Last Day of the Sports Year

The sports year begins with football season in late August, goes through the fall, winter, and spring, and ends tonight with the final game of the College World Series.  Here are this year's major sports champions:

MLB:  Los Angeles Dodgers

NCAA Football:  Indiana Hoosiers

NFL Football:  Seattle Seahawks

NCAA Women's Basketball:  U.C.L.A. Bruins

NCAA Men's Basketball:  Michigan Wolverines

NCAA Softball:  Texas Longhorns

NBA:  New York Knicks

And so, today, we get the last game of the NCAA Baseball Championship between the Oklahoma Sooners and the North Carolina Tar Heels.  Oklahoma won the first game of the final series, 9 to 3.  But yesterday, North Carolina struck back for a 6-2 victory.  So tonight will be the title decider.

As you can tell from the list above, it's been a disappointing season for teams in the Classic SEC.  But it's been a pretty good year.  Both the World Series and the NBA Playoffs were particularly good.

NBA Update

Let's look at what the Knicks have done.

On the evening of April 23, the Knicks trailed Atlanta 2-1 in the first round of the NBA playoffs, after back-to-back one-point losses.  Since then, the Knicks have won eleven playoff games in a row (home team listed first):

04/25:  Atlanta 98 - 114 New York

04/28:  New York 126 - 97 Atlanta

04/30:  Atlanta 89 - 140 New York (Knicks win 4-2)

05/04:  New York 137 - 98 Philadelphia

05/06:  New York 108 - 102 Philadelphia

05/08:  Philadelphia 94 - 108 New York

05/10:  Philadelphia 114 - 144 New York (Knicks win 4-0)

05/19:  New York 115 - 104 Cleveland (OT)

05/21:  New York 109 - 93 Cleveland

05/23:  Cleveland 108 - 121 New York

05/25:  Cleveland 93 - 130 New York (Knicks win 4-0)

I don't remember a run like this since the 1983 Sixers, and that was 43 years ago.

The NBA Finals start on June 3, so this list means that the Knicks will have a perfect 8-0 record in the month of May, which is amazing.

Meanwhile, the Thunder/Spurs series is very much up for grabs:

05/18:  Oklahoma City 115 - 122 San Antonio (Double OT)

05/20:  Oklahoma City 122 - 113 San Antonio

05/22:  San Antonio 108 - 123 Oklahoma City

05/24:  San Antonio 103 - 82 Oklahoma City

Game Five is in OKC tonight, and it should be a cracker.  In fact, the title is very much up for grabs.  Here are the current odds to win the NBA Championship:

Oklahoma City:  +110

New York:  +210

San Antonio +270

NBA Update

Here's where it stands:

EAST:

(3) New York 3 - 0 (4) Cleveland

The Knicks are going to win the East for the first time since 1999.

WEST:

(1) Oklahoma City 2 - 1 (2) San Antonio

After losing the first game at home in double overtime, the Thunder have played two great games, winning 122-113 in OKC, and then going to San Antonio and picking up a surprisingly easy 123-108 win.  OKC's ability to put up over 120 points in back-to-back games against a team with Wembanyama on defense is extremely impressive.  My guess is that San Antonio will tie the series tonight, however, so OKC is not out of the woods yet.

This is still the best NBA playoff since 2019, and I think that will be true no matter what happens.

NBA Update

Time for the conference finals:

EAST:

(3) New York Knickerbockers (53-29) v. (4) Cleveland Cavaliers (52-30)

WEST:

(1) Oklahoma City Thunder (64-18) v. (2) San Antonio Spurs (62-20)

Here are the odds to win the NBA Championship:

Oklahoma City:  -165

San Antonio:  +310

New York:  +550

Cleveland:  +2200

Last ten winners of the Eastern Conference (NBA Champs in bold):

2016:  Cleveland

2017:  Cleveland
2018:  Cleveland

2019:  Toronto

2020:  Miami

2021:  Milwaukee

2022:  Boston

2023:  Miami

2024:  Boston

2025:  Indiana

Last ten winners of the Western Conference (NBA Champs in bold):

2016:  Golden St.

