Russ Granik: One "Hall" of a Choice

SPRINGFIELD, Mass - September, 7, 2013 -- The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame will induct its Class of 2013. Included in the diverse group of players, coaches and contributors to the game are five "direct elect" Hall of Famers, in ABA great Roger Brown, little-known basketball pioneer Edward Henderson, NBA Veterans committee electee Richie Guerin and International great Oscar Schmidt. In addition, the rightful inclusion and the Hall of Fame's recognition of former NBA Deputy Commissioner Russ Granik is a wonderful message for the many behind-the-scenes contributors to the global game of basketball.

Granik helped build the court of dreams, the NBA

At times, players and media criticize the inclusion to the Hall for non-players of the game. The question arises when referees or executives are named to the hallowed Hall, and the questions often come with a streak of venom and unfounded criticism. At issue is a simple question, really. Should the Hall be for players only?  Should alll others, including coaches like Red Auerbach, refs like Earl Strom or Mendy Rudolph, contributors like league and team officials such as 24-second clock inventor and Syracuse Nationals owner Danny Biasone or the NBA's first Commissioner Maurice Podoloff, be designated for the same treatment as the media - a seperate wing?

I say no and I can highlight Granik as the reason why.

Granik's official Hall of Fame bio hints at the amazing impact he made.

"One of the most influential contributors to the game of basketball. Granik spent 30 years in the NBA league office starting as a staff attorney in 1976 and finishing his NBA career as the Deputy Commissioner and Chief Operating Officer. He was involved in every major negotiation in the NBA from 1980 to 2005 including television contracts, collective bargaining and league expansion. Overseeing the expansion of the game into the international realm as a key figure in working out the details of professionals (NBA players) competing in the 1992 Olympic Games and subsequent international competitions. He was the NBA’s chief negotiator on four collective bargaining agreements and has served as NBA Executive Vice President (1984-90), Vice President of USA Basketball (1989-96) and President of USA Basketball (1996-2000). He was also the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Chairman of the Board (2003-2007). In 2005, he received USA Basketball’s Edward S. Steitz Award," it says.

The bio just hints at the significance of such a key contributor to the game of basketball. 

Why?

Russ Granik was a quiet, but powerful workhorse behind the meteoric rise of the NBA to global prominence in the 1990s. Most importantly, he was a champion for every level of the game of basketball.  While his accolades and biography list major NBA contributions such as his negotiations of record-setting TV deals, resolved labor stalemates which resulted in trend-setting, progressive Collective Bargaining and Anti-Drug Agreements with the NBA's players, Granik's most significant contributions resulted from his work with the NCAAs, FIBA, the international governing body of basketball, global leagues, federations, Euroleague Basketball, and, most importantly, USA Basketball. 

Under Granik's watch, seemingly unresolvable problems with regard to mending fences, unraveling "red-tape," and creating consensus for the betterment of the overall game of basketball became everyday by-products of a career built on creating goodwill, strong relationships and dealing with people as one would like to be dealt with during a negotiation. That as a professional, a person who is respected and treats people with respect. In essence, Granik is a thoroughly decent human being and he treats his constituents with equal respect. Granik walked softly but carried a resume that could literally part a Sea of Red Tape and, unlike many who only barked of problems while surfacing and creating more problems, Granik would grab a No. 2 pencil, a phone and call upon years of goodwill to resolve most problems before anyone else knew they even existed.

His work in building the NBA-FIBA player pacts, his early recognition of powerful allies with the likes of FIBA Secretary General Borislav Stankovic, the late Coach Alexander Gomelski of Russia and BIG EAST Commissioner/NCAA veep/USA Basketball power-broker (the late) Dave Gavitt, might've earned him induction on its own. Certainly, without Granik's hard work, negotiating skills and willingness to give and take just the right amount, allowed for (former) Eastern Bloc European players such as Drazen Petrovic of Croatia (then Yugoslavia), Sarunas Marciulionis of Lithuania (then of the USSR) and Aleksander "Sascha" Volkov of the Ukraine (then of the USSR) to be the first true NBA global ambassadors, coming to America complete with a bevy of gold and silver Olympic medals but with "game" and a "take it to the hoop" approach never seen before on the international basketball scene.

