Coping with Linsanity

4 Lins, 0 Losses. That’s the New York Knicks’ record after inserting Mr. Lincredible, 6’3 Harvard grad Jeremy Lin, into their lineup. If you had somehow avoided the Linsanity before last night, you couldn’t have possibly avoided the media earthquake that ensued following the point guard himself into the record books last night with his 38 point outburst in the Knicks’ victory over the Lakers.

Before the main stream media Linfestation after Lin shut up Kobe, the impressive Lin stat I was going to give you was that he’s the first player since LeBron James in 2003 to average 20+ points and 8+ assists in his first two NBA starts. Now, that stat is that no player in the NBA has scored more points in his first three starts since the NBA/ABA merger. Let’s rewind a bit though, before Lin had outdueled and upstaged Kobe, passed MJ, LeBron, Shaq, and everyone else in the modern NBA in terms of a scoring start to career, and had completed the fast path to icon status in only a week.

The Lincredible Journey to Stardom

It’s an understatement to say that Jeremy Lin doesn’t have the classic formula for a basketball upbringing. Lin was born the son of two 5’6 Taiwanese immigrants and raised in the fairly wealthy suburb of Palo Alto, CA just across the street from Stanford. Sounds like possibly the right upbringing environment for a nuclear physicist or Google executive, but certainly not the best fit for basketball success.

The Harvard Hurricane’s Linspirational story is the complete opposite of that of the last Asian player to have a serious impact in the NBA, Yao Ming. In case you were unaware, Yao Ming is the closest thing to an engineered basketball superstar that the Chinese could conjure up. He was twice the size of a normal baby at birth, and his parents were 6’7 and 6’3, as well as the two best basketball players in China. He was raised to be a basketball star, and he successfully became one in the NBA until his tragic foot injuries.

No, Jeremy Lin is different. He’s excelled on the court at every level, but every step of the way he’s been doubted and told he couldn’t play. His dad had a passion for basketball that he shared with his kids, playing with them as often as he could at the local Palo Alto YMCA. Jeremy luckily missed out on the short gene from his parents and kept growing into his solid 6’3 200 pound point guard frame, developing a reputation as one of the best high school players in all of California with his leadership for Palo Alto High School.

Fast forward to the California Division II State Baskeball Finals in 2006, where Lin’s undermanned and undersized Palo Alto High School team is supposed to have its surprise run to the state title stopped playing perennial powerhouse Mater Dei, a team featuring Taylor King, who is the 3^rd all time leading scorer in California high school basketball history, as well as Travis Wear and David Wear, two skilled 6’10 twins who currently play at UCLA. Mater Dei was undefeated in California, but Lin somehow willed Paly to the championship upset.

Still, Lin received no interest from his choice school, UCLA, or even the local choice, Stanford, who showed only a “fake interest” in Lin. The future star was treated like a mere Taiwanese trinket and ended up going to Harvard without a basketball scholarship, even though he had just proven he was as good as any player in the state.

The High-Expectations Asian Baller again proved himself a star in the Ivy League, setting records at Harvard while bringing the team to new heights as a three time All-Ivy selection. He stepped up in big games against better competition, and even managed to get an Economics degree with a 3.1 GPA.

Despite excelling in college, the high-brow hooper was undrafted after struggling to distinguish himself without 5-on-5 drills in workouts. He caught some attention though after outplaying John Wall in the #1 overall pick’s first preseason game, and the Warriors, Mavericks, and Lakers (!) made offers. Lin chose to play for Golden State, his hometown dream team. I’ll just say that if the Lakers had him, they would be legitimate title contenders. I guess you Lin some you lose some.

The Cambridge Commander’s year with the Warriors and the D-League was underwhelming, but he did establish a cult following of Asian Americans rooting for the best Asian-American basketball hope since Robert Swift.

Fast forward again to now. Less than a month after playing in the NBDL, Lin’s cult following has exploded, building off a combination of Asian pride and citywide enthusiasm in New York that Lin is taking in after the Giants’ Super Bowl victory. Spike Lee is gawking so much in the stands he might have to roll up a joint movie to tell the most Lincredible story in recent NBA history (Linvictus?). Since stepping into a starting role for the Knicks after their two “bona fide superstars” were forced to miss time, the Knicks have played as well as ever, winning their last 4 games to get back into the playoff mix under Lin’s lead. The Lin Dynasty has begun in New York.

Why this level of Linsanity though? The Chinese have already bought TV rights so they can air Lin’s games to his fan base overseas. In only his second career start, Lin was hearing MVP chants in Madison Square Garden against the Jazz. Those chants only got louder Friday night against Kobe and the Lakers, as Lin absolutely humiliated Kobe. He lived out every every Asian-American’s basketball player’s dream of all dreams, to be cast aside by Kobe and then shove it in his face by outplaying him head-to-head on the court.

"Asian-American basketball player" is a term not often heard in the NBA, strangely, and it is a term that Jeremy would probably rather cast aside, considering how much disrespect it’s caused him at every level of evaluation as a player. What Jeremy Lin is doing is acting as a long overdue hero for a fan base that needed one. Asian-Americans are visible on just about any pickup basketball court, and even though they aren’t the typical kind of athletes you see in the NBA, they know the game. Asian ballers seem to be stereotyped as undersized, quick, almost ninja-like ball handlers, who play with a determined focus. Those types of players certainly exist (and they can be dominant at the pickup level), but there are just as many Asian Americans who are pure shooters, crafty big men, lockdown defenders, lazy defenders, and everything in between. So to say Lin plays “Asian” is unfair, to him and to the legions of skilled Asian-American ballers nationwide.

The True Way of the Linja

This is how Jeremy Lin actually plays, and these are his qualities that should allow him to continue to succeed. He has a versatile offensive skill set with more deadly weapons in than the Linja turtles. Lin has great size for a point guard, and he uses his body well to protect the ball. He’s good at being aggressive and maintaining his dribble with his body control. He has a sick hesitation dribble that he uses frequently to get his defenders off balance. Lin is fairly quick and decently athletic, but he's far from being a Wade or Rose type athlete. He makes up for his lack of athleticism with his strength and solid finishing ability though.