2017:  Golden St.

2018:  Golden St.

2019:  Golden St.

2020:  L.A. Lakers

2021:  Phoenix

2022:  Golden St.

2023:  Denver

2024:  Dallas

2025:  Oklahoma City

San Antonio hasn't reached the final since 2014, when they beat LeBron and Miami.

New York hasn't reached the final since 1999.  The Knicks haven't won the title since 1973, which is amazing to me.

NBA Update

There's no reason to tune in until OKC runs into some trouble, and so far they haven't lost a game:

ROUND OF SIXTEEN:

East

(1) Detroit 4 - 3 (8) Orlando

(4) Cleveland 4 - 3 (5) Toronto

(3) New York 4 - 2 (6) Atlanta

(2) Boston 3 - 4 (7) Philadelphia

West

(1) Oklahoma City 4 - 0 (8) Phoenix

(4) L.A. Lakers 4 - 2 (5) Houston

(3) Denver 2 - 4 (6) Minnesota

(2) San Antonio 4 - 1 (7) Portland

So that brought us to the quarterfinals, which currently look like this:

East

(1) Detroit 2 - 2 (4) Cleveland

(3) New York 4 - 0 (7) Philadelphia

West

(1) Oklahoma City 4 - 0 (4) L.A. Lakers

(2) San Antonio 2 - 2 (6) Minnesota

Game Seven: Fourth Quarter

OKC outscores Indy 34-20 in the third quarter, and the Thunder lead 81 to 68 with one quarter left in the season.

NBA Update

After three games, each of the Conference Finals is split two-one, but the two series are very different.

The Eastern Conference Finals are about as entertaining as the NBA can be.  Each of the three games was compelling to watch:

Game One (in NY):  Knicks lead by 14 points with 2:51 left, but the Pacers have a miracle comeback to tie the game at the buzzer.  Pacers win 138-135 in overtime.  Pacers lead 1-0.

Game Two (in NY):  Neither team leads by more than 10 points throughout the game.  Pacers hang on for a 114-109 win behind 39 points from Pascal Siakim.  Pacers lead 2-0.

Game Three (in Indy):  Pacers lead by 20 at one point, and still lead 80-70 with one quarter left.  But the Knicks outscore the Pacers 36-20 in the last quarter, and prevail 106-100 on the road.  Karl-Anthony Towns had 20 points and 8 rebounds in the fourth quarter to lead the Knicks to victory.  Pacers lead 2-1.

This is a rare series where both teams are evenly matched and neither team is willing to concede a single game.  We don't get enough of those in the NBA playoffs.

Meanwhile, the Western Conference Finals have been pretty dull.  In fact, none of the games has been competitive.  Opening at home, OKC crushed Minnesota two games in a row:  114-88 and 118-103.  The Thunder then conceded Game Three in Minnesota, 143-101.  So the series is 2-1 for the Thunder, but OKC has looked much better when both teams were playing at full speed.  The most likely outcome is that OKC shows up for Game Four, wins that game, and then closes out the T-Wolves in Game Five.

2024 College Football Preview: Classic Big 8

Nebraska hasn't won the Classic Big 8 since 2009, but the Conference remains formidable.  This year, they begin the year with four teams ranked in the CBS top 20:

11.  Missouri

17.  Kansas St.

18.  Oklahoma

19.  Oklahoma St.

25.  Kansas

27.  Iowa St.

34.  Nebraska

55.  Colorado

On November 9, Mizzou will host Oklahoma for the first time since 2010.  Oklahoma leads the all-time series 67-24-5, but Mizzou won the last matchup in Colombia.

