Hello everyone, this post represents the first for me in the introspective, self-absorbed world of blogging, which I'm betting will turn out to be much better than writing a note on Facebook. To give a general overview of what to expect on this particular blog, I like sports, particularly Detroit sports so there will be a lot of that. Additionally, I signed up for a blog so I could record amusing rants or observations that are in my mind, which is why I didn't name the blog something too specific (i.e. I Put a Paper Bag on My Head When Watching The Lions).
On a related note, the first subject I wanted to tackle is the NBA Finals. I boycotted them and didn't watch even one quarter of a game. I might've been more inclined to watch them if, A. The Pistons were in them and B. if the insipid NBA hype machine hadn't made the totally irrelevant comparison to the Lakers-Celtics matchups of the 1980's. Let's analyze why this is wrong from both teams perspectives:
The Lakers
The Lakers' star right now is obviously Kobe Bryant, and their best player in the 1980's was Magic Johnson. Magic's charisma, leadership and broad-based appeal made him one of the most marketable and fun to watch athletes in professional sports, and he provided a shot in the arm to an NBA that was faced with declining viewership. Kobe Bryant may be the best player in the game today but he is also a cocky adulterer who has the worst tattoos someone with his money can buy. Magic's Lakers teams included upstanding players such as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and "Big Game" James Worthy. Kobe has Lamar Odom, a good all-around player but no lock for the Hall of Fame, and Pau Gasol who could make a serious case for the least attractive person in the NBA. As a Detroit sports fan, nothing would have made me happier than seeing the Lakers play the Pistons, whom judging from the 2004 NBA Finals are Laker/Phil Jackson kryptonite, but obviously the Pistons didn't come to play when it mattered this year. However, one doesn't have to work at Nielsen Media to guess that league officials rejoiced when it became official that a team from the West Coast would represent their conference instead of the New England Patriots, I mean San Antonio Spurs.
The Celtics
I was reading an issue of Maxim a month ago like most 20-something males tend to do and I found an article detailing how fans from Boston have become perfect asshole sports fans and a polarizing force in the American social strata. If I were a New York, Chicago or LA resident, nothing would tee me off more than seeing boisterous, obnoxious fans from a city of only half a million people receive as much play in the media as the bigger sports markets in the country. Simply put, it was easier for me to identify with the blue-collar, hard luck Boston fans of the 1980s who had but one team (the Celts) to look forward to. Despite having three HoF players on its roster, the media has never tired of calling the 1980s Celtics "scrappy" and "blue collar", which struck a chord with white middle-class Americans who didn't live in Chicago or Detroit. The 2008 Champion Celtics look nothing like this team. The current "Big 3" are stars in their own right and answered questions about their legitimacy as a team, but do nothing to evoke memories of the 1980s Celtics. It will be interesting to see what the media ratings for the NBA Finals are, ten bucks says that the NBA is banking on the viewership of people who wanted to see Kevin Garnett and Kobe Bryant go at it more than it was counting on people getting nostalgic about the 80's and the past glory of both teams.
Is this criticism fair and/or warranted? Let me know, especially those from the coasts
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