Sometimes lists just don't make sense

I’m sure there are a lot of things that Time magazine does well – although I’m far more a Newsweek guy so that’s a presumption more than anything – but apparently make “lists” is not one of them.

This has some digression to it – and the Three Pointers from a so-so game are a little bit further down so don’t despair – but what the heck, we branch out a little bit.

Time came out with its list of the 100 Most Influential People as, as always, there was a fop to sports with the inclusion of some athletes; four to be exact.

And one of them; well, two of them; maybe three of them, almost made me laugh out loud when I read their names.

Jeremy Lin? Most Influential In The World? Gah!!!

Tim Tebow? Most Influential In The World? Bah!!!

Novak Djokovic? Most Influential In The World? Hmm, that’s a stretch.

Lionel Messi? Most Influential In The World? Um, My Man Kelly makes the case and I will defer.

But the others? Come on.

Look, Lin, the guy I know best of the four, is a very interesting guy and for a month or so he was a very good NBA story, of that there can be no question.

The rags-to-riches side of the story was a fun angle; the way he caught the public’s attention for a few weeks was a lot of fun, and driven almost entirely by a voracious New York media looking for something to cling to. He handled his ascension with class and dignity and, yes, it’s nice that he went to an Ivy League school and is smart.

But, really. Among the most influential in the world? Puhleeze.

Guy made basketball popular again in a country – China – where it was popular once before. He played pretty well for a team that’s played better now that he’s been injured.

Same with Tebow? More rags to riches. More nice guy makes good. More marginal talent captures attention for a little while. When it’s all said and done, he’s greatest contribution to the world may end up being a pose he’s mocked for.

I guess, though, I’m feeding right into what Time wanted me to do. These lists – and I’ve said this about ESPN lists and SI lists – are entirely fabricated to engender debate and discussion and that’s just what I’ve spent 400 words or so doing.

But, really, when I think of “influential” people in the world, athletes rarely come to mind, especially athletes who haven’t really accomplished a thing or dominated their sport in any tangible way.

Whaddya think?

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Oh yeah …

There’s this, and then there’s this plea for mail. Do it here, please.

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THREE POINTERS

A step back

Funny, I was about to write a nice Ed Davis story – and I’m sure I still will, it just doesn’t fit into this narrative – and he goes out and lays one of his second-year guy eggs.

Four rebounds, eight points in 31 minutes and gets beaten up by the likes of Dexter Pittman and Juwan Howard.

Yes, there is still work to do, as Dwane pointed out after the game.

“It’s good for them to go through that, good for Ed to get bumped, that tells him how hard he has to work this summer in the weight room.”

Amen.

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Time for it to end

Gary Forbes is an intriguing basketball player in a lot of ways.

Has pretty good size, is pretty strong and can guard a couple of positions.

But they need to know right now that whatever he is, he is not a point guard. Never has been, never will be, time to put him where he belongs and let him try to improve his skills there rather than ask him to do something that we’ve found out this season that he can’t.

If this year was mainly about finding out things about players, there’s one question that’s been emphatically answered.

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The other mantra

Now, I’m all for “changing the culture” and becoming “defensive-minded” and I think they’ve accomplished that for the most part.

But we saw once again last night – with Davis and with DeRozan (who couldn’t get anywhere near the rim most of the game) and with James Johnson and Alan Anderson – that they simply aren’t strong enough.

Especially the kids and they need to send them both off this summer with a tape of that game in their hands and these words from Casey ringing in their ears.

“It tells us how much guys have to work in the weight room this summer. When they’re lifting weights, think about how we got pushed around and bumped and knocked off our mark … when you’re physically ready to take that challenge, those things don’t happen.”

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Okay, a couple more quick things, I’ve got some Nothin’ But Net stuff to get done before the afternoon flight.

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This is what it’s come to, and I’m afraid only our friends with access to American sports networks will get this totally.

It’s about 6:55 a.m., ESPN is doing a promo for its morning chat show and I so hate the sound of Stephen A. Smith’s voice and the oft-incomprehensible things that come out of his mouth that I just muted the TV rather than listen to 30 seconds of his drivel.

