Rio '16 Golf: What a Shame

In October of 2009, I pictured this month’s Sports Illustrated cover with grandiose visions dancing in my head from memories of a February, 1991 cover depicting Michael, Charles and the Mailman with Magic and Bird - the Dream Team. 

My imagination, dancing from those memories, conjured up a special meeting in New York City with a few cases of cold suds and a few industry friends. We’d take-over a conference room at Sports Illustrated and SI-writer extraordinaire Jack McCallum would be holding forth, along with the creative minds of Chris Stone (now the head honcho), longtime basketball scribe and author and former Vermont Frost Heaves GM Alex Wolff, legendary writers like Gary Smith, Steve Rushin, Leigh Montville, and Ian Thomsen along with award-winning photographers Walter Iooss and John McDonough.

From the NBA’s side, we’d toss in Brian McIntyre, Russ Granik and Rick Welts, for old times sake, as they were among the architects of the “original” Dream Team. Kim Bohuny, a scratch golfer out of Furman and a longtime NBA-USA Basketball-Goodwill Games executive would be asked to put on both her basketball hat and golf visor, for which we would reward her with a bottle or two of Silver Oak.

From the world of golf, we’d need some creative genius and no better place to start than with David Feherity, commentator, talk show host and former pro golfer. He’d be joined by Golf Channel cohort Tommy Roy, the executive producer on the PGA Tour but also a contributor to the NBA on NBC. Add in the great Bob Condron, formerly of the USOC and currently the venue chief for golf at Rio 2016, along with golf course architect Gil Hanse as the majordomo for the return of the sport of golf to the Games. We’d toss in Verne Lundquist and Bill Raftery for some sporting perspective and humor, and top it off with the brilliance of Nick Faldo and Jack Nicklaus to be sure everything was as copacetic as a Bill “Bojangles” dance marathon.

The issue at hand and nearing deadline would be the proper naming and headline writing of my imaginary (but just recently received) “Double Issue” Olympic Preview of Sports Illustrated, once king of Olympic Games coverage. The assembled group would discuss the options.

Fast forward  -- In the July 25-August 1st edition, seven United States Olympians graced the cover. It was fine. There were stories on Simone Biles, the new Queen of women’s gymnastics, on Usain Bolt and the "next gen" of track & field athletes, on the most decorated Olympian ever in Michael Phelps. His USA Swimming teammates Missy Franklin and Katie Ledecky had their S.L. Price moment, right alongside a Price-penned “back-of-the-book” piece on the “Refugee Team,” a group of Olympians competing without the backing of a country to call home or a flag with which to march into the Olympic Stadium.

There wasn’t a single story on GOLF.

With the sport of golf teeing it up for the first Olympics since 1904, I envisioned an issue filled with profiles on the greatest active golfers - the “Dream Teams” of Dormie.

Let’s take a quick look at who could’ve graced the “Golf Plus” SI cover of a lifetime.

USA

Tiger Woods

Phil Mickelson

Jordan Spieth

Rickie Fowler

Spain

Sergio Garcia

Miguel Angel Jimenez

Ireland

Padraig Harrington

Northern Ireland

Rory McIlroy

Darren Clarke

South Africa

Ernie Els

Retief Goosen

Louis Oosthuizen

Australia

Jason Day

Adam Scott

Germany

Bernard Langer

Martin Kaymer

England

Lee Westwood

Justin Rose

Ian Poulter

Luke Donald

S Korea

KJ Choi

Japan

Hideki Matsuyama

Fiji

Vijay Singh

Sweden

Henrik Stenson

And, that’s just to name a few of the sport’s greatest active golfers. 

The SI Cover could’ve looked a little like the album cover of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, although I’m not a sure we could replace only four Beatles. We might’ve needed eight or ten silky psychedelic suits to do the sport and its global appeal justice. They could’ve all gathered around on the Zoysia grass with a few flowers to add some color. Peter Blake and Jann Haworth would be much obliged by the newfound work and a hefty Time, Inc. payday.

Of course, the pundits would’ve been conjuring and criticizing an Isiah Thomas-like conspiracy theory snub-fest, fueling enough debate to knock The Donald off the boob tube for a night or two, and we don’t mean The (Luke) Donald.

The gripes?

Where’s Jim Furyk?

Where’s Colin Montgomery, that old crank from Scotland, the birthplace of the sport?

How come there are no golfers from Canada on the cover?

Tiger’s washed up and can’t play anymore (Remember the Larry Bird critics?)

Instead? We give you Golf in the 2016 Summer Olympic games.

Thud! What a waste of a sport.

Just as sure as the IOC reinstated Baseball and Softball for the 2020 games in baseball-loving Japan, you can bet your Callaway Great Big Bertha that golf will get the (sand) trap door at the next world congress of sporting corruption. Hospitality and event planners for 2024, you can kiss your birdies good-bye.

It could’ve been great. It could’ve done for golf what the Dream Team did for basketball in 1992. 

But, oh no, only a handful of the best golfers in the world wanted to play. 

If it were the ’92 basketball players balking, it would’ve been a public relations nightmare for the N.B.A. and, the likes of Ben Simmons, Dirk Nowitzki, Yao Ming and Tony Parker might’ve never seen United States soil, never mind NBA stardom, worldwide fame and fortune. But, this summer, golf is being given the benefit of the doubt and a free ride, PR-wise, as health threats from the terrible Zika virus and the outdoor nature of the game have swayed public opinion of the sporting slight to say, “Well that’s alright with us”

Rightfully, we should point out and give proper credit where it is due to the likes of Kaymer, Stenson, Rose, Fowler, and Harrington. High-fives to Matt Kuchar, Bubba Watson of the USA, Graham Dalaet and David Hearn of Canada and Jhonattan Vegas of Venezuela, just to name a few of the men’s golfers scheduled to compete. And, the women of the LPGA deserve much credit as their showing is strong, but sadly, far less impactful for the overall growth of the sport.

