I was stunned listening to Jim Traber and Dean Blevins yesterday discussing Patrick Beverly’s deliberate hit on Russell Westbrook’s knees.
Literally stunned. I assumed they both would know more about the psychology of sports in relation to intimidation. But I was wrong. Traber should know better. He played major league baseball. Plus, he has a nephew who played hockey at a high level. Traber claims to be a Pittsburgh Penguin fan, but he’s not in my league on this one…I coached hockey. I could show him offensive zone faceoff plays which would make his ass dizzy. Blevins is just an OU football media scribe so the fact he was clueless was not a surprise.
In hockey you have your Sid Crosbys, your Alex Ovechins, and your Jonathon Toews. They not only lead their teams in offensive production they make their sport more marketable on television and at the gate.
The same holds true for basketball. You have Steph, you have Durant, you have Westbrook, you have LeBron, you have Harden. You get the point. You cannot allow players like Patrick Beverly to cheap shot in essence the stars who pay the freight for the league.
Are you kidding me? Even if you give Patrick Beverly the benefit of the doubt and say there was no intent to injure—this cannot happen. Sam Presti….Russell Westbrook is the only reason you still have a job in Oklahoma City—please take care of him.
A good enforcer is in a sense so tough he really doesn’t have to fight all that often even in the NHL. The Houston Rockets should take note as well….you can’t have the Rajon Rondos of the NBA world spitting in Chris Paul’s face and expecting your star to fight for himself.
Now…there are some stars in hockey who did fight and were ultimately rewarded for being tough enough to fight. The two which come to mind first are Gordie Howe and the greatest hockey player to ever grace a sheet of ice…Bobby Orr. They both fought and their legacies have grown from their fighting exploits.
Wayne Gretzky never fought. He had an enforcer. I never really respected Gretzky though as a complete player. I’ve always thought Durant was the Gretzky of the NBA. I won’t go any further there because I’m over it with Cupcake.
Crosby, Ovechkin, and Toews have enforcers, although I will say both Crosby and Ovechkin are tough. They can fight if they have to, but why should they?
I’m so disappointed in Jim Traber. I thought he was the one guy in this ‘college market’ who could hang with me and talk all four of the major sports. Maybe it’s just that he’s been so preoccupied trolling Mike Gundy about his hair, his smoothies, and his Twitter followers he’s slipped a little. I should be in Boston or Denver is where I should be. But it is what it is for right now. And even if I were in Boston… I’d still feel let down with finding out all the things Bill Simmons didn’t really know.
The OKC Thunder need an enforcer. I wonder if Perk would come back and take care of Russell. Watch the video of Beverly’s cheap shot on Westbrook. Not one Thunder player got in Beverly’s face. Not one. Such a nice team. Just like their coach…such nice people who never win anything at this level.
Sam Presti needs an enforcer. Some toughness wouldn’t hurt his 2-4 team of nice people.
What we have in Oklahoma City isn’t a contending team, but rather the nicest team in the league. Give them a citizenship ribbon while the Warriors win another ring with Draymond Green.
You’ll remember…Jae Crowder was talking bullshit all series long last post season to Sam Presti’s ‘nice’ Thunder team. This is why you have an enforcer. Plus, it would give Traber something besides Mike Gundy’s smoothies, mullet, and Twitter followers to talk about on air.