Monday, May 24, 2010

Is Dance a sport?

Having recently started this blog, I'm constantly looking for new topics to write about.  The other day I was talking with a friend of mine and she suggested a topic which I hadn't considered - Dancing.  While I do value and respect her opinion, my initial reaction was to scoff at the idea.  After all, this is a sports blog, and dancing is not a sport.

Or is it?


In the traditional sense, the art of Dance is considered to be a form of entertainment as opposed to a competitive sport.  Perhaps I'm not the best judge of this, considering my idea of dancing occurs only after a few drinks at the bar and consists of mostly air guitar with a few repetitive moves thrown in that I make up as I go along.  It got me thinking though, and the more I thought about it the more I was able to find parallels between dancing and sports that support the argument that dancing should in fact be considered a sport.

One of the defining characteristics of sports is it's competitive nature, whether it be individual competition or a team sport.  Dance can also be a competition.  Examples of this have become popular in recent years through reality TV shows, such as Dancing with the Stars and So You Think You Can Dance.

Dancing with the Stars showcases celebrities by pairing them with professional dancers.  The show is more about the journey taken by these celebrities, most of whom start out with little to no dancing experience, as their partners help them improve each week.  The show has stared many professional athletes, including Cincinnati Bengals Wide Receiver Chad Ochocinco (he had his last name legally changed from Johnson to match his jersey number 85), who this season made it into the Final Four despite no prior professional dancing experience.  The loud mouthed and often controversial football star became a fan favorite while showing dramatic improvement in his dance routines, thanks in part to his athletic ability. Reports of Ochocinco pretending to bribe judges with a dollar bill or pulling out a cell phone to celebrate a spectacular performance are unconfirmed, but it's believed he made it through the season without being fined by ABC.

So You Think You Can Dance on the other hand is a competition for more serious dancers.  These aren't celebrities pleading for attention, they are unknown talents with aspirations of dancing professionally. For them, this is as competitive as it gets.  The quality of talent on this show is considered to be more impressive than what can be found on similar shows once the field is narrowed down to the contenders.

So we've established that dance can be just as competitive as any other sport, but there's more similarities when you dig deeper.  Athletic ability is another important factor in dance.  One of my ex-girlfriends is a dancer and when I was in college I spent a lot of time hanging around her and some of her fellow dance majors.  In addition to watching them perform in their dance shows, I also got a behind the scenes look into how they rehearse and the physical toll it takes on them.  Make no mistake, they certainly break a sweat. Some dance rehearsals can be just as grueling and exhausting as practice for sports.  Especially if you're comparing it to a practice for Allen Iverson (Practice?!  You talkin about practice?).

Dance requires a certain level of flexibility, stamina, strength and concentration.  Name a sport that has superstars that don't possess an extraordinary amount of each of these traits.  Package a near super-human level of each of those traits together and the result would be Lebron James.  Great dancers are great athletes.

The parallels go beyond just the physical aspects.  Take for example a football coach that draws up a play for the offense.  The receivers have precise routes they are instructed to run, just as the linemen know exactly where they are supposed to be and who to block.  How is this any different than choreography?  A receiver that is off on their route can cause a pass to be off target, resulting in an incomplete pass - or worse.  A lineman that falls out of the designed blocking formation allows the defense to blow passed them with a direct path toward the Quarterback.  Likewise for a dancer, if they blow a spot in their routine it throws off the flow of the entire dance.  An individual performer can recover, perhaps without anyone noticing, but if they are part of a group then their mistake could cause the rest of the team to become out of sync.  Sticking with the football analogy, it makes you wonder what the dancing equivalent is of a pick six (interception returned for a touchdown).  You can bet it could look ugly, which is why following the dance steps (play calling) of the choreographer (coach) is vital to the performance.