Just think of what could’ve been as we all planned the cover and penned the new name.

What would your suggestion have been for the headline of the Return of Golf to the Olympics issue?

Sadly, we could only come up with - “What a Shame Game.”

High Stakes Game in TV Ratings

(This column regularly appears at The Daily Payoff)

By TERRY LYONS, Contributing columnist at The Daily Payoff

In recent weeks, we’ve paid our fair share of attention to American Pharoah’s run to the Triple Crown of horseracing, watching intently as the once-in-a-generation thoroughbred racehorse won graded stakes at Churchill Downs, Pimlico and Belmont Raceway. American Pharoah delivered on the track, but his Triple Crown win translated into only 18.6 million television viewers on NBC, down from the 20.6 million fans who tuned into California Chrome’s failed bid at The Belmont in 2014. When Pharoah had the Triple Crown on the line at The Belmont, you might’ve thought the stakes were as high as they’d get but, as spring turns to summer and stretch-run at Belmont is in the rear-view, there’s no higher stakes in professional sports than that of the TV ratings game.

Certainly the National Hockey League and NBC benefitted from a strong audience lead-in from The Belmont, as Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final calculated a tune-in of 6.6 million viewers for Game 2 of the series between the Tampa Bay Lightening and Chicago Blackhawks, the strongest non-clinching game TV audience since 1994. The data will improve as the Stanley Cup series, split 2-2 as of this writing, moves on to Tampa for a pivotal fifth game.

Meanwhile, after the longest break in NBA playoff history between the Conference Finals and the NBA Finals, the Golden State Warriors and the Cleveland Cavaliers are in the midst of a memorable NBA Finals series, with NBA MVP Steph Curry of the Warriors and the league’s best player, Lebron James of the Cavs doing battle on the court. However, the real numbers are being crunched, off the court, by the Disney Corporation, the caretakers of ABC Sports, cash cow cable entity ESPN and the NBA on ESPN property. As of this writing, the 2015 NBA Finals are the highest-rated ever on ABC with Game 4 delivering a 13.9 overnight rating to be joined with the league’s soaring numbers after the first three games of the Finals. Those ratings points translate to some 18.6 million viewers turning into the series, with the numbers — like the NHL’s — sure to go up as the league is guaranteed no fewer than six games to determine the champion.

Delving deeper into the NBA on ABC numbers, the Nielsen ratings in Game 4 were up 31 percent from the Miami vs. San Antonio numbers of a year ago with the ABC ratings averaging 13.1 (overnight), up some 26 percent over 2014. Of course, those are record-setting numbers for ABC Sports and do not factor against the record numbers the NBA did when NBC Sports carried the property and veteran broadcast chief Dick Ebersol put the pedal to the metal to promote Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls to the tune of a Game 6 1998 NBA Finals record rating of 18.7 when no fewer than 30 million tuned into the NBA Finals from United States households, alone, nevermind the growing and strong international audience for basketball.

To be clear, the television ratings game of the winter-spring sports, such as horse racing, ice hockey and basketball cannot and will not compete with the television audience for the NFL’s biggest game - The Super Bowl. Last February, the New England Patriots exciting victory over the Seattle Seahawks saw a Nielsen rating blockbuster of 47.5 that translated to a US audience of 114.4 million viewers for the NFL and TV’s biggest audience of the year. Quite simply, there will never be a sporting audience viewing a game on TV that is larger than the NFL’s Super Bowl audience.

The other interesting point of comparison in the high stakes ratings game for televised sports properties in Major League Baseball which saw an 8.2 ratings average and 13.8 million viewers tune into the 2014 series, according to Sports Media Watch. Between Jordan’s last game in 1998 and 2008, the World Series consistently out-rated the NBA Finals. But, over the past five years (2010-2014), the NBA Finals has out-rated Major League Baseball’s World Series and the trend is surely going to continue in 2015, unless October brings about a miracle story (Insert Chicago Cubs joke here!)

One other interesting factor in televised sports ratings is to look at the numbers from the competing local markets. In Cleveland, Game 4 of the NBA Finals generated a 45.7 rating for the 20+ point Golden State blowout of the Cavs. In the Bay Area (SF market), the broadcast delivered a solid 30.5 rating. Pretty amazing audience numbers for the NBA which was largely criticized, especially by NASCAR and Fox Sports tv executives, when the 2003 NBA Finals drew all-time ratings lows of 6.5 for the New Jersey Nets vs. San Antonio Spurs series.

That … was a long time ago.

My Old Gig ....

It was fun to see this news release, one I wrote a few times and always enjoyed issuing to the global masses covering the NBA All-Star Weekend.  The list started with Italy, Spain and Canada.  I'd say it's grown a bit during NBA Commissioner David Stern's tenure:

Read on...

NBA ALL-STAR AVAILABLE IN 215 COUNTRIES AND TERRITORIES, IN 47 LANGUAGES ON TV, COMPUTER, MOBILE AND TABLET

- Convergence of TV, Digital and Social Media Creates Unprecedented Global Reach-

- 312 International Media Members from 46 Countries and Territories

in Houston-

HOUSTON, TX, Feb. 17, 2013 – NBA All-Star 2013 will have unprecedented global coverage, reaching fans live in 215 countries and territories in 47 languages on their televisions, computers, mobile devices, and tablets.   

