Sportspectives

If you know me, you knew this HUB had to be coming, and alas, with heavy anticipation from my legions of fans, it's here.

I'm tired of listening to all of those so called experts at ESPN and WFAN, because other than the fact that they have better seats and easier access to the games and the players, they don't know any more than I do. Such is the benefit of tireless and longstanding dedication to my fantasy world for 50 years. After all, my earliest recollections of being a New York sports fan, primarily because I was born in NY and had a die-hard NY fan as a mentor- my Dad- took me to venues and exposed me to players from an era most young people only read and see old programs about.

Amongst my earliest NY sports recollections:

1) First Yankee game- age 6- Starting team- Mantle, Maris, Berra, Howard, Skowron, Richardson, Kubek, Tresch. Not too shabby.

2) First Football Giants game- Yankee Stadium- Y.A. Title at QB. Del Shofner and Homer Jones as wide-receivers, Tucker Frederickson as feature RB, Frank Gifford and Kyle Rote ending their career, Roosevelt Grier and Robustelli and Spider Lockhart as defensive stars

3) NY Knicks- a game in the Old Garden where my Dad and I left early and they wound up winning. Don't think I forgave him for that in quite some time. Phil Jackson was a bench player, and Cazzie Russell, and Willis Reed and Dick Barnett were the stars. This was pre-Frazier, pre-Championship teams, with Walt Bellamy playing Center. Phil was not used so much for his Zen-like attitude as his enormous wing-span. He always guarded the In-bounder of the ball and waved his arms like a windmill. They would put him into games just to do this. Lucky his reach was so high because he could barely jump high enough to dunk!

So much for my inaugural live spectator moments as a lad.

This HUB will primarily be dedicated to TODAY....

5-5- Rivera loss will only hurt in post-season

The Yankees bullpen is good enough to survive the loss of Rivera. I don't see any other team with late men better than Soriano and Robertson. The difference will be in the playoffs. That's where it makes the biggest difference, because he is the stop-gap if the others have an off night in late innings. You cannot expect the same consistency from these two, as talented as they may be.

My concern is that with the emergence of the Orioles and strength of the Rays- the Yanks still may have trouble getting in. I am confident they will be a post-season entrant, though, particularly with the added extra team this year. And, I am still more concerned about starting pitching than anything else- because we all know that it's their biggest question mark.

So, the prediction here is that Mo will be back next year, and the Yanks will get into the playoffs. From that point on, it's always a who's hot- particularly starting pitching- and who's not!!!

Yogi on the Knicks:

"It ain't over until it's over but this was over before it started"

OR

"If they played the 5th game of this series 10 times, the Heat would win all 50"

Take your pick

5-4- Why Knicks can't cool Heat-

It's not just that they are not a better team, even when healthy. It's not just that LeBron is bigger, stronger, and faster than Mellow. It's not Mellow's fault, Knick faithful. Here's the problem....simple...the Knicks have possibly one advantage in the series over the Heat as I see it....They have a better Center. Unfortunately, he is not an offensive center, so the advantage only really comes on defense. Chandler can't guard LeBron or Duane Wade, though- he can only neutralize Bosch, and he is way to distracted trying to help on everyone else getting beat to show that either.

Think about the Mav's. They had one of the few OFFENSIVE advantages over the Heat I have seen- Nowitizki's high release, almost unblockable, deadly to 25 foot, shots. Once this was exposed, Dallas could counter also with a strong bench, led by Craig Hodges, and two great point guards- Barrea and Kidd. Kidd can still play his game and set up teammates when guarded by quicker players, even if he cannot score big numbers against his defensive foes. These are precisely the type of things that bother the Heat, b/c they don't have a point as good as the Mavs and they don't have an answer for Dirk.

The Knicks don't have a single weapon that the Heat cannot marginalize if not totally shut down. Mellow over-dribbles and over-dribbles because he can't get open without the ball. If Miami can do this with 4 different defenders (Wade, LeBron, Battier, Haslet), then they don't have to double him, and other Knicks have lots of trouble getting open. Without the explosion he had with the Suns, Amare has no offensive advantage against the Heat. Smith can't get a clean look and Novak is smothered like a marshmallow roasting on a stick.

