Simmons Manages to Both Compliment and Insult, as Usual

[Captain Hi-Top]

Yeah, I hate that you posted that, because it made me remember how pissed off I was at the officiating after that game, especially fouling out Dwight on that beautiful come from behind clean block of a LeBron jumper.

[ReeceGaines]

quote:

Originally posted by bhnole:

I don't think Stern is out to screw us this year.

 

*Unlike other teams that got screwed (i.e. Mark Cuban), he does have a healthy respect for Rich Devos.

 

*Lebron getted booted again this year might be good thing if he gets fed up and moves his act to NY.

 

*The Magic Vs. Lakers Finals drew good ratings despite one team coming from a smaller market.

 

*Dwight is the clean cut image the league wants to promote.

 

*The team is opening a state of the art Arena that Stern will not mind showing off to other cities who need upgraded facilities. Defending NBA champs in a new Arena!

 

IMO its never been about Stern. Believe it or not, I think Stern is just some boring lawyer who moved up the ranks to become commish. It's the refs who are a crooked cabal, holding grudges towards certain coaches and players (especially those who whine), favoritism towards others, making side wagers, having determined outcomes in their heads.

 

Stern doesnt dictate it to them, like I said, he's pretty straight from what I can tell, they just operate on their own ego trips.

 

 

 

The refs seem to hate Dwight and Stan in particular, and I can kind of understand why. That's not to say ALL refs do, and we will have a few games here and there that are reffed in our favor (I thought last night was pro-Magic for a change). But overall, in a 7 game series we will have a lot to overrcome.

[Captain Hi-Top]

If there was a conspiracy, and it was simply driven by the refs as a group, without influence from Stern, don't you think he would have noticed it by now, and taken steps to clean it up?

[ReeceGaines]

quote:

Originally posted by echo4papa:

If there was a conspiracy, and it was simply driven by the refs as a group, without influence from Stern, don't you think he would have noticed it by now, and taken steps to clean it up?

 

They've suspended refs in the past, and tried to root it out to some extent, but if they make too big of a deal of it, it will destroy the NBA brand, so theyre in a precarious position. And it's not really a grand 'conspiracy', it's more so just that refs are human and power makes people crooked (people naturally will abuse too much power)

 

No one seems to remember these incidents from many years ago, before Tim Donaughy, before his allegations.

 

http://static.espn.go.com/nba/...in_marc/1514733.html

 

quote:

Steve Javie, meanwhile, has been fined $1,000 by the league office for his part in an exchange with Riley early in the 2001-02 season. The incident didn't get national attention until December of this season, when Riley was fined $50,000 for saying leaguewide "dislike for me over the years" among referees -- specifically Javie -- was influencing the way Heat games are officiated.

 

"It all started, I think, last year," Riley said Dec. 13 after a loss to the Knicks. "I think I sort of sensed something changing last year when Steve Javie, in Cleveland -- and to his delight, obviously, absolute delight, as we were getting beat, and going through a real tough time -- came to my face, after we were having a discussion, and said, 'It's giving us absolute delight to watch you and your team die.' "

 

Remember, Van Gundy was Riley's assistant during these times, so that might be why he's tuned into it.

[bhnole]

Stern is the puppet master, even Tim Donoughy has said it several times.

 

You don't find it coincedental that Dwight had a "Foul on You" series against the Bobcats, when extending that series would have been a boost to a struggling franchise under new owner MJ?

 

Then all of a sudden many of the same refs who worked that series let Dwight play against the Hawks?

[Captain Hi-Top]

That's just inherent human bias that will always be present in anything presided over by a single individual or group of individuals. You can't completely remove that basic nature. It's also a far cry from "a crooked cabal, holding grudges towards certain coaches and players (especially those who whine), favoritism towards others, making side wagers, having determined outcomes in their heads".

 

Now, as far as the perception of the fans if there was a wide spread cleaning up of such a thing, well, I think the effort would be well received. It might bring up a lot of questions initially, but if it is such a widespread problem, acknowledging the problem, and dealing with it, would be the only way to go. Sweeping it under the rug, or turning a blind eye, for fear of deteriorating the brand would only serve to further reinforce the beahvior of the refs in that case, and I think Stern is smart enough to know that.

