May Showers

Big Shots rain down on the NBA... and 'nets.



May's a mercurial month. In New England after April, it isn't so much that winter ends, it's that summer begins- unpredictably- and then goes back to being winter for a day. Then that reverses. And so on and so on until eventually the cold days aren't that cold, and the warm days are uncomfortably warm, and that's when it's June.

It's also a month of note because the NBA playoffs happen then. For the most part, I've watched basketball intently for every night of the last month. It's been exciting and exhausting. Combined with a relatively slow month of comics it led to a lot of frenetic in-game Twittering, but not much substance. In any case but it's time for some links. Afterwards I'm going to vent about sports. Because that's what I do.

I try not to spotlight the same creators too often, as I think the gets who don't get the pub need the spotlight more, but with Geoff Johns, I can't help myself. He's just really good at teasing out plot points over just long enough for them to be impossibly urgent and drawn-out. He's a trade-friendly evolution of Chris Claremont, only instead of the X-Corner of Marvel he has the entire DCU at his fingertips. The way Legion of Three Worlds is streamlining that mythos while interplaying with current continuity is fascinating. Plus, George Perez is no joke. I mean, I make no bones about it, I'm a sucker for both these guys' work, and I am a sucker for Johns' take on the Conner Kent Superboy. Before that issue I was totally ambivalent about Adventure Comics, now it can't come soon enough. Like I said, I'm a sucker.

Despite my primary specialty in comics' critique, within the medium I try to be as "general interest," as I can. Adam Beechen and Trevor Hairsine's Killapalooza, with a super-group ripped from Behind the Music that moonlights as hired mercenaries, was a fun example of this. I really think anybody who spent an hour of their life watching the saga of Journey, or the trials of Jon Bon Jovi's hair, would like this book. It's just funny.

Another general-interest comicbook was the Spider-Man: The Short Halloween one- shot by Saturday Night Live cast members and writers Bill Hader and Seth Myers. I knew Hader was a comics' guy, he's been at conventions and used to frequent a store I worked at, and I think SNL is as good as it's been in my lifetime right now, so I was happy to spotlight their issue. It didn't disappoint, but it didn't "wow," me either. Based on merit alone, I'm not sure this book would warrant a follow-up assignment. It's not that the story is bad, but Spider-Man could be replaced by just about any costumed hero in this story, and it would be no different. The sales might tip the scales, though, and I wouldn't be against seeing more from the pair, or Kevin Maguire. I would only hope they get a little more into Spider-Man, and let the situational humor grow from there.




After working for Laura Hudson on the too-beautiful-for-this-world Comic Foundry magazine, she was kind enough to invite me to do a piece for her newest venture Comics Alliance. I'd stalled a bit to try and find the right angle to tackle for my first CA foray, but when Archie Comics announced Archie's marriage, I knew what I had to do. Due to the peculiarities of my fundamental being, I decided I would make the case for Veronica over Betty. Now, when the nuptials were first announced, Archie Comics hid the identity of Archie's bride, but by the time I'd written my piece it had been revealed to be in accordance with my preferences. Now, I suffer no delusions that this story will be told and Archie will go on married to Veronica, or that Betty won't crash the party somehow, but I'm pretty pleased with the case I made for Archie's bachelorhood. Now, as far as in real life choosing between the good girl and the bad, I don't know if I believe my case. But then, if it were as easy a choice as everyone would like to believe it wouldn't be such a classic love-triangle. Or maybe I just like to pick fights. Who even knows.


So that's what's been up in comics. But the thing that has dominated my life, again, have been a playoffs so addictive the FDA might have to get involved. Despite the ongoing drama of the piss-poor officiating, it has been a season of athletic studs taking teams on their backs' and seeing how far they can go. As a guy who likes comics, I'll say it; 'Melo, Superman, Kobe and LeBron have been downright superheroic.

Despite my rambling last post, I'm more than just a homer with regards to sports. It really sucked to see the Celtics loose how in the fashion that they did, but these playoffs were worth the price of admission. And as much as it sucked to see the Magic beat the Celtics in Game 1, it was worth it to see them in Game 5's late-surging win. It was especially gratifying for me, because Stephon Marbury had his two best games in green those games.



