Thursday, September 9, 2010
It’s Thursday. There is that nip of Fall in our fresh Minnesota air just as the state fair closes it’s run. You don’t have to tell a Wolves fan, a Wild fan (but you might have to nudge the die-hard Twins fan) about this day’s significance. The Purple are in New Orleans to kick start the NFL season and, in the words of more than a handful of players, “get a few things straight”. It’s a great time of year for sure. Hope your summer was superb!
THE COURT IS NOW OPEN:
I wrote about it last week and had some interesting comments from fans and readers. I was thinking that, in the swirl of sports activity and events, the international basketball being played right now was lost in the shuffle. In fact, off the radar of most fans.
I’m still burning the midnight oil to watch these games and now, many of the games are getting “live” airings early in the morning. Good stuff too because Team USA is playing another big one today. It’s like my warm-up act to the Vikings/Saints tilt. The American’s are still perfect overseas. No losses. A young team trying to turn heads at the FIBA Basketball Chamrpionships just as the world is catching up to the Americans on the court.
A week ago, Team USA played Iran. The American’s won the game with ease. It demonstrated how the USA players can play ball and not have to deal with the turbulent political baggage that media, politicians and others might try to bring onto the court. However, today’s match-up is much bigger.
Team USA has a date with the Russians in Istanbul. It’s not just another game for basketball fans. It will conjure up memories of the old cold war games between the USA and the Soviets. This game is already as heated over in Turkey as the NFL opener in Louisiana.
It centers on the two coaches and they are going at each other.l As reports go, Russia coach David Blatt (who has dual American and Israeli citizenship) told the media covering the tournament that the Soviet Union was the “rightful winner” of the gold-medal game back at the 1972 Munich Olympics.
Now you’re on thin ice with me. I remember that game, that time, that event as a youngster and it was all wrong. Even today, after countless viewings, the officials clearly botched that and the wrong team left Germany with a gold medal that wasn’t theirs.
I’ve never been much of a Coack K fan (my wife is a Tar Heel, always been a Carolina guy. Much like the Cubs and Sox, you can’t be both, that is Carolina AND Duke), but I’m giving Coach Mike Krzyzewski a loving pat on the back for his Olympic line in the sand.
Coach Krzyzewski said of Blatt, "He's a Russian”. "He coaches the Russian team, so he probably has that viewpoint, and his eyes are clearer now because there are no tears in them." Krzyzewski added, "So, whatever he thinks, he thinks. It really has absolutely no bearing on what we're trying to do in the game.” "We've addressed that that game was played 38 years ago, and five of these guys are 21. So I don't think they remember it as well. It is what it is. It'll be a negative from the way the U.S. looks at it forever, and should be. And it'll be in some ways a positive for those who believe in fairy tales," Krzyzewski said.
Hours before tip-off, Blatt is burning up and firing back. He says, “I think Mike Krzyzewski has overlooked the fact that I’m every bit as much of an American as him. In America, we’re taught that freedom of speech and freedom of thought allow us to try and view things objectively, form our own opinions and express them. The ability to do that without risking it being called an act of unpatriotism may be lost upon him.” Well then.
Truth be told, it’s true. Anyone under 30 years old can’t get their arms around this debate for sure. But as Team USA plays the Russians today in the FIBA World Championship quarterfinals, there’s got to be a mechanism in place to get this right once and for all. Listen, if judges and governing bodies can go back and strip Chinese gymnasts for being underage, they can get this basketball game right. I know it’s not going to happen. But it should. I remember that night when the U.S.S.R. (the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics) defeated the United States. There was a more than controversial end to the game. The final three seconds were replayed three times. In the end, the USA lost for the first time in 64 Olympic games. By the way, Mike Bantom, Tom Burleson, Doug Collins and all the other U.S. players refused to accept their silver medals.
Ironically, these two Superpower basketball rivals will play today on the exact date of their never forgotten gold medal clash back in 1972. The names have changed, the political climate has certainly changed but anytime the U.S.-Russians gather, it turns heads. Rightfully so.
And one other note. In reading more into this little dust-up, Coach K, it appears, didn’t watch the US-USSR game back in 1972. Coack K was serving his country in the U.S. Army at Camp Pelham in South Korea, two miles south of the demilitarized zone that still separates North and South Korea. And for what it’s worth, I don’t think Blatt is unpatriotic for saying “what he thinks”. But he should have been smart enough to leave that hot potato on the stove and not said anything.
YOU DIDN’T FORGET TO VOTE:
It appears that many of the basketball fans who dropped in on the Great Minnesota get-together, voted. This season, the NBA is honoring the 35th anniversary of the 1976 merger of the NBA and ABA. The Wolves will be one of many NBA teams that will don the unique ABA uniforms. The Wolves, since they have no actual history in the ABA, will honor a pre-Wolves Minnesota basketball team. There were the Muskies and Pipers who were ABA teams that briefly called Minnesota home.
Those two American Basketball Association (ABA) franchises were playing here in the turbulent late 1960’s. What many people don’t know is that Minnesota has a rich and involved history with the ABA. The ABA’s initial headquarters were located in Minneapolis as the league selected George Mikan, the former Minneapolis Lakers great, as its commissioner. The Minnesota Muskies were charter members of the ABA back in 1967; they went 50-and-28 but were off the fan’s radar. That great team couldn’t draw anyone to the newly built Sports Arena built next to the Old Met and thus the Muskies spent only one season here. The Muskies later became the Floridians (of Miami). The very next year, the Pittsburgh Pipers moved to Minnesota and that franchise lasted only season here. The Pipers wound up back to Pittsburgh. The winning jerseys and dates that they’ll be worn will be announced soon. Remember, the T’Wolves will tip the 22nd season in the NBA with changes in their main uniforms, they’ll add an alternate third uniform and have this Hardwood Classic from ABA lore.
WE’RE COMIN’!:
In just a few weeks from not, the Timberwolves' will return to Sioux Falls for the sixth time as they host the Milwaukee Bucks as presented by Sanford Health. It’ll tip on October 17 at the Sioux Falls Arena.
The Wolves have a strong hold there as the Sioux Falls Skyforce plays in the NBA D-League and were assigned as the Wolves' affiliate, strengthening the basketball ties between Minnesota and Sioux Falls.
By the way, Sanford Health does some very good things. The organization is dedicated to finding a cure for type 1 diabetes (also known as juvenile diabetes) and that relationship with the Wolves is now entering its third season. Tickets for that game will go on sale this Saturday, Sept. 11 at the Sioux Falls Arena box office, online at Ticketmaster.com or via phone at 1-800-4-NBA-TIX. Sioux Falls Skyforce season ticket holders will have the opportunity to preorder tickets today and Friday before they go on sale to the general public.
If you like good shows on TV, get ready to catch the third season of SPORTS FINAL. Retooled, energetic and packed as always with the top players and sports newsmakers in our region, Sports Final will soon be back on regional TV in just weeks. Sports Final gets you inside your favorite teams, including the T'Wolves, with exclusive interviews, team notes and as always, offering you the best guests and a full interactive website. We couldn't be more excited about the Vikings upcoming season and as you read every week, my love of the T’Wolves and all the possibilities surrounding the Wolves in this new NBA season. Here’s to the coming fall season and all it offers!