Anyway …

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Hang on a sec.

Someone scored 10 goals in a pucks playoff game?

That’s odd, right?

And no one speared anyone, there were no scripted fights, no concussions, no head shots, no looming suspensions?

Good night for the pucks, indeed.

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Hang on one more sec.

The Philadelphia Phillies (Cliff Lee) and San Francisco Giants (Matt Cain) played an 11-inning, 1-0 game in 2:27?

That’s hardly time enough for the folks watching the scantily-clad women and listening to the incessant pounding of so-called music time to have fun and enjoy “the experience.”

Oh, wait, never mind.

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Comments

[Canadian Paul]

Morning Doug. I read your Anderson/Johnson piece with amusement. I can't believe that the Raptors actually think that Anderson is about equal to Johnson. Let's see: Anderson is last on the team in rebounding % (just below Calderon), while Johnson is rebounding better than Bargnani. Anderson barely passes the ball (same assist % as Kleiza, and we all know how much Kleiza likes to pass the ball), while Johnson is the best passing player on the Raptors after the PGs. Johnson leads the team in block % and blocks per game, is a tougher defender, etc. The only think Anderson does better than Johnson is shoot better from 3. Neither is a starting-caliber player, but to actually suggest that Anderson and Johnson are about equal is head-scratching material. No wonder this team strikes out year after year in their player assessments (draft and free agency).

Blogger's note: Sample size. And, believe it or not, people with far more knowledge of NBA basketball than you seem to think otherwise. Of course, they're wrong and you're right

[Mike]

If we're talking most influential in the WORLD in the past year, I think you could make the case for Lin. One measure is the amount and type of media coverage, and where. Lin made the front pages (i.e. not the sports section) and TV newscasts (i.e. the news portion, not just the sports portion of newscasts), not just in North America but in Asia and who knows where else. He was also the sole reason that Chinese TV picked up the broadcast of Knicks games. Tebow is a North American story for the most part, and most of the world outside North America doesn't care about or follow the NFL so it's a bigger hurdle for any NFL player to be considered influential in the world. It would be an interesting to know how many hits Google and other search engines around the world (e.g. Baidu) had on Lin, Tebow, Djokovic and Messi, on a global basis. That is another measure of influence.

[Jay Menard]

Doug... one comment about the influential list. I agree, the athletes in question aren't changing the world. But isn't it nice to see a group of athletes there who have been selected for being upstanding people and good examples to youth? All respectful, all hard workers who have overcome some sort of odds...

It's a nice change to have athletes who more greatly deserve to be on a most-influential list than a most-wanted...

[Ryan M in Ottawa]

Equally impressive re: phillies/Giants - Cliff Lee pitched 10 innings on 102 pitches, Matt Cain pitched 9 on 91.

Also on list of influential athletes in the world, only one that sort of comes to mind is former athlete Magic Johnson and his AIDS work / bussiness enterprises no?

[Canadian Paul]

Doug, I'm not pretending to know more than these guys, but they're not infallible, you know. Go down the list of Colangelo free-agent signings and draft picks and tell me who exactly has lit the world on fire. Failure after failure. That gives us the fans a right to be cynical... until they prove otherwise. You can defend them all you want, it changes nothing.

[George]

Yes, these lists are crazy! Most Influential In The World? I think we need to define "The World" as much as we need to define "Most Influential". The world as we see it from from our North American perspective. Sure if we were going to add a 100 people on it I would throw in Jeremy Lin and Tebow just to get to a 100.

[Moshigh]

influential in the WORLD..Its strictly to get people going and talking. If I was selling magazines papers or looking for hits to my website, I would probably throw those names out as well, as it gets people talking.

I like Anderson even though it has been yes a small sample size. I like James Johnson as well. Neither are starters. To me Anderson looks more composed of a person, I guess because he is hungry to stay in the league.

Its true Demar and Ed Davis truly have to hit the weight room. They arent strong enough to push up against other tough men in this league at this point.

