I am a fan of the ESPN afternoon sports show Sports Nation.
Actually, I am a fan of one of the co-hosts, Michelle Beadles. I catch myself tending to agree with her opinion on most subjects just because I think she’s attractive. Beauty aside, her other co-host is Colin Cowherd and he is such a huge LeBron James and Lakers fan that, for that reason alone, it’s not hard to go against him. The show has a daily segment where they take the pulse of the nation on various sports topics, debate the issue between the two of them, and then see how the nation voted.
For those of you who may be interested, there is a way that you can participate in these daily opinion polls. Go to espn.go.com and scroll about half the way down the page. There you will see a box titled SportsNation poll with the question of the day. Make your choice and hit select and your vote will be added to those of others across the nation. After you vote, a bar will come up showing you how your vote stacks up; in other words, are you in the majority or minority regarding the question. There will also be a map of the US showing how each state if voting.
For example, if the question “will the Hawks win game 6 against the Bulls?” comes up, you can probably guess that only Georgia or some of the other Southern states will pick the Hawks. You can also click on “More Polls” and other questions will come up for you to consider. It’s a fun way to stay on top of hot sports topics and a good way to express your sports opinions.
Anyway, back to the show. Over the past few days there have been some very interesting questions presented and I thought I would share some of those questions with you today as well as how the nation voted on these matters. See if you agree or disagree with the rest of the nation.
•Should the Lakers be dismantled after their embarrassing loss to the Mavericks?
68% of the US said “no” and I agree. They certainly didn’t handle the loss like champions. The classless flagrant fouls of Lamar Odum and especially the one by Andrew Bynum, along with his backbiting comments to the press after game 2 of the series, were disgusting. But the team personnel is on solid ground. Certainly, the retirement of Coach Phil Jackson if he, in fact, does retire, will have a big impact on what type of player the new coach will desire but the players, themselves, centering around Kobe are very capable of making another title run next year.
•If you were an NBA coach, who would you rather have taking a game-deciding shot: Kobe, LeBron, Kevin Durant, Derrick Rose, or Dwayne Wade?
Edging out Kobe by a slight 3% was Kevin Durant of the Oklahoma City Thunder. By the time this column appears, the Thunder could be playing for the championship or they could have been eliminated by the Mavs. Durant plays on a team that gets little media coverage so he is relatively unknown except for his remarkable skills. I know that Rose won the MVP but I’d rather have Durant on my team than Rose.
•Are you rooting for Tiger?
73% of the nation says that they are rooting for Tiger and I’m one of those as well. It was sad to see him take himself out of The Players Championship this week due to his on-going knee injury (not the one he had surgery on awhile back) that he suffered while playing in The Masters. I still think his greatness will surface soon and he’ll get back on track to break Nicklaus’ major championships record.
•Who’s the best commissioner?
61% said David Stern of the NBA, 36% voted for Roger Goodell of the NFL, leaving only 3% voting for Bud Selig of MLB. Personally, I think Selig got 3% more than he should have. I, too, believe Stern does the best job. He seems decisive when necessary, yet aware of the players’ concerns. Of the three, he seems to be the only commissioner who is not in the owners’ back pocket. I like the strong stances that Goodell has made with some disciplinary problems in the league but Selig is a joke.
•Since he is slumping, should Jeter move down in the lineup?
Like any player, he should do whatever their manager or coach tells them to do. And without whining to the media. I’m not insinuating that Jeter has done this but others have. The point is- the player does not run the team, the coach or manager does and what they say goes, in spite of the player’s past performance or standing with the fans.
•Do you like LeBron James?
The voting choices on this one was: love, like, dislike, hate, or don’t care. Now, I don’t care for the choice “hate” at all. This is sports people and even though I thought what he did last summer was despicable, he’s a basketball player, not Osama bin Laden.
The final voting didn’t really reach any firm conclusion other than to show that the nation is still split on its view of him. 40% said they loved or liked him; 40% said they disliked or hated him (probably Cleveland fans); and 20% said they didn’t care. Two other side questions regarding LeBron showed that 67% of the nation, however, is rooting against him in the playoffs and 84% said his, so-called, apology about the way he handled his defection last summer, was too little, too late.
Another poll question indicated by 100% that the column “In My Opinion” in the Barrow Journal was an extremely interesting read. Of course, I was the only one to vote on that one.
Randy Blalock is a columnist for The Barrow Journal. Send comments about this column to rblalock@mindspring.com.
