the nba reality tv show

wrote this last week and posted much of it in the tv blog, but the venting needed to continue checking in on nba games just had to come here... last season the miami heat did not deserve to win it all, boston would have beaten them if not for a few key calls be referees at critical moments in a few games... indiana had a chance too, and referees giving lebron james carte blanche skewed that outcome... but boston was cheated last yet, no doubt about it...

i'd rather watch women's softball (and give me college sports over professional almost any day)... the nba game is so reflective of the american culture, scripted drama, reality tv, and arrogant overpaid kids with little or no education, sportsmanship, or class trying to show off... the usa may be the most egocentric culture in the history of mankind, but if it isn't, it is up there with any others... and like the others, the fall is coming... but back to the nba...

not every team is made up of over-dramatic macho egos, some do have exemplary class (san antonio lead by tim duncan, for one)... we might as well watch boxing or hockey (and there is less theatrics in both)... since the beginning of the playoffs (i seldom watch the game before the playoffs), the knicks are a perfect example (as are miami and the lakers), egos inflated by their urban home venue... they play like selfish thugs and act like punk kids who have no clue that basketball is a team sport and at times, appear to have no clue as to what the game of basketball is about...

too many teams are like them these days, with one mega-star having amazing individual games now and then, but that does not work against a team playing together in a seven game series... what gives miami an edge (besides the refs who consistently call plays in their favor... lebron, of course, is the best example of the nba reality tv show) is they have two of the best players in the game who've learned to play two on two ball pretty well, sometimes... it's still not what the five on five basketball game was meant to be and teams that played like teams (like boston from the 60s and the knicks and lakers from the 70s... watch tapes and learn if you are really interested in the game)...

one reason i like charles barkley is, through instinct, intelligence, or naivety, he says what a lot of people are thinking but most if not all are afraid to so... he is not politically correct... he does not go along the company line... and many times, he speaks truth no one wants to hear or believe... not in the scripted nba... for years people swore wrestling wasn't scripted, foolish fans... the nba is obviously scripted to some extent, maybe a lot... and espn plays right into the soap opera... ridiculously overblown drama on reality tv is the american way these days... what is obvious is the same physical interaction between players can happen a hundred times during a game and a few times it's called a foul, purely at the referee's discretion... and too often those specific foul calls come at points in a game that turn momentum toward one team or another... too often those specific foul calls determine who wins a game or a series, as with miami over boston last year... so thank you charles barkley...

"i know the nba wants miami in the final, but come on man" ~ charles barkley

it's pretty simple... small market teams do not bring in the tv viewers (and therein revenues) that big market teams do... so at least one team in the finals needs to be a big market with controversy... just look at the big city teams, they are soap operas... and the good teams from smaller markets?... seldom is there major drama or controversy... they play to their markets, they play to their scripts...

so thank you tnt for putting him on the air... the talking heads on the others stations are so bending over backwards to please the corporate network execs and corporate nba, they take the joy out of the game... sir charles (and shaq and kenny on tnn, were remarking about the ridiculous referee calls between commercial breaks and this particular statement was made supporting shaq and kenny's similar statements during a review of the biased calls by the refs during game the first half of game two of the conference finals... ridiculous technical fouls on indiana, while miami is allowed to argue and provoke much more than indiana does and nothing is called... i am waiting for them to notice how many 3-second violations are called against indiana just as someone is going in for an easy layup... besides the ridiculous disparity in foul calls, 3-second violations taking away point opportunities from indiana and giving more point opportunities to miami is the rule the refs follow...

as long as street ball is played and the obvious scripting continues, reality tv fans can have the nba... as long as individual stats and double doubles and triple doubles are more important than team play or even winning, i'll just tune in now and then to check the score...