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March 12, 2008 JAMARIO MOON--STOP BEING THRILLED TO BE IN THE NBA AND START PLAYING LIKE YOU BELONG It’s been a wonderful ride, hasn’t it? Just a few short months ago you were nobody in the world of athletics. You were struggling to make it out of the minor leagues, and those thoughts you kept trying to deny--that maybe you just weren’t good enough and were wasting your time—were getting stronger and beginning to solidify in your mind. Now, you’re the starting forward on a contending team in the NBA. You’ve been to the all-star game and participated in both the rookie challenge and the slam dunk contest. You’ve got a terrific new nickname and are making more money than you ever imagined—with possibly much more on the horizon. Yup, life is unequivocally better now that it was last summer. I don’t blame you for smiling every second of every day. But when does the honeymoon end? When will you stop being thrilled at being in the NBA and begin showing everybody that you aren’t just a “Rudy” type story? When will you stop looking like a kid who won a contest to play in games against Lebron James and Kobe Bryant? A word of advice, kid—your day in the sun is soon over unless you toughen up and start showing that you possess some grit to go along with your flash. It’s nice to be able to jump out of the gym—but it doesn’t do anybody any good if you have that kind of athletic ability and stand twenty feet away from the basket. The courts of professional basketball are covered with the tombstones of talented athletes who couldn’t survive in this cutthroat business. That pass you are getting right now—the one you get for being such a great story--will end shortly, and you will need to start showing the determination and intensity needed to stay at this level. You will soon not be able to get that tongue lashing from the coach--for being a softie—and then get sent back out onto the court. Go ask Joey Graham what it’s like to be a fabulously gifted athlete who can’t focus for every single play. Look at him the next time you hoist up a three ball when a drive would have been the prudent play. Look at him when you back away from a defender and try to block their shot when it would have been more prudent to deny him the space he needed to take the shot. Look at him the next time an opponent pushes you away from the basket and gathers up an offensive rebound. Joey Graham will likely be gone next year. If you don’t toughen up and start playing with more grit then next year you’ll be the one replacing him at the end of the bench while somebody else gets a shot at playing the position. Fairy tales don’t last forever. Somebody always wakes up. A Boston Tea Party—I criticized the Celtics for not making any moves at the trade deadline and accused them of being cocky and thinking that their team was good enough to win a championship as it was. Well, maybe they heard me. In the following weeks they have made two very important additions. Both PJ Brown and Sam Cassell are proven winners, and they will add the needed experience to the Celtic depth. These two now make the Celtics the favourites to come out of the East—and since the Western teams will beat each other up through the playoffs the Eastern winner—who will have a much easier path to the Finals—likely will face a tired and beaten up opponent. Don’t be surprised if the team that comes out of the weaker conference wins the championship. Gutsy Move—While the Leaf season is just a few more games from ending—the game against the Flyers Tuesday night was one of the better ones seen in these parts in quite some time. And the move made by Paul Maurice to pull his goaltender as regulation time neared an end was both gutsy and aggressive. It’s the kind of move that he would have been severely criticized for if the Flyers had scored, but with hopes fleeting it was a move that showed some intestinal fortitude by the Leaf coach. Financial Mismanagement—I don’t know why everybody is all in a tizzy over the outdoor rink kerfuffle in Ontario. It is clearly wrong that the government would give money to help multi-million dollar sporting events while ignoring the kids on the street. Realize however that government is no longer set up as a “Govern by the people for the people”. It is now a “Govern for big business by big business”. The Casey Syndrome—The season ending injury to Casey Janssen is certainly a key loss for the Jays. Janssen was a stalwart in the Jay pitching staff last year and was counted on as a key contributor this year. The loss however ends the speculation of where Janssen would have been utilized this season. It strikes me as odd how some could have viewed it as a positive move to take an outstanding reliever—who was successful because he could spot his slider to get a few outs—and move him back to being a starter where he was less than mediocre the season before. Janssen had found his comfort zone as a reliever—to move him out of it would have been monstrously stupid.
Preview my new fictional novel A Walking Parody at www.michaelghobson.com Catch my weekly radio spot Friday nights on Late Night with Norm Rumack on the Fan 590.
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