bit premature, at least they didn’t make a song this season about returning to the grand finale this year. If there was a mighty fall this year in sports, it involves these Bears. They had a defense that suffocated any team that wanted to run the ball. They have an electric return man in Devin Hester. They have an incredible home-field advantage in Soldier Field. And last season, they had the luxury of playing there in the brutal cold and snow that blankets the Midwest in January. They dispatched the New Orleans Saints’ highly-potent offense and feel-good story to reach their first Super Bowl since the famed ’85 Bears used the same blueprint to impose their will the mid-80s NFL. Yes, they feasted from a poor division (just as the Philadelphia Eagles had done during their NFC dominance) and were able to get by with frustrating play from Rex Grossman. No matter their apparent flaws, Chicago boasted a top-five defense that created turnovers and converted them into points.

Then Dennis Green was fired in Arizona. Bill Cowher resigned from Pittsburgh. Bill Parcells retired for the umpteenth time. Marty Schottenheimer got axed in San Diego. This led to Ron Rivera, who had been the Bears’ defensive coordinator, interviewing for or at least becoming a candidate for those positions. Negotiations between him and the Bears for a contract extension fell through after all of those jobs filled up. Maybe in hindsight, this has a greater effect on the defense than originally thought, but at the time, pigskin pundits felt that there was still enough in the Bears’ favor to return to at least the NFC Championship Game. Add the Lance Briggs’ franchise-tag near-disaster. Add the debate over the quarterback position between Grossman, Brian Griese and Philadelphia’s Donovan McNabb. Add Tank Johnson’s woes. Add the decision to go with high-priced 2005 draftee Cedric Benson over Thomas Jones. Add the injuries to the defensive front seven along with cornerback Nathan Vasher. Maybe this was too much for a team coming off of the best season in twenty-one seasons.

Standing at 5-6, the only way that the Bears can make the playoffs is by help. As possible as it is that the Detroit Lions or New York Giants fall flat, don’t bank on it. There are more issues going beyond getting a wild-card spot in January for this team. For one, will Briggs return after this franchise-tag season? The weakside linebacker is guaranteed to make at least the $7.2 million per year figure based on what he’s bringing home this year and with several teams likely to pursue his services, this season’s finish just might make the decision for him. Middle linebacker Brian Urlacher won’t be pleased with losing his defensive coordinator, talented-but-troubled nose tackle (Johnson) and his ‘Will’ within a year of playing in the Super Bowl. Will the team pry McNabb out of Philly as it has been constantly rumored for about two years? What will the team look for through the 2008 Draft? A return to form is already difficult in the NFL if you’re not New England or Indianapolis, but the problem is exasperated when such drastic changes occur moments after nearing the pinnacle of the sport.

Say What?!?!: Hey, if anyone has NFL Network, could you give us poor saps with cable a play-by-play on the Packers-Cowboys game?

Bedeviling

Shortly after the NBA season began, a friend of mine made a request. It wasn’t to take her hand in marriage or to run an errand after work. It was to write about her beloved Dukies. It was a suggestion – read: demand – to write something about the former Duke Blue Devils that have had some success in the NBA. While UNC fans puked and a nation unraveled at the thought of someone dispelling the notion of Duke’s finest failing in the A, I played with the idea a bit. Personally, I have always been a fan of Grant Hill and Elton Brand, so it was an idea of dual inspiration; not only could this piece poke holes in the somewhat-proven theory, but it could show how those players that have succeeded were able to mature their individual games at the next level. However, something – or someone – else came to mind.

Christian Laettner.

Wipe your mouths, Tar Heel fans. And Kentucky Wildcat fans.

One aspect about the impression that Duke has left in basketball that cannot be denied is the talent of some of those frontcourt players they had in the championship years of the Mike Krzyzewski era. The aforementioned Hill and Brand. Shelden Williams. Corey Maggette. Luol Deng. Carlos Boozer. Shane Battier. Even those who didn’t have distinguished – or at all, good – careers as players such as Danny Ferry and Cherokee Parks. In addition to a savvy coach and heady point guard play, the Duke Blue Devils boasted some of the premier forwards in the NCAA, guys that were much more vital to their ten Final Fours and three national titles than the small ball-handlers.

Laettner may have not been deserving of his spot on the Dream Team that competed in the 1992 Summer Olympics, but he did have NBA talent. The 6-foot-11 Angola, NY native was a collegiate center with good offensive skills; solid rebounding and top-notch shooting ability from all over the field. He didn’t play in the low-post very much despite playing center (and power forward in the NBA), but because of his ability to play away from the basket, he was an ideal player for NBA teams that had trouble against traditional big men such as Karl Malone, David Robinson and Patrick Ewing. His college credentials are numerous and his performances on the biggest stage made him a prime commodity for the A when he graduated in 1992.

