Only Because No One Else Is Saying It

Like the title says, the only reason I bring this up is because it needs to be mentioned and neither ESPN nor foxsports nor NBA.com have any sort of journalistic integrity. Rajon Rondo should be suspended for game 7 of the Bulls-Celtics series. You will not even find a hint of debate on any of these sites over this subject, like it never happened. Attempting to throw a player into the stands is grade F, horseshit, Horry got two games for a similar deal. Rondo then throwing an elbow at the player's head, and yahoo! sports also caught this little move, is grade F horseshit. Amare Stoudemire was suspended for leaving the bench area. I demand to know how Stu Jackson will justify, and he will somehow justify it, not suspending Rajon when the rules and precedent are so clear.

Ratings are important, this has been a great series. But I have news for people: Nothing will top Game 6. Game 7 will most likely be a letdown. To say "Well the fans want to see a great game!" as an argument for why a player should not be suspended is insulting to every real fan who has ever watched the game of basketball. The whole "You don't call THAT in the final minutes of a game" argument, the "You don't let a star foul out with THAT" argument, and the "You can't suspend him NOW" arguments need revision. The players should be allowed to play in the final minutes of a game, they know they aren't getting a call on the final drive. But here's the thing. THE DEFENSE KNOWS THAT TOO. So the Celtics have turned this gentleman's agreement into a carté-blanche to take whatever cheap shots are necessary to stop the ball. If John Salmons drives the lane in the final minutes f a game, Paul Pierce pushes him from behind and slaps at the ball, Rondo runs in from the side and slaps him on the arms, and Kendrick Perkins puts a forearm in his face. One of those 3 should be called a foul.

I should mention that I credit the Celtics for taking advantage of the incompetence of the refs, they know it helps them win. I think it's absolutely pathetic that the officials have become so predictably terrible that a team can turn them into strategy. More anecdotal evidence: with 5 fouls in overtime last night, Paul Pierce committed between 3-6 more fouls before eventually picking up his 6th. He would fly in over the backs of guys and actually took Joakim Noah down on one particular rebound because he knew he wasn't fouling out on an over-the-back call. He would push and shove John Salmons every time he dribbled because he knew he wasn't fouling out with a blocking foul. He threw an elbow at Kirk Hinrich when Hinrich matched up tight with him because he knew he wasn't fouling out with an offensive foul. How many lame and cheap to decent fouls up add up to one good one? It's almost an advantage for a Celtics star to be playing with 5 fouls.

As for the argument that nobody wants to see Rajon suspended now, for Game 7, I only have one sentence. IF HE WANTS TO PLAY, THEN HE SHOULDN'T HAVE FUCKING THROWN A GUY INTO A SCORER'S TABLE THEN PITCHED AN ELBOW AT HIM BECAUSE THAT WARRANTS A SUSPENSION EVERY FUCKING TIME!

I'm sorry if you believe this is all I took away from the greatest basketball game ever. It's really not, I absolutely loved it. I even had a Boston fan respectfully congratulate me on the game, which meant that this one really was special. But I do have reasons why I run this blog, and one of the biggest is that I hate the media's impact on sports. Another big reason is that I hate to see league's sell some of the integrity of the game (And the NBA has sold a lot of integrity right now. Rondo could basically go up to David Stern and say "Fuck you, you don't have the balls to suspend me for this game no matter what I do," and David Stern would smile, nod, and then go back to counting his wad of money) for the sake of money. And the third is that I think I'm super-awesome and important and everybody should know what I think about things.