NEW STORY TEN THOUGHTS FOR MONDAY MORNING

[ripzou]

Nothing is better than playoff basketball.

You're right. The only exceptions would be playoff baseball, playoff football and playoff hockey.

 

[Dan_Rydell]

There's nothing wrong with not liking the NBA. What's wrong is your purported reason for not liking the NBA having no basis in reality. It'd be like someone saying they don't actually watch MLB but they don't like the modern MLB because they don't like starting pitchers regularly staying in the game for 8+ innings.

Ah, we have hit upon the real reason you like the NBA. It gives you an opportunity to claim some higher level of understanding. Sorry, but nothing about the NBA holds a key to understanding the meaning of the cosmos.

That higher understanding being that I understand that the NBA being an iso-ball league simply isn’t true? Sorry Pops, your dementia is showing.

 

[mizzou1966]

7. Let's recognize a couple of standouts for Mizzou track and field.

On the women's side, Gabi Jacobs won her third straight SEC title in the discus with a throw of 191 feet. Sophia Rivera finished third at 172-6.


For the men, Ja'Mari Ward jumped almost 27 feet to win the long jump title


These are all very impressive things that I could not do.

8. We started the Why They Coach series on Friday morning. I thought Wayne Kreklow was a very good interview and gave a lot of interesting details. My conversation with Brian Smith will run tomorrow morning. Here's a quote I really enjoyed:

"For me it was always football. I still sit back and I'm like, dang, I wonder if I would have stayed in high school where I would be now because I was eventually gonna be a football coach. I got hired as a head wrestling coach and assistant football, but I loved football. Football is my true love for coaching--and wrestling obviously I love it too--but if you had to tell me which one I enjoy better, I enjoy football probably a little bit more just in the sense that you have to get 22 players and kickers and everybody all to play on the same together, where in wrestling I'm getting one guy to go out there and wrestle."

Coach Smith told me he hates doing interviews. He said that about 26 minutes into a 28 minute interview. There's a lot of good stuff in this one and I don't want to give too much of it away. Gymnastics coach Shannon Welker is up on Friday, Barry Odom is next Tuesday and I'm hoping to get a couple more interviews done this week.

9. What to Watch this week:

My wife started a new show on Netflix called Dead to Me. She's given it very good reviews. I'm on board with anything Christina Applegate is in, even if she'll always be Kelly Bundy to me.

I'm starting The Disappearance of Susan Cox Powell. Yeah, it's on Oxygen, but it's a pretty well covered case and if you like true crime stuff, there's a lot to unpack. Namely, her husband and father-in-law are Grade A creeps.

What to listen to:

30 for 30 podcasts (all of them are great) debuted a new episode about the 1999 women's world cup team and the failed bid to get a women's professional soccer league going. The league folded after losing $100 million in three years, including $16 million in its final season. The interesting thing is, the MLS on the men's side isn't projected to make money until 2026, its 30th year of existence. But it has survived while the women's league didn't.

10. This week's reading recommendations:

How a half ton of cocaine transformed the life of an island in The Guardian
The extraordinary story of Bert Shepard, from war hero to one-legged pitcher on The Athletic
The education of Zion Williamson on ESPN.com
Jackie Macmullan is the great chronicler of basketball's golden age in The New Yorker
Represented by Raptors: How one team connects the most diverse city in the world in The Toronto Star
My cousin was my hero. Until the day he tried to kill me in the New York Times
Nothing has changed after college basketball's trials on CBSSports
How a bee swarm was corralled so the Reds could play on The Athletic
Jaxen's Journey: Family of Louisville strength coach keeps son's memory alive on The Athletic
Relentless five-tool single moms shaped the lives of several Cardinals pitchers in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Two thumbs down on "Dead to Me." Quit after 5 minutes. "Wanted" on Netflix gets two thumbs up.

 

[doya]

LOL

Are you under the impression our regular season attendance was significantly better in 2007?

no, i am under the impression that today more than ever its all about the money...money, money, money

 

[doya]

There’re a lot of people who prefer college football to the nfl. I don’t get why people feel the need to gatekeep. Give me March madness over nba playoffs any day, even if I acknowledge the nba has more talent

Anyone that like college sports more likes it not because of the game, but the emotions around them. It’s true for Football, basketball and baseball

correct..i prefer college football and hoops..sure the talent is less but the overall game/atmosphere is more fun...

 

[Dan_Rydell]

LOL

Are you under the impression our regular season attendance was significantly better in 2007?

no, i am under the impression that today more than ever its all about the money...money, money, money

That’s why Minnesota hosted last year with an average attendance of 813 and Wake Forest the year before with an average attendance of 750.

 

[sptwri]

That higher understanding being that I understand that the NBA being an iso-ball league simply isn’t true? Sorry Pops, your dementia is showing.

No, your superior slip is showing. It is basketball. It isn’t hard to understand.

 

[TigerCruise]

Issue with the NBA that makes it unwatchable is terrible teams make it into the playoffs.

There's maybe a handful of teams in the NBA that have a shot at winning the title before the playoffs begin.

You don't see the 2006 or 2011 Cardinals win an NBA title.

It's a product that focuses on a handful of stars, if your team doesn't have one of those dudes you forget the NBA exists for 10 years till you get one. Look at the Heat and Cavs now. Look at the Lakers after Kobe, look at the Bulls after Jordan.

It's honestly a dull product if you want to follow a team instead of individual players.

 

[Dan_Rydell]

That higher understanding being that I understand that the NBA being an iso-ball league simply isn’t true? Sorry Pops, your dementia is showing.

No, your superior slip is showing. It is basketball. It isn’t hard to understand.

At no point whatsoever have I said or even implied that basketball is hard to understand, you illiterate old bastard.