NBA Finals & the U.S. Open

There were two big happenings in sports this week with NBA Finals and the U.S. Open. So it’s a extra large edition of “The Grandeur,” with some Argentine flavor.
First off, the San Antonio Spurs captured their fourth NBA Crown in nine years as they swept the Cleveland Cavaliers in The Finals. Interesting group, these Spurs. They don’t talk smack, get in trouble with the law, do tons of commercials, act like divas or do any of that other stuff that causes so many other teams to lose. All they do is play smart, solid, discplined basketball; just like Greg Popovich wants them too. A graduate of the Air Force Academy, Pop, has organized his team to resemble somewhat of a well-coordinated army. Every man knows his job, does his job and doesn’t try to do much else. They have the greatest forward of the generation in Tim Duncan (Shaq doesn’t count, he’s a center). He scores when needs too, grabs plenty of rebounds and commands such respect roaming around in the paint. And don’t buy this garbage that he has no personality. He did a commercial about six or seven years ago and he laughed at Joey Crawford earlier this year. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if he isn’t one of the funniest guys in the league. But he’ll never show it to you, Pop wouldn’t have any of it.
The Spurs then have Bruce Bowen, Robert Horry and Manu Ginobli. Bowen, the suspected, okay, notoriously, dirty defender. “Big Shot Bob” Horry, the Will Smith look-a-like who knocks down big jumpers, play tough defense and body checks little Canadians. That foul will never be forgotten. And then their is Ginobli, who provides our first taste of Argentina for the week. He is one heck of a player, especially for a sixth man. Most of the time he looks so lazy, unathletic even, but then he just turns on the boosters and he is off making steals for lay-ups and knocking down three’s. He lulls everyone to sleep then just flys right by him.
But the “X-factor” has to be Tony Parker. The little Frenchman is just so quick. Slashing and dashing to the hole all night looking like he is always about to lose his balance but stays on his feet long enough to lay the ball in. At first you’re blown away when you hear he leads the league in points in the paint but then you sit back and think about and it makes sense. He is just everywhere. One lazy step and he blows right by. Everyone else is solid as a rock, but he is the one guy that can turn a game in a split second.
So Lebron James was on the wrong end of his first Finals. But he has plenty of time, he’s only 22. He had an impressive playoffs and not just the 48 he scored against the Pistons in game five. He got all the way to the finals, albeit in a bad conference, with no help. Larry Hughes was hurt, all that Donellye Marshall, Damon Jones and Daniel Gibson do is shoot and they don’t do that well most of the time. Zydrunas Illguaskas is a slightly above average center at best and Anderson Varejao plays like a cheerleader. The teenage girl selling programs is tougher than he is. James needs help, because right now he is a king without a court.
But does victory make the Spurs a dynasty? With all due respect, NO. Yes they have won four in nine years and yes they have great players and coaches but they have never repeated. They have never defended their title the following year. The true dynasties put together three, four, five years in a row where they are the only champions. Let see them go back-to-back first. But that’s not what the NBA or the people want. They want the flashy dunks and fancy commercials. Apparently winning isn’t enough, it has to be done with style.
And then it was a larger man who brought us our second serving of Argentine for the week. Angel Cabrera wins his first ever PGA Tour event by winning the U.S. Open at Oakmont.
Cabrera was quite a sight on Sunday as he rolled toward victory. Nervously pacing around in between shots, lighting up a smoke between every hole and seemingly ready to have a heart attack in the clubhouse as he watched Tiger Woods and Jim Furyk fall in their attempt to catch him. This guy is the average guy’s hero. A little overweight, smokes cigs and gets all giddy when he hits good shots. It was like watching your lazy uncle Larry out there playing golf.
But Woods and Furyk did have their chances. Furyk, seemingly not knowing he was tied on 17 pulled out the driver and ended up in the rough when all he had to do was shoot par over the last two holes to take it to a playoff. Tiger, like Furyk, found the rough on 17 to lose a birdie opportunity but it was on 15 where he missed the four-footer for birdie that will haught him. He was able to save par whenever he needed to stay in the game but was never able to hit a birdie putt to take the lead.
Unfortunately it was the golf course that seemed to be the best over the weekend. I for one, don’t like seeing -20 golf tournament that resembles a NBA All-Star game shootout. Courses should be hard, but this was kind of ridiculous. The winner of a major championship should be the guy who goes out and wins it, not the guy who survives it. But lets give some credit to Tiger. Despite falling just short this weekend and at the Masters, just being there at the end of both tournaments is impressive. Look at some other guys. Phil Mickelson and Retief Goosen don’t make the cut while Zach Johnson and Geoff Ogilvy aren’t even close. Tiger might not have played his best golf so far this year but it is still far and away better than anybody else. He is not just excellent because he wins majors, he is excellent because he is never out of them.
But it was the South American who took the title yesterday with some flair, if not pure anxiety. Now we will get to see if Cabrera can repeat his success in the next two majors, if his heart rate lets him.