Raptors have run out of gas. Which is no fault of this team. Really only couple guys have something to truly play for and just a physically demanding season.

Big question what draft pick will Raptors get, will there scouting team to a good job or terrible. Makes for interesting off season.

[Has]

Hey Doug, if you were to pick 1 or 2 most influential athletes of the year, who would make the cut in your mind? Not sure why Djokovic is on the list, he has no doubt dominated tennis for the last year, but I dont see him making the same impact Federer made to the sport a few years ago

Blogger's note: Off the top of my head, I'm going with Cathal's Drogba and, hmm, not sure of a second. Let me think on this a bit.

[LeeZ]

I think Doug's article re: JJ vs Anderson referred to ceilings. JJ and Anderson (in a small sample size with the guy fighting for his career, so, would he bring that same intensity if and when he gets a guaranteed contract? No way of knowing), those two are each contributing about the same RIGHT NOW, albeit in different ways. DC flatly acknowledged that what you see with Anderson is likely all you'll get, whereas JJ's ceiling is much higher. I think that once JJ is surrounded by some actual PLAYERS, he won't feel the need to try and do too much, and those said players would tear him a new one if he tried. This would free JJ to play to his strengths on offence (occasional putbacks, post-ups and wide-open midrange jumpers or 3's; not so much the lengthy, ball-stoppiing dribbling displays). Likewise on defence: right now he is one of the best weakside help defenders around, roaming here and there and swatting balls away and getting into passing lanes. But he does it TOO OFTEN, and the guy he's supposed to be covering is often left wide open for easy points. He won't have to roam as much with better players around him. Basically, the better the players surrounding him, the less he'll feel he needs to do, and that is a GOOD thing. He can become a much steadier player that way, and his naturally explosive athleticism can be put to excellent use. I actually believe he will become an EXCELLENT player in this league, once he (and his team) grows up a bit. Anderson? Strictly an emergency replacement. Good guy to have around. If he's in your regular rotation, that is NOT a good thing.

[Gord]

These messages were left on Monday’s blog – but as I have a busy career and a family time is not always favourable to me. But, I would like to respond anyways.

“@Gord It tells me that even in a condensed 66 game season the number of games Jose hasn't played is minuscule, making it a sample size not worth considering (10 games, if that) with 3 different point guards.
If you really think the likes of Uzoh or Dentmon are a better option at the point you quite simply haven't been watching the games. If on the other hand you were trying to make a case for Bayless based on this meaningless observation, run the numbers for when he starts (without the padding from these few recent wins where he is sitting at the end of the bench in his sports coat) and try and tell me it's even close to .500”
.....Steve, I don’t think any of them should be back next year, just because I brought up a basic fact doesn’t mean I don’t like Jose as a player or that I want the others to over either. Just like the Raptors, I’m thinking beyond the players we have now (what possible trade chips we have to improve by) and how to make this team better. Jose is a leader, sure, just not a great leader. Jose has had what some say the best season as a PG, so the argument (loosely) can be made to keep him, but by keeping him they are so for two reason; One – 11 million more in cap-space come summer of 2013, or as a trade chip with an expiring contract for the 2012-13 season. 2 – They didn’t get the deal they wanted in a trade this summer. It is obvious, that the Raps are looking past Jose and the Jose lovers will have to get used to this – he is average to decent player (on some nights) but not a great leader or a winner in the NBA. Do you do more then watch the games? I read yesterday in an article in the Sun that Casey was challenged in a question about Jose’s defence. Casey said that he plays good enough in his system – needs improvement on break down one on one defence. Casey is all about defence, Jose has stepped up on a bad team to help Casey’s team be more competitive – doesn’t mean Casey thinks he should stay and that w/o him the Raps future (the team) cant win. He is good for now…now! That’s it, not great but good.

