Immediately before the Cubs’ romp over the Pirates today, Matt Murton arrived, and hopefully will be installed in the leadoff spot tomorrow. But again, we’re not complaining – everything’s operating effectively, and Rich Hill looked like he exorcised some demons yesterday, even Jason Marquis looked competent today. Murton was 0-for-2 as a pinch hitter, mind you.
With the homestand already a success, we managed to get sucked into the Suns-Spurs first-round NBA Playoff game, a marathon double-overtime heavyweight fight the Spurs ended up winning, powered by two buzzer-beating threes – Mike Finley to end regulation, Tim Duncan to end the first overtime. Steve Nash actually drained an omigawd three with 12 seconds left in the game to tie; but the Suns, as apropos, let Manu Ginobili streak nearly ALL THE WAY DOWN THE FLOOR TO SCORE THE GAME WINNER.
You may remember my criticism of the Suns’ trade for Shaq, but this series is the pudding. If the Suns can’t beat the Spurs now, in a first-round series, playing a wholly halfcourt game at full-strength against the struggling Spurs; then they may never beat them. And this game, which they controlled from the start until nearly the finish, just may be Exhibit A. Their inability to gain a crucial stop on defense remains unsolved, evidenced by Ginobili‘s game-winner.
Finally, during the run-up to what promises to be an entertaining NBA Playoff run, we were disgusted and dismayed by all the NBA debate surrounding the MVP. Quite honestly, if another stupid sportswriter exhorts the difference in criteria between “most valuable” and “best” and recites each possble intricacy of the semantics ad nauseum, we’re going to throw up. It’s the best player, stupid. Vote for him.
Sportswriters tend to inflate the importance of these awards simply because they themselves play a role, and thusly end up treating these ballots like a fucking multibillion-dollar lawsuit disposition. It’s ridiculous. And, since we repeatedly excoriate Slate, we’re thrilled to point out this timely article (thanks, The Big Lead) caustically dismissing these stupid self-important arguments. Well put, amen, and off we go to the playoffs. And since you asked, the MVP is a tie between LeBron and Kobe. No, I don’t care, either.
