Musings on Melo

This morning, ESPN reported that Carmelo Anthony will not sign a contract extension unless the Nuggets trade him to the Knicks.  My first thought upon seeing that was, what a fool.

I would say that the Summer of Lebron taught Melo nothing, and point at the Lakers, Spurs, Celtics, and Mavs as examples of where solid rotations and team chemistry turns out to be way better than a bunch of stars thrown together.  But that's not what it is about for Melo.  As he says to Chris Sheridan, he wants to be wanted.  Walking through the Concrete Jungle Where Dreams Are Made Of, people were yelling for him to come.  He is only human.  It is understandable that he wants to have a good time and look out for himself.  But still, what a fool.

Yes I Know This is a Sports Blog

After a number of (probably tongue-in-cheek) requests from the loyal readers of KSB, and a feast over the weekend of five bags, I've decided to review a selection of types of the God-snack, the walking food of champions, the mouthwatering munch.  It's the salty taste that tickles your tongue, the delectable way it breaks apart in your mouth, the complimentary relationship it has with a box of beers, the taste explosion you get when you stuff a bunch in your mouth at the same time.

Without further ado, I'd like to take the opportunity to introduce to you my favourite food, it's now your favourite food - the humble potato chip.

Kiwi Sports Blog's Annual NRL Finals Preview

Every year, dating back to 2010, KSB has offered its opinion of the NRL Finals.  The greatest postseason in sports is upon us, and this year the Warriors are back in the mix.  Will the number 8 team win for the third year in a row?  Will someone as high as fourth on the table (the Titans) be knocked out?  Will any Storm players watch the games with a hint of nostalgia?  What what-ifs are in play this Finals series?  Kiwi Sports Blog will sort it out.

Where the Wild Things Are

Where? Penrose, this afternoon. The Beast and the Mini Beast rampaged all over the field and generally terrorised the Novacastrians.

Despite being terribly hungover, Kiwi Sports Blog spent hard earned dollars on child tickets to the Upper East stands.  Upon arriving, we were excited to hear that 'musicians' Dane Rumble and J Williams (aka "The douchebag who wouldn't give me his triple-A pass at Highlife" and "The guy that doesn't notice one of the dancers in his break-out video is sweating all over the set") were playing after the game finished.  But "Cruel" is a pretty fly song, so we briefly flirted with the idea of sticking around for it.  In the end we decided that the Fastcrew version of Dane was better and he wasn't nearly as enticing as an after-match feed at Wendy's.

Some of the NBA Offseason, and the Fantasy Fallout

Apart from the obvious constitution of the Super Best Friends in Miami, Kiwi Sports Blog is highly excited about a number of smaller player movements that have happened so far this offseason.  Even though it isn't the most exciting thing happening right now (the second Spanish Armada, the resurgence of the All Blacks lineout and Mils Muliaina, the emerging of the Warriors as contenders, the craziness of NFL drafts featuring Peyton Manning selected second overall and Rashard Mendenhall ahead of Ray Rice - see right), but there is just something about NBA teams transforming that is fascinating - either like watching a masterpiece being painted, or watching a train wreck.  To avoid this being the longest blog post of all time, I have only looked at a few teams - the Heat, the Spurs, the Bulls, and the three-way currently underway between the Raptors, Suns, and Bobcats.

The LeDecision Fallout

So the King will reside in South Beach, and razor blade sales will go through the roof in Cleveland.  What will this do to Cleveland?  What has LeBron James done to his home town?

The answer to the first question was pretty clearly answered by Dan Gilbert's letter - they will become like scorned ex-girlfriends lashing out.  Maybe they can get together with those ex-girlfriend websites that people load old sex tapes onto as revenge.  As this guy pointed out, it could be some sort of niche market.  But apart from the initial gut reaction of anger, what will their lasting impression of LeBron be?

