Is it Alright to Cry About Sports?

(Disclaimer: This is referring to male sports and male fans. As a male, I do not know how a female feels like and do not wish to know either - God knows I've dealt with enough crying (sober, tipsy, drunk, piss drunk, and smashmouth wasted) females. Besides, I don't trust any sports that gives excused days off for maternity leave. If your career is so important...plan ahead! Have a baby in the offseason - this is what they call family planning - then again this could be applied to half the NBA players who sit out with a sore knee or a broken nail. And now back to sensitive Adarsh)

I've only cried several times when it comes to sports - and shockingly it never had to do with my own success or failures. To be completely fair to me and the millions of other Washington D.C. sports fans, the teams in this area have given us enough to cry about that we could fill the Potomac River three times over with tears. A girl recently told me I was insensitive to the world because I cried over a game the Redskins lost - to be fair, I was not in the right state of mind and the Redskins were being blown out 28-0 after the first quarter (known as the Michael Vick massacre). Am I really insensitive? Is it the mentality of macho men that crying is considered small and womanly?

The fans that look for pure emotion are ultimately drawn towards sports that have very little or NO pay for the athletes they are watching. If you don't know what I'm referring to at this point, you're an idiot. College sports - in theory (except Cam Newton. War Eagle!, USC basketball, USC football, USC soccer, USC tennis, USC gymnastics, USC water polo..you get the point) are supposed to be for the love of the game. Though I get much flak for this, I was a HUGE fan of Adam Morrison in college. When he and his Zags lost to UCLA in Elite 8 of the 2006 tournament and famously Morrison broke down crying on the court, I wept with him. Why? That game was as big an emotional roller coaster as anyone could have seen. Despite his diabetes, and his thin mexistache, Morrison was insanely good and to see a top player go down due to his teammates' stupidity was devastating.

I cried with you Adam

Fans have a lot more invested in sports than the entertainment factor and finding something to do while munching on fried foods and drinking kegs of beer. Many fans are monetarily invested - see season tickets, apparel, etc, but more importantly die hard fans are emotionally invested. Some fans have followed teams their entire lives and would not know what to do if they were no longer there. Whether it be college or professional sports, the attachment is the same. Many treat a loss like a misfortune that has befallen their family - see Cleveland fans burning Lebron jerseys after The Decision. It is much more prevalent in some cities and fanbases than others,  but it happens all around the country and probably the world.

What you don't want to watch and who you don't want to be:

My Weepers
5. Maryland losing to Duke in the final four of the 2001 NCAA tournament - The Terps were up by more than 20. Shane Battier (remember him?), Carlos Boozer, and the gang came back and smacked down the Terps so bad I couldn't get off the floor. The Terps returned to win the Championship next year.
4. Rocket Ismail catching a touchdown in overtime from Troy Aikman to complete a 21 point Cowboys comeback that began in the fourth quarter over the Redskins in the 2000 season. The season that began with so much promise because of signings like Bruce Smith, Dana Stubblefield, Mark Carrier, Deion Sanders, Jeff George headed down the shitter and has continued to haunt this team for the next 12 years.
3. Gilbert Arenas' missed free throws and the Cavaliers' Damon Jones' three pointer to beat the Wizards in the playoffs (the first time around). Damon. ****ing. Jones. I hate that man. 
2.Adam Morrison losing to UCLA - I elaborated on this above, but that game was so riveting. I had Gonzaga going far in the tournament, but this was not the reason I cried. His play during that season and tournament was as gutsy as I've seen anyone play and it was nice to see the Next Great White Hope live up to his potential....till the NBA.
1. The death of Sean Taylor. At his peak, the best safety in football. His potential - the best safety in the history of the NFL. Shot inside his own home by a thief. If he were alive, this team would be a lot different and so would Washington D.C. sports. RIP ST 21

The Fanbases
5. Seattle - The Mariners for a while were very good, but then couldn't get it done in the playoffs. Ichiro's career has been wasted in the Pacific Northwest. The Seahawks, a competitor for the last ten years or so thanks to Paul Allen's wealth and Mike Holmgren's eye for talent, are still irrelevant on the national level. No one cares about the Seahawks outside of Seattle. To add insult to injury, the Sonics, a once proud franchise - the 1979 NBA champions and the home to Gary "the Glove" Payton and Shawn "Baby daddy" Kemp- just left town for the huge media market of.....Oklahoma City....

4. Tampa Bay - Tampa Bay is slowly making its way off this list, but for a while they were the biggest joke in all of sports. The Buccaneers were the worst franchise in NFL history, starting their existence with the biggest losing streak the league had ever seen. Their first quarterback - Steve Spurrier. Ditto for the Devil Rays and the Lighting. Thanks to the Buccaneers' Super Bowl win in 2002, the Devil Rays' World Series appearance several years ago, and the Lightning's competitiveness (including a Stanley Cup) in the NHL, the city is back on the upswing. A possible reason for the combined shittyness of the Tampa Bay region (including St. Petersburg/St. Jetersburg) could be the mostly apathetic fans of Tampa. Thank god the weather is nice down there.

