I wanted Los Angeles to win Sunday night, not because I was rooting for them but because I just wanted it to be over with. Orlando could have made this a real series with wins in either of the two overtime games, but they didn’t. The Lakers hit big shots and the Magic couldn’t shoot [...]
I wrote a bit last week about how soccer doesn’t have the TV commercial breaks that we see in the NBA, NFL, MLB or college sports, but it does put the primary sponsor’s logo on its uniforms. My question was which was preferable, but I should have foreseen that here in America we would find a way to combine the worst of both.
I ran home for lunch today (I went with the leftovers, thanks for asking) and while I was eating I flipped on ESPN and caught a few minutes of the Champions League final between Manchester United and Barcelona. I watched for about 25 minutes before coming back into the office and during that time there wasn’t a single timeout or commercial. I know this is standard for soccer, but it was quite a bit different than the NBA playoff broadcasts I’ve been watching for the last few weeks. The purpose in both cases is to make money, of course, but the presentation is very different and it made me think about which path I prefer.
I caught the first quarter and the final 2 seconds of last night’s Western Conference Final between Denver and LA. (In between I was at a Middle School band concert – you all did great). When I left, Carmelo was on a real roll and it doesn’t seem like he cooled off much the rest of the way. Laker-hater that I am, I was disappointed by the final result, but I am excited about the prospects for the series if every game is as hard-fought as that one.
It was great to see a major profile of former Portland Trail Blazers forward Brian Grant on ESPN.com yesterday. But the reason for the profile wasn’t good news: Grant used the article to announce that he has Parkinson’s disease.
Other than starting with the same letter, my two topics don’t have anything to do with each other. They’re just what I’m thinking about this afternoon. I’m thinking about the rain because the weather is being a real aggravation right now. We want to have a reporter and photographer at this afternoon’s Lebanon/South Albany baseball game. But the photo staff has a lot going on and would like to know as early as possible if the game is going to be played, despite today’s February-like weather.
