Letters to the Editor
Akron Mike
Published Letters: 144 Editor's Choice: 3
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Sherrod Brown, Jr. Senator from Ohio
[Read the article: Who will Obama choose as veep? Nope, you're wrong]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]VOTED against the war as a Rep in the US House, unseated a two-term Republican Senator in '06, ran on a largely economic platform (even though he could've used his Iraq vote as a cudgel), kicked ass among the working-class vote and even did surprising well in rurual areas, hails from a large battlegroud/blue collar state, has a very Liberal voting record, and last but not least, is realtively young and attractive ... i.e., will make for a good nominee in 2016.
Sorry, but other than Hillary herself, I'm un-impressed by the names I've seen floated around. Webb? Nunn? Even Bloomberg? Do we really want to have to deal with such conservatives who will cave into Republicans on numerous issues? Do you really want one of those guys as the head of the party come '16? Rendell? Strickland? Yeah, nice governors, but these guys will be seventy years old by the time of '16. Seibelius? McCaskill? Hey, I don't think Obama has to pick Clinton, but c'mon, picking another woman will be the ultimate slap in the face and potentially suicidal. And let's be honest, McCaskill has been a major surrogate since Day 1 and she BARELY delivered Mizzou for him. And Sebelius is from KS. Is that really a "key" state that Obama can't win on his own? And sorry, I'm not sold on Bill Richardson delivering the Latino vote. He was horrible on the stump, and whether you were a Clinton supporter or not, he proved himself to be a bit of turncoat.
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@ ringamon
[Read the article: Celtics: The big lead]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I don't totally disagree with you and there was certainly some home-cooking simmering in the Fleet Center. That being said the total # of fouls were 28 for L.A., 21 for Boston -- a discrepancy sure, but not a huge one. The problem is the Lakers have (thus far) been reduced to a team of jump shooters and it's much harder draw shooting fouls from the perimeter as opposed to near the rim. Even Bryant, who has never driven the hole as consistenly or fiecely as an Iverson or Wade, is often content to shake-and-bake from the outside and hoist his shots from there. In fairness to Kobe, he is a heckuva outside shooter, but there is a reason he has avoided the pounding afflicted on MJ during his series with Detroit and New York back in the late 80s and early 90s. The guy doesn't drive the hole as frequently or with as much abandon (as well as the fact that the Western Conference has historically played a less physical style of ball). And let's face it, Gasol has never been the most physical seven-footer, and I'm willing to bet almost all of Powe's trips resulted from him being near the basket and/or landing on some photographer's lap.
But yeah, I too suspect things will even out a bit out at the Staples Center. Home-cooking is the nature of the NBA (and for that matter, the NFL), especially during the post-season. Not a big fan of it either, but it what it is.
Oh, and P.S. I'm a Cavs fan too.
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@ ringamon part 2
[Read the article: Celtics: The big lead]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Not to re-hash debates from a series three years ago, but it's interesting you should bring up the Miami/Dallas series as an example. Again, I'd counter-argue that you had one team whose superstar (Wade) had a propensity for driving the rack and didn't shy from contact, and you had another team whose superstar (Nowitzki) was content to hoist jumpers from the outside. I won't argue individual calls: the infamous phantom foul on Wade at the end of game 4 or 5 (can't remember which) was just that: phantom. But the NBA is always going to reward guys who are willing to challenge the bigs and take their lumps. Like Wade or not, there's probably a good reason the guy has become a walking injury report and will probably never be the same player he was his first four or five years in the league. (Guys like MJ and Iverson who took similar abuse while avoiding serious injury are freaks of nature.)
And though I'm certainly disinclined to call a guy like Nowtizki a wussy, my guess is that there are certain players in the league who don't want to throw their bodies out there on a consistent basis. The NBA, for all its faults, is probably a much more physical league than any of us can imagine. I'd be willing to bet that some of those hard fouls that happen ten feet within the rim would leave many of us mortals in traction.
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@ jay dubs
[Read the article: Schilling on Kobe: "Pissed off and ranting"]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Well, even a good sportswriter like King is not above the cheap and easy MJ comparisons. Funny, a few days ago one of the Worldwide Leader's talking heads -- maybe it was Screamin' A -- said that Kobe was only three rings behind his Airness. Considering that Bryant was the second fiddle on those Shaq-led teams, it would be more accurate to say he's three behind Scottie Pippen in the rings department. But hey, such complexity of thought can't be expected of our media. Runs counter to their pre-conceived storylines.
Btw, anyone ever notice how the ESPN "reporters" often ask the worst/most mundane questions during the post-game press conferences of championship games? Sunday night Pierce and Garnett are at the podium, and a few questions in, Rachel Nichols asks Pierce what's it like to be playing the Lakers in the Final having grown up in L.A. and been a Lakers fan. Really, Rachel? Two games into the Finals and you're still flogging that horse? What's next? Asking the guys what they thought of the Bird/Magic rivalry? Note to Rachel: the guys in front of you just played a game which some of us might have more interest in than one of the flimsy narratives your network has been shoving down our throats for a week.