3. Washington D.C - You knew they were going to make an appearance on here. The Redskins haven't been competitive since 1993 when Joe Gibbs retired. The last twelve years have been a complete disaster with Dan Snyder owning the team. The Wizards...well...first of all the name sucks (Bullets ftw) and they haven't been good since....1978 - save a few years for Gilbert Arenas and the gang. The Capitals have been competitive, but have been the biggest chokers in the NHL playoffs. The Nationals, at this point, are a project. The optimism from a year ago when John Wall, Stephen Strausberg, Bryce Harper, Alexander Ovechkin, and Donovan McNabb brought to town is all gone. Typical.

Don't Leave Us. PLEASE!

2. Philadelphia - Speaking of McNabb, the city of brotherly love gets no love at all. The Phillies recently won a World Series and should be favorites to win this year as well. The Flyers are a solid team, but they're not winning the Stanley Cup anytime soon despite their appearance last year. The Eagles have replaced the Bills as the team to get so close, yet lose every damn time. Not even dog killer Michael Vick can save them. Heck, I'm not sure Jesus could win them a Super Bowl

1. Cleveland - The Browns, The Cavaliers, The Indians. The Drive, The Fumble, The Decision. Enough said

Cleveland Browns fans throwing beer bottles and whatever else they could find

(this post was inspired the most insane cricket match I had ever seen. India- England. February 27, 2011. Look it up)

Did the Heat sign the Wrong Guys? and other thoughts

After the debacle against the Bulls, in which Chris Bosh shot an astronomically bad 1-18 from the field and flopped like Vlade Divac + Manu Ginobli on crack, the question has to be raised - did the Heat sign the wrong guys? Not to sound cliched, but the Big 3 has been more like the big 2.5. Lebron and Wade have done their share, but Bosh has been exactly what was feared - a soft, finesse, jump shooting big man on a team with no inside presence.

This leads me to the next question - what exactly does Boston have to worry about exactly after Perkins was traded? Getting rid of Perkins isn't ideal, but what are they afraid of in the East - a Miami team with the fearsome Chris Bosh shooting 25 foot jumpers? True, Dwight Howard hasn't left Orlando (yet), but the rest of that team does not strike fear in anyone, especially Arenas looking like he's never going to regain his all star form. Chicago might be the biggest challenge to Boston especially with Boozer and Noah and league MVP Derrick Rose, but that shooting guard position is extremely weak. Keith Bogans should not be on a NBA roster at this point and I'm shocked that the Bulls couldn't come up with an offer for OJ Mayo. Heck, Chris Bosh might be better suited for shooting guard than Keith Bogans
.
Back to the Heat - let's not forget they also signed the chronically injured Mike Miller to a 5 year 25 million dollar contract - by the way, check out his NBA.com picture, he could pass for Eminem. Haslem has been hurt too and that should help with the bench play come playoff time, but the Heat are not ready yet to make a run to the finals. Boston is still the best team in the East with Miami and Chicago vying for second place. Orlando has taken a step back this season and the Knicks aren't ready to be a contender...yet (that could change depending on how well Melo plays).

What to Watch For:

• BYU-San Diego State on Saturday - Jimmer on pace to score 85 points and cure cancer
• India-England World Cup Match on Sunday - don't hate on cricket. India is going to win easily. Soon you will all be eating Chicken Tikka Masala for Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner.
• Maryland-UNC on Sunday- If Gary Williams gets Maryland to the tournament, he not only deserves ACC Coach of the year, but also a Nobel Prize
• Quarterbacks throwing on Sunday at the Combine - Cam Newton elevates to icon status without playing a down in the NFL and Christian Ponder proceeds to throw without breaking anything for the first time in his life
• Detroit Pistons implosion - so 5 players choose not to show up for the morning shoot around and several are seen laughing after Head Coach John Kuester is ejected. Add fuel to the fire for the owners, when the lockout talks come up after this season. Maybe someone should tell T-Mac not to laugh too hard - he might throw out his back again.
• Bryce Harper's first at bat - All of Washington's baseball hopes for the next 10 years are relying on that one at-bat (and the recovery of Stephen Strausburg's arm, Jayson Werth living up to his contract, Ryan Zimmerman emerging as a leader, the 1% chance Albert Pujols signs with the Nationals next year)
• Al Davis signing another average player to a ridiculous contract - see Routt, Stanford- as the owners are trying to knock down salaries in the next CBA. Tell me he isn't senile.
• Mark Sanchez's dating record will now include a 15 year old because she has a nice smile and understands how he feels when he gets yelled at by Rex Ryan. Hopefully you all understood this.

2011 NBA Trade Deadline Winners and Losers

This is my first blog post ever so here it goes. This blog won't be entirely about sports - it'll include other topics as well ranging from my views on lunatic rulers (Gaddafi) to what I thought about the latest Top Chef episode (Tiffany needs to go), but to start, we'll go with the NBA trade deadline.


