Thursday, February 19, 2015

Down is up, up is down – Carmelo, Dolan, Silver


By Steve Kallas (posted by Rick Morris)

 

Hard to believe what has happened to the Knicks and the NBA in New York City:

 

CARMELO ANTHONY

 

Whether you think Carmelo is a selfish athlete or not, this All-Star weekend took the cake.  After decades of athletes in all sports deciding to “skip the All-Star game to get healthy” or “to rest” or whatever, Carmelo went the opposite way – he decided to play in the All-Star game and then decided it would be best to have knee surgery and miss the rest of the season.

 

To say that decision is inexplicable is to be kind.  What’s also inexplicable is the fact that Phil Jackson (you never really thought that he would coach this team, did you? see Kallas Remarks, 4/23/14) seems to be fine with the decision. 

 

To add insult to injury (that would be a literal knee injury), Carmelo had a horrific All-Star game.  Is it really possible to shoot 6 for 20 in a 163-158 game where defense wasn’t even optional?  Hard to believe (as was his playing 30 minutes) that this actually happened.

 

But it did.  The silver lining in all of this, of course, is the Knicks now have an even better chance to get the top draft pick in the next NBA draft.  Even if they get that pick, however, the Knicks are so far away from a championship that Knick fans can’t even see one.

 

Thankfully, “1973” can’t be chanted in visiting arenas like “1940” was – once upon a time (too many syllables).  Having said that, there seems to be a good chance that the Knicks may very well get to the 54 years that Ranger fans had to wait for their championship – the Knicks are at 42 and counting.

 

Down is up, up is down.  Which brings us to …

 

JAMES DOLAN

 

It’s hard to believe, sometimes, the lack of intelligence that some team owners in sports show when it comes to dealing with fans.  Irving Bierman, a 73-year-old (frustrated, and rightfully so) Knick fan living in Florida, sent a complaining e-mail to the Knick owner, probably never thinking that Dolan would read it. Bierman’s thought that Dolan should sell the team is a good one (ask any real Knick fan).

 

But the gazillionaire Knick owner, in his infinite wisdom, inexplicably decided to reply to someone he knew nothing about, typing gems like “You are a sad person” and “You most likely have made your family miserable.  Alcoholic maybe” (apparently, Mr. Bierman doesn’t drink).

 

The stupidity level in that reply e-mail is hard to quantify.  But suffice it to say that one might expect the 73-year-old Knick fan to write the unintelligent stuff and the owner of the team to brush it off or reply with class or simply ignore it.

 

No such luck at MSG.

 

Down is up, up is down.  Which brings us to …

 

ADAM SILVER

 

The latest NBA Commissioner became almost a national hero of sorts when he dropped an anvil on an over 80-year-old fool (the former owner of the Clippers) after a less than 72-hour investigation.  While virtually everybody agrees that Donald Sterling shouldn’t own an NBA team, in that sick world (NBA team ownership), Sterling was paid two billion dollars (yes, with a B) to just go away.  Whatever you think of free speech, Silver was anointed the new sheriff in town.

 

But then came his ill-timed comments when New Jersey was trying to have limited sports betting at Monmouth Park.  Silver essentially said that he, too, thought it was time for legal sports betting across the country but that he just didn’t agree with the way that New Jersey was going about it.

 

So, while he was arguing in court (through NBA lawyers in New Jersey) against New Jersey for their attempt to institute limited sports betting, he was writing an op-ed in the New York Times supporting what he was arguing against in court (albeit in a different way than New Jersey was attempting to do it).

 

So certainly the brilliant (by many accounts) new Commissioner of the NBA would smack down James Dolan, fine him $50,000 (chump change for Dolan, to be given to a charity, no doubt), reprimand him and talk about how passionate NBA fans, and especially Knick fans, are.  Right?

 

Well, not exactly.  

 

Inexplicably (there’s that word again), Adam Silver came to Jim Dolan’s rescue, actually stating that (according to the New York Post) “Jim is a consummate New Yorker.  Jim got an unkind email and responded with an unkind email.”    

 

Uh-oh.

 

While Adam Silver apparently grew up in the beautiful Westchester town of Rye, New York, he doesn’t quite understand what a “consummate New Yorker” is – indeed, he plays into a national stereotype of what New Yorkers are.  Maybe it’s different if you grew up in the suburbs, but the consummate New Yorker has a clue, is passionate about the teams he or she roots for and expresses his or her opinion in an intelligent way.  In no way, shape or form is James Dolan a consummate New Yorker (talk about an insult to all New Yorkers).

 

Down is up, up is down.

 

One would hope that the owner of a professional sports franchise would take the high road or at least say nothing at all. 