More than 312 international media members from 46 countries and territories – including Bulgaria, Kenya, Korea, Mongolia, Qatar and Switzerland - will converge in Houston to cover NBA All-Star.  

The league has also added 11 new television partners for All-Star this year from countries such as China, Georgia, Germany, India, Russia and Tanzania.

NBA's Global Digital Village in Houston

The convergence of television, digital and social media will make this the most interactive All-Star ever for international fans.  More than 386 million fans globally will follow the NBA on social media and for the first time the world feed broadcasts will feature real-time tweets from celebrities, NBA players and fans from all over the world at #NBAAllStar.

NBA LEAGUE PASS International will provide subscribers access to live streams of the Rising Stars Challenge, NBA All-Star Saturday Night, and the 62^nd All-Star Game on computers, tablets and mobile devices.

NBA TV International will give viewers in 88 countries and territories unprecedented behind-the-scenes access at events during NBA All-Star 2013.

A new free All-Star app, The Ultimate Guide to All-Star, will provide fans globally with live scores, video, news, event information, predictive gaming, and the fan voting for the Kia NBA All-Star MVP award on computers, tablets and mobile devices.

In China, the NBA’s largest international market, NBA All-Star 2013 will be televised live nationally on CCTV5, regionally through a network of partners, and streamed live or on demand on Sina, Tencent and NBA.com/China.  CCTV will also be capturing All-Star footage for a new weekly two-hour show titled NBA Prime Time that will debut on Feb. 21.

The league’s 53 million social media followers in China on Sina Weibo and Tencent Weibo – more than any other sports league - will interact in real-time and cast votes for the Sprite Slam Dunk champion and All-Star Game Most Valuable Player.

NBA All-Star 2013 will have unprecedented reach in emerging markets. For the first time, Sony SIX and CNN India will be onsite gathering footage and conducting interviews to give fans in India an all-access look.  Al Jazeera Sports will provide live coverage throughout the Middle East; SABC will provide national free-to-air coverage in South Africa; and ESPN and Space will carry the action live in Brazil.  

More than 80 media members from Europe will be onsite including six broadcast partners doing live commentary from Denmark, France, Greece, Poland, Romania, and Spain. NBA Entertainment and Prisa TV will produce a customized feed, presented by BBVA for fans in Spain. 

More than 50 media members from Latin America will be onsite.   Fans throughout the region will enjoy comprehensive live coverage on ESPN, Space, and Direct TV. 

The All-Star Game world feed broadcast will also introduce fans to NBA Challenge - the NBA's newest real-time predictive game.  Fans will have the chance to answer a question about the game in real-time to score points and be featured on a public NBA Challenge Leaderboard.

The first-ever NBA Digital Village at NBA All-Star Jam Session will feature a sampling of international broadcaster commentary from the 2012 All-Star Game.  Fans will be able to watch an edited version of the game featuring commentary in Turkish, Mandarin, French, Spanish, Japanese and Arabic.

The NBA has 15 international NBA.com sites offering customized in-language content in markets such as Italy, Turkey, the Philippines, Brazil, Africa, and India.  The league has 13 international Facebook pages.

Open Letter to NBA/NBA Players from a longtime NBA business associate

A longtime NBA friend, Michael Goldberg of the Coaches Association, gave me a call and asked if I would assist him in getting this 'guest column' or open letter out to the key media who cover the NBA and its current labor situation.

No editing or preamble from yours truly, here is the commentary from Michael H. Goldberg:

***

An Urgent Call to the NBA, the NBPA and its Players for a Truce and Return to Talks, from a Veteran of the Business of Professional Basketball

By Michael H. Goldberg, Executive Director NBA Coaches Association

“Don't it always seem to go, that you don't know what you've got ‘til it's gone…” Joni Mitchell (Big Yellow Taxi)

I have been involved in the sport of professional basketball for over 35 years.  In 1973, I was appointed General Counsel to the American Basketball Association, a great league but a financial disaster.  In 1978, shortly after four of the ABA’s teams staggered into the safe harbor of the NBA (then itself a league with financial issues), I began my assignment as Executive Director of the NBA Coaches Association (all Head and Assistant Coaches plus alumni) and have served in this capacity ever since.

I’m urging this call for an immediate return to discussions by the parties solely as a veteran of the business of the sport and not as a representative or spokesman of the NBA Coaches or any other constituency.  As someone who has “seen it all” in the NBA (and other professional sports), I urge the principals involved in the current labor dispute to immediately back away from the precipice, get back to the bargaining table, and redouble their efforts to resolve the current conflict and get a deal done without delay. 

The upcoming NBA season must be saved.  To do otherwise will cause a self-inflicted economic blow to an enterprise that over the years through the hard work of players, team owners and the League Office has become a great global brand, but, like every business operating in today’s fragile economic landscape, one that is more susceptible to “decline and fall.” 

We are currently in a global economic crisis such as has not been seen in any of our lifetimes.  Only individuals wearing three-inch thick rose-colored glasses can believe that sports, and NBA basketball in particular, are and will in the future be immune from these forces.  Great companies with names that our parents looked upon as having the safety and sustainability of Fort Knox have only survived thanks to bankruptcy or government bailout, while many others have disappeared altogether.  Tens of thousands of employees working for these “untouchable” companies for years thought they were set for life, only to find themselves out of work and scrambling to figure out Plan B.

In this new and dangerous economic environment there are no guarantees that what worked in the past can work now.  We all need to concede that the NBA does not operate in a financial bulletproof bubble.  After months of discussion, it has become apparent that a solution to the current situation means sacrifice and change.  The parties have moved in that direction.  Now is not the time to step back and harden positions.  Litigation and the “courts” are not the answer – “been there and done that.”  Let the parties have the courage to make a deal, even if it requires taking some risks and accepting the unpalatable for the short term, so as to ensure that going forward there will be a viable and robust NBA business, one that is able to withstand the current financial environment and further prosper.