Kansas St. will play Oklahoma St., Colorado, Kansas, and Iowa St.  The Wildcats' game with Colorado will be their first since 2010.  The Buffaloes lead the all-time series 45-20-1.

Oklahoma St. will end its season on November 29 in Boulder, Colorado.  This will be the first meeting between the Pokes and the Buffaloes since they met in the 2016 Alamo Bowl, and their first regular season meeting since 2009.  Colorado leads the all-time series 26-20-1.

Colorado will also visit Nebraska on September 7.  Colorado hosted Nebraska last year, and the Buffaloes have won the last three matchups in the series.  But Nebraska still has the all-time lead:  49-21-2.

Only one classic conference left.

You Can Probably Skip the Playoffs This Weekend

This is the ninth season for the current College Football Playoff system, which means that there have been sixteen semi-final games over the last eight season.  Of those games, only three were decided by less than a possession.  Here is a complete list of the competitive semi-finals:

01/01/15 (Sugar Bowl):  Ohio St. 42, Alabama 35

01/01/18 (Rose Bowl):  Georgia 54, Oklahoma 48 (2 OT)

12/28/19 (Fiesta Bowl):  Clemson 29, Ohio St. 23

That's it.  That's the list.  And even that list is misleading, because the wins by Ohio State and Clemson shown above were more lopsided than the final score suggests.  The Georgia/Oklahoma Rose Bowl is one of the most exciting games I've ever seen, but for the most part these games have been significantly less competitive than the old Bowl Games that they replaced.

Cotton Bowl

I was actually pretty excited for the Cotton Bowl tonight -- Florida v. Oklahoma.  I was prepared to settle in and make a night of it.  But apparently a lot of the Florida players have decided not to play because they don't want to hurt their draft status, and Oklahoma is now favored by 8 1/2 points.  So you shouldn't feel obliged to watch.

I'll probably watch anyway.  But I'm a fanatic.

Merry Christmas73!

From the Mr. and Mrs. Roberts and the Oral Roberts University World Action Singers!

PGA Championship -- Round Three Wrap-Up

So we are at Baltusrol Golf Club, in the New Jersey suburbs of New York City.  Baltusrol is a famous old course that has hosted a lot of major tournaments, but I've usually found it to be a bit of a snooze.  It's one of those old-school U.S. Open courses where it feels like almost every hole is a 470-yard par 4.  The most unusual thing about Baltusrol is that it only has two par fives -- and they are the last two holes on the course.  I'm not aware of any other course that ends with a par-3 followed by two par-5's.  For that matter, I'm not aware of any other course that ends with back-to-back par-5's.  In fact, I'm not sure I've ever seen back-to-back par 5's on any other course.

Anyway, Baltusrol has had mixed success with its major tournaments.  Tony Manero won the U.S. Open here in 1936, and Ed Fugol won the U.S. Open here in 1954, and you are correct that you have never heard of either man.  But then Nicklaus won the Open here in 1967 and 1980.  Lee Janzen shot an 8-under par 272 to win the Open here in 1993, and that tournament apparently convinced the USGA to give up on Baltusrol -- the U.S. Open hasn't been back here since, and I think Bethpage Black has basically taken Baltusrol's spot.

Since the USGA isn't coming back, Baltusrol -- like other clubs in the same spot -- decided to host the PGA.  They had quite a good PGA Tournament in 2005, which was won by Phil Mickelson with a 4-under par 276.  And now they PGA is back.

It's been a pretty generic tournament so far.  Rory McIlroy, Sergio Garcia, J.B. Holmes, and Dustin Johnson all missed the cut.  The only big names still in contention are Jason Day and Henrik Stenson.  Day is trying to win his second PGA in a row, and Stenson is trying to win his second major in a row, and either of those outcomes would be a big deal.  The American contingent is represented by Jimmy Walker and Brooks Koepka, and I think they have just about as much of a chance as you would expect.

