I Love this Game?
As the MLB playoffs were getting started, Ross Douthat took note of the lame "There's Only One October" ad campaign which featured Dane Cook (Dane Cook!) hawking the Cleveland Indians to the masses. I thought it was dumb too, but it could never live up to the sheer inanity of the NHL's immediate post lockout campaign. The Sun Tzu quote, the bare-chested guy sitting in skates, his "spiritual mentor" dressing him, while wearing K-Mart's least risqué lingerie herself - those were the days. So, I'm not sure what to make of the new NBA campaign that I caught as I watched Kevin Durant's debut last night.
Of course I like using Jerry Sloan for "conversation" but I can't help but feel that the self-conscious classiness of these ads is meant to distract us from the circus this league became over the last year or so. I wonder if it wouldn't be better to highlight the big stories of the year: the sudden relevance of the Boston Celtics, the incredibly competitive Western Conference, the arrival of Kevin Durant, the development of Deron Williams, the struggle of Tracy McGrady, the criminal conduct of the New York Knicks. The talent level in the NBA is off the charts. The best it's been since the mid-90s. Slowly the play is improving as well - think of the Spurs, Suns, Jazz, Rockets and Mavericks all playing good fundamental basketball with different styles and tempos.
Posted on 11/1/2007 08:01 AM
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Michael Brendan Dougherty
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Michael Brendan Dougherty
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Reader Comments (1)
Yes you had Jordan, an aging Barkley, Hakeem, etc ...
But I would argue that the league was deeper in the early part of this decade, with the likes of Duncan, Nash, O'Neal, Garnett, Kobe etc ...
I always thought the 90s were quite dissapointing from a talent standpoint in the NBA. Of course, as a Celtics fan, maybe my views stem from having to deal with the M.L. Carr era.