The NBA on You-a-Tube

 

I just watched 149 games of the NBA playoffs on youtube and now I'm going to analyze and comment on the whole thing in excruciating detail...

Nah, I'm just kidding but this will be too long though.

Recently, youtube was suggesting old NBA playoff games to me and a thought occurred to me... I wondered could I go back and watch every Chicago Bulls playoff game of the "Jordan era" (loosely defining the Jordan era as 1991-1998). So I started, as all projects do, by creating an excel spreadsheet, listing all the games and all the rounds of the first year. Then I searched for, found and watched the first game on youtube. Then, I repeated the process for the second game, once that series was over, I went to the second round, once that year was over, I sent to the second year, and so forth. Once I got to 1992 I thought I might skip to a parallel track and watch all the Dream Team Olympic games. Once that was done, I figured I step backward and watch the rest of their games leading up to the Olympics.

I'm here to say that, having watched all of these games, every single one was available to watch on youtube. So if you have a particular NBA playoff game, series, team, era, whatever and you want to revisit it, I think you can. I've been wondering if this is true for other sports and also, for the NBA, how many eras. I don't know, all I know is I haven't failed on a single game yet.

Here are a few thoughts on the NBA in the 90's. It was a glorious era, first of all. But as glorious as basketball can be, Bill Walton as a color man makes it almost unwatchable. He's the worst. I thought about making an entire blog post about just this topic. It was a unique viewing experience when even Walton's fellow commentators started pointing out how stupid his statements were. You don't see that a lot. It was fascinating at first and then I just felt sorry for- for everyone. Bill Walton at the mic almost ruins basketball completely. Fortunately for me, he really only really affected one year (1997) but, depending on your favorite era, you may not be so lucky.

Another thing I was thinking was that the "NBA on NBC" theme is played before Every Single Commercial Break and sometimes going to commercial. It's one of the great themes of all-time but so many times per game for 149 games, I stopped really hearing it and it sort of lost all meaning.

I was thinking next I'm going to try watching the NCAA Basketball Tournament for particular years and teams. I also might try the 1996 Dream Team games.

The Last Dance and The Last Waltz

A few things I've watched recently that might be of interest...

The Last Dance (2020)

If basketball was your thing in the 90s - and especially if you followed Michael Jordan and the Bulls teams of that era - "The Last Dance" is a 10 part documentary from ESPN that follows that team throughout their two three-peat runs. It's extremely well done, interviewing all the people involved now, with the benefit of hindsight and the benefit of so much time elapsing that they can speak freely about what was really going down. The main focus of the series is the last season the Bulls were all together (1997-1998) but in each episode it will flip between the "present" and the "past" so that eventually the entire era will be covered.

The split timeline is a little disorienting but I get it, it allows for more of the "cliffhanger", "let's make them binge watch it" style that keeps you wanting more.

Extremely interesting, highly recommended.

Once Were Brothers: Robbie Robertson and the Band (2019)

Apparently there's a "new" documentary about The Band and it flew under my radar until now. This is another Martin Scorcese project and, therefore, focuses a great deal on Robbie Robertson rather than treating the group equally. You might say the documentary is about the entire band but from Robbie's perspective.

After "The Last Waltz", my knee-jerk reaction to Robbie Robertson-centrism is to wince but, after all, the book "This Wheel's on Fire: Levon Helm and the Story of the Band" and the documentary "Ain't in It for My Health: A Film About Levon Helm" told other sides of the story so it's only fair to get Robbie's.

A lot of time is spent on the relationship between Robertson and Levon Helm - how they were closer than brothers back in the day but then grew apart, eventually turning into something approaching enemies. This is, again Robbie, telling his side, justifying himself. The problem with Robbie's perspective, though - and this documentary - is that he's struggling to grasp Levon's point of view and then and then arguing against his own vague theories. This makes his arguments seem disingenuous, at best.

Why would you not read Levon's book, or watch his documentary, or read the articles where you can get specific quotes, the thoughts stated by Levon himself and respond to those? We live in the age of the printed word and have lived there for hundreds of years. Let's get Robertson's side, sure, but how much more valuable would the documentary be if it provided an exchange of ideas between Robbie and Levon that neither got in their lifetimes?

As it is, the film leaves the conflict to everyone's imagination. "Oh, there are two sides to history and who can say who is right and who is wrong?, etc." And it will probably stay that way forever. There may be a hint though in the fact that, as long as we're forced into the realm of imagination, we have to wonder why it appears one side is dodging the issue.

In the end, I don't know who's right or wrong or even where the gray area stops. My head tends to think Robertson may be right but my heart is still with Levon and the rest of the band. Overall, a well-made documentary worth watching if you're interested. The music and video footage are amazing.

Weird Rules - NBA Player Plays for Both Teams in a Game

Conan and Andy vs. Dream Team 2032

Conan and Andy decide to settle one of the classic sports debates - who's the better basketball team, Team Coco or the Dream Team of 2032?



"Do we let the wolf in?"
"No, don't let him in."
"Don't let him in."