At the time, the NBA had its Georgi Gluchkov of Bulgaria and long had Henry "Hank" Biasetti, a Canadian player of Italian descent who actually suited up in the NBA's very first game ever, an epic bout between the New York Knickerbockers and the Toronto Huskies in the way back machine that was 1946. But, the league - much because of Granik - was quickly thrust into a modern day model for immigration and exportation for talented ballplayers who wanted to travel to find a good game of hoops. While some may call it a theoretical jump, without Granik's work, the Petrovic/Marciulionis/Volkov era internationals would've been sitting in their rocking chairs wondering if they could've ever driven the lane to challenge the likes of Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson or Larry Bird. The confidence instilled upon a legion of countrymen and Euro-Latin-Australian-Asian counterparts might never have gathered the confidence to say, "Yes, I can do that."

The result might've put Dirk Nowitzki in goal for the German Bundesleague F.C., it might've made Manu Ginobili a striker, Tim Duncan a swimmer or Yao Ming rocket scientist, instead of a Houston Rocket all-star center. And, that, would've been a shame.

1972: Three Second VIOLATION...

Chris Sheridan of ESPN.com has two stories on the USA vs Russia quarter-final match-up at the Men's World Championship in Istanbul, one a preview and the other 'stirring the pot' with USA reaction to Russian Coach David Blatt's view on the '72 Olympic basketball injustice.

Blatt's comments on '72 to ESPN.com: "I hate to say it as an American, but it looks like the Russians were right," Blatt said of the Soviet Union's controversial victory in the gold-medal game at the 1972 Munich Olympics, when the final three seconds were replayed three times, with the United States losing for the first time ever in a major international competition after 63 consecutive wins. "The American team was not cheated. Funny things happened, but in reality it was fair. It was fair."

Coach K's reax as told to Chris Sheridan: You know, he coaches the Russian team, so he probably has that viewpoint, and his eyes are clearer now because there are no tears in them," Krzyzewski said. "So, it's great. Whatever he thinks, he thinks. It really has absolutely no bearing on what we're trying to do tomorrow. Absolutely none. Our bearing is how we guard [Anton] Ponkrashov at point when he comes in, how we defend [Timofey] Mozgov and [Sasha] Kaun inside, that we don't let [Sergei] Monia get shots. That's our goal, so that's what our focus will be. And we've addressed that that game was played 38 years ago, and five of these guys are 21. So I don't think they remember it as well."

For the record, when this story comes up, people can talk and watch video until the cows come home, but the central issue is the actions taken by William Jones.  There is no place for Jones to be anywhere near the court of play.  Case closed. Over and done.  USA would have the medal.

See Sheridan and my quick search and paste on William Jones down below and click HERE to review the controversial finish.

Renato William Jones (October 5, 1906 in Rome, Italy – April 22, 1981 in Munich, Germany), also known as R. William, or simply William Jones, was a popularizer of basketball in Europe and in Asia. He holds an honorary doctorate from Springfield College.

He was one of the founding fathers of the Fédération Internationale de Basketball Amateur (FIBA) in 1932 and served as the first Secretary-General from 1932 until 1976. From 1932 he was eager to convince the IOC that an Olympic tournament should be organized in the 1936 Berlin Olympic Games. After the International Handball Federation (IAHF) renounced on its responsibility for basketball in 1934, FIBA was accepted as autonomous body by IOC and the Berlin tourney could be held under Jones' supervision. Later, he was made secretary general of the International Council of Sport and Physical Education in 1958.

He was elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1964, FIBA Hall of Fame in 2007 and also as patron of the Amateur Basketball Association of England in 1973.

He is perhaps most widely known for his decision at the 1972 Olympic Basketball Final, where the United States was facing the Soviet Union and had won the game 50-49, to order the officials to put 3 seconds back on the clock for a clock malfunction, allowing the Soviet team to score and win 51-50. Jones had no authority to make a ruling during a game, but his power in the sport was such that the officials complied with the order.He was controversially quoted later as saying "The Americans have to learn how to lose, even when they think they are right."