One of the arguments against dance being a sport is that it's usually presented more as being a show for entertainment as opposed to a competitive game.  Except sports are entertainment.  Ask any owner of a sports franchise and they'll agree that the purpose of putting a team out there to compete is to entertain the fans.  As far as they are concerned, putting fans in the seats is priority number one.  It's a business and the fans are how they make money.  Winning just happens to correlate with selling tickets.  This is why the Staples Center sells out for Lakers games but not for Clippers games.  People want to pay to see a winner. This is what creates the competition.  This philosophy to some extent carries over to players and coaches as well.  Of course there are those that play to win championships to enhance their legacy, but many players and coaches compete for their next contract.  If they don't remain competitive then they aren't going to be able to cash in.  They are paid millions of dollars to entertain the fans and the better they are at doing that the more they are going to get paid.

In the United States the major sports are considered to be Baseball, Football and Basketball.  Hockey is dragging a bit behind, and while it's in the process of making a comeback, it's still considered Canada's sport. Then there's soccer, but it's safe to say that this is a sport more popular in just about every other country in the world than it is here.  To say that soccer is more popular in a country like Mexico than it is here is like saying that tacos are more popular there than apple pie.  Perhaps other countries have a different perception of dance than what the majority of this country has, but in the US at least it may be time for dancers to receive more respect for their athletic abilities.  While dance may never reach the heights to be considered up there with the big three sports, there's no reason why it doesn't belong amongst the likes of Golf or Tennis. Thanks in part to reality television we may soon be reaching a point where dance surpasses them.  If so-called "sports" like Curling and Ping-Pong can be considered Olympic events then Dance belongs in the sports category as well.  It's entertainment, it's athletic, it's competitive and there are only a few that are truly considered great.  That meets my definition for a sport.

So maybe that friend of mine knew what she was talking about after all.

Thursday, May 20, 2010

First Wall, then Who?

It's a foregone conclusion that the Washington Wizards will select John Wall with the first overall pick in the 2010 NBA draft, but that doesn't mean that all is lost for those teams that missed out on the top spot.  The top 5 players likely to be drafted all have star potential, and there is enough depth in the draft that others should at least be able to find solid contributors. 

Here is a look at what some of the other teams with top picks may select.

Philadelphia: The Sixers will have a much tougher choice than most teams would have had picking second.  Evan Turner is considered to be the best prospect after Wall, but he fits a role already filled by their best player, Andre Iguodala.  They are both versatile players that can guard multiple positions.  Turner would be a younger and cheaper option, which could make Iguodala expendable.  He's overpaid, but still a good player.  It would be nearly impossible to pawn off Elton Brand's cap clogging contract, but there would be teams in line to get Iggy. It's also possible that the two could play together, but more likely that the Sixers either shop Iguodala or trade down in the draft.  A team like Minnesota would love to have Turner.  If the Sixers are targeting another player they feel they could get with the number four pick then the teams may consider swapping picks in exchange for the Sixers also taking back one of the Timberwolves other first round picks (16th or 23rd overall). 

New Jersey: New owner Mikhail Prokhorov must be disappointed with falling to the 3rd pick after his team nearly set a league record for most losses in a season.  They had the best chance at getting the top pick (25% chance) but mathematically they actually had a better chance of getting the 4th pick than they did at getting the first pick.  So looking at it that way... it could have been worse.  It's still not good though.  While they will still be able to get a good player in this spot, by not getting John Wall they likely have lost any chance of luring Lebron James to NJ.  The move to Brooklyn is still two years away, so the best thing they had going for them was the hope of getting Wall to entice Lebron, or another top free agent, to join Brook Lopez to build what could have been a strong young core.  Instead they will have to settle for someone like Derrick Favors.  He's a talented big man that would be a nice fit next to Lopez.  He probably won't be enough of a selling point to draw one of the top free agents, but if they could add someone like Rudy Gay with their cap space then they'd be a much improved team.

Minnesota: Here's the good news - we don't need to worry about if David Khan would draft John Wall.  After taking Ricky Rubio (who played in Europe and may never come to Minnesota) and Johnny Flynn (the top three Rookie of the Year candidates were all PGs... Flynn was not one of them) in last year's draft the last thing we need is for them to be drafting another one.  It reminds me of the Detroit Lions last decade when they kept drafting Wide Receivers with their first round draft picks.  We know how well that worked out.  There are some good big men available, but that doesn't fill a need unless they can trade Al Jefferson or Kevin Love.  Those two have shown with their lack of defense that they can't be effective together, and Love is too talented to bring off the bench again like they did at the end of last season.  If they can get good value for either of them then they may pull the trigger, which could lead to them taking a big man in this spot.  Otherwise, a small forward like Wesley Johnson fills more of a need.  He may not be the most talented player available at this spot, but he may be the best fit for this team's needs.  You never know what will happen with the way they draft though.  Once Wall comes off the board they may panic and reach for Eric Bledsoe.

