Bleacher Report - Articles by michael heller

For the Love of the Game: What a True Fan Is Made Of

michael heller — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 05:30:10 -0400

Last night while watching my beloved metropolitans get crushed, losing a seven run lead to their division rival Phillies (They lost 8-7 in 13 innings) a thought dawned on me. How can I still watch this game? It was causing me so much pain and frustration, yet I couldn’t turn away.

What kept me from changing the channel and watching some happy TV show and checking the score in the morning? Then I realized, I couldn’t turn away because I was a true Mets fan, and I couldn’t stop watching no matter how much I wanted to. So then I got to thinking. What defines a true fan?

I realize that there are many ways to express your fan hood, so I’m going to take a look at several ways that people do, as well as several characteristics of a true fan. A true fan is always loyal. He will stick with his team through thick, thin, through bad times, and good times. A true fan is attentive.

He always follows his team's every move as best as he can. A true fan isn’t afraid to tell his team what he feels about their performance (this becomes especially clear if you live in New York.) A true fan will think of ways that his team can improve (and now, in the blogging age, share them with the world.)

A true fan bleeds his team's colors. A true fan not only owns apparel of his team, he cherishes every piece like it's his own little connection to his team, No matter how much they actually have. A true fan knows the game more than he knows himself, His teams’ stadium more than he knows his own house.

A true fan will defend his team against enemy fans, even if he knows the other team is clearly superior to his. And most importantly, a true fan will hold out hope, even in the most hopeless situations, because when the day comes that your team finally hoists that championship trophy in the air, you’ll be ready celebrate right along side them.

Outsider Report: A Look at What's Going on in Sports

michael heller — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 09:26:31 -0400

Good news for my adoring fans (well, if I have any): I have returned from by two month long sabbatical from writing, and just in time for a summer's worth of articles. This will be the first of a hopefully successful series where I take a fans' view of what’s going on around sports, because I know just how much everyone wants to hear what I’m thinking.

· I’ll start off with a rant about my beloved Mets, and you don’t have to be a genius to know it won’t be a happy one. Though I like the hire of Manuel and believe it was time for Randolph to go, I did not believe that the right time to do it was 3 a.m.

The Mets really showed how little class they had with this move. If they don’t make the playoffs (which I’m starting to believe is very likely right now) then the Mets could be called one of the most underachieving teams in history.

· A couple of observations about the latest Don Imus comments. First of all, if this was anyone else, no one would be making as big a deal about this.

Second of all, even though in an unselfish world, there is no way this guy should have a job outside of the drive through window operator at Dairy Queen, WABC must love every comment he makes like this. At this rate, the whole country will be tuning into his show to see what he’ll say next.

Also, doesn’t The Pacman (sorry, Adam Jones) have better things to worry about than some old, white trash loser making a stupid comment about like getting his reputation back, contributing to the Cowboys, and making sure everybody calls him the football player formally known as Pacman?

· Now on to the upcoming NBA draft. With my favorite team the Nets guaranteed to make their decision based on a player that will hopefully be a free agent in two years (King James, for those of you who didn’t know) instead of trying to make their team better, I’ve been directing my attention to some other things.

For one, I think that Portland is the team of the future. They have several trade options available that could put them in the playoff race right away. One rumor I’ve heard is the 13th pick, Raef Lafrenz, and a couple of their young assets for the fifth pick, Mike Conley, and Brian Cardinal.

It clears cap room for Memphis, while Portland not only gets another top talent with whoever they select at the fifth pick, and they get a point guard who can run the team and is a close friend of Greg Oden in Conley.

· Another NBA Draft note, I think that there are only three elite talents in this draft (Rose, Beasley, and O.J Mayo) and if Miami really wants to trade the second pick and the rights to Beasley, they should make sure they get O.J. or they’ll be headed for another abysmal season.

· Back to baseball. After watching the most immature showing of umpiring that I’ve ever seen by Brian Runge on Tuesday night, I am furious. Why he would want to egg on players to get ejected, I have no idea, but he should be suspended for his actions.