Starbury, like Corey Dillon, and Randy Moss before him, is the classic example of the media-driven "athlete as a bad-boy," malcontent that this town absolutely loathes until they prove themselves to be productive. Everybody hated Randy Moss when he got to New England. He was going to be a step slow, they said, and he would disrupt the proven team chemistry. Dillon too. He was the Bengals' all-time rushing leader when we got him for practically nothing. Dillon won a Super Bowl and Moss set the record for receiving TDs in a record-setting offense. They became heroes, but began as villains.

Well Marbury had the full rap sheet- from a trade-demanding early career, to an embarrassing sexual testimony in a harassment case, and ultimately a season-long benching. Now, I'm not saying that he didn't have his share of responsibility in all of this, but he was a productive player, making a lot of money while sitting on the bench. It was a dysfunctional move for a dysfunctional organization. And this was after the slate was supposed to have been wiped clean with new management. Well whatever, he was cut loose eventually and wanted to sign with the Celtics, as they had become the strongest team of veterans in the NBA. It had been the Pistons before, but this was now the organization, along with San Antonio, that productive veterans wanted to be a part of. After a year out of pro basketball Marbury was rusty, but also humbled.

It showed. He was really trying to be a team player in a way unlike ever before in his career. He was doing it to the detriment of his own game, and what the team wanted out of him. But he was trying. This was a guy who'd averaged over 7 assists a game for his career, but was playing 40 minutes a game. He was out there for maybe 15 minutes a game now. He just couldn't get right. It was a hard combination of not having the legs to be the explosive scorer he was used to being while also trying to relearn his killer instinct. Everyone was waiting for him to have an impactful [that's not a word, but I can't get over how many people use it, so I'm going with it here] game where he went for 2+. He had a handful of big shots in games, but the big game? Didn't happen.

Game 1 teased it. The Celtics, after going down big at the half, got themselves within a Ray Allen three of winning that game and who was there to thank? My man, @StaryburyMarbury. He'd had a crazy streak in the third where he just couldn't miss, and it was the energy that got them, not the win, but the hunger for that game back. It wasn't much of a legacy, but it was the game people had been waiting for.



Until Game 5. The Celtics were down again, late, and Steph kicked it into gear. He had 12 in the fourth quarter, and this time Ray's big three sunk, and the Celtics won the game. It was a huge game, it gave the Celtics a 3-2 advantage in the best of seven series, and was as close as the Celtics got to defending their 2007-08 Championship. The C's lost Game 6 in Orlando in a game they just gave away, an Game 7 at home in a game they didn't show up for. The team had been eking out wins without their low-post foundation and defensive x-factor Kevin Garnett, but each one had been a titanic struggle, and in Game 7 it finally showed. In fact, it probably showed in Game 6 when the team let slip away a fourth quarter lead of their own. But they'd battled valiantly, and as reward were spared the embarrassment of getting their asses handed to them by LeBron and the Cavaliers.

I'm really grateful to have seen the Celtics last win as champions, because they really played like it in that win. And Steph led the charge. Who knows if he'll resign, or even be a productive NBA player going forward, but following his success with vested interest is one of those unique rewards offered by following sports. Given the consequences they engender, there are countless narratives to be enjoyed. And who doesn't enjoy a good tale of redemption.



The Magic have turned out to be great foils for the Cavaliers, which anyone who had looked at their head-to-head record was saying before the series, and given the decisive 3-1 lead they took the other night, they should be heavily expected to advance to the NBA Finals. But as long as the Cavs still have the best player in the series, never mind the best player in the game, I still expect LeBron to take the next 2 wins and advance to his second Finals appearance.

Because, I mean, Kobe's waiting there. He had to fight through West Baltimore's finest Carmelo Anthony, the forgotten dark prince of King James' draft class, and Conference Finals mainstay Chauncey Billups, and the rest of George Karl's rejuvenated Nuggets. It took the Lakers 6 games, but they did it. We can't have just half of those Kobe/ LeBron puppets playing for the trophy, and Dwight Howard is too damn big to be a puppet, so LeBron has to make it. Every real NBA fan wants it to happen. We want this argument settled. We don't care who's better; Pau Gasol or Dwight Howard. This is an MVP thang.

In any case, we'll see. It's been a monumentally memorable postseason, thanks in no small part to this guy's TNT video-



Back to your regularly scheduled programming:
...

