Hole Punch Sports

I actually had to work yesterday, but I had nothing to say about Clippers-Suns Game Seven. I didn't watch it-my whole world felt upside-down after the Mavericks finally closed out the Spurs. What were the odds? And how crushing was that loss after Ginobili’s gutsy go-ahead three late in regulation? Anyway. I feel like I’ve been in Jake Plummer’s corner for a long time, but he's testing my patience. From the Denver Post : Broncos quarterback Jake Plummer has been issued a summons by the Englewood police in connection with a purported "road-rage-type incident" last month, investigator John Hoehler said Tuesday night. Police were sent to East Hampden Avenue and Downing Street on April 20 after a report of a hit-and-run accident. I used to pass through East Hampden and Downing Street on the way to work one summer, and so far this story checks out. If I hit something over there, I’d run, too. The victim of the incident - identified by Fox 31 News as Doug Stone - told offic...

The NBA playoffs seem like a paradox. On one hand, upsets are very rare. In the first round, for example, the team with the better record won every series. Most of the time, a series has no real suspense. Any individual game, though, can have drama on any number of levels. The first game last night was Cavaliers-Pistons Game Five. The series was tied at 2-2, with the Cavaliers 1-0 since Rasheed placed a guarantee on his own hubris. This game was on the Pistons’ floor, though, and the relatively untested Cavaliers were sure to fall to the battle-hardened Pistons. The Cavaliers were in the lead for most of the game, though, and held on for the win. A few scenes were very telling: 1) It’s 84-84 with forty seconds left, and Ben Wallace is on the line. At this point in the game, Wallace is already oh-for-five on his foul shots. (Really more like “free chucks” or “foul prayers”.) Wallace is a lot of things-a good shot-blocker, a great rebounder-but even passable at the line is not one of the...

I know it’s a couple days old, but I can’t pass up commenting on the departure of Kiki Vandeweghe as Nuggets GM . First: it’s honestly too early to say if this is a good move for the Nuggets, mostly because we don’t know who will replace him. In theory, though, replacing Vandeweghe shouldn’t be hard-he was steady, decidedly unspectacular, and, like a good veteran, avoided making any killer moves. While he was inclined to overpay for free agents (Andre Miller, Kenyon Martin), they usually stayed healthy and played hard (until the Clippers series, at least). That put Vandeweghe miles ahead of previous regimes, which handed long-term, guaranteed contracts to the likes of Tariq Abdul-Wahad. That said, even Kiki’s best moves were tarnished by what could have been. The selection of Carmelo Anthony with the third pick in 2003 finally gave the team a true go-to guy, at least in the regular season. Yet it’s clear that Dwyane Wade, who went two picks later, has surpassed Carmelo as a player. Kik...

Don't look now, but ESPN's MLB standings list the Colorado Rockies in first place in the National League West with a 16-13 record. Why link to ESPN? Because MLB's site lists Arizona first (it's a tie). I'd be surprised if it lasts, and I haven't watched any games, so I've really got nothing to add, but I thought it's something you should see once in your lifetime.

Tonight has two awesome Game 6s, and one lame Pacers-Nets game the league has mercifully scheduled on NBA TV. I saw good chunks of the fifth games of the Heat-Bulls series and Lakers-Suns series, so here are some “thoughts”: Miami at Chicago: This Bulls team is a lot more fun in theory than in practice. They play together about ten times better than the Heat do, and they hustle like crazy. Admirable virtues. But if Kirk "Zoom zoom" Hinrich and Andres Nocioni's constant whining weren't annoying enough, you've got former Dukie Chris Duhon celebrating on the bench. It's a tossup whether it’s more fun to watch them play or to spend a quiet night at home filing down your nailbeds with sandpaper. The Heat aren’t much better, a total hodgepodge of random players who, unlike the Bulls, you have in fact heard of. They roll the dice every night with The Glove, Employee No. 8, White Chocolate, and James Posey and hope one comes up as a good outside shooter. For some reas...

My reaction to some other picks: The Top Three: Does anyone anywhere think Houston made the right pick? Even Mario Williams’ family is like, “Man, I can’t believe we got away with that.” Do you think Gary Kubiak would have signed on to coach if he’d known they’d pass on Young and Bush? Kubiak has been publicly supportive of the pick but come on, he knows football better than that. At No. 2 the Saints got Reggie Bush. After the Drew Brees signing, I can understand passing on Vince Young. Unfortunately, there’s potential for a T.O.-type situation here. Can Reggie Bush stomach taking a pay cut from last year? Now the Titans had the kind of a draft a crappy team is supposed to have, reeling in the best quarterback in Young with the third pick and a top runner in LenDale White in the second round. White should push incumbent Chris Brown for playing time right away. Young’s the type of player who could win MVP or take the Titans back to the Super Bowl. He might want to wait a while, though,...