CARDRUNNERS

so I have been thinking about it for awhile and I decided to bet the celtics to win it all at 3/2. I also really like the spurs team (in a gambling sense not literally) and think that they are the only team who can perhaps beat the celtics. So I leveraged my celtics bet with the spurs to win at 5 to 1. So as long as one wins I take a nice chunk home.  I am a jazz fan having grown up in utah my whole life and I think their team is good they just matchup horribly with the lakers and especially spurs. I really want to get tix to the lakers jazz series because my GF is from california and a lakers fan so we try to go to the games when the lakers are in town. Jazz fans in general hate the lakers much more than any other team for some reason.

Ok so here are some of my thoughts. greg popavitch is probably the 3rd or 4th best coach of all time. #1 and #2 are phil jackson and red auerbach. I never saw auerbach coach im just giving it to him because of the championships. pat riley and greg popavitch you could argue for 3 and 4. I would go with popavitch though because it seems he gets the most out of his  dead or complete randoms and makes them fit his system perfectly. I mean brent barry what did he do his entire career before spurs? nothing. Who had even heard of bowen before he was on the spurs? Another coach who can do this is jerry sloan. being a jazz fan I have seen so many players who were good here like bryon russell howard eisley shannon anderson whom were good here, left for bigger contracts elsewhere and were out of the league in a couple years.

Spurs lakers western conference finals should be a great series, I do like the spurs to win though in 6 games (they will be road team so game 6 will be at home.)

steve nash was probably the most overrated player in the league the last 4 years. He has routinely disappointed in the playoffs. He gets abused by any point guard who has any offensive talent. It was funny watching deron williams just abuse him when the jazz and suns play.  Nash single handlely lost them game 1 when he followed ginobili into the lane even though shaq switched off duncan which is standard in a pick and roll situation where a team needs a three. so he follows manu into the lane where the two doesn't hurt them and leaves tim duncan wiiiiiideeeee open for a game tying three with 3 seconds left. Even though duncan isnt a 3 point shooter the guy is clutch and Id say him wide open like that is a 35-40% shot.

Back to my coaching thoughts though everyone says phil jackson was just so blessed with the players he coached which is definitely true. but it is true of all great coaches. They are considered great because they win championships which takes great players.  auerbach had russell and cousy and no free agency so he kept all those teams together. Riley had magic kareem worthy, ewing, wade and shaq etc. popavitch had duncan robinson manu parker etc. but if you look at the spurs dynasty every time late in a game they always have a perfect play to get someone wide open and thats what a coach should be judged on.

sorry it was such a long post. I went off too long on topics and even forgot some stuff.

oh yeah and boris diaw is probably the worst player who still gets credit for being somewhat decent in the nba.

What are the most popular sports teams?    My friends and I debated this question while watching game 7 of the Bulls-Celtics series.  When I say, "debated," I mean "shouted vigorously."

The debate started when Phil claimed the Bears were the most popular team in America.  The rest of us agreed that the Cowboys were more popular, but that led to a longer discussion of who are the most well known in all sports.

Here are my guesses but a few rules first:
1) How many legitimate fans do they have?
2) Do people in another country know about them?
3) What kind of national exposure do they have?
3) How many people hate them more than any other team? (Weren't the popular kids in HS also the most hated)

MLB:  NY Yankees
           1) They're the favored team in NY, so they have a shit ton of fans.
           2) Go to an H&M in Europe and you'll see Yankees hats for sale, I have a feeling thats because people like the "N" "Y" for New York rather than the baseball team.
           3) iF its not every game they have against the Red Sox on ESPN, or the YES network, i have to read about A-Rod in the tabloids. (if I actually read the tabloids...)
           4) IF you don't love them you hate them.

NFL: Dallas Cowboys
          1) i assume alot based on how many kids bought their pull-over starter jacket in the 4th grade
          2) I'm not sure if anyone outside the US gives a shit about fOOtball
          3) They have more nationally televised games than any other team, and they didnt even make the playoff last year!
          4) If you don't love them you hate them

NHL:  haha, just kidding

NBA:  LA Lakers
          1) 8 million So Calers minus 37 Clippers' fans
          2) China gives this award to the Houston Rockets
          3) more than most
          4) I don't like them and who would ever disagree with me

Taking that flawed logic into account for each sport the winner is.... Tiger Woods... just kidding.  I'm going with the Yankees.  This answer is reasonable if the question is, "which US sports team is the most popular?"  Of course I ignored all the European soccer teams like Manchester United or Real Madrid that are more renowned worldwide than any US sports team.

What are your thoughts?

I love you,
-Matt