So Amazing

The 2009 NBA Playoffs are in Full Effect, and I'm not gonna make it


There's nothing like the playoffs.

Finally, that 7 game Bulls/ Celtics series is over, and I'm drenched with sweat. I never want to gamble again. And I definitely never want to bet on a game I care about. My heart can't take it.

I'm not a man of great means, but I manage to make the time for things that matter to me. Such things, as one might imagine, as comicbooks and playoff games. Real fans go to playoff games. I'm sorry, but if you enjoy one of the major American sports like baseball or basketball, you make a point to go to games. After a few years, though, memories regular season games blend together into larger, amorphous impressions of the specific season and era of the team. This is probably a factor of thousands of hours spent watching Sportscenter, and millions of printed words read covering daily gamers, (not to mention talk radio, or... dare I say... blogs). The memories are just hard to hold onto.

Not so with playoff games.




I can rattle off the specifics of every playoff game I've been to in my life. As a beer vendor, I bore witness to the 2003-04 Patriots beating the co-League MVPs in consecutive weeks; first outlasting Steve McNair and the Titans in a game played with a windchill of -10°, then the next week seeing Ty Law absolutely decimate Peyton Manning while securing a Super Bowl berth. That AFC Championship was probably the most significant sporting event I've ever attended, for a couple reasons. One- it was the first, biggest ballgame at the House that Drew Bledsoe Built, Gillette Stadium. New England will never host a Super Bowl, not until some mad scientist invents an effective weather control device, so while I can imagine Gillette hosting other AFC Championship, there won't be another first one. And Ty Law won't pick off Peyton Manning three times.



There was a weirder reason this back-to-back week of games was significant, too. At the Titans game I worked the lower level, right at the 50 yard line, (which was incredible and I totally don't mean to gloat). It was remarkable that people were still drinking at this game. I mean, scientifically speaking alcohol lowers your body temperature, but realistically speaking there's no way anyone can stand sitting outside in subzero temperatures on a January night in Foxborogh unless they're drunk. Anyway I'm in this prime serving area getting people wasted while watching at the snaps, and I go back to the service bar to reload my tray. I'm on my way back when a tall guy with a goatee asks me for a drink. I'd been told pretty sternly to ID everyone I served, and being the son of a bartender, wasn't one to shirk the duty, except I knew this guy. I looked up, and it's Tim Wakefield.

Which would have been the coolest moment in my life, except for one thing-


It was January 11th, 2004. The last time I'd seen Wake was October 16th, 2003. No one blamed Tim Wakefield for being on the losing end of that Game 7 of the Red Sox/ Yankees ALCS. In fact, he had a pretty good chance of being named Series MVP if they won that game. He shouldn't have been in the game until Mariano Rivera was out, but then again, Grady Little was not necessarily blessed with a well-timed hook. Nevertheless, the last time I'd seen Tim Wakefield was at the climactic moment of the greatest heartbreak of my young life, and there he was buying a beer from me at the very next playoff game in the New England area, just taking it in as a fan, and enjoying the Boston sports scene. Tim Wakefield is the fucking man.

Earlier that October I'd gone to my first ever Red Sox playoff game. It was Game 4 of the 2003 ALDS against the Oakland A's, and the Red Sox didn't stand a chance. They didn't stand a chance all series, incidentally, after having gone down 0-2 in the best of 5 series. As would become customary in the coming years, the Sox would battle back with the hearts of champions. They won Game 3 with a dramatic Trot Nixon home run, and if they could take Game 4, they'd have Pedro Martinez ready for Game 5. But now it was Tim Hudson, who would place 4th in Cy Young voting that year, (just one place behind Pedro) squaring off against the 12-9 5.15 ERA soon-to-be professional bowler John Burkett. Again, the Sox didn't stand a chance.

Or they shouldn't have. Weird word had gotten out that day. There were rumors that Hudson had gotten into a bar fight the night before. He might have bashed a guy with his guitar like El Kabong. Either way he was out of the game after an inning, and it was on John Burkett to nip and tuck that whole game, going 5 1/3 without, as I can remember, a single swinging strike. I can't remember if that was even true, but it sure felt that way, 'cuz that guy pitched the game of his life. I mean, he still gave up 4 runs, but it was the game of his life.



