Saturday, June 21, 2008

Sports, Sports, Sports.....

First off--and totally at randow--hello to all my visitors from Sydney and Melbourne in Australia (or should I do the usual thing and make that, "G'day!"). I hope you enjoyed the blog. Keep coming back!

Congratulations to Kevin Garnett and the Boston Celtics on winning the NBA Championship! KG, as you probably know, played for the Minnesota Timberwolves all of his career until this past year. And for those that have forgotten, the T-Wolves were also the team that originally drafted Ray Allen--only to trade him minutes later for Stephon Marbury. (Yeah, that worked out well.....just another example of the shrewd trading moves the Minnesota franchise has made!)

You may wonder why a Minnesota guy like me would congratulate the Celtics--outside of the KG connection. The truth is that I followed the Celtics long before the Minnesota Timberwolves existed.

Back in the 60's, there wasn't much in the way of great programming on Sunday afternoon TV. 3 of the 4 available channels (there was no cable back then) would have their version of "Meet the Press" and the other channel was probably broadcasting something from Bishop Fulton Sheen. I'd come home from church, change out of my Sunday-go-to-meeting clothes and turn on the TV and start to flip around the dial. (No remotes back then, either. You had to actually change the channel (gasp!) by hand! It's a wonder we survived.....)

The only thing that looked vaguely interesting was the basketball game on CBS. They usually did two games back-to-back on Sundays, so the first game would start fairly early and almost always featured an East Coast team. More often than not, that meant the Boston Celtics. I really wasn't a basketball fan, but for lack of anything better to do, I started to watch those games.

To my total amazement, whenever the Celtics had the ball, I could actually see the plays they were running, as if someone had sat down with a chalkboard and drawn up the X's and O's for me. A game is always more interesting when you understand it, and I started to understand it during those Sunday afternoons. I may not have known what a pick-and-roll was, or a give-and-go, but when the Celtics ran it, I could follow it. I became a Celtic fan then and there.

Over the years, I cheered for John Havlicek and Sam Jones and Bill Russell. Later, it was Larry Bird, Kevin McHale and Robert Parrish. When the Minnesota Timberwolves came into the league, Boston became my second favorite team and I didn't follow them as closely until this past season.

When the Timberwolves traded Kevin Garnett to Boston, the general consensus among the KG fans here was, "Sorry to see him go, but maybe now he has a chance to win a title, 'cause heaven knows it wasn't going to happen here in Minnesota". The T-Wolves management is not viewed with much favor in this town and seem to be known mostly for their bad drafting, bad trades, and for signing marginal players to huge salaries making it impossible to get rid of them via trade. I heard a song parody this past week on the local Sports Talk radio station. It was sung to the tune of "Hey there Delilah" by the Plain White Ts. In this case, it was "Hey there KG", congratulating him on the championship as well as taking some shots at the Timberwolves. One of the lines stated that, "We played last season with you" and likened it to watching your Grandmother sniffing glue and then sitting down to watch "The View". It also stated that Kevin McHale deserved to get a Celtics championship ring since he helped to build the team. Funny stuff.

So KG got his championship, and all his fans here in Minnesota got their wish for him, as well. I daresay he and his lovely wife, Brandi, will be celebrating for quite some time.

After he sleeps for a week, of course. :-)

Congratulations, KG!

No spanking in this post, obviously--unless you count the whuppin' the Celtics put on the Lakers in game 6. Boston spanked them like a naughty girlfriend and sent them crying for their Mama.
Anyway, to make up for it, here's a somewhat more on-topic shot of the Boston Celtics dancers.


16 comments:

Anonymous said...

Are you sure you're from Minnesota, Doc? :-) Any true Minnesotan watched All Star Wrestling on Sunday mornings after church. Filmed in Minneapolis even! Who could ever forget Nick Bockwinkle, The Crusher, The Bruiser, Verne Gagne, and Baron Von Raschke? Pile-drivers, drop kicks, sleeper holds . . . many fine examples of athletic artistry. And real human drama unfolding right before your eyes. Would the champ retain his title this week? Oh the suspense! Now that's a REAL sport. LOL!

Michael said...

