I never thought much of the "Big Shot Bob" reputation that Robert Horry has. If you don't know, Robert Horry has been around the league, playing backup forward and picking up championships for more than 10 years, as a Houston Rocket, as a Los Angeles Laker, and he is hoping for an championship ring with the San Antonio Spurs. Plus, he looks a little bit like Will Smith.



Okay, the dopey version of Will Smith.

He is often spoken of in loving, reverential, slurpy tones as a great clutch player. Analyzing athletic performance with statistical methods is popular; and by those methods, the idea of a clutch player often falls apart. Those clutch players, you see, also miss many shots. Announcers need to preserve the magic of the game; statistics often take some of the magic away (look up analysis on Derek Jeter, for example).

Here is a Slate article that discusses the above.

Last night, Big Shot Bob went off. Scored 21 points. Hit three-pointer after three-pointer. It was actually sick. Clutch? Perhaps. Was he due, according to the law of averages? Perhaps. Did it win game 5 against the Pistons? You damn right his performance did. And he threw down a long, lanky, drive and dunk for emphasis.

The Spurs won by one point. Despite Big Shot Bob's Big Performance, that's disturbing; San Antonio cannot expect to get 21 points from Horry for the next game or two. Manu Ginobili looked tired and played sloppy. Tony Parker must have sat in the stands staring longingly at Eva Longoria for the second half. Tim Duncan played well but not well enough. Brent Barry? Nazi Mohammed? Rasho? Beno? Where were those guys? Who is this Devin Brown and why does he have the ball?

If they win, the Spurs are winning on okay defense and pulling the championship out of their tailfeathers.


Also: FredEx, the People's Champ, Freddie Mitchell, has landed with the Kansas City Chiefs.

the most brilliant thing about the yankees' stadium plan? the money they spend out of their pocket for the stadium is subtracted from their luxury tax number. meaning that it will seem, for tax purposes, that they have less money, and therefore will have to pay less to the royals and pirates, et al. while this is no way to go about creating parity and fairness, it is a pretty good way to get those high revenue teams to invest more in their ballpark experience... while taking less of the city's dimes.

meanwhile, my metros are stinking up broakland, but royce ring throws a mean mean hook of a curveball. see? always, there is the silver lining.

Last night I watched my boys- the NY Mets, of course- lay a weak swinging egg against the Oakland A's, a weak swinging team. Luckily for them, the Metros have about half of a decent hitting team, and that half is slumping; and they have a leadoff hitter who can't hit the breaking ball.

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Phil Jackson is back in LA where he can wrestle with Kobe's ego and wrestle with the boss' daughter (Jeanie Buss, his girlfriend). Good times, zen master, good times.

One aspect of his return to LA-LA is that Lamar odom is going to either become a hell of a player or, well, become a Knick. I actually hope for the former. Phil's offense is predicated on spacing and uunselfishness and finding the open man. The problem with Lama Odom is that he, like Rasheed Wallace, is actually looking for the open man. Which is confounding to other players who wexpect everyone else to look for their shot and if there are three people in the way, make the pass. Odom is an amazing player if you have a couple of other guys who can score.

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Florida State's QB Wyatt Sexton seems to have had a disassociative incident, claiming himself to be the son of God. If it wasn't so tragic, it'd make great heckling material. What am I saying? I'll be dropping subtle God jokes during any Seminoles football game.

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Even with the Mayor turning his sights to the slummy, shadowed borough of Queens, the NY Jets are still at the stadium game on the West Side.

The Pittsnogle is back for another college season! YES!



Kevin Pittsnogle- a favorite of these two bloggers- did what many ambitious young college men do these days- declare for the NBA draft to gauge what they have to work on to earn a paycheck in the Association. Kevin couldn't hit his shots but didn't sign with an agent. He is on his way back to the West Virginia campus, where he can again be feted with women, wine, and strangers yelling his last name. Like these two bloggers do. The advice for the summer: drink lots of water, and enjoy your summer, but don't get all Pittsnogled.

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Bill Laimbeer is now part of the great media semi-soap that is Isiah's coaching search. I am sure he is calling everyone he knows and asks them "hey... think you can deal with a man who calls himself Starbury? Please? Please?"

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For those of us who live in Queens, I suppose we all knew that the doomed West Side Olympic plan would come to our fair low-rise borough, where everything is a little cheaper, and the people are a little more settled. We're okay with that. Williamsburg will get a velodrome and perhaps a pool. Queens will get a much less budget Shea. And Olympians will finally discover the Lemon Ice King of Corona, which will put "World Famous" on the marquee.

But where will the Olympians stay? Please let it be Manhattan. Can Corona handle an Olympic village? They can't handle the people they have NOW.

In the "Reds" and other baseball notes.

I fascinating statistic...The NL Central basement dwelling Cincinnati Reds are currently 27-36, but have scored 10 runs or more in four of their last five games. Two of those games were against that stellar "ooh, I'm shakin' in my cleats" pitching of the Baltimore Orioles. That said, I will give you one guess on which part of the roster sucks so bad...

...and as much as I don't like showboating...(Just run around the bases, damnit!) Carlos Lee had all the right to sit and enjoy his bomb today against Corey Lidle and Philadelphia Sillies. Seriously Lidle? Hire a pitching coach! It was nice to see him show off his newly perfected pitch, the meatball...

...Fire Joe Torre? Are you kidding me? That is what the local NYC papers have been polling. That is not even an option. Look, we all know (and certainly some have forgotten) that before coming to the Bronx, Joe Torre was a mediocre manager at best. However, like Phil Jackson, he has shown us his most powerful asset - controlling egos. On the list of who should be sent out the door, Joe Torre should be the one responsible for turning off the lights. Sure, this roster is the highest paid, and sure, the total salary of the pitching staff is triple the total payroll for the Brewers, it does not mean that they are any good to-geth-er!! That is how it all works. If you want to question anyone, question George. He could have had Pedro Martinez, but he had to have 42 year-old Randy Johnson. He could have had Beltran, but he spent it on Jared Wrong. Hey George, how's that workin' out for ya?

However, it isn't only the YES viewers who have short memories, but George himself as well. The late nineties run for the Yankees was done with teamwork from a gang of no ones who either came up through the system (like Jeter and Bernie Williams) or fit necessary roles (like Paul O'Neil and Scott "MVP" Brosius.) That simply does not exist now. Currently, they are a gang of misfits, but they are not ganging together. Trading Nick Johnson for Javier Vazquez worked out well, since both are gone (ultimatly for Randy Johnson,) and Giambi is currently batting a hundred points below former Yankee and current Arizona backup Tony Clark - with a similar number of ABs on the season.

But, who am I to say anything as my beloved Red Sox continue to spiral down. Never fear, both teams will surge back as Baltimore's pitching won't last (I swear) and Toronto's reality will send them asking to join the NL Central (like Milwaukee was, they are truly a National League team...yeah right!) Nevertheless, all this (and the amazing comeback of the Sox over the Yanks last fall) has provided me something I can't say I have ever heard...Yankee Fan Sarcasm! Well boys, there's always next year!