Slip-ups, Blunders and Uh-Ohs

Eventhough it has only been three days since you've last heard from me, a lot has happened. I figured rather than hinder BoomRoasted Nation(all 12 of you) by splitting everything up into its own seperate piece(as well as rack my brain trying to come up with witty titles), I'll tackle everything at once. Consider this like one of Gabe's "Things I Learned" blogs.....but much, much longer.

1. Mike Greenberg: On the scale of "How Racist Is That?", ESPN personality Mike Greenberg's tongue slip on Monday(in which he inadvertently said what sounded like Martin Luther Coon instead of Martin Luther King...on the air, on the birthday of the most famous African American leader in this nation's history, no less) is probably four shades down the rung from the remarks by conservative blowhard Rush Limbaugh(to be more precise, since Limbaugh says a bunch of non-sensical things, the statement in question is Limbaugh's theory back when he worked at ESPN that the media is desirous for a black QB to succeed), eight steps down from Don Imus' "nappy headed hoes" comment and about twenty steps down from any joke D.L. Hughley's ever told.

So why am I bringing this up? Because even though our society has made great strides in blurring the lines between races(most notably, finally electing a black President not named Morgan Freeman), we have reached the peak of racial sensitivity. You can almost smell the shoe polish on Al Sharpton's gators as Big Al was getting ready to storm Bristol before Greeny could correct himself. Do I think Mike Greenberg is a racist? No. Do I think a slip-up like this can be blown out of proportion by a nation fueled by fake outrage? Absolutely. Watching the clip a couple of times, it seems Greenberg's brain fart was unintentional, but in 2010, that nor his apology afterwards. At the end of the day, it's a white man making what sounded like a racial slur about one of the most influential men(black or white) in this world's existance. You can't just supress that with an "I'm sorry, I was talking too fast." . Again, I don't think Greenberg was trying to be maliciously racist as Imus was with his crack against Rutgers' women's basketball or Limbaugh with his shot at McNabb(or any black figure, for that matter), but it only takes a spark to set off an explosion and the longer ESPN waits to nip this thing in the bud, the more steam it will pick up.

2. Coaching Mishaps: We had some re-signings and hirings in the football world this week(including the two men I thought should have been canned Sunday: Wade Phillips and Norv Turner). We'll get to them one at a time.

*Buffalo: Reports leading up to and following the Bills hiring of former Georgia Tech head coach Chan Gailey were that Buffalo's suits were looking for a offensive-minded coach with pro head coaching experience. Gailey fits that bill, I suppose, although keep in mind that Gailey was canned by the lowly Chiefs in this past preseason. When a team that only won two games the previous season and finished 24th in total offense says "We think we can handle this without you", how exactly is that a ringing endorsement for a head coaching job? Sure, Gailey is an offensive mind with head coaching experience.....so is Brian Billick(former coach of the SB champion '00 Ravens). So is Jim Fassel(Billick's opponent in said Super Bowl). Hell, so is Marty Morninweg(whom ESPN The Mag was touting as the next hot new coach, despite sucking out loud when given the job in Detroit).

The importance of head coaching experience is vastly overrated. Leslie Frazier doesn't have coaching experience and all he's done is turn the Vikings into one of the best defensive units in the league(just ask Dallas). Ron Rivera's never been a coach, but his teachings led the Bears to the Super Bowl a few years ago. You know who else didn't have coaching experience prior to getting their first head coaching job: Sean Payton, Jim Caldwell, Brad Childress and Rex Ryan. Otherwise known as the head coaches of the four teams vying for the Super Bowl on Sunday. What exactly have we seen out of Chan Gailey that makes us believe he's the right man for this job? And what more do guys like Frazier and Rivera have to do to prove to people they are worth being the top guys on the sidelines?

