Following arguably the best baseball season ever, the NBA is having great difficulty putting out a comparable product. For every aspect that went so right for baseball, basketball is failing miserably.
What were supposed to be intriguing storylines are not panning out, gameplay is often dull, and there is not even close to parity among the teams.
Baseball had the season-long stories of the retirements of future hall-of-famers Cal Ripken, Jr. and Tony Gwynn. Basketball has the lame return of Michael Jordan.
I was not expecting much, but still I've been sorely disappointed. I don't think anyone realized how bad the Wizards actually are. Even if you did, I think people weren't expecting to see the Jordan we are seeing now.
He's a jump shooting machine, and not a particularly good one at that. I could name fifty players who would have more success if they shot every time like he did. That was never true of the old Jordan.
Maybe its the new zone defenses, maybe its his old age, but he rarely drives to the basket anymore, and I can count on one hand how many times I've seen him dunk this year.
But the real disappointment is not that he's no longer the human highlight reel he once was. It's that he has done little to improve his team; in fact, they may have even regressed a little this year. Their offense is four guys standing around watching Jordan shoot. He seems to feel like he is the only one capable of helping the team win.
Even if he is right, there's only so far he can take them without some help.
Sooner or later either his body will break down for good or his teammates will get fed up with him. Ripken and Gwynn went out as heroes. Jordan is going to go out like a chump.
In baseball we had exciting pennant races throughout the season. At midseason the Oakland A's appeared out of the playoff race, only to go on a second-half tear to secure the wild card. Seattle came out of nowhere to compile one of the winningest seasons in history.
The Yankees didn't look as dominant as their dynasty would suggest. The defending champ Yankees even made themselves into underdogs in each of their series with opening losses.
The point is that you could make a valid argument for a number of teams winning the World Series.
In the end, few had predicted Arizona to win it all, and those who did could not have been too confident. A month into the NBA, its looking clearer by the day who will be standing in the winner's circle come June.
The Lakers are now 15-1 and really don't have any serious challengers. They have blown out every supposed title contender they have faced, including Milwaukee, Minnesota, and Sacramento.
There is serious talk of them breaking the Bull's record 72-win season, if only they don't get too bored along the way.
The NBA season is too long already, so this just takes out any excitement along the way.
Anyways, enough NBA bashing. Time for Sports Illustrated bashing. That's because they ranked one of my favorite players as the third worst player in the league.
This injustice was done to Mark "Mad Dog" Madsen, who you might remember more for his dance moves than on the court skills. But that will change soon, when he finally gets a chance to prove that he is more than an awkward, undersized power forward. I mean come on, how can Jahidi White be better than him? Madsen is one of the most energetic players in the league and a locker room favorite. He has been overlooked for his whole career, but maximized his abiilty to get where he is, a la Kurt Rambis before him.
Changing topics again, the NBA several weeks ago imposed a fine for players who wore their shorts below their knees. Among the culprits were Shaq, Garnett, Marbury and Kobe Bryant.
Notable exceptions included John Stockton, who has voluntarily worn his short-shorts his whole career.
I'm not sure what the league is thinking here-I hope they're not thinking of going back with the Stockton-shorts players had to wear in the '80s.
Speaking of shorts, they may not make them big enough for Charles Barkley, who once again is talking comeback.
His only stipulation is that he first wants to get his weight down quite a bit from his current 290. He wants to get in shape, or at least a different shape than what he is now, round.
He says that he is having trouble watching his good friend Michael Jordan struggle in Washington, so he'd like to join him there. Unfortuneately, Washington has no interest. Ouch, dissed by least talented team in the league.
On the plus side, if he comes back Sports Illustrated might boost Madsen up a spot or two.
Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The News-Letter.