Partial or lost seasons are a huge mistake and a blow to any sport that requires years of painful business rebuilding to get back on track.  We all know this and know that damage has already taken place.  The recent lost NHL season is an example whereby the end result was a damaged sport and fallout that fractured its union and cost hundreds of millions of dollars lost by the league, its players and its teams, to say nothing of the financial pain suffered by non-player (league and team) employees, suppliers and allied businesses.   Similar results have affected every sport that has shut down due to labor/management issues.

There is no time to waste.  History has proven that all sports labor conflicts are ultimately solved.  No doubt all sides are concerned about their financial well-being and rightly so.  But everyone involved must now think beyond their own interests, check out the daily financial headlines, and work towards a negotiated solution now. Short of this all parties will risk killing the goose that lays so many golden eggs for so many connected with it.  Let’s not commit a “Flagrant 2” to a business that can ill afford it.

30 in 30 - MJ style

MJ documentary by Ron Shelton

Jordan Rides the Bus ...

A good read from Scott Collins of  the LA Times from the eyes of film director/screenwriter Ron Shelton:

In the fall of 1993, Michael Jordan — often regarded as the greatest player ever to shoot a basketball — shocked the sports world by announcing he was retiring from the NBA. Then he stunned fans again by deciding to pursue his long-held dream of playing pro baseball.

Within months, the then-31-year-old high-flying guard known as "His Airness" was bobbling easy flies and swatting at bad pitches as a struggling right fielder for the minor-league Birmingham Barons.

This surreal fillip in sports history, which ended up bisecting Jordan's phenomenal NBA career, forms the basis of "Jordan Rides the Bus," director Ron Shelton's documentary that premieres Tuesday on ESPN.



"Only Jordan would 'get away' by playing another professional sport," Shelton, best-known as the director of sports-themed features such as "Bull Durham" and "White Men Can't Jump," said in a phone interview last week.

Shelton said he'd nearly forgotten about the baseball footnote to Jordan's career until a colleague suggested it could be the basis of a film for "30 for 30," ESPN's ongoing documentary series celebrating the network's 30th anniversary.

"Jordan Rides the Bus" is the 18th film in the series, which has generally received critical acclaim and high ratings. "The U.," which examined Miami's cultural history through the lens of the University of Miami's fabled football team, drew 2.4 million viewers last December, making it ESPN's highest-rated documentary of all-time, according to the Nielsen Co.

"For me, it was like, 'That really happened, didn't it?' " Shelton recalled. " 'Was that a fairy tale 15 years ago?' "

At the time, Jordan's decision was as shocking as the Tiger Woods saga has been to contemporary fans. Jordan's already legendary athletic prowess was at a peak. His Chicago Bullshad racked up three straight NBA championships and during the 1993 finals he scored 40 or more points in four consecutive games.

Jordan complained that he'd lost his desire to play the game, but fans and commentators offered their own conjectures for the star's mystifying exit, including that his worldwide celebrity was making it difficult to cover up his huge gambling losses.

In the course of researching his documentary, Shelton said he investigated the supposed gambling-retirement link — and decided it was bogus.

"I confirmed absolutely in my mind that his leaving basketball had nothing to do with his gambling issues," he said.


Instead, Shelton's film depicts a superstar shattered by the murder of his father in a bizarre roadside robbery the previous summer.

"It was a real interesting father-son relationship," Shelton said. "They kind of partied together. His father would travel with him, go to casinos with him, play golf with him. They were almost like brothers."

An avid baseball fan, James R. Jordan Sr. had long dreamed of his son playing in the major leagues, and his death apparently triggered a nostalgic quest for Michael.

But Jordan wasn't destined for the All-Star roster, even with Bulls owner Jerry Reinsdorf offering him a spot on the Chicago White Sox farm team. At spring training in 1994, Jordan proved such an awkward hitter and fielder that Sports Illustrated ran a cover story titled "Bag It, Michael." He practiced ferociously in the batting cage, however, and his dedication and charm won over many skeptics, including teammates who had previously resented him as a celebrity interloper.

"I take the position he actually was a pretty good ballplayer and made staggering progress," Shelton said.

Finding sources who would talk about what happened, however, proved harder than Shelton expected. Jordan declined to be interviewed, as did his former Bulls teammates Scottie Pippen and B.J. Armstrong. Nor was there much material available on Jordan's father.

"We have stills, we have footage of him in the locker room," Shelton said. But "there weren't home movies, things like that. He was very guarded."

But Phil Jackson, then the coach of the Bulls (and now of the Lakers), sat down for an interview. And Shelton lavishes attention on ordinary Birmingham residents — including a real estate agent and a bus driver — whose lives changed with a superstar athlete in their midst.

"For most of us, it was just this hole in the NBA, but in Birmingham, God had arrived," Shelton said. "From their perspective, it was the greatest thing that ever happened."

Andrew Billings, an expert on sports media at Clemson University, said that Jordan's brief foray into baseball will probably continue to puzzle and provoke NBA fans for decades — especially since Jordan returned to basketball and collected three more championship rings with the Bulls.

"One could have argued that he could have had eight [titles] in a row; others could argue he never would have made it to six had he not had the baseball career to rejuvenate and refocus on basketball," Billings wrote in an e-mail. "That's the great thing about the narrative; it remains a talking point in a 'what-if' kind of way."

