A Standing O: Wimbledon, Wiffleball, and White Barbecue Sauce

Once the weather gets nice, most people look forward to baseball season really getting under way. But Alex O has another sport that has his attention once the seasons turn. Summer just started and Alex O is back to talk about Wimbledon, Wiffleball, and give you a recipe for barbecue sauce (editors note: posted a day late which is my fault)

SI

----------------------------
Summer is almost a week old. The 3H days are upon us---- Hazy, Hot and Humid. I was born in the summer so it is no surprise that it is my favorite season. It is the time to barbecue, head to the beach, and enjoy the sports of the summer.

One of my favorites sporting events to watch in the summer is Wimbledon. A trip to the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club is high upon my bucket list of sporting events to witness live. I can still remember the epic Wimbledon match in 1980 between John McEnroe (my favorite) vs. the Bjorn Borg.I have yet to watch the HBO documentary on these two but am looking forward to it.

There is something special about this tournament that holds on to its traditions, and is the only major tournament still played on grass. When I was growing up in the 80’s the Australian Open was still a grass tourney and the US Open was grass until 1974. One of the strict rules is that players must wear mostly white. Here is a link to some outfits that caused a stir at Wimbledon. The tournament this year is now wide open on the women’s side since the Williams sisters lost as did the #1 seed Wozniacki. The favorite now is the grunting Maria Sharapova, it is all about her ability to serve if she will be able to get her second Wimbledon title. She won her first when she was 17 back in 2004.

Read more>>

A Standing O: NBA Playoffs Talk

Last Saturday night I was heading home from the bars when it started to rain. I put my head down and started hoofing it to get home. All of a sudden I knocked into a really large person and looked up to see Blake Griffin staring back down at me. I got over my initial shock, apologized and went on my way. Since the Knicks failed to win a game in these playoffs, that was about my personal excitement in these NBA playoffs. But as usual, Alex O has many more insights to give in this post:

http://www.burdandkeyz.com

-------
Pretty exhilarating stuff if you have been able to watch a lot of these games.

This was a great regular season of NBA basketball: The ups and downs of the “talents from South Beach”, the amazing MVP worthy year of Derrick Rose, the surprise year by the veteran Spurs, the Melo-drama, Blake Griffin!!!

A) Unfortunately the Knicks are no longer in the party. It seems they blew their load in the first 2 games and left us all wondering “what if” they closed out those games. Now we Knicks fans have chock full of teams (nemisi?? Is that the plural of nemesis?) to root against: Heat, Celtics, Bulls, & Lakers.

B) I for one was rooting for Chris Paul and the Hornets to topple the Lakers. Is it possible that the Knicks (who just picked up Chauncey Billups option for next year) could trade Burps for CP3 since their contracts are a match--- both making $14M and free agents after next year? I guess it depends on the owner of the New Orleans Hornets who is……… David Stern/NBA. Maybe the toast from LaLa/Melo’s wedding will come true?!?

C) The action I have seen these playoffs been extremely entertaining, and I missed Durant’s end of game performance that sent the Denver (Old Knicks) Nuggets packing. I did see Ibaka have a couple of nasty blocks early in the game. There is little doubt that I agree with Bill Simmons that to win the NBA crown you must be able to protect the 6 feet around the bucket. I also missed the improbable 5 points in under 5 seconds that extended the Spurs vs. Grizzlies series. I was very bummed that game was not on TNT last night. Grizzlies go home and are a 2.5 point favorite to complete the 8 beats 1 seed rarity. It is 9 pm Friday night---- only game on that night since Heat and Thunder took care of biz last night. I recommend all hoops fans to youtube the play Darell Arthur of the Grizzlies made in game 4 where he blocked the shot then chugged downcourt full speed and finished an amazing alley-oop.

Read more>>

A Standing O: The Madness March-es On

Like Russell, I am mourning the death of my bracket. First it was Louisville dealing me a nice shot in the family jewels before an uppercut from the most awful foul ever killed Pittsburgh--and my bracket. So now that the Madness has settled, I'm left without a ton to root for. But Alex O gives me some hope in his latest post:

-------------------
At the bottom of this post are the odds for the next 2 evenings of madness. This is what one resorts to when their bracket has blown up----- Texas, Purdue, and Pitt not good picks. At least I am ahead of Rochelle Rochelle in the NYaT pool!

I am sure I am not alone in rooting for the dogs--- and I don’t mean the Huskies---- they are either a pick ‘em or a favorite. I mean the underdogs: VCU, Richmond, and Butler. I’ll even throw in BYU, why not. I’ll root for Jimmer, who was graced with a name that somehow reminds me of the famous Johnny Cash song “A boy named Sue” --- worth a download.

Interesting side note is that VCU and Richmond make Richmond the first city to have 2 sweet 16 teams since LA in 2007. More on that go here.

Estimates place the total dollar amount of American office pools in excess of $3 billion, with the total cost in lost productivity in the neighborhood of $1.8 billion. Wow, how about them apples.

