NBA

The Jury Is Out on BOYCOTT-2020

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

In the last few months for the NBA, the NHL, and MLB great preparation and an abundance of caution have been taken for players’ safety to minimize or prevent the spread of the COVID-19 disease.  Lessons were learned from this an applied to try to get the NFL and NCAA football teams in camp and able to start the 2020 fall seasons successfully.

The jury is still out, but the preponderance of the evidence seems promising that success can be had.

Little did anyone know that another problem could and would spread faster through the leagues than even COVID-19 could.

It’s called BOYCOTT-20.  It’s not as deadly, but its actual root cause is to prevent deaths ironically.

It started three days back in a meeting of the NBA’s Milwaukee Bucks team meeting.  They decided collectively that they had had it with the continued unnecessary deaths of black men at the hands of white cops.  Indeed, that is a valid concern.

Quickly, the BOYCOTT-20 festered in the NBA bubble.  All playoff games for Wednesday were boycotted.  The Clippers and the Lakers, led by the King, decided in a Wednesday PM meeting that they were done with the season.  And, Thursday’s games were canceled as the league tried to find agreeable ways to combat the warp speed virus.

The damn thing jumped out of the Orlando bubble and hit MLB like a Nolan Ryan beanball and the NHL like Gordie Howe slapshot.  They went dark last evening too.

And yesterday the SEC Kentucky Wildcat football team boycotted practice. Other SEC teams may follow today.

The PAC 12 and the Big 10 want desperately to boycott their football practice too.  Unfortunately, they succumbed to the deadly CC-20 (cancel culture) weeks ago. Unfortunate.  RIP.

The jury is still out on the success of these boycotts as well.

As a matter of fact, the jury hasn’t even been empaneled for the state v. Rusten Sheskey, the cop that shot Jacob Blake seven times.  As a matter of fact, Rusten Sheskey hasn’t even been arrested.

But, The Movement moves fast.  They’ve seen enough.  A black man shot in the back SEVEN times.  It’s all there on video.  It’s all there on video except all of the facts that led to that moment or those seven moments.

As a society we haven’t learned yet from the deaths or shootings of Trayvon Martin in Sanford, FL, or Freddie Gray in Baltimore, MD, or Alton Sterling in Baton Rouge, LA, or Michael Brown in Ferguson, MO, or George Floyd in Minneapolis, MN, or now Jacob Blake in Kenosha, WI.

We want change and we want it now.  If we don’t get it, we’ll take our ball and go home.  No more games.  That’ll show America.

Except it won’t.

America wants change too.  America doesn’t want more police interaction with criminals who disobey their commands.  America doesn’t want chokeholds.  But, America wants peace.

Acting like a petulant child spraypainting a building, shooting fireworks, or much worse won’t help.  Boycotting won’t help.

America wants an America where The Movement recognizes that multiple time offenders like Floyd and Blake aren’t good people.  Should they have been killed or nearly killed?  No.  But, they’re bad people-period.  In fact, they are really bad.  Look up their police records if you have 45 minutes to spare.  Maybe some will want to boycott armed robbery or sex offenses.

Boycott for the next ten seasons if you wish.  But on your way to the woke walkout take a minute to realize how very bad actors put themselves in very bad positions where very bad things can and do happen.

With all of the extra time off that boycotts bring, athletes can ask their woke self what they would do in an instant when you fear for your life even when you have the gun and the badge.  Then ask yourself if it would be better for those resisting arrest to avoid the situation altogether.  Again, and again, and again.

But BOYCOTT-20 might be subsiding.  Rumor has it the NBA told the remaining playoff players that their income might be clipped by 25-30% should they cancel culture their livelihood.  Sounds like sneakers will be squeaking on the hardwood floor as soon as today.

At a bare minimum can America wait for a jury to hear all of the facts?

It worked for OJ.

 

Kneeling and Nielsen Numbers

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

The commissioner’s job in the major American based sports is a lucrative one.  It’s lucrative because it comes with great responsibility.  It’s difficult on many fronts.

One of those fronts is that they work for the owners, yet need to keep the players happy, with great TV ratings always an end goal.  TV broadcasting rights are the source of greater than 50% of the income that the leagues take in.

And in these “unprecedented, new normal, COVID-19 times” some of the other 50% isn’t ringing the cash register either.  The turnstiles are silent, and, therefore the stands are empty.  This makes TV ratings more important than ever.

