Who Knew Free Throws Were Kryptonite

Well it is over. Not officially but in essence this series was ended on the charity line. The score is 84- 87 Orlando and Dwight Howard gets fouled with 11.1 seconds left in the game. Already 5-10 from the line, Howard only needed to make 1 free throw to seal the game and tie the series at 2 games a piece. However this was not the case and Howard missed both free throws and the Lakers recovered the ball. After the inbounds Derek Fisher had the ball in his hands, down three, set up behind the arc and, with Jameer Nelson giving him a ton of space, drained a tre and tied the game. This play sent the game to overtime where the Lakers took control and stole the game. With this loss the Magic lose a second game they should have won.

One thing needs to be made clear. Kobe Bryant was not the deciding factor in this series. Despite all of Kobe's "hunger" and "focus" he alone is not the reason why the Lakers are going to win this series. Do not misunderstand what I am saying. Not only do I believe that Kobe Bryant is the best player in this series but I also believe that he was an integral part of the Lakers winning the NBA Championship. However the Orlando Magic did in fact lose this series. When you look at the three loses for the Magic in this series you will see two games that should have been won by the Magic. The first game of the series is discounted because the Lakers dominated every aspect of that game. In Game 2 the Magic were a missed layup away from winning the game and not the inbounds play that Van Gundy drew up. That play, although brilliant, was a very difficult play due to Courtney Lee's momentum taking him under the basket before he even caught the basketball. If either of the two layups goes in the Magic tie the series and go back to Orlando with momentum and home-court on their side. The next game the Magic should have won was last night. Dwight Howard was fouled with 11.1 seconds left in a three point game 4. Should Dwight Howard simply sink one free-throw then the Magic would have tied the series yet again. Instead they find themselves playing the role of Sisyphus unable to get to the top of the mountain.

With a 3-1 series lead Phil Jackson, Kobe Bryant, and the rest of the Lakers have secured the 2008-2009 NBA Championship. This series could easily have swung the other way with the Magic up 3-1 and a chance to secure their first franchise championship on their home-court. Since this is not the case the Los Angeles Lakers have prevailed and are benefiting from a scorching hot team, in the Magic, who cooled off to a frigid tempo. Under the circumstances this finals will not be remembered as a missed opportunity by Dwight Howard, Hedo Turkoglu, and Stan Van Gundy. Instead the finals will be remembered as Kobe's first ring without Shaq, Phil Jackson's tenth championship as a coach, and the coming out party of Pau Gasol.

Closers Not Holders

It has to be the strangest phenomena in all of sports. Stranger than professional basketball players missing free throws regularly. Stranger than curling...all of it. The situation is either a tie ball game or a blowout game. The manager brings in the closer to pitch the ninth in order to maintain the tie or simply to get work in. Normally the closer is automatic in the ninth. In these situations however closers seem to forget who they are and struggle mightily. Proof enough is Mariano Rivera in yesterday's game against the Tampa Bay Rays. The score was tied and Mariano came in to preserve the tie in the ninth. However he ended up surrendering 4 runs in only 2/3 of an inning pitched.

When Mariano makes the jog in from the bullpen Metallica's "Enter Sandman" plays over the loudspeaker. Why? Because he puts the game to bed in save situations. It is not just Mariano. Almost every closer has is these situations. Closers claim that the mindset is completely different coming into a game where the game is not on the line. Something about the closer changes when it is not a save situation. Two years ago the Yankees visited Shea Stadium and were down by 4. Not a save situation but the Mets brought in then closer Billy Wagner to finish the game. Not only did he blow the lead but he also blew the game as the Yankees came back to win the game. These instances are hard to explain and make for one of the most confusing phenomena in sports.

The New Yankee Stadium

As an aspiring sports writer I try to maintain an unbiased blog. However I am going to stray from unbiased viewpoints and talk about my beloved Yankees and their new stadium.

