Random Sports Thoughts 6/13/08

I've been watching the NBA Finals – go Celtics! – and I've noticed a few things:

• The announcers are in love with Kobe Bryant. Win or lose, hit or miss, Kobe is fawned over with praise and adulations like I've never heard. Easy there guys. Remember that guy, Michael Jordan? He was pretty good too. I'm not an NBA fan, but I'm guessing that if this is purposeful and that it must be an effort to recreate the Jordan phenomenon and recapture the glory days of the NBA. I'm actually turned off by all the "greatest player on planet earth" talk.
  
• I wonder if there's a more consistent, reliable way to referee something as fast as an NBA game? Because, to me, the calls sure look like a very subjective and random kind of thing.
• I think it's awesome that the Celtics are up 3-1. I'll miss the rest of the series because I'll be at church camp. But it sure has been fun rooting for former Jayhawk, Paul Pierce.
  
• If you're all about the spectacle of high-flying basketball, then the NBA is your game. The NBA has a much better payoff in the oohs and aahs department than college ball. The threes are longer, the passes are better, and the athletic prowess of every player on the court is vastly superior! That said, I think I still prefer college ball; it seems more tactical, more coaching-centric. I think I understand now why people like women's college basketball – but men's college ball is the perfect balance IMHO.
  

In other news:

• The World Series of Poker tournament is this month, 55 events in all. The winners win the coveted WSOP bracelet (the Olympic gold medal of poker). In recent years it's seemed that a lot of amateurs have won but so far in the first twenty events of this year, several pros have won bracelets. David Singer, Erick Lindgren, Mike "the Mouth" Matusow, and Daniel Negreanu have won so far, with Andy Bloch, Ted Forrest, Mike Sexton, Patrik Antonius, Phil "the Unabomber" Laak, Chris "Jesus" Ferguson, Howard "the Professor" Lederer, Erik Seidel, Barry Greenstein, and many other noteworthy names making final tables. And that's in just the first 20 events!
  
• NBA Draft: So far 24 underclassmen have hired agents and another 36 have declared early but not hired an agent (they have until Monday to withdraw their names). There's also 20 international players who are eligible. That's 80 underclassmen, not counting the hundreds of graduated seniors, vying for 60 spots in the draft. Someone is going to be disappointed.
• The 2008 Olympics start August 8 in Beijing. Yawn…
  
• I've been playing pick up basketball every Tuesday in Bonner Springs. Lately we've been playing a lot of "21" with tips. A tipped shot puts you back two points and if you're stuck on 20 you go back to 13. We foul blatantly and fight for every rebound. I've never enjoyed "21" so much as I have the last few months.