 The Associated Press' Brian Mahoney wrote a follow-up to the story on Russian Coach Blatt.  Mahoney was able to obtain additional comments from NBA Senior VP Mike Bantom, a member of the 1972 US Olympic team.

Here is the key portion of Brian's story:

NBA executive Mike Bantom, who played for that U.S. team, said he wasn't surprised "that someone employed by the Russian Federation might have a Russian perspective right about now, but I don't think it changes anything."
"We know how wrong it was, what happened there," Bantom told the Associated Press after watching U.S. practice Wednesday. "You watch a film, or you hear reports, you can debate whether or not it was right or wrong. But if you lived it, and you were there, you know that it was wrong what happened."

The U.S. plays Russia on Thursday in the quarterfinals of the world championship on the 38th anniversary of the Soviets' 51-50 victory in Munich. The Americans appeared to have won the game twice, but the Soviets were given a third chance and made the winning basket.
Believing they were cheated, the Americans never accepted their silver medals.
"There's a wonderful film about that, and I hate to say it as an American, but it looks like the Russians were right. The American team was not cheated," Blatt said Monday. "Funny things happened, but in reality it was fair."

Blatt was likely referring to the HBO documentary about the game, :03 from Gold, which Bantom appears in and said he saw. The film shows the confusion that created the multiple do-overs before Aleksander Belov's winning shot.
"You can arrange film to make a lot of things seem that there's some doubt," said Bantom, the NBA's senior vice president of player development. "There was no doubt how that went down."
The Americans had taken a one-point lead on Doug Collins' free throws with 3 seconds left, and seemed to have won when the Soviets inbounded and didn't score.

But the Soviets claimed they'd called timeout, and an official had whistled for play to stop when he saw a disturbance near the scorer's table. Time was put back on the clock, and again the Americans celebrated as the Soviets failed to score after inbounding.
More confusion followed because the clock was still being reset when the ball was put in play. Given a third chance when FIBA's secretary general ordered the final 3 seconds replayed, the Soviets won when Belov caught a long pass over two U.S. players and scored. FIBA denied the appeal of the Americans, who had their 63-game Olympic winning streak snapped and voted unanimously to decline the silver medals. Bantom isn't surprised that none of his teammates has ever decided he wants the medal.

"I don't care how it was depicted in the film," he said. "It was wrong and we felt it was wrong and we stuck by our feelings.
"First of all, all those things about the clock and all that was not known at the time. The referees were handling that game. It was not handled by the clock and what was going on. We were told to play, and we played, and the results of what went on on that court were overturned, and that's not how the game of basketball is decided."

Hey Mate - Check...

With the tip of the hat to ESPN's (Insider) Chris Sheridan for his story with a similar train of thought, here's the underlying news of the first three-days of the FIBA World Championship 2010:

1. Rock-hard slippery new basketballs...not a pre-bounced, broken-in ball in sight:  -> (Check)

2. FIBA decals newly applied to floor to make them resemble the ice rink at Vancouver 2010: -> (Check)

3. Officiating crews who have never worked together and don't speak the same languages: -> (Check)

4. TV announcers explaining "the USA doesn't value the Worlds as they do the Olympics: -> (Check)

5. First time US media attendees comparing European fans to those at Cameron Indoor: -> (Check)

6. Some veteran media type, stating "the rest of the world has caught-up to USA: -> (Check)  -- That statement made despite fact: USA lost to USSR in '72 (unfair); USA lost to Brazil in Pan Am Games @Indianapolis in '87; USA lost many a time with top collegians in likes of World University Games -- 4 of last five WUGs since 2001; Never mind senior team struggles in 2002 Worlds @ Indy and Bronze medals in Athens ('04) and Saitama, Japan ('06).

   At least one American media type moronically will declare: "We should send the college kids."

7. TV announcers reacting to US problems defending opponents' pick n' roll as though it is first time the USA's NBA players have ever seen the play ... (I seem to remember that Stockton and Malone ran it pretty well vs NBA defenses for a while). -> (Check)

8. Wacky schedules where teams play 5 games in six days, then have a 3-day break before next round.

(If USA ends up #1 in their group, they are off Sept. 3-4-5th). -> (Check)

9. Trying to find the USA games on TV and shuttling between the likes of: ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN Classic, NBA TV and ESPN3 online. -> (Check)

10. And, my favorite:  The unfounded and inaccurate rumors that some teams/players in the tournament are tested for drugs insinuating that others are not.

