SSB Weekly Rant: May 12-18th edition

By Kshell

This week on the 32nd anniversary of Mt. St. Helens erupting which shook up the northwest for the worst especially my home town down in South Washington I'll be doing my weekly rant. The mountain erupting is very symbolic of the Seattle Mariners who have lost four games in a row and are currently 1-6 on this road trip. The Mariners should have did what the Seahawks are doing under Pete Carroll which is blow the team up completely instead of messing around with washed up veterans. Anyways with the NBA playoffs going on and today marking the 16th season of interleague play in baseball there is plenty to talk about this week. I'll start off with the baseball talk as the Mariners are taking on the Colorado Rockies.

This weekend the Seattle Mariners take on the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field. The Mariners are 13-12 all-time against the Rockies but only 4-7 at Coors Field. The Mariners first ever interleague game was against the Rockies at the old Kingdome in which the Mariners won 12-11 back in 1997 in which Bobby Ayala recorded the save. The Mariners dominated this series early on from 1997-2002 going 12-7 against the Rockies but have gone just 1-5 since. I know some fans are tired of interleague play but personally I still like it. I know with free agency you have the chance to see most every player but there are some you don't get a chance to see.  It was nice seeing Tony Gwynn, Barry Bonds, Greg Maddux and Sammy Sosa playing at Safeco Field. It was nice seeing Ken Griffey Jr having his return to Seattle which let him know that the city of Seattle still loves him so he could return in 2009(I'll pretend 2010 never happened). I think interleague play still has a place in this game and was one of the better things that Bud Selig has ever done in his time as commisioner.

The Miami Heat are in serious trouble right now with Chris Bosh being out for this playoff series as the Heat have lost back to back games to the Indiana Pacers in Bosh absence. If the Heat fail to win a title again these clips of their celebration and Dan LeBatard's rant about the Heat are becoming more and more hilarious on the unintentional comeday scale. The Heat are down 2-1 and with Bosh down they are in danger of losing this series. Even if the Heat escape this series alive I don't see them beating the Boston Celtics next round and definately can't see them beating the Zombie Sonics or the San Antonio Spurs. The Heat could possibly go down as the biggest joke in sports history if they fail to win a title with the "big three" . Bosh going down has hurt the team but there is absolutely no excuse to lose to the Pacers when you still feature by far and away the two best players on the court in Dwyane Wade and Lebron James. This is their legacy right now on the line as those two choked away game two and failed to even show up for game three. Those two made the ridiculous statements and there is no turning back now. Time for those two to finally step up or they can continue to point fingers at their coach or their teammates. Years from now nobody is going to remember that Mike Miller wasn't very good they'll remember that the trio of Lebron, Wade and Bosh choked!

Sports is kind of funny cause there is always that one team that you hated but respect so much you actually start to like them. That is how I feel about the San Antonio Spurs. I've never been a big fan of Tim Duncan but there is something about how consistent he is. The Spurs are the exact opposite of the Heat. They aren't flashy, their stars don't make stupid statements, you don't see them on commercials. Instead they just win and win titles. Duncan has won four championships and three have came with teammates Manu Ginaboli and Tony Parker. I figured the Spurs would be done by now as their age had caught up to them but instead they have posted the NBA's best record two years in a row. The Spurs this postseason are 6-0 and have yet to really be challenged. Everyone assumes the Zombie Sonics will make the Finals but I feel like we are all sleeping on the Spurs. In a way a Boston Celtics-San Antonio Spurs finals would be special. It would show that good ole fassion team work, hard work and accountability still exists in today's game. The Spurs are the real deal and I think they are going to end up winning the championship which would give Duncan five titles. Could that put him in the top five players of all-time? Perhaps it can. Duncan may be boring but he is also a winner.

Well guys that is my weekly rant for this week. The Spurs just have something special about them and I thought I'd never root for them in my life yet I find myself pulling for them right now. They are the opposite of the "South Beach" media hype machine and there is something redeeming about that. The Spurs represent what is right about the NBA while "South Beach" represents what is wrong with the league. Judging by Chris Hansen's recent press conference the NBA appears to be returning to Seattle very soon. I won't write about it until it's official as I don't want to jinx anything. Once again thanks for reading my weekly rant and I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend.