Boston sports fans finally get to celebrate a Championship....in 2008

It’s a hard thing to win a championship. Just ask Sir Charles or Karl Malone. Pierce, Garnett and the boys got their names off a dubious list last week. Anyone who saw Garnett’s post game interview could see the years of frustration being wiped away.

Kevin Garnett probably cemented his place and one the best forwards of his generation. Now he didn’t have the best finals but he played well in the last game and most people will use that as their barometer. He got the monkey off his back by winning a title and now Sir Charles has to pick up the tab next time they hit South Beach. ( Assuming Charles has paid off his gambling debts by then) Getting back to his post game interview, It’s rare that we see athletes give us anything other than pre-canned fodder good for a sound bit but not much more. Seeing him overwhelmed with emotion with a look of “I just climbed the mountain” look on his face spoke volumes about how much he cared about this.
Paul Pierce probably earned getting his number retired by the Celtics. Looking at the Garden rafters I’m not sure that’s a tough feat but still… Paul Pierce will never again be thought of as the guy who couldn’t get it done when it mattered. How many points did he have this postseason? 500? 1000? Just crazy numbers.
I think Ray Allen’s career peaked when he filmed “He Got Game” so we’ll leave him out of this post. But I will say that he certainly found his jump shot just in time.
I know Kobe has three titles. I know he’s the reigning MVP. I know he’s a first ballot hall of famer and all that but, how do you allow your team to blow a 24 point lead at home? I still think the Lakers will more titles before he’s retired but that had to be a tough blow. Maybe people will think of other Kobe moments like his three titles with Shaq, his 80+ point game last year but, for me it’s game 4 of the 2008 Finals. If you were a Laker fan would you ever feel safe with a lead again? Not likely.
You can hardly lay this loss squarely on Kobe’s shoulders though. Pao, Sasha, and Farmar never really showed up to play. Giving credit where credit is due as well, the Celtics played good D as well. I still think Kobe is the best player in the game. The Lakers look to be set up to win over the long haul. The Celtics are what’s now, the Lakers are what’s next. The Lakers should have a chance to take another title or two before Kobe’s knees give out or we have another “Vail” incident. I’m not sure if that comforts fans of the Lakers or not but, what else ya got? The Sparks?
Some leftover notes from the Finals: Does anyone know the significance of Kobe’s tattoo’s? They don’t look random to me but I’ll be damned if I can figure them out. They’re like hieroglyphs to me. Remember when only Bikers and Sailors had tattoos? It now seems like they’re everywhere in the NBA now. Did Dennis Rodman start all of this? If not him, who? Good thing the shorts have gotten longer. Who knows how many more tattoos we’d be forced to see. I wonder if the league considers this an image problem? Who knows. May be I’ll tackle that topic another time.
Speaking of Tattoo’s, I see that Carmelo Anthony, the ringleader of Team Tat, other wise known as the Nuggets, got busted and pleaded guilty to a DUI type offense. He was driving a silver Mercedes at the time. I guess no one’s ever told bit time pro athletes that if you’re going to break the law, don’t do it in a super fancy car. $200,000 Lamborghini’s and Maybach’s tend to stand out in a crowd you know what I mean? There’s no word on if Carmelo got a fresh tattoo while he was in lock up.
Lastly, do you think it’s awkward for the Lakers ticker guy when he has to tell Diane Cannon that she’s not hot enough to sit in the front row anymore? Gotta be a little uncomfortable right?



Dickie Dunn

“If Dickie Dunn wrote it, it’s gotta be true.”

Somehow I don't think rehab is gonna suck.

