Tag: mark jackson

The A-Train Rant 21.0!!

Ranting-Homer

Happy New Year one and all, it’s time for the 1st rant of 2015…

  1. Stuart Scott is Mr. SportsCenter, I can care less what you think. Not being biased either.
  2. Pau Gasol is a blessing to Chicago. Thank you Jim Buss.
  3. Jimmy Butler is not only an All-Star, he’s playing like an MVP.
  4. Stephen Curry is amazing…maybe he should be the MVP.
  5. I dislike Steve Kerr still; that Warriors team will forever be Mark Jackson’s.
  6. The Atlanta Hawks will not go to the Eastern Conference Finals this season. I don’t give a damn how good they’re doing right now.
  7. Stan Kroenke gave the NFL the finger and was straight gangster with it.
  8. The Cleveland Cavaliers added two cancers to the team after trading one of them (Dion Waiters traded, received J.R. Smith and Iman Shumpert)
  9. There’s no need for a committee for the College Football Playoff, just call it the BCS College Football Playoff and let the computers decide.
  10. Oregon will win the national championship; screw you Buckeye fans.
  11. I’m cheering for the Cowboys this weekend…just like you…I can’t believe it either.
  12. I’m not watching hockey until March/April…that’s when the real fun begins just like the NBA.
  13. I feel sorry for Marvin Lewis and Jim Caldwell…only of these men will get the short end of the stick.
  14. So when does baseball season start?
  15. Dirk Nowitzki is better than Larry Bird. (Became 7th all-time leading scorer in NBA history)
  16. “BOOYAH!”
  17. “Cool as the other side of the pillow.”
  18. “I ain’t gone say nothing, but that ain’t right.”
  19. Rich Eisen is awesome. Never forget your colleague and friend. Classy move.
  20. Shoutout to every sports team that honored Stuart Scott.

MORE TO COME…I THINK. STAY TUNED.

The A-Train

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The A-Train Rant 17.0!!!

Mark Jackson

The A-Train Rant will not have the following…Michael Sam.

His name has been saturated for a while now and everyone is talking about him whether they like him or not. But I won’t here. Just about everything has been said.

I rant about the Golden State Warriors and the hiring of Steve Kerr.

Kerr was the focal point during the course of the NBA Playoffs about expressing interest in coaching an NBA team. The team that wanted him initially was the New York Knicks. He chose to go to Oakland.

Of course the media will say it’s more about business…I call bull and say it was about race. Now of course, you won’t believe that. That’s not a part of your mindset, right? Just a crazed blogger like myself.

Now, Kerr (in his last year with TNT as broadcaster) signed a 5-year, $25 million contract with the Warriors. Mind you, Kerr has no coaching experience whatsoever. The same could be said for Mark Jackson when he began. Jackson was fired after 3 seasons with Golden State and posted a 121-109 record taking them to 2 playoff appearances in the last 2 seasons.

However, Jackson only received a 3-year, $6 million contract to coach the Warriors. If you do the math, that’s a $19 million difference.

Now what made Kerr received $19 more million than Jackson. Because he knows the game more than Jackson??? I don’t think so, I think it’s equal.

So why did the Warriors hire another broadcaster and fire their coach? Well my friends, the organization had no faith in Jackson. Although they won 51 games (+4 on the win column from last season), they still had no interest in keeping him. Golden State owner Joe Lacob wanted Kerr because he was a more approachable person than Jackson. His personality was better than Jackson’s as well.

But what does that have to do with winning games for your organization?

It seems to me that Jackson was ousted because he was black who wanted things done his way to what HE thought was to better that organization, and the front office were not going to let him do it. Egos clashed in Oakland and Jackson was cut off because of it. It’s good to see that most of the Warriors players still side with Jackson. That may cause friction with new coach Kerr. It’s just appalling to see that All-Star Stephen Curry is in full support of Kerr. It’s bad when an all-star has lost support of the previous coach. Also bad when assistants are trying to get that coach out at any means necessary.

