Looks Like We Made It….to 72 years old. Happy Birthday, Barry Manilow!
Starting Five
Iguodala narrowly edged eight Kansas City Royals to be named Finals MVP
1. Night of the Iguodala
A man who did not start during the regular season, Andre Iguodala, scores 25 points in Golden State’s Game 6 clincher and somehow 7 of the 11 Finals MVP voters are moved to bequeath the award to him, never mind that LeBron James became the first dude ever to lead both teams in points, rebounds and assists in an NBA Finals. Stephen Curry, the league MVP who was outstanding throughout, including 37 points in Game 5, garnered zero votes.
And I’ll note that before Game 6 ESPN.com ran a story whose hed was “LeBron May Go Down as the Greatest Loser Ever.”
But the big story (supposedly) is that Golden State wins its first NBA championship in 40 years and so now they’re off to visit Trump Tower for the presidential congratulations.
More on this from our Maryland-based correspondent later, I’m sure….
2. Lady and The Trump
The Trump stump speech
“When did we ever beat Japan… at anything?”
Well, I’ve got World War II and Apple computers, but go on….
The jokes are easy, but don’t laugh off Donald “I’m really rich” Trump, who declared his presidential candidacy yesterday, so quickly. Unlike his other 11 or so GOP candidates, the Donald has charisma. And he’s long been comfortable in front of a camera.
Sure, it’s funny to hear Trump say that he’ll be the best jobs president ever after having said, “You’re fired” more than anyone in the history of television. But he’s a combative, irrepressibly arrogant and candid breath of fresh air in the race. A blowhard, sure. But a breath of fresh air.
The big questions: Will he still be allowed to own the Miss USA pageant and would he re-decorate the exterior of the White House in all gold and glass?
I see Taran Killam playing Donald next fall. SNL’s writers got the greatest gift of all.
3. Arch Enemies
Hackman played for the Cardinals from 1999-2003. What more evidence do you need?
The FBI, the same organization that brought you Sepp Blatter’s head on a platter, now is investigating the St. Louis Cardinals for allegedly hacking the computers of the Houston Lastros. This is like sending spies to infiltrate the government of Andorra, but whatever….
The Cards currently have baseball’s best record (43-21) and have been to four World Series in the past 11 Octobers.
4. Howl at the Screen
Admittedly, reenacting Seven Brides for Seven Brothers proved difficult
If Alan had his “one-man wolfpack” in The Hangover, well, the Angulo kids were a seven-man wolfpack in lower Manhattan. The Wolfpack is the TRUE story of an immigrant family, the Angulos, who home-schooled their six sons and one daughter and pretty much confined them full-time to their four-bedroom apartment. The children learned about life by watching movies and then reenacting them.
I agree, this is an amazing story: An immigrant family affording a four-bedroom apartment in Manhattan!?!
Anyway, the film won the Documentary Grand Jury Prize at Sundance and is now playing in cool cities where people spend nearly double the price of a monthly Netflix subscription to see a single film in a theater.
5. Stand and Deliver
That’s 6’5″ Aussie Owen Wright, moments after scoring a perfect 20 on a wave at the Fiji Pro. It’s only the seventh time a perfect 20 score has ever been accomplished in the World Surf League. You can watch his ride here….
Music 101
Private Life
Before scoring the title theme for The Simpsons and most of friend Tim Burton’s films, Danny Elfman was the lead singer of a New Wave punk band named Oingo Boingo. This song was released in 1982 or ’83 in what was the height of the New Wave era.
Remote Patrol
You’ve just had four straight nights of NBA and/or NHL finals. Go outside and look at the stars. Or vote for a Kansas City Royal.
“As I walk this land of broken dreams
I have visions of many things
But happiness is just an illusion
Filled with sadness and confusion
What becomes of the brokenhearted
Who had love that’s now departed?
I know I’ve got to find
Some kind of peace of mind, maybe”
(ahhh, Jimmy Ruffin – CLASSIC! )
No tears last night for me, not even misty. At least not until Sweet Pea came out to the podium for the presser. He looked so sad, so dejected, so EXHAUSTED, my heart broke a little for him. I’d actually been wondering all season, all playoffs & especially after Kyrie went down early in the Finals, if LeBron TRULY believed they could win. The people who did, you could count on one hand. Of course, a competitor would NEVER say they couldn’t win in the middle of the competition, but didn’t you wonder if he REALLY believed it? But looking at him last night, in his utter misery, I think he really did. And that’s what makes it heartbreaking.
