When will the Tanking Stop?

Right before the trade deadline, the Philadelphia 76er's general manager, Sam Hinkie, traded away Michael Carter Williams, a Rookie of the Year winner, for more first round draft picks. Yep, more draft picks.  I believe he's a little carried away with this tanking strategy.  Next, he might trade Nerlen Noels and Joel Embiid for future draft picks.  Who knows?  The problem with all of this player movement is the team will never get better and there will not be any team chemistry.  Team chemistry is vital to a team's success.  You can't just get the best players and expect them to all get along.  What if everyone wants to be the alpha dog?  The 2003-04 Lakers consisted of Gary Payton, Shaquille O'Neal, Kobe Bryant, and Karl Malone.  They lost to the Detroit Pistons in the NBA Finals, a team that played together longer than the Lakers.  During the 2011 NBA Finals, the new look Miami Heat lost to the underdog Dallas Mavericks.  The majority of people expected the Heat to win because they had Dwyane Wade, Lebron James, and Chris Bosh--three superstars compared to the Mavericks, who only had Dirk Nowitzki.  Only after that NBA Finals loss did the Heat win in two straight Finals appearances.
When players are constantly moved around, there's a sense of job insecurity.  That creates anxiety and the players might under perform because they don't feel comfortable.  Plus, no player enjoys losing all the time.  Ask any Detroit Lions player that was present when during the 2008 season if he loved losing every game. 
Rebuilding and tanking only works if it is temporary.  A general rebuilding time table is about 4-5 years.  But since the 76ers just traded away their best asset, they're going to take even longer to rebuild.  Constant rebuilding also wears out the fans.  When fans feel despair, home game attendance drops and there is loss of revenue.  Hinkie should be fired before he causes any more damage to the team.



Robert Lin enjoys basketball and anime.  Follow him on Twitter and/or Google.

DeMarco Murray Should be Re-signed Over Dez Bryant

After the Dallas Cowboys lost in the second round to the Green Bay Packers, the team has to decide whether or not to re-sign running back DeMarco Murray or wideout Dez Bryant.  While the NFL is a passing league, Murray would be the more valuable weapon to keep.  The real reason the Cowboys fared so well this past season was because of their offensive line.  They did a fantastic job protecting Tony Romo.  As Colin Cowherd of ESPN pointed out on the radio, the offensive line should get the credit for the team's success and get paid.  However, offensive linemen don't get paid as well as offensive weapons like receivers, quarterbacks, and running backs.
The Cowboys should re-sign Murray over Bryant because he makes the team better.  The opposing team would have to respect both the running game and the passing game.  If the other team tries to stop Murray, Romo can throw it downfield or use play action.  The running game wears down defenses and takes crucial time off the clock when used effectively.  In 2011, Murray's rookie season, the Cowboys were 5-0 when Murray had 20+ touches in a game and 2-5 when he did not.
A receiver's success ultimately depends on the ability of the quarterback.  Bryant cannot help the team if he has to play with a terrible quarterback.  On the other hand, a running back can create for himself and help an inexperienced quarterback.  It's not a coincidence that the Cowboys finished 12-4, with Murray running for 1,845 yards and 13 touchdowns, Bryant receiving for 1,320 yards and 16 touchdowns, and Romo throwing for 34 touchdowns with just 9 interceptions.  It was a balanced offense. 
A good wide receiver is a luxury but not necessary.  The New England Patriots, Baltimore Ravens and Seattle Seahawks in recent years have had great success because they have a solid running game and a good quarterback.  In addition, they all don't have an All-Pro wide receiver.



Robert Lin enjoys basketball and anime.  Follow him on Twitter and/or Google.

Great Packers-Cowboys Game Ruined by Calvin Johnson Rule

Last Sunday was a great football game between the Green Bay Packers and Dallas Cowboys.  Unfortunately for the Cowboys, their playoff hopes ended with a controversial call that ultimately decided the outcome of the game.  On fourth and 2, Dez Bryant of the Cowboys leaps high into the air for a catch that would have spotted him at the 2 or 1 yard line had it been declared complete.  It was initially declared a complete pass, but upon review after the Packers challenged the call, the officials overturned the decision and declared it incomplete.  The decision was based on the "Going to the Ground" rule, often referred as the Calvin Johnson rule because he was the first victim of it.  That rule states:

"If a player goes to the ground in the act of catching a pass (with or without contact by an opponent), he must maintain control of the ball throughout the process of contacting the ground, whether in the field of play or the end zone. If he loses control of the ball, and the ball touches the ground before he regains control, the pass is incomplete. If he regains control prior to the ball touching the ground, the pass is complete."