See:

ISTANBUL -- Basketball's governing body says more than 100 random drug tests will be conducted at the world championship, its largest program ever.

Patrick Baumann, FIBA's secretary general, says 48 players, two from each team, have been tested and there will be at least 60 tests more during the tournament through Sept. 12.

Baumann says he hopes this can "banish the myth that some teams are not tested," adding that "everybody is treated exactly the same and there are no exceptions."

FIBA has been conducting random drug tests since 1990.

*Baumann also says Monday that FIBA hopes to increase the world championship from 24 to 32 teams, and the Olympics from 12 to 16.

I can assure you - and I've seen it with my own eyes - that the NBA players on the USA team and other teams have been tested (at random) at every tournament that I attended, starting with the '92 Olympics in Barcelona. In '96, right in Atlanta, players missed the gold medal celebration because they were escorted away from our locker to the anti-doping areas.  In 2000, our players were often tested 4 or more players at a time in Australia - before, during and after the Gold Medal. In 2004, it took Dwyane Wade a whole other game -- which was a barn-burner and decisive medal round deciding game between Serbia vs China -- to take his test, if you know what I mean.  

The insinuation that the USA or NBA players were treated differently always made me laugh at the un-informed media who put forth the rumors - usually media that were NOT in attendance at the tournament.

Ramble On ...

Every time a pro sports league starts a game a second past 8pm ET, every single sports TV columnist on the eastern seaboard screams bloody murder that the professional sports gurus are only in it for the almighty buck. The naysayers claim that the television executives in search of higher ratings have ruined modern civilization.

Of course, when the NBA tipped Game 7 of the Eastern Conference semifinals between Boston and Cleveland last Sunday at 3:30pm, not a word was spoken or written about the early Eastern-time-zone-friendly start. The kids could see the game and all was well, but not a single columnist made note of it.

Instead, all I heard was criticism of the NBA schedule maker. "How come it's not on in primetime? How can the NBA risk having two Game 7s on a Monday night? Mike Francesa of WFAN ranted on THREE TIMES in a span of about 45 minutes, stating the SAME EXACT THING over and over again. "The NBA should have the Celtics on Saturday night at 8pm, then a doubleheader on Sunday with the two Game 7s at 5:30pm and 8pm," he said on his afternoon drive last Wednesday.

I contend, "No matter what time you start a game, you screw some kid somewhere."

For instance, a little kid in Paris would benefit from an 11pm EDT, 8pm PDT start as he or she could wake up early at 5AM in France and watch the game live.

On a slight tangent, it always amazed me that sports TV critics and some fans criticize the TV execs for trying to sell their souls, schedule and alter programming, manipulate the game schedule - ALL to GET better TV ratings. Well, doesn't that equate to getting the game on at a time when the MOST people can view it? Isn't that the overall goal, to please the MOST people?

***

This Andy Katz column on ESPN.com caught my eye. It frames the upcoming summer for Coach K and the USA Olympic basketball team:

Coach K juggling Duke shake-up, Olympic team as he goes for gold

By Andy Katz

Last week's ACC meetings in Florida had to get cut from Mike Krzyzewski's schedule.
Something had to give during an offseason that will end up being the busiest, most pressure-packed and easily most disruptive for Krzyzewski in years.

Within the past month, Krzyzewski said goodbye to his former player, longtime trusted top assistant Johnny Dawkins, who took the Stanford job. And then Krzyzewski had to reshuffle a coaching staff that will have three new faces in three new positions.

Krzyzewski saw one top reserve (Taylor King) transfer (to Villanova), but he picked up a steal of a late-spring recruit in 6-foot-10 Miles Plumlee, a one-time Stanford signee who got out of his commitment after Trent Johnson went to LSU.

Mike Krzyzewski has to juggle a coaching staff in new positions as well as the big expectations of the Olympic team this summer.