Closing the Book on HofF Class of 2010 and The Dream Team ...

My good friend and longtime professional associate, Jack McCallum of Sports Illustrated, was hot on the trail to unearth all of the stories on the 1992 Dream Team.  Although McCallum witnessed every moment of the basketball side of the '92 Olympics and much of the off-court activities, he is still in search of the behind-the-scenes gems witnessed only by those of us who stayed at the team hotel and rode the team bus.

Editors note: The team hotel wasn't all that luxurious (picture a Courtyard Marriott) and the bus rides were often quiet (even Charles).


McCallum was up at the Basketball Hall of Fame for the Enshrinement of 2010 and is still reporting the most interesting of stories.  

Here is one that is a MUST READ:

EIGHTEEN YEARS LATER:  THESE GUYS ARE STILL...THE DREAM TEAM

By Jack McCallum - courtesy of CNN/Sports Illustrated

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. -- Some six hours later, they would be inducted en masse into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. But, at 2 in the afternoon on Friday, an assemblage of basketball's all-time greatest sat around a table in the ballroom of the Sheraton Hotel gossiping like high school kids in the lunchroom.

Most of the talking was being done by -- no surprise here -- Charles Barkley and Magic Johnson. Also at the table, listening and nodding affirmation from time to time as they pecked away at their grilled chicken, were four of their Dream Team mates -- Larry Bird, Clyde Drexler, Chris Mullin and John Stockton. Lenny Wilkens and P.J. Carlesimo, who were assistants on the 1992 gold-medal winning team, were there, also.

The occasion was a roundtable discussion in which the Dream Teamers reminisced about the '92 Olympics and their time together, Hall of Fame weekends being about nothing so much as reminiscing. NBA Entertainment will be slicing and dicing the 30-minute discussion into clips, probably for the next two decades.

The good people from NBAE had been trying for a while to get the thing started, but the gab session went on. As they entered the room, some of them started yakking immediately about how they wanted to "get it rolling," but then they wouldn't stop talking. Perhaps they realized that, as time goes on, the occasions when they will get together will become fewer and fewer.

Finally, another Dream Teamer, Karl Malone sauntered over from the other side of the huge room.

"If you guys don't mind," began Malone ...

"Anything you say, Karl," interrupted Drexler. "It's your weekend, man."

Malone stopped and embraced Drexler, who had just arrived for the weekend ceremonies at the Hall of Fame, where Malone and Scottie Pippen were to be inducted singly along with the Dream Team collectively.

Malone smiled. "I'm just getting old and grumpy, but I'd like to get this started," he said. This was not an easy group to order around but Malone's words immediately lifted the Dream Team chowhounds off their chairs.

Eighteen years later, they're still a team.

The ensuing discussion offered several priceless moments as a bunch of immortals sat around talking about the best time of their lives. The positive vibe of the thing might've come across as staged, except there was no script and the actual experience was pretty much like that. I covered the team from the opening of training in La Jolla, to the Tournament of the Americas in Portland, to the pre-Olympic camp in Monte Carlo, to the Games in Barcelona, and this was truly a special team with special feelings about each other, feelings that have endured. (You saw the same thing about the 1960 Olympic team, which was also inducted this weekend in Springfield. They won a gold medal 50 years ago in Rome, but the bond remains strong.)

There was Wilkens talking about the concern shown him after he severed his Achilles midway through the Olympics and had to limp through the final four games in a cast. "You guys always looked out for me, made sure I was getting around all right," said the Hall of Fame coach. "I never forgot that."

There was Pippen saying, "Chris, you'll be in next year," referencing the fact that Mullin was not voted in as an individual this year, an inexcusable oversight, by the way, considering the whole of the man's high school and college career, never mind what he did in the NBA. And there was Drexler patting Mullin on the leg in affirmation.

There was Mullin stopping in mid-sentence during a reference to the '84 Olympic team (which he and Michael Jordan were on) to say: "And you three should've been on it, by the way." He was talking to Barkley, Stockton and Malone, all of whom were cut by Bob Knight.

Small matter now. For they will always have Barcelona.

The only '92-ers who weren't at the roundtable were Jordan, Patrick Ewing and Christian Laettner, all of whom did arrive in time for that night's official induction at Springfield's Symphony Hall. The most glaring absence, of course, was that of coach Chuck Daly, who died of cancer in May 2009.

As the discussion evolved, it took on a familiar pattern, the players reprising the roles they had two decades ago. Magic and Barkley talked the most, the former showing his Sunday School sincerity, the latter in a rambling style that interspersed jokes and serious sentiments, often in the same sentence. (One of Barkley's highlights was his rambling tale of the day that Drexler brought two left shoes to a shootaround and was trying to skate through undetected.)

Bird didn't say much, but, when he did, everyone listened. Stockton had to be urged to talk at all and, typically, was self-deprecating when he did speak, partly because that's who he is, partly because he missed a great deal of the Olympics with an injury. Mullin didn't say much either but always made sense when he did; that's how he played. Pippen and Malone, who never stopped smiling the whole weekend, waxed eloquently about how the Dream Team represented the best moment of their professional lives. So did Drexler and Robinson.

Herewith a few highlights of the roundtable:


On the intensity with which the Dream Team practiced:

Magic: "One thing that really got us going was the first day [at training camp] when that college team [led by players like Grant Hill, Bobby Hurley, Chris Webber and Allan Houston] came in and beat us. So we said the next day, 'Let's show them what the real NBA is like.' And we turned it on. And then Charles kind of gave an elbow.

Pippen: "It was Carlos Rogers ...

Magic: "And Charles gave it to him and said, 'Welcome to the NBA.'"