One final comment.  This tournament is being played only two weeks after the British Open, in order to leave space for an Olympic Tournament in August that almost no one wants to watch.  I think this has been a big mistake -- it's ridiculous to have two majors so close together.  If golf is in the 2020 Olympics -- and I really hope that is not the case -- then I think they should play the PGA in October -- after the Olympics and the Ryder Cup.  I like to watch golf in the fall, the courses are really beautiful then, and it would be fun to see a big tournament played in October.

Much of the third round was rained out yesterday, so this morning they were playing the third and fourth rounds at the same time.  The third round is now finished, and the leaderboard looks like this:

1.  J. Walker:  -11 (65+66+68=199)

2.  J. Day (AUS):  -10 (68+65+67=200)

T3.  B. Koepka:  -9 (68+67+66=201)
T3.  H. Stenson (SWE):  -9 (67+67+67=201)

T5.  W. McGirt:  -7 (70+67+66=203)
T5.  H. Matsuyama (JPN):  -7 (69+67+67=203)
T5.  R. Streb:  -7 (68+63+72=203)

NBA Update

In Game Six of the Eastern Conference Finals, Cleveland smashed Toronto 113 to 87 to win the series four games to two, and to book its place in the NBA Finals.  It will be Cleveland's third trip to the NBA Finals -- they also made it in 2007 and 2015, losing to the Spurs and the Warriors, respectively.  It will be LeBron James's sixth consecutive trip to the finals -- something that no great player has accomplished since the Bill Russell era.  So far LeBron is 2-3 in the finals, so he'll be looking to even the score.  And Cleveland will be looking for its first title since Blanton Collier led the Browns to the NFL Championship in 1964.

But the real story of these playoffs -- at least so far -- has been in the West.  So let's consider the history of the Oklahoma City Thunder.  The Thunder didn't exist at all until 2008, when the Seattle SuperSonics abandoned their hometown for a new start in Oklahoma City.  Four years later, a young Thunder team led by Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, and James Hardin swept through the Western Conference -- smashing Dallas (4-0), the Lakers (4-1) and the Spurs (4-2) along the way.  A new Superteam appeared to be on the horizon -- and when Oklahoma City beat Miami 105-94 in the first game of the NBA Finals, it appeared that the Thunder would likely go all the way.

But that didn't happen.  The Thunder lost the next game, 100-96.  And then they lost Game Three, 91-85.  And then they lost Game Four, 104-98.  Every one of these games was a heartbreaker, and they were also marred by some of the worst officiating I can ever remember for an NBA Final.  In Game Five, the Thunder collapsed, the Heat won by 15, and LeBron had his first NBA Title.

Thunder fans had every reason to be disappointed in the outcome of the final -- all the breaks had gone Miami's way, and many of us are still not convinced that Miami was the better team that year.  But on the other hand, the Thunder were a young team, and I expected a rematch the next year.

But it was not to happen.  The Thunder gave away James Harden, and the team was not the same without him.  In 2013, OKC actually had the number-one seed in the West, but lost in the second round to the fifth seed, Memphis, in a brutal defensive struggle where the Grizzlies won four close games in a row.  In 2014, the Thunder fought their way back to the Western Conference Finals, but were eliminated by San Antonio four games to two -- losing the last game at home in overtime.  In 2015, the Thunder were hobbled by injuries and missed the playoffs entirely.

By this time, many of us had quit paying much attention to the Thunder -- they had broken up their great triumvirate, they had lost so many close games, and Russell Westbrook appeared to be fundamentally uncoachable.  Besides, there were now two great powers in the West:  the Spurs (who won the NBA Title in 2014) and the Warriors (who won in in 2015).  So we didn't think it would make that much of a difference -- except to Florida Gator fans -- when the Thunder hired Billy Donovan as their new coach.  And we didn't pay much attention when the Thunder went 55-27 to grab the third seed in the Western Conference -- the Warriors had gone 73-9 and the Spurs had gone 67-15.  And we didn't pay much attention when the Thunder rolled over Dallas 4-1 in the first round of the playoffs -- because the Spurs were up next, and the Spurs would have home court advantage, and the Spurs would take out OKC.  And sure enough, the Spurs won the first game 124-92, and we said, "See, told you so."

