Cup of Coffee

Cup of Coffee, 13 November 2013 — Changing the Narrative

58 Comments

The stories floating out there about the Knicks pursuing Kevin Love in 2015 are more about diverting their fans away from the steaming pile of dung that is the 2013-14 Knicks. I get that. What would be cool is if they just went away. The league is doing just fine without them.

58 thoughts on “Cup of Coffee, 13 November 2013 — Changing the Narrative”

  1. Heading home tonight, so I'll miss the game or at least the beginning of it. This one should be very winnable.

    1. Meanwhile, this one will be the first game for a week that I'll be able to see in its entirety, although sleep has been hard to come by, so I guess there are no guarantees.

      1. This morning I got my teeth cleaned and this afternoon I got all the remaining leaves in the back yard into one huge pile to haul away tomorrow. Tonight I'll drink beer and watch some Wolves. I've seen two half-games so far, so it will be nice to see a full one.

        1. I also just finished some major raking. I think I'm done for the year regardless of whether any more leaves sneak onto the lawn.

    2. NBA.com LP Audio is free (though a bit difficult to use on a smartphone), so I've been listening to the games at work or if they're on while I'm commuting. Basketball isn't a great sport to follow on radio, but it's better than nothing.

  2. I'm already sick of the Kevin Love to ________ stories. It is 2 seasons away and the Wolves will be able to offer him more than any other team. He could leave but it is not a foregone conclusion.

    1. Exactly. If he wants to leave, he's going to leave because the money doesn't matter as much as whatever other factors. OR he's going to stay because the money does matter more than whatever other factors.

      I don't know much (read: anything) about NBA salary stuff but the numbers are pretty much set, right? The Wolves can beat any other offer if they want? So there isn't a hell of a lot the Wolves can do to change the dynamic other than win a lot. (NOTE: I endorse the win a lot strategy.)

      Of course, you can't milk a few dozen articles over the next few years out of that.

    2. I think that narrative would hold more weight if they hadn't ditched Kahn. I think Love felt continually disrespected by Kahn, and I don't think Kahn was capable of assembling a team that wins. Flip's draft was god awful (admittedly, what looked like a slam dunk draft turned into a worst case scenario between picks like 5-8), but he brought in good pieces and paid Pek! fairly. I think that says a lot to Kevin. Maybe he goes and becomes Super Friends with some other players somewhere else, but I think Kevin likes being the Alpha Dog and I'm not sure he would be in any of those Super Friends scenarios.

    3. I didnt click the link, because Souhan. But this is how the Strib was pumping up his latest column

      Star Tribune Sports ‏@StribSports
      Column from @SouhanStrib: Kevin Love is one of the NBA's best stars - enjoy it now

      It could be about Love playing at such a high level that its had to replicate. But I dont give Souhan clicks so I'll never know. I just assume its about Love leaving.

      1. It's not saying that. It says enjoy the moment, we don't know what is going to happen but he's good now. Actually a pretty good (and obvious) column.

          1. This is a column that shouldn't have to be written, but it does. Love's stock dropped dramatically among the local yokels due to his injury ravaged campaign. When a player misses extended time and then plays poorly when he does play, you can look at it two ways.

            1. Man, our guy is hurt. I hope he can heal up and regain his old effectiveness. If the injury is something that is impacting his play now but doesn't appear to be a chronic one (i.e. broken hand), you remain confident that he will return as good as ever.
            2. #playyousissies

            Too many fools end up in the second category.

  4. The T-Wolves ban any sort of hazing. I'm totally okay with this. I get that a little good natured ribbing can actually build morale, but what has happened with hazing all over society I think makes a total ban of such activity the better policy.

    Also, leave it to the NBA to show the way. Like him or not, David Stern has addressed issues like this before, I think, to the betterment of the league. You remember his dress code edict? People thought that it had a tinge of racism to it, but I think his position was correct. These guys are professionals, they work hard to stay in the league (most of them anyway) and they should present themselves when they are at work or coming to work in a professional manner. That policy has been a good change for the league (it's also led to Russell Westbrook's interesting press conference attire, which is a fun side benefit).