It doesn’t happen often and we rarely realize it when it does happen. It’s almost always through the power of hindsight that we find out we missed when it happened. Perhaps in today’s media saturated market we’ve become jaded to these moments. That’s what made “Do you believe in Miracles” call be Al Michaels so great, it wasn’t rehearsed. ( A quick sidenote, Isn’t Al Michaels great? But it’s not the “Miracles” line that I love most about him. It’s how every football game he broadcasts, he always finds a way to tell you when the winning team covers the spread. And he does it without directly mentioning the official spread since the NFL and NBC would prefer to pretend that no one bets on these games. But I digress) How many ways can you hear Jim Nantz describe a six foot putt as “special” until it no longer feels special.
I’m speaking of career defining moments. That brief moment of time that the casual fan and maybe every diehard fan will always think of when that particular athletes name comes up. We probably saw four of these types of moments in the last couple of weeks. Three of them by guys with the last names of Bryant, Garnett and Pierce, and a golfer named Woods. You’ll get a blast of NBA talk in another post so, I’m going to focus on El Tigre.:
How do you measure greatness? I can’t quantify that anymore than I can figure out someone’s QB rating in football. I do know this, Tiger is great. Phenomenal might be a better word and if I could point any sort of weakness it was that I’d always thought he was a front runner type; would play well with a lead but never seemed to stalk someone down from behind. I don’t mean that as a knock by any means, just his style. I’d also always felt that greatness is a relative thing as well. Great players are defined as much by the people they face in their primes as their own personal talents. Magic had Bird. Or Bird had Magic depending on what side of the country you lived on. Russell had Chamberlin. McEnroe had Connors. Tom had Jerry. White Spy had Black Spy, you get my drift. My point is, I don’t think Tiger has seen many challengers on any consistent basis since he started playing the tour. Arnie had Hogan. Jack had Arnie. But is Mickelson really a threat to Tiger? It certainly doesn’t feel that way. It’s hard to say you have an equal on the Tour when your caddie is tenth on the money list. So even though Tiger is probably the greatest golfer on the planet, Doesn’t it feel like we’re missing something without a Tom Watson type out there to really push Tiger to new levels? If Tiger is GI Joe, we’re missing a Cobra Commander.
Now Muhammad Ali had his nemesis in Joe Frazier. Joe Frazier was a lunch pail type, Ali was Le Cirque. When they fought it was more than a boxing match,It was an event not to be missed. Ali and Frazier hated each other. At least Frazier hated Ali. It was hard to tell if it was showmanship or genuine dislike on Ali’s part. Their fight was about more then who got to call themselves the champ. In the minds of Americans, Ali represented the people against the war and Frazier was the establishment. Neither label was entirely accurate but that’s life. They fought for the “Championship of each other” and that was a special moment.

That’s what made Father’s day (and the ensuing 19hole playoff) at Torrey Pines so special. Rocco played Tiger even, gave as good as he got. Didn’t back down and stood toe to toe with the champ. Just like Frazier. Now golf is a different sport, not violent like boxing or as fast paced. But both are sports built around the individual and singular accomplishment. It took Tiger 91 holes but time and time again he made the shots he needed to stay in the fight. He eventually finished off Rocco to claim his 14th major but that’s hardly what mattered. It was how Rocco fought him and gave him everything he had. Rocco didn’t back down and didn’t wilt under the spotlight like so many before him. There were too many pressure packed moments to recount all of them. But I can tell you this, it wasn’t like they guys were playing a $5 Nassau out there. The winner took home $1.3mil and second prize was $800k. ( not exactly a set of steak knives.) Now you can’t call Tiger a frontrunner anymore. He needed a birdie at the 72nd hole to extend and a birdie at the 90th to extend again. At that’s my main point. Few people in golf have ever been able to honestly say, “I gave it everything I had out there. “. In the end both players came out better off. Tiger was finally challenged on the back nine of a major, and Rocco showed he can still compete with the best in the world.
One thing I haven’t even mentioned is the status of Tiger’s knee all week. I’ve got torn cartilage in my own knee and when it rains my knees ache. But I don’t think that compares with a torn ACL in his knee AND two stress fractures? Was it stupid? maybe Reckless even? Sure. But at least we can’t question his heart, determination, and tolerance for pain. Now he’s going to get surgery, and rehab his knee properly. He’ll be back for the 2009 golf season and I for one am hoping someone can step up and play with Tiger consistently, because in the end we all win.
His caddie get some much needed time off too. He’s going to lose his Caddie’s tan. But that’s life.

Dickie Dunn

"If Dickie Dunn wrote it, it's gotta be true.