“@Gord - You're basing your assessment of the team being better without Jose on what? 7 games? Nice”
....Penny, I’m basing it own FACTS – do your self some homework on him over his career – I did – the numbers when he is a starter stink…it is that simple! The fact the Raps have only been in the play-off for 1 round (while as a starter and he got worked really worked by Jameer Nelson), played a total of 11 games, 7 games as a back-up, in 7 years and 1-3 as a starter in the play-off. The best season the Raps have had with Jose as the (leader) they have finished .500 only (and once), and that was there best one, every other season well under .500. Every season the Raps try and bring someone in to push Jose to go from a good floor general who can manage a game with high basketball IQ to a great dominate leader who wins games and play-off series…what does that tell you. He has been un-tradable for two season and it is obvious that if you read (more then this blog because lets face it Doug’s a huge Jose fan) then you can gain some much needed perspective about what the Raps plans are; which is upgrade SF (or get a SG and move DeRozan to SF) and PG position this summer to play with Bargs and Big-V moving forward. JC is the Jose Molina of basketball – steady knows the game, can teach by words better then play but only average on the court sometimes plays abouve average but sub-average on too many nights.
About today’s blog – of course you write the article about Ed Davis regardless of the game he had. Why? Because it is about the big picture on him (being in HR as a Career) an evaluation (which the Raps BC and Casey have been saying all year) is about the whole season, not just one game. Also, as a reader of this blog, I have noticed more then once or twice this season Calderon but up stinker games (scoring zero pts more then twice this year – which is unheard of from your starting PG playing more then 30 mins) and you find something positive to say. So, I know you can do with Ed! Fun FYI: Ed Davis has more doubles in the past two years than Jose! Ed’s game is growing still, Jose has peaked so “if” this is his best year – trade him while he is hot! I agree with Doug and Jack Armstrong about the draft (only I would consider) if they fall out of the top 5, trade down and grab Kendal Marshal (PG from Kentucky) I personal think this kid will be a great lower pick and great PG in the NBA.

[LeeZ]

Uzoh intrigues me. Definitely raw, but sometimes he reminds me a bit of...(now don't crucify me here...) Alvin Williams. A poor man's Alvin Williams. Oh alright, a destitute, hobo Alvin Williams. There. You happy now? He has good length, is a pretty decent defender, gritty player, can take it to the hoop occasionally, isn't afraid of getting into the lane where the big boys are, has a nice little floater that seems to be his go-to shot...Still had LOADS of room to improve, of course (takes him way too long to get the team into their offence; doesn't penetrate past that initial wave of defenders around the perimeter, etc., sometimes loses his cool...but I think he's shown just enough potential that if I were Brian, I'd definitely consider taking a flyer on him for our third PG next year. I really do love his length and physicality; all he needs is some polish. Alright, a LOT of polish. Doug, am I crazy here?

Blogger's note: Don't see it; figure there are younger, better third PG options; he'd be last resort to me

[Gord]

About “TANKING”….it really doesn’t matter how many more games the Raps win this year. They have a 2-10% shot at getting in the top 2 regardless. So, your mostly likely looking at 3 at best but 4-7 is more realistic….by numbers.

[D-Mac Ottawa]

I think the key word is "influence". When Bobby Riggs took on Billy Jean King in a junk match for publicity, he could have probably been counted among the world's 100 greatest influences for inspiring women to take up tennis and aspire to do great things. Evel Knievel could have probably made a world's top 100 list for influencing people not to do really dumb stuff on a motorcycle.
Maybe the key word is "list" – you can make one up for just about anything, and then argue out of both sides of your mouth, correctly, no matter what the subject. No?
Cheers.

[doug]

to me this whole lists thing is fun at times but at others I ignore them, like the best of all time type things I ignore, this list is just a subjective thing, but if I do remember correctly Lin caused the stock of MSG to soar at one point, plus we in North America take the Asian countries/China for granted sometimes, they make our economy seem like a drop in the bucket, so to influence those countries as he did, one person out of nowhere is not a small task...plus who else besides sports figures was on the list??...I bet some of them were far more dicier selections....they are what they are lists, there was only one list ever set in stone and even that one was dubious....I think all Raps talk for me is on hold, until the ping pong balls drop, as to discuss who is more valuable JJ or Anderson seems not a argument worth engaging in as far as the raps improving and going forward goes....ok have a good one...

