The NBA

Hey, congrats out there to the Bloomington Jefferson baseball team, who will play in the state championship game this afternoon at Midway Stadium. They've had a remarkable run, and having covered several kids on the team in other sports, I personally think they've got what it takes to win one more. Good luck today.

On the NBA, I must come out and say that I'm nowhere near as big a NBA fan as I used to be. The game, in my opinion, has become too much of a me-first game where ballhogs jack up fadeaway 3-pointers instead of setting screens and executing bounce passes. Plus, the integrity of the game is in serious question (can I get just one traveling call some year?). That said, I always enjoy this time of year because it always seems that the best TEAMS get to the Finals. Basketball is a team game, not an individual game, and I think the game is at its best when you have 10 capable players on a court giving their all for 48 minutes. That's what you get to see this time of year.

I'm not much of a conspiracy theorist (yet), given all the Donaghy discussion, but try this one on: whenever a team gets a big lead in a game, at any time in the game, they never seem to hold it. They may not lose the game, but they never seem to be able to preserve their lead throughout. It happened to the Celtics in Game 2, and it happened to the Lakers last night. Call it poor floor leadership or coaching, or just the human let-up response that occurs when you get up by 20 points. But I find it slightly amusing that when I see a team get up by 20, I can count on the losing squad being in the ballgame in the last four minutes. Of course, TV executives don't want to see prolonged blowouts...then people tune out later in the game. They want to see tight, memorable finishes. They want to see the blowups and emotion when a team loses a huge lead and when a team comes back from the brink. It just never fails...and to me, it's very interesting that this happens much more regularly than one would think it would.

That's all for now. I'm out like the Minnesota Lynx's streak of relevance.