Tag Archives: nba

Melo Madness

  By Chris Speziale | 02/23/2011 - 2:55 pm | Musings
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It was written in the stars. Well, it's more like DEMANDED in the stars. Yah, that makes a little more sense.

Well, it finally happened—Carmelo Anthony got traded to the Knicks. And even though this thing has dragged on for months, upon months, upon MONTHS…I’m still extremely intrigued by the whole process. There are three aspects of the trade and its surrounding implications that had me scratching my head.

 

The first issue is the trade itself. The Knicks have been so bad for so long, that a near .500 record had Madison Square Garden in a tizzy. But you need to look at it this way: With that same .500 record they would be out of the playoffs in the West. The Knicks have taken advantage of a very weak Eastern Conference, having won 18 of their 28 games against the bottom dwellers in the East.

 

Now with Melo in the fold, the New York fans are expecting the team to win immediately. And the Knicks are sure to improve, but that improvement aside, they still don’t have the talent or depth to take down one of the East powerhouses, let alone the three they’d need to beat, to make the NBA Finals. What Knick diehards are going to need to come to grips with is that this is still a rebuilding team.

 

New York put all its eggs into the Lebron basket and came out of the sweepstakes with very little to show for it. Now they’ve got some cap space, and they’ve got two fantastic pieces, but as the Celtics (and now the Heat) have proved—it takes three. The general notion in the sporting world is that either Deron Williams or Chris Paul will be joining the team when they hit free agency in 2012, which is all well and good, but it doesn’t lead to winning in the 2010-2011 season. It does, however, lead me to my next point.

 

How is it that we have gotten to the point where players can dictate where and how they get to their next destination? I understand the years of service business, and that players have a right to determine where they want to play, but I’m still confused about how the power to put a team together got taken away from the owners, general managers, and coaches.

Look at what happened in Miami. Look at what ALMOST happened with Chris Paul in New Orleans. And now this with Carmelo. More and more we’re seeing players colluding in back rooms and having secret “summits” to put their own super-teams together. Forgive me if I’m speaking out of turn here, but doesn’t that take ALL the fun out of the off-season? If it’s all predetermined, then what’s the point? My hope is that the new CBA being hammered out by the NBA and the Players Association will address this because it’s truly getting out of hand. If the league isn’t careful they’ll end up with six good teams, in the six good markets, and lousy teams throughout the rest of the country

 

In 2008, the Celtics went out and got Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen to team up with Paul Pierce in Boston. The three amigos turned the Celtics around so dramatically that every team in the NBA is now trying to duplicate it. Here’s the difference: the Celtics front office went out and GOT Allen and KG. There was no posturing from Garnett. Allen didn’t come out and say that he was going to refuse a contract extension from Seattle. Boston made a plan, and then they went out and made it happen.

 

Here’s the part where I sound kind of like a hypocrite. The third aspect of this whole ordeal that caught my attention was that Melo did this completely right! Yes, it’s ridiculous that players are setting themselves up with other players to create incredible teams. But at the same time, Carmelo Anthony did right by his previous organization by letting them know that he had no interest in re-signing. Loosing a superstar to free agency can be brutal for an organization. All I need do is remind you of “The Decision” this past summer.

 

Lebron James was absolutely skewered by the media, the fans, and even the players in some cases. And for leaving the Cavaliers the way he did, he had every reason to be. Now I’m not trying to compare Cleveland to Denver—the Rocky Mountain sports fan has had a LOT more to cheer about lately—but imagine a world where Carmelo keeps his mouth shut until the end of the year and then bolts from Denver to the Big Apple. The Nuggets are stuck rebuilding for the next seven years if that’s the case. Instead, this savvy player sits down with his GM and says, “Get whatever you can for me. I’ve appreciated my time here, but I need to move on.” And they did—Denver got a great haul for Carmelo from New York.

 

What bugs me is the guy is getting roasted for it, and I think it was a classy move. Would it have been even classier for him to say that he’d go to wherever the Nuggets front office could get the best deal? Oh, yah. You bet. But that’s what we should be riding him for. Not for giving his former team—a team that drafted him top-five in the first round in 2003—a chance to get pieces back, but for restricting their options.

