6 great minutes

For six minutes on Friday, the world seemed back in balance.  After George Samaras tied Greece's game versus Germany in the EURO 2012 championships in the 55th minute - on a beautiful pass from Dimitri Salpingidis - it was as if Ellas was finally able to draw on some of it's civilization equity to make things even with the EU, European Central Bank and the IMF (AKA the troika).


We owe you billions in bailout money, you owe us for inventing most of what makes up modern western society.  Let's call it even, 1 to 1.


Then stubborn reality showed up in the form of a blizzard of goals from Germany, and all of a sudden it was 1453 again.  After overachieving, we lost Constantinople and the football game 4 to 2. 


Germany is very, very good.  They made great passes and were aggressive the entire game.  Ellas was on her heels most of the game, yet resiliently stayed in the EURO longer than anyone expected. 


Of course, the country looks likely to stay in the euro zone longer than expected, too.  All the hand wringing leading up to last weekend's election proved to be nothing more than that.  The Greek electorate was pretty mature (something you can't say about our electorate, at least in 2010) and elected enough members of parliament from the 3 'stay in the euro zone' parties - New Democracy, PASOK, and the Coalition of the Democratic Left - to form a new coalition government and ease fears that the motherland would leave the common European currency.


Much like the performance of our football team, the elections turned out as well as could have been expected. Though Greeks elected a pro-euro coalition into power, almost 60 percent of the electorate voted for anti-bailout parties. That number gives the new government some leverage to renegotiate the terms of the bailout with the troika.


With Merkel stubbornly opposing euro bonds or a EU stimulus package, Greece's best hope for economic recovery is a renegotiated debt repayment schedule. One reason so many Greeks voted for Syriza (the Radical Coalition of Leftist Parties) and other anti-bailout parties is the accurate assessment that Germany and the European Central Bank are more concerned with repaying loans to German banks then in helping Greece out of it's current crisis.  


Of course, that perception helped make the Germany-Greece football match so news worthy and prominent on front pages - not just sports pages - around the world. 


The Ethniki played hard and well in advancing to the elite 8 of the European championships.  Let's hope their play shows Greeks what can happen when the nation rallies together and thus inspires Greeks to pay their taxes and keep their heads up as they face the crisis. 


Let's also hope the elections inspire the troika to cut Ellas some slack and renegotiate our debt repayment schedule.  


After all, the Germans scored 4 goals to our 2 - how much more do they want?


And don't forget, for six minutes everything was in balance with our contributions off-setting our debt.  Zito H Ellas!


A few more EURO 2012 notes:

• What are the odds that 3 days after Antonis Samaras is inaugurated as prime minister that George Samaras scores our game-tying goal? Big week for Ellas and that sir name.
• Though the game was not really THAT close, would have loved to see what would have happened if suspended Greek captain George Karagounis had played against Germany.  Tough way for him to go out.  At 35 you have to wonder if he will play for Greece again even if Ellas does qualify for the 2014 World Cup.
• Sports is always full of 'what ifs.' For Greece, hard NOT to wonder what would have happened if Karagounis had converted that penalty kick versus Poland.  If Ellas wins that game we play Portugal instead of Germany, a team we defeated twice in Lisbon on our way to the 2004 European championship. Tι εάν ...
• I'll blog about this later, but congrats to Labron James and the Heat.  I'm not a big fan of Dwayne Wade and strongly dislike Pat Riley, but James is clearly the best hoopster on the planet, worked hard after last year's humbling loss to Dallas, and Miami was the best team.  The decision show and the stupid and preening celebration with Wade and Chris Bosh will always be viewed as huge, ego-driven mistakes. However, James learned from those mistakes. Isn't that the point of life?  Congrats to him.

Ladies and gentlemen, the NBA . . .

All the blather about LeBron James' performance in Miami's game four loss is an interesting snap shot of the NBA.

If the Heat had won - a game that could have gone either way, with a final margin of one possession -  James would have been lauded for 'getting his teammates involved' or his near triple double.  

But in the modern NBA winning is almost - almost - secondary to an individual players' performance.  The post-game stories have mainly been about James, not simply 'Mavericks win game 4; Series tied at 2 apiece as teams head into critical game 5 showdown.'

The NBA is to blame for this dilemma.  The league, at least since Magic Johnson and Larry Bird made it relevant in the 80s but especially during Jordan's Reign, has always promoted individual players not teams.  The irony of the Magic-Bird rivalry is that it involved the two most celebrated teams in the history of the NBA.

It has generally worked, though most teams lose money and college basketball - where fans root for the school not individual players - is more popular. 

But the NBA has unwittingly under cut it's own brand by de-emphasizing winning, and promoting the players as celebrities rather than as athletes, a fact I loathe.  Athletic accomplishment is about effort and determination; celebrity is the opposite.  Or to quote the North Carolina state motto: to be - Tyler Hansbrough - rather than to seem - fill in the blank: Lindsey Lohan, Justin Beber, etc.  But we live in a celebrity culture, and self-less team play is not as in fashion.