 

One would hope that the commissioner of a major sports league would see the obvious, reprimand and fine the owner and stick up for the 60-year Knick fan who vented his frustrations.

 

One would hope that the star of the local NBA team would skip the All-Star (meaningless exhibition) game and try and get healthy to help his team win games that, you know, count.

 

But when down is up and up is down, no such luck in New York City.

 

@ COPYRIGHT 2015 BY STEVE KALLAS ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

 

Wednesday, February 18, 2015

Lounge on YouTube: Mini-Episode #521 – Justified Episode 6.5 review


By Rick Morris                                          

As we referenced previously, our pals at Sportsology are hooking us up for live segments that we’re doing with guests and remote FDH Lounge Dignitaries these days.  We’re happy to report that we’ve been able to produce many segments on our own, but we’re thrilled for the help on some of these with guests and the thanks all go to our great friend Russ Cohen.

Mini-Episode #521 reviews Justified Episode 6.5 with FDH Senior Editor Jason Jones.


       


       


       


       


 

Sunday, February 15, 2015

NBA power rankings for start of February


By Rick Morris

 

Previous rankings are in parentheses, from start of season to present.

 

TOP TIER

1 Golden State (2-1-1-1)

2 Atlanta (10-4-2-2)

SECOND TIER

3 Memphis (1-5-4-3)

THIRD TIER

4 Toronto (3-2-9-5)

5 Houston (6-9-6-6)

6 Portland (4-3-3-9)

7 Dallas (7-7-5-7)

8 San Antonio (5-13-11-10)

9 LA Clippers (8-10-8-4)

10 Chicago (11-8-10-11)

11 Cleveland (13-11-14-12)

12 Washington (9-6-7-8)

FOURTH TIER

13 Milwaukee (14-15-13-15)

14 Oklahoma City (22-17-15-16)

15 New Orleans (18-14-16-14)

16 Phoenix (12-12-12-13)

FIFTH TIER

17 Charlotte (28-25-20-18)

18 Miami (16-18-18-17)

19 Indiana (19-21-23-25)

20 Boston (24-23-25-24)

21 Detroit (29-27-19-19)

22 Brooklyn (20-16-22-20)

23 Utah (23-22-24-22)

24 Denver (17-19-17-21)

25 Sacramento (15-20-21-23)

SIXTH TIER

26 Orlando (21-24-26-26)

SEVENTH TIER

27 Philadelphia (30-28-28-28)

28 LA Lakers (27-26-27-27)

29 Minnesota (25-29-29-29)

30 New York (26-30-30-30)

 

BIGGEST RISERS: Indiana (6 spots), Boston (4 spots), Portland (3 spots)

 

BIGGEST FALLERS: LA Clippers (5 spots), Washington (4 spots), Denver and Phoenix (3 spots)

 

RANKINGS BY DIVISION – 1 POINT PER RANKING SPOT FOR EACH INDIVIDUAL TEAM, LOWEST SCORE IS BEST

 

1 SOUTHWEST 38

2 CENTRAL 74

3 SOUTHEAST 75

4 PACIFIC 79

5 NORTHWEST 96

6 ATLANTIC 103

 

RANKINGS BY CONFERENCE

1 WEST 213

2 EAST 252

NHL power rankings for mid-February


By Rick Morris

 

Previous rankings are in parentheses, from start of season to present.

 

TOP TIER

1 Nashville (9-2-4-2-3)

2 St. Louis (4-3-7-6-2)

3 Montreal (1-4-5-5-7)

4 Anaheim (2-8-1-1-1)

5 New York Islanders (7-1-3-3-6)

6 Detroit (12-9-8-7-5)

7 Pittsburgh (3-6-9-12-8)

8 Tampa Bay (5-5-6-4-4)

9 Chicago (17-11-2-9-9)

10 New York Rangers (20-17-11-10-14)

SECOND TIER

11 Washington (22-19-12-8-13)

12 Winnipeg (15-16-13-11-11)

13 Calgary (10-10-19-16-15)

14 San Jose (16-18-14-13-12)

 

15 Vancouver (6-7-10-15-16)

16 Minnesota (18-14-22-24-24)

17 Boston (8-12-17-14-10)

18 Los Angeles (11-13-15-19-20)

19 Dallas (24-24-20-20-18)

20 Philadelphia (21-28-27-25-19)

21 Florida (23-20-16-17-21)

22 Colorado (26-22-25-18-17)

23 Ottawa (14-21-21-22-22)

THIRD TIER

24 New Jersey (19-23-28-26-23)

25 Columbus (29-30-23-23-25)

26 Toronto (13-15-18-21-26)

FOURTH TIER

27 Carolina (28-27-29-27-27)

28 Arizona (25-25-26-28-28)

FIFTH TIER

29 Edmonton (27-29-30-29-29)

SIXTH TIER

30 Buffalo (30-26-24-30-30)

 