He is an infectious leader, and he understands how to use his teammates’ skills properly. It’s as much his attitude has anything that has so quickly endeared him to fans. Mike D’Antoni is the most thankful Lin supporter out there, as Lin's saved D'Antoni's job by proving that the ex-coach of the year remains a point guard instructor extraordinaire. No offense in the NBA would fit Lin better, and Lin couldn’t ask for a better coach/team situation now. Lin has been great at running the pick and roll in D’Antoni’s offense with Tyson Chandler, and he’ll find only another capable pick and roll partner in Amare Stoudemire once he returns. I’m glad Lin also understands that Steve Novak is a 6’10 shooting machine (98% FT in college!) who is an automatic 3 points if given time and space behind the arc . He understands the niches of every one of his teammates’ games, and all of them are playing better after Jeremy’s Linsertion into the Knicks’ lineup.

What really is Lin's ultimate skill that endears him to fans and teammates is his modesty about all his recent success, the genuine smile on his face as he achieves his lifelong dream of basketball stardom, how he always points the focus away from himself towards other players in interviews. Basically he has the Tim Tebow trait.

Lin Tebow

The Fake ESPN dubbed Jeremy Lin the Official Asian Tim Tebow, and it’s hard to dispute that the two breakout athletes have some uncanny similarities.

Both are devout Christians. Tebow is practically the son of the Lord, and Lin is a lifelong Christian who one day hopes to be a pastor.

Both achieved academic success at prestigious universities, Jeremy Lin getting a 3.1 GPA at Harvard, and Tebow outdoing him with a 3.6 at the University of Florida.

Both have a Lintrospective quality where they are self aware of their game and their limitations, which should aid them as they improve upon their flaws and work hard throughout their careers. What does Lin think of his game? He compares it to Goran Dragic’s, which when I think about it is the perfect comparison. Both players are 6’3 scorers who use crafty dribbling, euro steps, and creativity in the paint. Spot on comparison by Lin that no analyst could top.

Both have been doubted due to unfair racial stereotypes. Tebow suffers being a white quarterback in a fullback's body with questionable throwing ability who relies on his running to create the offense. Lin suffers from being judged as inferior in skill to his counterparts just because he doesn’t look the part of NBA superstar when that is what he is.

And that’s where the similarities end between Tebow and Lin. Jeremy Lin is the real deal. He has had undisputable success on his team and individually on the basketball court. Tebow’s run as a starter and into the AFC divisional round was anything but indisputable. Tebow’s skillset is undeniably inferior to most quarterbacks, and much of the Broncos’ success was due to other players stepping up to keep the game in reach for the first 3 quarters of Tebow suckage. Well, Lin should face no such controversy.

The Taiwanese Taskmaster’s midrange jumper is money, his crossovers are unique and consistently manage him to get penetration, he’s great at drawing contact and finishing strong with his deceptively strong frame, and mostly he has an uncanny feel for the game in 5 with his ability to set the pace and control the game. There's no lack of skill or performance in this case. Sure, his numbers now are a bit Linflated due to the hype and the lack of quality point guards he’s had to go up against (John Wall, Devin Harris, Deron Williams, Derek Fisher), but it’s hard to write off his run as a fluke.

The only thing stopping the Harvard Hurricane from further entrenching himself in history is Linjury and the increased burden of heavy minutes. He has set himself up well for this current media storm, making his presence felt on the Linternet on Twitter and YouTube. Lin is friends with the #2 and #10 most subscribed users of all time, Nigahiga and Kevjumba, and by appearing in their videos that are seen by tens of millions, he’s only expanded his legend

For now though, Jeremy Lin remains humbled. He returns to the life the Lincognito life in New York, crashing on his brother’s sofa where he’s been sleeping the last few nights. The NBA will be hard-pressed though to put Linsanity to bed, as the young star’s dream appears to have no end in sight. 

Football Recap on Super Bowl Sunday

What a game! It’s good to be back, sports fans, and today featured the kind of football match that I couldn’t help but mouth off about. Costly mistakes really proved to be the difference in what otherwise was a very competitive and hardly fought game.

Team captain John Mensah started off strong with a brilliant header at the 10-minute mark. Tunisia then responded in the 42^nd minute when Saber Khalifa outjumped Samuel Inkoom for the equalizer header on an immaculate cross. Tunisia appeared to have Ghana on its heels with consistent challenges from there onward, though the Black Stars managed to avoid disaster for the remainder of regulation and carried the match into extra time. Finally, the Ghanaians’ prayers were answered the 101^st minute when a careless deflection off Tunisian goaltender gave Andre Ayew a free strike that crossed the net to give Ghana the decisive advantage. Tunisian tempers flared after their goalie’s gaffe, leading to multiple bookings and a red card in the 108^th minute that sealed their fate.

Oh, the other game was all right too I guess. At least if you’re not Robert Kraft. And on a day that is celebrated as pseudo-national holiday and is undoubtedly the single national sporting event that matters most, I still have to talk about the pinnacle of American sport. Today’s Super Bowl XLVI altered the legacies of two of our generation’s greatest quarterbacks, probably created a whole new audience for The Voice, and produced a plentitude of both dumb and great plays worth dissecting, not to mention a handful of interesting commercials and a certain music artist whose good manners went M.I.A. for an inexplicably expletive in her guest performance.

But I’ll get to that later. First I need to make a clarification about the position of this blog. I claim to talk about the matters in sports that I think truly matter, but my perspective on what matters in sports has definitely been shifted recently. I just returned from a trip to Ghana that coincided with the beginning of the football soccer, season in Europe as well as the Africa Cup of Nations, a biannual tournament to determine the best national team in the African continent. This is the most viewed highlight in the US of the African Cup of Nations this year. That just about sums up why we aren't watching soccer events like the Africa Cup of Nations here.

I bet most of you readers in the United States didn’t know that this event has been going on since 1957, and has an impact on its audience unequaled by the Super Bowl or any other American sporting event, and neither did I until a few days ago. Heck, I had to use an online soccer slang dictionary to get most of those words right in the first paragraph. But it’s about time I gave a nod to the sport that is far and away the most popular on Earth, and I might as well mix in a small bit about my trip while I’m at it.

Despite road sides littered with trash and a thick smog layer that makes the harsh afternoon sun so dim that you can stare straight into it, Ghana is a country with a bright future due to rapid modernization that is effecting everywhere from city intersections to small dirt road communities. Ghana was even just named the World’s Fastest Growing Economy in 2011, and I got to see on my trip a sizable young population with increasingly impressive technological literacy that should allow the African nation to continue its growth. And most importantly for the motives of this blog, Ghana has got one solid football squad in the Black Stars, who were recently rated the #2 team in the continent. The widespread unwavering passion for “The Beautiful Game” in this country is unlike anything I’ve ever seen in America.

