The BJ Report is a free-flowing conversation that sometimes drifts completely off topic because it is dictated by two guys with zero focus.
Jesse: THE DRAFT IS COMING, AHH!!!
Brian: OK, well first, are we agreeing with the rest of the world about the top three prospects?
Now that the NBA draft lottery is done, we can all begin our favorite annual activity: making completely unjustifiable statements about our favorite inadequate management, our favorite players going pro, and our favorite conspiracy theories. With that in mind, I will now attempt to channel my inner Nostradamus and foresee what horrid fate will befall each tortured fan base.
Starting at the bottom…
Now that Michigan’s loss in the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament has settled for a day, I feel prepared to process what happened. That’s not to say that this process is an easy or comfortable one, but it is one that I feel is necessary.
Every once in a while, Hollywood takes something from the internet and turns it into a mid-level silver screen embarrassment. Fortunately, Safety Not Guaranteed is not one of those movies.
Christmas Day, 2011 was a special day, not just because it might be the last Christmas ever, but because the NBA resumed games. And fans were treated to quite the set of games. We got to watch some fantastic stars play some fantastic games and while making judgments based on such a small sample size is always flawed, it is always entertaining as well. With these ideas in mind, here is what we learned about 10 key players on 25 December 2011.
When something shuts down for an extended period of time, its use typically drops off a cliff after it is functional once more. I would not think that professional basketball in the United States would be any different. Especially at this critical time when the NHL is putting out a high-quality product, soccer is seeing an all-time high in interest, and the NFL was just able to resolve its own labor situation, it would seem that the NBA should do everything in its power to avoid losing a season; its competitors could potentially devour its former viewership and cause serious damage to the product.
But is it all bad? Doesn’t every cloud have a silver lining? In this case, the obvious silver lining is that the players and the owners will eventually return to a situation that both sides are at least reasonably pleased with, and that the level of talent in the NBA will remain essentially the same (at an extreme high). This post isn’t about that silver lining. This is about the other results of the lockout.
I have never been a sports person, nor will I ever be. No matter how matter how many 3’s I shoot, no matter how many touchdowns I score, no matter how many assists I rack up, I can never escape the reality that I will always be kind of an outsider in athletics.
I honestly do enjoy sports now. I may not be the MVP of every contest I enter, but I can play a role in most games now. As my body enters its physical prime, I’m able to keep up with my average peers in most physical metrics (besides height) of athleticism. Using my body still isn’t something that I feel intuitively, but it is something that I can reason out. When I say that I’m a non-athlete, what I am trying to say is that my outlook on any sport comes from an outsider’s perspective.
Now obviously, I know a lot of athletes. In the most sports-crazed nation in the world, it is impossible to walk two steps without talking to someone who loves some sport and played it in high school. After talking to runners, football players, swimmers, gymnasts, and many other athletes at D-I programs, I’ve heard a lot of different reasons to love a sport: it de-stresses me, it keeps me feeling good about myself, it allows me to be aggressive, it allows me to think strategically. Everyone has their own reasons for loving sports; for me, I will always love the thrill of competition more than anything else. I can never imagine anything more satisfying than beating someone at something (which is probably why I also love video games).
Of course, people don’t share the same reasons for loving sports, nor should they. There are also no rules shared across all sports (unless you count demonstrating good sportsmanship). Still, sports mean one thing to many non-athletes: oppression.
Sushi in Utah 