The Sporting News loved the Celtics’ wives

I’ve spent most of the past four months reading about the jump shot, talking about the jump shot and thinking about the jump shot. A few times — when playing with other old guys in northern Manhattan or playing H-O-R-S-E against one of the great streetball shooters in NYC history — I’ve also been shooting jump shots. I’ve loved every moment of it. Reading about the jumper has proven especially enjoyable. I’ve looked through hundreds of old newspaper articles and magazine profiles, features on some of the first players to ever shoot the shot and profiles of some of the best to ever shoot it.

The only problem with all this reading research is I’m easily distracted. While reading about a player from 1942 who pioneered the jump shot I get distracted by a bizarre ad on the same newspaper page or a headline about the U.S. hockey team preparing to take on the hated Commies. Old newspapers employed colorful language, if not layout, the front page hosting 10, 15 stories, same thing with the front page of sports. I often find myself questioning the editorial decisions of people who worked 80 years ago and have probably been dead for 60.

The thrill, and terror, of a comeback

I have no way to prove this. It’s like an alibi no one can verify. I was alone in my apartment. Watching TV. I didn’t say it out loud or tweet it or text my thoughts to anyone. But when the Chiefs went ahead 38-10 against the Colts on Saturday, I had a fleeting thought, something of a vision. I saw the Colts coming back. Maybe it had to do with Andrew Luck’s penchant for rallying his team or the fact there was still so much time left. And when the Colts quickly scored to cut it to 21, I thought, here we go.

Again, this is hardly unique. It’s an absurd notion for anyone to believe they can actually predict something like that because for every rare time it happens, a hundred other times your sterling premonition proves worthless and the team still loses by 24 points.

But while Saturday might have done nothing to prove my football knowledge or clairvoyance, it was another in a not-so-long-line of stunning comebacks that all seem to follow a familiar pattern. And whether you enjoy the outcome or loathe it or are indifferent and only want a crazy ending, there’s nothing like a great rally. It makes us love sports — or hate them.

Long sleeves, short shorts, high socks

With the NBA’s Christmas Day games proving disastrous, at least those involving New York, many people focused on what the players wore instead of what they did in them. The league squeezed the players into new sleeved uniforms, debuting them on the NBA’s marquee day.

Seemingly no one liked them, and they didn’t make any sense, from a design or functional perspective. Before the game, LeBron James mentioned that some of his teammates were concerned that the sleeves would hurt their shooting, a legitimate fear as anyone who’s worn a T-shirt during a pickup game can testify. Extra clothing can restrict the shoulders or even implant something mentally that influences a shot. Not that it ended up bothering Ray Allen, who would shoot 50 percent from the 3-point line in the nude or in gear worn by hikers going up Mount Everest.

Life among the Laker fanatics

At one point last week I spent about 30 minutes arguing with strangers about the effect of Kobe Bryant’s absence from the Lakers. Some thought LA was actually better without him, some wanted him never to return. I pointed out the general ridiculousness of this sentiment — the team was 10-9 before Kobe returned, nice with the talent available and totally average, a pace that, if it continued, would represent one of the worst records in team history. This didn’t happen with a fellow subway rider or with someone holding a sandwich board in Times Square. All of this took place in the comfort of my apartment, as I sat on my couch with my computer on my lap. It was another night spent on LakersGround.net, one of the main messageboards for Lakers fans, and a spot I frequent with alarming regularity.

Guesties: How the West was won

By Rich Jensen
Guest Blogger

Have you seen the NBA standings lately?

If you have, you already know where I’m going with this.

Why is the Eastern Conference so bad?

Well, let’s take a team-by-team and city-by-city look at the Eastern Conference, featuring the tremendous drawbacks of each city along with each team’s attempt to deal with those drawbacks. Because, let’s face it. If you’re a free agent, and you have your choice between Cleveland and Los Angeles. Or San Francisco. Or Portland. Or Denver. Or Dallas… Well, you get the picture…..

Podcast: Kobe, IKEA and baby birthdays

More foolishness on this week’s edition of the TVFury podcast as the guys muddle their way through Kobe’s return, building furniture from IKEA and buying birthday gifts for babies.

We dare you to listen to the full 23 minutes.

Here’s the link.

The flopping files

Just two weeks into the season the NBA’s seen some great moments. Kevin Love’s return to dominance and the Wolves being the most entertaining team in the league. Indiana looking like they can finally knock off Miami. Boston pulling off one of the most improbable comebacks in basketball history, rallying from four down in 3.6 seconds against Miami. The Lakers — totally humiliated in three of their five losses — somehow managing to drill the Clippers on opening night and then beating Dwight Howard and the Rockets in Houston, with a big assist from Howard’s missed free throws.

And maybe the best development? The NBA fining James Harden $5,000 for flopping.

Celtics, Lakers…eh…blech

Last Friday I turned on NBA League Pass and found my way to the Bucks-Celtics game, also known as the game 97 percent of South Dakota residents were following, even those who had previously sworn off the NBA sometime around 1971 because “no one plays defense like they did when Cousy played.” Former South Dakota State standout Nate Wolters plays for Milwaukee now. I tuned in to see how he was doing, but mostly I turned it on because I saw that a big Celtics lead had been cut to nothing late in the game.

Almost immediately I let out a chuckle, as I sat, alone, in my New York City apartment. Who were these people in the Celtics uniforms? Gerald Wallace, yes. And other names you’d recognize: Jeff Green, Brandon Bass, Avery Bradley, Courtney Lee. But Vitor Faverani? Worse, when forming a group of five people to play at once they looked out of sorts, confused and just plain bad; some of them looked oddly shaped in their uniforms. Milwaukee, and Wolters, eventually won and all the while longtime Celtics announcer Tommy Heinsonh bemoaned the fact Boston hadn’t run like earlier in the game. It was fun.

The, uh, magic of NBA opening night

The first games of an NBA season don’t carry the prestige of opening day in baseball or the opening week of the NFL season. There’s nothing poetic about them, no national celebration that includes new songs from our favorite country singers. The start of the NBA season is simply the first chapter in a book that can seem neverending.

Still, it’s always nice to welcome back the league. Answers to the big questions won’t come for months — can the Heat repeat, can Derrick Rose return to form, can Kobe do the same, can the Timberwolves make the playoffs — but there’s always a chance for memorable moments. As the 2014 season begins, a look back at some top opening nights from the past:

Podcast: NBA preview

At long last, the NBA season is (almost) upon us.

TV and Fury take an early look at potential contenders, as well as breaking down another NBA preview podcast.

It’s all very meta.

Here’s the link.