It’s easy to tell what the most popular sport in Ghana is just from a drive through the country. In just about every empty area of dirt, grass or cement that isn’t filled with people in commerce or shops, there are kids of all ages playing soccer football. I saw one kid in a Cleveland LeBron jersey, but he acted shocked when I started to mention how LeBron was on Miami’s team now, and I stopped myself before saying anything else that would point out the irony of this kid’s now ignominious relic of a jersey. I might have even seen a couple people in MJ or Kobe jerseys, but they were vastly outnumbered by the Michael Essien, Lionel Messi, and Cristiano Renaldo jerseys that were everywhere.

Football for Ghana resonates with a kind of national pride that is impossible to find in the U.S. sports market that prefers to relic in intranational rivalries like the Super Bowl, World Series, and NBA playoffs rather than international events like the Olympics and the World Cup. Ghana hasn’t won the African Cup in 30 years, and a win this year would be a statement in Africa that would resonate far beyond sport for a country trying to prove itself on an international stage. Call me a communist, but I was happy after Ghana’s 2-1 win over the U.S. in the 2010 World Cup because I knew it meant so much more for them than for me. I can only imagine the level of unified national celebration that engrossed the streets after that game. I got to see firsthand on my recent trip that everything changes in Ghana on game day.

The over-packed streets that are normally bumper to roadside salesman to bumper and incredibly overcrowded due to the massive construction across the country suddenly go empty for 90 minutes plus stoppage time. I feel safe assuming that every single TV in the country turns to the same channel. Grouped by the dozen, kids and adults, men and women seem to instantaneously flock to the nearest 10 to 35 inch monitor of hope as the match begins. Once Ghana scores, a ubiquitous roar rises across the entire country. No emotion is too extreme to display publicly. A 30 second thunderstorm ensues of men high fiving and hugging each other, kids equipped in Black Stars jerseys dashing out of their houses screaming, and unbridled dance and celebration from everyone else, who all unequivocally cheer for their country to win without cynicism.

I’d compare game day in Ghana to the scene in a New England sports bar watching the Red Sox in the World Series in 2004. Across the entire country. during every match the Black Stars play. After the game, you can ask anyone you see about the game, and they’ll all have a heated rap on all the player flops, mistakes from referees, and spectacular plays that made the difference.

A Quick Nod to the World’s #1 Sport

For the 11 days I was in Ghana for my most recent trip, there was something pure and refreshing about watching nothing but soccer on television to fulfill my sports addiction. I went from a place where most announcers have a loose understanding of the English language to one where all the announcers are British and speak British AKA Super English saying things like “an out of this world Bernini sculpture of a finish!” or “This is a Bernini sculpture of a goal! It’s perfection… he guides it heavenly, it’s a majesterial hit by an artist!

Soccer is the sport that celebrates the remarkable play to the fullest, as a play has to be remarkable enough to pass through the net in order to score a point. The dozens of solid plays players make to win possession, move the ball up the field, get free kicks or corners, get past their man, find an open teammate, and more are worthless unless they lead to a ball that crosses the entire defense and the keeper for a goal, a task practically impossible without perfect execution on a spectacular play. The team that can create more perfectly beautiful plays that result in goals is the winner in this pure and rudimentary game.

The trend in American sports nowadays is toward being as judgmental about players’ performance through countless stats, metrics, and visual evidence to prove something the fan wants to know, held up to their high standards of knowledge. There always needs to be a clear winner. Every tenth of a second has to be accurate to meet our strict model of efficiency standard.

Maybe that is why we have trouble accepting soccer. Now in the age where Moneyball is mainstream, it’s going to be as difficult as ever for Americans to come to terms with the idea of stoppage time, frequent ties, game deciding penalty kicks based on the blow of a ref’s whistle, and all those freakishly talented soccer pansies falling all over themselves trying to draw a call, without instant replay review to call their bluffs.

I mean, seriously, does anyone else wonder why they don’t just stop the clock during injuries or dead balls and end the game at a fixed time rather than let it keep running for how ever long it takes for a guy to properly milk an injury, then guesstimate how long the game was stopped for at the end of each 45 minutes with “stoppage time,” only to use that added minute number as a general guideline for when the referee ends the game. In America, that’s unconstitutional. In soccer though, purism rains supreme, and the sport is resisting off all movements that might disrupt the flow of the game.

And what about giving proper credit for a goal to the guys who possess the ball, manages take it from the opposing offense, move it up field, routinely send perfect through balls, banana crosses, brilliant back heels? Isn’t there something in the box score for that? Isn’t there a box score? Soccer is the last remaining sport where watching it truly speaks for itself. It is about one play where everything goes perfectly, and ultimately it is only the goal scorer who matters and who makes the play that scores points to effect the outcome. And it will retain this advantage over all other sports as long as they exist, and this will continue to keep it in its own league, so to speak.

Onto My Football

Moving from the pure to the impure, the Super Bowl is a sporting event that is no longer allowed to speak for itself. Now it is a full day event synonymous with two weeks of useless press coverage, a half time show for girls to watch Madonna perform and meaningless celebrity scandal develop, and, of course, a handful of heavily reviewed million dollar commercials looking to capture your attention. It’s a functional economic formula that in the last few years has produced the most widely viewed events in world history. NBC paid about $950 million for this year’s rights, and it sounds to me like a good investment.

Companies prepare for months trying to make commercials shock their ways into viewers’ memory banks on ads. We have the success stories of  E-Trade, with their baby commercials that truly restored their struggling company, and the quick rise to prominence in the web domain market of GoDaddy with their racy (intended) commercials starring Danica Patrick. News shows and websites even replay the “Top Ads” nowadays to review their “favorites” from the whole game, which pours in more money to advertisers after the initial mass exposure. NBC spent a ton of time advertising shows on their own network, particularly The Voice, which I’m sure was a major reason why they dropped almost a billion dollars for network rights this year.

The difference in sports advertising really epitomizes the cultural difference between the US and Ghana. During the nationwide television event of football in Ghana, at least half of the commercials are the same Coca-Cola commercial playing the uplifting song that was the theme of the World Cup, “Wavin’ Flag” by K’Naan, as players leap through the air making gravity defying soccer moves.