The thing is, when I rewatch the Finals games, I find myself agreeing with him! Heck, if LBJ had just made 3-5 more of HIS shots in the last 3 games, we’d have won. IF the REFS had actually called even HALF the fouls committed on LeBron when he went into the paint, we’d have won. IF even one other Cav had been able to keep “stepping up” & actually SCORE at least 45% in the last 3 games, we’d have won. And yet, how was that even possible against the “best current team in the NBA”? (Hint – initials are ‘LRJ’).
With less than 3 minutes to go last night (I think), we were down by 13 & I thought it was finished. Next thing you know, JR starts hitting 3s from all over! I started having FLASHBACKS from 2013’s Game 6! Then it was down to a 4 pt game! If LeBron had nailed that last shot & got it to 1-2, oh man. It was THATCLOSE! sigh.
Well, congrats to the Warriors. I’ve long liked Steve Kerr & Steph seems a really good guy (& superb shooter) , so how can you begrudge them their success? Still, Iguana as the MVP? WHO ARE THEY KIDDING?! Sure, in a normal game or series, the MVP would be the biggest contributor on the winning team, as that person USUALLY is the best player & did the most. NOT in this case. This series was an aberration, an outlier, just like LeBron. That ANY other player was bestowed this honor means the award is meaningless.
So, what did I learn over the past 2 weeks? That LeBron ‘Sweet Pea’ James is even MORE superhuman than previously imagined. That one can be lucky & one can be good, but to SURVIVE the annual NBA playoffs & win the championship, one must be both. That to survive the NBA playoff gauntlet for 5 straight years is more proof of said “superhumaness” (oh, just go with it). That after reading Tom Haberstroh’s piece last night on the “unfathomable workload of LeBron”, I tremble with worry & fear (thanks a lot, Tom!) for LeBron’s future years & Cavs aspirations. And lastly, I need my eyes checked, as I am misreading SIGNS left & right! 😉
Also, I need to warn you – I have detected some evil lurking in my heart! I singlehandedly want to throw a (cow)pie in every (cough, cough) “media” member’s face who trills/crows that LeBron is now “2-4 in the Finals”. And my “1st take” will be on a certain preening human reptile.
Aren’t you happy I’m not a baseball fan? And/or that LeBron does not play a 2nd sport? 😉
I called the Andre MVP thing a few days ago. I get your point but you either credit Andre for wearing down LBJ that he was a shell of himself by the 4th quarter or give credit to Warriors depth.
Also, in the three games he started, none of them came down to the final seconds.
Well, I can acknowledge that Iggy was a more worthy MVP than Steph. 🙂 And that he defended LBJ better than any other Dub, but LeBron was mostly tired because he COULDN’T SIT DOWN for 6 straight games (well, for more than 23 minutes TOTAL).
Also, in Game 6 – it was down to a 4 pt lead with less than 30 seconds to go, I think. If LeBron’s final shot had gone in, it would have either been a 1 or 2 pt lead with 10 seconds left (I couldn’t tell if it was an attempted 3 pointer or not).
And, unless a guy singlehandedly SAVED his team in the games he did start, how do you give a player the MVP who did NOT start ALL of the games? That actually broke precedent, while awarding a once-a-century effort by an outstanding player on the losing team would not have been.
One more question – do you think Iguodala will be satisfied with coming off the bench NEXT season? After not only now being a world champion but a FINALS MVP? I think not. I actually doubt the Warriors will be in the Finals next year. You see it all the time – how teams fray if not crumble after success – the ‘individual’ overtakes the group (i.e. desires for money, acknowledgment, playing time, etc). One more reason why I am even MORE impressed that the HEAT got to the Finals 4 straight times. And even though Chalmers played poorly, I think last year’s Heat would have defeated this year’s Warriors in the Finals. Whether LeBron & Wade & the rest of this year’s Heat (without Bosh) could have, I don’t know. I do wonder if LBJ wonders. After last year’s thoroughly dissatisfying (& shocking to me) Finals, I think LeBron at least partly left the Heat because he didn’t think Wade & Bosh could keep contributing to more championships. He was TIRED of carrying a team by himself, he wanted more help! I know, I know – the irony! 🙂