NBA Got It Wrong By Admitting Mistake

A day after the Lakers held off the Spurs to win Game Four and take control of the Western Conference Finals, the NBA league office admitted a Derek Fischer should have been whistled for a foul on the last play of the game, a desperation shot by San Antonio’s Brent Barry.
Fishcer clearly made contact with [...]

Celts Avoid Disaster, Hang On To Win

This column should start by welcoming Ray Allen to the playoffs – thanks for deciding to play on Wednesday, Ray. But the real story is Boston’s play down the stretch. Holding a 17 point second half lead at home in the playoffs, as much as 12 points in the fourth quarter, the Pistons had no [...]

No Manu, No Win

Forget the non-foul call on Brent Barry in the final seconds – seriously, when was the last time you saw that call made in that situation – the Spurs role players and spark plug lost this game. That they stayed as close as two points midway into the fourth quarter amazed me way more than [...]

Lay Off Willie

Forget yesterday’s reprieve, Willie Randolph is managing his last games for the New York Mets. Omar Minaya and ownership are using Randolph as the primary scapegoat for last season’s collapse, and the disappointing start this year. Few players have come to his defense, contrary to the Yankees treatment of Joe Torre. All Mets management did [...]

TNT-NBA Live Stream Not Ready for Primetime

Credit the NBA and TNT for taking the huge leap of faith by streaming a nationally televised playoff game on the Internet. Another sign the future of digital media is now. This particular partnership, after completing a groundbreaking television contract that included digital rights earlier this year, and building a dedicated Internet video portal during [...]

Analyze This: ESPN NBA Games Becoming Sportscenter Clones

Forget about coaching, Jeff Van Gundy is auditioning for an anchor role on Sportscenter than a return to the sidelines. Van Gundy punchlines outnumber relevant basketball points, and the spread gets worse every game. While the lack of competitive games this postseason, case in point Game 3 in the Eastern Conference Finals, doesn’t help, NBA [...]

Celtics Become Road Warriors

Venues change, series change, but the recipe to win does not. It’s very basic, the team who’s role players and bench make the biggest contribution, that has a decided three point advantage or rebounding edge, and can hit big shots to stop a run wins the game. Home, away, higher seed, lower seed, MVP, Coach [...]

Cable Providers And Sports Networks Continue Stand-Off

In one corner stands the cable and satellite providers. Criticized for rate hikes, standing tall against adding niche sports programming to its basic package forcing further price increases by customers who have no interest in the programming. Across the ring, sports programmers, notably NFL Network and the Big Ten Network along with all other league [...]

Mayo Incident Raises Question of NCAA Rules

Unless you have your head stuck in the sand, it’s no surprise to hear OJ Mayo received benefits from agents and other “business associates” as far back as high school. He’s not the first, not the only, and not the last – to think otherwise is naive. College football and college basketball are big business, [...]

Let’s Go to the Video Tape Baseball

Three missed calls on would be home runs within four days forced baseball to act on the age-old instant replay question this week. Reports say MLB will trial instant replay during the Arizona Fall League, then continue in the World Baseball Classic and spring training next March, before deciding to implement during the season. Talk [...]