It was nice to see that Yahoo in their matchup breakdown includes the spreads. To me it is essential in doing any analysis, the oddsmakers in Vegas--- or I guess in the Caymans for the on-line bookies, do their hard work and tell us what the spread is. Sometimes I think there are wrinkles. VCU has blown out its last 3 opponents after barely getting in---- how much is that a factor in the spread vs. Florida State?

Read more>>

A Standing O:...and the Colorado Rocky Mountain High

It's been a while since we got some knowledge from Alex O but he's back today with a post about the New York Knicks, Gallo, and, well, John Denver as well. So whether you're Italian, American, or from the Jersey Shore, you'll love our next Standing O:
----------------------------

“And the Colorado Rocky mountain high!” John Denver (Great lyrics)

Some have missed Gallo in a Knickerbockers uniform (MSNBC)

Here are some thoughts and links about the Knicks we traded for Melo, Burps (billups) etc. Gallinari, Chandler, Felton, Mozgov, even the corpse formerly known as Eddy Curry is gone but not forgotten. Knickerblogger had a good piece about saying good bye to Gallo. Worth checking out even if it is a bit much. Better yet was the comment I pasted below, from an Italian guy who watched Gallo’s Dad and D’Antoni play back in the day:

1. kaine says:
March 3, 2011 at 2:06 pm

You may not know, but there’s a weeping nation out there.
There’s a generation of italian like me that fell in love with the nba in the 80′, thanks to the men that played then. before the dunks and the no look passes, it was the great personalities. Kareem.Magic.Bird.Jordan.Doc.Moses.Akeem. Ewing. the bad boys.
and when we were in awe at watching the gods, we followed a great italian team, lead by one of the greatest mind that we witnessed on a field, moustache men D’antoni.
I can assure you that he was that good, a stern general well different from the laid back coach of today.
In that team played Gallinari sr. A bruce bowen-type player, I had the luck to wath them play live and I can’t recall to saw him ever try a shot to the rim. defense was his thing, nothing more.
In that glorious days, our collective daydream was to see one italian player to finally succed on an nba field. to show that we are not bound to scramble for a ball with our feet in the mud, but that also the Italians can fly
Last year I finally had the occasion to visit the big apple, and obviously I dragged my wife at the Garden. I was graced with a (rare) great win over the 76ers, and Gallo (along with Douglas) was the leading force to the win.
Seeing him live to blossom into a king for Knicks brought to me all the lost memories of my generation ; the dream of us playground player to become an Nba star was now real. the quest had been fulfilled.
The icing on the cake was that happened in New York, the city that we consider part of ourselves. it’s not the global icon, it’s just the perfect blend of European and American flavours that we love.
I can assure you that Gallo felt the same: he truly truly loves new york.
Now the song has ended. the knicks dismissed Gallo like some high school sweetheart traded for the new flashy hot girl. just another victim of the summer of LeBetaDog.

Read more>>

A Standing O: Star-Melo and the Trade Deadline

It's been a fun season in Knicksland but last night was something extra special. Last night was the Knicks fans' consolation for not being chosen by LeBron in The Decision. When he saw SportsCenter last night, he probably wondered how nice it would have been to be King in New York City at MSG. If anything, the Carmelo trade was a nice reminder of how exciting Knicks basketball can be with an opening montage that had to make everyone from the Tri-State Area excited about the Knickerbockers again. One guy certainly excited? Alex O and he tells us why in his latest Standing O:

The Star-Melo shined brightly at MSG last night

--------------------------------

This is a great post showing what Melo means to the Knicks offense. Now the Knicks have 2 players who can command a double team. Not many squads have that. Bill Simmons made a great point--- the Knicks now have 2 of the 10 guys that started in the All-Star game. It will take a few weeks to find out how this team can gel. We did not see Anthony Carter, or Shelden Williams, or Balkman or Brewer. It will be interesting to see who gets time with the new squad. One thing that we saw last night was how good Toney Douglas can be. Playing tough D and shooting the lights out, Douglas is showing what he can do when he is healthy and given some time. Hopefully seeing more of him will be the new normal. Clearly defense and rebounding will continue to be issues with this team.

I am not 100%, but I think LaLa was wearing a puffy shirt at the game last night. It was great to get a feel for the excitement in the garden last night. The highlight of that was when LALA was asked what their 3 year old son said when he was told Daddy was traded to the Knicks: “we’re going home!”…………

AWESOME!

Read more>>

A Standing O: The Real President's Day

Most of us suffered from some sort of Super Bowl hangover this morning, but Alex O got up and banged out this blog post. I'm sorry I haven't posted it until now, but Alex is right, this should be a holiday. I'll let him give the argument...and maybe a little trivia too:

The day after Lombardi is raised should be a National holiday (LA Times)

----------------------
Today February 7th, 2011 should be a national holiday in the United States of America. It is the day after Super Bowl XLV. Every year the day after the Super Bowl should be a national holiday. As a nation we need a day to digest the big day. I mean this literally. We need a day to digest all the food and beverages consumed. The amount of calories we devoured, mostly derived from meat and cheese--sometimes meat covered in melted cheese, or meat dipped into cheese, we as a nation need a holiday.