The Carmelo Anthony Trade


After perhaps the most annoying buildup in the history of sports and months of reporting of he-says, she-says, Carmelo is finally headed to New York. What people are overlooking is the addition of Chauncey Billups to this deal. Billups is just as valuable to this deal as Melo is. If the Knicks are to go deep in the playoffs, Billups will play as much a role as Melo will - remember Billups is former finals MVP. And to boot, his contract expires in 2012 - the same offseason that Chris Paul will be available. Denver made out well in this trade too. Had this deal been done 3 months ago, New York would have saved several players, but thanks to their greed and Prokhorov's posturing in New Jersey, the Knicks gave up more than expected. As a side note...interesting to see Felton taking over the starting point guard spot from Lawson for the Nuggets. If you recall, Lawson replaced Felton at UNC.
Winners: Knicks and Nuggets

The Deron Williams Trade

Utah avoids the aforementioned superstar saga and trades Deron a year earlier than he's expected to become a free agent. As far as they are concerned...Williams is New Jersey's problem now. There are two interesting aspects to this deal - 1. Only days after Jerry Sloan resigns, Deron Williams is traded. Is it possible that Sloan didn't have the energy to rebuild the Jazz after he found out that management was shopping Williams? 2. How much does it suck if you are Al Jefferson? You finally get out of Minnesota and land on what you think is a perennial playoff contender in Utah. Your coach resigns, your star point guard is traded and you are now stuck at a position along with Paul Millsap and Derrick Favors. For the record, I think Deron resigns in New Jersey in 2012.
Winners: Prokhorov, KGB, Putin
 Losers: Deron Williams, Al Jefferson 

The Baron Davis Trade

Donald Sterling definitely had it out for Baron Davis trading him to Cleveland months after Davis commented that Sterling was heckling him. It's amazing that they had to give up a lottery pick to get rid of Davis. With Cleveland destined for the #1 overall pick, it would be typical Clipper's luck that the pick they sent to Cleveland becomes the #2 overall pick.
Winners: Cleveland, Mo Williams
Losers: Baron Davis, Blake Griffin 

The Kendrick Perkins Trade

Perkins is good, but after gauging reaction, it seems as if the Celtics traded a combination of Kareem-Shaq-Wilt-Dwight. People calm down. Perkins is good, but perhaps Boston realizes that they needed help at other positions? Shaq is resting for the playoffs and is more than capable of playing center in the East. On the other hand, the Thunder now have the best defensive front court in the league with Perkins, Ibaka and Durant and are now entrenched as the fourth best team in the West. The Thunder also picked up Nazr Mohammed in a separate deal. The addition of energy man Nate Robinson off the bench can't hurt either - maybe him and Ibaka can have a dunk contest of their own.
Winners: Durant, Thunder, Boston Media
Losers: Danny Ainge

The Shane Battier Trade

Shane Battier has to be kicking himself right now. He was this () close to heading to Boston before Memphis swooped in with an offer of Thabeet and a future first round pick. This definitely solidifies Thabeet as the biggest bust in the NBA draft of the 2000s. Atleast other players contributed something...anything! The list as of now is...(Note: I liked several of these players and I definitely own an Adam Morrison jersey)

1. Thabeet
2. Kwame Brown
3. Darko Milicic..although he is playing decent now. This is mostly predicated on who was picked after him
4. Adam Morrison - I'm sorry. I love you Adam and I cried with you when you lost to UCLA
5. Rafael Araujo - The worst player the NBA has ever seen.
Winners: Grizzlies, Kwame Brown, Darko Milicic, Joe Dumars
Losers: Thabeet, Battier

The Aaron Brooks Trade

Brooks is a restricted free agent this offseason, but the Suns are looking to make the playoffs in the now wide-open West. Brooks certainly helps them with that. The Rockets are stockpiling draft picks left and right so they have the excuse of rebuilding for several years while they suck.

Winners: Aaron Brooks, Steve Nash, Daryl Morey's job security
Losers: Yugoslavian population in Phoenix

The Gerald Wallace Trade

I find this to be one of the stupidest trades of the deadline. The Blazers aren't going anywhere. I don't know if they realized this, but their superstar has no cartilage left in either knee and their young center has had more injuries than half the league combined. Gerald Wallace is a nice player and all and he'll definitely help the Blazers for this season, but what's the point? The Blazers gave up two first round picks as well as Joel Pryzbilla. It's time to retool in Portland and that means acquiring more assets, not buying 30 year old forwards for a useless playoff push.

Winners: Michael Jordan's ego, Gerald Wallace
Losers: Portland

The Kirk Hinrich Trade

The Wizards win this trade hands down. From last season, they  traded some cash to the Bulls, which turned into Kevin Seraphin and Kirk Hinrich and Hinrich now nets Jordan Crawford and another first round pick (along with an aging Mike Bibby and Maurice Evans). The Wizards have the right idea in acquiring picks...too bad they can't draft at all. It's up to Ted Leonsis to clean house beginning with Ernie Grunfeld and Flip Saunders and ending with Andray Blatche and Javale McGee. They have three years to convince John Wall to stay in Washington D.C. Let's hope it gets done. Oh yeah, Hinrich gives the Hawks a solid point guard who can play defense...Bibby couldn't guard a chair at this point in his career.

Winners: Wizards, Hinrich
Losers: Bibby, Nick Young