And then, for the first time since 2012, the Thunder came back.  Instead of trying to control Westbrook, Donovan had  convinced the Thunder to concentrate on defense.  And almost before anyone knew what had happened, OKC had won 7 out of 9 games against the Spurs and the Warriors (home teams listed first): 

5/2:  San Antonio 97 - 98 Oklahoma City
5/6:  Oklahoma City 96 - 100 San Antonio
5/8:  Oklahoma City 111 - 97 San Antonio
5/10:  San Antonio 91 - 95 Oklahoma City
5/12:  Oklahoma City 113 - 99 San Antonio
5/16:  Golden St. 102 - 108 Oklahoma City
5/18:  Golden St. 118 - 91 Oklahoma City
5/22:  Oklahoma City 133 - 105 Golden St.
5/24:  Oklahoma City 118 - 94 Golden St.

Even after Golden State fought back to win Game Five by the score of 120-111, thereby forcing a Game Six in Oklahoma City, you still had to like the Thunder's chances.  After all, they had rested up during Game Two against Golden State -- and had crushed the Warriors in Games Three and Four.  You know that the Warriors would give it everything they had in Game Six -- after all, it was an elimination game for them -- but the Thunder now appeared to be the better team.

And sure enough, the Thunder led 97-92 with four and one-half minutes to go, despite a spectacular performance from Klay Thompson of the Warriors (who would set a record with 11 three-pointers in a playoff game).  The Thunder had taken what the Warriors had to dish out, they were at home, they were in the lead.  Victory would be a tremendous vindication for Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, and Billy Donovan.  Winning back-to-back series against former NBA Champions, both of whom had started with home court advantage, both of whom had won at least 67 games, would be a spectacular achievement.

Then this happened (OKC possessions in italics):

4:31 left:  Green FT (OKC 97, GSW 93)
4:13 left:  Durant misses a jump shot
3:58 left:  Curry 3-pointer (OKC 97, GSW 96)
3:42 left:  Westbrook 2 FTs (OKC 99, GSW 96)
3:20 left:  Iguodala misses a 3-pointer
2:55 left:  Durant turnover
2:48 left:  Curry 3-pointer (game tied at 99)

It happened so fast.  The Thunder were getting ready to pad their lead, and then the ball was gone, and the game was scrambled, and Curry was open, and the game was tied.  But OKC was still at home, and still had a chance to take the lead -- which they did.

2:37 left:  Westbrook misses layup -- rebound to OKC
2:25 left:  Durant misses jump shot -- rebound to OKC
2:22 left:  Roberson put back (OKC 101, GSW 99)

See?  That's the play the Warriors couldn't stop -- the Thunder are just bigger and stronger than Golden State, so OKC could attack the rim over and over.  It seemed almost impossible for the Warriors to defend them.  And then this happened (OKC possessions in italics):

2:06 left:  Iguodala layup (game tied at 101)
1:40 left:  Westbrook turnover (steal by Iguodala)
1:35 left:  Thompson 3-pointer (GSW 104, OKC 101)
1:23 left:  Durant misses 3-pointer
1:01 left:  Curry misses layup
0:55 left:  Westbrook dribbles the ball off his foot and of bounds
0:39 left:  Thompson misses 3-pointer
0:36 left:  Westbrook turnover (steal by Iguodala)
0:14 left:  Curry makes driving bank shot (GSW 106, OKC 101)
0:13 left:  Westbrook throws away the in-bounds pass (steal by Curry)

And that was it.  Westbrook committed four turnovers in five possessions, and the game was lost.

