MJ, day 2
I have been somewhat harsh on “The Last Dance.”
Maybe a bit overly in fact.
First, my hopes were through the roof for TLD. So that always makes it difficult. Think about the New Year’s Eves of your young adult life. Going to be a big time. Almost always turned into a crowd too big, a tab too large or entirely too much time spent nurse-maiding that one person in your group who normally didn’t go out and was three sheets by 10:15.
So maybe that’s part of my somewhat disgruntled view of TLD.
Second, doing what I do for a living, the unbelievable access the crew has had to a litany of borderline ungettable interviews – three sit-downs with MJ, Barack Obama, Stern, Kobe, you name it – I think the questions not asked and the topics not covered have been fascinating.
To whit, the lack of pointing questions to MJ about the “competition problem” rather than a gambling problem. Also, would it have been so tough to get the bigwig from Gamblers Anonymous? Also, and maybe this will be broached in episodes 7 and 8 or after that, but by my count, the first Mrs. Jordan has been mentioned once.
That leads to the question we asked Monday about how much final say did MJ and his team have. It also led to an interesting discussion on Press Row on Monday, which included Wells asking this fair and interesting question.
If the Jordan camp said no without a final edit, would that be a deal-breaker or would you still go through with it?
It’s fair, and difficult, because this will be the most successful ESPN documentary ever, and one of the most beloved because of MJ’s status.
That said, the images on the court have been a pleasant reminder to all the stories I remember – the 1980s and 90s was my go-zone time as a sport fan gang, and the NBA was higher on my list in those days than the random NFL game – and even a few that I had either forgotten or never knew.
There are two other things about the on-court coverage and stories that became apparent this weekend.
First, the simply fact that all of those alpha dogs have been so quick to quickly say MJ is The Goat is surreal considering how competitive and prideful those alpha dogs are. Think about the quarterback GOAT conversations, and the posturing in those details.
In the NBA of the last 35 years, all the first ballot Hall of Famers say one name, and it’s Jordan. (Side note: Always thought that Kareem has always been under appreciated in the GOAT discussion.)
The other TLD realization from the weekend, is while we can all giggle about MJ’s confusion of a gambling problem, his level of competition and killer instinct is simply undeniable. And even as a LeBron guy, there is simply no debating that MJ accepted the competition challenge and prevailed more than any great player ever.
Now, we make too much a deal about MJ going 6-0 in the NBA Finals and LeBron going what, 3-6, because everyone would admit that getting bounced in the Finals should be viewed as a better accomplishment than getting bounced in the Conference semis.
But, whereas LeBron has had title dreams derailed by great Warriors teams and dynastic Spurs teams, MJ’s victims in his 1990s championship killing spree is downright scary.
Where would those Warriors or Spurs teams that LeBron faced ranks among these teams that MJ beat at least once if not multiple times in his six championship seasons:
> The tail end of the Bad Boy Pistons;
> The Indiana Pacers with Reggie Miller, Ric Smits, Detlef Schermpf, and Mark Jackson;
> The physical Knicks bunch with Ewing and them boys;
> Portland with Clyde Drexler, Jerome Kirsey, Terry Porter and Kevin Ducksworth;
> The Lakers with Magic and Worthy and more;
> The Suns with Barkley, KJ, Thunder Dan;
> The Sonics with Gary Payton and Shawn Kemp;
> The Jazz with the Mailman and Stockton.
All told, there were 15 Hall of Famers that played in the 1990s that never won a title.
And all 15 know there’s one man who stopped them.
2021 Draft
I love the draft. You know this.
And in the complete vacuum of the sports world outside of NFL player moves, well, we’re back to the NFL draft.Why? Because Mel Kiper just dropped his top 25 big board and positional rankings. Good times.
Here is the story, and it’s behind the ESPN+ portal. So there’s that.
As an ESPN+ subscriber, I have read Kiper’s musing. (Yes, Kiper and McShay on the draft is the closest to the Paschall on college football and Weeds on college hoops when it comes to being a must-read and must link.)
Some of the takeaways:
> Trevor Lawrence is no-doubt No. 1 overall prospect. What does that mean if Miami or Coincy gets No. 1? Who knows since they just spent top-rive picks on a QB. But it’s interesting for sure.
> There are other positions with generational talents too. Oregon tackle Penei Sewell is a monster – he was Pac-12 player of the year as a tackle – and LSU WR Ja’Marr Chase, as well as multiple star corners and WRs give this draft class a feel of the 2011 with a load of stars up top.
> Jaylen Waddle is listed as the No. 11 overall prospect on Kiper’s big board. That is notable because until the Iron Bowl, Waddle was the No. 4 WR on the Alabama depth chart eight months ago.
> Trey Lance, the North Dakota State quarterback, is the third QB listed at No. 15 overall. Side note: Lance led the Bison to the FCS title last year, which is as common in a football season as turkey on Thanksgiving these days. On the way, he threw for 2,700-plus years, ran for 1,100-plus yards and threw the same number of interceptions as Spy. Yep, the 28-0 TD-to-Int ratio is pretty cool.
> Former UGA quarterback Justin Fields from THE Ohio State is third overall. Current UGA quarterback Jamie Newman is listed fourth among QBs.
> There are five Alabama players in Kiper’s top 25. Wow, Saban collects talent like outdoor furniture gathers pollen.
Tuesday in the kitchen
OK, slower week than normal. Lots going on. Family out of town. So it goes.
To answer a True or False from last week, when JTC asked if the ravioli in our ravioli lasagna was homemade. The answer is both. We do not make homemade pasta, but we use Wonton casings.
(Quick ravioli recipe: Depending on what you want to stuff your ravioli with, there will be differences. We use a mix of ricotta cheese, shredded spinach and some mozzarella. That’s because we use a good deal of sweet Italian sausage in our tomato sauce. If you use beef or sausage for the stuffing, precook the meat. Place the wontons on a greased cookie sheet, and put a tablespoon of your preferred stuffing on the wonton. Wet the edges of the wonton shell and top with another shell and press the edges with the a fork. Brush each ravioli with butter and bake for 10 minutes at 350 degrees. If you are serving the ravioli with sauce, you may cook longer, just check until they are golden brown. If like me you are using them in something you are going to cook again, 10 minutes is good. Viola.)
So this weekend I made two batches of this because we had a neighbor recovering from back surgery and a good buddy who’s momma is suffering from cancer.
The assembly is easy after the ravioli is assembled.
Make your marina sauce. I add at least a pound of Italian sausage.
In a 9×9 aluminum casserole dish – pro tip here: When making something for someone else, please remember the foil container; why? so folks are not required to hustle your dish back to you – go layer of sauce, layer of ravioli, layer of shredded mozzarella and parmesan cheese (mixed), layer of ravioli, layer of sauce and layer of shredded mozzarella and parmesan cheese (mixed).
You will need about 25-or-so raviolis for a 9×9 dish, more with a bigger dish.
I cook it covered for 30 minutes at 375, then take off the foil and cook another 15 minutes.
And don’t forget the bread. Enjoy.