State of the Faith Nation

With ten games to go in the season, the Warriors once again have it all to do to play Finals football.  Along with the Eels, we are the perennial bum boys of the NRL - we come from behind.  The NRL stats man has concluded that the magic points number to make the eighth spot will be 28.  Being on 18 points, we need to win five of our remaining ten - not a big ask for the second half chargers that are the Warriors.  But there are a couple of things making this task harder.

A Chronology of Draft Day Trades

There's something about draft day that compels NBA General Managers to drop their usual frugal, conservative approach to player movement, and instead go with their hunches.  Some are good, like Donnie Walsh's decision to take Reggie Miller instead of hometown favourite Steve Alford, and some are terrible, like Stu Inman taking Sam Bowie ahead of the greatest player of all time.  Kiwi Sports Blog has scoured the draft archives for existence of the phenomenon of draft day trades - when a GM feels that he has to do anything possible to get his hands on another player.  As can be seen in the most significant examples, one team is left with nothing but regret in exchange.  No doubt we will see the trigger pulled on a few trades today.  Will one of them be for the next Bill Russell, the next Scottie Pippen?

All Whites vs Italy Running Diary

0:00 - It's go time! Let's relive last game (make sure sound is on): click here.

4:03 - Mini dive by Zambrotta there. He gets up just before the 30 second rule would have kicked in, making a mandatory substitution. None of his teammates helped him up, the ref had to do it.  You stay classy, Zambrotta.

7:01 - GOOOOAAAAALLL!!! Fantastic cross, Reid with a good flick on (he can get under crosses well for a defender), Smeltz the man on the spot where there are free balls as always.  Cannavaro did a useless job there - did four years really change that much for him? Italy hasn't been this shocked since Mussolini said he was BFFs with Hitler.

The Greatest Show on Earth, Part 2

 
The Greatest Show on Earth was missing a bit of the 'Greatest Show' aspect last night.  It was a beatdown of historic proportions - was on track to the be the highest winning margin ever until NSW got a consolation try (Kiwi Sports Blog went to bed in the 77th minute and missed it).  The game ended 34-6, and the series is won by Queensland for the fifth year in a row.

I suppose as a Queensland supporter, I should be happy, especially since there were even a few good fights, but as a New Zealander I have no loyalty to the team beyond the fact I've followed them for years.  For that reason, most of the time I want to see a good contest in Origin, not five straight years of dominance and dead-rubber third games (only in 06 and 08 have the third games decided the series in this Queensland dynasty).  A friend of mine texted saying "Origin is dead, the Anzac test is a better contest now" - and during the game Sterlo and Gus were constantly saying they don't see any way NSW is going to turn it around and challenge the Maroons.  Maybe it's true, maybe international league is on the up (like this great deal - double header at Eden Park), but, somewhere, deep down in my heart, I still want Origin to be the biggest stage, the closest contest in league.

Anyway:

All Whites vs Slovakia Captions

Click to ENLARGE

Why Does Love Do This To Me?

Love it. Love everything about it. From the fact that it was in the 93rd minute, a time reserved for legend, to the fact that it earned a yellow card for over celebration, to Ricki Herbert's reaction. Love that Reid played his heart out after he slipped up on defence to let the goal in.  His second half was poetry after that. Love that all the faithful's bets came through. Love the huge effort put in when all looked lost, when we couldn't get a ball to our front line and our defenders were barely hanging on. Loved Ryan Nelsen's world class performance.

Love that we are now (equally) on top of the Group with our first ever World Cup point. Love Winston Reid, love the All Whites.

The First Day of the Rest of Your Season

 
This was an important one.  We needed to go into Newcastle and come out with 2 points.  It was typical Warriors football, and we got away with it 32-24.  The Raiders, Broncos, and Roosters are between us and that number 8 spot - Raiders had a 'mare on Saturday, Broncos hopped into the time machine again and smashed the powerful Rabbitohs, and hopefully Melbourne can take care of the Roosters on Monday night.  With the bye coming up next for the Warriors, followed by a possible sell-out crowd in Christchurch on June 27 to inspire them against the Roosters, the season is suddenly back in good shape.

