Balcony Buzz
From the Cheap Seats
by Chris Hahn
What we're talking about in the balcony this week:
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· Offensive Offense: The NBA’s Eastern Conference Finals have turned into a trench war. The ugliness of the first few games has superceded the dreams of even the most defensively-minded fans. As opposed to the flowing games that the Lakers – Timberwolves series out west is showcasing, the Pacers and Pistons are playing games where a team can score less than 10 points in one of the quarters and still win. If the motto ‘Defense wins championships’ holds true, then this will be the East’s breakout year. But even though many of the fans in the balcony would rather see someone else raise the golden globe (including our hometown Pacers), we won’t be a bit surprised if Shaq and Kobe lead Tinseltown to another title.
· North vs. South: While the NBA playoffs will be East vs. West, the NHL Stanley Cup Finals have turned into a vertical geographical battle. The paradox of a Canadian team (the Calgary Flames) playing a team from Florida (the Tampa Bay Lightning) has intrigued even the novice hockey fans. While Tampa is clearly the favorite based on their regular season, Calgary is hot at the right time of year, and goaltender Kiprusoff is playing well enough to steal a couple games and the Cup. It’s been a while since the most famous trophy in sports spent the off-season north of the border, but it looks like it just might happen.
· A True Leader and Coach: The head baseball coach of Noblesville High School, Coach Dennis Kas, was suspended after a tirade with an umpire during a game a couple weeks ago. Since then, the principal and athletic director have chosen to not renew his contract for the next year. Yet Coach Kas is one of the true great coaches and leaders the community has had over the past decade plus. He has instilled respect, responsibility, and hard work in many teenage players/students over the years. The reality is Coach Kas is somewhat of a ‘throwback’ coach in that he is demanding of his players, instead of the ‘feel good, don’t yell at the kids’ mentality that is spoiling our youth these days. The individuals who have gone through Coach Kas’ program are ones who have been able to make the community a better place. Administrators claim this was “a decision that reflects that we expect our coaches and students to uphold the values of our community.” Yet the reality is that Coach Kas has done more to improve the values of the community that the majority of educators in the Noblesville system. I encourage Buzz readers who support Coach Kas to share their feelings with the NHS administrators who have made this decision despite the community’s best interests: Principal Tony Cook (tony_cook@mail.nobl.k12.in.us) and Athletic Director Steve Hurst (steve_hurst@mail.nobl.k12.in.us).
· BCS Breakthrough: Since it’s been a while since the last Buzz, we couldn’t get away without cheering against an old nemesis…the BCS. There was an extra loud cheer from the Balcony when LSU and USC shared the National Championship, finally reddening the faces of the BCS gurus. And the way it came about just made it that much more enjoyable…the #3-ranked team in the country playing in the ‘National Championship Game’ while the #1-ranked team didn’t? There’s talk of quite a few changes in the system for the upcoming year, but we’re afraid it’s just a token effort at tweaking the process after this year’s embarrassment. But at least it’s something for now…
· Wave Worthy (the week’s top performances): Smarty Jones, one win away from the Triple Crown (see this week’s article); LeBron James, for proving all of his critics wrong by winning the Rookie of the Year title with an electrifying first year; Buddy Rice for a clean sweep at Indy - before winning the rain-shortened Indy 500 Sunday, he won the pole AND his team won the pit-stop contest.