BIGGEST RISERS: Minnesota (8 spots), Montreal and New York Rangers (4 spots)

 

BIGGEST FALLERS: Boston (7 spots), Colorado (5 spots), Tampa Bay (4 spots), Anaheim (3 spots)

 

RANKINGS BY DIVISION – 1 POINT PER RANKING SPOT FOR EACH INDIVIDUAL TEAM, DIVIDED BY THE NUMBER OF TEAMS, LOWEST SCORE IS BEST

 

1 CENTRAL 11.57

2 METROPOLITAN 16.12

3 ATLANTIC 16.75

4 PACIFIC 17.29

 

RANKINGS BY CONFERENCE

1 WEST 28.86

2 EAST 32.87

Lounge on YouTube: Mini-Episode #520– Justified Episode 6.4 review


By Rick Morris                                          

As we referenced previously, our pals at Sportsology are hooking us up for live segments that we’re doing with guests and remote FDH Lounge Dignitaries these days.  We’re happy to report that we’ve been able to produce many segments on our own, but we’re thrilled for the help on some of these with guests and the thanks all go to our great friend Russ Cohen.

Mini-Episode #520 reviews Justified Episode 6.4 with FDH Senior Editor Jason Jones.


       


       


       


       


 

Lounge on YouTube: Mini-Episode #519 – 2014 NFL season review


By Rick Morris                                          

As we referenced previously, our pals at Sportsology are hooking us up for live segments that we’re doing with guests and remote FDH Lounge Dignitaries these days.  We’re happy to report that we’ve been able to produce many segments on our own, but we’re thrilled for the help on some of these with guests and the thanks all go to our great friend Russ Cohen.

Mini-Episode #519 features a review of the 2014 NFL season with former Ivy League superstar, NFL player and motivational speaker Keith Elias.


       


       


       


       

Sunday, February 8, 2015

Lounge on YouTube: 2015 NASCAR preview


By Rick Morris

THE FANTASYDRAFTHELP.COM INSIDER is Mini-Episode #518 of THE FDH LOUNGE, previewing the 2015 NASCAR season with FDH Motorsports Editor Mike Ptak.


       


       


       


       


 

Lounge on YouTube: 2014-15 MLB Hot Stove analysis


By Rick Morris

Here is Mini-Episode #517 of THE FDH LOUNGE, examining MLB Hot Stove action with FDH Lounge Dignitaries Ken Detwiler and Steve Kallas.


       


       


       


       


 

Lounge on YouTube: Mini-Episode #516 – Justified Episode 6.3 review


By Rick Morris                                          

As we referenced previously, our pals at Sportsology are hooking us up for live segments that we’re doing with guests and remote FDH Lounge Dignitaries these days.  We’re happy to report that we’ve been able to produce many segments on our own, but we’re thrilled for the help on some of these with guests and the thanks all go to our great friend Russ Cohen.

Mini-Episode #516 reviews Justified Episode 6.3 with FDH Senior Editor Jason Jones.


       


       


       


       


 

Thursday, February 5, 2015

Final Super Bowl 49 thoughts


By Steve Kallas (posted by Rick Morris)


Some interesting final Super Bowl thoughts (Patriots 28, Seahawks 24)


PATRIOTS’ MISTAKE RIGHT BEFORE THE HALF


While it’s hard to believe that Seattle was able to go 80 yards in 31 seconds to score a touchdown before the half (and since Pete Carroll would be later rightfully killed for a dumb call on Seattle’s last possession, give him some credit for this one), the Patriots had it in their power to stop this touchdown (up 14-7 at the time).


It says here that Bill Belichick should have ordered all defensive backs on the field to mug (if necessary) any wide receiver who could catch the ball in the end zone.  It would have been fascinating if, for example, an intentional pass interference was made on that TD throw (to the unheralded Chris Matthews, see below), to see whether Carroll would have gone for it on the final play of the first half or whether he would have kicked the field goal to be down 14-10.


Had Seattle won the game (as virtually everybody thought they would after the latest “Miracle Catch” against the Patriots) by a score of 31-28, some intelligent football people would have looked back at this four-point differential (TD v. FG) as the difference in the game.  While we will never know, it says here that Carroll would have kicked the field goal had there been pass interference in the end zone right before the half.


