WRONG, WRONG, RIGHT by ST

A classic coaches scream in basketball is the guy about to launch an ill advised 3 pointer from the parking lot. No! No! Then of course the shot catches all net and the coach yells YES! In the final minute last night, LA's Ron Artest took a horrible 2 pointer, then after Pao Gasol secured the rebound and kicked it back to the perimeter, supposedly to restart the offensive set as they had the lead, Artest immediately launched a three. He bricked badly and after Jason Richardson banked in a game tying 3 with just under 4 seconds left, the volatile Artest was wearing the game's goat horns. Then of course he followed Kobe's desperation shot with a game winning layup and he's the hero. Such is sports in the spotlight.
Lot of conversation about this Laker team and the current NBA team in general. I would not put anyone still standing or already dismissed in the "great" category or even remotely close. Some claim the LA group that won 3 consecutive titles from 2000 through 2002 falls into that category. Sure, Kobe in his prime, Shaq was a force, Robert Horry is one of the all time money players and Phil Jackson is the greatest playoff coach ever, but I don't buy them as an elite team in the game's history. I think the last team for the ages was the 96 Bulls who set the record with 72 regular season victories. In the playoffs, they swept the Heat in round one, dropped New York in 5 then swept the Magic in the East Finals. Seattle took them 6 games in the League Finals but Chicago won the first 3 and were never seriously challenged. We will crown a champion but they will soon be forgotten except by their loyal fans who will enjoy it. No way they join that elite club with Russell's Celtics, the 72 Lakers, 73 Knicks, 84 Celtics and those Magic led teams of the 1980's. Tonight I continue to ride the Magic bandwagon in the hope they bring misery and torture to the fans of Boston by forcing a game 7 after falling into that 3 games to none hole. Enjoy your weekend. Take a moment to give thanks to those who have defended this country.

IT MIGHT BE CLICHE BUT....by ST

In reference to umpires or officials you always hear the catch phrase that no one comes to see them. It's true. Yesterday(wed) we witnessed a couple of instances to back up this theory. In the White Sox win against the Indians, Chicago manager Ozzie Guillen was thrown out in the 2nd inning then his pitcher, Mark Buehrle in the 3rd for disputing balk calls. The ump is Cowboy Joe West who is gaining a rep as a ham and from my chair, completely unprofessional. He seems to desire the spotlight and as anyone knows, the best referees or umpires are invisible. He's an idiot.
Then in the Celtic loss to Orlando, dunderhead ref Ed Rush embarassed himself and the profession. He called a technical on Boston center Kendrick Perkins for an elbow when the replay clearly showed K.P's arm basically slipped. Then he made an even worse call when, after whistling Perkins for a very ticky tack foul against Dwight Howard, Perkins was upset, but walked away only to get T'd up again, thus kicked out for a 2nd technical. If Rush isn't suspended the league's already shaky integrity takes another hit. These guys need to shut up and call the game, period. They need to receive copies of the 1933 H.G Wells classic movie, "The Invisible Man", starring Claude Rains. We should not be this familiar with some of these clowns. They're doing a horrible job.
I have tickets for Duck Baseball this weekend, the Friday and Saturday game. I also have a couple of passes left for the Art & Festival courtesy of Chateau Lorane, along with tickets for the Wednesday and Thursday session of the fast approaching NCAA Track and Field outdoor championships. E-mail me at stevetannen@live.com.
Let me know which event you'd like to see and I'll need your name, address, phone # and date of birth. We will hold the drawing early today as you'll need to pick up your Chateau or baseball tickets by noon tomorrow. Good luck.