    Is Roger Goodell going to step up and take care of this situation? Or is he going to slither away from it? We know what Stern would do.

    1. (it's also led to Russell Westbrook's interesting press conference attire, which is a fun side benefit).

      Which also led to Rent-A-Swag, so the good just keeps on coming in.

      But yeah, totally agree with the dress code thing, considering that's how nearly every single other business works (even if I once worked at a place where the dress code was "don't come naked.")

          1. Oh yeah, that might have been it. Its been awhile since I've worked there. Of course, considering the size of the company's campus these days, that might not even be the requirement anymore since it'd be real easy to avoid customers.

            1. I haven't been there for two years, but every now and then I check in on Google maps to see how their construction is doing. The 10,000+ person auditorium looks pretty impressive.

    2. As long as they don't overpay, I'd be all right with this. He's been an actual major league-type pitcher for several years now, and while he's getting older he's not showing signs of slowing down. He won't lead them to the World Series or anything, but the Twins need some real live big leaguers in their rotation.

    1. I thought that was going to be about birds.

      I don't have a lot of contact with kids these days so → Is a lack of imagination really happening?

      The warrior dinos were awesome.

    1. This was good. I hope he figures it out and makes it to the big show, but man do I fear for what will happen to him when he no longer has the support network that has apparently managed to keep him alive and moving forward here. So many descriptions of avoidable near-calamity in that story.

  8. Breaking The Price is Right (except Plinko).

    To help future contestants avoid Margie’s fate, I decided to make a handy cheat sheet explaining how to win The Price Is Right—not just the Contestants' Row segment, but all of its many pricing games. This guide, which conveniently fits on the front and back of an 8.5-by-11-inch piece of paper, does not rely on the prices of items.

    1. some dude a few years ago did memorize some prices and got the exact price during the showcase, winning both prizes. He said people were not happy with him. I've seen the clip, and Carey looked pissed and barely congratulated the guy, as if he thought it was fixed.

      1. The dude did not win the prize; he was in the crowd coaching the winner. Drew Carey talked about it on the Kevin Pollack Chat Show; he didn't fault the guy (who technically didn't cheat), but at the time it happened it was hard for him to look happy for the winner because he was sure the show would be shut down and he'd be out of a job. After that, among other things, they might give away the same car but it will have different random option packages each time.

    3. Their absurd work made my absurd work possible.

      I feel like this acknowledgement should be applied more often.

    1. My only argument would be that Boston was practically the same team and went from worst to first but I guess that was more about injuries and bad managing the year before or at least that is the apparent storyline most voters went with.

      1. Practically the same team, except for Aviles, Beckett, Crawford, Drew, Gomes, Gonzalez, Napoli, Ross, Uehara, and Victorino. Same team.

      3. AL should have been Showalter.
        Although I'm less certain about that than I have been 2 of the last 3 seasons.

    2. Great fit, defensively at least. Think of all the foul ground for him to get to. Even from SS if that's his position (I can't remember).

    1. After watching roughly the first thirty minutes of the game, I'm all for Mexico. I've only rarely seen teams play as conservatively as New Zealand was, and even then it didn't seem very effective. Having more teams represent CONCACAF is probably better for the US, too.

    2. I'm split between having 4 CONCACAF teams in the WC to help the confederation's coefficent, and thus helping the US, or seeing Mexico fail terribly.

      I didn't see any of the game today *looks up score* welp, nice knowing you NZ.

      1. Since the US was never going to get one of the 7 ranked spots (and an "easier" draw), I would have rather had El Tri shamed and left at home. Oh well...

    1. I was more a fan of his Raider predecessor, Dave Casper, who was born in Bemidji*. But yea, Christensen was a talent and a character.

      *which I just learned today looking him up. Huh.

      1. True story... In college I was fooling around with a girl who had a boyfriend named Dave Casper. We were ratted on by the girl's roommate and Dave found out about me. I was very worried that it was "the" Dave Casper. luckily for me it wasn't.

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