Finals breakdown
OK, we've cleared it with the Mrs. 5-at-10 and she does not have a problem with us penning more about LeBron. In truth, this will be more basketball- and Cleveland-related than James praise.
The NBA Finals start tonight, and other than a random golf or tennis major, this is the last major sporting event before Labor Day when college football kicks off.
So let's savor this. Do I hope Cleveland wins? You bet, for a number of reasons, and the biggest may be what it would mean to a sports-crazed city that is bona fide starving for a title. The numbers are overwhelming by comparison. The other cities facing the long-suffering stretches such as San Diego, which has never enjoyed a professional championship, and Buffalo, which has celebrated only the 1965 AFL crown, are not as painful because those cities have only two seasons of disappointment. Cleveland's dashed hopes come year round.
Did you know that this is the 150 professional sports season by a Cleveland team since its last title - the 1964 NFL title by the Jim Brown-led Browns? (Yes, the Cleveland title drought is older than the Super Bowl.)
In fact, the Cleveland span of misfortune has spawned a handful of nicknamed moments of misery such as "The Drive" and the "The Fumble" and even "The Shot" that Jordan drained over Craig Ehlo. And the most miserable is not even on that list considering the powerful Indians in 1997 were thwarted by the Marlins in Game 7 of the World Series.
So there's that, and if James can engineer the upset, he would be the biggest icon in Ohio since Jim Brown, Woody Hayes and Jack Nicklaus.
But it certainly will be a difficult challenge. In fact, if the Warriors are making difficult 3s - like they did in the second halves of Games 6 and 7 - then it really doesn't matter much what the Cavs do.
The offensive efficiency with which the Warriors play is staggering, and it can overwhelm opponents in a fraction of a quarter.
Look at the series-turning points of the last two games as Golden State rallied back from a 3-1 deficit in the Western Conference Finals. The final five minutes of the fourth quarter in Game 6, the Warriors scored 16 points. In a series-defining 8:35-minute stretch of the third quarter of Game 7, the Warriors outscored the Thunder 29-8.
That final run is the one that should scare the Cavs the most. Seven Warriors scored in that stretch - and none of them were named Draymond Green - showing the flexibility and depth of the lineups Steve Kerr and the Warriors can deploy.
In terms of matchups, well, here's a quick checklist of items for which to watch:
1) Are the Warriors making deep contested 3s? If they are good night, especially at The Oracle, which will host Games 1, 2, 5 and 7 as needed. There is little reason not to expect the Warriors to make a lot of 3s, considering Klay Thompson and Steph Curry are to 3s what Gehrig and Ruth were to home runs in the 1920s. As great as LeBron is and as impressive as the Cavs have been against a waterer-down Eastern Conference, the simple truth is that for Cleveland to have a real chance to win the series, it needs the Warriors to play less than their A-game at least four times.
2) What do the Cavs do with the defensive liability that is Kevin Love? Love's sub-40-percent shooting in the playoffs has been easily overcome by the Cavs' superior talent against lesser foes such as the Pistons, Hawks and Raptors. That won't work in the Finals. Love will have to be amazing efficient on the offense end to account for the lack of match-up possibilities against the Warriors, especially when they go small.
3) Can the Cavs shoot like they did against the Hawks? Amazingly, the team with the best shooting stretch in these playoffs is Cleveland, which made 77-of-152 3s against Atlanta. That's a mind-numbing 50.7 percent.
4) Are James and first-year coach Tyrann Lue ready for the pressure? You could make the argument that James being a real underdog for the first time in his career could be a comfortable spot. Still, he knows what is at stake - and how the critics will circle if the Warriors roll - for him.
And for his city.
Braves drama
OK, Freddie Freeman is the only certified, known quantity in this Atlanta lineup. Wednesday, he was a certified, known quality.
Freeman's walk-off homer in the bottom of the 11th capped a 5-4 win over the Giants, and delivered plenty of feel-good for a team that took two of three from the second-best team in the National League.
Also of note in this one was the stellar work from an improving bullpen. Braves relievers went 5.1 innings, allowing three hits and no runs while fanning six.
Yes, the offense is dreadful - Freeman leads the regulars with a .251 batting average for Pete Van Wieren's sake - and that's not going to become above average or consistent any time this season.
But the oration has promise and the look of real depth in the next season or two. And now the bullpen has started to improve.
