The Voice of Reason

playground rules prevailed? As most of us know, on the playground it is different, a player has to call their own fouls which nobody is easily willing to do, cause it makes you look like a pussy.The general rule is ' no blood, no foul' ( it's even that way at the local "Y" at our pickup games)

If today's players had to call their own fouls, how many do you think there would actually be during a game?

If that was the rule do you think some players who have made a career out of whining for fouls everytime they touch the ball ( james, bryant, iverson, 'sheed, just to name A FEW) would still have the nads to call all these fouls?

A quick bonus question: Do you ever get sick of seeing players play for the foul? Alot of them do it when it's obvious they aren't going to score, but are in a position to be able to take advantage of their floor position and that of the defender by forcing contact and throwing up a shot. ( Pierce comes to mind, but alot of them do it)

could your momma drop a 20-10 game on them? When exactly was the last time they made a defensive stop ( day/week/month/year/decade)?

Granted I don't see the Suns alot, I'm an right coaster and watch mostly teams from the east, except when they play the west. But now that the playoffs are here I watch every game possible.

For weeks now I have been hearing about the Suns 'improved defense". I say WHAT? If this is improved, how? Aside from Lopez, who occasionally makes a swipe at the ball in the post, I haven't seen a single posession where anything but gradeschool defense was attempted. Is this the best the west has to offer?

Anybody that's in the know about sports knows the history of Cleveland sports, and their dismal record of colossal failures. Even to the point that the failures and disapointments have their own names which are easily recognizable. The Shot.......The Catch........Red Right 88.......The Drive....The Fumble........

So what about last nights season ending beatdown for the cavs and lebron? Has anybody came up with the name yet? I have to assume there will be one, considering that they got bit*hslapped out of the playoffs they were supposed to roll though. Best regular season record, 2 time mvp, predicted to be in the finals since before the season began. Not to mention the huge ramifications that have been beaten to death already in the media....will lejames leave? will cleveland be a lottery team now? will the economy of an entire city take a major hit because of this? There has to be a name for it.

What's your suggestions? Something like 'lechoke'? 'lequit'? someones going to name it, let's hear the suggestions.

would EVER just quit playing in a playoff game, that was also an elimination game, being down by single digits with a minute and change to go?

Could you see Larry Bird just stop playing, even if his teammates did? Would Magic or MJ just have stood there and refused to foul, or do anything to even TRY to take back the game?

Yeah, yeah,yeah we have been hearing it all season, hell even before the season. " the Celtics are too old". I can understand where some people are coming from saying that, the Celtics certainly do have their share of experienced players on the team. What i don't get is how can CAVS FANS, specifically the ones on Y/A on here be bashing the Celtics for their age?

the starting lineups for both teams:

Cavs ................. .................... Celtics

pg M Williams.....27 R Rondo....24

sg A Parker.........34 R Allen .....34

sf L James.........25 P Pierce....32

pf A Jamison......33 K Garnett...33

c S Oneil...........38 K Perkins...25

So how is it that Cavs fans can be spouting off about how old the Celtics are when they only have one player in their starting 5 that is younger that the player they are playing against?

can possibly get any worse? I have been watching Bball for over 30 years now and I am just amazed at how bad the officiating has gotten. Some recent examples: D Wade runs into Rajon Rondo's back and Rondo gets called for a foul! (how is it possible to foul someone who runs into your back?) In last nights bulls/cavs game Brad Miller and J Noah got called for fouls on 3 consecutive possesions while guarding shaq. In all 3 instances replays clearly showed that neither noah or miller even MOVED. They were standing still while shaq lowered his shoulder into them. reggie Miller made comment thet ' how can you call a foul on that?" and much less do it 3 consecutive times. Lebron bowls people over on his way to the rim and gets a foul called on the defender EVERYTIME. Rasheed wallace gets a foul called on him everytime he enters the game, within the first minute. As soon as someone goes near him, they call a foul on him. It goes on and on....

Is it really as bad as it seems anymore?

Could Stevie Wonder,Ray Charles and my bulldog be a better officiating team than anybody they have now?

If a ref pulled out a gun and shot pau gasol on his way to the rim, would david stern fine anybody who complained about it?

Is there something more going on here, can the officiating be this consistently bad in every game or is there someone pulling the strings for a reason, because it seems that what I see goes well beyond ' superstar rules' anymore?

What will be the overwhelming #1 excuse among their fans?