My Top Ten Sports Movies List

I decided recently to do a top ten list of my favorite sports movies. I know some people would give you this long drawn out diatribe about how they came up with their rankings and how they weighted each category. This would go on for like four paragraphs and in the end, you wouldn’t really care you’d just skim through the list and see how it compares to your personal list. You’re not going to get that here because I honestly couldn’t tell you what criteria I used in picking my list. I just know that I liked them. I did have one hard and fast rule. If you were more “chicky” than “sporty” you get thrown off the list. So no Jerry Maguire, sorry Cameron Crowe. Besides, doesn’t the fact that Tom Cruise is turning out to be so nutty mean we have to go back and reevaluate every role he’s ever done? I know I’ll never watch “The Firm” the same way again. The not too chicky rule is also why Tin Cup wasn’t higher on the list.
I’ll go through my list in reverse order and try to recall when I first saw the movie about how many times I’ve watched it. Also, I’ll include any other anecdotes I think are funny. Now, on to the list.

10. Young Blood ( 1986)

A movie about hockey so you know it’s making my top ten. Also, this is also one of the first movies I can remember watching where I saw a female breast. Two of them even. An unassisted goal for Mr. Youngblood on the coach’s daughter!! Rob Lowe stars as a promising young hockey star that is trying to make it to the pros and is starting out in the minors. Patrick Swayze plays the role of grizzled veteran showing the young kid the ropes. This is made even more hilarious by the fact that now that I’m older I know that guys at this level are in their early 20’s. A veteran at 22? maybe in porn. Speaking of, this would’ve been considered a breakout role for Rob Lowe except he never broke out. Rob did invent the celebrity sex tape however, which is nice.

9. Hoosiers (1986)

Gene Hackman, Dennis Hopper and ultimate “that guy” Chelcie Ross. Who played Harris in Major League and Dan Devine in Rudy. It even had Barbara Hershey playing the Love interest before the wheels completely fell off for her in the looks department. I mean have you seen The Pallbearer ? Then she has some work done and she’s shacking up with Sayid. Go figure. Everybody knows Hoosiers so I don’t feel I need to give you a synopsis. I just remember being amazed that a bunch of white kids played such good team basketball. “God wants you on the floor son.” Hoosiers was an overall feel great kind of movie. It probably doesn’t get higher on my list because I’ve never played organized basketball.

8. Tin Cup (1996)

Now this one is dangerously close to being labeled a chick flick. But it has golf in it so it’s ok in my book Kevin Costner plays Roy McAvoy a golfer who never quite got it together and tries to win the U.S. Open to impress a chick.. The script writer worked in a few scenes inside of a strip club so that’s good. Don Johnson plays a douchebag and it’s given me tons of great golf quotes to regurgitate on the course. Creech Marin plays the caddy. This movie shows you what it’s like for an underdog to play in the U.S open. Only if that Open was being played on your local muni track.

7. Let it Ride (1989)

Anyone who’s ever gambled can relate to this movie. Richard Dreyfus plays Jay Trotter, a career loser at the horse track who caught lightning in a bottle and goes on the betting/winning streak of a lifetime. This movie stands out to me and the last movie where Teri Garr was still kinda hot. “That guy” roles are all over the place. Trotter is a great character played to perfection by Dreyfus. A must see for anyone who loves to play the ponies or just likes gambling. The script was written by Nancy Dowd who also wrote Slap Shot. Looks like she knows how to write a screwball sports movie and that’s about it.

6. King Pin (1996)

This is a great bowling movie starring Woody Harrelson, Bill Murray and Randy Quaid. Vanessa Angel plays the female lead. ( It was good to see her working again, “times were getting tough” as they say.) The plot is just like every other bowling movie ever made. Guy shows promise, blows it, end up down on his luck and uses someone else’s talent and makes a comeback, finds redemption. Wash rinse repeat. Hilarious lines throughout. I actually tried a Tangueray and Tab in honor of this movie. Needless to say it didn’t make it into my drink rotation.

