Cup of Coffee

August 10, 2012: Summer’s Over

94 Comments

It seems early to a kid who grew up with early-September start times, but this is the last week of vacation for Skim, who starts second grade on Monday. She strongly dislikes summer vacation and can't wait to get back to school. What a gal.

94 thoughts on “August 10, 2012: Summer’s Over”

    1. I disagree with this statemtn more: If there’s one thing that is irresistible for sports fans, it’s athletes who are not only the best, but who make being the best look easy.

      Years of "such and such athlete is lazy, look at him, he's not even trying." type of comments tell me otherwise, as well as pretty much everyone who prefers college hoops to the pros.

      1. I've had a couple of people that I've talked to about Bolt react strongly negatively towards him.

          1. Show-bolting?

            I'd agree that I'd like to see him run hard the entire race, instead of letting up at the end, but otherwise I don't mind the clowning around too much. It reminds me of KG... Or Brooks during a game of werewolf.

            1. He was 0.02 off of the Olympic record in the 200 and I think he gave that away on his last stride.

              1. Yeah. "Gave away" is the right choice of words. I mean, the difference between "run hard the entire race" and what he does isn't really that much. But there's a big part of me that wants to see him take the kill shot that he seems so capable of taking.

            2. I appreciate the show-boatiness. With that stuffy, sanctimonious prick Costas anchoring NBC's mockery of amateur sports competition broadcasting, Bolt offers a nice counter-point.

              1. I like it too. I've had two people tell me didn't train hard until after the Jamaican trials. Really. Three weeks of training did it. Right. He's the best in the world, he's trained extremely hard and he's brought it like no man ever has. When it's over, I love the preening. I'd love to be able to do it myself.

                1. Yea, I don't hear the other runners bitching about his preening. It's pretty much all in good fun (Carl Lewis excepted).

        2. My enthusiasm for his athletic accomplishments are quickly being tempered by his public diplays of ego. I don't care much for end zone dances, either.

      1. If they were going to get pennies on the dollar, I wish they could have at least been vindicative to Howard about it and traded to a place he'd hate.

      2. As a Sixers fan, I'm not sure that's true. I don't want Bynum just because of the kind of person he has been. Maybe it will help to get away from the cesspool that is the Lakers, but I won't hold my breath. I also really liked Iguodala and I'm not convinced that Bynum and his bum knee and the twilight of Jason Richardson's career are worth Iggy and a first rounder.

        1. I consider myself a bigger Iggy fan than most but this is a HUGE win for Philly. Bynum is 4/5 of the player Howard is. Throw in the fact that he is semi-local to Philly and he was quoted as saying something along the lines of "there are banks in every NBA city" you have to feel confident he will re-sign with the Sixers. Even if you are worried about the injury problems you have to think this is better than anything else you were going to get for Iggy.

          As for the Lakers, I can't believe they gave up so little for the upgrade to Howard. Dude is a beast. Originally I read something about Gasol going to ORL and Harrington going to Denver in this deal. If that were the case here, ORL could flip Gasol to Houston or another team with young players/picks and it could have wound up as a good trade for the Magic. I don't know how Nash/Gasol/Kobe/Howard fit together but that is a pretty impressive nucleus--for now.

          Denver takes their small ball line up to the extreme with Iggy. That team is going to be so fast that some nights they are just going to run other teams out of the gym. Add in Brewer/Iggy as wing defenders late in games and it makes Denver a team that can match up with almost any team on most nights-- especially during the regular season.

          Orlando, again. Wow. Lopez on max contact/Brooks/draft picks has to be better than this right? The most funny part of it all is that the #1 picks are all lottery protected! Ha! It is bad enough that you aren't getting that Lakers #1 until 2017 but couldn't they have at least given hope to Magic fans by pretending that the Lakers old team could break down by then.

          This trade, in my opinion, is more egregious than the Paul to LAL trade. I get ORL wanted to blow it up like OKC but there have to be the opportunity to get elite players. That is not Moe Harkless, Aaron Afflalo, Al Harrington, Sixers Center dude, and a bunch of lottery protected #1's. At least the Magic picks the next couple of years should be top five.

          1. He's a great, great defender, but he's absolutely not a scorer. They are going to have to get their points elsewhere (35 shots a night for Kobe!!!). I think Bynum is more than 80% of Howard. But again, that's my opinion, which might be clouded by my hatred for the Lakers.

