Stupid Cavs!

The Firing of Coach David Blatt

Some of planet earth's biggest egos are found in pro sports and nowhere is this truer than American professional sports. It could be argued that that's why American pro athletes get paid the big bucks, to compensate for their outsized prima donna selves. Whether they are the super players the money is supposed to justify is beside the point. 

The authors of this article have done a great job describing what has been a sour and shocking news throughout the NBA community in the last 24 hours, dished out to us via the Cleveland Cavaliers - the firing of their latest coach, David Blatt. While the analysis is thorough spanning all the way back to the summer of 2014, Coach Blatt's firing MAKES NO SENSE. The Cavs went on a trip all the way to the NBA Finals last season against the Golden State Warriors and, boy, was that a series! Remember, they played without K. Love and Kyrie Irving due to injuries. The story might have been quite different had they been healthy. Oh, and it was Coach Blatt's FIRST season as an NBA coach. Not bad. 

This season so far? The Cavs are in the number 1 position of the Eastern Conference and are definitely the favorites in the east to make it all the way to the Finals again, now with K. Love and Kyrie Irving back in the roster. So yeah, let's fire Coach Blatt! 

Now, I understand that there are certain dynamics that may alter the end results the organization wants to achieve, in this case a championship, and it must ensure they have everything at their disposal from staff to players to coaches in order to do so. But scapegoating a coach with an impressive professional resume as Blatt's because the team players are upset just shows you the perennial and ironically, at the same time, perishable values governing professional sports organizations of which the Cleveland Cavaliers is nothing but one more example. I'm a basketball fan. A good chunk of my life has been taken up with watching NBA ball since the early 80s. I appreciate this beautiful game, but I'll tell you this- nothing is beautiful in this life without humility. 

I hope Lebron James and his Cleveland Cavaliers make it again to the NBA Finals. I even hope they win the championship under their new coach Tyronn Lue. He certainly seems to have a promising career ahead of him as an NBA head coach and should count himself fortunate to have such players as the ones he currently has. Unfortunately, his first game as the Cavs head coach, a home game no less, was a tough loss tonight against the Chicago Bulls. I'm not superstitious, but let's hope this is not an omen for the remainder of their season. 

Terminating Coach Blatt in such a manner has left me as a fan with a very bad taste in the mouth. It may be that the Cavs take a turn for the better or for the worse after this sudden change. Well just have to wait and see. Somewhere down the line there will be the GS Warriors or the San Antonio Spurs to be reckon with. And for the looks of it if they actually make it into the playoffs and then into the Finals, the Cavs will be in for a good lesson regardless of who's coaching them. 

Mi Pasado Presente

te fuiste
como todos los días de nuestro pasado
en un día lluvioso
que confundió nuestras lágrimas con su danza

ahora ese pasado es mi presente sin ti
y aunque ya no hay tantos días nublados
sigue lloviendo en mí

camino con tu sombra agarrada de mi mano
y me pregunto si mi alma te acompaña
mientras duermes, cuando ríes, cuando callas

convertida en la gran pregunta
dejaste atrás mi puerta abierta
anhelando escuchar la voz
de tu regreso, pero te fuiste

sin respuesta, sin aliento
me dejaste mi pasado presente

Contigo adentro

Lo siento, vida mía
ya se ha puesto un poco el sol
en su marcha cabizbaja y silenciosa
va cargando un gran dolor

Nunca temimos juntos sus caricias
cuando en su más exquisita dulzura
tomados de la mano, vida mía
le abrimos nuestra alma a la llanura

Pero ya se siente un poco el frío, vida mía
¿A dónde se habrá ido el fuego de mi aliento?
Y, ¿quién nos traerá esa larga luz de la mañana?
Si fue hace sólo un momento que nuestros ojos se abrieron

Abrázame, vida mía, tengo sueño
parece ser que mi corazón se ha cansado
tal vez tu sangre corriendo por mis venas me despierte 

y contigo nuevamente adentro me vea renovado

Goodbye, Kobe.

Dear Basketball

Kobe Bryant will hang his basketball hat at the end of this NBA season, 2015-16. I was never a fan of his, or the Lakers for that matter. He always stroke me as arrogant, and for some reason I always resisted the hype and glitz surrounding everything about Lakers' ball. However, as a basketball fan you can't deny basketball greatness when you see it, and Kobe Bryant is and will always be basketball greatness.

I remember having the privilege of going to see the Lakers at the Staples Center, maybe 9 or 10 years ago while living just outside Los Angeles. I don't remember against whom they played that night. I don't even remember if they won the game, but I do remember one thing and that is how Kobe Bryant played the game. Kobe's game was so stratospherically above everyone else on the court regardless of the team. It was truly impressive to see how much he stood out as a player.

Shaquille O'Neal had left for Miami by then and the Lakers seemed to be having a particularly non-remarkable season so far. Yet, the Staples Center was packed. Of course, Laker fans have always been hardcore, but having Kobe as part of the Laker history and legacy (by then Kobe and Shaq had already won three championships back to back to back) was a huge draw for the city and made every single Los Angeles Lakers fan the embodiment of loyalty even more.

Los Angeles will never forget Kobe because he was loyal to them as well. A Laker lifer and that has made the ride special. Basketball will never forget Kobe because he was a gift to the game in the same vein that, yes, Michael Jordan was a gift to the game. Sports fans in general will never forget Kobe because of his commitment and passion as a player, for his knowledge and poise, his style and his drive from the toss up to the last second of every game. Above all, because of his love of the game of basketball. No one will dare to question that Kobe Bryant was born to play. Basketball fans all over the world are grateful for that. So thank you Kobe Bryant for gifting us with some of basketball's greatest moments in the last 20 years. I hope the rest of the season is rewarding for the Lakers, but especially for you. You deserve it.

Baseball is bo...

¡Inspirado por mi hijo Lorenzo, que no puede entender que la gente encuentre al béisbol aburrido! En el primer juego de la Serie Mundial entre los Mets y los Royals.