If players and coaches get suspended for making physical contact with umps, shouldn’t it work in reverse as well?

Please, leave comments as it’s always great to get everyone’s opinions on these issues.

NBA Playoffs Day 1: LeBron James Carries Cavaliers Over Wizards

michael heller — Sat, 19 Apr 2008 09:07:38 -0400

Can you believe this was a first round game?

LeBron and the new look Cavaliers against the rejuvenated, finally healthy Washington Wizards. There was a lot of buzz leading up to this game stemming from comments by DeShawn Stevenson and Gilbert Arenas insulting LeBron. Also, a rivalry has begun to develop between these two teams, to be expected considering that this is the third straight year that they have faced each other in the playoffs.

It lived up to the hype. Gilbert Arenas had 24 points off the bench, backing up his big talk and proving that he’ll be a force in this series, and Antwan Jamison had a huge game with 23 points and 19 rebounds. But in the end, LeBron could not be beat. He went 32/4/6 after missing his first four field goals, Zydrunas Ilgauskas had 22 points and a double double, and Daniel Gibson and Delonte West hit some key three pointers to lead the Cavs to a 93-86 win.

Holy Knicks: Life After Isiah Thomas

michael heller — Sat, 19 Apr 2008 05:40:47 -0400

Knicks fans, rejoice.

The bane of your very existence, Isiah Thomas, has finally been fired. One of the darkest eras in the history of the franchise has ended.

However, if you think that it’s all uphill from here, think again. There are still so many things that need to get fixed, the least of them was their head coach.

They have huge salary cap issues, a group of untradable players who are unlikely to contribute, and a bunch of bad attitudes.

It looks like the next time that the Knicks will have a shot at competing is 2010. That's when Stephan Marbury’s contract, among others, comes off the books and The King becomes an unrestricted free agent.

Even that scenario will only come true if they have a little lottery luck.

But they have talent, that’s for sure. I know that it doesn’t look like it, but they do. They just don’t play well together. That’s why there is one coach in the world, one man who could unite this team for a championship.

No, it’s not Mark Jackson, Rick Carlisle, or anyone else that you might think. This potential coach is a foreigner, probably knows little to nothing about basketball, and most likely has zero interest in the job considering that he has a much better one right now, and is in New York right now.

Still lost? The answer is Pope Benedict XVI. The Knicks would need a miracle to win a championship in the near future, and it’s easier to get one of those if the holiest man on earth is the leader of your team.

However, barring that, the Knicks are bound for the basement of the league for the next few years.

Derrick Rose Lifts Memphis Tigers to National Championship Game

michael heller — Sun, 06 Apr 2008 08:08:45 -0400

“Memphis is overrated.”

“They play in a weak conference.”

“They can’t make free throws.”

“They’ll be the first one seed out of the tourney.”

These are the words that I’ve been hearing from Memphis’ doubters and haters for the last few months. I’ve grown sick of hearing them, and apparently so have John Calipari and his national title game-bound Tigers.

With a loud win over Kevin Love and the UCLA Bruins in the Final Four on Saturday (along with an almost as impressive win over Texas in the Elite Eight last Sunday) it’s safe to say that they have silenced their critics.

With only Kansas standing in the way of their school's first national championship, Memphis fans have one person to thank for taking their team to the level they are playing at now: Derrick Rose.

Now, he is not the only player on the team and they were a good team before he arrived (they made it to the Elite Eight the last two years.) But his presence makes them arguably the best team in the country.

Rose is physically the most dominant point guard in the country. At 6’3”, 205 pounds and with blazing speed, he can get to the basket any time he wants. There, he has the option to finish himself or dish it out to elite big men Joey Dorsey and Robert Dozier, or All-American Guard Chris Douglass-Roberts.

Watching him break down UCLA’S great defense, I realized just how much he improves Memphis. He makes everyone better by securing easy shots for them. Still, he’s not afraid to take shots himself.

Even with superb point guards Darren Collison and Russell Westbrook trying to stop him, Rose was able to dominate.