Sacramento: DeMarcus Cousins may be the most talented player in the draft, but teams may shy away from him due to his reputation for having a poor attitude.  He may not be Ron Artest level crazy, or even Delonte West crazy (what, too soon?) but he may be on par with Rasheed Wallace.  That has thrown up some red flags for some teams.  With his talent though, it's hard to see him falling out of the top 5.  If he drops this far then I think the Kings will have to take him, and then cross their fingers and hope he doesn't destroy them.

Winning the Lottery

On Tuesday night the Washington Wizards won the lottery.  The NBA draft lottery that is, meaning they have won the rights to the first pick in this summer's draft.  The last time Washington had the top pick was when they drafted Kwame Brown back in 2001.  I think they'll have better luck this time, as John Wall will most certainly be picked first.  He's been called the best PG prospect to be drafted since Chris Paul and seems like a can't miss future superstar.  Any team that landed the top pick would likely have taken Wall.  He would be a good fit anywhere as a building block to help turn around a struggling franchise.  But is Washington a good fit for Wall?

You may have heard of another Point Guard the Wizards currently have employed - Gilbert Arenas.  After serving a suspension for bringing guns into the locker room this season, Arenas will return next year.  Arenas has always been more of a scorer, which has many scouts thinking he and Wall can play alongside each other by sliding Arenas over to the two spot.  While it would form a dynamic backcourt, it's more likely that the Wizards continue to try to trade Arenas.  The 4 year, $80 million contract may make him difficult to trade, but if he proves that he's recovered from his previous knee injuries then his scoring ability may entice a team to take a chance on him.  The Knicks are rumored to be interested, and can unload Eddie Curry's expiring corpse (umm, I mean contract), but that plan hinges on what happens in free agency.  It may be a plan B (or C or D) if they can't lure Lebron to New York.  It's clear that Arenas needs a change of scenery after the embarrassing suspension last year, and the Wizards would be glad to wash their hands of him rather than deal with the headaches he's caused them and risk letting him have a negative impact on Wall.  If you draft a franchise saving superstar to build your team around, do you want to keep a guy that's known to bring guns into the locker room around?  No thanks.

Even with bringing in John Wall, it's unlikely that Washington will be able to lure in a top free agent despite the cap room they will have to spend.  After shipping off Caron Butler and Antawn Jameson at this year's trade deadline, trading away Arenas would leave their roster without much talent.  The rebuilding will take some time, but building around Wall, as well as some of the other young talent they have, such as Andray Blatche, is a step in the right direction.

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

We Are All Witnesses

We are all Witnesses... to the end of basketball in Cleveland.

This much is certain for this season, as the Boston Celtics eliminated the Cleveland Cavaliers from the playoffs with a Game 6 win in Boston. After this season? The fate of this franchise now rests upon the decision of one man - Lebron James. He has already said that he will opt out of the final year of his contract to test the free agent market this summer and there will be no lack of suitors. New York, Chicago, Miami and New Jersey all have cap room to sign James to a max free agent deal with still plenty left over to add another big name free agent. If he has the chance to team up with Wade or Bosh, would that be enough to convince him to jump ship for another city?

Going out early in the playoffs may give Lebron the biggest reason to leave town. No superstar has ever left as a free agent the year after winning a title. If they at least made it to the Finals then Lebron could be convinced that this team is good enough to still compete. But to lose in the 2nd round? He must now be thinking that his chances at a title aren't as great in Cleveland as he thought they were.

