NBA Finals Wrap-up

Well the Finals are over and now our lives get a little less exciting because the only sport left to watch on TV is baseball (which is slowly self-destructing). I haven't posted about sports in a while, so I just wanted to leave a few thoughts I had about the Finals and the NBA in general.

1)I have enjoyed the NBA more this year than any other year. It has passed college football in the race to be my favorite spectator sport. I can't really put my finger on why that is. I think part of it is due to the quality of play and maybe also because I spent more time watching games and reading about it this year than I ever have before.

2)I hate the Lakers. I hate Kobe Bryant. This does not mean that I do not recognize his outstanding athletic abilities and basketball skill, it just means I don't like him. I was really disappointed that the first season of the NBA that I've cared about since my childhood had to end with Kobe hoisting the Larry O'Brien trophy.

3)Can we please stop hearing about how Kobe is so much better now and how he has come to realize how much he needs his teammates, etc. Look at his playoff numbers from last year and look at them from this year. They are EXACTLY the same. He didn't play any better, he just had better help. Do you realize how much better Ariza is than Radmonovich? Not to mention the fact that the Celtics from last year would've killed the Magic from this year. Bill Simmons gets into the nitty gritty of this in his latest column which you can read here.

4)Those Nike MVP (Most Valuable Puppets) commercials with the puppet versions of LeBron and Kobe are classic! Nike marketing does it again. This series of commercials is going to go down as some of the best advertising in history. I especially love the one with Dez:



Is it bad that during the one where the Kobe puppet jumps into the car that I was kinda hoping he'd get nailed by it?

5)Phil Jackson is the greatest coach ever. He takes some of the most difficult personalities (Jordan, Kobe, Rodman, Shaq, etc.) and wins championships with them. It's crazy how successful the guy has been.

6)I'm ready for the NBA Draft to start. I might do a running diary if I can find the time.

New Internship

Two weeks ago I started an internship with the Carolina Railhawks. The Railhawks are a professional soccer team that plays in the United Soccer League. They actually have three different teams: the USL team, a women's team, and an under-23 team. I am working on marketing and sponsorships for the 2008 season. So far it has been a lot of fun. The vice president of marketing for the team is my direct supervisor and it has been neat to get to be involved in the process of lining up sponsorships and preparing for the upcoming season. The first game is an exhibition game this Friday against UNC-Greensboro. The Railhawks also play an exhibition game against the MLS New York Red Bulls at the end of this month. I encourage everyone in the Raleigh area to come check out our games. The team plays at Wake Med Soccer Park which is an awesome facility. They actually held the 2007 NCAA Men's Soccer Finals there.

On a more humorous note, Saturday I went to get my haircut. I had been growing my hair out

for quite a while (since before Christmas) and it was getting pretty long. I dropped Ashley off at a dance competition she was going to and then I went to the "hair stylist." I told them that I needed a little bit of a trim but that I didn't really know what direction I should go with my hair because it can be kind of hard to manage. I told them that I'd like to keep it long but that I needed a style of some sort to keep it in instead of the unkempt mess that it had become. So the "stylist" cuts my hair and me not being one to really care that much, I just paid and left. I pick up Ashley and she starts laughing hysterically. She said I needed to go back and just get the "stylist" buzz it all off because it looked horrible. So I did which didn't bother me that much because I usually keep my hair pretty short anyway and it was only recently that I started growing it out. It was just a funny situation to be it. My hair's pretty lame a

nd it grows faster than pubescent boys.

Oh yeah, one other thing. They announced the brackets for the NCAA Tournament tonight. Carolina supposedly got the "Top Overall Seed." They got hosed if you ask me. Sure they get to play their first two rounds at the RBC Center in Raleigh and if they get past that they'll play the next two rounds in Charlotte but have you seen their bracket? Tennessee and Louisville? Come on! How does the #1 overall seed get the toughest bracket? Then Arizona State beats Arizona twice this year and Arizona gets in and ASU doesn't? That's jacked

up. I'll return later this week with my picks for the Elite Eight, Final Four, and Champions.

The Future

We had an interesting discussion today in Sports Marketing Class on the future of the field. My group was assigned the WNBA. LAME! Their outlook is not so good. Their major opportunities would be to expand to new markets but several teams have folded recently, including the Charlotte Sting.

College football is another interesting one. To me they have the best product, but until they have a playoff system (even if it was just a 4 team playoff) they will not be as successful as they could be. It'll never happen though. The conferences make way too much money off of the bowl games. Maybe if the NCAA was more willing to share some of the profits they make off March Madness, then the conferences would be more willing to let go of the chokehold they have on the BCS System.

Another one we discussed with a not so positive outlook is the Olympics. They have the best media contracts and a worldwide audience but scandals and doping have tainted the achievements of the athletes. I feel like they've kind of oversaturated the Olympics with too many sports too. It seems like when I was a kid they only had half the sports they do now but maybe I was just less aware of the random, obscure sports like ice dancing, curling, rhythmic gymnastics, etc.

Well here's the future of basketball: Derrick Freakin' Rose!!! This guy is incredible!



How can you watch that and not believe that Memphis will be in the Final 4 this year?! Who cares that their Coach is John Callipari, one of the slimiest guys in the business. This kid is the real deal!