Thursday Night Re-Cap: The “Atlanta Has Disappointed Boston ” Edition
Three stories that captured my attention in the first half of the week, and my opinion on each of them.
Disclaimer: This has been a slow sports week. Read at your own discretion.
SUPER BOWL 51: Is anyone surprised that a few Boston journalists have taken it upon themselves to express their disappointment with the idea of playing a team from lowly Atlanta in the Super Bowl? Can you imagine the level of arrogance it takes to knock your opponent because you’re disappointed with their history? It’s also important to note that this is all about Goodell, and showing him up. Boston wants revenge, and the only thing that could rain on their parade (outside of a loss, obviously) is a lackluster victory. I guess the prospect of beating The Falcons just isn’t exciting enough. Doesn’t quite get the juices flowing the way playing a broken Packers team or a rookie-led Dallas group does. THOSE would be real accomplishments, with true glory to be gained. But Atlanta? C’mon. The best offense since the 2007 Patriots? Not good enough. I wonder what it’s like to have this sort of mentality. Must be nice.
BIG BEN: It’s been a rough 10 days or so for Ole Ben. He lost in New England, he’s been almost universally labelled “not elite anymore” but the media and journalists, and his numbers in the playoffs were bad. But even with all of that said, I don’t buy for a minute that Big Ben is legitimately considering retiring. Any time you have HOF-caliber players involved, you have to consider the ego that they bring with them. By no means do I believe Roethlisberger to be more arrogant or ego focused than anyone else in the league, but when you’ve been great for so long, and then have a bad year, it’s hard for me to buy that you actually want out. There’s too much pride, and too great a risk of being labelled a quitter. This is a thinly veiled attempt at saying “Help me out” to management. You also have to think Ben is mostly talking about Mike Tomlin here. The rest of that team is very good, and he has plenty of weapons on offense. I certainly don’t side with Terry Bradshaw in the Tomlin debate — I think Tomlin is a great coach. But you have to wonder how much longer you can keep someone around who hasn’t won anything of significance in several years. The voice in the locker room just gets stale over time, and it seems that maybe that’s what has happened in Pittsburgh. It’s the same thing that happened in Philly with Andy Reid. I think Ben wants some sort of change, and I don’t think he’s wrong to be seeking ways to improve the team. It’s just hard to see The Steelers making any changes in the near future, as they have a history of sticking with coaches for prolonged periods of time. Expect Pittsburgh to be back next year with the same cast all around.
MELO TO THE CAVS: What an odd trade this would be if it happened. It just makes no sense. Kevin Love for Carmelo Anthony? How does this make either team better? If you’re the Cavs, do you really need another isolation scorer who doesn’t play defense? You have JR Smith for that role. You also have Kyrie, who is one of the only top 3 offensive players at his position, while simultaneously being arguably one of the 3 worst defensive players at his position. I just don’t see how Melo helps the Cavs here outside of appeasing LeBron. On the Knicks end, sure you unload Melo’s contract to the Cavs, but then who gets scapegoated when they continue to be very sub-par? I think one of the best think for Kristaps so far in his career is that he receives zero blame when things go poorly, at least nationally. He’s so beloved, and rightfully so. But when you really think about it, what other top-5 pick and rising star in the league has less accountability than Porzingis? The Knicks are bad, and their star draft pick receives no heat for it. Particularly in New York, to be able to hide behind Anthony is a gift. Once you get rid of him, that becomes Porzingis’s team, no matter what a delusional Derrick Rose might want you to believe. I think Kristaps can handle the spotlight, but what’s the point in rushing it? Kevin Love doesn’t elevate the Knicks to the point of becoming a true contender. Oh, and Melo has a no-trade clause in his contract. He is well-known for his off the court business interests, and it’s hard to see him pining for Cleveland, when it really seems that his business ventures are roughly on par with his basketball career in terms of prioritization. It’s just a bad fit all-around.
Also — This means that LeBron vetoed this trade. He has a say in every decision that team makes. Melo has to know that, right? LeBron’s been the GM of that team since his return to Cleveland, and if he wanted to play with Anthony right now, he would be. It’s interesting that he wouldn’t want to play with one of his best friends, but it shows how focused he is on winning, and it says even more to me about Anthony as a whole.
Thanks for reading, I’ll do better next time.