So, it’s interesting that Adam Silver, NBA commish, and Roger Goodell, NFL commish, have taken the stances that they have with regards to the Black Lives Matter organization (and/or Movement) as well as the kneeling during the presentation of the flag and national anthem.

Ethan Strauss of The Athletic notes that the NBA ratings are coming in well under the pre-COVID break numbers.  In Feb., before COVID hysteria shut the league down, Sports Business Daily reported that the league had seen a 12 percent loss in viewership compared to 2018-19.  All of this is on top of a recent release of the numbers showing ABC’s NBA broadcasts in 2019-20 averaged 2.95 million viewers, down from its 5.42 million during 2011-12.  That is a 45 percent drop off.  Strauss also reported that TNT’s viewership is down 40 percent since the 2011-12 season, and ESPN has seen a decline of about 20 percent during the same time.

Other leagues are about breakeven comparing the now to the 2011-12 timeframe.   It should be noted that live streaming, a growing segment of viewership after cutting the cable cord, isn’t included in any metrics.

The NBA Commissioner tried to dismiss the sliding ratings early this year.  “I’m not concerned.   In terms of every other key indicator that we look at that measures the popularity of the league, we’re up,” he told the Washington Post in December.

What to do, what to do?

Enter Roger Goodell.  Goodell said that he wishes “we had listened earlier” to what Colin Kaepernick was trying to bring attention to when he began kneeling for the national anthem in 2016.  He expressed remorse about the lack of dialogue with the former San Francisco 49ers quarterback, saying that the league would have benefited from a conversation with Kaepernick.

Goodell also said that players kneeling is “not about the flag” and that their intentions are being “mischaracterized.”  He is entitled to his opinion.  He may indeed be right.  However, if NFL TV ratings tumble along the lines of the NBA’s he may be right in his characterization, but wrong for his league’s coiffures.  Jerry Jones is holding (impatiently) on line three.

You would think that an America starved in 2020 for escape would be looking at the sports on TV in record numbers.  Instead, they are masked and standing in long checkout lines at Home Depot.

Could it just be that the NBA season is very disjointed?  It started.  It stopped.  It played a week or two of the regular season when it resumed.  Now it’s in the first round of its playoffs.  Or, could it be that a portion of America, bigger than the league is willing to admit, cut the cord in a very different way than described above?

Soon the NFL viewership will give us further insight.  It dropped 10-15% a few years back when Kapernick knelt and wanted everyone to listen.  It recovered that and then some through 2019.

But, 2020 always surprises us.

The next thing you know they’ll be two hurricanes in the Gulf of Mexico at the same time for the first time since 1959.

Are you ready for some football?

Ten Piece Nuggets-Sports, Random, and News.

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

It’s Friday.  And it’s time to get your happy hour started a bit early.  We’ve got ten hor deurves.  You need to make a beer run.  And, do not forget your mask.  To the Ten Piece Nuggets we go.