Here is the video: Link

However, there is another rule that talks about when a play is dead.  It says:

"An official shall declare the ball dead and the down ended:

(a) when a runner is contacted by a defensive player and touches the ground with any part of his body other than his hands or feet. The ball is dead the instant the runner touches the ground. A runner touching the ground with his hands or feet while in the grasp of an opponent may continue to advance."
In real time, it appears Bryant loses the ball the moment he touches the ground.  But in slow motion, like in this video, Bryant touches the ground four times before the ball comes loose.  He takes 3 steps and his right forearm touches the ground before the ball falls out.  That's a complete pass.  The officials messed this call up big time.


Robert Lin enjoys basketball and anime.  Follow him on Twitter and/or Google.

Showboating Doesn't Win Points

In the most recent UFC Fight Night, there was a lightweight fight between Bobby Green and Edson Barboza.  Green had just come off a close win over top contender Josh Thompson in July.  Green was the slight favorite but in the end, Barboza won the fight by unanimous decision.  During the fight, Green was taunting Barboza about his lack of knock out power.  He had his hands low and waved his finger at Barboza after absorbing a strike.  Then Barboza landed a perfect spinning roundhouse to the back of Green's head.  Green managed to still remain standing, which is a testament to his durability.  However, Green did not land as many shots as Barboza.  You don't get points for taunting nor showboating.  You do get points for landing more hits or takedowns.  Green's corner told him to turn the fight into a street fight.  He didn't listen, kept the fight standing, and kept playing around.  So while Green may have been the better fighter, he lost because he never took the fight seriously and gave the match to his opponent.
Green had a big opportunity to move up the ranks, but he demonstrated that he didn't care for bigger fights and didn't care for the fans.  He may have had fun messing around, but he only hurt himself with those antics.



Robert Lin enjoys basketball and anime.  Follow him on Twitter and/or Google.

Thoughts on Grim Dawn

One research pointed out that only 25% of Steam's Early Access games become fully released.  After contributing to Crate Entertainment's Grim Dawn's Early Access cause, I feel this action RPG might be one of them.  The reason being is that there are numerous bugs that have been around since Alpha stage that are still plaguing the game.  Essentially, the game engine has limitations and the developers don't want to revamp the engine.  It would be a huge setback.  Here are several long overdue bugs that still have not been corrected: 1) some skills have pathing issues, where the player gets stuck and you have to wait a bit before you regain control again because your intended target was blocked by another enemy.  2) Enemies sometimes appear by the skill reset vendor in the town.  3) One skill appears to hit the enemy but does not, and it can't hit from point blank range.  4) Some quests if you complete the task before receiving the task, you have the option of clicking "I already did it."  Other similar tasks require you to redo the quest even if you completed it before receiving it.  There's probably a few more bugs that I haven't found since I've only been playing it for 3 weeks.
The game is fun when you overlook those few shortcomings.  There's five classes available and you can mix and match any two classes for a specific play style.  Act 2 is currently finished and the first half of Act 3 is said to come out early next year.  The game is also very generous with the loot, although I've been getting the same epic drops again and again.  It needs better RNG.



Robert Lin enjoys basketball and anime.  Follow him on Twitter and/or Google.