            ... Adding, maybe Nash gets the ball to Howard right at the rim 15 times at night, which would kind of suck.

            1. He doesn't need to be a scorer in LA though. Kobe and Gasol will take care of that. For the sake of argument let's say that Bynum gives your 90% of what Howard does this makes it an even better deal for Philly and an even worse deal for Orlando.

              It should have been Bynum for Howard. Everybody wins.

              1. I will now rank the parts that NOLA got versus what ORL received.

                Gordon>Wolves pick>Kaman's expiring>Afflalo>Aminu>Vucevic>76ers pick>Denver pick>Lakers pick>Harrington.

                And maybe it is just me but Howard>Paul.

                1. I don't feel bad for Orlando. They got pennies on the dollar, but I'm pretty sure they could have gotten more by trading with Houston. So, they're stupid.

              2. Maybe, except Kobe hates Gasol and Gasol hates Kobe with the fire of a thousand suns, mainly because Kobe takes 25 shots a night. One of the Lakers' problems last years (other than no point guard, hello Steve Nash) was that they couldn't rely on Gasol to score. It was Kobe and Bynum. Please allow me this glimmer of hope for a few seconds.

                2. One of my co-workers commented on how the Lakers could be a pick-n-roll nightmare with Howard and Gasol and Nash. I don't feel that Kobe will allow that sort of effective basketball in a million years.

                3. Kobe hates Gasol and Gasol hates Kobe with the fire of a thousand suns

                  Huh?? Where's the evidence for this (other than Kobe taking a bazillion shots per night)???

    2. Maybe I'm all wet, but I don't think this is a massive upgrade for the Lakers. An upgrade, yes, but Bynum was pretty darned good. Orlando, though, wow.

    3. Does anybody think that Howard is going to sign an extension with the Lakers? I suppose if they win a championship this year he could be motivated to, but I just see him pulling even more Decision-style prima donna bullshit next year and stringing out his free agency as long as possible before inevitably signing in Brooklyn. Good God is he ever annoying.

        1. At which point he will sign on for 5 more years with the Lakers. $$$$$

            1. I suppose Dallas is a dark horse in all of this but I fail to see how he doesn't re-up with the Lakers.

  3. I will also be enjoying the day off from work watching semi-finals hoops.

    1. I wonder how close Wambach's foot was to Lloyd's head. It wasn't until the third replay that I realized the Wambach didn't kick the ball.

    1. Sites should have sortable tables. SR comes close, but it should make the current Olympics easier to find. Or maybe show it on the front page!

      Country Gold Silver Bronze Overall
      USA 39 25 26 90
      China 37 25 19 81
      Russia 13 21 24 58
      GB 25 15 15 55
      Germany 10 17 11 38
      USA (men) 13 13 12 38
      China (men) 16 6 9 31
      GB (men) 13 8 10 31
      USA (women) 26 12 13 51
      China (women) 20 18 10 48
      Russia (women) 6 13 13 32

      1. I think he's on an island with one woman, like most of us! And frankly, that's enough for me, especially if I have to answer to each one.

        2. Chico: Wouldn't you like one gala night before you go?

          Groucho: One gal a night is all I can handle.

        1. Spain has rallied in the last two minutes of the second quarter to make the score going into half time 31-20.

            1. Also, John Ameche has been terrific as an announcer. He had this to say about Shved:

              His ability to do the remarkable is matched only by his capability to do the absurd.

              I think RA is gonna have some issues with the young Russian.

              1. hmm, i don't have the proper tools right now to make that one fit really. oh well, going to have to settle for half baked.

  9. Greetings from the airport in Manaus. My FIL takes the boyscout motto to the extreme, so we got here about four hours earlier than necessary for the flight to Rio, but oh well... It is going to be sad to say goodbye to all of the delicious Amazonian fish (piraracu and tucanare were especially great). Also, apparently every single Brazilian meal is a buffet. Heaven for a seafood lover.

    I can share a full writeup and some pictures when I return if there´s any interest.

    1. My friend studied abroad in Brazil for 6 months. I want to go for the Cachorro-quente he talked about frequently.

  10. "Without Kevin Love this team would be down at half time" -Doc Rivers.

    1. I was under the impression that Love was not taking this seriously and was a big joke.

        1. I'm totally on board. Bynum isn't Howard, but he's pretty damn good on the defensive end. The main question is his knees.

  13. Its been a pretty hot and humid summer, so working outside has been a chore. But the last two days has been just perfect.

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