CHRIS MATTHEWS


This might be the only way to beat the Patriots.  It was clear, if you followed the Patriots this season, that the plan was to have their excellent corners take Doug Baldwin and Jermaine Kearse out of the game, allowing seven or even eight in the box to contain Marshawn Lynch.  And that’s exactly what happened.  Baldwin had one reception (that three yard TD where he had Revis run into the official in the end zone) and Kearse had three receptions for 45 yards (33 of which came on the Miracle Catch late in the game).  In addition, tight end Luke Willson was totally shut out.


Which paved the way for Chris Matthews, a relative unknown until Sunday (although he did recover that huge onside kick against Green Bay in the NFC Championship game).  Maybe the Seahawks had seen how Green Bay had beaten the Patriots (with Aaron Rodgers completing passes to receivers way down on the depth chart like Davante Adams and Richard Rodgers).


But with all his usual wide receiver (and tight end) targets taken away, Russell Wilson did well to find Matthews (four receptions for 109 yards and a touchdown).  And while Cris Collinsworth mistakenly said that the Patriots switched the 6”3” Brandon Browner over to guard the 6’5” Matthews “early,” the reality was it took the Patriots awhile to make the switch.  But Belichick and company are great at taking things away (they didn’t stop Marshawn Lynch (Pete Carroll did that on the final play) but they did contain him).


THE GREAT JULIAN EDELMAN


It was pretty obvious to this writer back in 2009 that Julian Edelman was going to be a very good NFL player.  My son and I went to The Linc down in Philly in August of 2009 to watch Tom Brady play his first game back after missing the 2008 season.  During that game, Edelman was the best player on the field.


Towards the end of my article on that game (see Kallas Remarks, 8/14/09), I wrote, after discussing his brilliant 75-yard punt return for a touchdown, “I think you’ll be hearing from this kid.  He can play.”


Edelman has arguably surpassed Wes Welker as a Patriot.  He’s a little bigger, a little stronger, can split out wide and is just as tough.  Plus, as we found out in these playoffs, the former Kent State QB can throw the ball.  He had an amazing Super Bowl, with his third-and-eleven reception to keep a Patriots TD drive alive (despite taking a tremendous, maybe helmet-to-helmet hit) a key play in this Super Bowl victory.


THE FINAL SEATTLE PLAY


There’s not a whole lot more to add to the throngs of people who have lambasted Pete Carrolll for that pass call down at the goal line which was intercepted by Malcolm Butler to win the Super Bowl for the Patriots.  Carroll seemed to think that he might be able to explain it and people would view it as an intelligent call.  No such luck, as he will be a punch line for years to come and maybe even a verb (don’t Carroll us next time we are on the goal line).


Despite these supposed stats (Lynch was only 1 for 5 in scoring from the one-yard line) and despite the article written in The Economist (yes, The Economist), this call was one of the dumbest calls ever.  If you watched the game, it was amazing how virtually every time Lynch touched the ball he was able to absorb a hit and always go forward.  We’ll never know what would have happened, but it’s hard to believe that the Patriots could have kept Lynch out of the end zone for (at least) two more runs from the one.


BUT IF YOU ARE GOING TO PASS IN THAT SITUATION …


If anybody, including Pete Carroll, really, really, REALLY thinks that it was a good idea to throw a pass there, then they made another gargantuan mistake.  Since 99.9% of the people probably thought that Lynch was going to run it, if you ARE going to throw it, then you HAVE to go play-action pass.


Again, we’ll never know what would have happened, but you’ve seen it numerous times this season (and seasons past) where the fake is made to the back into the middle of the line and the quarterback goes back to pass and has one (or sometimes two) receiver waving his hands wide-open in the end zone.


To throw it was a terrible idea; to throw it without a fake handoff to Lynch, when everybody (on both sides before the play was called) thought that Lynch would get it, was a huge mistake on top of a huge mistake.  It doesn’t seem like anybody asked Pete Carrolll the obvious question (and to his credit, he stood there and answered the same question a number of times):  If the same situation arises in next year’s Super Bowl, would you call the same play again?


Good luck answering that question.


FINALLY, WHAT EVERY KID SHOULD BE TOLD …


It’s hard to get many young players in any sport to really focus in practice, to mentally prepare in practice, to understand how important it is to concentrate and work hard in practice.  Well, every youth sport coach, as well as high school and college coaches, should immediately put into their respective early season talks to their respective teams the following:  a replay of Malcolm Butler’s Super Bowl winning interception, along with Butler’s post-game comments. 


Butler praised the coaching staff, discussing how he had practiced against that very play, how he was beaten by it in practice and how he recognized the set right away when the Seahawks came out in that double stack to the right.  Because of his preparation, Butler was able to anticipate the throw, jump the route and win the Super Bowl.


If you show that play and those comments to young kids, they will see, clear as day, the results of good practice, good preparation and hard work.


You won’t find a better example anywhere.