Roger Goodell should be Suspended a Year

The majority of people who are paying attention to the Ray Rice scandal will agree that the NFL Commissioner, Roger Goodell, is a total a**hole and hypocrite.  Goodell claims he didn't know about the elevator tapes involving Rice and his then fiance, which led to his initial two-game ban on Rice.  But when TMZ released the footage to the public, Rice gets suspended indefinitely.  There has been many news articles circulating the web that both the Baltimore Ravens and Goodell knew about the tapes since April, when Rice admitted he hit his fiance.  There's reports that Rice got the two-game suspension because the Ravens' owner, Steve Bisciotti, convinced Goodell to reduce the punishment.  But since the videos became public, the NFL had no choice but to take swift and hard action against Rice.
The question is whether or not the league knew about the video in April.  The league is in denial.  So, Goodell is either lying or ignorant, and ignorance is grounds for one whole year suspension.  Where the one year suspension come from? From the outcome of the New Orleans Saints' bounty scandal.  Coach Sean Payton was banned for one year because he was unaware of the bounties his assistant coaches and several players were involved.
As ESPN contributor Bill Simmons and Drew Brees, the Saints' quarterback, pointed out, Goodell should be suspended for a whole year because he claimed ignorance and the bounty scandal already created a precedent on ignorance claims.  ESPN suspended Simmons for three weeks for his podcast criticizing both Goodell and ESPN.
Right now, Goodell has too much power.  The NFL will continue to remain messy with him in charge if there's no form of checks and balance to him.  The league has launched its own investigation of the Rice case.  However, the investigation is handled by WilmerHale, a law firm with close ties to the NFL instead of an independent and neutral one.  As a result, the NFLPA has requested that former federal prosecutor Richard Craig Smith probe the case on behalf of the NFLPA.  The union is hoping to get a neutral arbitrator to settle the case.  Unfortunately, the collective bargaining agreement allows Goodell to choose the judge.  Even if the judge is partial toward Goodell, his reign as commissioner is declining.  His legacy is tarnished and he may have to resign to save face.

Robert Lin loves basketball and anime.  Follow him on Twitter and/or Google+.

Atlanta Hawks Owner wanted to be more Inclusive not Racist

Recently, majority owner of the Atlanta Hawks, Bruce Levenson, has felt pressured to sell his team because of an email he sent out to general manager, Danny Ferry, two years ago, which has now become public knowledge and alleges that he was making racist comments.  The truth was that Levenson wanted to attract higher income and white families to a sport venue predominantly attended by black fans.
This email would not have seen the light of day had Ferry not made these comments about forward Luol Deng of the Miami Heat, when he was a free agent this past summer: "He [Deng] is still a young guy overall.  He is a good guy overall.  But he's not perfect.  He's got some African in him.  And I don't say that in a bad way.  But he's a guy who would have a nice store out front, but sell you counterfeit stuff out of the back."  This is a description of a player who is well-respected in the league and in April was presented with J. Walter Kennedy Citizenship award for his off-court charity work.
The offensive quote came from a background report, meaning a scout's report, which instead of editing it, Ferry said it out loud during a telephone meeting.  It turns out the scouting report came from a different team.  When minority owner Michael Gearon heard it, he requested to Levenson that Ferry be fired.  One of the Hawks' stakeholders called for an internal investigation.  A private Atlanta law firm performed the investigation.  During the review of over 24,000 documents, Levenson's two year old, questionable email resurfaced.

In the Levenson's email, there was the following passage:

 "I think southern whites simply were not comfortable being in an arena or at a bar where they were in the minority" and "I have been open with our executive team about these concerns. I have told them I want some white cheerleaders and while I don't care what the color of the artist is, I want the music to be music familiar to a 40 year old white guy if that's our season [tickets] demo. I have also balked when every fan picked out of crowd to shoot shots in some timeout contest is black. I have even [complained] that the kiss cam is too black."

Levenson is basically telling his staff to find ways to draw more Caucasian customers.  He feels white people are uncomfortable mingling at the bar or at the arena where they're in the minority.  He advises his staff to play music that white people can identify, to hire white cheerleaders, and to have the stadium cams show there are other people besides African Americans that attend the games.  It is a sad state when the team has the second longest playoff streak at seven years, but finished 28th in attendance last season. As a businessman, Levenson wanted reform to bring out more revenue by being more inclusive of diverse customers.  It just so happens there's this witch hunt on white people because of Donald Sterling and the Ferguson case and he's being bunched in with them when he's not willfully racist at all.
In 2016, the Atlanta Braves will be moving from downtown Atlanta to the suburbs of Cobb County, Georgia.  It's called "white flight", a migration of people from a previous place that no longer meets their standards of safety and decency.  Cobb County is 65% white and has a poverty level of 12%, whereas Atlanta is 54% black with poverty level of 24%.  If more businesses relocate from Atlanta, the city deteriorates.
Levenson's email brings up the fact that Atlanta itself is a divided city.  White and black people feel unease around each other.  Levenson should be applauded for trying to be more inclusive and to keep the team in Atlanta instead of being forced to sell his team to a new ownership who might not be comfortable having a business in a black dominant neighborhood.

Robert Lin loves basketball and anime.  Follow him on Twitter and/or Google+.