Something happened along the way after the Minnesota Timberwolves selected Laettner third overall in the 1992 NBA Draft. The attitude that he used against the likes to North Carolina, UNLV and Kentucky did not travel well against the Blazers, Sonics and Bulls. It didn’t sit well with his fellow T‘Wolves, either. In college, despite the public’s attention, players are sheltered away from dealing with external forces such as the media and rival coaches/managers scouting them for trade possibilities. The coach takes on the scrutiny and praise instead. He, as his teammates, was in a cocoon with classmates and other peers that would become lunatic fans and possible groupies after the game. However, for those who get to the next level, everything comes to you, from you and at you. The media – myself, included – comes to your locker for a quote or two to use against you for articles that sound like there’s still bitterness about being picked last at gym in junior high. More and more ‘relatives’ and ‘friends’ come to your door after they hear that you are shooting a commercial for some Fortune 500 company or NBA-affiliated charity. It’s a different world and whether people believe it or not, the adjustment isn’t automatic once you get a roster spot. Laettner was a reluctant participant in the circus, often perceived as moody in the lockerroom, aloof away from the game and unemotional on the court. At his last stop in Miami, Laettner reflected on that for a Miami Herald article:

"If I was smarter and I had the energy and I was more like a Hollywood person, I would flick on the charm and flick off the moodiness as soon as the reporters came in. Well, I wasn't raised to do that. I was raised to play basketball, so I'm not good at that. Magic Johnson was. Michael Jordan might have been."

Stories of him being a difficult teammate surfaced throughout his career. His stature at Duke made him a target in the A as there were very few Naismith Player of the Year winners that could have been sane against Dennis Rodman. He went from being the rock of Gibraltar in Cameron to being a journeyman, having been traded four times in thirteen years. He went from being viewed as a clean-cut All-American to that of a nonchalant, pot-smoking hippie after a drug arrest with the Washington Wizards in 2000. Yet, no one stays in the NBA for that long if there aren’t skills that coaches appreciate. He averaged 12.8 points and 6.7 rebounds in his career; numbers that were lowered because of back problems in latter years. In addition to the Gold medal in Barcelona, he played in 45 playoff games, made the All-Rookie team in 1992 and was an All-Star in 1996 with Atlanta on the strength of a career-high 18.1 PPG and 8.8 RPG. He just missed the boat of an NBA title with Miami in 2006, but was part of a footnote in 2005; when he signed with the Heat as a free agent, it was the first time in league history that a team had the first three picks of one draft on the roster (Shaquille O’Neal and Alonzo Mourning were picked ahead of him by Orlando and Charlotte).

Was he ever going to be one of the most beloved superstars in the history of basketball? You be the judge. Despite his talent, he was considered by outsiders (most detractors) as the embodiment of Duke Basketball and Duke University; white, preppy, privileged, un-athletic, whiny and underhanded. Look back to his collegiate career and watch how he griped to referees to get favorable calls while seemingly bending the rules with an elbow here, a nudge there, an occasional stomp to the chest. He wasn’t just despised across the country; he was absolutely loathed in ACC territory. He wasn’t some guy cheating to stay on the team or to compensate for a lack of skill. He was the most successful college basketball player of the last twenty years. As what’s been said about the New England Patriots in relation to the spying scandal, it seemed that to many basketball fans that he didn’t need that edgy attitude to win, but it left a less than endearing mark in their eyes. Some may have felt that that very edginess would have been checked when he arrived in the NBA, going up against a different type of basketball player. The image of the NBA player was the seemingly antithesis of the Duke player despite similar motives; black, thug, grew up poor in the projects or some backwoods town, athletic, aggressive and blatantly disrespectful. Even more, the players run the league in the pros where the coach rules with an iron-fist at the collegiate level. There are many who wanted Laettner to be the gin to the league’s tonic, an early validation to Larry Bird’s ‘controversial’ comment in a 2004 interview about the need of a white, American superstar in the league. Obviously, he didn’t live to those lofty expectations.

So what more can be said about Christian Laettner that hasn’t been said here or elsewhere? He proved the existence of ‘The Duke Curse’? Hard to believe that entirely considering that there are more than 300 other Division I programs NBA scouts have to analyze as much as Duke’s. He was the Ryan Leaf of basketball? Both inherited bad situations and both were uncomfortable with the professional spotlight, yet despite being jaded, Laettner kept playing while Leaf walked away. He couldn’t ball with the pros? Thirteen years at any job means you’re doing something right.

What can be said is this; Christian Laettner became the start of an enduring hatred many people have for Duke. Twenty years from now, Laettner will still spark an ire twenty J.J. Redicks couldn’t (the latter couldn’t touch the former’s accolades as Laettner broke many hearts while collecting them). Fate, karma and/or the basketball gods may have directed his NBA career, but no matter how you feel about him, college basketball could use another lightning rod like him today.

Maybe there’s another Duke #32 somewhere.

Say What?!?!: Staying on the topic of the former Blue Devil, I ran into a blog called The Painted Area while researching Laettner’s pro career. In a September 2006 post regarding recent NBA retirees and their chances of entering the Basketball Hall of Fame, one of the writers brought up an interesting quandary about Laettner’s chances of membership. He compared him to a superstar of another era, Bill Walton, who also dominated the collegiate ranks, yet had a middling NBA career (though for different reasons). The post has some salient points, but as this topic will bring out some strong comments, feel free to share your thoughts on if Laettner should be in the conversation.