 

Melo will take the floor for the first time in a Knicks uniform tonight against the Bucks, and the Garden will surely be electric as they usher in a new era of Knicks basketball. It will certainly be interesting to see how quickly their two stars gel. But while the players get it together on the court, don’t let your eyes stray too far away from the fans, the owners and the media. They all play a huge role in this as well.

 

The Mission: Lower Concession Prices

  By Chris Speziale | 01/08/2010 - 3:31 pm | Mission Statement
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This month I wanted to write about something that has been personally irking me as a sports fan.  I was lucky enough to attend the Bruins/Rangers game at Madison Square Garden earlier this week (because my fiancée is awesome and she got me tickets for Christmas), and I was completely blown away by the price tag that connected itself to the evening.  The tickets were $37 a piece, and the seats were decent, but then we hit the concession stand.  Here’s the final run down: 4 beers, 1 hot dog, 1 order of chicken fingers w/ fries, and a pretzel.  $80 bucks!  And here’s what it costs, per sport, to take a family of 4 to a game:

MLB: $191 ($100 for tickets)

NBA: $293 ($200 for tickets)

NHL: $301 ($200 for tickets)

NFL: $421 ($300 for tickets)

In this era of economic turmoil, that is completely unacceptable.  I understand that sports are a business, and that teams are trying to make money.  But if they continue to jack up prices fans will start to turn their backs, as well they should.  The cost of attendance has been rising steadily at a 3% clip every year, and now we’re being threatened with TV blackouts if fans don’t pony up the dough to go to a game.  I’ve had enough, have you?

Dear Commissioner(s),

My name is Chris Speziale, and I write a blog on ChrisSpez.com.  The blog is centered around fans and the fan experience.  Once a month, I explore an aspect of the sports world that has been bothering fans, write a letter to a person in a position of influence, and then send that letter along with all of the readers’ comments to that person.  This month I’m tackling concession prices at major sports arenas, and I think you can help, which is why you’re receiving this letter.  We’ve had problems with TV blackouts, particularly in the NFL, in areas of the country that have been hit harder by the economic downturn, because broadcasts are tied to ticket sales.  But it’s wrong to assume that the average fan has lost interest in a team because they won’t buy tickets to see them play live; people just don’t have the expendable income.

The average sports fan who takes his family to one NBA, NFL, MLB and NHL game a year will spend almost $1200 dollars.  That’s the equivalent of paying rent for a month in New York City!  And while a large portion of this money will go towards the cost of tickets; that family will still have to spend more than $100 per event on concessions.  For that amount of money you’d expect to receive a pretty nice meal, but unfortunately we’re talking about 4 hot dogs, 2 sodas and 2 beers.  Aside from the loss of television coverage, the incentives for people to attend simply aren’t there.  But even in blackout scenario, it’s become a double-edged sword.  You attend the game at the stadium to fill the stands so that the games can be broadcast on local television.  But if you need to attend the game to get it on TV, how are you going to save money?  You need to be sitting at home on the couch to keep it in your wallet.  It’s unfair; fans are being asked to choose between dropping $400 dollars a game, and missing the game entirely.

Until our economy stabilizes, we may not see the live sporting event make a complete comeback.  But to get us by until then, we could simply lower concession prices.  I realize that the price of food and drink is not a league wide mandate in any of the four major sports, but pressure from the man running the league would help push owners to lower prices.  From there, the domino effect takes over.  Owners look good because fans appreciate the lower prices, and they start to come to games.  As more people push through the turnstiles, fewer games will be blacked out.  Money is then generated through ad and commercial sales on local broadcasts.  It puts money in the owners’ pockets, the leagues coffers, and most importantly, back into the wallets of the fans.  All of this, because you cut the cost of a hot dog at the stadium.

The American sports fan is, and always has been, hungry for quality, family friendly, live sports entertainment.  But our wallets are hungry too, and if the price of food at a game keeps rising, the leagues will be hungry for fans.  Will you help us put pressure on the Owners and GM’s?