Being a true Yankee fan is difficult. Everyone hates your team. If you are losing then your team sucks because they should win because of the payroll. If you win then your team won because of the payroll or that our new ballpark is a joke. This really bothers me. So what if the Yankees have a $200 million payroll. If you have not already noticed money does not guarantee a World Series Championship. The Yankees have not won the World Series in 8 years and have not even sniffed the World Series since 2004. On top of that the Rays made it to the World Series last year and they have the sixth lowest payroll in the 5 team American League East. As much as this bothers me, it is not the most frustrating issue in my eyes.

What truly grinds my gears is that people hold the new stadium over the heads of both Yankee fans and the Yankees themselves. The Wiffleball Park in the Bronx, as dubbed by Yankee haters. My first reaction to this is stop talking. Yes the ballpark is on pace to smash homerun records for a stadium in its first season. However do not expect this to continue. There are several factors about this stadium that Yankee Haters seem to disregard. First the old Yankee Stadium is still standing and awaiting demolition. Nobody seems to know exactly what effect the demolition of old Stadium will have on the wind. Will the wind blow out to centerfield as well as right field or will the wind die down without the stadium, no one seems to know. I ask Yankee haters did you think of that? Second the Yankees did not plan for an influx of homeruns. They expected the stadium to play the same way as the old stadium. This is evident by the fact that the dimensions are the same as the old stadium. The mannerisms of this stadium are something that no one could have predicted and obviously the Yankees did not predict. Finally to those people who say that the Yankees have an unfair advantage playing in this ballpark I say you need to get your head checked. Since the Yankees are not the only team hitting in this ballpark, the Yankees can not possibly have an advantage. Despite the Yankees playing almost 72 more games in this park than any other team, it does not diminish the chances of other teams to equalize the games with homeruns. One last note on the "fairness" of the Yankee Stadium homeruns. In Fenway Park David Ortiz hit his second homerun of the season the other day. What makes this homerun relevant to my argument is that the ball traveled 302 feet down the right field line. Also the ball hit off the base of the Peske Pole. If you have ever seen or been to Fenway Park you know that the right field wall is all of 2 feet off the ground. Possibly the shortest homerun ever hit that was not an inside the park homerun.

With that being said I do have my own problems with the ballpark. My first problem stems from the sheer existence of the stadium. I have been opposed to the new stadium all together since the announcement that the Yankees were contemplating a new stadium. The history, ghosts, mystique, and aura contained within the old Yankee Stadium could not be matched by any new building, in my honest opinion. Also I did not see a reason why the new stadium was necessary. The building was not falling apart nor was it by any stretch of the imagination an ugly ballpark. However the stadium was built and I can do nothing about it. My biggest concern with this ballpark is how it is affecting the Yankees and yes it does stem from the homerun problem. My hang-up on the ballpark is that the Yankees are hitting so many homeruns. The effect of this is two-fold. First and foremost it changes the Yankee offense. One problem the Yankees have had over the last few years is that they rely far too much on the longball. This stadium is clearly enabling this problem. Instead of stringing together hits and starting rallies from walks and taking advantage of missed opportunities on the part of the defense the Yankees are sitting back and waiting for someone to blast one out. Which brings me to my second beef with this stadium. I do not like that the new Yankee Stadium has joined the ranks of Fenway Park and Coors Field as one of those ballparks where no lead is safe. My favorite part about baseball is that there is no running down the clock. In order to finish the game you have to work out of the game. When something like cheap homeruns can bring a team back into a game then it diminishes what I love about baseball.

In all honesty what bothers me the most about what Yankee haters are saying about the new stadium is that what they are saying is true and there is nothing I can say or do to change that. At the end of the season the Yankees will rectify the homerun problem. Either certain vents will be closed or the old stadium will fix the wind tunnel. Either way next season will not yield as many homeruns and the Yankee haters will be forced to look elsewhere for material. Enjoy it while you can.