Finally, the Heat may have been hurt by James' lack of offense, OR his rebounding and assists - or simply his presence on the floor - may have been the reason they led for most of the game and were one missed free throw (by Dwyane Wade or Jason Terry) from being up 3-1.

Bottom line: you play to win the game.  All the other stats or facts don't matter, even if we are talking about LeBron James.

A few more takes on the NBA Finals:

•  Interesting take on James' play by Sally Jenkins in today's Post, who points out James should be complimented for not being selfish or forcing the action in game four;
• He's getting a lot of ink lately, but to set the record straight: DeShawn Stephenson is an idiot.  A player with that little talent should NOT tug on LeBron's cape.  Stephenson is most famous for  . . . not feeling his face when he makes a 3?  Calling James overrated?  Yet he keeps poking LeBron with a stick.  If James has a huge game tonight credit Stephenson with an assist for his constant and inane nattering.
• This series has been an impressive coming out party, of sorts since he's a former MVP, for Dirk Nowitzki.  He is really carrying this team, a team that is clearly greater than the sum of it's parts.  The rest of the Mavs roster is not THAT impressive; their third and fourth-best players - Jason Kidd and Shawn Marion - are on the back-side of their careers and their second-best player, Terry, comes off the bench.  It's really 3, Wade, James and Bosh, versus 1 - and Nowitzki is holding his own.

One more thing

Last week I blogged that LeBron James would be the difference in the NBA Finals.  But I forgot about Dwyane Wade, who made huge plays down the stretch to practically win game one by his damself.  

I could have blogged about Wade then, or for that matter with the use of a Y in Dwyane I could have included him in my post about LaYnce Nix and JaYson Werth.  The Ys are taking over.

At least the Y did in the fourth quarter against the Mavs.  And that was the difference.  James and Dirk Nowitzki had in effect played to a stand off.  But Wade was much better than any of Nowitzki's supporting teammates.  

That superiority was most vividly on display when Wade blocked Shawn Marion's shot late.  It was the play of the game and sent the Heat off towards their game 1 win.  

Ironically, to that point Marion had played a pretty good game.  But the Jasons - Kidd but especially Terry - did not do their part to support Nowitzki (Carolina's Brendan Haywood actually had some nice runs, with 3 points, 7 boards and 3 blocks).  

There is no way Nowitzki can defeat James-Wade-Chris Bosh on his own.  He needs help, and when Marion tried to provide it Wade was there to counter, and thus went game 1.

NBA Finals

Though there will be no Lakers, Celtics or Spurs on the court the NBA Finals should be pretty compelling basketball.

The star players on both teams, namely Dirk Nowitzki and LeBron James, have been scintillating of late, both doing what star players are supposed to do: make plays when their teams need them.

Like most people in these united States I did not like the way James left and embarrassed his hometown Cleveland Cavaliers.  But the guy has been pretty impressive in the playoffs.  It's hard to know where to begin in talking about a player as talented - and big - as James.  His size and agility allow him to make impressive basketball plays all over the floor. 

Against the Bulls he blocked shots late, hit big threes, made passes to win game 5 down the stretch - after struggling with his shot for three and a half quarters.  He's physically impressive just standing there, but James' determination and will and mental toughness was more impressive - especially down the stretch.  

As you can tell, I was impressed.

Contrast James' play with Derrick Rose, who was panicky in the last 5 minutes instead of confident and fouled Dwayne Wade as he made a three-point shot late.  I expect his performance in this series - where he lacked confidence in his teammates and could not take over a game by himself  - to help his development.

Coincidentally, the same thing happened to Michael Jordan.  He only started to win championships when he figured out the balancing act between taking over a game and trusting his teammates.  Easy to forget that the Bulls won a couple of championships thanks to big shots by John Paxson and Steve Kerr, guys Jordan found open - and trusted to take and make big shots.

Rose seems like the kind of guy who WILL figure it out - and become a real monster when he does.  But he hasn't yet, and that was evident late in every Bulls loss to the Heat. 

Of course, up till now neither James nor Nowitzki has figured it out either, at least neither have won a championship.  But both guys are playing at an extraordinarily high level.  It will be fun to see if both can keep it up and carry their team to a championship, and thus earn a place in the pantheon of truly elite basketball players.

FYI, in my opinion the list of truly elite basketball players - guys who have won championships and are still dominant is: Kobe Bryant, Kevin Garnett, Tim Duncan, and perhaps Dwayne Wade.

[Interesting to see how aging this list is.  If Nowitzki, James, or Carmelo Anthony and Kevin Durant, win a championship the torch will have been passed.  Shaq should also be on that list, but he's practically retired.]

Therein lies the key to this series: Wade. The Mavs resemble the Bulls in that they have a dominant player with a nice ensemble that plays tough D.  However, if Jason Kidd (who could join the elite list if the Mavs win the title?), Jason Terry, and others on the deep Dallas roster step up they could win the franchise's first championship. 

But will any of those guys play as well as Wade?  Probably not, so though I want to see Brendan Haywood get a ring, it's hard to pick a one-superstar team beating a team with two.  Nowitzki may get enough help from Kidd, Tyson Chandler and others, but with Wade helping James it's hard to see the Heat failing to win their NBA championship. 