[sam]

Jeremy Lin was a nice story until he sunk that last second 3 pointer to beat the HOTH. When I think of influential athletes Lin and Tebow are far down the list. Aside from people like Jackie Robinson, I can't think of another athelete who really made a difference.

For some reason - I can't wait for the season to end and the silly season to begin. Hoping BC and the Henchmen have a few tricks up thier sleeve.

[JHK]

If anything, I think Tebow on the list should raise eyebrows, Lin not so much.
I didn't even know who Tebow was until Linsanity started, and certain people outside of US and Canada do not know who that is even now.
Lin on the other hand was a global phenom where some of my writers friends back in Korea was doing a piece about him on Yahoo Korea - and this country is not a basketball country by any means.
Sure, both Tebow and Lin are questionable on this list, but this list itself has been questionable for quiet some time...
They had K-pop star named 'Rain' on the top 3 for a few years if I recall.. that's how credible this list is.

[Grant]

The tank-teams really got down to business all across the NBA last night!

[Shawn]

@ Gord... lol.. you think Kendall Marshall is going to be good.. yet you don't even know what team he played for... He played for UNC... not Kentucky

[D-Mac Ottawa]

@sam, I know what you're saying, but I think the silly season is finally coming to an end and the real seasons (playoffs and drafts/trades) are about to begin. Can't wait.
Cheers. Hey, how about a little Pure Prairie League while we're waiting: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u4xp2lgiAjY

[The J]

I think the problem is they are calling it a list of Influential people when they really mean Interesting people (well, even that might be pushing it). In other words, here some people we were talking about last year. To me, a suggestion like Ryan M's of Magic Johnson would represent someone who was actually influential. Or people like Jackie Robinson or Ali in the past (they actually had an influence). Heck if you look strictly at the word influence, people like Barkley and Don Cherry are more influential, as people do listen to them and may be influenced by them. Not saying thats a good thing, but it's a more realistic interpretation of that word.

[The J]

Hmmm...Looking at the list of games left for the Raps in the article you wrote, I can't help but think that if Milwaukee is out of the playoffs by then, then the Raps could pretty much win all of their remaining games.

Unless I just jinxed them. Oopss *Crosses Fingers - While looking at lottery odds* I didn't mean to do that...

[Steve]

@Gords I never said I expect the Raptors to keep Jose forever, simply that your blanket statement that the current team is better without him is complete rubbish.

[Robert Bertuzzi]

The Grand Old Blog? Not So Much. Regarding yesterday's entry I too decry the loss of purity across seemingly all dimensions of social life i.e. commercial considerations come to impinge on everything. But I cannot but archly observe how this very blog has evolved to mirror many of the laments stated yesterday. No longer is it sufficient to devote this space solely to all things Raptors. Instead, music (video clips) and other pop culture references are continuously interjected. Moreover, commentary on other sports has also come to account for more of the content through time. Just as, say, major sporting events such as the Super Bowl, Master's, etc come to increasingly rely on the emotional/affective in an attempt to draw the marginal viewer i.e. female audience, a station such as the Food Network turns everything into a competition to attract a demographic that might otherwise ignore the station except for the injunction of a partner i.e. males. In a fiercely competitive media and entertainment environment (for audience share) that is contradictory in focusing on narrower and narrower segments that are to have broader and broader appeal, owners, management, etc, intervene directly to shape content in a manner believed to attract the largest audience possible. As such, certain assertions continuously put forth here would appear to display a certain inconsistency in logic that could be rectified through, possibly, a greater degree of self-reflexivity. Just as this blog will not return to the exclusive domain of Raptor happenings for the reasons stated above, there is nothing to suggest that further intrusions into or onto the game across stadia in North America will not continue apace. But hey, if it don't make money it don't make sense.

[m]

The list? So much american crap.

[Manale]

If you have to put athletes on a list of influential people from the past year, Jeremy Lin definitely deserves to be on that list.