Not to support bad sportsmanship or anything, but doesn’t $25,000 seem like a steep penalty for kicking a water bottle? I think it seems insane, but LeBron James is the guy that got stuck with the fine.
$25,000. That is the approximate value of a Ford F-150.
Now I’m not saying that LeBron James can’t afford it. I am certain that he can. Hell, he might have that much cash on his person, but it is still far too strict a punishment for kicking a bottle of water – especially one that didn’t take out somebody’s eye.
Your discipline system is way out of whack, NBA.
Yes, it was poor sportsmanship. Yes, it was immature. No, players should not be able to get away with childish tantrums on the court, but come on! $25,000? You could buy 50 iPads with that.
Although I cannot imagine what someone would do with 100 telephoto zoom lenses. Hopefully give them to your 100 closest friends or favorite sports bloggers .
*bats eyelashes*
What was I even talking about?
Oh right! This.
I just see $25,000 as too high a price to pay for being a big baby.
Maybe he could just apologize to the guys with the really good seats who got wet.
Or maybe the NBA could capitalize on this and make a killing selling ponchos at Cavaliers games. You know, like they do at Gallagher shows.
The United States has the Super Bowl – you may have heard of it, it has commercials – and the World Series, both with two teams competing the national championship in a specific sport. The world has the Olympics, which I hope I really don’t need to explain because I haven’t had enough coffee yet. But Canada’s day to celebrate a sport that means a lot to so many of its citizens makes it seem like a giant, fun, frozen national field day to this U.S. hockey fan.
It is also at least partially sponsored by Tim Hortons, which I am told has delicious coffee and about which I know nothing else although my Canadian friends talk about it a lot.
The first story that caught my eye today on NHLNet’s all-day Hockey Day coverage featured Irene Bryson, an 81-year old league hockey left-winger who still plays competitively every week. Seriously. I feel like I can’t get off of my couch, much less put on ice skates, and I am 80 minus 41.
Six Canadian teams will compete in three NHL games today. The Montreal Canadiens play the Ottawa Senators, followed by the Vancouver Canucks at the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Edmonton Oilers at the Calgary Flames. But most of those guys are nowhere close to 80.
Donovan McNabb is going to return to Philadelphia. He didn’t sign a new contract. He knows because his psychic told him.
HIS PSYCHIC.
Either she knows a great deal about football or McNabb drew several cards in the cheesesteak arcana.
Mmmm. Cheesesteak.
Okay, but really Donovan McNabb told reporters that he had a really good psychic and she told him that good things were going to happen for him in Philadelphia and he has interpreted that message to mean that he will be playing quarterback for the Eagles again.
I like Donovan McNabb. I hope his psychic does a better job than mine did. I would like to see him stay in Philadelphia.
My name is Jason. I write a blog called Out-Numbered. My best friend has cancer and we both found out that Hockey Heals…
I’ve been going to New York Rangers games with the same buddies for the past 13 years. This year is different. Sometimes life throws you a curve ball. One of those buddies moved away. The other one has Cancer. This year, Opening Night at Madison Square Garden was a date marked on my calendar for all the wrong reasons. Hockey has always been a distraction for us. Through the good times and the bad. This year it was hard to predict who would even be at the game with me. Year after year, we would meet at the seats. The start of each new season brought a sense of hope. That’s the beauty of sports. With each new year, comes a fresh start. With one of my friends hundreds of miles away and the other one battling for his life, Hockey season hardly seemed a priority.
Then I realized that Opening Night was actually more important this year than it has ever been. I spoke to my friend who is sick, during the week leading up to the game. I told him that I’d keep the ticket available for him until the last minute. I knew he’d been feeling awful as of late and it would be tough for him to commit.
“Dude. If you feel up to it, just call me that day. I’d love to see you there on Opening Night.”
He said he can’t make any promises but he’d try his best to make it.
“I want to be there bro. I just don’t know how I’m gonna feel.”
The night before the game, I thought to myself that if my buddy was gonna make it out, then I needed to let him know how important it was to me to have him there. I wanted him to know that it was more than a game.
Adam Graves is a former New York Ranger. He happens to be one of the greatest Blueshirts to ever don the sweater. Adam is still a prominent figure in the organization and is known for his selfless commitment to local philanthropies, as well as, being a stellar human being. I took a chance and sent him an email in the hope that my buddy would indeed make it to the game.