The entire staff's ERA was down to 3.72 in May, compared to the dreadful 5.05 number it posted in April. The starters have received a lot of well-deserved praise for their improvement.
Now the bullpen is trying to match that progress.
Ari Techner tees off at the newly-opened Sweetens Cove Golf Course near South Pittsburg, Tenn., on Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2014. He is and Rob Collins formed a company called Flagship Partners to operate the course. Golf drama
On a lot of summer nights, the viewing options are, shall we say, limited. Last night was the rare exception.
You had the Braves battle back to win in walk-off fashion, but that was not even the most exciting sporting event on TV. Oregon won the NCAA golf title in dramatic fashion. The Ducks did it on their home course in Eugene with a coach from Eugene watching as Sulman Raza, who grew up in Eugene, beat Taylor Funk on the 21st hole to clinch the 3-2 match-play win. Here's the winning putt.
It was a back-and-forth, tug of war that Raza won with a birdie on the third playoff hole over Funk, who is the son of longtime PGA player Fred Funk. It was quite the theater, as Oregon toppled the top-ranked Longhorns.
It also exposed quite possibly the single most flawed NCAA rule out there. (Yes, let that sink in for a minute.) OK, we'll adjust the syntax of that a touch. It's the most flawed rule in terms of NCAA competition. How's that?
Texas got to the NCAA title match with a dramatic win over USC that featured the nation's best player, Beau Hossler, injuring his shoulder late in his 2&1 win. Hossler's shoulder was so painful that he putted out of a bunker to clinch the match on No. 17 because a full swing hurt too much. (And if you're sitting there thinking, "What's the big deal, I putt from the bunker all the time?" know that Beau is way better at golf than most of us are at anything, so playing from the sand is not a big deal for him.)
He gutted out the match and helped the Longhorns to the final, but the injury meant he conceded the championship match to his Oregon counterpart. How are we not in a place where you can have a sub waiting to take his spot and fill in because of injury?
It's one thing for it to happen in the match; that would make conceding seem appropriate. But the next day because of an injury-related event?
Texas has eight golfers on its roster and while none of them are as good as Hossler, who is ranked in the top five worldwide among amateur players, not being allowed to fill that spot seems ridiculous.
And speaking of ridiculous, the Golf Channel on-course reporter set up to interview Raza after the winning putt, but she picked the wrong Oregon Duck, who promptly told her after the question, "Hold on, let me go get Sulman." Ouch-standing.
This and that
- The NCAA tournament was from the only golf news on a rather eventful Wednesday. First, Phil Mickelson talked about his involvement in the recent insider trading issues that caused Mickelson to repay more than $1 million of money made from stock deals in which he got some early tips. How he was not charged in the event is still not 100 percent clear, but it does look like the episode is behind him, and it came and went without Phil losing a single of his many sponsors. Side question: How did the world come crashing down on Tiger Woods for cheating on his wife and Phil skips along merrily after committing a pretty serious white collar crime? Thoughts. It just feels like Mickelson has gotten off very lightly in this considering there's the insider trading - tips he got from arguably the most famous gambler in the country - and the looks of it all. Maybe Mickelson will take a six-month break for personal reasons like Dustin Johnson did a couple years ago.
- Then, the PGA announced that the tournament at Donald Trump's Doral course will be moved to Mexico City. Try to cover your PC tracks all you want PGA - they tried to publicly announce that this had nothing to do with politics rather it was a move to expand the calendar - but you have now picked your side. After all, as Rory McIlroy pointed out, "We just jump over the wall" for the event.
- Very interesting story here about college hoops scheduling from TFP all-around ace and Press Row co-host David Paschall. Makes sense all the way around.
- Speaking of SEC hoops, we're all for the idea of the SEC tournament being before the season, like John Calipari said. If it's really meaningless - as last year showed with Kentucky winning the title and then getting a lower seed than Texas A&M - then put it in November. The winner of the tournament knows they have a postseason spot locked and the rest know what they have to do.
- In case you missed it, we had Rich Cohen on Press Row on Wednesday and he was outstanding. Cohen is a contributing editor for Rolling Stone and Vanity Fair, is the co-creator of the HBO show "Vinyl" and is the author "The Sun, the Moon and the Rolling Stones" which is out this summer.
Today's questions
Have you submitted a mailbag question yet?
Secondly, today the Beaver turns 68. Yes, Jerry Mathers hits the big 6-8.
Rushmore of child stars known only for that one role. The Beav has to be there, right.
Go and enjoy the day.