Adam Silver changes the NBA for the better

From where I sit it looks like Adam Silver manged to formulate the perfect response...

Sadly, Donald Sterling still stands to profit from the exposure of his true nature. Although the NBA plans to force him to sell the Clippers, Sterling will see a hefty payday. Forbes has the team listed with a $575 million value. Tragically there's nothing the NBA can do about that. The other problem is that despite all this exposure and negative publicity Sterling isn't going to change. Neither will anyone else sharing his disgusting world views. Change will start in youth, not adults. The key is education, not denunciation. That being said, it's great to see everyone on the same page. Having Adam Silver stand before the sporting world and speak on behalf of everyone in the NBA was a great moment in sports history. The anger is his voice was palpable. So was the passion. It's something we don't get to see very often from the head of a league. It was one of the biggest moments in NBA history. Adam Silver has been in charge for a matter of weeks and he has already changed the game. Good for him!

At least that's how I see it and I sit in the cheap seats.

Few choices in the Sterling controversy

From where I sit it looks like the NBA is facing a major headache...

via tmz.com

What options does the league really have to deal with Donald Sterling? Can they force him to sell his team? Not really, and even if they do that's going to cause more problems for the players and fans than for Sterling himself. Given the level of entertainment generated by the Clippers it wouldn't be fair to see the team sold to anyone who was going to do less with the franchise. For the first time in their history the Clippers are dominating LA and it would be terrible to have the team dismantled because the owner is allegedly a racist jerk. Then there's the word 'allegedly'. All of this is from an audio recording. It's really not all that hard to rearrange audio to make it sound completely different from the original intent. But Sterling has remained bizarrely silent. Even when caught red handed, most offenders will offer up immediate denials, followed by a tearful apology and assurances of upcoming counselling. There's been none of that from Sterling. The NAACP has revoked Sterling's lifetime achievement award, and even that seems strange. How could someone so brutally racist be in line for a lifetime award from a organization focused on equality? Add to all of this the NBA is finally giving it's response on Tuesday, a full 4 days after all this started. Of course all this is happening to the most sad-sack team in the NBA. Just when the Clippers seemed to have all their ducks in a row, they turn around and shoot them.

At least that's how I see it and I sit in the cheap seats.

NBA Playoffs too spread out

From where I sit it looks like the NBA needs to work on it's scheduling...

via sports.nationalpost.com

The Toronto Raptors and Brooklyn Nets are putting on a great show. At least I think they are. I will freely admit I'm not a basketball fan. I'm peripheral at best, but I do enjoy the playoffs. I want to tune in. Really I do, but I have no idea when they're playing. The Raps and Nets have played three games in a week. In fact the entire NBA playoffs has been a mess. The first round started a week ago and four teams still haven't played game 3. I know there are always conflicts in scheduling. Today's arenas are booked almost every night and it can be difficult to get all the games running on a good time frame. However, the NHL has been at it for 10 days and every series is on game 5. Yes, the NBA is playing to it's audience by working the schedule so as many top teams get good weekend slots as possible, but two games in a week? That's pathetic. It's trying too hard to create artificial excitement by drawing the series out instead of creating real excitement by allowing the teams to keep playing. I'm looking forward to the rest of the Toronto-Brooklyn series, I'm assuming it's going to end some time in May.

At least that's how I see it and I sit in the cheap seats.

A good suspension and a dumb pitcher

From where I sit it looks like Stephane Quintal has passed his first test...

There's plenty of overused and abused cliches to describe the situation Quintal has been forced into. You can pick your favourite line. I'll go with 'jumping into the deep end'. In any case, he has started up where his predecessor left off. After Brendan Shannahan left NHL Head Office to join the Leafs in Toronto there was some concern about the next head of discipline. Thankfully, Quintal is already showing he studied Shannahan's methods and the League's standards and kept things rolling along. Matt Cooke's 7 game suspension is a solid number for a repeat offender. He is gone for the remainder of this series and, should the Wild advance, some of round two as well. It's a solid decision and it signals to the rest of the league that the punishment will continue to be consistent. Now, if only we could do something about the players who are consistently idiots.