  1. Joe Maddon, manager of the 8-18 and last place LA Angels, is mad.  He’s tired of seeing SF reliever Shaun Anderson throw at Mike Trout’s head.  “Enough is enough,” Maddon said after Thursday’s 10-5 road loss dropped the Angels’ record to 8-18. “This is the major leagues. There’s a level of accountability here also.”  Just wondering, who should be held accountable for the 8-18 record?
  2. Do you remember when we all used to sing happy birthday to a family member or friend and then have them blow out all of the candles?   Then you would all have a slice of that cake.  Turns out that singing and a strong exhale or two (blow them all out!) might not be what the doctor advises in 2020.  Maybe in 2021?
  3.  The Washington Football Team continues to be in the news.  A few days after hiring the first-ever black President, this time the news isn’t so good.  Washington coach Ron Rivera has been diagnosed with cancer but plans to continue coaching.  Rivera was diagnosed with squamous cell carcinoma located in a lymph node, the team said in a statement. Rivera said the cancer is in the early stages and is considered “very treatable and curable.”   That part is good news.
  4. It’s way too early to deem the NFL protocols a success in holding  COVID-19 at bay.  But, a few days into 32 training camps a total of only four players have tested positive.  It’s a start.  And, there is a long way to go.  The NFL is pretty adamant about starting the season on time.
  5. No so fast NBA commissioner Adam Silver said.  His league is likely to delay its planned Dec. 1 start for the 2020-21 season.  The hope is to get paying fans back into arenas.  The league’s gross revenue is roughly 8 billion with a “b.”  The fans in the areas account for 40% of that, or 3.2 billion still with a “b.
  6. MLB has postponed 34 games this season because of positive tests and counting.  Two Mets’ games this weekend are postponed after two members of the traveling team tested positive yesterday.  MLB soldiers on though.  And, that is a good thing.
  7. The NFL Kansas City Chiefs are putting in place new policies during games at Arrowhead Stadium with regard to Native American imagery.  Fans are now prohibited from wearing headdresses into the stadium. Face painting that is styled in a way as to imitate Native American cultures is also prohibited.  The Arrowhead Chop and the pregame beating of a drum, often by a former player or coach or other local celebrity is also on the chopping block.  Maybe they can announce if the “chop” stays or goes by beginning with, “after further review, the ruling on the field….”  So, let’s see, keep the stadium name of Arrowhead, and keep the arrowhead logo, and keep the name Chiefs is fine.  But the fans, those dreaded creatures, they can’t be allowed to do anything to offend anyone.  After further review, this makes no sense.
  8. Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot defended the Chicago Police Department’s ban on protesters being able to demonstrate on the block where she lives.  She told reporters yesterday that she and her family require heightened security because of threats she receives daily.  If it’s a peaceful protest, as we’ve been told repeatedly by the good mayor,  why worry about safety?  It only takes 51% of the voting population to put someone into office.  Does anyone have a tent big enough to put over the Chicago circus?
  9. Meanwhile, Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms suggested that the GOP is using the Chinese coronavirus pandemic to “spread misinformation and interfere with voting,” forcing many to “risk their lives” to exercise their right to vote. Risk their lives?  Really?   It only takes 51% of the voting population to kick someone out of office as well.
  10. Joe Biden’s acceptance speech last night was only 24 minutes long.  But, most analysts and reporters thought it to be quite effective.  Hillary’s was twice as long four years prior.  Fans of the nominee turned out to watch the speech.  The DNC built security walls to barricade supporters and voters into a specific outside area to watch Biden’s speech.  The walls were set up to keep both progressive and conservative protesters at arm’s length.  Again, there was no word on why this was needed for the “mostly peaceful” protests that have been popping up across the country.

Have a peaceful weekend.

 

Say What?

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

It’s Friday.  Another week of sheltering in place, whatever that means these days, has nearly passed.   It means another week of no sports has nearly passed too.  We miss sports.  We miss sports characters too.  With the help of a valued reader, we dug up some colorful quotes from some colorful sports characters.  A baker’s dozen follow.

1. Chicago Cubs outfielder Andre Dawson on being a role model:
    “I wan’ all dem kids to do what I do, to look up to me. I want all the kids to copulate me.”

2. New Orleans Saint RB George Rogers when asked about the upcoming season:
    “I want to rush for 1,000 or 1,500 yards, whichever comes first..”

3. Torrin Polk, University of Houston receiver, on his coach, John Jenkins:
    “He treats us like men. He let us wear earrings.”

4. Football commentator and former player Joe Theismann:
   “Nobody in football should be called a genius. A genius is a guy like Norman Einstein.” (a follow-up appearance was deemed necessary)

5. Senior, unamed, basketball player at the University of Pittsburgh :
    “I’m going to graduate on time, no matter how long it takes..”

6. Bill Peterson, a Florida State football coach:
    “You guys line up alphabetically by height..” and “You guys pair up in groups of three, and then line up in a circle.”

7. Boxing promoter Dan Duva on Mike Tyson going to prison:
   “Why would anyone expect him to come out smarter? He went to prison for three years, not Princeton ..”

8.  Lou Duva, veteran boxing trainer, on the Spartan training regimen of heavyweight Andrew Golota:
     “He’s a guy who gets up at six o’clock in the morning, regardless of what time it is.”

9. Chuck Nevitt , North Carolina State basketball player, explaining to Coach Jim Valvano why he appeared nervous at practice:
    “My sister’s expecting a baby, and I don’t know if I’m going to be an uncle or an aunt.

10. Frank Layden , Utah Jazz president, on a former player:
   “I asked him, ‘Son, what is it with you? Is it ignorance or apathy?’
   He said, ‘Coach, I don’t know and I don’t care.'”

11. Shelby Metcalf, basketball coach at Texas A&M, recounting what he told a player who received four F’s and one D: (NOW THIS IS FUNNY)
    “Son, looks to me like you’re spending too much time on one subject.”