His excellent tournament play is certainly helping his pro prospects. He has solidified his place as a top two pick in the draft, and I believe he would help his team right away in the pros. He has an NBA-ready body and a unique skill set.

He will be a star for years to come.

Rose has Memphis on the brink of their first NCAA Championship. I believe that they will win behind a great game by Rose.

Also, kudos to Dorsey for doing what no one else had done all season: shutting out Kevin Love.

Here's An Idea: Play the MLB All-Star Game in Japan

michael heller — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 14:58:11 -0400

A big issue in baseball lately has been an international one:

Should the season opener have been in Japan?

While the MLB should try to expand overseas, this has raised some issues.

The main one is that the game airs in the middle of the night for U.S. viewers. This is frustrating for many baseball fans, like myself, who want to watch the season opener.

Now, one way to fix this would be to change the time of the game to one that would be more convenient for everyone involved.

However, that would not solve everything.

Some players don’t like to travel a huge distance like that, especially for the first game of the season.

Also, fans want to be able to see their team’s games. It makes it hard to do that when your team is on the other side of the world.

So this leaves the commissioner, and all the other baseball executives involved, to create a solution that would be best for baseball.

Allow me to come up with an idea that may shock some people:

How about play the All-Star game in Japan instead?

I know most of you are thinking that this is crazy and has no chance of working, but the more I thought about it, the more it made sense.

Let me show you what would have to be done:

1. Extend the All-Star break into a weeklong event. That way, players would have a chance to adjust to the time zone changes.

2. Fill up the new international All-Star week with new events. On top of the traditional All-Star game, have both teams scrimmage the Japanese All-Star team, too. This would bring us closer to a “real" World Series that Bobby Valentine has been talking about. You can also add some other things to introduce Americans a little more too Japanese culture.

3. Air these games at times that would be reasonable for both U.S. and Japanese citizens to watch without much complaint.

This solution would be better for several reasons. It would introduce Japan to ALL of the game's stars instead of just those of two teams. Players wouldn’t be as stressed about preparing because it wouldn’t count in the standings.

Because of the extra days, they would have a little vacation and a chance to rest midseason for the stretch run. It would also end teams sucking up to the league office to have the All-Star game at their stadium. Its major impact though, would be to add more diversity to more of the baseball community.

So, Bud Selig, please listen to me and make these necessary charges to help further enrich the great sport of baseball.

One last thought:

I would like to see a Japanese team come to the U.S. sometime. It would be interesting to see the Japanese style of baseball.

New York Mets: Johan Sanatana, Our Savior

michael heller — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 13:09:47 -0400

When Pedro Martinez came to the Mets in 2005, he brought with him sheer pandemonium.

We mets fans had suffered extreme mediocrity at best since their World Series loss in 2000. When Pedro came he changed all of that, not just because of his immense talent, but because of his prescence, the energy he brought back to Shea.

The first year they were good, showing signs of promise. The next year, they were the class of the National League, losing in 7 games to the Cardinals in the NLCS (without Pedro) with help of fellow free agent signings Carlos Beltran, Billy Wagner, Paul LoDuca, made possible by Pedro.

But last year, some of the gloom came back. The Mets blew a 7 game lead on September 12, something it had never been done before. Mets nation was in a state of shock. Nobody could believe it.

Then, the gloom ended. A new savior had arrived, this time, it was Johan Santana. Aquired in a trade for Carlos Gomez, Deolis Guerra, Kevin Mulvey, and Phil Humber, Santana may bring even more to the mets than Pedro did three years earlier. Pedro has only had one productive year as a Met. Johan Santana is in his prime, and has a few years left of being the best pitcher in baseball. So not only does he now contribute an energy lift to the Mets, he contributes a ton of quality pitching performances.

But the quality of his pitching will be judged on March 31st when he toes the rubber on opening day against florida. The energy in the mets comunity can be seen right now. I saw first hand his effect when I went to Mets spring training camp in Port St. Lucie.