But anyways, I would be neglecting my heritage not to rattle a bit more about the Super Bowl. Here are the highlights in case you missed it. The Super Bowl has arrived at a pretty set routine as far as I’m concerned. You spend all of Sunday morning preparing for it AKA doing nothing except maybe buying some nice food and sodas, call your friends last minute to see what they're doing for the game, then you get together and the game finally starts as both teams are sloppy with mistakes and getting the jitters out on sports’ biggest stage.

In this case, mistakes were especially costly for the Patriots from beginning to end. Tom Brady threw his first pass to Casper from his own endzone, resulting in a well-called safety on the Pats’ first offensive play from scrimmage. Then, the Giants move down the field, until Victor Cruz made the tough mistake of staying up too long on his feet resisting tackle, allowing the defender to yank the ball from his grasp. Luckily, the play was nullified because of a bigger mistake—the Pats having 12 men on the field.

Following this inexplicable error by the Pats’ defensive coordinators, they redeem themselves by calling the perfect play on the goal line, where the middle linebacker cuts across towards the side of the field to stop the Giants from doing a quick slant. Well, Victor Cruz made his cut for the quick slant and Eli Manning made a play that should have hit defender Jerod Mayo right in stride so that he got an interception and a long return the other way, but Mayo was playing ketchup on the play and wasn’t looking at the QB for some reason, so the ball whizzed by his ear, and Victor Cruz caught it after an “I can’t believe that ball got through” bobble.

Right after, on the following kickoff with the score 9-0 Giants, Chris Collinsworth called Julian Edelman Danny Woodhead on mistake. Ahh, the stereotypes 5’7 to 5’10 white males have to endure! The game proceeded rather mistake-free for a bit, then the halftime show came up. I didn’t see it live, but I saw the replays where M.I.A. (didn’t know that was a person) gave the crowd the finger and might have thrown a few expletives into the lyrics or something. Not cool.

I know a lot of people were offended by the whole Janet Jackson boob incident in 2004, but being an 11-year old boy at the time, part of the audience for whom the incident was supposed to be offensive and damaging, I thought it was pretty awesome. Sure, Janet kind of went off the map after that, but Justin Timberlake is only a bigger pimp now after ripping off a girl’s shirt in front of tens of millions.

But giving Americans the finger on their national holiday does not impress anyone, you British She-Douche. I don’t care if you’re a great philanthropist and a majorly influential musician, you don’t get to do that as a guest at the Super Bowl.

The mistakes got more costly through the game for the Patriots, as a Welker drop (Brady misfire?) that could have locked up the game for the Pats fell to the ground and New England gave the Giants the ball with just enough time to execute a full drive. Then, Mario Manningham’s textbook lesson on how to take a hit and get control in bounds (I swear every year now there’s a memorable catch), left Bill Bellicheck in such a stage of déjà vu shock that he challenged it, only to lose a valuable time out and an extra 40 seconds. Ahmad Bradshaw made a potentially game breaking mistake by going into the end zone to give the Patriots a chance to score with less than a minute, but Tom Brady couldn’t make it happen on the ensuing drive, despite a valiant 4^th and 13 conversion and solid Hail Mary attempt.

And just like that, Peyton Manning’s humiliating year was given a cherry on top, as Eli Manning put himself above Peyton in terms of Super Bowl wins and Super Bowl MVPs, 2 to 1. Peyton will always be a charming and funny personality, and Eli will always be kind of a derp, but their careers are comparable now. I have to send my condolences to Peyton Manning, whom I felt was on his way to owning every passing record imaginable and an unquestioned spot as the best quarterback of all time before his preseason neck surgery ended his year. He didn't actually play this year, but he missed out on the passing fiesta where every quarterback threw for career numbers, and didn't even get a chance to fight off the newfound criticism with his on field play. Now he's probably out of Indianapolis, and it's a mess.

People already seem to forget that this is the first modern quarterback the first quarterback to have a freakish statistical season (his 2004 season is still rated the best ever on a play-to-play basis by Football Outsiders), the first to make his mouth as valuable a weapon as his arm with all his pre-snap audibles and adjustments, and the first to truly embrace the new technology of all the film available to study opponents.

Tom Brady needed this game to get past Manning. Instead, Eli was the one to pass Peyton, at least for now. From now on, we’ll be looking at whose career has been better, and Eli still needs a few years to catch up, but he has accomplished a ton this season. With the Super Bowl victory, Eli Manning’s season is the most significant among all QBs this year. Sorry Drew Brees and Aaron Rodgers. 8 game winning comeback drives in 19 games this season is ridiculous. 4900 passing yards with 27 TD and 16 interceptions isn’t too shabby either. This might be the best season ever for a Super Bowl winning quarterback.

After Super Bowl XLVI ended, they of course immediately showed the commercial with the winning team’s Super Bowl champion gear, prompting some imbecile at your Super Bowl party to ask how they have the merchandise prepared so quickly, and then follow up asking “Wow, I wonder what they do to all the losing team’s gear.” That imbecile is usually me. It goes to charity and to countries like Haiti BTW.

NBC got unsportsmanlike conduct in my book during the post game celebrations when they focused the camera on Robert Kraft, the Patriots’ remarkable owner whose beloved wife passed away in the last year, as he was the last to leave his box, staring in disappointment and gloom at the field and then up at the sky before sadly sulking away. That’s not very classy to show such a classy guy at such a vulnerable and tough time right after his life’s work’s loss.

Non-Sports Matters that Don’t Matter

If you were like me and didn’t want to turn off the TV or change the channel after the game ended, then you got shown to the season premiere of the second season of NBC’s wannabe show. American Idol is one of the highest rated TV shows in the history of television, so it makes sense that a spinoff of the show with better, more qualified celebrity judges would be successful too. The Voice is a singing competition where singers audition to be trained by one of the four judges, Blake Shelton (a big deal in country, I guess), Christina Aguilera (cleavage), Adam Levine (Maroon Five), and Cee-Lo Green (hero). Here’s the format, via the faithful Wikipedia

The series consists of three phases: a blind audition, a battle phase, and live performance shows. Four judges/coaches, all noteworthy recording artists, choose teams of contestants through a blind audition process. Each judge has the length of the auditioner's performance (about one minute) to decide if he or she wants that singer on his or her team; if two or more judges want the same singer (as happens frequently), the singer has the final choice of coach.

