PantsCats June 9

Learning from the imperfect game, a sizzling debut, the end of greatness, giant changes in college football, a wideout with the munchies, plus "what's wrong with humans"and how to follow the World Cup when you don't really watch soccer.

It's chock full of goodness! Click here to listen.

Evidence In The NBA Vs NHL Not Really Battle

I've been singing the NHL's praises for years now. It's playoffs are vastly more entertaining than the NBA's and unlike it's round ball counterpart, different teams actually win championships. So while the Lakers and Celtics are battling to see which team has the most spoiled fans in the sport, the Blackhawks are trying to win their first Stanley Cup since 1961 against a Flyers team that hasn't won one since the mid-1970's.

Of course, my arguments/pleas generally fall on deaf ears. I understand. You don't get hockey. You didn't grow up watching it. You have no idea why the announcers are talking about the cycle game or what the difference between roughing, cross-checking, and boarding is. Why the hell did the ref just blow the whistle? Who did what to who?

I grew up in Texas. I've been on ice skates maybe five times in my life. I don't have a clue how to skate backwards or how to change directions at all, let alone gracefully.

You just need to feel the electricity in the air. Hockey fans are crazy. Their intensity gets pushed up to 11 during the chase for the Stanley Cup. It's exactly what you're missing from football: intense, hard-hitting battles of the will.

Don't take my word for it though. Here is a comparison of the National Anthem and introductions between the NBA Finals and Stanly Cup.

First, the NBA:




I know it's an L.A. crowd, but that's my argument against the NBA. It's always an L.A. crowd. Or a San Antonio crowd, or a Chicago or Boston. No other fans have had a chance to see the Finals from their home floor (yes, Detroit fans, I know your team has been there.)

On the other hand, here are the Chicago fans during the National Anthem:



The energy difference is like comparing a light bulb to the sun. But don't take my word for it. Just watch for yourself.

You Can't Sum The Wizard Up With Stats

John Wooden led the UCLA Bruins basketball team to 10 NCAA championships, including an unmatched streak of seven in a row from 1967 to 1973. He also won 620 games including a mind-boggling 88 straight games in a row.

Yet to define the Wizard of Westwood by those numbers would be insulting.

Wooden was a rare coach who is nearly extinct in today's big business, media glitz sports atmosphere. Wooden actually taught his players about life. He cared. He didn't pretend to care in front of the media. He didn't go through the motions to make it seemed like he wanted to help these young kids. His calling was to teach. The wins were an off-shoot of that.

You can tell this because when Wooden died this weekend, his ex-players didn't sum him up with the games they won, or the trophies. They talked about what they learned about life under Wooden. The winning helped, of course, but don't forget that Wooden didn't win a championship for the first 16 years he was at UCLA.

16 years? Can you imagine a coach staying at a school for 16 years without winning a title these days?

Once the winning started, it was like an avalanche. Wooden had his pick of top players around the nation. Yet you didn't hear of off-the-field problems for these superstar recruits. Sure, the media eye wasn't as focused on sports at the time, but even when they graduated college, you didn't see Wooden students fall apart.

Listen to the interviews of former UCLA, how they speak of Wooden, how the carry themselves during the interview. Now imagine what that would be like for John Calipari, or Rick Pitino to be remembered. It's like comparing a fast-food burger to Filet Mignon- both get the job done, but you only remember one years down the road.

For those of us who didn't know him, we look at Wooden's wins in amazement. For those who did know him, what they remember is anything but the stats.

Where have all the Wizards gone?

Gut Punch

If you were sitting around today and suddenly felt a great disturbance in the Force, as if millions of voices suddenly cried out in terror, and were suddenly silenced, well, you're just weird.

But I'd understand if you did because today the citizens of the Ivory Coast all cried out to the heavens when they discovered that their beloved Didier Drogba broke his elbow during a warm-up match against Japan.

Were you sitting near a Pats fan when Tom Brady went down a few years ago? The sulking head, the hands flying up in the air as the season passes before their eyes, the discussion of football Armageddon in Foxboro? Yeah, multiply that by a thousand.

