Letters to the Editor
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New Rule
I've always thought that every sport, pro and college, should institute a rule that when the team that is being beaten has had enough, they can approach the official and ask them to stop the game. Then the onus would be on them, instead of the team that is ahead to "call off the dogs."
Then we wouldn't have to hear any more crying and belly-aching about running up the score from the vanquished. Or if we did, the post-game question would be--"Why didn't you have the ref stop it?"
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everybody should have calmed down..
I can't see what all the fuss was about, frankly. The only people who deserve to be punished are the players who started going after each other and throwing punches. Otherwise, folks, it's all in the game.
If Thomas ordered his players to hard-foul Denver in the lane, SO WHAT? Coaches do that kind of thing ALL the time. That's the game.
If Karl kept his starters in until the end of the game to run up the score, SO WHAT? That's the game.
In Karl's defense, if he needs one, he had subs ready to go--at the scorer's table--into the game with a minute left when Smith stole the ball and went down the court to dunk on New York, and the brawl began. The subs couldn't get in. But Karl needs no defense, as King aptly points out.
As for Thomas warning Anthony...at least he had the grace to warn him. The Thomas of old wouldn't have bothered with that nicety. And, the hard foul offered up by New York, was not a sleazy foul. Not a foul calculated to injure. The player involved fouled Smith before he got off the floor, precisely to avoid an injury.
In short, this was a fairly typical NBA game, and neither coach has anything to answer for, imho. The players who lost their cool, THEY have something to answer for, and they have. End of story. All the sports writers whining about Karl and Thomas were just bored. Or stupid. Probably both.
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the real Isiah
Don't get me wrong: Isiah Thomas is one of the best point guards ever to play the position. There is no question.
He's also a pretty poor sport. Thomas' Bad Boy Pistons teams were not exactly known for their sportsmanship and fair play. During his playing career, Thomas consistently displayed an ugly streak in his character.
My favorite example comes from the '91 playoffs. Jordan's Bulls finally defeated Thomas' Pistons after years of coming up short. In the last game of the series, Isiah and several of his teammates left the bench and went back to the locker room before the end of the game. Forget about shaking hands, they wouldn't even watch.
So am I supposed to be surprised that Thomas is still an asshole?
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I have to agree...
If you're getting pushed around, eat your Wheaties and do better next time. Don't come whining to us about it.
Exactly. People pissing and moaning about being humiliated need to take a few minutes out of their pissing and moaning time and practice. And it's an excellent question - where DO we draw the line? I am sad to report that I'm a Texans fan - and of the dozen or so season ticket holders that I am friends with and tailgate with, not one of us is pissed off at New England for shellacking us 40-7 on Sunday. We're the ones that keep turning the damned ball over. I can't blame the Pats for taking advantage of that.
And quite frankly, even if Karl was avenging Larry Brown a bit, I don't give a rat's ass. These crybabies, Thomas included, are getting paid a shitload of money to play a game. It's time for them to quit bitching and blaming their misfortune on other teams. And Karl being culpable? Bullshit. At the risk of being too blunt, if they can't take the heat, these whiners need to get in their Porsches and Escalades and go the hell home.
If they should be humiliated by anything, it should be by the fact that their own damned coach said in the media, that with over a minute left, "we had given up." Maybe it WAS completely hopeless - hell, I'm sure it was. But to basically say that his team had already rolled over and died? Well, if I was a Knick, that would make me mad at my coach.
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Why don't people in individual sports whine about "being disrespected"?
In team sports, athletes who are losing by a lot complain when the other team tries to add to their victory. That doesn't seem to happen so much in individual sports.
When was the last time you heard a track athlete say something like "he didn't have to throw a world record in my face." It pains me to say something positive about golf, buy I don't recall any golfers complaining when Tiger Woods won the Masters by 12 strokes or the U.S. Open by 15 strokes. Boxers don't say "he disrespected me by knocking me out."
I suppose some of it is that in many individual sports there are objective standards apart from the other competitors, so that it's a fair argument that the athletes are competing against themselves as much as against the other athletes, but I think there's more to it than that.
Perhaps there's something about the psychology of team sports that causes people to feel insulted by losing by a large margin.
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Running Up the Score
If I were a pro coach, I would think nothing of running up the score. Who cares?
In college sports, there can often be a huge talent gap between teams. When USC plays North Texas, a blowout is inevitable. A coach in that circumstance should ease up on the throttle when the game is out of reach.
But in the pros, in theory, teams should not be so mismatched. If Jacksonville beats Indianapolis by 45 points, whose fault is that? The Colts aren't some sandlot team. They have a payroll of almost $100 million. They should not be 45 points worse than anybody.
Fans pay to see stars play. If I am in Madison Square Garden, having paid $200 for a ticket, I want to see Carmello Anthony play to the end. The Knicks suck. The only enjoyment I will get is watching the Nugget stars light it up. As a fan, as far as I am concerned, the longer the starters are in, the better chance I have of seeing an eye-popping play.
What do I care about the feelings of a bunch of overpaid losers?