Drexler: "I remember Michael and Magic going at it at practice, stirring the pot, getting everybody going."

Wilkens: "Coach Daly was a little worried about our intensity after the Tournament of the Americas. So I went to Magic and told him, and he said, 'Don't worry. I'll take care of it.'"

Magic: "One of the things you guys [the coaches] did was pit West against East, me, Karl, Mullie, John, Clyde, David against Michael, Scottie, Larry, Patrick. Like that. So I went to Michael and said, 'I'm coming at you, so we can get this going, but don't turn into Michael Jordan on me.' Of course, that's what he did."

On the team clicking almost immediately:

Bird: "The main thing that happens when the best get together is that the game speeds up and you have to make plays a little quicker. Basketball is so simple. You can run the pick and roll to perfection; work for the open man; if you don't have a shot, swing the ball. But it doesn't always happen. On this team it happened. It wasn't about scoring because we could've just got it into Charles, who at that time was the most dominant player in the world offensively. But it wasn't about that. It was about playing the game correctly."

Stockton: "At camp, right at the beginning, you could make a list of the qualities you want on a basketball team. Competitive, smart, prepared. This team showed those qualities right away."

Barkley: "When you play with other great players, the game becomes so easy. Normally you play with certain guys and you're thinking, 'Uh, oh, I can't pass him the ball.' That didn't happen with this team. Like you throw a regular guy an alley-oop, all the stars have to be aligned correctly for it to work out. You play with David, hey, just throw it up there and he'll get it. Or sometimes you think, 'Don't throw the ball to a big man coming down on the break.' Well, you do throw it to Karl Malone."

Robinson: "We've all been on all-star teams and it [coming together] doesn't always happen. But this was basketball heaven. What surprised me, from the beginning, was how unselfish everybody was."

Malone: "The way we checked our egos from the beginning. That's what I remember the most."

Barkley: "I still tell everybody today: There wasn't a jerk on the team."

On Larry Legend:

Pippen: "For me, the chance to play with Larry Bird, who I idolized growing up, man ...

Bird: "Believe it or not, Scottie, I remember the first time you tried to guard me. [He meant in an NBA game.] I ain't gonna say what happened but ... Scottie came a looooong way."

Pippen: "I was probably one of these players that Larry did this to." (Pippen mimics Bird's fake overhead pass that made so many opponents turn their head as he went by them.)

Robinson: "I remember the first time I found myself guarding Larry out on a switch. 'Hey, I'm out here guarding Larry Bird,' I thought. And he said something like, 'This one's in your eye.' Then he made the shot."

Malone: "Larry got everybody in Boston at one time or another on that move where he took the ball out and looked down at the floor like something was there. And you'd look down and it would be all over."

Drexler: "When he got ready to shoot over you, he'd blow you a kiss."

On their reception in Barcelona:

Drexler: "You couldn't leave the hotel without an armed militia, helicopters overhead, police escorts. I remember setting up golf with Charles and it was a disaster trying to figure out how to make that happen with the crowds. Obviously it was a disaster when you saw his game."

On the game against Croatia when the Dream Team vowed to shut down Toni Kukoc, who had received a lucrative contract offer from the Bulls. And shut him down they did:

Barkley: "I remember Michael was, like, foaming at the mouth. 'Kukoc makes more money than Scottie and I put together! Wherever he goes, I got him!' And Michael and Scottie shut him down. It was hilarious."

Pippen: "I appreciate you guys talking like that, but it was truly a collective effort. If I got beat on the backdoor, David was right there. In truth? Toni did not have a chance in that game."

On the little things the team did for each other:

Robinson: "At that time, not everybody had won a championship. Michael and Scottie had, Larry had, Magic had. But nobody else. And everybody learned something from somebody. I'd see Karl lifting and how hard he worked. I'd see Mullie shooting in the gym and how hard he worked. And I thought, 'How do I go back to San Antonio and use this?' The experience definitely helped us back with our own teams."

Barkley: "The first day at Monte Carlo a couple of us went to the pool and found out, 'Whoa, a couple of women don't have shirts on.' So we started calling up guys. 'Hey, man, they don't have shirts on down here.' So every day after practice it was, 'Hey, man, where we going?' And the answer was: 'To the pool.'"

On their memories of the gold-medal ceremony:

Malone: "I never served in the military, so hearing that national anthem on that platform was the closest I ever came to serving my country."

Robinson: "I remember looking at everyone's face and saw what it meant to everybody. I'll never forget that."

On the 1996 Olympic team, sometimes called Dream Team II, which included Barkley, Malone, Pippen, Robinson, and Stockton and was coached by Wilkens:

Barkley: "The coach can't say it, but he knows it ? Dream Team II was a nightmare. We had guys bitching about playing time, arguing with Coach Wilkens. I said to Scottie and Karl, 'Man, I played with Larry Bird and Michael Jordan and we didn't have a problem, so what the hell is wrong with these guys?'"

Pippen: "The experience on the '92 team was a lot better than the experience on the '96 team. Not once did I think we would lose in '92. I can't say that about '96."

On Coach Chuck Daly:

Malone: "His hair and everything had to be perfect. When we'd go out on the floor I'd always look back and Coach Daly would be like ...". (Malone mimics a man touching up his hair and smoothing his collar.)

Wilkens: "Chuck worried about everything. I mean everything. But Karl's right. Before the game there would be Chuck ..." (And Wilkens mimics a man touching up.)

Barkley: "Here's what I always thought about Chuck. He was a really good dude. I can't believe he coached those pricks in Detroit."