But James is the bottom line.  He is playing at such a high level, both mentally and physically, it's folly to pick against him.   

A few more hoops notes, then it's time to leave the coffee shop for work:

• The playoffs have certainly exposed Duke grad Carlos Boozer as a titanic fraud.  He was at his Dookish 'best' last night both in terms of his foul on James and his complete disappearance in a game his team really needed.  I used to think he had a nice game but he seems to have peaked a few years ago and no longer seems worthy of 35 minutes a game.
• One other Duke note: the NCAA announced a rule change that would no longer allow a player to draw a charge by standing under the basket.  As it is now in the NBA, the NCAA will draw a circle under the basket where a defensive player can not stand to draw a charging foul.  That 'strategy' has long been a staple of Duke's philosophy: 'just stand here like a statue and wait for the ball handler to show up'  (in my opinion an un-American 'reward' for inaction).  So if you're wondering, that sound you just heard was Mike Krzyzewski's heart breaking. 
• One more side note about a Mavs-Heat final.  What would be more insufferable? The Heat winning a championship after staging that goofy and childish dance party/press conference to introduce James and Chris Bosh last summer, or the goofy and childish antics of Mark Cuban if the Mavericks win?  Discuss!

Sports and Politics

Those fine endeavors share a number of traits.  One, money generally ruins or at least perverts both of them.  Two, you keep score.  Three, the worst part of each is speculation and hype.

I thought of the third one in response to the preseason hype around the Miami Heat AND the breathless speculation about the November midterms.

The preseason Heat hype is pro basketball at it's worst.  The trio of James, Wade and Bosh may indeed one day win a championship, but until they do all the hype is worthless.  I love the coming out/pep rally teams hold when they sign a new player, and the wall to wall coverage of practices and the video of players walking into a gym.  The fog machines, the stupid dancing and preening, all before a game has been played.  Stupid fans fall for the bread and circuses when they should only celebrate two things: wins and effort.

In sports there is no need for hype or pregame shows.  You can talk all you want but at the end of the game there will be an indisputable winner and loser (except is soccer/football, which needs to eliminate the tie since you play games to win).

One last thing on the Heat; will someone explain to me the fascination with Chris Bosh?  He's a very good player and I hear he has a good sense of humor.  But he's not that good.  He was a good player on a decent team in Toronto, but he's not Dwight Howard.  Or, for that matter Pau Gasol and Al Horford or a bunch of other big men.   Rather than third amigo I imagine Bosh as more of a third wheel.  

And just as I am not handing the Heat the 2011 NBA championship - not sure they are better than last year's finalists in the Lakers and Celtics - I also urge folks to resist the hype around the Republicans in the upcoming midterms.

But like with sports, the 24-hour news cycle demands speculation until game time/election night.

The Dems will certainly lose ground in November, as parties in power do in midterms.  In the Senate the retirements of Byron Dorgan and Evan "Worthless" or "This Job is Hard So I Quit" Bayh make defending those seats difficult, but Harry Reid will still be majority leader on November 3rd.

Best of all, Nancy Pelosi will still be Speaker of the House.  There is no way the Rs can flip that many seats.  

To me it was always a long shot. The Democrats defending swing seats, folks like Piriello, Space, Boccieri, Teague, etc. are smart and know what they are doing AND how to run in those districts.  

I was incredibly impressed by Rep. Boccieri's speech at the recent LCV Victory Fundraiser.  He's been taking tough votes for two years now, including voting for the climate bill even though Ohio gets 80 percent of their energy from coal, but best of all knows how to frame those votes and defend his beliefs.  The D caucus is full of stars like that, representatives who know what they're doing and will get reelected.

I spent about an hour on Monday phone banking Greek-American voters in Tom Piriello's district with the Greek-American Progressive Network.  Out of 16 voters contacted, 13 were voting for Piriello, a PIRG alum, 2 were undecided and only one was voting against him.  Obviously Greek-Americans are not representative of the body politic at large (many consider us superior to none-Greeks, for instance) but that's a great ratio.

I will take a stab at predicting the outcomes of all the swing races this week, so stay tuned.

But I hate the hype about the tea baggers.  Then again, the hype will likely help the Dems in November.  I think the nomination of crazies like Christine O'Donnell, Sharon Angell, and others will help drive an uptick in Democratic enthusiasm, or more precisely turn out, on November 2nd.

As election day draws closer it will become clearer and clearer to liberals that we need to turn out to turn back the tea baggers and the Dukies (like Rand Paul) and save the republic.  

Finally, I also have to point out that the President continues to draw big crowds on the campaign trail.  As another PIRG alum, Chuck Todd, pointed out this week the Beltway crowd may think Obama is damaged goods but the public does not.  Obama drew more than 25,000 voters to a rally in Wisconsin and a huge crowd in Maryland, too.

There is still lots of work to do, and thanks to the Reagan Memorial known as the Supreme Court outside groups are spending millions helping Rs, but look for the Ds to do better than expected, and more importantly look for Reid and Pelosi to keep their current jobs.  

In other words, don't believe the hype.