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May 09, 2005
Lunchtime Links
The worst kept secret in the NBA was revealed Sunday when Steve Nash was announced as NBA MVP. My buddy Steve Ovadia thinks he knows why: Steve Nash, a Canadian, is the NBA's MVP because he had no hockey to distract him. Not only that, millions of Canadians, who might have otherwise been watching hockey, could instead spend this season sending him good, positive thoughts. Steve Nash's success is an almost direct result of the lockout. And of Phoenix's fast-paced offense which Nash was born to run. For more news from hockey's world championships, check out the Bird and Jes Golbez. And Jes has his own thoughts about Nash wondering if a selection by Vancouver could have saved the NBA in that city. And thanks to James Mirtle for the pointer to Tim Kawakami's call that Shaq was robbed: Yes, he has won only once, after the 1999-2000 regular season, which was O'Neal's first title season with the Los Angeles Lakers. He's 33 now, so O'Neal might not have many more shots at this -- how is he going to prove more than he did this season? Odds are, O'Neal will end up with one career MVP. As for me, this feels a lot like the year the last time somebody from Phoenix won the MVP -- Charles Barkley back in 1993, in a year when Michael Jordan really should have taken home the hardware. Granted, the gap in performance between Nash and Shaq isn't nearly as large as it was between Jordan and Barkley that year. It's more like Nash provided a number of intangibles that helped him convince enough sports writers to pass up the conventional vote for Shaq. Noted with regret: NBA blogging pioneer Tim Kraus has given up the ghost at End of the Bench. Joey of Straight Bangin' is stepping in. With no NHL playoffs to occupy my time, I've been overdosing on European soccer: in Spain, Barcelona is within striking distance of wrapping things up, in France, Lyon clinched their fourth straight title, and in Italy Juventus slipped by AC Milan 1-0 to take control of the Serie A title chase. In England, Chelsea clinched last weekend, and have nothing left to play for. The real battle is at the bottom of the table, where four clubs within two points of each other are vying to avoid relegation. Next season, three of those teams will be replaced in the EPL by a combination of Sunderland, Wigan and the winner of a playoff between Ipswich, Derby County, Preston or West Ham. And once that's over with, everything will wind up with the FA Cup Final in Cardiff between old foes Arsenal and Manchester United. All in all, I'd rather be talking about how the Islanders shocked the Lightning in the first round, but you take the table scraps you can get these days. In baseball news of the Chesapeake watershed, the Nats have taken four of six on the West coast and are on their way to Arizona. But Chris Needham thinks it should have been a sweep. And by the way, if you want the real scoop on how well Frank Robinson is managing the Nats, better take a hard look at the Nats blogs. They're like locusts, I tell you (love that senior moment reference). With the Nats about as far away as they could get, the Orioles managed to draw better than 35,000 to Camden Yards on Mother's Day. At Slate, Bud Selig gets some praise, which really isn't a terribly new meme. For my take on Selig from 2002, click here. The New York Daily News says MLB is on Barry Bonds' trail, and John Perricone is using the word "vendetta". In Williamsburg, the Annika express was temporarily derailed. And, like the Yankees playing from behind, Vijay Singh took advantate of Sergio Garcia's troubles to earn another big paycheck. At Imola, Kimi Raikkonen spoiled Fernando Alonso's Spanish homecoming. And despite showing some brilliant flashes, Michael Schumacher had to retire due to tire trouble. If you need to ask, he drives on Bridgestone, a brand that seems to have problems in warmer weather. UPDATE: I neglected to initially mention that Freddy Adu got the first start of his MLS career, and responded by posting a goal and two assists in D.C. United's 3-1 win over Columbus on Saturday. His goal was anything but cheap, and his passing was unreal, as he sprung a number of teammates down the wing for scoring chances. Looks like he's in the starting lineup for good -- an event that's probably eliciting a sigh of relief from MLS commish Don Garber. And Michael Wilbon is weighing in on Nash as MVP in an online chat: Richmond, Va.: I think Shaq got jobbed on the MVP. I agree that Nash did great things for Phoenix but Dallas still won six more games this year than last. And the Lakers…whatever happened to the Lakers? UPDATE AND CORRECTION: Reader Mark Lemmons writes to say that Freddy Adu has been a starter before, both this season and last for D.C. United, and he's right. Also, MLB has said that it is not investigating Barry Bonds, just monitoring the ongoing federal inquiry.
Eric
12:45 PM
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