You could choose from:

A kobe's mysterious broken finger and other assorted major injuries

B the refs/david stern/ aliens/ fill in your own conspiracy

C the lack of his teammates to produce

D Andrew Bynum

E phil jackson being so smug while sitting on the bench he forgot to coach

F other?

and today's bonus question is:

What will kobe's mysterious injury be next season, the one he has, that needs surgery, but he decided not to have it until after the season and then won't need it, that is causing him so much pain and throwing his shot off, and lasts for most of the season?

If the referees in the NBA get any worse ________?

Dirk plays as soft as ________?

Rajon Rondo's hands are so big that _________?

_________ is by far the worst run NBA franchise.

The underdog I would really like to see make the finals is ________?

If Shaq gained just 20 more pounds he'd be __________?

Why won't ________ just freakin' retire already, he's so washed up.

MJ is going to take the Bobcats to ___________?

The rule I would really like to see changed is _________?

If Deron Williams moved any faster he'd be able to __________?

Right now they stand at 46-18. From every direction, sportswriters, espn, the experts on Y/A, etc., all I kept hearing before the season was that they were going to break the Bulls record and were 'on paper' one of the greatest teams of all time. Even if they continue the rest of the season at their current win percentage of 71.9 ( which they won't, most likely will dip) they are still on pace to lose 23 games. While still good, and I'm sure the NETS would be happy with that, what happened to this team that was soooooo good that it was predicted to be on hallowed ground at the end of the season?

What do you think their record will be at the end of the season? And do you think they will make it out of the first round of the playoffs?

more little kiddies on Y/A hanging from their nutsack?

BQ1 how many Y/A infants fit in a jockstrap?

BQ2 are there any other players in the leauge or just those 2 interchangable meglomaniacs?

BQ3 how nice would it be if all the little kiddie nutsackers had their very own section and didn't pollute this one anymore ( like the kiddie table at thanksgiving!) ?

be stupid enough to pick up this guy and think that he will make a difference?

and how long will it be before he becomes the problem child of that team?

In light of the recent happenings around the league ( ie iverson, stephen jackson...) let's see some suggestions for the all NBA all-time all malcontents. Put together an actual team, starting 5, by position, and subs too. And NO, you can't just put the entire ny knicks roster. Let's see what personnel that you can put together that have made a career out of taking the T-E-A-M out of teamwork!

I don't want to give too much away but to get the ball rolling i would go;

pg.........Marbury

sg.........iverson

sf..........stephen jackson

pf.........

c..........

12 whole roster spots to fill with the worst of the worst!

have any clue on how to find out the value of an Lionel Train? It's from 1968....and how to tell which scale or whatever ( i know nothing about toy trains)!

anybody have the info on how to find out how much a Parker double barrel is worth and what grade it is?

On the day Magic Johnson announced his retirement from basketball( Nov 7th 91) , Larry Bird threw a behind the back, half court bounce pass to Kevin McHale on a break for a dunk. One of the most amazing passes I ever saw, and I realized when he did it that it was probably his way of saying goodbye to Magic. Bird used to do things to amuse himself during games, or for special occasions, like when one game he took all his shots left handed ( ' it's my mom's birthday today' he said after the game.) Or when he broke the Celtics scoring record against the hawks because McHale had broken it 2 days before ( ' enjoy it for now' he told him)

Anyway, after the game during an interview, they asked him about the pass and he said with tears in his eyes " the game lost a legend today" and he turned and walked away.

anybody want to earn 10 pts by finding a clip of the pass?

the worst nick-name in professional sports, what is?

done some more posing, flexing, mugging for the cameras, staring into the crowd, threw more chalk in the air, or just generally acted like it was all about him just a little more?

Stan Van's unability to coach his team for one second?

Yep, lebron hit a 3 to win the game, nice shot! What blows my mind is that everybody in the building had to know that lebron was going to be the one that they were going to try to get the ball to. If Stan ( the screamer) Van Gundy would've made his troops face guard lebron for 5 seconds, just 5 seconds, he would've never been able to get the ball to make the shot.

So what's more amazing the shot, or Van Gundy's pathetic coaching skills?

Is it too early to start whining about 'calls' and how the refs 'ruined the game' and how ' Stern wants the Celtics to win" ? I need a ruling from the masses here, at what point in the game is it officially OK to start the crying over calls?

Suppose the Rockets take it to the lakers again the next game. How many 'laker fans' will instantly turn into Rocket fans who 'have always liked the Rockets'? If the Rockets would pull out the upset and beat the lakers in the series will there be any laker fans left, or will they be busy trying to memorize one players name on the lakers to idolize and claim that he's the best player to ever step on a court?