*Dallas: When reports were surfacing that Wade Phillips' contract option was being picked up next season prior to the Vikings' beatdown, I had a small hunch that even last Sunday's no-show wouldn't change Jerry Jones' mind(even as I was writing that night that Phillips had to go). Unless Jones got a green light from Bill Cowher, there was nobody that Jones would have felt comfortable enough replacing Phillips with....not even the man Jones put in place as the successor: Offensive coordinator Jason Garrett. Now come reports that Phillips has been given a three-year extension(which Phillips has denied). Granted, I've been a bit hard on Phillips over the years. He's done a fine job shepherding the defense and the Cowboys have been considered legit contenders every year despite Wade's presence on the sidelines.

The bigger problem I have, if this extension report is true, is what happens to Jason Garrett now? I agree that Garrett isn't the hot candidate he was last year, but you have to think his stock will rise is Phillips succeeds over the next couple years, don't you? Even if Garrett isn't as popular as he once was, he has to be better than Tom Cable in Oakland or Eric Mangini in Cleveland, right? If Garrett grows frustrated in the apprentice role(and, as of yet, there's been no indication that he has) and decides to bolt to any number of head coaching jobs that could open up, be it college or pro, and Phillips falls on his face next season, then what do the Cowboys do? You have to think if Cowher was even remotely interested in working under Jones, he'd be there as we speak, right? Jerry Jones is not the smartest of men, but he's not dumb enough to pick Wade Phillips over Bill Cowher, right? So if the earlier scenario occurs(Wade flops, Garrett bolts), aren't you looking at the same crop of candidates(Rivera, Frazier, etc.) you are right now?

*San Diego: In Wade's defense, at least he managed to notch the Cowboys' first playoff win in 13 years. What exactly has Norv Turner done lately to justify his CONFIRMED three-year extension? After leading one of the hottest teams into the postseason tournament, Turner's Chargers proceeded to get smacked in the mouth by a Jets team that came thisclose to missing the playoffs. Again, you can place most of the blame on kicker Nate Kaeding, but the fact remains that Turner(an offensive artist) couldn't muster enough points to force a run-oriented Jets offense to start slinging the pill. On a team with a Top 3 QB, a top 3 TE, a top 15 WR and a RB who was at one point the best back in the league, Turner has managed to lead this group to all of NO Super Bowl appearances. Mind you, this is the same organazation that bounced the surprisingly well-liked Marty Schottenheimer after a 14-2 season because he flunked in the playoffs(and, perhaps more importantly, didn't get along with his higher-ups).

If you're a Chargers fan, how do you feel about Turner getting a three-year extension less than a week after choking away a serious shot at the title to a Jets team that its own coach considered dead three weeks before the playoffs? Now, again, if Cowher isn't interested(and there hasn't been any sign that San Diego even flirted with that idea), then it's at least somewhat understandable to stick with Norv if they weren't enamored with a guy like Rivera or even Frazier(who would move the team from a 3-4 to a 4-3, if hired) just yet, but isn't worth at least sniffing around? Could there be less enthusiasm over the upcoming Chargers season now that we all know Turner's back and seemingly not going anywhere for a while?

3. NBA All-Star Game: Boston Celtics guard Ray Allen took some fire the last couple of days for suggesting that fans should only count for 50% of the All-Star vote and the other half should be divided between players and coaches. I don't like that idea....I LOVE that idea.

It's hard to give credence to an All-Star voting process where two of the highest vote getters are Tracy McGrady(who barely played to start the season and then was sent home a month ago while awaiting a trade) and Allen Iverson(who also didn't play in the first month and then retired, and then came back to Philly). It's not like Allen is trying to take the power out of the people's hands entirely, he's just wanting to defer the vote to people who are actually watching the games. How can a man who is not even wanted by his own team be wanted on a All-Star team? And how can a man who couldn't even get minutes on a lowly Grizzlies team be so worthy of votes? I like AI. I like T-Mac. They haven't been All-Star worthy since 2004. Tracy Morgan deserves to be more a part of All-Star Weekend than Tracy McGrady.

Here's where the fans should get an 100% vote: The Slam Dunk Contest. Fans got themselves all in a tizzy when LeBron James announced in the preseason that he would make a special guest appearance in this year's Dunk contest. Then, just as he will do to Cavs fans this summer, he ripped their heart out by changing his mind. What I propose the NBA does with a rather mundane Slam Dunk contest is this: 8 players, facing off one-on-one, tournament style, with all members voted in by the fans.