That's just at Duke. That doesn't even account for the Olympic team, an overriding but welcomed burden that hovers over him.
Instead of the ACC meetings, Krzyzewski spent a few days in Phoenix meeting with USA Basketball managing director Jerry Colangelo and the Olympic team's coaching staff. He has had to pick and choose his spots on when to call the players on the Olympic roster during the NBA playoffs. He is preparing for a minicamp next month. And he's focusing his thought process on the one and only goal for the end of this three-year commitment -- a gold medal in Beijing.

"With all the stuff going on, with my staff, I had a few balls to juggle," Krzyzewski said. "It's all in place now. I don't have much time. It all has got to be done right because it can't linger. I don't have much time."

And that little time will be spent primarily with USA Basketball this summer. Right now, USA Basketball lists 33 names on its men's national team roster. Colangelo and Krzyzewski have to narrow that down to the final 12 who will lead the United States.
"It'll be some tough choices; there are more deserving players for us than just 12," Krzyzewski said. "We've had so many great responses for players who want to be a part of it for the right reasons."

Dwyane Wade's status is uncertain because he was injured for a significant time this past season. (He played in only 51 games.) Wade played for the national team two years ago in the world championship, in which the team won a bronze, but not last summer in the Tournament of the Americas, which the U.S. team won.

Kobe Bryant (L.A. Lakers), LeBron James (Cleveland) and Dwight Howard (Orlando) are all must-have players, Krzyzewski said. The rest of the team will be decided on those who best complement the key players.
"We've got to balance out who they are now and who they were then, because there are guys who have gotten better," Krzyzewski said. The only players who have played in both 2006 and 2007 are James, Howard and Carmelo Anthony (Denver). The emergence of point guards Chris Paul (New Orleans) and Deron Williams (Utah), both on the 2007 team but not the 2006 team, would seem to make them favorites to be on the final 12 this summer.
Krzyzewski said that the plan is to have the team decided by the time it arrives at the Las Vegas training camp on June 30.

The Americans will start practicing in Las Vegas on July 20. They will play five exhibition games overseas before they start playing in Beijing on Aug. 10. Lost amid Krzyzewski's Olympic plans was the disruption to his Duke staff.

Krzyzewski said he wasn't surprised that Dawkins took the Stanford job. Krzyzewski, who insisted he's not ready to retire, said the two had talked about Dawkins becoming a head coach the past few years.

After Dawkins left and took Mike Schrage (the director of basketball operations), the first thing Krzyzewski did was bump Chris Collins and Steve Wojciechowski up to co-associate head coaches. Then he hired Nate James, a former player, to fill Dawkins' spot. Krzyzewski promoted Chris Spatola, a former Army player and his son-in-law, as director of basketball operations. Former Duke player Chris Carrawell moved into Spatola's previous spot as graduate assistant/head team manager so Krzyzewski could "teach him how to be a coach."

Collins and Wojciechowski are part of the extended USA Basketball coaching staff. So bumping up James to an assistant coach will leave at least one of the Duke assistants back in Durham during the summer to oversee the program.
Once the Olympics start, Krzyzewski's family will go to China, leaving James and Carrawell behind to monitor the current players.

A year ago, that could have been a problem. The Blue Devils were a bit bruised mentally, coming off a first-round loss in the 2007 NCAA tournament to VCU. They were still a relatively untested and young team. But now, even though Duke lost in the second round of the NCAAs to West Virginia, its surprising 13-3 finish in the ACC and 28-6 overall record has Krzyzewski beaming about next season's team.

Sure, DeMarcus Nelson is gone. But the return of inside-out scorer Kyle Singler, potential breakout player Gerald Henderson and guards Jon Scheyer and Greg Paulus give Krzyzewski experienced leaders. That quartet, along with guard Nolan Smith, and forwards Lance Thomas, Brian Zoubek and David McClure, and the expected contributions from Plumlee, shooting guard Elliot Williams and forward Olek Czyz in the freshman class, have Krzyzewski pumped about next season.

"I feel really good about the program, and me and Duke," he said. "I'm very excited. We finally have experience coming back. We'll have a deep team. We had a chance to be very good, and our kids were very good this year."