Doc, you're being challenged on your Minnesotaness! Better belly up to the bar. Great post and I was also rooting for the Celtics, for a few reasons, some of which are because I like KG and dislike Kobe Bryant. Plus, whenever Gwen's team wins life is so much nicer around the office. Gotta love a hot spanko chick who's a sports fan. And thanks for the pic of the Boston dancers. Gwen never posted one even though I urged her to. ;)

Doc, since Torii Hunter has left the Twins do you also root for the Los Angeles Angels at Anaheim or whatever the hell their name is now? I hope you don't root for my dog-ass Mets because of Johan Santana. They are so underachieving they got a good guy like Willie Randolph fired. The Twins are only 3 and a half games behind the surprising White Sox and ahead of the disappointing Tigers. Would love to see the Twins surprise all the experts and take the division after losing such good players.

Ok, I'll stop bloviating now, Doc.

Michael

Radha said...

Now that KG has his championship, I wish he could he come back to MN! As far as wrestling goes, we still got Jessy the Body, don't we? :)

BTW, have you ever used a lefse maker as a spanking implement?

Tee Hee! I love what the Midwest has to offer!

Radha

Anonymous said...

Radha -how could I forget Ventura? Oh . . . wait . . . I did that on purpose after his stint as governor.

A lefse maker? LOL! Just don't try that with lutefisk. :-)

Hmm . . .suddenly I'm hungry for hotdish and in the mood for Mary Tyler Moore reruns. I'm sure I have a can of cream of mushroom soup around here somewhere!

Dr. Ken said...

Season--my grandparents watched wrestling faithfully when I was growing up. My grandmother absolutely believed it was all real, and would get very upset with the heels, or bad guys. So yes, I remember the wrestlers you mentioned--as well as Mad Dog Vachon and Butcher Vachon, Chris and John Tolos, Lumberjack Tiny Mills, the Mighty Igor, the mysterious Dr. X (first time I saw a figure-4 leg lock) and Billy "Red" Lyons (first time I ever saw what happens when someone reverses a figure-4 leg lock). And who can forget the great feud between The Crusher and The Bruiser and "Handsome" Harley Race and Larry "Pretty Boy" Hennig--the Crusher referred to them as The Dolly Sisters.
Had enough? :-)

Michael--I think I answered the call. No, I don't root for Torii and the Angels or Johann and the Mets. I'm glad if Hunter and Santana do well--good for them--but I have no connection to the teams they went to, unlike my adopting the Celtics as my team when Minnesota didn't have a team.
And Minnesota didn't have a team because the Minneapolis Lakers were sold to Los Angeles, so I always root against the Los Angeles Lakers. :-)

Radha--I actually heard them talking about that possibility on one of the sports talk radio shows--although I'm pretty sure it was all in jest.
I knew you were in the Midwest--are you actually in Minnesota? Just curious...
No, I've never used a lefse maker--I think my hand is enough to do the trick. Have you ever been spanked with lutefisk?
With butter sauce, of course....:-)
I would imagine that they pretty much disintegrate with contact....
Yes, we still have Jesse--and I imagine he's still capable of shaking things up...

Season--Mary Tyler Moore reruns? "A little song/ A little dance...."

Anonymous said...

" . . . a little seltzer down your pants." R.I.P. Chuckles The Clown.

I wonder if they have old wrestling clips online --I have a feeling knowing how to reverse a leg lock might come in handy some day. ;-)

Radha said...

Yes, yes, I'm in the area, just tried to stay low key until now!

Lutefisk, huh? Nope, can't say I have eaten it, let alone been spanked by it. My Krishna is of Norwegian/Swedish descent. I'll ask, but not at the next family gathering. The lutefisk would disintigrate, but the smell, I'm sure, would remain. Ick! :)

Lefse makers are a nice little cultural spanking implement. They can be found at Ace hardware for $5, along with nice little paddles with pretty pictures of women in aprons, with mits holding hot dishes. Even if you prefer hands, these things are nice to see at the end of the aisle at the local hardware store.

from spanking to sports:
I'm surprised at the number of people who don't realize that the Lakers were here in MN. Anytime I talk to a CA person, they insists that they have lakes. Yes, but not ten thousand lakes! Sorry, I am rather snobbish about MN. It's the best place to live - especially for an inter-racial couple.
Radha

Hermione said...

Um.



