Suddenly it’s a series

To those of you who thought the NBA Finals were “over” after Cleveland’s overtime loss in Game One… HA!

Please keep in mind that these guys are a few centimeters away from being up 2-0 in this series going back home. As it is they still have home court advantage now and the confidence of a team on a win streak.

I thought before the series began it was going to be a good one (and the TV ratings show I was not alone). But for a five-minute overtime period last week it’s been non-stop entertainment. You’ve gotten 101 minutes of great basketball and there’s no reason to think that won’t continue, especially as the series moves back to Cleveland.

Now let’s suffer through some hockey tonight so we can get back to the good stuff.

Ready for the weekend

Don’t let the final score fool you… last night’s Game One of the NBA Finals was high drama and most certainly worth staying up until midnight to see to the end. Auspicious omens for a great series. The team I think is going to win the series won, and the guys I want to win the series showed that not only can they hang around, but damn they could win.

All this excitement has nearly made me forget that one of us has a birthday coming up this weekend.

Yup. Sunday is going to be my best 24th birthday ever.

Courage? Outrage? Concern?

The biggest story in the sports world this week involves no games or current athletes, but rather a retired star of decades past. Let’s call him “the athlete formerly known as Bruce Jenner.”

The word I would say that has been bandied about most concerning Jenner’s decision to transgender (is that a verb?) is “courage.”

I think the word I would use is… eh.

I’m not sure exactly why, but my reaction this week has been one of, well, not much reaction. Are there just too many unusual things happening in the world for me to care about this one? Perhaps.

Remember that Jenner also claims to be some kind of political conservative. Now that takes courage.

Post gives me something to post about

Every Sunday I read the Washington Post with trepidation. I usually have only one eye open and make sure to keep at least one nostril closed. Yesterday there were not one, not two, but three features which made me open both eyes, both nostrils, and, well, just one mouth, but it no doubt formed a smile.

First, in the Post‘s Arts & Style section, a front-page article about Frank Sinatra whose premise was, in a sense, Who needs an excuse to write a big celebratory article about Frank Sinatra?

I like your style, Arts & Style.

Second, and you know I love this one: wildly differing opinions of how the date went from the participants in the “Date Lab.” I don’t know why, I just love it when the dates don’t work out. Proves they’re not rigged.

And speaking of things being not rigged and not going well. Oh, that I loved reading P.J. O’Rourke’s scathing review of Kevin Schultz’s new book, Buckley and Mailer: The Difficult Friendship That Shaped the Sixties. Whereas most book “reviews” are mere commercials for the book they hawk, this one is anything but. Strictly from the title and premise this is one I probably would have read, though clearly not now. (Funny how one instantly believes a bad review but might question a good one.) O’Rourke’s review is just beautiful prose and makes you love to read a bad review. His piece is the one worth reading, and I may spend my time this summer just sipping a sweet beverage and rereading it again and again.

But remind me never to have that guy review my book!

Nothing to see here

The most recent scandal to rock the sports world involves no sex, drugs, or domestic violenc. Just, you know, a hundred million dollars or so.

I’m about as surprised to discover corruption and bribery among soccer’s governing officials as I am to find corruption and bribery among any other petty dictators and tinpot tyrants. Newsflash: those with goodies to give away will do so. Probably to the highest bidder. Soccer bureaucrats act quite similarly to lawmaking bureaucrats in this regard.

Next time, soccer folks, remember to bribe the real lawmakers too.

Cleveland jocks

With last night’s emphatic win over the Atlanta Hawks, the Cleveland Cavaliers are on their way to the NBA Finals for the first time since 2007. Their likely opponent is the team with the best record in the NBA this year, who very well could wrap up the Western Conference championship this evening. Oh, the sexy matchup of Warriors vs. Cavs… I can taste it already. So can those who produce the games and sell TV advertisements.

Much as I’d like to see the upstart Warriors (or Rockets, for that matter), win one for the West, I’ve got to go with the Cavs in this series. Yup. I’ve jumped on the LeBron bandwagon. Again. Though this time it’s to root for the guy, not hate him for going to Miami.

How the hell did I find myself rooting for Alex Rodriguez and LeBron James in the same season? Somehow they’re both so maligned I end up liking them in the process. And a Cavs-Yankees double would be sweet.

Meanwhile, in 1965…

ali

Fifty years ago today this happened.

In front of just 2,400 spectators in tiny Lewistown, Maine, Muhammad Ali knocked out Sonny Liston in one of the most talked-about sports moments of all time. Ali, who had publically converted to Islam and changed his name from Cassius Clay since his previous bout (also a defeat of Liston), retained the WBC World Heavyweight title. The fight lasted about two minutes… the picture forever.

God damn what a great picture.

Loco in LoCo

The phrase “only in Loudoun County” seems to come up often in my speech and thoughts. It is never under positive circumstances.

This week’s sign that those of us in Loudoun County are just a little bit, well, unusual, appears on the front page of the “Loudoun” insert in the Washington Post. “Diversity panel met by debate” reads the headline. Subhead: “Racial makeup of Leesburg commission draws strong reactions on social media.”

It seems that the new Leesburg (Loudoun’s county seat) “diversity commission” just wasn’t diverse enough for some. Or it was too diverse. Or something like that. You see, and perhaps this was meant as a joke, two of the seven members of the panel are… white men!

Ha!

Guess who got really mad about that?

(Answer: every fool who lives here.)

So much for “diversity” (read: every color but white). Sometimes you just can’t make this stuff up.

And…

only in Loudoun County.

D.C. Drama

Dear National League girlfriend,

I thought we had a deal. We have our fun togethe, but when the missus is in town you’ve got to let it go. Remember, Nats, I’m still married to the Yankees, and 50% off at Papa John’s today just isn’t enough for when October comes around.

See you this weekend.

Mad Men finale falls flat

I’m glad I saw all the other episodes of Mad Men first, because if I had started with the finale I’d have never watched another.

And I would have been very confused.

Actually, I’ve seen all the earlier episodes and I was still confused.

Surreal, bizarre, and just plain weird would be a few ways I’d describe last night’s episode, and while other weird things on the show have worked, this did not. Though I did appreciate the final joke (which did clear up a thing or two), there was just too much buildup for a gag that was only marginally clever. I expected more.

Kudos, Mad Men, for a great run. As a total package, you’re still one of my favorites. Mad Men ’70s reboot? Think about it.