Of course, it will be looked at from a “business” standpoint. But when you are real with yourself and look at the reasons why Kerr was selected…race will STILL be the issue here whether you like it or not.

In the meantime, Jackson is back at ESPN calling NBA games, so at least I’ll get to hear him lend his analyst talent. I hope he does get another coaching gig after his 2nd tenure at ESPN.

A-Train

THE A-TRAIN RANT 16.0!

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Time for another edition of The A-Train Rant…16-point-OH!

I have a lot to say on this day. Here we go.

  1. Roger Goodell continues to kill the NFL. I feel indifferent if professional football should go away as a whole.
  2. Tom Brady is a sore loser.
  3. Bill Belichick needs his eyes checked.
  4. Ohio State really sucks along with my Tar Heels. I knew UNC would be bad this year after watching them BEAT Kentucky.
  5. Joel Embiid of Kansas shouldn’t look at being #1 overall in the draft. He has great game so far, a lot more to work on and doesn’t need to focus on the NBA. He doesn’t need to be a Ralph Sampson or Hasheem Thabeet.
  6. I think I may have found a new favorite team…it’s the Golden State Warriors. Yes, they lost last night. But at the same time, this is a young team with a great head coach in Mark Jackson and should make playoff/championship runs for years. I love this team.
  7. The St. Louis Rams should get Clowney or a signal caller to wake up Sam Bradford in the upcoming 2014 NFL Draft. Not an offensive lineman. Work with the linemen they already have. Stop thinking that the next big draft pick is going to be the answer.
  8. Joakim Noah scares me as an NBA player. Last night’s Lakers/Bulls game indicated when he gets the ball under 2 minutes, he forgets how to play basketball. I like his energy but it seems like it spirals out of control when the game is on the line.
  9. Speaking of that Lakers/Bulls game…the Lakers got cheated in that game. Taj Gibson’s last second lay-up shouldn’t have happened the way it did. The clock didn’t start when Gibson got the ball.
  10. Clayton Kershaw deserves every bit of that $215 million the L.A. Dodgers gave him.
  11. Fighting in hockey is probably the reason why I watch it. Sad.
  12. What the hell happened to Serena Williams? She might be done with tennis.
  13. So far EA Sports is on point about the St. Louis Blues. They simulated their season and it came out that they would win the Cup. It would be the franchise’s first. I would love to witness that for real (on TV of course or downtown).
  14. Super Bowl 48’s matchup on paper looks like it’s one for the ages. The NFL is getting what they want by playing the game in it’s “normal” element.
  15. Carmelo Anthony needs to leave the Knicks. All he’s doing is bringing them down instead of building them up.
  16. Paul George’s 360 dunk was very impressive. To anybody that thinks it wasn’t…get a video camera, go find a court and do the dunk. If you can, the dunk wasn’t impressive. Point blank.
  17. Speaking of that dunk, George won’t be in the dunk contest. This is a great indicator that All-Star Weekend needs to die. Who can forget the ever-popular 2Ball competition? SMH
  18. I hope the WWE gets this new WWE Network correct.
  19. I can’t wait to see what the Ultimare Warrior says at his Hall of Fame speech.
  20. I will participate in Warren Buffett’s BILLION DOLLAR (yes that’s correct) bracket challenge. CBS, ESPN, Fox Sports’ bracket challenge’s better up their game. $1,000,000 means nothing anymore.
  21. FINALLY. This whole Richard Sherman thing indicates how silly, stupid and crazy us fans really are. I think we are worse than the athletes themselves. What Sherman did wasn’t right. But don’t dare call him a thug. A thug is a criminal. If that’s the case, Sherman robbed the 49ers of going to the Super Bowl. That’s the best description of what a thug is. People are getting mad that Sherman’s antics have been compared to Muhammad Ali’s antics. It has great comparison sports-related. Talk trash. Back it up. Ali did that. So far, Sherman has done the same. 20 interceptions in just 3 seasons indicates that. With that said…
  22. Justin Verlander needs to (in the words of Chris Jericho) SHUT…THE HELL…UP.

GOOD DAY EVERYONE.

A-Train