There's not a whole lot left to say at this point.  OKC has one more chance -- Game Seven, in Oakland, tonight -- to save its reputation.  I have no doubt that the Thunder have enough talent to win this game.  I won't be particularly surprised if they do win.  They're that good. But if they don't win, I will always remember that moment in Game Six, with 1 minute and 40 seconds left, when Iguodala stole the ball and almost immediately, Klay Thompson was hitting a three-pointer to put Golden State on top.  Unless something changes tonight, that sequence perfectly captures the legacy of these two squads.

NBA Update

For months now, everyone has been waiting for an NBA Finals rematch between the Golden State Warriors and the Cleveland Cavaliers.  Now that both those teams have reached the Conference Finals, it feels like we're almost there.  But this weekend was a bad one for people who are looking forward to the rematch.

On Saturday, the Toronto Raptors ended Cleveland's 17-game playoff winning streak against Eastern Conference foes with a 99-84 win.  To be honest, that's probably not that big a deal.  But last night, in Oklahoma City, the Thunder absolutely pasted Golden State.  They beat the Warriors 133 to 105, and it was not that close.

Now we know that a fair amount of blowouts take place in the NBA playoffs, and they usually mean that the losing team basically decided to rest up for the next game.  Since OKC beat Golden State 108-102 in Game One, these two teams have exchanged laughers:  118-91 for the Warriors in Game Two, and 133-105 for the Thunder in Game Three.  But the Warriors can't afford another blowout -- they can't afford to fall behind three games to one.  So Game Four, tomorrow night, will probably tell us whether Golden State is returning to the finals -- or whether the Thunder will get their own rematch with LeBron.

EASTERN CONFERENCE:
Cleveland 2 - 1 Toronto

WESTERN CONFERENCE:
Golden St. 1 - 2 Oklahoma City

NBA Update

Well, I should have kept listening to NBA Radio last night, because I would have enjoyed hearing what Hubie Brown had to say in the second half.  The Golden State Warriors, with a record of 73-9 on the year, were cruising at halftime of Game One in the Western Conference Finals -- holding a 60-47 lead on Oklahoma City.  But OKC, as is their wont, came roaring back in the second half -- outscoring the Warriors 61-42, and rolling to a 108-102 upset victory in Oakland.  Russell Westbrook, who has been much-maligned on these pages, put up 27 points, 12 assists, 7 steals, and 6 rebounds.  Kevin Durant, who has been much-praised on these pages, added 26 points and 10 rebounds.  And once again, Coach Billy Donovan found a way to shut down a high-powered offense on that offense's home floor.  If Golden State is going to win this series, the Warriors had better come up with a way to score more than 102 points.

The whole season -- and a fair amount of basketball history -- now hangs in the balance.  OKC has taken home court advantage, and shown both the Warriors -- and themselves -- that they are not out of any game, even against the defending champs.  The Warriors' response could end up playing a big role in determining how history rates Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, and even LeBron James.  This is about to get really good.  Game Two tips off Wednesday night at 8 Central.  After you get home from church, you should tune in.

EASTERN CONFERENCE:
Cleveland 0 - 0 Toronto

WESTERN CONFERENCE:
Golden St. 0 - 1 Oklahoma City

NBA Update

Tonight is the first must-see game of the playoffs:  Game Six of the Western Conference Semi-Final between the San Antonio Spurs and the Oklahoma City Thunder.  The Thunder lead the series 3 games to 2 -- this game is in Oklahoma City, and the Thunder will very much want to close out the series.  If they do, tonight's game could be the last ever played by Tim Duncan.

Any further thoughts will go into the comments.

NBA Update

Russell Westbrook, realizing that the season is coming to an end and that he really needs to start shooting if he's going to meet his quota, fired up 31 shots in Game 3 of the series between the Oklahoma City Thunder and the San Antonio Spurs.  That was 13 more shots than Kevin Durant, and 23 more shots than anyone else on the team was able to get off.  Here was Westbrook's line:

7-21 from 2-point range
3-10 from 3-point range
8-8 from the line

31 points, 8 assists, 5 turnovers

So he beat Durant, who could only get 26 points on his 18 shots.