5. Major League (1989)

The Cleveland Indians suck, the owner wants to move the team, she does everything she to make them worse, yet somehow they find a way to win the pennant. Chuck Sheen and Tom Berenger are together in this movie for the first time since Platoon. Sadly, Willem Dafoe was left out, waiting by his phone for the call that never came. I used to live in Cleveland and remember how bad the town was. I mean my dad used to take me to Orioles games when they played at the old Memorial Stadium and let's just say it wasn't in the best part of Baltimore. But he wouldn't take me to any Indians games. So if you're keeping score at home, Cleveland was worse than the city from the HBO series' The Wire. Then they cleaned up the “flats” area of town, built a new ballpark and made hanging out dowtown cool/safe again. Thus becoming a great party town after I moved away. Just my luck.

4. Rocky (1976)

Everyone knows the plot so I won’t go into it. I was a bit young for this when it first came out. I was more of a Rocky II guy but grew to appreciate the original once I got older. Paulie might be the best sidekick ever next to Short Round. He even makes up for Ms Wet Blanket, I mean Adrian. This is just a great feel good movie. Americans love to root for the underdog and this might have been the first example of that put to film. Plus. Stallone got to use his nickname, “The Italian Stallion” for something other than porn. Who cares that if anyone took the kind of beating Balboa took, they’d be dead by the fourth round. You gota admit, Apollo Creed was a pretty good villain. Who knows Carl Weathers might not have been acting all that much. Turns out, he took such a beating from Dolph Lundgren in Rocky IV that he threatened to call his agent if Dolph touched him again. Way to suck it up Carl.

3. Bull Durham (1988)

This was the defining baseball movie of my generation. I don’t care what people say about Field of Dreams. Both did star Kevin Costner though, which is weird. It’s like the only halfway decent movies he makes are centered on sports. I mean have you seen Message in a Bottle? Right, neither have I…..moving on. I thought Crash Davis was a great character and Susan Sarandon still had a little left in the tank. Speaking of, I saw Into the Valley of Elah last week. I’ve seen Bananas age better than her…yeesh. There’s just great dialogue throughout in this flick. Tim Robbins was pretty good as the doofus with too much talent who didn’t appreciate it. In looking back on this flick I think I use quotes from this flick a lot more than I’d ever realized. That has to be worth something.

2. Caddy Shack (1980)

I’m not sure what more can be said about this movie. Funny as can be, with great performances all through out. You watch this and you remember what it was like when Chevy Chase was funny. It’s impossible to play a round of golf with anyone over thirty without at least one quote being busted out. I’m not sure what ever happened to the guy who played Danny Noonan. Hang on, I’ll go check IMDB…..ok, so it looks like he was on Roseanne for a bit married to Roseanne’s sister. He was married to Bonnie Raitt for most of the 90’s. I don’t really have a comment except to say that Lacy Underalls was hotter and I wonder what ever happend to that Scottish chick.

1. Slap Shot (1977)

This is favorite sports movie. I remember watching it as a kid and thought it was hilarious. It’s also the last movie I remember learning a swear word. Here I was ten years old and I’d peaked as a curser. I didn’t know this at the time as I might have had a moment of silence in honor of the occasion. This movie is one of those that if I’m flipping through channels at night, and it comes on; I’ll watch the rest of it. A buddy of mine played in a celebrity hockey tournament one time and on his team, getting dressed in the stall next to him was none other than Dave” Killer” Carlson. My buddy, not to be intimidated blurts out. “I want that $100 bucks Reg”. Killer Carlson pipes back, “Well, you’re gonna have to earn it.”. My buddy follows with, “my mind is right”. Thirty plus years later these guys are still making hay off a flick about a minor league hockey team that starts gooning it’s way to victories. I love America.


Well that’s my list. I’m not sure if this list is static or changes with my moods. But I do know this, I’ll bet anyone reading could probably quote a few lines from these lines and maybe even do entire scenes. As to why guys like to quote movies, I’m not sure. It’s just one of those things that can’t be understood. Like why Chewbacca could understand English but couldn’t speak it and Han could understand Wookie, but responded in English. Same goes for Luke and R2D2. And if C3PO was fluent in over 6 million forms of communication why didn’t he speak to R2 in a series of beeps and blurps? And how do people find Dane Cook funny? Ok let’s stop now, my head hurts.

Dickie Dunn

“If Dickie Dunn wrote it, it’s gotta be true”