Sportsball Airing of Grievances 2017
I'm back and finally writing another blog post! It's a Festivus miracle!
It's Christmas weekend, and most people are off on their way to see their families. I'll even be seeing my father later this weekend whenever he can get off from work. For now, I'm here to spread the magic of Festivus to you all!
For those of you who aren't familiar woth Festivus, it comes from a Seinfeld writer's dad. The Wiki Magic indcates that he used his childhood experiences to write the classic Seinfeld episode "The Strike". You can watch it now on Hulu, apparently.
Anyway, one of the great Festivus traditions is the Airing of Grievances, where you tell your friends and family all of the ways they've disappointed you in the past year. I have no grieveances to air of my loved ones, but I do have some grievances for my football and basketball teams.
I have no grievances for my hockey team. Ironically, the Tampa Bay Lightning are still the best team in the National Hockey League with a 25-7-2 record, ahead of the Los Angeles Kings by 4 points and a goal differential of +43. Even when they don't play well, like Thursday's game against Ottawa, they still find ways to gut it out. Pretty, pretty, pretty good.
Bucs
The Bucs actually showed up for Monday night's game against Atlanta and gave Jon Gruden a warm reception. Unfortunately, the ref fell on his face while trying to spot the ball, costing the Bucs precious seconds, forcing them to rush a field goal that inevitably missed. The Falcons escape with a 24-21 win because the Bucs can't rush the pass or stop Davonte Freeman from bulldozing through them.
Jameis Winston is still the guy, whether Dirk Koetter keeps his job, or whether the Glazers can him and bring back Gruden or hire someone new. King Crab Legs went 27-35, 299 yards, 3 TDs and no interceptions. He did everything short of drag the Bucs to a victory. I'll admit, I was losing faith in Jameis as the year went on, but this shows that he's still got it. If the Bucs actually draft some offensive and defensive linemen this offseason, maybe next year will finally be the year this team reaches January.
As far as coaching goes, Koetter seems up and down. I think he's got a system he can work with, and it's bad form to fire head coaches every two years. As it is, this franchise is the Cleveland Browns of the NFC, except for a magical season in 2002 that ended with a Super Bowl victory. The Bucs are 4-10 and are probably going to finish 4-12 in a year they should have been in the playoffs, so the Glazers certainly have reason to consider firing Koetter and general manager Jason Licht. I'd personally lean towards keeping Koetter and Licht one more year, but firing defensive coordinator Mike Smith. Some of those coverages made Mike Stoops look like he can run a competent defense. Seriously.
Thunder
It's Christmas weekend, and most people are off on their way to see their families. I'll even be seeing my father later this weekend whenever he can get off from work. For now, I'm here to spread the magic of Festivus to you all!
Anyway, one of the great Festivus traditions is the Airing of Grievances, where you tell your friends and family all of the ways they've disappointed you in the past year. I have no grieveances to air of my loved ones, but I do have some grievances for my football and basketball teams.
I have no grievances for my hockey team. Ironically, the Tampa Bay Lightning are still the best team in the National Hockey League with a 25-7-2 record, ahead of the Los Angeles Kings by 4 points and a goal differential of +43. Even when they don't play well, like Thursday's game against Ottawa, they still find ways to gut it out. Pretty, pretty, pretty good.
Bucs
The Bucs actually showed up for Monday night's game against Atlanta and gave Jon Gruden a warm reception. Unfortunately, the ref fell on his face while trying to spot the ball, costing the Bucs precious seconds, forcing them to rush a field goal that inevitably missed. The Falcons escape with a 24-21 win because the Bucs can't rush the pass or stop Davonte Freeman from bulldozing through them.
Jameis Winston is still the guy, whether Dirk Koetter keeps his job, or whether the Glazers can him and bring back Gruden or hire someone new. King Crab Legs went 27-35, 299 yards, 3 TDs and no interceptions. He did everything short of drag the Bucs to a victory. I'll admit, I was losing faith in Jameis as the year went on, but this shows that he's still got it. If the Bucs actually draft some offensive and defensive linemen this offseason, maybe next year will finally be the year this team reaches January.
As far as coaching goes, Koetter seems up and down. I think he's got a system he can work with, and it's bad form to fire head coaches every two years. As it is, this franchise is the Cleveland Browns of the NFC, except for a magical season in 2002 that ended with a Super Bowl victory. The Bucs are 4-10 and are probably going to finish 4-12 in a year they should have been in the playoffs, so the Glazers certainly have reason to consider firing Koetter and general manager Jason Licht. I'd personally lean towards keeping Koetter and Licht one more year, but firing defensive coordinator Mike Smith. Some of those coverages made Mike Stoops look like he can run a competent defense. Seriously.
Thunder
The Brodie and the buzzer-beater. Here's how it looked on @FoxSportsOK pic.twitter.com/4S14VFGNrA— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) December 23, 2017
OKC may finally be pulling out of their skid. That 3 by Russ last night took the Thunder to 17-15 on the season, 2 games over .500, and possession of the 5th seed in the Western Conference. Westbrook is starting to play like his MVP self again, and Carmelo Anthony seems to be adjusting to being the next man up. Paul George still hasn't quite found his sweet spot, but this team can be dangerous when he gets it.
OKC's strong play as of late has helped temper my grievances, because they had a habit of dropping games they absolutely should never lose: losses to Sacramento, Dallas, Charlotte, and the Brooklyn Nets in Mexico City drove Thunder fans nuts, especially coupled up against a marquee win against the Golden State Warriors right before Thanksgiving.
No rest for the weary, though: the Thunder are on the second night of a back-to-back, playing in Utah against a Jazz team they walloped by 28 points on Wednesday in OKC. I wouldn't be surprised if the Jazz took that game personally. They follow that up with one of the NBA's biggest draws on Christmas night, when James Harden and the Houston Rockets come to visit. Brace yourself for all of the retrospectives on the Harden Trade back in 2012 and last year's MVP race. However, if the big game Thunder shows up that showed up against the Warriors, we might all have a merry Christmas. Let's hope we get Christmas Russ from 2014 when he beat the Spurs like a drum in San Antonio, or 2016 when they handled Minnesota easily at home.
Sooners
I think many OU fans would have a grievance if this doesn't become Mayfield's real statue in Heisman Park. The Sooners are keeping it rolling, practicing for their Rose Bowl game agianst Georgia, with a spot in the national championship game going to the winner. I hope to get some analysis and picks for you for this game and the other big games of New Year's weekend, but that'll be next weekend.
Meanwhile, accusations of rape against RB Rodney Anderson were dropped after a Cleveland County district attorney's office did not find evidence for criminal charges. These sorts of stories are always complicated, but that should be one less distraction for the Sooners as they prepare for Georgia.
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That's about all I've got for you guys today. If you feel up to it, have a Happy Festivus! Air your grievances and show your feats of strength!
Happy holidays to everyone, and I'll see you guys next weekend!
-AJ
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