The Spurs-Suns series has been extra heated even by playoff standards. It first escalated when Amare Stoudemire called out Bruce Bowen for being dirty, along with the rest of the team. He's far from the first to claim this about Bowen, but it takes balls to call out Bowen when Raja Bell is on your team. Raja is quite a chippy player himself and delivered that ridiculous clothesline to Kobe last year, (although some Police officers still think his greatest cheap shot came inside a Boston University dormitory.) The suns have also distinguished themselves by doing the unthinkable, they've been able to out-flop and out-whine the Spurs in the first four games, which takes some real doing. So with that as a backdrop, we get the infamous nut shot where Bowen supposedly kneed Steve Nash in the beans and somehow he was assessed a flagrant foul, (I'm still convinced that Nash flopped, either that or Bowen is the most skilled cheap shot artist ever.) If Nash doesn;t fall to the ground wailing, the refs wouldn't have called anything and you could even make the case that Nash was the culprit for rushing Bowen too aggressively. And now the latest chapter, Robert Horry, who at this point has confirmed his status as nut job and a bit of an A-hole to boot, delivers a ridiculous forearm shiver to Steve Nash sending little Steve crashing hard into the scorer's table. If there's any justice, Horry will be suspended for game five, unfortunately, unless the NBA completely ignores its own rules, Amare Stoudemire and Boris Diaw will be outside the arena that night as well. Both Stoudemire and Diaw ran onto the court, there is indisputable video evidence of this, and no matter what Stoudemire claims about running to check in, it's BS. The rules have been in place for some time, if you leave the bench in that situation you get suspended, and guys have been suspended despite showing greater restraint. So for all the momentum Phoenix just gained, they'll be very hard pressed to continue it next game when they lose two men as opposed to the Spurs one for this ugly incident started by that nut job Horry.
A few other sports notes, Most people are calling this Spurs-Suns series the real championship, but I wouldn;t be surprised if Detroit beat either of them in Finals. It would break my heart if the Pistons won, especially if they were playing the Spurs because they've had tremendous luck with their acquisitions. Danny Ainge handed them the title with that ridiculous trade that helped Detroit acquire Rasheed Wallace, and now they might win because Chris Webber dogged it so bad in Philly that the Sixers just bought out his contract and made him a free Agent so he could run home to Detroit. The horseshoe had been firmly up their petard for a few years, even blowing the number two pick in one of the best drafts ever could derail them. Twice they've signed hobbled veterans who now look healthier than they have in years, that being Webber and former all-star power forward Antonio McDyess. They were able to integrate one of the most notorious head cases in Rasheed Wallace who has somehow matured to the point where he barely gets mentioned as a potential problem. The one thing I have enjoyed from the Pistons is their domination of the Bulls. After the Bulls beat Miami 4-0 they quickly became one of the more overrated teams in recent history. The Heat were old and slow, and their one young gun, Dwyane Wade was not himself because of the shoulder separation he suffered a couple months back. They beat a team who was ripe for the picking and all of a sudden they were the second best team in the east. Well the baby Bulls have been exposed, maybe they'll be ready to compete in a few years, but my guess is they'll have a new coach and a new starting center by then. I also want to tip my hat to Golden State who will be bowing out very shortly, they did more than we could ask for by creating a very exciting first round upset. It's always great to see an eight beat a one, but to do it with total fast break basketball just makes it the most exciting upset in the history of the NBA.
Before I go, I just want to call out Brett Favre. He's whining that the Green Bay Packers didn't make enough effort to win a title with him now. Someone should tell Brett that the Packers would be a playoff team if they had a star quarterback. Not only has he ruined the last three years for the Packers by not understanding his current limitations, but now he wants to cripple their future. Brett has been holding Green Bay hostage for too long, it would serve him right if they traded him to any other NFL team where he could expose himself as the has been who everyone seems to know he is aside from himself. If the Pack could get a third round pick for him, they should do it in a heartbeat, unfortunately the fans of Green Bay seem as deluded as Brett when it comes to his current talent level.
Thats all I've got for now, hopefully I'll be back soon with more, I've got Idol this week along with all the season finales of a great television season. Until then...
-Bender Out
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