Sports Stuff
When the World Series ends, we enter a bit of a sports purgatory. With only early-season NBA games, mid-season, overhyped NFL games, and a few tantalizing Champions League Group Stage games mixed in with travel to far parts of the earth for ties against teams with unrecognizable accents, November and early-December sports are hard to rally for.
Hallelujah - it's the end of December! That means Bowl Games, relevant NFL games, playoff-preview matchups in the NBA, and Boxing Day soccer (plus the impending Transfer Window). Given the return of meaningful sports, I dig into some of the best stories I've seen recently:
Memes Become Real
The NBA's surge in popularity compared to the NFL's downward trend is probably due to innumerable factors (shifting demographics, TV deals, barriers to entry, on-field product, off-field controversies, etc.). I would argue the most subtle yet compelling reason for this shift is the players and the access we as fans have to them. More than any professional league in this country, the NBA has capitalized on their most valuable asset - the athletes - and truly embraced their creative spirits. By embracing and allowing for the full power of social media, NBA athletes have more freedom to express themselves, and therefore feel human and relatable to fans. This is not the space to drag the NFL (more on that later), but rather to commend the NBA for freeing their stars and for inadvertently creating my favorite byproduct of NBA 2.0:
Pettiness
All of that set-up for the most childish, disrespectful, and downright wonderful fashion statement of the NBA's Christmas games. It wasn't the lack of Nike-produced Christmas jerseys (missed opportunity), nor a Russell Westbrook/Chris Paul clutch collaboration. No - it was Draymond Green alpha-dog assertion in rocking Arthur-adorned sneakers - a clear shot at LeBron James' passive-aggressive memeing from the earlier in the year.
Damn! Disrespectful.
The cherry on top of the cupcake was Green's postgame press conference in which he denied knowingly wearing the shoes and then seemingly stumbled into why James would take offense. We've reached levels of sarcasm and pettiness the President* dreams he could achieve.
This is far from the first time a meme-related incident has leapt from the Internet to the basketball world. Maximum pettiness is entertainment gold in this social media driven league. But this may be the first time that memery has knowingly spilled onto the court. Draymond taking NBA pettiness to new heights on the day meant for family, giving, and celebration. Bravo!
Man, are we suckers for some drama and some extracurriculars. Even in a sporting moment where Steph Curry regularly hits 50-foot shots, LeBron defies age for the best season of his career, and a new breed of unicorns is taking over the league, the NBA is truly thriving because of the shit talk, the personalities, the trades, the DMs, the subreddits, the WAGs, the kids, the fashion, the politics, the curses, and most certainly the memes. Though players aren't brawling in the stands anymore or bringing guns into the locker rooms, this new brand of entertainment is as focused on the subplots and the side-eyes as it is on the dunks, 3s, and blocks. Like WWE but real. You can't look away because at any moment Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook might get tied up, Kristaps Porzingis may leave a New York club, or Kyrie Irving may disprove commonly held beliefs curvature of the earth. The Internet hits the court. And we're definitely here for all of it.
Shit talk from Shit talker's mouth
Draymond Green Would Like a Word (or 1,000) - GQ - love him or hate him, he has a point of view that anyone with an ounce of competitive juice will recognize. One of the best athlete profiles I read this year.
Nike Is still figuring it out
Nike does a lot of things well. Its early days as the official producer of the NBA's jerseys has not turned out to be one of those things. Ripped jerseys (requiring expert testimony) is not a great first impression.
The latest launch of the full slate of "City" jerseys yields mixed results in terms of aesthetics (The Ringer nails the analysis more than I ever could). While passable in spurts, I would argue that the "City" theme is an awkward direction for the new outfitters: one that doesn't cohere with the direction of the modern NBA. More than other sports at the moment, the NBA is a community of shared teams, stars, and experiences. Fans are tribal and most likely loyal to their home team, but the interest in the league and its players as a collective unit is higher overall than other professional leagues (just look at global interest). Probably due in large part to social media.
I think Nike could have celebrated the collective spirit of the NBA rather than the hyper-targeted, exclusive, localized, yet somehow generic, motifs they chose. Let the players or influential local artists design them. Plus this:
Regardless, it's just one jersey alternate. Nike will make more. Nike will sell millions.
Should the NFL Legalize Gambling?
As previously mentioned, the NFL is going through a rough patch in terms of ratings and surrounding narrative. The league has been pretty reliable at doing exactly the wrong thing at every juncture (e.g. Roger Goddell) and I believe their shortsightedness on some issues could prove fatal in the long run.
One of the smarter moves I believe the NFL should, and I believe actually will, make is in regards to legalizing betting. The issue is gaining traction in some state legislatures and now the Supreme Court, and with the league's proclivity for cashing in at every opportunity, this seems like a win-win for the league and fans. (Players be damned. A story for another time).
Dan Steinberg breaks down the argument for gambling as the NFL's savior via a Ted Leonsis blog post - Ted Leonsis: Legalized gambling is ‘the only thing that will save the NFL’ - Washington Post
Speaking of...
Nevada sportsbooks lost millions on the Astros winning the World Series, and we attempt to feel sorry for them - The Comeback
...And finally
The press had a year in the spotlight for both good and bad reasons. Sports media was no exception. I fully rebuke everything negative said about the integrity and place of journalism in our society (really shouldn't have to say this in 2017). That being said, there is nothing more glorious than a sports fan telling an antagonistic tabloid to fuck off.
Liverpool fan with cancer tells the Sun newspaper he would rather have another round of chemo than have the paper report on his story - Awful Announcing
What a wonderful send off.
Happy New Years.