Thank you so much for your time,

A Concerned Citizen of Sports Nation

The Mission Statement

  By Chris Speziale | 11/06/2009 - 12:00 pm | Mission Statement
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If the Red Sox won the World Series but no one was there to see it, did it happen?  Picture this.  Keith Foulke is on the mound for the Red Sox, it’s game 4 of the 2004 World Series in St. Louis.  Edgar Renteria steps into the box with a 1-0 count. He takes the next pitch and hits a knubber back to the mound.  Foulke snares it; he is so stunned and excited that he hesitates to throw on to first.  He takes a couple steps towards the bag and flips underhanded to Doug Mientkiewicz.  That’s it.  The Red Sox have just won their first World Series title in 86 years.  BUT! The stands are empty, there are no camera crews, no flash bulbs, no Joe Buck trying to capture the emotions of hundreds of thousands of Boston fans.  It’s just a bunch of guys pouring champagne all over each other in the middle of a baseball field.  Doesn’t sound right, does it? So what conclusion do we draw from this? We face facts: it’s a fans game.  And I’m not just talking about baseball.  The American sports industry would be absolutely nowhere without its fan base.

That one moment on October 27th, 2004 changed the lives of millions of people and sent a riptide through the sports world.  With an unlikely cast of characters, a sometimes wobbly manager, and a 3-0 hole to the Yankees in the ALCS, no one expected them to win.  But they did, and it was the fans who carried them through those last 8 games.  When Dave Roberts stole that base in game 4, we knew something special was about to happen.  On ANY other Red Sox team, in ANY other year, he gets thrown out and the season is over.  But he didn’t and the Sox pulled off one of the most incredible comebacks in the history of sports. And WE did it.  Am I biased?  You bet your ass I am.  The Red Sox are my team.  They have been since I came out of the womb.  I’ve followed them every season since I could comprehend the game.  We, as fans, want to believe that we are a part of this, that we can somehow affect the outcome and push our team to the next level.  We employ truly crazy superstitions, wear rally caps and scream until our lungs bleed, all in the hope that we get to see them in the playoffs. We pour our hearts and souls into these teams.   So why are we getting such a raw deal?  Professional sports are an industry.  I get it.  There is money to be made, and if you have the opportunity to make a buck, why wouldn’t you do it?  Ticket prices are climbing, the media frenzy is increasing, every Tom, Dick or Harry is writing a blog (ironic, isn’t it?) or doing a Podcast.  We are all trying to cash in.  All it’s costing us is our sports identity.

That’s where I come in.  I took a sports broadcasting class this summer led by the immortal Ed Ingles.  He brought in a cast of characters to impart some wisdom on breaking into the sports business.  And they all basically had the same advice: Don’t quit, practice practice practice, and lastly, write.  It was that last one that knocked me for a loop.  I never considered writing; I didn’t think I had the chops, but sports broadcasting is what I want to do.  It’s something I feel like I can be good at.  So what do you write about?  Who will read it?  I thought about this for a long time and I came to this.  Fans will read it.  And so, I will write about the fans.  How do we get that identity back?  Who will fight for it? I don’t have the answers, but I’m hoping to explore these questions, and with your help maybe we can figure something out, come to some sort of arrangement, either with the sport (whichever it may be) or with ourselves.

So what are we going to do here?  I’m glad you asked.  Of course we’re going to talk sports, because a real fan isn’t a fan without knowledge.  But this can be so much more than that.  Along with all those sports posts, on the first Friday of every month you’ll see a story about the fan experience.  We have lots to discuss; whether it be gambling, fantasy sports, announcers, TV blackouts, the disappearance of the NHL, the lack of soccer in America or just plain old ticket prices — we’re going to cover it all.  And I want your feedback.  Each monthly post will be sent along with all your comments, to someone who can make a difference.  For example, the post set for December is about the disappearance of the NHL.  After the lockout ended in 2005 it seemed like the league vanished from TV and sports news shows, but no one seemed to get angry and it continued to get worse.  Now they cover, maybe 10 games nationally all year.  In the 2008-2009 postseason you couldn’t even see the first three rounds on National TV! So, we send the letter along with all your comments to NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman in hopes that he’ll notice the millions of hockey fans aching for more coverage. Will it work? Who knows?  But it’s worth standing up for.  Sports mean so much to us, so why shouldn’t we fight back? The 2004 Boston Red Sox were underdogs just like the fans of today.  Everyone is counting us out, but maybe, just maybe, we can pull off an even bigger comeback.