Each team of singers is mentored and developed by its respective coach. In the second stage, called the battle phase, coaches have two of their team members battle against each other directly by singing the same song together, with the coach choosing which team member to advance from each of four individual "battles" into the first live round. Within that first live round, the surviving four acts from each team again compete head-to-head, with public votes determining one of two acts from each team that will advance to the final eight, while the coach chooses which of the remaining three acts comprises the other performer remaining on the team.

In the final phase, the remaining contestants (Final 8) compete against each other in live broadcasts. The television audience and the coaches have equal say 50/50 in deciding who moves on to the final 4 phase. With one team member remaining for each coach, the (final 4) contestants compete against each other in the finale with the outcome decided solely by public vote.

Pretty cool idea, actually. Solid choices for judges too, especially Cee Lo Green. People should know him from the unbelievably catchy “F*ck You” song, which was rated the #1 song of 2010 by Time, but even more importantly, “Crazy” (as part of Gnarls Barkley with Danger Mouse), which Rolling Stone rated the #1 song of the 2000’s and #100 song of all time.

I feel like everyone has to respect Cee Lo as one of the coolest guys out there. Here’s a guy whose dad died when he was 2, mom was paralyzed in a car crash at 16 and died when he was 18. Despite his unbelievably rough luck, this is a guy who maintains an offbeat sense of humor in all his songs. “F*ck you” is an upbeat, happy song that is actually cursing out Cee Lo’s gold digger ex-wife. He’s the only guy who can pull off the outfits he does (see picture). Cee Lo is fun to watch on The Voice too, as he mixes in his sense of humor with his job as judge/coach.

I never watched American Idol, but I found it interesting to see who won and see if they were achieved mainstream success like Kelly Clarkson or remained nobodies like Ruben Studdard or David Cook (not Dane Cook). That was the driving force behind the show, I thought, since the audience wanted to feel like they were part of the process of finding the next big music star.

After being brainwashed though watching an entire hour of The Voice, I noticed that on NBC’s Sunday night news, the promotion for The Voice only continued. They answered my biggest question about the show, with an immediate feature on one of last year’s top performers, Xenia, and her post-Voice career. I looked it up and saw that most of last year’s top performers were all practically mainstream duds in the modern music scene that favors hip hop and electronic music more and more.

But this girl Xenia apparently has half a million views on YouTube for her country music video “Sing You Home”, and she’s had a fairly successful album release too. She was coached by Blake Shelton, the country guy, which was a brilliant call since he’s the only coach who can really point these singers in a feasible direction for success. The most stable place to go for young talented singers has to be country. CMT is a channel that will always exist. Though people where I am in LA don’t listen to it much doesn’t mean that it doesn’t have a significant loyal following. So it seems to me like if The Voice wants to try to build up to the level of pedigree of American Idol’s talent, its best chance is in country music, and the singers’ continued support from their established celebrity coaches.

Only on the Super Bowl do I find it appropriate to ramble this much about pop culture in a sports blog. Thanks for reading this far down, and don’t worry, I won’t ever again talk about The Voice (or soccer either probably). I’ll be sticking to Saturday weekly recaps of the sports matters that matter, across all sports, I’ll be providing bi-weekly NBA power rankings, and I’ll be throwing in the occasional semi-serious article like the part today before I started to talk about the Super Bowl.

Season's Greetings from the NBA

Merry third day of Kwanzaa solicitors of sports knowledge! Every year, the holiday season brings in oodles of sports action as the NBA and NHL seasons hit their stride, the NFL playoff picture begins to unfold, and college football teams battle for bowl glory. This year’s holiday break was especially significant, as having Christmas day on a Sunday relegated the bulk of NFL action to Saturday. This left us with a handful of marquee NBA matchups to at last kick off the lockout shortened season on Santa’s birthday (just assuming).

Sunday was a merry masterpiece for the NBA, featuring close and thrilling games, a handful of the select regular season matchups that actually matter, and of course, ridiculous fashion statements by NBA players to showcase their holiday spirit.

NBA fans have grown well accustomed to Chrstmas-themed red and green shoe-sock combinations over the years. But 2011 brought a number of new interesting installments in the holiday shoe department, most notably Brandon Jennings’ Rudolph themed shoes, which feature synthetic animal hide and a red nose tip, and Kobe’s purple and green Grinch themed sneakers, which in truth would have fit a lot better on the real Grinch who stole  the competitive balance of the league, LeBron.

Wait, scratch that. this year Kris Humphries was voted the most deserving Grinch. I really resent Kardashian hype overpowering LeBron hate.

Speaking of hype, this season already has as much as any ever before, despite an embarrassing lockout and the lack of competitive balance that is still present in the league. Basketball hasn’t been this alive in LA at least since the Kobe-Shaq days. All across the league, this year is shaping up to be just about as epic as partial seasons get.

There are several star studded teams this year that all have legitimate shots at a championship, and the playoffs are going to be must see TV once all these super teams are summoned to clash it out in seven game series. After these elite teams with stacked rosters, there’s a smaller handful of teams pushing to get into the elite class, who are just a hot streak or a key player acquisition away from chipping into the top tier. Then there’s 40 miles of sulphur fields, an abandoned factory filled with rejected ’06 NBA balls, David Stern’s reputability, and at the bottom of the shit ladder, the rest of the NBA.

What I do here at Sports Matters That Matter is separate the teams that matter and the teams that don’t matter. So I'll divide this Early Season Preview and Review into sections for the teams that matter, the teams that almost matter, and the teams that in the big picture don't matter.

                            Teams That Matter


 Here are the super teams that have a shot at catching a Maverick-esque momentum in the playoffs and winning a championship, in order of how secure their position in this paradigm is: The Miami Heat, Oklahoma City Thunder, Chicago Bulls, Los Angeles Clippers, Los Angeles Lakers, San Antonio Spurs, Boston Celtics, and the Dallas Mavericks.

This is likely the longest this list will be all year. As the season opens up, at least one of these teams will be proven to be too old, too inexperienced, or too mediocre to hang with the big three in Miami, who at this point are setting the standard for the rest of the NBA. For a team to matter, it must have some angle from which they could conceivably play the Heat to a tossup in a 7-game series.

