Aunt Louise’s Sports Review
Game 2: Cavaliers at the Toronto Raptors October 28, 2009
The following is my 2nd game review. Ever.
Wow, 2 days in a row; I thought they played maybe once a week.
First of all, I’m very humbled by all of your comments. Some of you actually seem to know the game better than the expert, Aunt Louise.
People, let me tell you, writing a blog is a lot more work than I thought. I had intended to review only my specialty, basketball, with particular emphasis on the Cavaliers and the LeBron/Shaq matchup. But alert reader Beth asked for my take on the first game of the World Series, with both starting pitchers former Cleveland Indians. Since I didn’t know they were still playing baseball, I’ve had to re-evaluate my entire blog history, all the way back to yesterday.
But Aunt Louise is a very flexible person, although not physically. So, I’ll be reviewing ALL of the Cleveland sports teams, zeroing in on improving the game, improving the teams, improving is my middle name. Let’s face it, it’s time someone figured out why we haven’t won a title in like a bazillion years. The so called "experts" haven’t done it, so why not Aunt Louise.
So, let us all address alert reader Beth’s question, which I will paraphrase here: why do players who appear to be BIG LOSERS on a Cleveland team become successful players immediately upon being traded to another team? Case in point: these 2 starting pitchers and, very soon, Brady Quinn. Let’s hear your comments so we can figure this out. Please ask anyone/everyone you know to chime in on this one, we’ll need all the help we can get.
I’d also like to respond to a question from faithful reader JoeBlotto: boxing has, and never will be, Aunt Louise’s cup of tea; it’s a brutal, brutal sport. So I can’t comment on your question about boxer Rocky Colavito.
Now, on to my review of the big game: the Cavs vs. the Raptors.
Young people, you’re going to learn something here that my family has known for generations: when something unpleasant happens, just sweep it under the rug and go on with your life, forever dodging and ignoring those lumps and bumps under the rug. Eventually, just get a new rug, but the big point here is to just move on with your life. That’s how Aunt Louise is going to handle last night’s game.
Final score: I’ve forgotten already.
Your comments are always well received.
Aunt Louise
Aunt Louise
ReplyDeleteI'm surprised that someone with your astute financial background has not figured out the problem with the Cleveland sports teams - $$$$$$$.
Both CC and Cliffy were good in Cleveland. They both won awards named after that old guy from Newcomerstown- Cy Young (or was it Woody Hayes?). Anyhow if the Indians could figure out how to charge fans $2000 per ticket like the Yankees they would be able to keep the good players like Manny, Thome, etc and have a good team.
Also you must let us in on your secret. You don't have any rugs to sweep things under.
Believe it or not, I may know even less about basketball than Aunt Louise so I can't offer anything very technical in reply. However, I was in fact a math minor and one of the things mathematics is thought to do for us (or so they claim) is help us develop our logical reasoning ability. That said, I offer the following potentially critical observations.
ReplyDeleteI've noticed over the years that when winners are interviewed following a victory many of the guys on the teams mention that they "came to play." Likewise, I've heard commentators say things like "Boy, they wore their game faces tonight." Since these are comments made after winning, I conclude that some kind of obverse statement must apply to the Cleveland players when they lose. For example, "They must have forgotten their game faces tonight" may be a possibility. Another might be something like "Since they didn't come to play, they must have been confused about the venue - probably thought it was an 'after hours' gettogether."
Aint math amazing?
Doug
Reflecting on my own observation about the 'game face' situation, it further occurred to me that I've stumbled onto something really important. To wit, the players themselves are only tasked with a performance obligation. If the game faces weren't worn, whose problem is that? Seems to me that the person most accountable here is the Equipment Manager. In all the excitement over the new season and - in fairness - all the details that probably have to be handled in getting things going, he may have simply left them in the locker room. On the other hand, shouldn't SOMEBODY have noticed the absence of game faces? For example, the fans themselves might have noticed this dilemma and raised a hew and cry about it. This suggests yet another potential issue. As anyone who has worked in an organization will tell you, "communication" is always a problem. On this point, I would clearly fault the fans. Even a simple note passed anonymously to the bench might have set things straight and avoided the losses in question.
ReplyDeleteDoug