Sports – End of Silence

Malice at the Palace

Sep 012021

Watched Malice at the Palace, part of the Untold documentary series on Netflix last night. I remember the media and David Stern jumped on the players but the fans were to blame along with the lack of police and security especially for what everyone knew would be a hotly contested game. It’s true that the players should never go into the stands. It’s just not worth it. The fans were charged but they ultimately got off easy. Their behavior was truly despicable.

Feel bad for all of the Pacers. Metta World Peace was clearly a troubled guy who was trying to deal with his mental health issues. You can see he does feel bad for the outcome. Jermaine O’Neal’s career was pretty much ruined and Reggie Miller lost his last real chance at getting a ring. I wasn’t paying a ton of attention to the NBA in 2004 so I never realized that it had such a broad reaching effect.

Last Dance

Sports No Responses »

Aug 052020

I’ve watched the first 8 episodes of the ESPN documentary that is ostensibly about the 1998 Chicago Bulls season, but uses that season to make multiple jumps to the past to follow threads for a while and then jump back into the “present” season. It has worked pretty well and even my 10 year old who is not the biggest sports fan has gotten into it enough to want to watch it with me.

I’ve never been too worried about bad language in front of him, but the “mature language” warning all over the documentary is warranted. Jordan lets loose quite a few f-bombs in every episode and some of the language / trash talking in the last couple of episodes is a bit cringe worthy in 2020.

We got season tickets to the Dallas Mavericks in 1983 and started going to the games pretty regularly though we split the season with two other families. We went pretty regularly and had seats behind the basket on the Mavericks bench side. I believe it was section 121 at Reunion Arena. The next year was the rookie year for Jordan and his fellow UNC classmate, Sam Perkins, who joined the Mavericks.

One of the highlights of having season tickets was getting to go to the 1986 NBA All Star game and getting to see All Star Saturday. Sadly, if you’ll recall, Jordan was injured his second season and he did not participate in either the dunk contest or the game. That’s the year that Spud Webb won, beating out Dominique Wilkins.

I was lucky enough to attend Dean Smith’s Carolina Basketball School in the summer of 1986 and the summer of 1987. Kenny Smith was still at UNC at the time (now part of the awesome TNT basketball crew) and I remember him working with us on drills. Michael Jordan also came that first summer and did a short clinic on the courts outside of Granville Towers, the dorms where we stayed during the camp. They then had a pickup game with current and former UNC students including Jordan and Kenny Smith. I had some crappy 110 film camera shots from it but I can’t seem to find them anymore.

The documentary is now on Netflix and it’s definitely worth a watch especially if you watched the NBA in the 80s and 90s as I did. It gives quite a bit of insight into Jordan.

MS 150 2015

Family, Sports No Responses »

Dec 202014

I’m riding in the MS 150Â Â in 2015. It’ll be my thirdÂ year participating in the event. I blogged about it last year and you can view a set of photos from 2013Â and 2014.

MS 150 2014

If you’re unfamiliar with the event, it’s a 150 mile bike ride from Houston to Austin over two days to raise money for Multiple Sclerosis. My company has sponsored this event for the past five years. It took me two years to work up the nerveÂ to ride a bike from Houston to Austin after not touching a bike for more than 15 years and not doing much exercising for several years. I needed something to kick me in the butt. This certainly did it and it has really paid off. Since starting to train for last year’s ride in January of 2013, I’ve ridden 2938Â miles (1,681 this year so far). I useÂ StravaÂ to keep track of rides. The first day is roughlyÂ 86Â miles and the second day isÂ 67. In 2014, I managed to take a video through one of the small towns, Fayetteville, where everyone comes out to celebrate and encourage the riders (here’s a shot of me taking the video). Hopefully this year, I’ll remember to shoot in landscape and not portrait. I also took the challenge ride on the second day which brings you through Bastrop State Park. My goal this year is to do all of that again and ride 100 miles the first day.

You can donate viaÂ my participant page. Any little bit helps and is much appreciated. Each rider has to reach a minimum fundraising goal of $400 prior to the event. This year, the ride is on April 18th and 19th and they’ve moved up the deadline for fundraising.

Since getting a bike for our oldest this pastÂ January, he’s beenÂ riding with me when he can. My hope is to get the entire family involved in one way or another so we can bike around Austin. The city has really added a lot of bike lanes in the past year.

We typically do at least one supported training ride in the lead up to the MS 150.Â I haven’t yet chosen which rides I will do this year, but it’ll likely be the LBJ 100. I also send e-mail updates to donors as the ride gets closer and during the ride itself.

Thanks for supporting an event that makes a difference in the lives of those with multiple sclerosis and for encouraging something that has given back so much to me.

MS 150 2014

Sports No Responses »

Mar 172014

MS 150 2013

I’m riding in the MS 150Â this year. It’s my second year participating in the event. You can donate on my participant page. Any little bit helps and is much appreciated. Each rider has to reach a minimum fundraising goal of $400 prior to the event. This year, the ride is on April 12th and 13th.

The back story is that my company has sponsored this event for the past four years. It took me two years to work up the commitment to ride a bike from Houston to Austin after not touching a bike for more than 15 years and not doing much exercising for several years. I needed something to kick me in the butt. This certainly did it and it has really paid off. Since starting to train for last year’s ride in January of 2014, I’ve ridden 1495.5 miles. You can follow me on Strava.Â Last year, I rode 85.02 miles the first day and 67.47 the second. I’ve never ridden farther in one day than that first day of last year’s MS 150. I’d like to do 100 miles the first day this year. You can view a set of photos from last year on Flickr.

I’ve enjoyed this enough that this past January, I got a road bike for our oldest and he’s starting riding with me. My hope is to get the entire family involved in one way or another so we can bike around Austin.

We typically do at least one supported training ride in the lead up to the MS 150. Several co-workers and I will be doing the Rosedale Ride this Saturday.

Thanks for supporting an event that makes a difference in the lives of those with multiple sclerosis and for encouraging something that has given back so much to me.

Go Mavs!

Sports No Responses »

May 172006

I’ve been a Mavericks fan since they started. We got season tickets in 1985 which my parents have held on to, but farmed out to other friends for now. This year’s NBA playoffs in general are insane. Game 4 of the Mavericks-Spurs series on Monday night was just awesome. They’re playing Game 5, a must-win for the Spurs, tonight on TNT at 8:30. Bill Simmons from ESPN wrote an article about Game 4 and this year’s playoffs, recanting an article from two years ago that said we’d never again see a game like Game 4 between the Celtics and the Lakers in 1984. Good times. Good times.

[tags]mavericks, spurs, nba, playoffs, billsimmons, espn[/tags]