The Laker Legacy

Today could have quite possibly been one of the most significant days in Laker's history.  The Lakers signed future hall of famer Kobe Bryant to a 2-year $48.5 million contract extension.  This contract allowed for Kobe to keep his "highest paid player in the league" status.  The main significance of this contract extension though, is that this basically ensured that Kobe Bryant will retire as a Laker.  There are many people out there saying that this was greedy on Kobe's part, and that he should have been willing to take less money so that the Laker franchise could have gone out and gotten more players for future seasons.  However, some of these people fail to realize what Kobe Bryant has done for this organization and that there is also enough money to still sign a max contract player, with 6 or 7 million more dollars to spare.  I think that the Lakers did what they saw fit to keep arguably their best franchise player EVER happy and motivated.  Kobe is one of the most driven players to ever play the game, and you would have to be a fool to think that he won't come out of the gate as a man on a mission.  He has earned the rights to his new contract and will continue to produce like he has been for 15+ seasons in the NBA.

Best If Used By

We all buy food that has some kind of expiration date or sell by date.  I'm sure like many of you I have thrown away plenty of food that "expired".  Research shows that American's throw away over $700 million dollars a year of expired food.  Research also shows that over a fourth of that was not spoiled and could have been eaten.  The dates that you see on food packaging are dates that the manufacturer puts on them, but these dates are  placed on their with extreme caution.  Meaning, that the product is good for days, weeks, even a month after the dates that they print on the food.  I found this interesting because I know my roommates and I have this dilemma all the time on whether we should eat it or pitch it.  Now I know that day old things are perfectly fine.   

The Gronk Play

Wednesday morning’s Sport Science segment on "SportsCenter" examined Monday night’s game-ending play, and specifically whether Rob Gronkowski could have made a play on the ball thrown by Tom Brady were it not for Luke Kuechly's “restrictive” contact. 

"Running at 16 miles per hour into the end zone, Gronk begins to decelerate nearly a full second before the ball arrives. Kuechly makes contact with Gronk a third of a second later, meaning contact happened 2/3 of a second before the ball was intercepted. " -Sportscience 

Sport Science basically said that if Gronk wasn't touched he would have been able to make a play on the ball.   They said it was highly unlikely that he would have been able to position himself to have a better shot at the ball than Lester, but the fact it might have even been possible makes the ruling that the pass was uncatchable WRONG!  

I'm not saying that we need video replay for everything, but I rely would have liked to have seen them be allowed to review this, or that since the original call on the filed was pass interference  that they would have kept it.  I hate when games are decided on questionable calls.  

Grinnell, Jack Taylor, and "The System"

I'm sure most of you have at least heard the name of Jack Taylor, at least in passing last year around this time.  You may not be able to place where you heard it or who that is specifically.  Well his name was recently in sports news again.  Jack Taylor is the college basketball player who scored 138 points in a single game last season.  He has managed to score 71 and 109 in his first two games this season already.  Now when first hearing this people are amazed, shocked, and question how that is even possible. Well the way this is made possible is by the style of play that the Grinnell Pioneers use, which is called, "The System."

"The System" is a style of that play consists of the following guidelines: 

1. The first possible shot is best possible shot, where three-point field goal attempts are preferred over shorter shots.
2. Shoot as many three pointers as possible.
3. In terms of defense, giving up an uncontested layup is better than a shot clock violation.
4. Always double team the person with the ball.
5. Every player but the shooter goes for the offensive rebound.
6. Offensive rebounds should be sent back for another three-point attempt, not a shorter put-back for two points.

Basically, I read this as, let's hike the ball up as quickly as possible, and play no defense whatsoever.  Being a basketball fan, number 3 has me at a loss for words.  There are coaches and players turning in their graves as someone says those words.  Yes, this can be an effective system, and the Pioneers are a fairly successful Division III basketball team, however it goes against the basic principles of the game of basketball.  Basketball is, or was a two way game, where defense was emphasized, but nowadays (especially in the NBA) you hardly see anybody take any precedence to actually want to play defensive and take pride in being a shutdown defender. Heck you can't even tune into a game without seeing an ejection, flagrant foul, or a technical foul every second.  

Being the basketball fan that I consider myself, and the way I learned the game, reading articles about things like this leaves a bitter taste in my mouth.  Maybe people prefer to watch a game like this, but I just hope that the future of basketball does not turn into who can score 150+ a night like the Grinnell Pioneers.  

"Offense wins games, bur defense wins championships."