If You Can't Take the Heat....Don't Blog About Them



The one thing I DO know about the NBA...the Logo, Jerry West

 A co-worker of mine asked me if I was going to write a blog post about the NBA playoffs (answer = no). It's hard to write about a league that you a) don't like and b) don't watch. I'm pretty sure the last NBA game I watched on television was back in 2009, when the Milwaukee Bucks were in town to play the Wizards. And let's be real, the only reason I watched then was because my future husband Joe Alexander played for the Bucks at the time.*

The thing is, something for me gets lost in translation between collegiate and professional basketball. The parity in the NCAA these days make each game exciting and unpredictable, allowing me to sit and watch random teams battle it out on the hardwood with enthusiasm and delight. I'm even a regular at Shepherd University games (or I was, until the coaching staff decided I was a jinx and banned me from attending). And you know in D-II, it's pretty much a guarantee that there won't be any talent on par with a Dwayne Wade, Lebron James, or Steve Nash.

Yet, watching the aforementioned players just doesn't excite me. I know they're great, but I'm just...bored. NBA games seem so contrived. It's as if, for me (for you, for me....right American Idol judge Randy Jackson?), the life just gets sucked out of these players' souls somewhere between graduation and draft day. What happens? Where have all the good men gone? (Sorry, I was totally watching Shrek 2 the other day and have had I Need a Hero running through my head on repeat).

So, NBA fans, help me be a better sports-o-nista. Fill me in on this craziness called the NBA. Why should I care? Why do YOU care? Why didn't Dwight Howard win the 2007 Slam Dunk Contest when he put his face sticker on the backboard? This inquiring mind wants to know.

*Disclaimer: Joe Alexander doesn't exactly know who I am, so he is not aware of our impending nuptials. If you DO know Joe Alexander, feel free to give him my digits.