And speaking of idiots...Michael Pineda deserves a special spot in the pantheon of idiots...

via tmz.com

Congratulations! You managed to cheat twice, get caught at it twice, and the second time was more obvious than the first. Sure, he didn't get ejected in the first game, but after everyone saw what Pineda was doing you'd think he'd try to hide it better! Add to that the fact that he was doing it against the same team! After their manager called him on it in the pre-game media briefing! I believe this meme best sums up the situation:

via kulphoto.com

At least that's how I see it and I sit in the cheap seats.

Matt Cooke makes another dangerous play

From where I sit it looks like the Matt Cooke is back in trouble again...

For all it's hardly surprising, it's also quite sad. Cooke hadn't been in trouble in 18 months. Outside of his accidental cut on Erik Karlsson there hasn't been much out of Cooke, more importantly he hasn't been in the news. At least until game 3 against Colorado. It's hard to say what the NHL will do with Cooke, but let's face it he's going to get the book thrown at him. I wouldn't be at all surprised to see Cooke gone for the rest of the playoffs. And he probably should be. This won't be a suspension just based on the latest hit, but on everything over Cooke's career. It was a dangerous, stupid hit on a vulnerable player. Thankfully the first round has been more than good enough for fans to enjoy, even if we do end up talking briefly about stupid players making stupid plays.

At least that's how I see it and I sit in the cheap seats.

Lucic deserved a suspension and F1 loses 2 laps

From where I sit it looks like the NHL needs to stick to it's standards...

It's great to see a major suspension in the playoffs for a brutal hit by Brent Seabrook. It was a terrible hit and deserved a couple of games off. It's cliche, but this sends the proper message about bad hits. Too bad the same can't be said for Milan Lucic's suspension, or lack thereof. Seabrook's hit, although late and illegal was a hockey play. Hitting is part of the game. Spearing is not. I really don't want this to devolve into a personal attack on Lucic, but this is his second spear this season, neither of which have resulted in any appreciable punishment. The NHL needed to apply the same standards to Lucic, if not harsher. It's an age old maxim in hockey, “Keep your head up.” The obvious implication being 'expect to get hit at any time'. There is no such warning about keeping your legs together. A spear, particularly to the groin, should be considered a more egregious offence, not a mere fine.

Meanwhile, Formula 1 needs to look carefully at who controls the race...

via sports.yahoo.com

The Chinese Grand Prix ended two laps before it ended on Sunday. This was thanks to some idiot marshal who put the chequered flag out a lap early. Thanks to F1 regulations that put the official finish on lap 54, not at the actual end of the race lap 56. This brings up a couple of important questions. Why should the race not count full distance? There is full agreement the flag was out early and the race was continued to the scheduled end. Let the finish line results stand. I also want to know why there isn't a proper F1 official in the gantry at all times. Charlie Whiting is there for the start of the race to make certain the cars line up properly, but there is no such occurrence at the end? It's a system that's open to major problems. What's to prevent a fanatic from influencing the outcome of a race? It's stupid and dangerous.

At least that's how I see it and I sit in the cheap seats.

NBA changes could have a huge impact on the NCAA

From where I sit it looks like the NBA is thinking about a big change...

via espn.go.com

Sure, it's just one year, but one year will make a big difference to a lot of people. To begin with NBA teams will be more time to check out the kids, and yes, these are kids. Let's face it, the Cavs might want a mulligan on Anthony Bennett. The first ever Canadian first over-all pick has set mighty low targets for whoever the Bucks pick first this year. But there are lots of other direct and residual impacts from prospects getting another year in college. The obvious winners are the schools and NCAA. Naturally they would love to have another year from Jabari Parker and Andrew Wiggins. However, another year in school will have an impact on the pressure to create unions for the students. Not necessarily the kind of impact the NCAA wants. Another year for players means even bigger money from stars staying an extra year. The more money flowing into the NCAA and member schools, the greater the likelihood athletes will raise pressure to get a cut of the pie. It's a fight that's coming, and a simple change of one year of eligibility will send us closer to the inevitable clash.

At least that's how I see it and I sit in the cheap seats.