12. In the words of NC State great Charles Shackelford:
    “I can go to my left or right, I am amphibious.”

13. Former Houston Oilers coach Bum Phillips when asked by Bob Costas why he takes his wife on all the road trips,
   Phillips responded: “Because she’s too ugly to kiss goodbye.”

Goodbye till Monday.

 

 

 

 

It Ain’t Over Till It’s Over

Posted on by thependulumswings staff
It’s Friday and it’s week four, or five, or six of your shelter in place life.   Who’s counting?   Is there light at the end of the tunnel?  Gilead Sciences Corporation thinks so.  Donald Trump thinks so.  He rolled out a general guidelines plan for states to interpret as to how and when they can “return to normal.”
Can sports be far behind?  Maybe.  Big crowds in confined spaces seem like a dream at this point.  But a dream is far better than this nightmare.  With that hope, we give you a few great quotes from sports figures from years gone by below.
Some are fun.  Some are inspirational.  Some are competitive.  Some are saucy.  We need all of them right about now.
Muhammed Ali
“It’s just a job.  Grass grows, birds fly, waves pound the sand.  I beat people up.”
Bobby Knight
“When my time on Earth is gone, and my activities here are past, I want them to bury me upside down, and my critics can kiss my ass.
Paul “Bear” Bryant
“It’s not the will to win that matters-everyone has that.   It’s the will to prepare to win that matters.”
Bobby Jones
“Competitive sports are played mainly on a five and a half-inch court, the space between your ears.”
Yogi Berra
“It ain’t over till it’s over.”

Lefty And Shorty-Gas, Horse, Beer

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

If Lefty and Shorty were still with us last early evening might have unfolded like this.

Lefty and Shorty sat quietly in the cool but nice spring air.  It was only 6:30 PM, and cars were nowhere to be found.  Lefty- Why do we even stay open this late?  Shorty- I guess so that we can discuss this crazy gas station business world that we live in today.

Lefty sat to the left of Shorty.  Imagine that.  Shorty sat on the shorter of the two “halves” of the 55-gallon drum. Imagine that.  Each was cut down to size and retrofitted with a soft cushion top.

Lefty- Why do you even say that?  Shorty- I don’t get it.  Lefty- You don’t get what?  Shorty- I don’t get why nobody’s getting gas anymore.  Lefty- Maybe it’s because nobody’s driving anywhere right now?  Shorty-Why do you move my chair every time I get up?  Lefty- Social distancing.  Shorty- Antisocial huh?  Lefty-Yep, you don’t get it.  And, hopefully, I won’t get it because you don’t get it.

Only two cars passed by during what should be a busy time.  Shorty looked a bit sad.

Lefty- Do you miss the NBA?  Shorty- Like a grease monkey misses an oil change.  Lefty- The NBA might be going to H-O-R-S-E.  Shorty- Great, even fewer people driving.  Lefty- Wow.  NO! I mean they might start playing one on one games of Horse as they did way back when.  Shorty- Really?  Cool.  I remember. Lefty-  The best was Pistol Pete Maravich and nobody was even close.  Shorty- Do you think he could have beaten Curly Neal? Lefty- We’ll never know.  Shorty- Who had the better hairdo?  Lefty- Um.  Shorty- One had a mop and the other had a cue ball.

Lefty- Pistol died way too young and Curly just passed.  Shorty- Curly was a ball hog.  He dribbled a lot more than passed. Lefty- wha…

Shorty- I’m going to restock the cooler before we lock up.  Do you want anything?  Lefty- Beer to go. I need to forget this conversation as soon as I can.  Shorty- What one?  Lefty- Anything is fine, but none that begin with the letter C.

March Mad Mess

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

If you dribble a basketball on a hardwood floor and no one sees it, is it still an NBA game?  It is.  It’s just far less of a moneymaker.

And it just might happen.  These days aren’t normal days.  These days are rightfully consumed with controlling the North American outbreak of the COVID-19 virus.  And, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver, who has all but embraced sports gambling, is very near needing to push his chips to the middle of the existing arenas.  Or, he could fold the chairs, close the doors, and wash his hands on the way out.

Discussions in the league office occur daily on the best way to continue to play the games, engage the fans, and minimize the risk of being accused of putting economics ahead of players and fans.  Several options are seriously being discussed.

One option is to move games to the city of what should be the visiting team if the risk of spread in that city is far lower than the home team’s city.  Take Golden State.  Please.  The Warrior’s home games gross about $3.75 million.  But the greater Bay Area and its governments might soon dictate that any sporting event played in a closed area be done so without any fans in attendance.