Last year's trend of the NBA becoming a point guard’s league is likely to continue and expand this year. Dallas won a championship last year often using a two point-guard back court with a smaller floor general like JJ Barea and a bigger 1 guard like Jason Kidd splitting the duties of running the offense. After this model’s championship success in Dallas, this year features a handful other teams that have adopted that system into their in-game lineups, most notably the Clippers with Chris Paul and Chauncey Billups, and the Denver Nuggets with Ty Lawson and Andre Miller. It makes sense that this kind of lineup would work, especially with the surplus of talent in the league at the point guard position today. Factor in the aforementioned impressive play of new faces like Ricky Rubio and Kemba Walker, as well as Kyrie Irving, John Wall, and of course the still only 23-year old MVP Derrick Rose, and point guards are clearly here in the league to stay.

Having talent at point guard was a huge factor for these selections of teams that mattered. The weakest on the list at the point by far is the Lakers, and that is why they fall behind the team with perhaps the best point guard in the NBA, their rivals in earnest, the Clippers. But more on that later, I'll start with the two players that carry the teams at the top of the list.

It’s a two man race for MVP between LeBron James and Kevin Durant. LeBron looked as freakishly dominant as ever, dropping 37 points with 10 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 steals and 2 blocks against the defending champion Mavs. They may not win 70 games, as some TV announcers and numerous sports writers have boldly predicted, (especially bold considering it’s a 66 game season…), but the Heat are the definite front runners to win it all at this point.

The freshly focused, me-against-the-world LeBron James is truly a force to be reckoned with. Most importantly, LeBron stopped trying to play like a diminutive point guard, as he seems to have come to the realization that he can physically dominate just about any human being in the history of the planet in the midrange game and the paint. He didn’t attempt a single three in the game, and the Heat acted like they now have frighteningly found out that it’s a waste to have the two best drivers in the NBA hovering around the perimeter on offense.

Kevin Durant on the other hand looks equally impressive, scoring 33 and 30 points in his two games. He should win his third straight scoring crown this year, and the Thunder look like major contenders in the West once again. In my eyes however, they aren’t the most talented team in the Western conference at this point. In my eyes, that team is the Clippers.

Which brings me to my next conclusion, which is that the Clippers are clearly the best team in Los Angeles now.

Their game against the Warriors was closer than the score would indicate, as the game was closely contested until the last few minutes. But Chris Paul looked unstoppable in crunch time, and paired with Chauncey Billups, the Clippers have the best back court in the NBA when it comes to hitting clutch, momentum-killing shots down the stretch. Add in Mo Williams as a guard to come in the second half with fresh legs, as well as Randy Foye and Eric Bledsoe once he’s healthy, and I like the Clippers back court as much as any in the league, easily.

DeAndre Jordan had a Dwight Howard-esque performance with 8 blocks and 8 missed free throws, on 12 attempts. He really seems to me like a just slightly downgraded version of Superman in terms of athleticism and explosiveness.

Blake Griffin remains an elite post presence, and he’s a hardworking player who has evidently worked a lot on his shot this offseason. I expect him to shoot over 70% free throws this year, and his confidence to shoot the midrange shot immediately will only grow as the season goes on.

All in all, the Clippers look like a team that is built to win a championship right now. They had by far the best offseason of any team, and people don’t always realize that they have 5 players on their roster who have been NBA All-Stars as recently as 2008 (Caron Butler, Mo Williams, Chauncey Billups, Blake Griffin, Chris Paul), and on a talent level they match up almost even with the Miami Heat. They may not be the team of Los Angeles now, or even in the immediate future, but they’re the one with the much better chance of winning in the playoffs.

If you’re a Lakers fan though, there’s absolutely no reason to throw in the towel or fret just yet. The Bulls loss was a ridiculous choke that was made possible by the fluke of going 0-5 on free throws in the final minutes, as well as a few inexplicable Ron Artest plays, the worst of which was  a pass to a double teamed and cornered Kobe near half court that forced Kobe to throw a bad pass that was intercepted for his 8^th and most costly turnover of the game.

Yesterday’s loss to the Kings quite frankly didn’t matter, and was just evidence of the fact that the Lakers aren’t contenders without Andrew Bynum’s inside presence. Without Bynum, all the Lakers’ flaws are put under a magnifying glass—suddenly it becomes apparent that Pau Gasol isn’t willing to take control of the post for himself, that Kobe can’t be the guy who dominates the ball and makes plays every time down the court at this point in his career, that Lamar Odom’s loss is fatal, that Derek Fisher is vastly outplayed by every point guard he faces, and that  Ron Artest is usually a bumbling idiot who never in his career was a dependable one-on-one or 3-point threat, and certainly isn’t now.

The reason there’s still hope for this current Lakers roster though is that they have a new coach, a new system, and a new collection of talent, and some adjustment period is to be expected. Having the twin towers of Bynum and Gasol will cover up many of the Lakers’ faults, as well as give the team more opportunities to utilize their new 3-point ability.

Steve Blake is showing a refined shooting stroke with more arc that has paid off thus far. He was 8-10 from behind the arc in the preseason, and I expect him to take over as the Lakers starting point guard by the end of the season. He never fully grasped the triangle offense, and with a newfound shooting stroke and more familiar offensive design, he’s the best point guard the Lakers have.

Josh McRoberts and to a lesser extent Devin Ebanks can be young playmakers who can certainly contribute on this team. McRoberts especially is the type of athletic, hustling young inside player with length that they need to back up Gasol and Bynum. Here is Mike Brown describing his virtues for the team.

It’s going to be hard for a defensive-minded coach like Mike Brown to find room for our SoCal homegrown Jason Kapono in his lineup,but if he can find a way to utilize him, he could help spread the floor with Bynum and Gasol controlling the middle, and if Kapono can do one thing, it’s hit open shots from outside. Here's proof.

Troy Murphy also adds a unique element to the team as a versatile big man who can rebound and hit threes off the bench. The Lakers can’t rely on penetration from any perimeter players, but once Mike Brown instills a defensive midset and an inside-outside offensive game plan, this team will be as capable of winning it all as any in the league, even if it lacks the explosive playmakers of other teams.
                    
                        Teams that Almost Matter

Then there’s a couple teams with a shot of bursting into this top tier, again in order. The New York Knicks, Orlando Magic, and just barely the Atlanta Hawks, Denver Nuggets, Memphis Grizzlies, and Portland Trailblazers.