Wilkens: "I remember standing next to Chuck and looking at you guys on the podium. It was a very emotional time for all of us and Chuck just grabbed my arm and held on. And I looked over, and there was a tear coming out of his eye. That said it all for me."

Scottie's Journey to the Hall ... to be met at Gate 3 1/2 by MJ

The editors of Bulls dot com - Adam Flack - built a tribute section to Scottie Pippen starting with his introductory press conference for the Hall back at the Final Four in Indianapolis.  They tapped the archives and have this section ready for this week's Hall of Fame Enshrinement ceremony in Springfield:







From Socks and Jocks to Springfield, Mass.  Read this story - Click .http://www.nba.com/bulls/history/pippenhof_dyer_100808.html

Let the Comparisons Begin - 1960? 1992? or maybe even 2008?

The comparisons are starting.  

The first volley comes from Cincinnati, Ohio - where Oscar Robertson is truly KING and actually played as NBA royalty for the Cincinnati Royals, of course. That came long before the guys in Akron/Cleveland who just "couldn't wait to be king."

So, here is one opinion on the comparison between the 1960 US Olympic Basketball Team and the 1992 US Olympic Basketball Team.  Read on for a thought provoking story by Bill Koch via Cincinnati.com:


A Dream Team Before The Dream Team | Cincinnati.com

There was no such thing as a Dream Team in 1960.

When the U.S. Olympic basketball team traveled to Rome, it was merely a sports team on a mission to win a gold medal for its country.

It accomplished its goal without the marketing apparatus that accompanies such endeavors today.

There were no NBA players, but there were plenty of future NBA stars such as Oscar Robertson, Jerry West, Jerry Lucas and Walt Bellamy, all of whom would land in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

Fifty years later, they refuse to concede anything to the 1992 Dream Team that included Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan, Charles Barkley, David Robinson and Patrick Ewing among others.

That team also fulfilled its mission by bringing home the gold medal, but to considerably more acclaim than its predecessors in 1960.

"What did the Dream Team have that we didn't have?" Robertson said. "They had more publicity and made more money. That's where it stops."

Both teams will be inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Mass., Aug. 13.

The Dream Team - the first to include NBA players - won its games by an average margin of 43.8 points, a shade more than the 1960 team's 42.4. But the Dream Team did have a distinct advantage in Hall of Famers, with 10 (including 2010 inductees Karl Malone and Scottie Pippen) to four for the 1960 team.

Coached by legendary University of California coach Pete Newell - who passed away in 2008 at the age of 93 - the 1960 team held its opponents to an average of 59.5 points and ran the U.S. winning streak to 36 games over five Olympics.

Robertson and Lucas, the youngest player on the team at age 20, were the leading scorers, each averaging 17.0 points. West averaged 13.8 and Adrian Smith 10.9.

Robertson dominated

Robertson had averaged 33.7 points as a senior at the University of Cincinnati the previous season and was named the national player of the year. He was a player of such enormous skill that his teammates still speak with reverence about his exploits on the court.

"He played the game like he invented it," said Bob Boozer, a 6-8 forward from Kansas State who averaged 6.8 points in the Olympics. "Oscar was James Naismith in tennis shoes. He did what he wanted to do."

The 1960 Olympics were the Games of Cassius Clay and Rafer Johnson, who became the first black athlete to carry the flag for the American delegation. It was also the first time the Summer Olympics were televised, with CBS paying $394,000 for the broadcast rights.

The Olympics were the second foray into international basketball for Smith, who played on Kentucky's Fiddlin' Five 1958 national championship team. He had played in the Pan American Games the previous year in Chicago with Robertson.

"When I was at Kentucky, I used to read about him," Smith said. "I said nobody's really that good. Until I made the Pan American team and saw him play in the Pan American Trials. I got to be a teammate of his and then I realized what a special, great player he was."

Playing in the Olympics was the stuff of fantasy for Smith, who grew up on a tobacco farm about 12 miles outside of Mayfield, Ky.

His family's house had no electricity and no running water. The ball that he learned to shoot with was made of his dad's old socks that his mother sewed together.

"I never thought anything like that would ever happen to me," Smith said.

Year's delay

Boozer wanted to play in the Olympics so badly that he postponed his NBA career for a year to maintain his amateur status. During that time, he worked for Caterpillar and played for its team in the National Industrial Basketball League with no assurance that he would make the Olympic team.

"I graduated from Kansas State one year before the team had a chance to be assembled," Boozer said. "I just said I'm not going to go pro until I have a shot to make the Olympic team.

"You probably couldn't do that today (because of the money). That's been the highlight of my basketball career. The only one that would probably be up there with it was my last year with the Milwaukee Bucks winning the championship (in 1971)."

The Americans clinched the gold medal with a 90-63 victory over Brazil. Before the game, Smith promised himself that he would take home a souvenir to go with his gold medal.

His first objective was to secure the game ball. When that didn't work out, he went to Plan B.

"I convinced somebody to give me a sharp instrument," Smith said. "Walt Bellamy put me on his shoulders and I cut that net down. I still have that net today."

Five future Royals

Nine of the 12 players on the 1960 Olympic team eventually played in the NBA. Four - Robertson, Lucas, Bellamy and Terry Dischinger - became Rookie of the Year.

"It was just an awesome team," Smith said. "We had speed. We had shooting. We had rebounding. We had height. If you had kept that team together, we might have been a contender for an NBA championship."

Three years later, five members of the 1960 Olympic team - Robertson, Lucas, Boozer, Smith and Jay Arnette - did play together on the 1963-64 Cincinnati Royals.

They didn't win the NBA championship, but they produced a 55-25 regular-season record, the best of any Royals team during its 15-year stay in Cincinnati.