I DO think they could have won a game or two with a healthy Shumpert and a healthy Lin. I know the Heat handled them earlier in the year, BUT, Lin is a better point than the Heat have, and while not being uncontainable offensively, by any means, Shumpert is so formidable physically and athletically, that he can bother the Heat stars when he is in defensive position.

It's NOT completely Mellow's fault because they have no other viable offensive weapons for him, but he does not know how to "make the best of a bad situation". The overdribbling and turnovers is unforgivable at the pro level. I don't care if you are the best scorer on the team. How many times is he going to take any of the four mentioned defenders one-on-one, let alone when there is HELP coming from other defenders keying on him. Pierce doesn't iso on LeBron when he picks him up...he trusts hist teammates...who happen to be better, still, than the Knicks teammates. Garnett may have a matchup advantage and Allen is always moving and running off picks. So sorry to use Pierce as an example, but good as he is, he knows his limitations. Mellow either doesn't get it or he is getting some very bad coaching advice.

HAPPYBIRTHDAYTOYOUHAPPYBIRTHDAYTOYOUH.B.DEARJACOBAGE12TODAYH.B.T.Y

5-3 On the passing of Junior 'Say It Ain't' Seau

He was too young and supposedly healthy to die, let alone kill himself with so much to seemingly live for. What is it about athlete and celebrity deaths that freaks us out (some don't care, I know) about stories like this? Jerry Rice played golf with the guy on MONDAY, and he seemed perfectly fine. We are still waiting for a suicide note, on some type of explanation from someone that is plausible.

Most of us mortals don't become very close friends with the Superstars of Sport and Media, but there is a sense while they are playing that they are bigger than life. There is a sense that when they kill themselves following a successful career of doing what many of us would have dreamed to do (or at least made the money), that their perspective on life had to be crazily out of whack.

When you have someone like Seau, who apparently preached the ability to handle the 'highs and low' of life, and gave so much to charities and kids and the community, that his own ability to practice what he was preaching was simply not working. The ride "down" after a successful ballyhooed career is a treacherous one, and he was having some sort of relationship problems, it seemed, as well (who doesn't?).

Why do so many athletes come out of retirement? They talk of how green the other side of the pasture is when they are winding down, but then, they get bored and often make at least one or two attempts to comeback. I am not talking about the people who simply go broke and need the money (see Antoine Walker playing and finally quitting for D League time at age 36 or so). I'm talking about the one's who have plenty of money. Even someone as seemingly committed to his family and his faith like Andy Petite cannot resist the temptation. These people feel immortal as athlete/entertainers and mortal when they retire. It's a tough drop.Remember- Seau quit once while playing for the Chargers, only to come back as a mediocre backer for the Pats.

It is sad, that Seau took his own life and left kids, parents, and people who seemed to care behind. It is sad that he apparently did not let people close to him know how bad things were inside his head and how much suicide was a real option. That is the learning that has to come from this...we are conditioned and like to project the image that "everything is okay" when it's not. No need to tell the world about it, just someone really close you can trust, from a friend, family member, Priest or rabbi, or mental health professional. Even then, of course, anyone hell-bent on ending their life is going to do it- but, at least, there would be a chance...

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

5-2- GREATEST CLUTCH PLAYERS- How do they do it all the time? It's uncanny and defies odds....in any sport, but particularly basketball, because it's the only sport where the best, most confident player can DEMAND the ball. In baseball, you have to be up in the order to have your shot at a key hit....in football, you only play one side of the ball- Marino may have been the greatest QB ever- but he never won a Super Bowl, because his defense was sub-par. There is NOTHING, not even winning a championship, that GENUINELY can compete with hitting the biggest shot at the biggest moment.