Drogba is not just a sports hero, he's a savior for the Ivory Coast nation. He's good enough to play anywhere in Europe, yet he refuses to turn his back on his war torn nation. He's like the celebrity that remains with his original spouse even after he hits it big and has starlets hanging all over him.

The Ivory Coast was a dark horse team in the World Cup this year with Drogba leading the way. Now the team has to play without it's heart and soul.

If you're a fan of the underdog, keep an eye on these guys because their chances for a trophy just dropped tenfold.

The only way to sum this up is to simply say: that sucks.

Bigger Than Perfection

You've no doubt run across the story of how Detroit pitcher Armando Galarraga was robbed of a perfect game by a blown call by umpire Jim Joyce. The blown call happened on the final out of the game and was the difference between Galarraga having the 21st perfect game in MLB history and having just another well pitched game.

Normally, this would make a sports idealist like myself blow his top. In fact, some of my friends did blow their tops as the festering problem with baseball umpires not being punished for sub-standard game calling exploded onto the front page.

It was a tragedy, it was awful, it left a bad taste in your mouth. The MLB suits were shown just how their inaction and fear of any progressive change negatively affected their sport. Again.

You can bitch about all of that, but don't cry for Armando Galarraga because he's about to get more publicity than he ever dreamed of.

There have been three perfect games in the past year. Those three guys are in the record books. But when people look back on the 2010 baseball season in the near future, they will not think of Dallas Braden or Roy Halladay. They will think of Galarraga and the Great Game Robbery.

The first two were cool sports moments. This is drama. This hits home with any person who feels they have been screwed over by the powers that be. You had it figured out, but the boss came by and shot it all to hell. We've all been there at some point before.

As for umpire Jim Joyce, the other umps should send him a thank you note because he is now the unofficial face of shoddy game calling. It's too bad because Joyce made an honest mistake (albeit a terrible one) and later apologized with sincerity. Meanwhile, the idiot umps that are too busy giving attitude to call a game get to skate by. That's the real tradgedy of this situation.

No need to worry about Galarraga though. While he won't go down in the history books like his predecessors, he will be at the top of every trivia card from here on out and in the court of public opinion, he did indeed threw a perfect game.

PantsCast June 1

Perfect Memorial Day in the NL East, not so much in the AL West, NFL notes on another fatty, NBA Groundhog Day and the "What's Wrong With Humans" segment.

It's Just Sitting There Waiting For You To Join the PantsCast.

Ho Hum

Oh look, the Celtics are playing the Lakers for an NBA championship.

Again.

These two teams have met for a title 11 different times (Celtics have won nine, mostly during their dominant run in the 60's.) Even when they aren't playing each other, one of these teams is usually in the championship hunt. Boston has 17 titles while the Lakers have 15.

32 titles. 32? How long has the NBA been a major player in sports, 50 years? That's ridiculous.

Imagine two NFL teams being responsibly for 70% of all Super Bowl titles. Would that get a little old maybe? The Pats have only won three titles this decade and people are sick of them. The Dallas Cowboys showed up in five Super Bowls in the 1970's and became the loved/hated America's Team.

As annoyingly dominant as the Yankees have been in baseball, you can at least name five or six teams off the top of your head that have won the World Series besides the overpaid boys in pinstripes. Plus, baseball stretches back to the pre-depression era, so there is a much bigger sample size to work with.

The point is that unless you live in Boston or Los Angeles, you enjoy watching sports dynasties win multiple championships, or you're a front-runner, this act is getting old.

It will be a good match-up, but what are we rooting for? Either way, one team's annoying and spoiled fan base will beat their chests and behave in such a generally arrogant way, you'll want to throw up. Wow, that sounds great, and while we're at it, can we get Donald Trump some more television time?

If you're hard up for championship sports right now, try something new. Watch the Stanley Cup finals in the NHL.

Two teams with passionate fan bases are trying for thier first championship in a generation. They've already played two games and both have been classics. The Chicago crowd has been so excitable, they're roaring as the National Anthem was being played. You can bet the Flyers fans will return the energy as the series switches venues.

I don't want to hear that you don't understand hockey. I grew up in Dallas, I knew nothing about it. You'll catch on quickly. And then you'll understand it's greatness.

As for the NBA, call me when something new happens.