But that team still finished four games behind Boston in the Eastern Division and lost to the Celtics, 4 games to 1, in the division finals.

"Maybe we needed a sixth man," Robertson said.

Actually, five might have been enough if they had stayed together for the entire season. But Boozer, who averaged 11.0 points and 5.6 rebounds for the Royals, was traded to the New York Knicks on Dec. 16 after 32 games.

"It was a surprise," Boozer said. "I was highly disappointed to leave the team. We had some good relationships on that team. I love Cincinnati."

Lucas top rookie

Lucas joined the Royals a year after his storied career at Ohio State, having originally signed with George Steinbrenner's Cleveland Pipers in the American Basketball League, which collapsed in 1962.

He was named Rookie of the Year in 1963-64, combining with Robertson, the league's Most Valuable Player, to produce 49.1 points, 27.3 rebounds and 13.6 assists per game.

But Lucas was injured in the semifinal playoff series against the Philadelphia 76ers and was not the same player against the Celtics in the playoffs.

Robertson would eventually win an NBA championship with the Bucks in 1971 on the same team with Boozer. Lucas would win a title in 1973 with the New York Knicks.

Regardless of what they accomplished later in there careers, the players on the 1960 Olympic team will always be remembered.

"Being with the guys I played with and having the friendships over the years has been tremendous for me," Robertson said.

"It was a magic moment that no one even knew that much about then, until they decided to bring up the Dream Team. Then they looked back and saw how good of a team we did have."

PS:  A quick TL comment.  Like I stated when asked to compare the 1992 and 2008 teams, it's very different.  Apples and Oranges.  Different era and different style of basketball.  If asked to pick the 'best' of the 1960, 1992 and 2008 teams, I would tend to give the edge to '92 because of their strength up the middle.  It was impossible to stop the scoring of Charles Barkley, Karl Malone, Patrick Ewing and David Robinson in the paint, nevermind the work being done offensively and defensively by the likes of Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen and all.

The 1960 team needed a nickname, they say?  How about The Bryl Creem Team?

Ramble On... Readability

TIVO is the best invention to help TV viewing. Readability is the best thing that's ever happened to the World Wide Web. Yes, it's the single best email I have ever received and the tip came from LI/Denver's Tom Green as he passed along this info from the NYT:

Click HERE:

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They've got my vote...

Istanbul to Organize bid for 2020 Olympic Games

After four unsuccessful Olympic bids, Istanbul will enter the race to host the 2020 Summer Games.

Turkish government sports official Mehmet Atalay said Tuesday the country has decided to launch another Olympic bid and believes the city's chances are much stronger this time.

Istanbul mounted failed bids for the 2000, 2004, 2008 and 2012 Olympics. It sat out the race for the 2016 Games, which were awarded last month to Rio de Janeiro.

Cities in Japan and Italy have expressed interest in the 2020 ames, and Dubai and Qatar are also considering bids.

Bid submissions to the IOC are due in 2011. The IOC will select the 2020 host city in 2013.

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Calling Bill Russell, callling Bill Russell?

Damn, if any number in the NBA is going to be retired forever, it has to be #6 and then #13 (for Wilt Chamberlain). MJ would be a close third, for sure. See Lebron's take via CBS Sportsline and AP:

CLEVELAND -- LeBron James wants NBA players to give up their No. 23s to honor of Michael Jordan.

The Cavaliers superstar, who has worn 23 since he was a high school sophomore, says players should pay tribute to Jordan for the Hall of Famer's long-lasting impact on the game.

"I just think what Michael Jordan has done for the game has to be recognized in some way -- soon," James said. "There would be no LeBron James, no Kobe Bryant, no Dwyane Wade -- you name all the best players in the league right now and the last 10 years, there would be none of us without Michael Jordan."

James made the comments following the Cavs' win in Miami on Thursday night. The news was first reported by the Plain Dealer.

James said he has been considering the change for some time. He's willing to switch next season to No. 6 -- his U.S. Olympic team number -- and wants to start a petition to get every player in the league wearing 23 to give up the number.

"It's time," James said. "He's the best basketball player we've ever seen. Mike does it on the court and off the court. If you see 23, you think about Michael Jordan. You see guys flying through the air, you think about Michael Jordan. You see game-winning shots, you think about Michael Jordan. You see fly kicks, you think about Michael Jordan. He did so much, it has to be recognized, and not just by putting him in the Hall of Fame."

Jordan sat courtside on Thursday when James scored 34 points to lead the Cavs to their sixth win in seven games.

"He can't get the logo, and if he can't, something has to be done," James said, referring to the NBA logo that's modeled on a silhouette of Jerry West. "I feel like no NBA player should wear 23. Nobody. If I'm not going to wear No. 23, then nobody else should be able to wear it."

The reigning MVP frequently wears No. 6 as a practice jersey with the Cavaliers. He wears that number because his second-favorite player is Julius "Dr. J" Erving and it holds other special meaning.

"I wore 32 back in high school because Dr. J wore it at first," he said. "My first child was born on Oct. 6, my second child was born in June. If I'm not going to wear 23, I'm going to wear 6.

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Notes on Internet use and the over use of Social networking sites are a little scary. Check this out:

Status updates, photo tagging and FarmVille aren't just for adults or even teenagers anymore.

Researchers say a growing number of children are flouting age requirements on sites such as Facebook and MySpace, or using social-networking sites designed just for them.

Facebook and MySpace require users to be at least 13. But they have no practical way to verify ages, and many young users pretend to be older when signing up.

Some scientists worry that pre-adolescent use of the sites, which some therapists have linked to Internet addiction among adults, could be damaging to children's relationships and brains.