East Beats West

[erpowers]

The Eastern Conference All Stars rallied in the third quarter to beat the Western Conference All Stars last night 122-120. Does anyone think Avery Johnson was too concerned with getting Tracy McCrady the All Start MVP node. I was not able to watch the game on TV, but I listened to in over the radio. I will admit I fell asleep during the third quarter when the East rallied and woke up near the end of the third quarter after the lead had fallen to about four or six points. So I do not really know how the West played in the third quarter.

The commentators said that the defense of the East picked up and the West played a little sloppy. However, it seems like McCrady was getting all the touches and Kobe was not used all that much. I thought I heard that Kobe had only eight point by the end of the game. In addition, even though it seems like McCrady had gone cold (he only had about one or two score from the field and only one or to free throws) the West was still giving the ball to McCrady over Kobe. So, was McCrady used too much at the wrong time?

P.S. From what I heard of the game I thought it was a great game.

[1gobluedem]

1. The defense for the East did pick up...

...as soon as Flip Saunders put all four Pistons in! They were instrumental in turning the game around.

[akarnitz]

2. I didn't realize they were playing

until the 11pm news!

I saw "Date Movie" w/my son instead. I want my $12 back! Don't even rent it next month when it's in at the video store, people.

Normally don't care for All-Star games, but would have loved to see the four Pistons out there at the same time. Five or so years ago it was hard watching the Pistons at all. I'm really proud of this squad.

Nice sig line, erpowers. I never realized Sherman was in Michigan when he said that. Makes me wonder where he was when he said(about a prospective campaign for the presidency), "If nominated, I will not run; if elected, I will not serve."

[erpowers]

3. Thanks

I really like the Sherman quote about war is hell. I thought at this time people needed to see a real soldier's opinion on war. I think it is good to show a contrast between guys like Bush and Cheney and guys like Sherman. I am also interested in know where Sherman was when he made the comment about being nominated and elected.

[akarnitz]

4. Okay, I'm gonna veer way off the B-ball topic here.......

I've got a lot of respect for Sherman. I think he was lousy as a tactical general. He was promoted up to Commander of the West, imho, because of the attachments he and his brother(Sen. John Sherman, R-OH)made both at the front with Grant and in Washington with the War Department. General Sherman turned out to be a hell of a strategist, however.

I do believe he made a more famous "War is hell..." quote during the war to justify to the citizens of Georgia that this war was of their making; that if they were to attempt another rebellion they might want to think about the consequences.

This type of warfare, total warfare, was of Sherman's making. The last major war the western world had seen was the Austro-Sardinian War, a war fought using the same grand strategies, and in the same numbers as the Napoleonic Wars, using those same tactics. A magnificetly numerous amount of troops were casualties at Magenta and Solferino, but the impact upon the civilians in Italy was very light.
Sherman decided that the only way to end ALL conflict with the secessionists was to cripple the infrastructure for generations to come, to stifle the economy of the region. And, by God, it worked! Tearing up the railroads, torching barns, confiscating livestock...it worked. I don't believe Sherman's plans contained any malice(with the exception of the burning of Columbia, SC, the birthplace of the secession movement). I think he wanted to end this bloody conflict forever.

I'm afraid it's a lesson lost to today's chickenhawks. Cable news sexes up war too much; not enough people have ever felt what impact war might on their daily lives. The only way to re-learn Sherman's lesson is with pain.