In february, before games started, I went to tradition field for 3 days to watch the mets warmup for the season, and hopefully get a few autographs. That I did (I even got Santana's!!!) but the best part was observing the feeling of my fellow Mets fans. There was a feeling of relief from everyone there, including the players, steming from the chance that Santana gave us to move on and forget about the troubles of last year.

The impact that a star player like Johan can have on a team and its followers streches far beyond his ability to win games. The important thing that Santana has brought is healing. He has brought us hope.

NBA Playoffs: Favorites, Contenders, and Dark Horses

michael heller — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 03:26:44 -0400

March is always a big basketball month.

However, usually most of the madness is around college hoops and the NCAA tournament.

Now, I’m not saying that you shouldn’t watch it. On the contrary, the tourney can be extremely exciting. But if it's excitement you’re looking for: watch the NBA.

Although the NBA has lost some interest as of late, 2007-2008 has brought intense competition the league has not seen in years.

Thanks to a boatload of major deadline deals, the NBA’s Western Conference is considered one of the strongest ever. It is so deep, that if the season ended now, the Denver Nuggets would be out of the playoffs with two All-Star starters and a .600 winning percentage.

There is not as much depth in the East, but its top teams are up there with the West. However, the East cannot be considered in the same class as the West when a team with a sub .400 winning percentage still has a chance at the eighth seed.

Here is my list of teams from each conference that can win it all in the playoffs.

Eastern Conference

The Favorites

1. Boston Celtics: Hold the NBA’s best record; the "big three" have taken Boston by storm.

2. Detroit Pistons: Second best record in the NBA; have been mainstays in the conference finals this decade.

3. Cleveland Cavaliers: LeBron James. Need I say more?

The Contenders

4. Orlando Magic: Dwight Howard is having a career year, Hedo Turkoglu has become an All-Star caliber player, and the addition of Rashard Lewis has propelled them to a third-place record in the east.

5. Washington Wizards: They stayed afloat without Gilbert Arenas; they will be a force to be reckoned with when he returns.

6. Toronto Raptors: They have a good young group of players and now have playoff experience after their first round exit at the hands of the NJ Nets.

7. Philadelphia 76ers: They are one of the hottest teams in the NBA right now, but need at least the sixth seed to have any hope of advancing past the first round of the playoffs.

The Dark Horses

8. Atlanta Hawks: If Mike Bibby gels with the rest of the offense, they may have a shot.

9. New Jersey Nets: They are a streaky team; could they get streaky at the right time?

10. Indiana Pacers: If Jermaine O’Neal comes back healthy, they could make a playoff push.

Western Conference

The Favorites

1. LA Lakers: The Pau Gasol trade was a steal, Kobe Bryant is playing at an incredible level, and once they get Bynum and everyone else back and healthy, they will also be the deepest team in the NBA.

2. New Orleans Hornets: David West is having a great season, but than again I’d look like an all star too if I had Chris Paul on my team.

3. San Antonio Spurs: The defending champions: have won 4 NBA titles in the last 9 years, so how can they not be amongst the favorites?

The Contenders

4. Houston Rockets: Their 22-game winning streak rocketed them up in the standings, but how will they fare against the best in the west in a seven game series?

5. Phoenix Suns: Just when we thought that the Shaq experiment failed, Phoenix is back to only a half a game out of first place in the west!

6. Utah Jazz: They seem to fly under the radar a bit, but they are just as good as the rest of the top teams in the west.

7. Dallas Mavericks: Dirk Nowitzki out for two weeks!!! The Mavs have to hope that Jason Kidd can step up his game and keep the Mavericks in the playoffs until he gets back.

The Dark Horses

8. Golden State Warriors: Maybe they have some magic left over for another upset, but first they have to fight to keep their playoff spot.

9. Denver Nuggets: With so much talent, how can they not be in the playoffs? It proves how wild the West really is.

10. Portland Trail Blazers: They probably won’t make the playoffs, but this was a promising season for them. They will have Greg Oden next year as well as a lottery pick, so the future looks bright.

The NBA is so exciting that if I did this again next week, there would probably be drastic changes. Let's just hope that this carries over into the playoffs!