 

In esscence, what you are saying is that the refs run this league, and Stern is nothing more than a figure head.

[CoachTsurfing]

i thought the article was pretty funny. i don't take anything too serious. he just seemed to be goofing on everyone, not just the magic.

[VC_Fan]

quote:

Originally posted by Joe_PR:

My favorite part of that article:

 

"THE BOBBY CLARKE AWARD FOR "BEST PLAYOFF MUG"

 

"To Steve Nash, who got busted open by a Tim Duncan elbow, received six temporary stitches, came back with his eye swelling shut, then made some one-eyed shots to clinch Phoenix's improbable sweep over its biggest nemesis. First of all, try shooting a 3-pointer with one eye. I bet you miss. Second, if that had happened to Vince Carter, he would have been on the ground for 20 minutes, they would have had to carry him out on one of those neck-stabilizing NFL stretchers, and he'd be groaning in a dark hospital room right now while a plastic surgeon checked out the stitches."

 

LOL!!!...Look, I love Vince...and I think, over the course of the season..and after the travesty that was January, that he's adjusted his game and become a great fit for us, but what Simmons said is sooooo true! lol

 

NO. There's no truth to it at all. Vince has never been carried off on a stretcher. So there's no reason to believe he would have. It's a lie.

[Ryan the Magic Fan]

quote:

Originally posted by VC_Fan:

quote:

Originally posted by Joe_PR:

My favorite part of that article:

 

"THE BOBBY CLARKE AWARD FOR "BEST PLAYOFF MUG"

 

"To Steve Nash, who got busted open by a Tim Duncan elbow, received six temporary stitches, came back with his eye swelling shut, then made some one-eyed shots to clinch Phoenix's improbable sweep over its biggest nemesis. First of all, try shooting a 3-pointer with one eye. I bet you miss. Second, if that had happened to Vince Carter, he would have been on the ground for 20 minutes, they would have had to carry him out on one of those neck-stabilizing NFL stretchers, and he'd be groaning in a dark hospital room right now while a plastic surgeon checked out the stitches."

 

LOL!!!...Look, I love Vince...and I think, over the course of the season..and after the travesty that was January, that he's adjusted his game and become a great fit for us, but what Simmons said is sooooo true! lol

 

NO. There's no truth to it at all. Vince has never been carried off on a stretcher. So there's no reason to believe he would have. It's a lie.

 

Screw Simmons. Like I said, I think Vince slept with his wife and made him watch the whole thing. The best gift I could get out of this playoffs besides lebaby james getting sent home early and the Magic winning the ship would be one of the Celtics knocking Vince down with a hard *** foul. Then Vince getting right back up and dunking it right in KG or Perkins face the same way he did to Zo a year or two ago. Shut simmons *** up.

[StrongMind3]

this was funny

quote:

At halftime, I did an interview with two local TV people in which I joked about the O-Rena cougar scene and added, "No wonder Tiger got into so much trouble!" Both guys reacted like Scientologists at an L. Ron Hubbard roast: horrified and even a little fearful. They told me they'd have to edit the joke out. Apparently Tiger jokes go over about as well in Orlando as O.J. jokes did in Brentwood circa 1994. Who knew?

 

i'd love to see D and G's reaction

[IronMaiden]

I don't care if Stern is hellbent on the Magic losing, if the refs have their wives and kids held hostage and can only get them back by making Orlando lose, if Dwight Howard drowns in Willy Wonka's river of chocolate, or if God and Satan themselves team up with the powers of heaven and hell to destroy the Orlando Magic's championship hopes.

 

This team is good enough to overcome all of it.

[Live or Die Magic]

quote:

Originally posted by IronMaiden:

I don't care if Stern is hellbent on the Magic losing, if the refs have their wives and kids held hostage and can only get them back by making Orlando lose, if Dwight Howard drowns in Willy Wonka's river of chocolate, or if God and Satan themselves team up with the powers of heaven and hell to destroy the Orlando Magic's championship hopes.

 

This team is good enough to overcome all of it.

 

You deserve recognition for the imaginative imagery of this post.