James claims he is all about winning, and his next contract will be based upon what team gives him the best chance to win multiple championships. Before this playoff run ended it was presumed that Cleveland still had the best chance at retaining their MVP Superstar. They are the only team that can offer him a 6 year contract and can offer him the most money. He grew up in nearby Akron and playing at home where he is comfortable has always seemed important to him. He's familiar with the system and his teammates.

But can he win with this team?

It's conceivable that this year was the best shot Cleveland had of winning a title. They entered the playoffs as the top seed in the East after a dominating regular season in which Lebron was named league MVP. Cleveland is over the salary cap, which means if they bring back Lebron it will leave them with little flexibility to add to the core group that they already have. If they couldn't get out of the 2nd round this year, what would convince Lebron that they will be better next year?

Shaq will likely be gone next year. Cleveland was perhaps too adamant about sticking with him despite the fact that he never seemed like a good fit. He clogged the lane, getting in Lebron's way of driving to the hoop, which may explain why he too often settled for jump shots. He was also a liability on defense. Cleveland played much better against most teams with a small lineup featuring Varejo or Hickson at center. The reason they got Shaq was to stop Dwight Howard in the playoffs, something they could not do last year. Now they won't even have a chance to face Orlando in the playoffs.

Why exactly have there been so many cries the past couple years for Mo Williams to be an all-star? When he gets hot from deep he can be dangerous by hitting those corner threes. But he's not much more than a complimentary player. If his shot isn't falling then he's not contributing much. He's a PG that shoots better than he passes. Often times the team will rely on James to be the primary ball handler instead of Williams. This year in the playoffs we saw Williams get abused defensively, first by Rose, then by Rondo. After Rondo put up a historic 29 point, 18 rebound, 13 assist game last Sunday, which had him being mentioned along with the likes of Wilt Chamberlain and Oscar Robertson for outstanding triple-double performances in the playoffs, Cleveland had no choice but to stop letting Williams guard Rondo. It even caused James to come out and publicly state that he wanted a shot at guarding the dynamic point guard. With so many good young point guards in the league now (Rondo, Rose and John Wall could all end up in the East) it will be hard for Cleveland to compete with Williams getting burned on every play.

The Antawn Jameson experiment turned out to be a bit of a bust. The trade with Washington, in which they essentially gave up nothing to get him (Illgauskus was sent to Washington, but immediately was bought out of his contract and returned to Cleveland a month later) was supposed to put this team over the top. It gave them the stretch 4 (power forward that can shoot from outside) that they coveted to compliment their surplus of big men that like to bang inside the paint. While Jameson showed flashes of his all-star form, there were other times where he just seemed lost and out of place. His 2-10 shooting performance in the decisive Game 6 says all we really need to know about him. He can't consistently help carry a team in the playoffs. A Superstar player, even one as great as Lebron, can't do it all on his own. Jordan had Pippen, Shaq had Kobe, Bird had McHale and Parish and now the Celtics have their new Big Three. You can't have a dominant run and become a Dynasty if Jameson is your 2nd best player. Maybe he'd win one title, as he could have this year, but it's not in his best interest to stick with a team that doesn't have a bright future. No matter how good Lebron is, this supporting cast that he has is not sufficient to form a Dynasty.

We also have to factor in the improvement of other teams in the East. The Celtics are going to be older and not likely to improve, but Orlando won't be any weaker. What if James stays in Cleveland but Wade and Bosh decide to team up in Miami? That would make them instant contenders. Or maybe one of those guys goes to Chicago to team with Rose and Noah. Or New York lures in Joe Johnson and Carlos Boozer or Amare Stoudemire. If New Jersey lands the number one pick in the draft, and the rights to John Wall, would a top free agent be willing to go there to join a core that would include Wall and Brook Lopez? This summer of free agency could drastically change the playoff landscape in the Eastern Conference for the next 5-10 years. It is essential that Lebron make the right choice this summer if he wishes to stay at the top. Cleveland isn't likely to be able to improve much from what they have in the next few years, so if they couldn't get it done with this team now there is little reason to believe they will next year, or in the years to come.

There are three major factors that a free agent must consider when making a decision on where to sign: Winning, Money and Loyalty. James seems to have a little bit of each of these traits in him. This summer we will find out which one wins out.