Wakefield came in and mopped up for a few innings, (of course) and David Ortiz had his first signature playoff hit with a huge double off Keith Foulke in the 8th. They won the game, and looked like favorites going against the Yankees in the ALCS. That didn't happen, but I still hold to this day that it was coming back from that 0-2 deficit to that A's team that gave that team the gumption it needed to pull back from the 0-3 hole they'd dig themselves in the 2004 ALCS. So to me, even though it was just a game where a couple junkballers tried to keep it tight, it is just about the most important Sox game I'd been to in my life.


Or it was. Last year I went to Game 4 of the ALDS against the Angels, and Jed Lowrie drove in Jason Bay in the 9th inning to close out the series. Jon Lester was awesome, and it was probably the most exciting baseball game I've been to in my life.

I've been to countless games, but it is the ones with tangible consequences that really illicit the starkest memories. Last year, I basically moved back to Boston just in time to see the new-look Boston Celtics come together. I was living in Brooklyn when the monumental trades were made, and I remember going from just confused by the Ray Allen trade, to indescribably elated at the Kevin Garnett trade. I tried to explain it to my non-basketball loving friends; it was like going to bed with one team, and waking up with a completely different one. Everything about them was different, from the style of play to their League- relevance, to their viability as a champion. I didn't want to move back when I did, but knowing that I was going to be able to watch this unprecedented season was an acceptable silver lining. The New Big Three didn't disappoint, delivering the most dominant regular season I'd ever watched in total. They made me see basketball differently. I went to a couple games, and eagerly awaited the playoffs.

I wanted to be smart. I wouldn't blow my load on the first round matchup against the feeble Hawks. No, I'd wait for the prospect of seeing my beloved Celtics take on the most electrifying athlete of my generation in LeBron James. THAT would be a worthy thing to pay for, I was sure.

The Celtics famously struggled in that first round, but despite the series going 7 games, there was never any doubt to who was the better team. They advanced, and awaited the Cavaliers.

I got tickets to Game 1 of the series. It was the most intense game of my life. I love all the sports I love, but basketball gets my blood pressure up in a different way. It's just so high adrenaline. It is also a sport that can be officiated somewhat subjectively, which is not necessarily healthy for someone who argues as vociferously as I.

It was the ugliest games I watched in my entire life. But it was a win.


LeBron had my favorite double-double of all time with 12 points and 10 turnovers. Paul Pierce and Ray Allen combined for 4 points. In fact, Ray finished scoreless! It was like a Bizarro- playoff game. The only guy who played like a superstar was the Big Ticket himself, who scored 28. The game ended 76-72, but the only number that mattered, trite though it might have been, was the Celtics' 1-0 lead.

The Celtics went on to become champions. I didn't get to any more games, because as I said, I am not a man of great means, and as soon as the Celtics beat the Cavaliers in a Game 7 showdown classic between Paul Pierce and LeBron James the Celtics became the hottest ticket in town. I didn't have any regrets, but I did feel a little cheated, in that I think I ended up at the only game of the entire postseason that didn't have 1 highlight for the end-of-season reel.

This season, I was determined to not make the same mistake. As the season drew to a close, I held off on even going to a few games, thinking myself wise and prudent in my waiting for the playoffs. Kevin Garnett would be back by playoff time, and there were sure to be more than enough games to catch then. Two nights before the season ended, I made my decision to buy tickets to Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals, the second round. This, I assumed, is when the playoffs would really start.

The morning after I bought my tickets, the news came out. Kevin Garnett would be out for the playoffs in their entirety. It was like someone punched me in the stomach, stood me up, punched me in the balls, then took my wallet, and then slept with my girlfriend. It sucked.

It sucked for all the obvious reasons. It sucked because it was evident that we would not have an honest shot at defending our title, first against the Cavaliers, then against the Lakers. It robbed us of our opportunity to get in the way of the LeBron/ Kobe 2009 Finals that have seemed so inevitable to everyone who was sleeping on the Celtics. It sucked because you knew there were only so many years for this team to play together, and all the sudden this year wouldn't be one of them. It sucked because the team had worked so hard to keep the ship afloat in KG's absence, and it seemed almost unfair to ask them to continue to shoulder both the load and the expectations without their true superstar, and defensive tone-setter. And it fucking sucked because, dude, I had already paid for the tickets!

