In My Opinion: Scoring With the Clock Stopped

My life has involved an extraordinary amount of basketball recently. Not only have I been watching every game of the far too long NBA playoffs, but I have also become obsessed with this eras best sports writer, Bill Simmons. This obsession has driven me to read his unnecessarily long and complete book, The Book of Basketball. This book is a seven hundred page encyclopedia covering absolutely everything you need to know about the history of basketball and much, much more. It contains the best teams ever, the 96 best players ever, famous sports debates, the secret of basketball, and numerous comical tangents. I have learned more about basketball in the past few weeks than I have over the rest of my life. I strongly recommend this book to any true basketball fans.

Perhaps it is this influx of basketball knowledge, or maybe the fact I'm looking for something to blog about but I now feel confident to express my opinion regarding the phrase, "Scoring with the clock stopped." This is a phrase that announcers commonly use to describe something that is supposedly important in basketball, but in reality it has to be the most idiotic phrase sans anything Dicky V says (Can't believe that guy was a GM back in the day).

Let's break this down. This phrase is used near the end of games when one team is trailing. Announcers like to say that you do not want to let a team that is trailing score while the clock is stopped. In other words, you do not want to foul them. I for the life of me cannot grasp the logic of this phrase. If a guy is driving towards the basket and is going to get an easy layup, time does not matter. Whether or not you foul him and he shoots free throws or he ends up making a layup the time left will be exactly the same. The clock stops after a made basket, so time is essentially unaffected whether or not the player is fouled. This make "scoring with the clocked stopped" an entirely pointless phrase. Announcers say it as though it somehow saves the trailing team time to be shooting free throws rather than having a layup. This is simply not true.

However, I should clarify some things. This does not apply to fouls do not occur around the basket. Obviously fouling away from the basket would save the trailing team the time of getting to the hoop. I assume this is what most announcers mean, but they still use the phrase with regards to fouls around the basket when it makes NO SENSE. I should also add that if you do foul you want to make sure they do not make a shot. A potential three point play could be devastating, whereas a good, hard foul could save a point or two.

So this is my opinion of why the phrase, "scoring with the clocked stopped" makes no sense. If I am wrong about this I would be love to know why. In other news the US is still awful at soccer and the NBA is doing its best to make itself look rigged (Com'n Stern).

In My Opinion is Back

Hello World,

After a long sabbatical to gather my thoughts (Really I'm just lazy), I have to decided to retry this blogging thing. Inspired by Bill Simmons and his excellent book, The Book of Basketball, I felt so moved as to resurrect my writing career. As I had mentioned in my post about six months ago this is a blog filled with my opinions on the world. It is not my intention to offend anyone or make any enemies, but simply to write some things and at least imagine someone out there in the world is reading it. Also I need something to do because about all I do right now is work, workout, eat, and watch the NBA playoffs. Hopefully this will force me to create a little more balance in my life. 

Enjoy

Sam

In My Opinion: Best Television Series

Everyone is looking for a new television series to get into. Classics such as 24 and Lost are over, and let's face it the new shows on TV just are not as good. It is also a pain to wait in between shows and seasons like you must do to watch a show as it airs. The answer to this problem is to watch a television series that  has already come out, but you have yet to see. In the next few posts I am going to tell you about a few television series that have already concluded and are very good.

We will start with what is in my opinion the best television series ever created. That show is HBO's The Wire. In my mind the gap between the Wire and any other television show is very substantial. The Wire is a show about the different parts of the city of Baltimore and how they interact with each other. It deals with the drug war between the police department and the drug dealers, and it also covers the interactions between the white lower class and the cops. In addition to these things The Wire explores corruption in the police department and political circles of Baltimore. Seasons four and five of the five season series take a look at the schools and media of Baltimore. The Wire is a show with many different aspects and this is one of the reasons it is so great.

Another reason that I believe the Wire is the greatest television show ever is the characters. It is filled with not only excellent primary characters such as Omar Little, Jimmy McNulty, and Lester Freamon, but also amazingly deep complimentary characters such as Bodie Broadus, D'Angelo Barksdale, and Ellis Carver. All of these characters are extremely round and do not fit into any of the stereotypes you see in the usual melodramas that fill television today. There is no hero or distinct villain, but instead characters that make you ponder every word and interaction. With these characters the storyline of the Wire could be awful and people would still watch, but luckily the storyline is excellent also.

The last reason I will mention on why the Wire is such a great show is because of the excellent dialogue. It is filled with amazing quotes that you do just not hear in other shows. Many have called the script of the Wire Shakespearian. Each episode of the Wire begins with a quote. When you see these quotes remember that every word is important and listen closely while you watch this amazing show.

However, I will make one disclaimer. One of the things that makes the Wire such a brilliant show is the fact that it is so realistic. Characters are not changed to make people feel better, punches are not pulled to avoid stepping on toes, the Wire portrays life as it is. A side effect of this is that the language and violence that happens in inner city Baltimore is also seen on screen. You can expect some f-bombs and bloody scenes, but they are not thrown in simply for effect, they all have a purpose. So watch with caution but know that it is all worth it.

So there you have it. These are the reasons why, in my opinion, The Wire is the great television series of all time.

In My Opinion: Introduction

You may be asking yourself why someone would start a blog filled with only their own opinions. This is a very justified question. Who is that arrogant to think people would care about their opinions? I will address this question with a couple of reasons why I started this blog.

First, I have heard the opinions of many people throughout my experiences and these give me hope that perhaps my opinion may be slightly more valuable. This is not to say that everything written in this blog will be nuggets of wisdom with incredible depth, but rather I believe I have something to offer the world through this blog.

Two, all the cool people seem to have blogs these days and after I got sick of my sports blog I figured this was a good way to get back in the game. Blogs are a great way to structure your thoughts, express yourself, and practice crucial life skills such as communication.

Lastly, blogs are a great way to earn money on the internet. You can sell ad-space, have in-text ads, and even get paid to give your opinions on certain products. Let me repeat that last one. Companies will pay you money to review their products on your blog. Of course you need to establish yourself first, but it seems like a good deal to me.

So in conclusion, I have started this blog to grace you all with thoughtful opinions, fulfill the status requirement of having a blog, and perhaps earn a little money. Hope you enjoy it!