Nobody liked the Heat (outside of Miami and least of all Cleveland) when the season began. The NBA season is just about ¾’s over and general distaste for Miami and its three stars has only increased.
What the heck was Heat coach Erik Spoelstra thinking when he leaked to the press that one (or more) of his players was crying in the locker room after a big loss? Are we expected to feel bad for a professional sports team full of multi-millionaires who are crying after losing one game? Can’t handle the pressure, Bosh?
The Heat were assembled in the off season to be the greatest team ever. There was talk of Miami potentially breaking the NBA record for wins in a season. That didn’t happen as the Heat started off at a very pedestrian 9-8 and are only 44-21 (no chance of beating Chicago’s record of 72 wins) on the year. That means that Boston, Chicago, San Antonio, Dallas and the Lakers are all having better seasons with much less fan fare made about their players.
That puts Miami in third place in the East, but only 3.5 games behind Boston. When the so-called crying occurred, they were in the midst of a five game losing streak. But, this very season, Lebron James’ former team Cleveland lost over 25 games in a row. Yea, in a row! Now, that’s something to cry about. I am not going to lie that I’m kind of glad that players on other teams (Knicks Carmelo Anthony and Amar’e Stoudamire among others) are making fun of the Heat for this. Quit your belly-achin’ and play. Who knew that NBA superstars had such fragile egos?
NFL: The NFL draft is just about a month away and there is still no clear cut #1. Last year, everyone knew that the Rams were going to select Oklahoma QB Sam Bradford #1 and they did. This year, Andrew Luck was expected to be the clear #1, but he decided to stay in school and finish his degree. That didn’t work out so well for Jake Locker. His draft stock plummeted after a lousy senior season at Washington. Will the Panthers get ballsy and pick Cam Newton #1? Is the Jimmy Clausen experiment over? Will they take Nick Fairley?
NHL: The fact that the NHL didn’t even suspend Zdeno Chara for his devastating and unnecessary hit on Canadiens’ Max Pacioretty is one of the dumbest, downright disappointing things I have ever seen in sports. Clearly, Chara shouldn’t be arrested for the ugly hit that left Pacioretty with a concussion and cracked vertebrae, but he should at least be reprimanded in some way. With the feuding history between the two players, it is quite clear to me that he intended to hurt Pacioretty with that hit and the fact that he received no punishment whatsoever is appalling. What if Pacioretty had died? Is that what it would take to get a suspension?
NCAAB: NCAA men’s conference tournaments are in full swing and there has already been some big upsets. St. Johns knocked off #4 Pittsburgh only to fall to #11 Syracuse in the quarterfinals of the Big East tournament. Dayton knocked out #18 Xavier in the Atlantic Ten tournament. Colorado knocked off #19 Kansas State in the Big 12 tournament.
Many schools have punched their tickets to the NCAA tournament including Gonzaga, Butler, Indiana State, Long Island, Morehead State, Oakland and first timers Northern Colorado.
30 year old freelance writer and The Father Life‘s resident beer columnist and sports editor. He also writes about fine beverages for drinkingmadeeasy.com and Chilled Magazine. On top of that, he writes about college and professional lacrosse for insidelacrosse.com. He’s also written for Genesee Valley Parenting Magazine, the Democrat and Chronicle Newspaper and ESPN.com. “Osburn on Tap” appears monthly in THE FATHER LIFE. For questions, comments, or if you have a story idea for Chris, throw him an email cosburn@thefatherlife.com. Also, follow him on twitter http://www.twitter.com/chrisosburn