Saturday, May 16, 2015

Cavs clincher demands satisfaction

This guy! 
Thursday night's semifinal series finisher putting the Cavaliers over the bastard-tough Bulls was by no means the most exciting Cleveland sports victory I've ever witnessed. It had no moments that will be burned into the brain forever, like Kenny Lofton sprinting home from second on a passed ball or LeBron James historically dropping 25 straight points on the Pistons. 


What the win did bring was a warm feeling of satisfaction, which may end up becoming more fulfilling than a few "I remember when" highlights. This Cavs squad has overcome a post-season filled with adversity. Really, it's been a season of strife and injury woes, of newbie coaches on the hot seat and silly TMZ-worthy non-stories about superstar players writing passive-aggressive tweets about their teammates. Remember when the Cavs were 19-20, James was rehabbing in Miami, and rumors of David Blatt's firing were sizzling across the newswires?

Thursday, May 14, 2015

Charles and Kenny pick the Bulls to beat the Cavs

So I work in the advertising media industry, and this isn't my forum to talk about work. No, this is where I vent about sports with my friends, or at least used to before Twitter became much easier to do regularly...

...but Wednesday morning I was in New York at the Turner Networks upfront. It was hosted by an obviously unprepared and half assed (yet completely awesome) Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith, Shaquille O'Neal, and a very much prepared Ernie Johnson.

In between introducing all the new shows on all the Turner networks, and the ad execs and TV stars (Hey, it's the Impractical Jokers!) the four at the desk gave their color (and in the case of Sir Charles, off-color) commentary.

Keep in mind this was after game 5, so the Cavs were up 3-2. EJ asked the panel for their NBA Champion predictions, and after quite a bit of stalling (awesome Barkley quote: "I'm no expert"), Charles said the Bulls would be champs. Kenny agreed. (Shaq picked the Warriors.)

Not sure if they're making the same predictions on the air, but at least one dorky soul in the audience was booing.

That same soul is typing this on a bus on the way to the United Center right now.

Go Cavs.