This will never happen because it makes too much sense. Next Monday I have President’s Day off (Monday February 21st). Why not just make President’s Day observed on the Monday after Super Bowl Sunday. I don’t think this would be disrespectful to Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln etc. It actually would be perfect, because President’s Day would still be President’s Day since the game is already over. It might actually be beneficial to the economy if people plan get a ways for the 3 day SuperBowl/Prez Day weekend?

Read more>>

A Standing O: Knicks and Links

Greetings from down in The Big Easy. I'm down here for the week for work so I haven't gotten much blogging done this week. But Alex O is back with another great guest post, talking about Timofey Mozgov, the Russian center who I personally saw electrify Madison Square Garden on Sunday night (and thank you to Doug for those tickets). But enough about me, let's get to Alex O with his update on the Knickerbockers:

----------
Link #1 and Link #2

I saw this tweet which gives some metrics to the quality of D that Toney Douglas provides for the Knicks. @kevinarnovitz NBA's Top 5 unadj Defensive +/- : Toney Douglas (former ACC Def POY), Shaun Livingston, D. Arthur, KG, Ronnie Brewejavascript:void(0)r. about 2 hours ago

This is just a statistical reaffirmation of my belief that the Knicks do not need a back-up point guard. I would rather get a wide body if they add anyone to the roster…..

Which leads me to the play of Timofey Mozgov Sunday night. 23 pts, 14 boards, 40 minutes and a garden crowd chanting his name at the end of the game vs. the Pistons. I know, I know, big freakin deal it was vs. the Pistons. It is a positive especially when every game matters and the Knicks were without Shawne Williams (suspension for throwin’ hands in Hotlanta), and Will Chandler (out with a calf), Turiaf in foul trouble, and Amare with a tweaked knee. It is also a positive because it shows he is capable, and has been working hard even though he had not played as much as 10 minutes in 26 games (12/5).

It was nice for the Knicks to get the win Sunday following through on the mojo left by St. John’s who “shellacked” Duke on the same court a few hours earlier. It helps them and their fans forget the bad loss at Atlanta, and get them back on track after a great win vs. the Heat last week. A game where Knicks fans booed LeBron regularly and he responded by putting on a shooting performance reminiscent of the John Starks 1994 Game 7 NBA finals debacle. That game always makes me wonder if at least some coaches will tell guys not to shoot? If any one were to do it, you would think Pat Riley would do it. I would have thought that Pat Ewing would do it. Maybe they just kept hoping the next one would go in?

Read more>>

A Standing O: Merlin the Arch Enchanter

The New York Knickbockers finally got back to the win column last night against the Washington Wizards and today we get another great post about the win from Alex O in a new running column series we'll call "A Standing O": 

When you need to get back on track, call a Wizard

-------------------------------------------------------------

“The ways of this Wizard pass all understanding” Merlin the Arch Enchanter

Nice to get the Wizards in town last night to help the Knickerbockers get back on track, and end the slide at 6. More on that later.

I remember when I heard Pat Riley had signed on to coach the Knicks. As a long time Lakers & Knicks fan growing up, I was very excited and thought it would guarantee a title for the Knicks---- if not several...Jordan, Hakeem, and others had other outcomes in mind. Thinking of that Rockets team, always reminds me of one of the all-time great nicknames----- E.T. for Sam Cassell.

I think my Dad got an even bigger kick out of that one then me. Sam is now an assistant coach with the Wizards.

I also had some decent feelings when the Knicks hired Lenny Wilkens. I did not get good vibes when they hired Larry Brown. I did get excited about Mike D’Antoni. I was happy about the signing because I love run and gun hoops like the Magic/Kareem/Worthy Lakers, UNLV Runnin' Rebels, and Kimble Gathers Loyola Marymount squads. The jury is still out on D’Antoni even though there were some rumors about him losing his job the last time the Knicks had a 6 game losing streak.

I am willing to give him time (as if I have choice), since the roster has lots of new faces and is the first decent roster Pringles has had to coach. It is worth a discussion on how he has done, and my bottom line is that I hope he gets more creative as the season goes on. Let Mozgov foul…. I mean play a little. I would like to see if Anthony Randolph can play. We still need to defend the rim better.

There are no secrets in the NBA. Teams need to adjust as the season goes on, especially if they have a weakness that gets exploited every night. Teams are able to drive on the Knicks at will, many times working on their chin-ups. Charles Oakley is an assistant with the Bobcats trying to toughen those guys up. Maybe the Knicks should have hired him. Maybe Pringles D’Antoni needs to try some zone and clog the middle?

Read more>>