This way, the once-great Slam Dunk contest gets the biggest names and fans actually get a contest worth watching. And, by making it one on one, it makes the competition more personal as dunkers will be really trying to outdo their opponent as oppose to just trying to outscore a battle royal of contestants. Another hitch in the rules: If you opt out of the Slam Dunk contest, you don't play in the All-Star game. Maybe you aren't hitting big time stars hard by keeping them out of a meaningless exhibition game, but how good of a PR move will it be if Kobe Bryant decides to turn his back on the fans and selfishly sit out All-Star weekend just to avoid the dunk contest? How well do you think that will go over? The Dunk Contest has suffered from a lack of name recognition. As great as Nate Robinson has been the last few years, he doesn't put asses in seats like, say, a Josh Smith or even a Vince Carter does. If you're looking for a reason to watch TV on a Saturday night, are you more likely to tune in to see Shannon Brown vs. Eric Gordon or Carmelo Anthony vs. LeBron James?

Other tinkering I would do to All-Star Weekend:

*Have the same rules I just applied to the Dunk Contest apply for the 3-point shootout. Now, I can understand there being concern that some idiot decides to be funny and vote Kevin Garnett into the 3-point contest, which is why fans would only be able to vote on actual long-range specialists(Same thing goes for the Dunk Contest. As entertaining as Steve Nash vs. Jason Kidd would be, they won't be on the ballot).

*Get rid of all the other events. Nobody cares about how fast Deron Williams can dribble, shoot and pass and nobody really wants to see Lisa Leslie play HORSE with Chris Mullin. As for the Rookies-Sophomores game, isn't one meaningless exhibition enough? If you're going to have an event with celebrities and meaningless exhibition games, why not bring back the old Rock N Jock basketball games that MTV perfected during the 90's(only, this time, without Dan Cortese please)? If you're going to make me watch real ballers and athletes dribbling up and down the court half-assed, why not give me something halfway entertaining like Seth Rogen trying to post up Carlos Boozer? You go 8 players a team(3 athletes, 3 celebrities and a couple kids from the stands....no more than one athlete on the court per team at the same time) and 5 minutes a quarter. Shit, you can even bring back the 25 point bucket. Wouldn't that be more entertaining than DeMar DeRozen dunking on Anthony Randolph? I thought so, too.

4. New Jersey Nets: The question nowadays isn't whether the Nets are the worst team in recent memory. That's a given, considering they are on pace to go 6-76. The question now is whether Devin Harris, Brook Lopez, Chris Douglas-Roberts and the possible selection of John Wall (as well as the presence of minority owner Jay-Z) is enticing enough to bring LeBron James to the Garden State/Brooklyn.

My gut feeling is no. Even if the Nets snag Wall and he's every bit as good as his billing, it's hard to see him and King James co-existing with one rock(especially when you add in Harris, who likes to jack it up as well). If James doesn't sign with the Nets this summer(and I truly believe his best bet is with the Clippers, even with their string of bad luck and racist owner), how bad of a stretch are the Nets in for over the next couple years? For one, they don't even know where they'll be in the next couple years, as they still await the NBA's approval on a deal selling the team to Russian billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov(who will then finally move the team to Brooklyn, something Jay-Z and company have struggled to do). Even if they are able to draft Wall, is he a franchise changer like James was with Cleveland or Tim Duncan with San Antonio? More importantly, if they can't get Wall, what big-time free agents would come to a team that is one of the worst in the sport's history? You think Dwayne Wade, fresh off demanding the Heat to become a contender, would leave Miami for this motley crew? You think Chris Bosh is passing up going home to Texas to bang the boards for Wall's errant jumpers?

As a long-time resident in the state of New Jersey, I'm used to the infamous stench surrounding the Meadowlands, but this foul smell might be far worse than anything to ever touch the Jersey airs and its a scent that might continue to linger for years if this season's tank job blows up in their faces.