Of course, the team didn't do so well, losing 100-96 to the Spurs at home, and giving up home court advantage.  But the Thunder -- and Coach Billy Donovan -- get to watch Westbrook shoot the ball for at least two more games.

EASTERN CONFERENCE:
Cleveland 3 - 0 Atlanta
Toronto 2 - 1 Miami

WESTERN CONFERENCE:
Golden St. 2 - 1 Portland
San Antonio 2 - 1 Oklahoma City

NBA Update

Here's what happened in the first round of the NBA Playoffs:

EASTERN CONFERENCE
Cleveland 4 - 0 Detroit
Atlanta 4 - 2 Boston
Miami 4 - 3 Charlotte
Toronto 4 - 3 Indiana

WESTERN CONFERENCE
Golden St. 4 - 1 Houston
L.A. Clippers 2 -4 Portland
Oklahoma City 4 - 1 Dallas
San Antonio 4 - 0 Memphis

The most important development in the first round of the NBA playoffs may have been that Chris Paul got hurt, thus dooming the erratic Clippers in their series with the Trail Blazers, and depriving fans of a showdown between the erratic Clippers and the Warriors.  As you can see, the Blazers were the only team to pull an upset in the first round.

Or the most important development may have been that Stephen Curry got hurt, thus potentially dooming the Warriors' chances to defend their title.

We won't know for sure which of these two developments was more important until we know whether Curry will be able to play at full strength.  The Warriors can probably get past the Blazers (who are now calling themselves "Rip City" for reasons I don't understand) without Curry being at 100 percent.  But Curry will have to be Curry if the Warriors are going to beat San Antonio in the Western Conference Finals.  The Spurs aren't messing around.  Check out these scores:

San Antonio 106 - 74 Memphis
San Antonio 94 - 68 Memphis
Memphis 87 - 96 San Antonio
Memphis 95 - 116 San Antonio

So long, thanks for playing.

Here are the conference semi-finals, which began over the weekend:

EASTERN CONFERENCE:
Cleveland 1 - 0 Atlanta
Toronto 0 - 0 Miami

WESTERN CONFERENCE:
Golden St. 1 - 0 Portland
San Antonio 1 - 0 Oklahoma City

As we said when the playoffs started, there are three legitimately great teams this year: Cleveland, Golden State, and San Antonio.  So we're basically waiting for these teams to play each other.  But I do want to point out that our old friend Billy Donovan, who didn't want to be the head coach at Kentucky, is currently manning the sidelines for Oklahoma City.  This was a pretty easy job for most of the year, because Oklahoma City has Kevin Durant, who may be the best player in the NBA.  So long as he is not hurt, OKC should pretty much always make the conference semi-finals.  But then you have to play a real team -- in this case, San Antonio.

Now I can remember when Oklahoma City looked like the Warriors.  They were the young cool team that could light up the scoreboard.  In 2012, they not only beat the Spurs -- they made them look old and slow.  I was a huge fan of that Thunder team.  But then OKC's management decided to break up the team, sending James Harden to the Rockets, and the Thunder haven't been the same since.

After last season, OKC management decided to bring in Donovan.  To be honest, I don't know what Donovan was supposed to do.  OKC is effectively un-coachable.  In a lifetime of watching basketball, Russell Westbrook -- the Thunder point guard -- is the most selfish player I have ever seen.  As far as I can tell, his primary goal in any game -- especially playoff games -- is to take more shots that Durant.  (At least five times in every Thunder game, World B. Free sits up on his couch and says of Westbrook, "How could he take that shot?")  With Harden gone, all any OKC coach can do is roll the ball out and hope that Westbrook has a good night.