***

Congratulations are in order for USA Basketball President Val Ackerman, a former colleague of mine at the NBA and WNBA. Read on from the official FIBA and IOC release with ne thing in mind: Val deserves the honor.

Valerie Ackerman, member of the FIBA Central Board and President of USA Basketball, has received the ‘Women and Sport Achievement Diploma’ from International Olympic Committee President Dr. Jacques Rogge in recognition of her outstanding contribution in promoting the development and participation of women and girls in sport.

“This is an extraordinary and unexpected honor, and I am deeply grateful to the International Olympic Committee for this recognition,” said Val Ackerman. “Women have made great strides in sports over the past few decades, and the IOC, through the unrivaled strength of the Olympic platform, has played a major role in showcasing the tremendous achievements of the world’s finest female athletes. With the sustained efforts of all concerned, I am certain that the contributions of women at all levels of sport, both in the playing arena and at the executive level, will only multiply, and I look forward to seeing the sport of basketball continue to help lead the way.”

In May 2005 Valerie Ackerman became the first female President of USA Basketball for the 2005-2008 term of office. Ackerman played professional basketball in France for one season. Starting in 1988, she served as a staff attorney for the National Basketball Association and as special assistant to NBA Commissioner David Stern. From 1995 to 1996, she was a driving force behind the creation of the historic USA Basketball Women’s Senior National Team program that culminated with a 60-0 record and the gold medal at the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games. In 1996, Val Ackerman was named President of the WNBA. Over the course of her historic term, Ackerman would become the first women ever to successfully launch a women's team-oriented sports league in the USA.

Tough crowd up in the Buffalo-Toronto-Ontario region. Check out this item comparing the Sabres and the National Lacrosse league champion Buffalo Bandits:

St. Catharines (Ontario) Standard
Pro lacrosse gives fans bang for their buck
Posted By DAN DAKIN

Turns out Buffalo can win something. Who knew?
That's right, the Buffalo Bandits finally gave the oft-dejected
Western New York sports fans something to cheer about Saturday night
when they beat the Portland LumberJax 14-13 in the National Lacrosse
League championship game.
Did it make up for decades of losing everything there was to lose?
Probably not, but it was pretty exciting anyway.
Truthfully, the Bandits did win an NLL championship in 1996 and two
more in the early 1990s, but that was forgotten long ago in this city.
Maybe some day in the next 20 or 30 years the Bills or Sabres will win
something, but for now the Bandits will have to do. And you know
something? I'm almost happy it's the Bandits outshining their more
popular siblings.

Let's face it, they may play in the same building and share the same
owner, but the Bandits and Sabres are worlds apart.
The salary of one Sabres star would cover a year's worth of paycheques
for the entire Bandits team. Players in the NLL have an average salary
of less than $15,000 with the "franchise" players making less than
twice that and rookies only making half that amount.

And the fans? Again, a slightly different experience from the NHL for them.
Tickets for Saturday's game maxed out at just $41 US and were still
available to a limited extent on the game day. That's less than $50
for the best seats in the house for a league championship game.
And the NHL? If you're somehow lucky enough to find tickets to a game
in the Stanley Cup final, you'd better have a thick wallet.
Stubhub.com is already selling advance tickets to the championship
series with prices ranging from $330 to a whopping $4,045.

The Tale of the Sports E-Mail and assorted junk ...

I admit, I sign up for automated emails and breaking news flashes on a far too regular basis. I think the acronym RSS doesn't stand for 'really simple syndication' but rather 'really stupid sign-up.'

My MacBook Pro email inbox is clogged with feeds from four different emails, including: terrynba, terryelevate, tl at terrylyons and my, new, official work email.

Here are a few of the culprits, all soon to be eliminated:

Jerry Remy's Remdog report;

CNN's Breaking News;

The New York Times' PLAY... NY Times' CIRCUIT, and Stuart Elliot's marketing and advertising email;

Wall Street Journal's THE FIX and THE DAILY WRAP;

Boston.com's @Bat Insider;

New York Times Ticketwatch which is a listing of ticket discounts and opportunities for Broadway plays and other New York City music and theatre events. I tried to unsubscribe and opt-out, but it the NYT doesn't recognize the entry.