Sorry, I wanted to comment on your post but I am totally ignorant of all sports that don't involve animals. (No, I'm not including hockey players in that category. I meant the 4-legged ones.)

Hugs anyway,
Hermione - throwing hat up into the air and waving arms at passing Minneapoleons.

P.S. Michael - "bloviating"??

Dr. Ken said...

Season--I bet if you tried YouTube or a similar site you could find wrestling clips. And, y'know, some of them even have spanking in them...

Radha--Depending on how many people read these comments, you can still stay "low key". Your comment on how "we" still have Jesse is what drove me to ask. I think that's wonderful that you and Lord Krishna are in the area. Makes me feel a little less alone here in this big state....

Hermione--"um" is a perfectly legitimate comment... :-) And when I go to work later, I'll wave at Canada....

Michael said...

Radha, I'm a Jersey boy and even I knew that the Lakers were originally located in Minneapolis. They had the great George Mikan, one of the first dominant big men of the NBA. He was so good the league actually changed some rules to try to make him less of a factor.

And Dr. Ken I bet you knew that the Minneapolis Lakers colors were green trimmed with gold, very similar to the Celtics green.

Yes, Hermione, bloviating, to discourse at length in a verbose, pompous or boastful manner. Like I did above about the Minneapolis Lakers. It's an occupational hazard when you spend as much time around Professor O'Neill as I do. And your sport is horses, dressage, right?

Dr. Ken and Season, love that Chuckles the Clown episode on Mary Tyler Moore.

Michael

Anonymous said...

Torii Hunter is playing for Anaheim now? I did not know that. And I have to admit I've rather lost touch with the Twins over the past decade and a half since I moved from Hopkins (formerly West Minneapolis) to So Cal. Anaheim is just a hop, skip and diamond lane down the 57 freeway from my house but I've been to only one game since I've been here.

I do love lefse, Radha, although I never have seen it made, much less noticed what sort of implements are employed in its manufacture. I'm originally from Texas, and thought it was simply a Scandinavian tortilla - tastier and more delicate, of course, but in the same genus - and I had no idea there were such interesting implements involved in its production. I wonder why my Minnesota girlfriends never mentioned the existence of these pretty paddles. Okay, no I don't. *G* But you're right - if there are any natural lakes in Los Angeles County, I have yet to see them.

Dr. Ken? SPANK with lutefisk? I can only surmise you had been at the snowshoe grog when you said such a thing, and you KNOW we don't drink that after the ice clears off Lake Minnetonka. It's summer, for crying out loud! Pop open a nice cold bottle of Grain Belt and settle down, okay?

Season - I just had lunch, but I also could go for a big plate of hotdish. There's nothing more soothing to the soul than canned tuna and boiled noodles, winter or summer, and those LeSeuer petite green peas add the vitamin-rich finishing touch.

And Michael, when you get tired of hanging out in New Jersey you can always move west and teach a course at Normandale Community College - "Bloviating for the Extremely Obnoxious 101," since the student has long since surpassed the master. I can get you a good deal on a condo in Eden Prairie. ;-)

-Dev

Michael said...

See, guys, can Professor O'Neill bloviate or what? Just proved my point. He didn't even pause to take a breath. He has bigger lungs than Pamela Anderson, though I prefer Pam's. Hey, Doc, there's a post for you, Pamela Anderson from her Baywatch Days.

Michael

Anonymous said...

Dev -- yes, the peas are a must! I wonder what makes the Green Giant so Jolly?

Don't forget the crushed Old Dutch potato chips baked on top for a nice crust! :-)

Anonymous said...

Dang! I did forget the crushed Old Dutch potato chips, Season. Wouldn't really be hotdish without them would it, doncha know? *G*

Michael, you need a nap. ;-)

-Dev

Hermione said...

Wow! That is magnificent bloviating, Devlin. Thanks for the definition, Michael. I learned something today; now I can go home!

Yes, dressage was what I competed in, but I love watching 3 day eventing, show jumping and canine agility.

To make that subject pertinent to this blog, did you know that riders are encouraged not to wear underwear beneath their breeches when showing in hunter classes, where form is scored as well as knockdowns? It makes the judges look 'more favourably' on them. I learned that from a male rider, BTW.

Hugs,
Hermione

Dr. Ken said...

Hermione--I always look "more favorably" on women not wearing underwear....:-)