This week on The Ultimate Sports Blog Roundtable; Dustin James, Steve Cook, and myself discuss the MLB All-Star Game, NFL players using fireworks, Serena Williams dominating, and DeAndre Jordan deciding.
Do you care about the MLB All Star game?
Dustin James: No, but to be honest....my interest in MLB as a whole isn't that great. While I still have a deep down love for the game of baseball considering it was my favorite as a kid, I just don't have a team to root for in MLB so I don't really care all that much (it's weird how those two things corresponde with each other isn't it?). If it isn't October playoff baseball, I'm probably not watching. Unless someone's pitching a perfect game or something else historical is going on, but who isn't watching then?
Steve Cook: *Puts on All-Star Game 2015 hat*
Boys, this is one of the greatest nights of the sporting calendar every single year. Where else are you going to see all of baseball's most outstanding players in one ballpark on the same night? Mike Trout, Bryce Harper, Todd Frazier, Buster Posey, Aroldis Chapman, Kris Bryant, Jason Kipnis, half of the Kansas City Royals & St. Louis Cardinals...the list goes on and on. The All-Star Game is the only night this happens. People used to complain about how it was just a meaningless exhibition, but now it counts! When those Cardinals & Royals face off in the 2015 World Series (a possibility which unfortunately for those of us outside of Missouri has a pretty good chance of happening), the host of Game 7 will be the team who helped their league win on a humid, probably rainy July night in Cincinnati. You can argue about whether or not that's fair, but them's the rules. All baseball fans, whether it's to see their favorite players, whether it's to see some of the great players they don't get a chance to see on a regular basis, or whether it's because there are no other games going on, will tune in.
OK, I'm biased since I'm getting paid to be there. But it's still a fun event that gives us a few days off from the Bataan death march that a 162-game baseball season usually is. Like I said in the All-Star Game columns I wrote for this website, the ASG is supposed to be fun. It's not supposed to be life & death, it's a celebration of the game. I don't expect people like Jeremy & Dustin to understand it...Jeremy's a newer fan that doesn't really get into pageantry or tradition, and Dustin doesn't know anything about baseball & will be watching porn instead. But to true baseball fans, the All-Star Game is a tradition unlike any other. It comes to your town once a generation...I was 4 years old the last time the All-Star Game was in Cincinnati. Shockingly I don't remember it. This one I will.
So it better not rain.
Jeremy Lambert: I like All-Star games, except for the NFL Pro Bowl because they neuter the game and no one wants to play in it. Other All-Star games are a fun showcase for the fans that the players seem to enjoy.
However, I don't like the MLB All-Star game because "it counts" and they make sure to remind you that it counts every single inning. Having an exhibition game featuring players who aren't going to be in the World Series decide which team gets home field in the World Series is the dumbest thing ever. Sadly, the Reds aren't going to be in the World Series, but if the NL leads in the 9th inning, they are going to ensure that the NL gets home field advantage when they send Aroldis Chapman up to the mound. Or maybe Chapman gives up a game-winning home run to Brock Holt of the Boston Red Sox. Two players from two teams who won't even make the playoffs deciding home field in the most important games of the season is absolutely stupid.
Did DeAndre Jordan make the right choice in returning to the Los Angeles Clippers?
DJ: Yes. The Clippers are a better team than the Mavericks are and there's also that thing called "chemistry" that DeAndre Jordan already has built up with the Clippers that takes some time to form. The Clippers knew how bad they needed him when they sent the whole roster to DeAndre's house for a sleepover and held him hostage in what quickly became my favorite NBA free agent news story ever. DeAndre apparently just needed to be shown how much Chris Paul and company appreciated him and he's going to pay them back next year by making 42% of his free throws instead of 40%. ::insert thumbs up emoji::
SC: Probably. It seems like all the guy wanted was some love, which is a basic human emotion, but frankly makes me think less of him & his thought process. A guy like LaMarcus Aldridge weighs all of his options, takes a look at the situation, makes a decision & sticks with it. DeAndre Jordan makes a decision, waffles, and runs back home to the ex-girlfriend. The whole thing with the Clippers locking him in a room & Mark Cuban driving around Houston, no matter what actually happened, was an embarrassing situation for everybody involved. Funny to us, but nobody's taking these guys seriously. The Clippers aren't the complete joke they were when Donald Sterling was running them, but this doesn't bode well for their future. It was still the right decision because Dallas would be a worse situation for him. They got Dirk and...yeah. There's no Chris Paul there to get him the ball at the right time.
On a side note, what the hell is going on with the NBA where we're giving all this money to guys with obvious flaws in their games? Jordan can't be in a close game late because other teams will put him on the foul line and he can't shoot there to save his life. OKC just gave a ton of money to a guy who's never played a defensive possession. These guys are like the government spending way too much money on things just because they can. It is what it is...I just wish I wasn't a slow fat white guy.
JL: No, only because he would've weakened the Clippers and was going to turn the Mavericks into contenders thus making things a little easier in the west for my Thunder. I think Chandler Parsons said it best when he said that DeAndre was scared to be "the guy." He wasn't ready to be the focal point of the team because he knows that he's not that type of player. He, like the rest of the Clippers, is bitch made.
Is Serena Williams the most dominant athlete in sports?
DJ: Yes. She's a beast. The only person who can even hold a candle to her right now is LeBron James, but something tells me if she laced up a pair of Jordan's...she might make that a game. That's how scary athletic she is.
SC: I wanna say it's Ronda Rousey because Samer Kadi's head explodes every time somebody says that she's the most dominant athlete in sports. But it's very tough to argue against Serena. She's won the last four Grand Slam events & will more than likely win the US Open to have the official calendar year Grand Slam that means more than a non-calendar year Grand Slam for some reason. It's an amazing feat, but one I've had a tough time getting into. Tennis is at its best when great rivalries are involved. Agassi vs. Sampras. Borg vs. McEnroe. Navratilova vs. Evert. Seles vs. Graf. Unfortunately there's nobody even close to Serena's league right now. Sharapova? Child please. There's no drama there. Gotta give Serena all the credit in the world, but hopefully somebody comes up through the ranks & gives her some competition soon.
JL: Nope. Serena might be the most dominant women's athlete in the sports, but Floyd Mayweather is the most dominant athlete. Serena dominates the competition, but she's lost before. Mayweather has never lost. He's beaten all the top competition in multiple divisions and does it with relative ease. Also, it's just a fact that it's easier to be dominant in women's sports because the competition level isn't as high as it is among men. Take nothing away from Serena, just runs through the everyone in her way, but she's facing quanitity over quality.
Should the NFL ban fireworks?
DJ: No, but they should probably do something to create better awareness amongst their players for how dangerous fireworks really are. Every year people die from firework accidents because you have irresponsible people who don't respect them, mis-handling them. Part of that is because most people don't think they really are that dangerous until an accident happens to someone close to them and their world is awakened. However, you can't ban the things. There's far more dangerous things that are legal that NFL players can do damage with other than fireworks. Plus, who really cares if a few guys blow their fingers off? There's a reason we have ten of them. You can afford to lose a couple.
SC: Of course. Why would you let fans bring fireworks to football stadiums? That sounds like a lawsuit waiting to happen.
Oh, you're probably talking about the NFL players that keep losing fingers in firework accidents. This doesn't make any sense either. Why are these guys setting off their own fireworks? They have enough money to pay professionals to do that for them. I don't know if the owners can find a way to ban it, but it isn't the worst idea ever.
JL: No, NFL players should be smarter. The next person who sues the NFL over concussions should cite this offseason as an example of what can happen when you've been hit in the head too many times.
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