Time To Move On

I was glad to see Miami win another championship. I know Lebron has many critics and haters, but I'm glad he finally got a ring so I don't have to keep hearing stupid jokes about him having no 4th quarter play and reading comments how most Americans have as many rings as he does. I guess now people will have to find more important things to criticize him for like his receding hairline.

I also think Lebron was deserving as the MVP this year and look forward to seeing him get even better with time. Now I just need to be able to make it through baseball season without slitting my wrists. The 2013 NBA season can't come soon enough.

Fair Weathered Fans

I jokingly sent a tweet last month that read "Some fair weather fans only started liking the Clippers after Griffin dunked on Gasol. I've been a long time Clippers fan since he dunked on Perkins".

A couple months ago a friend told me he has followed the Clippers since the late 80's. I thought it was interesting when I asked who his favorite players from the Clippers were from that era and he could not name one player.

I've noticed the same trend with the Thunder. They are an exciting team and are gaining many fans. I saw this picture today that sums up how I feel about fair weathered fans.

I'm not saying you have to be fanatical and know every player and their stats in order to root for a team, but if you are going to pretend to be a hard core fan, then you'd better be able to back it up.

Miami vs OKC

I love the Heat and the Thunder so I'm a little torn about who to root for in the 2012 NBA finals. I've been pulling for the Heat all year and would love to see Lebron get a ring and finally silence all of his critics, but I also really like Durrant, Westbrook, Hardin, and Ibaka and totally respect  their team and enjoy watching them.

I would almost prefer having a team I didn't like in the finals since it would make picking a team to cheer for so much easier. It's too bad the Grizzlies, Pacers, Sixers, or Hawks didn't make it to the finals, because I'd love to cheer against them.

I'm still pulling for Miami, but I'm enjoying watching these two exciting teams regardless of who wins the championship.

The Flop Trend

I'm not a Jeff Van Gundy fan. I suppose he is alright as a commentator, but he is very opinionated and there are times I disagree with him. However... I think he is spot on when he gets angry about flopping. I've frequently heard him rant about how flopping is killing the game and last night he took it a step further and said Mickael Pietrus "should be fined one million dollars" for a flop he did in the final minutes of the Miami/Boston Game.

I'd like to see some penalties for flopping, especially for the repeat serial floppers. Maybe technicals, perhaps some fines, but at least some shame. They should really hand it to the guys who ratchet things up a level when they flop and then fake an injury or pretend to catch an elbow from a player who is clearing space.

I see flopping from every team and even from many of the players I like, so it's not like I'm pointing fingers at a particular team or individual. If the NBA is going to punish floppers for trying to deceive officials, then they should probably do the same thing whenever a player knowingly points the wrong way to influence the ref when a ball goes out of bounds or is they raise their hand after a foul to try and take the blame and protect their star player from fouling out.

If players really want to trick those officiating, why not be bold and have a player distract the score keeper while a teammate sneaks extra points onto the score board? That would work with professional wrestling. I don't have the answer to the growing flopping trend, but I hate seeing players rewarded for acting and don't want to see the NBA turn into European soccer. 

One more thought- If guys are willing to blatantly flop to try and deceive the refs in front of millions of viewers, then I wonder how their wives feel about trusting them while they are away on road trips.