Letters to the Editor
lutherhouse
Published Letters: 39
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Bob Montgomery
[Read the article: King Kaufman's Sports Daily]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]was the last major leaguer to go helmetless, in 1979.
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coaching basketball ...
[Read the article: King Kaufman's Sports Daily]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]is about as close as you can come to playing while coaching. It's intense, you're close to the action, and you are constantly making decisions - split second ones - based on fluctuating variables like score, time, match ups, fouls, etc.
You usually have less than one minute to get your point across during a time out. There's no time for a lot of long-winded eloquence. You have to talk in a way that your players understand. You've already worked out a lot of it in practices, anyway. So you keep it short and simple. That may not seem impressive to the casual observer, but it tells you something that it's what the coaches in the best league in the world are doing.
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If the shoe were on the other foot ...
[Read the article: Who will Obama choose as veep? Nope, you're wrong]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]... would Senator Clinton be so quick to select Senator Obama as her running mate as her advisors seem to be demanding she be selected as his?
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Up 2 - 0
[Read the article: Celtics: The big lead]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]To have a chance, the Lakers need to take a page from the Cavs and Pistons (and even the Hawks) and beat up the Celtics. Rondo, Allen, Pierce and Garnett were manhandled and slowed down by those teams, and that hasn't happened so far in the Finals.
Even last night, as they were making their 41 point run in the fourth quarter, the Lakers couldn't shut down the C's when they needed to. Unless they can step up and get physical - ball pressure on Rondo, no easy catches or looks for Allen, no open driving lanes for Pierce, no easy entries or open 17 footers for Garnett - the Celts are too good an offensive team for the Lakers to take 4 of 6.
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kobe's bitching ...
[Read the article: Schilling on Kobe: "Pissed off and ranting"]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]may be why his teammates didn't get him the ball after they made their first run early in the 4th quarter. They had four or five terrible possessions after the Celts' timeout and the lead got pushed close to 20 points.
I was wondering why he never touched the ball during that stretch. I had thought it was because the Celtics were of course fouling him like crazy off the ball and it wasn't being called because the refs were conspiring to keep him down. Thanks to Curt there's an alternate theory.
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hey bigguns
[Read the article: Celtics take control with huge comeback]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]The reason the Celts are eviscerating the Lakers right now is that those teams in the so-called weaker East toughened them up in the early rounds.
The Hawks, Cavs and Pistons pounded on the Celts for 20 games, making the Lakers' defense appear soft by comparison.
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Celts need ...
[Read the article: Superstar rules help the Lakers]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]to sit Rondo. If the NBA had a "plus-minus" system like the NHL's, his would decidedly be on the minus side. They aren't executing their offense with him at the point.
Too many empty trips at the beginning of games put them in holes they have to dig out of. Their D picked up when Doc got him out of there, too.
Hopefully, we see House or Sam in there on Tuesday, and hopefully Perkins can return to bang on Gasol, too.
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Who reviews it?
[Read the article: MLB replay: It's heresy! But it's OK]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Isn't there supposed to be a MLB official monitoring the game from New York?
This is a good move, overall. Provided that the assurances that King mentioned can be made irrevocable, unalterable, irreversible, unchangeable, permanent, etc. Would hate to see an Eric Gregg Marlins-Braves playoff game fiasco lead to Ques Tec calling balls and strikes.
The August 1 start date is likely in place to give the system a trial before the post season. Having announced that they are going to do this, MLB has to go forward for this season; you'd hate to have a spate of controversy-tinged home runs in the 2008 post season, without the official ability to correct miscalls.
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Leave it to the Bloggers
[Read the article: What's wrong with Obama's FightTheSmears.com]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]It should be left to regular people like us (who might have a conservative cousin sending us this bigoted garbage) to refute these emails and volley back on cyberspace. To have the campaign do it lends too much credence to the ideas of a handful of slack jawed racists. I post my email volleys on a blog to spread the word. :) Thank you, I quoted this article too in my ill-tempered rebuttal.
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The C's ...
[Read the article: Celtics demolish Lakers for title]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]... played great team defense and were toughened up by a series of Eastern opponents who made the Lakers appear soft by comparison.
That team defense was responsible for bottling up Gasol (Perkins's return last night was huge) and Odom (who appeared lost when his driving lanes rarely materialized). With help on each side of him, Posey cooled off Bryant in the pivotal second quarter last night (and then hit threes at the other end). In last night's game, Rondo played more decisively and disrupted the Lakers all over the court.
The Celts dominated the boards at their defensive end all series long. They rarely failed to block out the Lakers on missed shots. Several times last night you had two or three Celtics competing for the ball on missed Laker shots. It was a clinic in how to finish defensive trips.
Even though the West is better from top to bottom, the top teams in the East play better and tougher defense. The Celts benefited from ferocity of the Cavaliers and the Pistons (and even the Hawks). People got on Ray Allen for shooting poorly in the early rounds, but he was smothered in ways that the Lakers couldn't or didn't do. Lots more open looks and easy baskets against the Lakers - for all the Celtics - than in earlier rounds.
Hats off to Doc Rivers, who was severely underestimated going into the Finals. Kind of like Francona and LaRussa in 2004. Rivers made all the right moves, had his match ups and adjustments in place. Good for Ainge and the Celtics for sticking with a good coach and a great man when it would have been easy to let him go after last season.