Love Approaches Historic Night
Two extremely important and very serious stories have developed in the last 24 hours.
First and absolutely foremost without question: Planters/Nabisco Cheez Balls (now called Cheez Mania) snacks have resurfaced in limited distribution (I assume) at Target stores. These gems have been gone for years and go down in history along with Baked Sour Cream and Cheddar Lays w/ French Onion Dip and Flamin Hot Cheetos (Jalapeno Cheddar if in dire straits, or puffcorn if near death) as the greatest salty snack of all time. Why they were discontinued remains to be seen and said decision may go down as the biggest fail in recent
It had been probably (I don’t know exactly) 10 years or more since something as incredible as Cheez Balls existed/happened/were forefront on our minds.
Secondarily, and also not coincidentally, not since October 18th, 1979 has a player done what Kevin Love may very well do against the Pacers tonight in extending his streak of consecutive double-doubles to 52 games in a row. Nearly 32 years, over three times that of the approximate discontinuation of Cheez Balls. Moses Malone’s streak of 51 games, now tied by Love, ended on that day. At this time, Cheese Ballz may very well have been in full force. Afros were all the rage, Love wasn’t even born, Darrell “Kurt” Rhombus was playing in the NBA. A long time ago, indeed. A breakdown of the record and such can be found here. Congratulations Mr. Love for getting this far. Assuming you play tonight,, I think we can all put down the 15-win record and the anti-Kahnbis sentiment if only for an evening. It is too bad you have to break 30year old records to get us to end the self-loathing.
Opinion on Love’s streak seems a bit divided, but generally favorable. Many fans alike are happy about the streak, but others rip on it because of our ‘modest’ win total. Many Wolves fans do not seem to be too irrational on the realities of his streak as it pertains to our record. We are not, in fact, from Portland, New York and Toronto which is only a good thing for any reader, human in general. A recent article tells a more negative story with these kinds of statistical anomalies. And I do agree: stats are misleading. Furthermore, stats and figures can also be spun in just about any direction to form your argument for better or worse. However, this is not the topic at hand. In this situation, my simple stance is: enjoy something positive. The other night against
Also relevant is that, with a victory, the Wolves will improve their record over last year (16 wins). This would be a nice win in many ways for our favorite team.
Other thought points for tonight’s game and beyond:
1. Josh McRoberts was nearly traded for OJ Mayo at the trade deadline. Is there something we are missing or is he as blatantly mediocre as he seems? Why would Memphis trade OJ for him? Why on earth didn’t we get in on this?
2. Can Jonny Flynn continue his streak of relatively competent play? Will he try another unnecessary, eye-roll-worthy, between-the-legs pass amidst the stretch of decent play?
3. What will the Wolves do about the frontcourt rotation with AR showing he can produce, Pek improving, Tolliver providing energy…and a lifeless Darko still getting the starting job? Think to Darko’s very late 1st half foul trouble vs.
4. Mikey Beasley has had a rough patch of late and put up a pretty ugly 20 points against
5. Wes had a rough outing against
Just rambling. Anyhow, I hope everyone (hopefully) enjoys a T-Wolf becoming part of the record books tonight. Maybe we can drop the cynicism for a
Lastly, if anyone wants to attend the game for cheap tonight to potentially witness a bit of history in person, tickets were reduced to $4.20 for Uppers and $42 for lowers (get it? 42?) to catch the historic night. I may just try to sneak over there myself. I know we are a losing team, but being there for Love’s 31-31 game was something I will never forget. I would encourage all to be there if they can to have the memory and experience the imminent ovation. No, the Wolves ticket peeps did not ask me to do this, I promise.
Amazing video. I so love seeing work that is extremely well done, captivating and inspiring. Thanks for the preview.http://myewb.fanjajamii.org/pg/blog/qihang04
Also a 1st round pick was going with McRoberts right. The Wolves don't have extra 1st round picks that are as good as Indian's first this season. If Memphis didn't like our players I can see why they wouldn't deal him to us. PLUS the whole Love thing would make them look even dumber.
@Pants80 I would have gladly given two firsts + salary filler or whatever for Mayo. I think two middle round firsts trumps Indiana's one borderline lottery first and McBoberts. They are currently 8th in the East.
@CollegeWolf @Pants80 Pacers are the 11th worst team in the NBA so if they can't hold that playoff spot it is decent lottery pick (I'd guess 9 considering 1 eastern team + the clippers passing them) and you have a chance for the top pick. If I'm a GM I take that over the protected 1st rounders the Wolves have.
p.s. Love the post :)
Concur on Flynn. He is digging himself out. I'm lost on what is going on with Beasley now. And I agree with the sentiment that there is a time to enjoy good things happening even if everything isn't good. It is basketball after all. We aren't cheering for one stock in our portfolio going up while the rest are bottoming out.
@Pants80 Flynn is playing better of late just because he was SO BRUTAL up to this point in the year. Hey, maybe we could trade him for a future second round pick at this point! Egads.
Wes had a rough outing against Dallas after a series of games that irrationally moved several fans back on to the Wes bandwagon.
Wes played well and fans got excited about him. Are these people still on the streets? Too bad this didn't happen 2 years ago when the secret service was in town for the Republican National Convention. Those people would have been appropriately rounded up and jailed.
Given the fact that the current streak was kicked off by an excellent rookie game performance and ended by getting sick as a dog makes it a little unfair. PLUS he is a rookie. I want to see signs of life as a rookie. When he is a sophomore I'll be asking for consistency. The fact that he is bumped down 3 rungs in the rotation everything he goes 1-5 to start a game doesn't help things either.
Apology complete. Next.
@Pants80 All I was saying is that his box scores have had the same exact pattern all year. Maybe he will come out of the oscillating point totals, but previous patterns suggest otherwise.
Good thoughts on the Pacer deal. Heck, I'd have considered two 1sts. We also had the ability to absorb salary.
Wes Johnson with another brutal game so far tonight. Man... I dunno. Is he just a tease? Will be consistently good like he was before he got food poisoning or whatever last weekend? Sigh. @WallyWorld @Pants80
@CollegeWolf @WallyWorld Reading Jordan Crawfords name flashes me back to laying face down in the carpet during the 2010 draft meltdown.
@Pants80 @WallyWorld Yep, Crawford should get a nice opportunity to shine on that depleted Wizards team. I also wanted him pretty badly with any of our additional first round picks last year. Ugh.
@CollegeWolf @WallyWorld Crawford killed in his last game I mean. Apparently I don't know what day it is.
@CollegeWolf @WallyWorld Thorpedo has him at #10 if the draft was redone today. sigh.
Wall->Monroe->Favors->Cousins->Patrick Patterson (huh?)->Ed Davis->Paul George->Landry Fields->Evan Turner->Wes Johnson
The guy I wanted at the end of the 1st round Jordan Crawford is killing it tonight.