Other cities could soon follow.  Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine recommended that indoor teams in that state play without fans for the immediate future. The Cleveland Cavaliers are on a six-game road trip and don’t return home until March 24.  They have some time to evaluate the recommendation and decide how to proceed.

LeBron James weighed in last week when asked about playing in an empty arena. “I play for the fans; that’s what it’s all about,” James said. “If I show up to the arena and there ain’t no fans there, I ain’t playing.”

Upon further review, James had a beautiful verbal crossover dribble on the subject yesterday.  “If they feel that it’s best for the safety of the players, safety of the franchise, safety of the league to mandate that, then we’ll all listen to it.”  How noble of him to now listen to a mandate. Maybe “adhere” is just a three-point shot away.  And, how nice of him to speak for “all.”  Kings do that.

He also spoke when he lectured Houston Rockets GM Daryl Morey back in October.  Remember Morey had tweeted out support for Hong Kong protesters, and essentially against the Chinese government.  Way back then James said that Morey was “misinformed and not educated on the situation.”

Now the day is very near that James and the entire league that all but defended China (and its immense economic effect on the league) might play in empty arenas due to a virus that started in China.  The bats that came home to roost are now in the soup.

And, March Madness is set to tipoff.  We should ask LeBron if we could rename it March Mad Mess.

 

 

Elmira?

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

As the calendar flips from February to March the madness of March Madness is nearly upon us.  Two weeks from now, or just 13 weeks removed from the college football bowl season, you’ll tune in to watch a college team you’ve barely heard of taking on another that you know no players on.  And, goodness knows you watched a lot of college football.

But, what about college baseball?  Similarly, 13 weeks from now the college baseball World Series will begin.  Prior to that thousands of games will be played.  Will you tune in now? Then?

It’s hard to tune in now because on traditional network TV none are on.  ESPNU carries a few along the way.  Conference channels carry a few more if you pay a few more bucks for your favorite one.

We wonder.  Why the huge interest in college football, the great interest in basketball, and the indifference in baseball?

Is it because as the weather heats up we choose to head outdoors for fun?  Is it acutely because the north does so? The north’s viewership is an important percentage of the potential TV viewership. And is that because the north doesn’t really play baseball nearly as much as year-round climates like California, Texas, and Florida?  It’s hockey season you know?  Eh?

Is it because the game is too slow?  That theory, which applies to MLB as well, has been advanced for years and years.

Or, is it that college baseball doesn’t allow us to establish a viewer relationship with its players?  What does that mean?  It means that very good and/or very likable baseball players, unlike football and basketball, head to the minors not directly to the NFL or NBA.

In the NFL we soon see which team drafts last season’s success stories.  We watch train wrecks like Johnny Manziel (Heisman to who’s man) in a nearly real continuous-time attempt to take their games to the next level.  We hope for and watch intently 36-month transition, great success stories like the build from Texas Tech to a Super Bowl MVP for Patrick Mahomes.

In the NBA the best ‘one and done” college players hit the hardwood for the NBA fame and fortune a mere six months after they cut down the nets in the NCAA tourney.

In baseball, if you even watched to begin with, the best of the best head to places called Round Rock, Appleton, and Elmira for a year, two, three, or more.  Many never dig their cleats in the major league batter’s box dirt.  Never is a long time.

In baseball we hardly knew you, then you left us.  So it’s harder to make the commitment.

When will I see you again?

Elmira?

 

 

The Grind

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

It actually started Monday.  Do you know what it is?  It’s the grind.  It’s the sports grind.  What is it?  It’s the time basically known as the month of February for sports fans.

Sure, there is the NBA and the NHL.  Both leagues are going full regular season throttle right now.  The NBA is already through 50 plus games per team in its schedule.  So is the NHL.  But, both leagues qualify so many teams for the playoffs that the regular season’s importance is significantly lessened.

Since October we’ve had MLB baseball playoffs, World Series, NCAA conference championships, bowls, CFP playoffs, the CFP Championship Game, NFL playoffs, and the grand finale-the Super Bowl.

Now what?  Did you watch the Toronto Maple Leafs skate against the Arizona Coyotes last night?  You didn’t for two reasons.  First, a midseason hockey game has nowhere near the interest of a Thursday Night NFL game as an example.  Second, the Coyotes and the Leafs didn’t drop the puck against each other last night.  Gotcha!  How about the Denver Nuggets v. Utah Jazz?  Well, at least they really did play last night.  NBA All-Star Game anyone?