Eyes on the Greatest Prize of All

So the World Cup is almost upon us.  Here at Kiwi Sports Blog, it is generating quite a bit of excitement, leading to the creation of two fantasy teams, picking the results of all first round games, and filling out a bracket for the whole tournament.  Not to mention multiple trips to the TAB and Centrebet websites.  But it seems KSB has fallen victim to the hype machine for the Cup with a number of choices and bets.

You Know What Really Grinds My Gears...

...apart from forgotten extra seasoning, failure to box out, and Jerome Ropati?  The following things:

Suck it, Serbia

Sure it was a warm up game.  But who cares!?  We knocked off a top 20 country, and not only that, it was a gutsy 1-0 win.  And while Kiwi Sports Blog abhors violence in sport, it is pretty awesome that the All Whites played well enough to get fans so angry that their own captain had to give them a scolding.  With short tempers like that it's no wonder Yugoslavia broke up.

The Quest for a Winner

The Cavs have reportedly been making enquiries with Kelvin Sampson, the current assistant coach of the Bucks. Kiwi Sports Blog warns that this is the wrong move.  Google auto-complete reveals the following:

If Cleveland wants a scandalous, violating Oklahoman that has a reputation for being fired and cheating, Sampson is their guy.  Good luck selling him to Lebron.

Defence is our Backbone

We knew that Ron Artest would play physical, man defence on the bigger wing players in the league.  Just like we knew Thabo Sefolosha and Kirk Hinrich would keep better offensive players on the bench in their Round 1 matchups to play good, hustling, perimeter defence.  And that players like Grant Hill, Anderson Varejao, and Kurt Thomas would slide their feet, take charges and rotate in the interior.  But there have been some players behind the scenes not normally thought of as defenders that have stepped it up and put on their best James Posey impression.  Generally, they have to step up as the defensive stopper on the floor, so their work is cut out for them.  And no, even though he didn't show up for the regular season and went for approximately 47 straight games without a blocked shot, Kevin Garnett's defensive resurgence these playoffs does not make the list.

The Greatest Show on Earth, Part 1

State of Origin 1 ended last night with the Cane Toads beating the Cockroaches 28-24.

Here's the key points, in Kiwi Sports Blog's opinion:

The Phoenix Suns, post-Joe Johnson

If this was NBA 2K9 Association Mode, the owner expectations of the Suns would be 'Saving Money' while the Mavericks would be 'Win Games'.  So it isn't surprising to see the amount of talent that has passed through the Valley of the Sun over the years.  The Suns front office has taken some flak for their approach.  They were roasted by Bill Simmons after the loss to the Spurs in 2008.  But with the team about to play their first Western Conference Finals since they were beaten by Dallas in 2006, have the lean years since then been a success?

Bye Bye Bondy

It is only appropriate to write my first post after yesterday.  There were four big games on, with one big event that will affect one of my favourite teams for the next few years.

Super 14

While I haven’t been following the Super 14 most of the year, last night was a triumph of scheduling.  In a competition that desperately needs quarter-finals, the teams took it upon themselves to stage their own quarter-finals.  Two sudden death games in the final round, to determine who gets to travel to South Africa.

The Crusaders were outstanding and clinical.  Zac Guildford looks as dangerous as any player in world rugby.  They were the team of old that rampaged all over the competition.  Since the Bulls have indicated that they don’t care about their final game, it looks like Canterbury will drop to the fourth seed and win the right to travel to the fortress of Loftus Versfeld.  But with their performance from two weeks ago against the Bulls, it looks like the Super 14 has had another bit of scheduling luck.  Should be a good game, despite the huge win differential between the teams.  Expect a kicking clinic, both from hand and from the tee.