The late and great Chick Hearn had a few nicknames for Jerry West- "Zeke from Cabin Creek" (West Virginia) and "Mr. Clutch". West was the best I have ever seen with the game on the line.... Regular Season, Playoffs, or NBA Finals. The most famous shot he ever made was a swish from 3/4 court to TIE The Knicks in '69, was, unfortunately worth only two and led to overtime, and not victory.

I've rooted against the Celtics my whole life- but Havelicek and Bird were unflappable when it counted. BUT, as an anti-Celtic fan, I have to acknowledge just how underrated Paul Pierce is as a clutch player. He won a game for them against the Hawks last night, as he has done so many times. If there is an "off the ball" clutch shot on that team, you can count almost as much on Ray Allen, but if you need a slow, aging, never-could-jump, shot-not-so-pretty guy to create his own offense and score in the clutch, Pierce is underrated in the annals of the game. He doesn't care if he is playing against faster, quicker, stronger players ('Lebron'), he is going to get his shot and make it almost all the time.

Nowitzki was "The Man" last year, and so many other years when his teams came up short but advanced well into the playoffs. If not double-teamed, he is almost unstoppable, and he knows it. The very best always do. Indiana lost a game to Howard-less Magic the other day, because they simply have good players, and the good players were not good enough to preserve a double-digit lead with minutes left in the home game.

The Heat don't need to figure out whether LeBron or Wade needs the ball at the end of their games right now, because they are usually on the bench with 5 minutes to play, leading by 20 plus, simply too good and fast and strong and healthy for the Knicks. Even as he hit most clutch shots with his time in Cleveland, LeBron will need to get rid of the critics once and for all, and make a game winner during the finals for the Heat. He talks only about a Championship, but if he plays a sub-leading role in the finals and they win this year, it won't be enough to keep the skeptics away.

As for my Knicks, they had 5 or 6 players you could count on "in the clutch" in '69 and "73, which is one of the things that made them so dangerous and accomplished. Aside from the lucky-bounce shot he madet to beat the Pacers in one Playoff Series, Ewing was undependable during 'crunch time', particularly at the free throw line. He lacked not only his rival Jordan's overall ability (EVERYONE did), but he didn't have the Killer Instinct or the Poise to make it when it most counted.

This Knick team is confused about their leadership, which is why losing Lin was so crucial. He hit some clutch shots and forced defenses to focus on him, leaving Mellow as the primary but not SOLE leader on the floor. If and when the Knicks get to play a big game again, and it won't be this year, they have to figure this out. It's fairly clear that Mellow will be the primary option and that he can deliver. The problem is, will he be able to get that opportunity as the team is presently constituted?

OH, yes, and I have almost not given due to perhaps the greatest clutch athlete EVER, the ego-master himself- Mr. Jordan. What would his legend be- even with the 6 championships- if he only hit one or two game-winners in his playoff career??? He is inarguably the greatest player of all time, because he not only won (with good talent around him- but nothing like what LeBron has now) with the Bulls, he won for the Bulls, time and time again!!

As much as he has ruined an organization as an owner, Jordan still knows what he is talking about when he discusses any competitors to his truly impeccable and dominant legend- and that is Kobe Bryant. He has won most of his 5 championships by taking and making big shot after big shot.

CLUTCHCLUTCHCLUTCHCLUTCHCLUTCHCLUTCHCLUTCHCLUTCHCLUTCHCLUTCH

5/1- Knicks lose to Heat and Amare takes it out on a fire extinguisher- Injuries are frustrating for fans and players alike. Frankly, as stupid things go, I don't think this blow is nearly as crushing for me as it was for Mr. Stoudimaire himself. The Knicks can't beat the Heat. If he can't play, and needs to heal, it won't really matter. I have to admit, as much as I don't like LeBron, you cannot totally appreciate his skills until he plays against you. The Knicks were a hot team at the end of the year, but they cannot stay hot enough when faced with real HEAT. No one to control any of their stars and they cannot seemingly conceive of a team defense that will do it either. The only team in my mind that can beat the Heat this year is the Thunder, because they have the stars, the athletes, and the depth to do it. If San Antonio or the Lakers come out of the west it won't be close. Check back in June to see if I called this right.....