I get "ALERTS" from Google (Anything on Covert, Bob Delaney); and anything on Elevate Communications; From the NYT, anything and everything on USA Basketball and a few others.

Chuck Schumer and Barack Obama are regularly dropping emails into my box, or at least I pretend the correspondence is from the candidates, along with an occasional email blast from Howard Dean, God Bless his heart. And, my new best friend seems to be David Plouffe, the Campaign Manager for Mr. Obama.

Senator Schumer recently wrote:

Dear T

One of the DSCC's most important responsibilities is to keep you, our most dedicated supporter, up-to-the-minute on all the latest developments from Senate campaigns across the country. This job is especially significant during this critical election year, when so much media attention is focused on the presidential race.

That's why the DSCC's Amy Rubin is traveling to all our key states - video camera in hand - to give you the inside story on how we're going to expand our Senate majority in November.

For her most recent video, I dispatched Amy to New Orleans where she toured the devastated Lower Ninth Ward with Democratic Senator Mary Landrieu. This new clip captures the real connection between Senator Landrieu and the people she serves.

Click here to take a look at our new video from New Orleans. It's just the latest dispatch from our new series, The Road to Victory.
www.dscc.org/roadtovictory

I like the fact that he calls me, "T" and I remember signing up with just the single initial wondering if it would qualify as a first name.

Moving right along ...

FIBA sends a few press releases and I consider myself very informed when I know the schedule of the women's Olympic qualifying tournament that will take place this June and the fact that Ubekistan is the 51st ranked womens team on the planet.

Media Bistro sends a couple emails to me each and every weekday with the Media Bistro Fishbowl for NY and DC. I enjoy reading it - at least - three of five days.

The Marketing Daily from MediaPost always gets a few minutes of my time in the morning, as does The Sports Business Daily, of course.

My favorite email is the Boston Sports Media pushed to my account and it is accessible by clicking on the Tale of Sports Email headline above.

Boston Magazine sends a few emails per week, many of them useful.

I get ads from ITunes and Pottery Barn, from Dell and from Fresh Direct. When I see the Fresh Direct, I daydream, thinking how nice it will be to go to a real grocery store in the suburbs, a Stop and Shop or a "Star Market" and shop for things, put them in the car (or CR-V or Rav 4) and drive them back home.

Gibson Guitar sends the greatest emails which feature their newest and classic guitars. The emails have me thinking about purchasing guitars and I can't even play the instrument.

Madison Square Garden, Live Nation, Nokia, Ticketmaster, the Bowery Ballroom and the Merc Lounge send emails and monthly calendars for concerts, sporting events and shows, often tempting me with advance sale offers and VIP seating arrangments. And, the ABB sends the wonderful "Hitting the Note" emails with links to the Allman Brothers Instant Live CDs that I love so much.

Since I am starting to ramble on and sound a bit like Andy Rooney, I think I'll cut it off now, as I am sure you get the picture. If not, I might pick it up with the next...Ramble On.

The Number of Bids ...

A little math to get the discussion started.

For men's basketball at the 2008 Olympics, there are two berths each for the Americas and Europe. The Americas region consists of 28 countries total with 10 competing in the Tournament of the Americas for the two berths. In Europe, there are some 49(+) countries with 16 competing in Eurobasket 2007 to gain the two berths.

Oceania (Australia), Africa (Angola) and Asia (Iran) each send only one rep through the regional qualifiers. Asia, by the fact that China will play host, gets an extra berth and Europe, via reigning world champion Spain, gets its second berth.

Three bids are left to be determined at a tournament to be staged next summer, July 7-13th. That tourney is the brainchild of FIBA as they will seek rights fees, promoter guarantees and lucrative TV and media rights for staging the new (and improved) concept.

The teams that finish as runners-up in their respective regional tourneys will get invites to the FIBA pre-Olympic qualifying tournament, to be held next July at a site to be determined. (A site in Europe seems to make the most sense, as four of the 12 teams will be from Europe and their fans will certainly support the event).

As noted, this is the first time this system is being utilized. In prior years, the number of teams was determined by the success of the entire region at the previous major tourney. So, I remember when China upset Spain in the final preliminary round game at the '94 World Championship in Hamilton, Canada, it cost Europe an extra slot for a team at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta.