All these teams are capable of knocking off one of the top tiered teams in a playoff series if the ball bounces the right way for them. Sorry Knicks fans, but Carmelo single handedly beating a Celtics team without Paul Pierce does not gain you entry into the elite class. I don't have much to say about any of these teams yet.

These teams are capable of competing with the Heat eventually and burst into the realm of fully mattering. But they'd need some unexpected boost, whether by trade, a key free agent acquisition, or some player stepping up extraordinarily.

                          Teams That Do Not Matter

Then, there’s the rest of the teams, who often feature young exciting players that certainly matter, but who fail to leave any impression on the sports world otherwise.The David Sternland Hornets, Philadelphia 76ers, Houston Rockets, Golden State Warriors Phoenix Suns, Indiana Pacers, Milwaukee Bucks, Charlotte Bobcats, Utah Jazz, Minnesota Timberwolves, Washington Wizards, New Jersey Nets, Detroit Pistons, Toronto Raptors, Sacramento Kings, and finally the Cleveland Cavaliers.

These are a few of the guys on these teams that caught my eye in the first few games:

Ricky Rubio—as LeBron James tweeted, “Rubio can pass that rock!” Just two games into his career, the Spanish sensation has already provided a handful of uniquely remarkable plays that are rare to see in today’s NBA. He makes the bounce pass beautiful, and I’m excited to see him develop. There’s a lot more Steve Nash in this kid than there is Adam Morrison, and he is a fresh face with a unique play style based on dazzle and making his teammates better. Plus, he’s got a supporting cast that can make plays with fellow first year player Derrick Williams, as well as Michael Beasley and of course Kevin Love. Rubio’s already getting the crunch time minutes on the Wolves, and he’s just 21. The TWolves might be able to sneak into the playoffs as early as this year on their talented players' young legs in a condensed season.

Paul George—Another 21 year old already making splashes, the man with two first names efficiently filled the stat line with 12 points, 7 rebounds, two 3s, a block, and a steal in his first action this year. What most caught my eye is that he looked bigger than he did last year—and he is. The ex-Fresno State star, who mostly plays shooting guard, grew two inches in the offseason from an already lengthy 6’8 to 6’10. A well-rounded player who can play defense, shoot, rebound, and do all the small things, George is in elite company with Kevin Durant now as the only other extremely versatile 6’10 guard/forward without Durant’s uncanny scoring instincts. He also shares a quick, and effortlessly smooth stroke like Durant's from the perimeter. He’s the second best player out of the 2010 draft class next to John Wall, and he has all the chances to continue to improve.

Kemba Walker—you know you’re having an impressive debut when you manage to get Michael Jordan to get off his seat like he did after this impressive and-1 score. The national champion from UConn scored 13 points, including 7-7 on free throws, in his NBA debut. Allen Iverson comparisons may not be too farfetched, and Kemba’s already pushing D.J. Augustin for the starting PG spot in Charlotte and bringing some flair to the flailing franchise. I fully expect him to score 25-30 points when he plays against the Lakers current roster.

I'll stop here, and really, the only thing stopping me from dissecting every player’s performance and jumping to conclusions is the fact that it’s an 82 66 game season, and at this point what happens in regular season games means just about nothing.

Floyd Mayweather Sentenced to 90 Days in Prison

It was announced today that boxer and self-proclaimed "supermegastar" Floyd Mayweather will be peacing out to prison for 90 days following domestic violence charges after a September 2010 incident in which Mayweather hit his ex-girlfriend and threatened his children. Here's the story.


In addition to jail time, which could be reduced if Floyd exhibits good behavior behind bars, Money May was sentenced to 100 hours of community service, which his lawyer argued should be directed toward children. Presumably, Floyd will be able to spread his inspiring story of devouring gratuitous amounts of candy, fast food, and soda (seriously, this diet is wild), and fighting people to benefit the lives of countless children in need. We already know the guy whose favorite movie is The Notebook is great around children, after he beat his wife in front of his 9 and 10-year old kids, took their cell phones, and made death threats that prompted one son old to run away from the house and jump over the gate to seek help. 

Back to the subject of Mayweather's diet, how will he make it in jail without his personal chef to make him 5 AM hot dogs? How will he manage to smuggle Butterfingers into his cell? And how can the man who is already one of the greatest athletes in boxing history get in even better shape now that junk food is out of his diet and he'll have nothing to do but work out all day?


Also, how rough could jail really be for Mayweather? Of all the athletes in the world though, Floyd probably has the least to worry about dropping soap in a jail shower. Besides, shouldn't they have liquid soap by now? Someone has to figure out that simple solution to prison rape eventually, right?


The real reason this story should matter to sports fans though is that Floyd's impending incarceration undeniably damages a sport that has been steadily losing interest with the rapid growth of MMA and other fighting sports. As Mayweather said himself with exquisite illeism, "Floyd Mayweather is the face of boxing. All roads lead to Floyd Mayweather."


He's right too. Floyd Mayweather is without a doubt the most important, psychotic, and unfalteringly interesting boxer of our generation. For years, boxing fans have been starving for a Pacquiao-Mayweather mega-fight that continues to be pushed aside due to tough drug testing demands, ego-fueled disagreements over profit distribution and a stunning unreasonableness.


According to the prosecutor who sentenced Floyd, Mayweather has made his living not just out of dodging punches, but dodging punishments as well. “He just continually gets himself into trouble and he is able to get himself out of it as well,” she said. “Essentially it is because he is who he is and is able to get away with everything.” Floyd won't be able to save his legacy if he doesn't fight Pacquiao, however, and it would be the costliest trouble he's caused for himself yet if he doesn't take the opportunity to take on the other best fighter in the world.

This fight would reportedly rake in $200 million, $60 million for each fighter, so why the hell doesn't it happen? Mayweather's sentence is  just the latest hurdle in what has been an absurd lack of proactivity that is crippling not just his legacy, but the entire sport of boxing. Hopefully, Floyd takes some of this time off to reflect on the fact that his ego is in many ways destroying a national pasttime that once was considered right behind baseball as a staple of American athletics. I know Floyd Mayweather isn't the smartest guy around, but he has to figure this one out and realize that no Pacquiao fight would do damage to everyone in the boxing world.