CHAT WITH THE KING OF DARKNESS by ST

Is it wrong to want others to be miserable? Game 5 of the NBA East Finals tonight. Boston won the first three then Orlando stayed alive with their overtime victory on Monday. Satan stopped by my place last night to check in. I expressed a willingness to make a deal involving eternity and a Magic win in this series. This way the Boston fans will have to deal with both their beloved Bruins and Celtics blowing 3 games to none leads in the same playoff spring. I realize this is a character flaw, but "Sportshate" keeps me warm at night.
Great talk on yesterday's show about bandwagons. A key point is that in a town like Eugene, people will pick a team from a pro league to root for. I don't count that as a bandwagon as long as you don't switch your allegiance based on the success of that given team. I still insist the post 2004 Red Sox bandwagon is thee most annoying and largest in the history of American sports. Take notice the next large gathering you attend. See if you see more Bosox gear. One Boston fan said it's the Yankees. No question that one is big, but they are the reigning champs which has a tendency to swell the population of a given bandwagon.
Oregon Track and Field stars Ashton Eaton and Brianne Theisen made the "Faces in the Crowd" section of the most recent Sports Illustrated for defending their Pac 10 titles in the decathlon and heptathlon. Pretty sweet. You want to see the NCAA championships at Hayward beginning on June 9th? E-mail the correct answer to stevetannen@live.com
The question? Yesterday you correctly recognized USC in 2006 as the only team who has dethroned the Oregon men in conference the past 5 years. When was the last and only time the Duck women won the outdoor track and field NATIONAL title? Good luck.

DO YOU CARE? by ST

2 weeks from tomorrow the 2010 FIFA World Cup Soccer tournament starts in South Africa. No question this is a monster international event. I've always believe that soccer in America has a cement ceiling. Pele and some of the greatest footballers ever grabbed some attention but the sport did not quite take off. For openers it stinks on TV to the average US sports fan who needs those established breaks to get another beer, use the john or check out the other games. I do believe if Team USA makes a deep run we might see a brief post-Cup spike in interest. From my chair, soccer is a terrific sport for kids. For the price of a pair of spikes and entry into a league, the youngsters gain the benefits of team sports and romping around outdoors. It keeps them off the couch, away from the boob tube and X-Box and we know when kids have less idle time, trouble tends to stay farther away.
Is it possible Orlando could become the 1st NBA team to dig out of a 3 nothing hole? Already this playoff season a Boston team, the Bruins, have blown one. The Celtics had a shot to send the Magic packing for the spring but a couple of terrible possessions, one at the end of regulation and another as overtime came to a close, extended this set. Here's hoping for a double dose of misery for Beantown.
The U of O is prepping for the NCAA Outdoor championships at Hayward Field starting on June 9th. Your Sportstalk friends will be giving away a pair of tickets all this week and next. Simply e-mail the correct answer to the following question to
stevetannen@live.com
Oregon has won 4 of the last 5 Pac 10 Track & Field Championships. Who won the other? Good luck.

THAT WAS QUICK by ST

As you board a plane for a long awaited vacation, 9 days seems like a long time. We arrived at the Eugene Airport about 6:45am on Thursday the 13th of May. This past Saturday, the 22nd my wife Kathy and I are on the down elevator at the same airport at 9:15pm, we look at each other like "was that a dream?" In the blink of an eye all the plans had been executed and we were back home. Squeezed an awful lot of New York City & Jersey in. From Yankee Stadium to Broadway to a walk across the Brooklyn Bridge, to the Museum of Modern Art to Chelsea to subway trains A, C, B & D with some Carnegie and Stage Deli thrown in. All that in 3 terrific days. The Tuesday after the Yankees scored 4 in the 9th to beat the Bosox was rainy and windy in the city. After getting off the A train downtown we turned a corner and got hit with a gust that trashed Kathy's umbrella. We gave up and returned to midtown where the open umbrella's reminded my wife of an odd kind of symphony. Had an awesome time with the family and some long time friends and I even learned something sports related. We officially are all the same. Once upon a time certain fans had reputations, good and bad. I've always called the Boston Celtics fans crybabies, or felt Philly Flyer supporters were the biggest a-holes. We get calls on this show from Beaver fans ranking on the Ducks and the other way around. Time, information, relocation, free agency, NFL Sunday ticket, the MLB package and more have created a sameness. I could not believe how many fans left in the 8th inning of Yanks/Sox. It was 9 to 7!!!! Yankees & Red Sox on a beautiful night. Like I've harped on, most of the New York fans were great. A few drunk idiots screaming obscenities at Red Sox fans flying their colors, the team and the umps. Sound Familiar? Anyone who thinks their set of fans is superior to anyone or the other guys have a monopoly on jerks is clueless. Some OSU fans have complained of poor treatment at Autzen Stadium. DUH! You're in the midst of pretty much the biggest annual crowd of Oregon fans wearing Beaver colors during the Civil War. Didn't figure on some crap flying your way? Some thing for Ducks in Corvallis. Really stunned at some harsh treatment at that stadium? Especially the final game of the year which usually has huge meaning for both programs. For the record, at Boston/New York I wore my Yankees baseball cap with a green and yellow Oregon baseball shirt. Got my share of GO DUCKS! Good to be back, lot of catching up to do.