Another example was New Zealand's fourth place finish at the 2002 Worlds which helped New Zealand and Australia both qualify for the 2004 Athens Olympic Games.

The viewpoint; The pre-olympic tourney is a great marketing idea but will take its toll on the teams competing on the basketball side. The three teams that qualify will need to train and prepare, then travel to the site of the pre-Olympic tournament. From there, they will have the decision to return home for a brief break, then fly to Beijing for the Olympics. Logistics will be tough and the three teams will be exhausted. They will, however, have some confidence and momentum leading up to the Olympic Games. The pre-Olympic tournament will be intense preparation, unlike the many 'friendlies' staged prior to big championships.

The drawback will be the time zone issue, which might make FIBA consider staging the tournament in the likes of Seoul and Japan. (Japan, by way of its eighth place finish in the zone qualifier just completed, does not have a chance for the pre-olympic event).

I would consider adding a third qualifying bid to Europe to make up the difference of the number of countries (49+) competing for berths and limit the pre-olympic qualifying tourney to provide for two (not three) berths.

Who will be the face of USA Basketball?

I enjoyed the columns on USA Basketball that appeared in the Denver Post today.

The premise or question posed was: "Who should be the face of USA Basketball?" - Lebron or Kobe?

Last summer, the tri-captains of Carmelo Anthony, Lebron James and Dwayne Wade became the three-headed 'face' of USA Basketball. This year and next? It will be interesting to watch the dynamics of the team as they unfold. Thus far, the chemisty is excellent and everyone is making the extra pass and sharing the ball and the limelight.

The media coverage has been strong and will increase as the team readies for the Aug 22-Sept 2 FIBA Americas tournament.

USA ...

JULY 18 - Every single time I pack for a USA Basketball event, the same emotional reaction overtakes my mind when I lay out the "official" USA Basketball team shirts and practice gear. I know why. I just can't believe I feel the same way today as I did the first time I was asked to wear my country's colors and represent USA Basketball at an International event. Just imagine how the players feel when the try-on the USA jersey for the first time?

Ever since the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games, the NBA has been heavily involved in the senior national team efforts. It all came about in 1989, when FIBA, the governing body for international basketball took a vote of its members to equal the playing field and 'officially' allow NBA players to participate. Up until then, pretty much every human being walking the earth was eligible to play in the Olympics and World Championships EXCEPT the very best players who had signed an NBA contract. When the vote went down, the USA actually voted against it. ABA-USA - as it was known at the time, was trying to protect its own interests. Sort of strange?

But, anyway, the rest of the world's federations realized this:

A pro player from Europe - such as the late Drazen Petrovic - could make millions playing for Spain's pro team REAL MADRID, and then return to his native land and play for hs national team (note: Petrovic was Croatian but he represented Yugoslavia in the '88 Games and Croatia in the '92 Games).

The NBA guys were just flat out of luck.

That idiotic framework was banished in 1989, much to the credit of Boris Stankovic, the great Executive Director of FIBA and a Hall of Famer.

So, even though a handful of staffers at the NBA had worked to help prepare the '84 USA team (LA Olympics) and the '88 team (Seoul), we were officially on board as of 1992.

I can vividly remember the first USA game in Portland where we were staging the Tournament of the Americas in order to qualify for the '92 games. The USA team broke the huddle by our team bench and Chuck Daly sent out the starters. "My Goodness," was all I could utter as I was alongside the team bench and saw the names on the back of the jerseys walking out for the opening tip-off.

Well, a lot has happened since that July day in Portland in the year 1992.

And, it's all duly noted on USA Basketball.com and many other places.

But, it brings me to today.

I carefully packed two coaching shirts (Blue and White) and about six tee-shirts with the USA National Team across the chest. Folded them so they would look just right after a cross country flight to Las Vegas. And, as I packed today, that same wonderful feeling of pride, passion and a little anxiousness took over my body.

It used to be a formality to go and qualify for the Olympics.

In the year 2007, it is a challenge just to be one of the 12 teams in the Olympics or the 24 in the World Championships.

You know what I think?

It's time to go...

C'mon USA...Let's go.