Tuesday, June 17, 2008

On Basketball and the Celtics

The NBA Finals are on tonight.

And part of me wants the Celtics to win.

After all, I suppose I have been a Celtics fan since I lived in Boston. I have the nice Celtics ski sweater, the hat...

But I'm really not a fan.

I don't particularly like basketball.

It's too easy to score, and let's face it, teams don't even start playing until there's 2 minutes on the clock. Whcih means half an hour in real time.

Two minute games - now there would be something to watch. Plus the entire season could be done in about two weeks, three tops.

I suppose my ambivalence about the game stems from not really understanding it.

Football, I understand enough to get by. Baseball, I'm a student of the game. Heck, even ice hockey, I get the rules for.

Basketball? Not so much. I mean, travelling, that should be a simple call, right? So why don't they call it?

If you aren't going to call a penalty, fine... but take it out of the rules.

When is it charging, when is it obstruction? When do they tip off and when do they just get the ball?

It seems to change every darn time.

I can enjoy it, live. I do enjoy it live - Sacramento, Syracuse, St Bonneventure, Niagara, Buffalo (college and Braves), Chicago, Northwestern. I've tried them all. I just can't get the hang of basketball, I guess.

But I still am pulling for the Celtics.

I can't stand LA anything :)

Er... except Disney. Maybe Universal. That's about it. :)

3 comments:

Michael O'Connell said...

GO CELTICS!!! Yahoo!!!!!

I had a guy at work ask me who I was going for. I was like, "You're kidding, right? You're from Sacramento and you can ask that question?" His response was "Well, I mean, come on, you've got to root for the team from California, right?" Um...no. Any time anyone ANYwhere beats the Lakers, it's cause for celebration. I owe the whole Celtics bench a Guinness. Go Boston go!!

Yeah, I'm in a good mood. :)

I think you might be the way with basketball that I am with soccer. While soccer (I know..."football") is like the official sport of EARTH, I've just never gotten into it. Mainly because it just looks to me like it's a bunch of guys running around a field kicking a ball around. And then there's complete shock and amazement when someone actually SCORES maybe once per game! The reason everyone else digs it so much and I don't, I figure, is that I don't understand what's going on between those goals, what the players are doing, etc. With basketball, the points are cool and all, but I'm busy watching the passing and the rebounds and the screens and all that stuff, watching the artistry of it, seeeing those skills at work that most people don't even realize are getting put to use. If I didn't know all that stuff, it would look like a bunch of guys in shorts running back and forth and putting in basket after basket. I'm the same with hockey. Still not into it because I haven't yet taken the time to understand it. Maybe one day I'll make the time.

I am with you on the foul thing, however. If it's a rule, why are we not enforcing it? Like the days when Shaq was making his free throws, and stepping his foot over the line EVERY SINGLE TIME? The rule says those free throws, then, did not count. But it's Shaq, so I guess it didn't apply to him. Hmm.

KC Ryan said...

Okay, I admit it - I love that the Celtics won.

Not just because they beat LA - but that certainly helps.

You're right, of course - I've never simply "got" basketball. It's never come to me the way that baseball does (and yes, there are probably those out there who can't stand baseball).

Same way with soccer. How hard can it be, man, to run around and kick a ball? Soccer's real popular with young kids because almost any idiot CAN run around and kick a ball - there's not much of a learning curve.

I guess people like different things - shrug.

I still like to see basketball live, for some reason. Probably for the same reason you have to see hockey live - it just doesn't come across the same on TV.

Jim McClain said...

Basketball died for me just after the bad boy period of the Detroit Pistons in the early 90s. I was following them religiously until Michael Jordan began to dominate the league and Patrick Ewing started taking four steps in the lane. I swear I've seen Shaq take five. You're right about traveling and offensive fouls. They need to be called or they should just put on pads and knock each other silly.

And it's sad that baseball is not as appreciated as it once was. When you get to know the game and know what to watch for, it's truly a thing of beauty.