The other game was less watchable from a New Zealand point of view.  The Hurricanes took the lead early when it was just penalty swapping, but as soon as Kurtley Beale chipped over the top and regathered for a brilliant try to a roaring crowd (31,000 strong, but still the SFS looked empty) you got the sense the Hurricanes were done.  The Waratahs' defence was all over the Hurricanes, who just couldn't score until it was too late.

Still, one of the most entertaining nights of rugby in a long time.  For the first time in weeks, it had won out over the NRL for a night.  The Waratahs game also featured the commentary call of the week "Shit, Rob Horne’s played well."  (There was some dispute over this amongst my friends – one suggested he said ¨Gee¨, but multiple rewinds later we confirmed it was live-to-air swearing.  Ma’a Nonu has changed the broadcasting world.)

NBA

Just as the NSW defence and the Wellington backs won the game for the Waratahs, the Boston defence and the Cleveland starters won the game for the Celtics.  For the second game in a row, for some reason, the Cavs weren’t there.  The Celtics rose to the occasion, but the Cavs didn't.  One rumour floating round today is that Delonte West was sleeping with Lebron James' mother, Gloria - which ruined the team chemistry when Lebron found out before game 4.  Probably not true, but if anyone is to be the villain in Lebron leaving, I'd hate for Delonte to steal the spotlight from Mike Brown or Mo Williams.

J.J. Hickson, who may now be the Cavs player of the future and probably would have guarded Kevin Garnett a lot better than Antawn Jamison or Shaq did, achieved the Trillion in one of the most important games in Cavs history. (Box score)

Don’t watch if you already feel bad enough for Cleveland fans:

We Are LeBron Video - Watch more Funny Videos

Cricket

Although I didn’t watch the second ICC World Twenty20 semi-final live, and New Zealand has long since gone to Florida, just reading about it in the morning warrants a chat.  Mike Hussey scored 38 runs off the last ten balls, to rescue Australia from a hopeless situation.  Cricinfo calls it the finest Twenty20 innings ever played, while Hussey called it the best feeling of his career.  Hopefully it doesn’t end up catapulting Pakistan out of world cricket.

Hussey is on top of the world at the moment, but it is still a short time ago in my books (2007) that he was the losing captain of the Chappell-Hadlee trophy.  Just in case you forgot, Australia suffered a ten-wicket defeat, and then faced the second- and third-highest successful run chases in history (at the time).  We won’t talk about what happened in the Chappell-Hadlee since then.

Go to 5:50 to see a sad Mike Hussey:

Shane Bond

Those were the four games, but they were insignificant alongside the event that rocked my world.  One of the most endearing cricketers to support, the policeman turned hero turned rebel turned hero again, New Zealand’s best fast bowler since Richard Hadlee, Shane Bond, has retired from all forms of the game.  Understandably, he says that his body can no longer handle the stress.  His showing in the Caribbean was less than superb, but his injury-ravaged career is one for the ages.  Is there anything better than a sports star who actually raises his game against Australia, time and time again?

In tests he took 87 wickets in only 32 innings, at 22.09.  In ODIs it was 147 wickets in 80 matches, at 20.88.  His economy rate in Twenty20 was 7.00, at 21.72.

In tests with Bond playing, New Zealand was 10-2-6.  Without, we were 11-26-15.

In 17 ODIs against Australia, Bond took 44 wickets at 15.79, good for the best one-day record of any bowler against Australia.  (He only played two tests and two T20s against Australia)

In 7 Chappell-Hadlee games, Bond took 15 wickets at 16.73, including this glorious hat-trick ("Got Him! Hat Trick slower ball!"):

In 16 World Cup ODIs, he took 30 wickets at 17.26, including, of course, this amazing performance:

Time and time again he rose to the occasion and was New Zealand’s great hope, our world class pace bowler, our legitimate superstar.  And now he is gone.  Thanks for the memories Bondy.