But, for some cities this season is one that they cannot wait for.  Who are those cities?  What cities in North America have only the NBA as one of the four major sports?

  1. Orlando, of all places, is one.  It’s surprising given its population.  Though Tampa is a stone’s throw and a half away with the Bucs (if you call them major) and the Rays.
  2. Salt Lake City (Utah Jazz) is another.  New Orleans, you messed up.  Utah, change your damn nickname.
  3. Oklahoma City makes three.  How did they get a major sports franchise?
  4. Memphis sings the major sports blues save for the Grizzlies.  Formerly Vancouver, the nickname fits the midsouth city.
  5. Portland only has the Trailblazers, but they’ve strongly supported them since the franchise’s inaugural 1970 season.  It’s a woke town.
  6. San Antonio loves the multiple time NBA Champions Spurs.  But for all of the other months, it’s “remember the beautiful, beautiful Alamo.”
  7. And Sacramento only has the Kings.  And, that’s not much to brag about.

In the NHL nine cities have only a hockey team to call their own.  Though in fairness, there is the Canadian Football League.  That would reduce the list significantly.  Six of these NHL teams call Canada home.  They are Winnipeg, Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary, Montreal, and Ottawa.  The three US teams follow.

  1. Las Vegas is one, but that ends this year as the Raiders of Oakland make the move to Sin City.
  2. San Jose has the Sharks and a Greyhound Bus stop as far as we know.
  3. Columbus(OH) has only the Blue Jackets.  Some would argue that THE Ohio St. University is a professional football team given how well they play and how well they are paid.

February has 29 days this leap year, not 28.  So, there is a need to grind out an extra day before Spring pops, NBA and NHL playoffs begin, and other sports (the Masters, MLB, etc.) bloom all over again.

March 1st is 24 long days away.

Why the Connection?

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

Yesterday morning in unusually foggy conditions for the greater Los Angeles area nine people perished in a violent helicopter crash in Calabasas.  Two of the victims were a 41 year old father of four and his 13 year old daughter.

It’s always tragic when a death or deaths are so sudden.  It’s even worse when life is cut shorter than the average life expectancy age.  And, it’s down right awful when it’s a child with so, so much life to live in front of her.

But, based on the global outpouring of emotions ranging from shock to sadness to anger to grief, this was no ordinary 41 year old and his daughter.  This was a beloved figure.  Of course this was Kobe Bryant.  His list of accomplishments on the highest stage of the most accomplished basketball league, the NBA, places him on a short list of the all time greatest.

The BBR staff frankly was a bit surprised by the outpouring of emotion from those near and far.   Everyone has a right to speak, feel, and react as they darn well please.  But, the outcry made us wonder aloud, “why are so many so affected by the death of someone we don’t know?”  Our best answer is “because apparently so many were so affected by the life of someone we don’t know.”

And then we wondered why would one’s life be so affected by someone you don’t know.  And the answer of course is because one feels a connection to that person.  Isn’t it fascinating, for whatever reason that connection is felt, that one could be so moved?

Did you know Kobe personally?  Did you shake his hand?  Are the Lakers your favorite team?  Did Kobe do something off of the court for a cause that moved you?  Did you grow up idolizing him for his on court wizardry?  Did you dream in your backyard to dribble, drive, shoot and score like him?

If the answer to any of the above is yes, then you have that connection in you mind.

But BBR submits that there has to be more to it even than that.  Does his sudden death make you stop and realize how fragile life is?  Does it make you look a bit deeper into the “passage of time mirror?”  Does it, dare we say it, make you think about “what if it was you  or your daughter and you on that helicopter?

And if it really is more about you and your realization of human frailty, then so be it.  There is nothing wrong with it, but maybe it helps explain some of it.

Sometimes we just wonder, and wonder.  Seven others died in the same crash.  Do you know their names?  Do you care?  Maybe so.  But do you really, really care?  Maybe not.  Maybe there is no connection to them.  And, there is nothing wrong with that either, but maybe it helps explain some more of it.

Kobe connected, apparently, with millions in many thousands of ways.

Sports, the will to win, the excellence, the drive, the passion, and the fear of losing drove him.  And, maybe through him it drove you.

His passing might be a reason for you to examine why you had the connection.  And, whatever that reason is mystifies us on one level.  But if it drives us on another level to another level that is a good thing we suppose.  But, understanding the connection’s origin might be a healthy exercise as well.

May all nine victims rest in peace.  And, may ESPN give it a rest as well.