Buying tickets that early, you're not really buying tickets. Regular box-office tickets don't go on sale until the team officially qualifies, and the game is scheduled. But if you're too anxious to wait, you can use online auction services to buy seats from season-ticket holders who are guaranteed their tickets. Sure, you pay at a markup, but it's worth it to assure yourself of the seat.

Well when KG was out, the second round didn't seem like such a sure thing. In fact, it seemed like a goal. Not for the team themselves, of course, but for me. Just make it the one round, don't make me look like an asshole! I felt guilty just feeling the way I did. And that was before the series even started.



Then it went on to be the greatest playoff series anyone can remember. It didn't win a championship, although it did star a team with championship heart and pedigree. It truly was a phenomenal series, not only for the longevity of it and the unprecedented overtimes, but for the remarkable shots that were hit. Ben Gordon got as hot as anyone's ever seen anyone. Derrick Rose hit leaner after leaner in traffic. Kirk Hinrich hit tough, deep threes. Rondo hit some jumpers, and damn near averaged a triple double on creaky ankles. Paul Pierce, who struggled uncharacteristically from the line, won a game all by himself, working himself to his spot and sinking make after make. Glen Davis showed himself to be a legitimate big in the NBA, mixing in-traffic layups with a nice, consistent midrange game. Kendrick Perkins was a beast, and again, no one seemed to notice. Where Ben Gordon got hot as a pure shooter, Ray Allen elevated his game and showed the difference between a hot shooter and a great one. After a tough Game 1, Ray was unstoppable. He showed the world what willed greatness looked like. It was an unforgettable series.



And it damn near killed me.

I felt like I was in the same boat as Danny Ainge. I had the biggest vested interest a fan could have in a series without owning it like Mark Cuban, or having your house put up as collateral on a bet. All I wanted was for the series to end, and it had to be the longest, most grueling, up and down series there ever was.

By the time we got to Game 7, I was spent. After sinking money into those seats, I'd effectively gambled on the games. I didn't stand to win anything, really, or at least anything I hadn't already bought. But I did stand to lose. It was an impossible situation. In the end, going into that last game, I just prayed that the team be champions for one more night. One more display of greatness, and I'd be content. Of course, this had to echo what they were feeling going into that game. Not the 'being content' part, of course, but it was evident through the way they played that they were not going out like punks under any circumstances. They played the Bulls long enough, and hard enough, and eventually those impossible shots Ben Gordon and Derrick Rose kept hitting started rimming out, and the better team prevailed.

Now I get my Round 2 game. The team is limping, of course, with Rajon nursing maybe both his ankles, Pierce barely able to jump off the ground, KG looking dapper in suits, and Leon Powe's career in jeopardy after another major knee issue. The Magic are coming to town fresh off a few days rest, hoping to legitimize themselves as title contenders against what's left of the champs. I think the series will be pretty easy to predict- if the Magic can shoot over 43% on threes for the series, they'll at least take it 7 games, if not take the series. They are not the same kind of threat as the Bulls, because they are not the same fast-break team, and they don't have the athleticism to wear down the Celtics like Chicago did. Perkins should make for a good matchup against Dwight Howard, provided they get called evenly on fouls. Turkoglu and Pierce have had some good matchups, and while the Celtics don't have an answer for Rashard Lewis, the Magic don't have an answer for Ray Allen.

I get to go and see it, and be a part of the experience myself. I can't be any more honest in saying, it's all I ever wanted.

Where the MVP argument happens...

Most Valuable Player arguments always come down to unknowable semantics. The award means all things to all people. This year, the most exciting season in what equates to an NBA lifetime, the MVP argument is a four-horse race.


If the MVP is meant to be given to the player most enjoyable to watch, the answer is undoubtedly LeBron James. King James is the most popular kid in school. He's funny, nice to everyone, and, y'know, can do absolutely anything on a basketball court. He's just cool as hell. He's pretty simply everything that is good and exciting about basketball. At 6'8", with rumors that he was still growing, King James is pretty much basketball's Frankenstein.

But- as good as LeBron has been, with his eye gorging 30/8/7 numbers, his team has underperformed. They are the fourth seed, barely holding on to home court advantage, in the lean Eastern Conference. That isn't terribly impressive.