This is what I wrote:
Adam,
I’ve been a Rangers fan my whole life and a season subscriber for 13 years. I’ll be at opening night tomorrow and for many reasons, it will be an emotional night for me. For the past 13 years, myself and two of my best friends have been going to the games together. Lot’s of great times. This year one moved away with his family, so he won’t be going to the games with us. Then a few months ago, the other one found out that he has Cancer. He’s been pretty sick. He had to stop working and he’s lost about 30 lbs. It’s in his stomach, liver and lungs. We’ve known each other since we were 12 and reconnected after years apart in 1994 at MSG of all places during the cup run. We’ve been going to the games together ever since. Obviously because of his health, it’s impossible for him to commit to the games this year. This leaves me with an empty seat on most nights. There’s not a day that goes by that I don’t think of my buddy and the battle he’s having right now. We both have little kids and stuff like this really hits you in the heart. His health is obviously bigger than any game but The Blueshirts have always bonded us through the years. I spoke to him yesterday and he said he’s going to do whatever he can to get to opening night tomorrow. I’m hoping he feels up to it. I know it’s last minute but I was hoping that if he made it to the game with me, there might be some way you could arrange to have some sort of meet and greet or special experience, no matter how simple, for him before or after the game. I’m not sure how many of these he’ll get to see in the coming months and something tells me that if I can, I should try and make it a special night for him. I understand if you’re too busy. I know you probably get 100′s of these a week. I just thought I’d give it a shot.
Respect,
Jason
The morning of the game, I received a call on my cell phone. It was Adam Graves. He asked how my friend was feeling and if I thought he’d make it to Opening Night. I told him that as of yesterday, he planned on coming. Adam said he would send someone to our seats to get us during the game. He said that he reserved a private sky box for us to watch a period with him. Just the three of us. I was blown away by his kindness. I had goosebumps.
My buddy made it out that night and we saw our beloved Rangers beat the Ottawa Senators 5-2. We also spent about 40 minutes shooting the shit with one of our heroes. My buddy cried when he realized that Adam and I arranged the whole night for him. I cried too. Everyone always asks me why Hockey is so important to me. Everyone always wants to know why I get so crazy over a Rangers win or a loss.
The answer couldn’t be clearer. Hockey heals. Sometimes heroes really make a difference.
On Opening Night 2009, I was not Out-Numbered. I was overwhelmed…
If you or anyone you know or love has a child that has been affected by Cancer or any other crisis, please consider supporting The Garden of Dreams Foundation. Garden of Dreams is a non-profit charity that works closely with all areas of Madison Square Garden, “to make dreams come true for kids in crisis”. In the two years since its inception, Garden of Dreams has worked tirelessly to fulfill its mission by creating unique and unforgettable events and activities -often involving unprecedented access to Madison Square Garden celebrities, events and venues -that have brightened the lives of thousands and thousands of special children and their families.
I have started a page via Out-Numbered to raise money for this amazing organization. Please help me reach my goal. You can donate by clicking the link here or by clicking on the First Giving widget below this post or on the right side of this page.
There’s something in the Gatorade in Olathe, Kansas, because two people have made two seemingly IMPOSSIBLE shots on Olathe High School’s basketball court.
The first was by Joel Branstrom, the coach for Olathe’s girls’ basketball team. He made a bet with the student body that if he made a basket from mid-court, while blindfolded, he would win tickets to the Final Four. The students decided to play a prank on Branstrom: they would cheer when he would, of course, miss the shot and make him think he had won. This would work out well because there were, in fact, no tickets to be had.
The only kink in this plan? Branstrom made the shot.
The students made up for the prank by giving their super-human coach a gift certificate to a Mexican restaurant. (In Kansas? Uh, no thanks). Fortunately, since the story has gone national, there have been offers to donate the tickets.
What makes this story even weirder is that a Kansas City, Missouri, reporter who was on location to report on the freak basket added some color to his commentary by tossing a basketball over his head, in a not-at-all serious attempt to make a backward basket.
He made the shot. No, really. And check out his face when the other people there tell him that he made it. He can’t believe it.
I think I’ve made a total of two baskets in my entire life. Maybe it’s time for me to pay Olathe a visit.
it seems insane, but LeBron James is the guy that got stuck with the fine.
There’s something in the Gatorade in Olathe, Kansas, because two people have made two seemingly IMPOSSIBLE shots on Olathe High School’s basketball court.
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