In Game One against San Antonio -- the first real game the Thunder have needed to win all year -- OKC put on a classic display.  Durant outscored Westbrook, 16 to 14.  But Westbrook won the game he was playing, because he took more shots than Durant (19 to 15).Here was Westbrook's final line:

5-16 from 2-point range
0-3 from 3-point range
4-4 from the line
14 points and 9 assists.

Not surprisingly, the Thunder were crushed.  The final score was 124-92, and it wasn't that close.  The Spurs led 43-20 after the first quarter, and 73-40 at the half.  I've seen Kentucky have some really great teams, and I've seen them play some really putrid teams, and I'm not sure UK has ever scored 73 points in only 16 minutes.  So you can tell that the Thunder really came to play.  They'll try harder in Game Two.  But Westbrook is gonna Westbrook, and that style just doesn't work against good teams.

I hope Donovan and his family are having a good time in Oklahoma, and when he returns to the college ranks, I hope he doesn't go to a team I hate.  But what a waste of good coaching talent.

Oh, Texas (1970)

Happy new year, Jan. 1, 1970, and greetings from Dallas.

I love hotels, and I especially love Holiday Inns ...

Got in from Houston after midnight after the Astro Bluebonnet Bowl (congrats, Cougars!) ...

Have I mentioned how much I love a parade?

OK, time to get down to business: No. 1 Texas vs. No. 9 Notre Dame in the Cotton Bowl. I'm going to be tuning in to my main man from the Humble Oil Southwest Conference Radio Network, Connie Alexander, on the transistor radio from inside the stadium ...

TV Guide has me excited to check out Notre Dame's junior quarterback--I heard a good bit about Joe Theesmann, but I haven't seen him yet ...

The other big games today include No. 3 Arkansas vs No. 13 Mississippi in the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans …

And then there's No. 5 Southern California vs. No. 7 Michigan in the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California ...

I’ve set my videotaping machine to record those two games back home in Hoptown ...

Tonight, we wind things up with No. 2 Penn State vs. No. 6 Missouri in the Orange Bowl in Miami. Depending on how things shake out earlier in the day, that one could end up deciding who ends up on top of the poll ... 

I just hope I can stay awake to see it after I get room service back at the Holiday Inn ...

What a great trip we are having!

Score Four

I think I'm getting rid of Score Four. Santa Claus brought me this game in 1976 or so, and then, at some point after that version disappeared, I acquired Susan's original, 1967 version of the game at a yard sale or something.

Score Four is a quick and entertaining activity that's simple enough that it really didn't demand all four pages of rules and "playing tips" that were provided in its original iteration.

The four little cups that accompanied the game also were superfluous, given that the little trough around the playing board is perfectly sufficient for holding the wooden beads that are not in use.

I learned today that Score Four was originally produced by an outfit named "Funtastic," which, according to the helpful folks at BoardGameGeek.com, was a division of KMS Industries (the board director of which at one time was Thomas Stafford, who commanded Apollo 10!) and located at 5910 Farrington Ave. in Alexandria, Va. Here's that address today, per Google Maps:

We had a snow day here in western Kentucky today, so I got to play this game with my first-grader this morning. Pretty quickly, she lost interest in the actual Score Four competition and moved on to using the little metal rods as swords and the wooden beads as tiny bowling balls. 

But I don't mean to crack on Score Four, and I do want to say thanks to everyone who had a hand in bringing it to and back to my life over all of these years: the folks who labored at Funtastic in this Alexandria industrial park back in 1967 while their future boss, Commander Stafford, was getting ready to orbit the Moon, Santa Claus, Susan, etc. This game didn't much fly with my daughter this morning, but my wife quickly recognized it as one I would bring out during our days of dating. Obviously, that worked out. Quick, entertaining and simple Score Four--with its attractive (however superfluous) cups and artful wooden beads and metal rods--delivers a powerful combination of sophistication and primitive appeal that really lends itself to sitting by a fire and imagining what's next.