Kobe Bryant is, without a doubt, this season's top performer. LeBron probably represents the potential that make sport so exciting; that future unknown. Kobe, though, is the cat that already did it. Kobe has three rings, and dropped 81 pts, thats Eighty-One Points, in a game. It's basically exactly like J5 said- A rapper is a kid that's tryin' to be the shit/ An entertainer ain't Tryin' cause he already is. Yeah, its pretty much exactly like that.

But Kobe has never won an MVP award before. And much like it was bullshit that ARod won that last MVP when it was a down year for him, there isn't that much separating Kobe this year from last year, or the year before that. Yes, the team is winning more games, and even caught fire as a Western Conference favorite, but that was all due to the addition of the complementary player Pau Gasol. Without that, Kobe's just being Kobe.

The last serious candidate in the race is New Orleans wunderkind point guard Chris Paul. He's done it all; he rescued a franchise in need of a hero, he successfully made all his teammates better, notably with David West enjoying his first All-Star selection, and Tyson Chandler finally looking like the lottery pick he was. His numbers are consistent and staggering. They win out and take the West's number one seeding, given the lack of expectations of winning entering the season, and the phrase, that I believe is copyright pending, "He saved basketball in New Orleans,"and Chris Paul is probably the 2007-2008 NBA Most Valuable Player.

But y'know what? I'm from Boston, and I never claimed to be objective. KG's been the most important and valuable player in all of basketball since the day he was traded to the most storied franchise in sports, and if you don't know that, you aren't paying attention.

The Boston Celtics, who last year set a franchise record with nineteen, that's 19!, straight losses, have the best record in basketball. And they had the best record in basketball the entirety of the season. They were the best team in the game from day one, and no one can tell you it is for any reason besides The Biggest Ticket there is.

Ask a Celtics fan how she felt on Draft-Day; instead of any sort of franchise-saving top pick, the Celts moved some assets to bring in Ray Allen, a pure shooter getting a bit up there in years. Sure, you felt good that the team had gotten better, but it felt a lot like a band-aid/ bullet wound type of deal. I mean, nineteen is a lot of games to lose in a row; it leaves mental scars.

Then KG came to town. And it was good.

With Garnett on the team, there is a trickle down effect to dictate the roles of each player. The Big Three, or the Boston Three Party, will take care of themselves. All anyone else needed to worry about was their individual match-ups.

Board Banger Kendrick Perkins needed only to learn how to position himself around the basket and look for quick looks and clean-up baskets. Smart play got Perk damn near to setting the Celt's franchise record for field goal percentage.

Young buck Rajon Rondo just needed to learn everyone's favorite spot on the floor, and play good, quick D on opposing point guards. He could let his game come to him, and develop his And1 type game.

Former championship player James Posey just had to be a reliable vet, playing starter minutes off the bench, matching up and shutting down players at the 2, 3, and 4, and clocking killer treys.

Sam Cassell just had to keep his eyes towards the floor from summer to winter, awaiting his inevitable buyout and hoping on the championship bandwagon.

Scott Pollard could just be free to be Scott Pollard. Whatever that may mean. The point is that the roles were so clearly defined that the team was loaded for bear. The young guys could focus on getting better and learning from the vets, while the vets just needed to enjoy the ride.

And then there are the other two legs of the Three. Ray "Jesus Shuttlesworth" Allen had to adjust his game the most, giving up a lot of looks and a lot of time with the rock in his hands. He has shined, though, being a constant threat from anywhere on the floor, playing better D, and help D, than anyone expected, and hitting game-winning shots. Not bad for the third best player on the team.

Pierce simply needed to provide continuity. He needed to stay within his game, show off his previously unheralded defensive prowess, score when there needed to be scoring, and bear the load of Mr. Celtic. He paid enough dues on some bad teams, now instead of focusing on beating five other guys on the floor, he need only worry about one, and beat him. Senseless, if possible.

And that's what it comes down to. When you've got The Big Ticket, you don't need to worry. Beat one guy, trust the guy next to you to beat his, and you're going to win. The team trusted that, and the team won. A lot. More than anyone else. Thanks to one guy. That is what my understanding of an MVP is. But I'm just one guy.

Playoff time. All aboard.

[/rant]