Floyd's next move? Supposedly his super squad of lawyers are appealing the "unusual" sentence, presumably with an insanity plea that would be hard for the legal system to deny.

Plays That Mattered in the NFL: Week 15

For the last few weeks of the NFL season, I’ll be providing Monday night posts with links to the plays you should check out and some quick analysis to recap what mattered each week around the league. NFL.com is a great resource that has every play and game highlights available to stream free instantly.

Week 15 was the most bizarre and unpredictable week yet in what has already been a historically unpredictable and bizarre season. It’s always been risky business trying to make NFL predictions, especially on a weekly basis, but this year it’s been practically impossible. Sunday certainly confirmed the notion that nothing in any matchup is certain as the 0-13 Colts defeated a Titans team battling to make the playoffs, the lowly Redskins shut down Eli Manning and the Giants, and, of course, the Chiefs' shocking assault on the 13-0 Packers right after firing their head coach, Todd Haley. Here are some of the plays that made today into one of the strangest this week one of the strangest in NFL history:

Donald Trumps the Titans

Donald Brown made this clutch run to seal the Colts’ upset victory, showcasing vision, power, and breakaway speed that he hasn’t shown at any other point in his disappointing career. Good for the Colts.

Big Mistakes from Giants

One of several unforgiveable mistakes by the Giants that will surely have the New York media ranting and raving. Nicks provided a somewhat valid excuse that the ball hard to spot in the in the sun, that thing is right in the friggin' bread basket. The Giants didn't score a touchdown until there were 33 seconds left in the game.

All Hail Hali

This was one of Hali’s three sacks on the day, and a play that pretty much epitomized a game where the Chiefs hustled, played hard, and snuck up from behind the Packers to shock them with a big hit.

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This is how Tim Tebow avoids a sack

This is how Caleb Hanie avoids a sack

Tebow’s run to cap off the game’s opening drive marked the high point of the night for the Broncos. They went on to lose to Brady’s Patriots 41-23, but I was pretty impressed with the Broncos’ performance. Their offense showed they can score points outside the 4^th quarter, and if it weren’t for three costly turnovers, this game could have been in Tebow range at the end for another Hail Mary victory.

As for the Bears, the  post-Cutler Hanie-over continues. This guy has a career 3-10 TD-Int ratio and 41.7 QB rating, and it’s unlikely he gets any other shot to improve those numbers for the rest of his career after his recent performance. Having lost their starting quarterback and running back already to injury, Chicago was dealt another blow after it lost its best WR, Johnny Knox, on this hard-to-watch hit.

Johnny, welcome to the school of hard Knox. I doubt you could even pay Johnny Knoxville to go through that pain for Jackass 4 (okay, maybe you could), and I’m sure he’d rather snort wasabi every day than ever have his spine cracked like that. All puns aside though, I hope Johnny Knox is okay, and it was good to hear today that he underwent successful surgery today to stabilize the vertebra on his lower to mid back. He’s obviously out for the year, but he should be ready for the start of next regular season.

Speaking of big hits, this was a week that did not feature the most notorious perpetrator, the Steelers’ James Harrison, who was serving a one game suspension for his hit on Colt McCoy last week. Harrison still made his presence felt on his twitter account however, which is a kick and worth checking out.

I always appreciate a good double negative, and they don’t get no better than in this tweet during a blackout that delayed the 49ers and Steelers Monday night game: “If I can’t play, then can’t nobody play… Lights out.” Harrison was active on Twitter throughout his personal bye week, mostly just fastidiously critiquing and complaining about other hits that he thought were illegal across the NFL, and talking about how much he lifts, in case you couldn’t tell the man with "Silverback" as a nickname was strong.

This guy is a joke if he thinks he doesn't deserve a suspension. He's met with the commissioner about the hits, and he's publicly called Goodell a "devil" and a "crook,"so he should assume he's not on the commissioner's good side. He drew $120,000 in fines last year for dirty hits. And anyone who thinks his hits aren't dirty is crazy. Here's visual evidence.

That's right, Harrison's a total jerk. One of those hits was even on a college teammate, Joshua Cribbs, whose body immediately started to go limp. The dude is a supervillain practically. He's actively trying to inflict damage on people, and he needs to be punished just so he stays somewhat in line.

The ugliest touchdown play I’ve seen in a while

After almost manage to get sacked by his own player, Tony Romo almost managed to throw an interception, but Miles Austin got in the way and wrestled the ball away for a touchdown. This play was remarkably similar to one of Austin’s TDs earlier this year where he wrestled the ball away from Antonio Cromartie.

Apparently, someone on the Cowboys called ‘first’ on that play, because was a jump ball if I’ve ever seen one. That’s actually one of the very rare situations where the NFL’s only rule that explicitly favors the offense comes into play—if a ball is possessed by two players throughout the motion of the catch, the tie goes to the offense. James Harrison festers rage over this rule.

Here’s Tebow again, with a classic Madden play, getting sacked for 28 yards on a 4^th and 17

Here’s the most exciting of LeSean McCoy’s 3 touchdowns

Shady McCoy has done that Marcus Allen move countless times this season to fool defenses, but what impressed me is that DeSean Jackson actually made an attempt to help his teammates by throwing a half-committed downfield block.

Reggie Bush looks like he’s back in the Pac-10

Now that’s the Reggie Bush I remember, effortlessly breaking loose big plays, and capping off his touchdowns with flavor. He didn’t do his signature front flip, but he sure made me wish I could run so fast that I'd have to slide for 20 yards to  come to a stop. The most impressive player on that run might actually be Brandon Marshall, who showed uncharacteristic hustle down the field to join in the celebration. He had a remarkably quick reaction time to follow the cue to slide alongside his teammate, thereby causing a 15-yard excessive celebration penalty.

And finally, a shout out to a player not getting nearly enough notice.

Drew Brees throws for 412 yards and 5 TDs

No truly outstanding play here, but a dominant game for a fantastic player having a historic season. There was fairly decent coverage on all those throws, but Drew Brees used his superhuman accuracy to throw his receivers open. Aaron Rodgers has been getting more attention, but Brees’ season has been equally magnificent. There’s little doubt he’ll break Dan Marino’s passing yards record, and if he can add a Super Bowl to this season, it’ll have to go down as arguably the best year ever by a quarterback. This was the week where Brees showed that he might even have an edge on Rodgers and Brady in terms of executing an offense to perfection.