MORE JUICING by ST

It's the story that never loses legs. Each day something related to another jock going the performance enhancing route. All those years of denial and legalities, and now Floyd Landis admits he doped. But does he take the bullet and take his medicine like a stand up guy? Not quite. He's trying to play the implication game. As we know, if everyone is doing it, it's not a big deal, right Aroid? What a piece of garbage.
Been keeping an eye on the Hanley Ramirez mess. So he dogs it, then says it's no biggie because some of his teammates go half assed at times and his manager didn't play big league ball so shouldn't have the right to drop the hammer. I loved when the skipper, Fredi Gonzalez, says "not everyone can be Derek Jeter". Fact is Jeets is hitting like crap and left about 14 guys on base last night.
I've noticed a completely different attitude when visiting a major city. The sports fans are totally immersed in the locals and nearly oblivious to everything else. I get odd looks when visiting friends and asking to put the NHL or NBA playoffs on because none of the NY teams are involved. Some guys I grew up with don't even know who is playing and of course, I'm obsessed. Looks like our theory about not seeing a team out there capable of beating LA 4 times in a series. Ain't gonna be Phoenix. Despite the makeover of this team to be a bit more defense and rebounding oriented, they still don't make stops, especially against a top flight offense like the Lakers.
Can't believe I'll be on a plane back to Eugene in 48 hours. Time does fly when your having a ball.

TRADEOFF? by ST

So Monday was the perfect day in Manhattan. About 70 degrees, mostly sunny. Got to Yankee Stadium and caught one of the great regular season Yanks/Sox matchups possible. On Tuesday it was miserable. Like our Eugene spring, only colder with lots more wind. My wife and I had one of those big city comic moments. Walking downtown in the rain, coming off the A-train near ground zero, we caught a gust of wind that turned our umbrellas inside out. Brrrrr! Sometimes in the midst of the skyscrapers, certain locations in the Big Apple become wind tunnels. We actually had to cut our time on the street down. Got over it and saw a terrific show on Broadway, The Addamms Family musical. The Lunt-Fontanne Theater was packed to the gills with Nathan Lane playing Gomez and Bebe Neuwirth of "Cheers" Lilith fame as Morticia. The critics haven't been kind, but the critics are self righteous imbeciles because it ended with the entire crowd giving a standing "O".
Yanks blew another 5 nothing lead, fell behind 7-5, pushed one across in the 9th but left the tying run on third so after 2 dramatic games with Boston, we get a split. Unfortunately for the Bosox, they remain 8 1/2 behind Tampa for the lead, and 5 1/2 back of the Bombers. Both teams have huge issues with their middle relief and Sox closer Jonathan Papelbon isn't right.
Really pleased to read the Duck baseballer's paid back Portland at their place for the defeat here a couple of weeks back. Pushing the win streak to 5 they've done well to get over that heartbreaking series with OSU. With 35 wins, only a disaster can keep them from that amazing birth in the post season. Gotta love the fact they visit Washington this weekend. Not to take anything for granted, but you know them Dawgs would love to put one on their rivals from the South & it must be driving them nuts up there to see the Oregon success. They'd put together a nice little run but hit the skids ending a 5 game losing streak by taking the finale versus the Beavs Sunday. UW did not have a midweek game so all their arms will be fresh for their final homestand of the season. The Saturday and Sunday games will be on TV so that's cool. Gotta run, we're leaving the city(sad) and heading back to my insane family in Jersey.