Tag Archives: basketball

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Space Jam: A New Legacy – A Movie Review

I found myself thoroughly entertained by Space Jam: A New Legacy as I watched it with my kids.

Look, you know what you’re getting with this. LeBron James is playing basketball with Looney Tunes characters. What more can you expect from a movie with this premise?

Is LeBron the world’s greatest actor? No, but he’s not bad. He really isn’t. And you can’t deny he’s got real charisma both on the court and on the big screen.

Furthermore, the Looney Tunes gang is hilarious. Who doesn’t love Bugs, Lola, Porky, Daffy, and the rest of the crew?

Of course, I love Warner Bros. Entertainment and all of their properties, so seeing character cameos from Harry Potter, Batman, Justice League, Wonder Woman, Iron Giant, Flintstones, Jetsons, Mad Max, Game of Thrones, Scooby Doo, and Lord Of the Rings, among many, many others, proved a delight. I hit pause several times to see who all stood courtside during the big game. Is it corporate synergy at the maximum level? Yes, absolutely. But, again, I’m not asking for much from Space Jam: A New Legacy other than to be purely entertained.

You know who was great, though? Don Cheadle. Of course, this should come as no surprise. I won’t spoil it, but he plays a major role in the movie and he gives it his all. In the span of a few weeks, I’ve seen him in a Marvel movie, a Soderburgh film, and now this. Talk about multifaceted!

And, okay, yes, LeBron isn’t winning an Oscar anytime soon (though–again–he was not bad), but the film’s plot and actual story held up. I found the tone consistent, the ending logically concluded the events preceding it, and the climax struck me as fairly emotional. For a Space Jam movie, I thought it was pretty tightly written and executed with a positive message.

In the end, I think Space Jam: A New Legacy is a fine family movie. I laughed the whole way through, loved all the character cameos, and remembered why I enjoyed Looney Tunes so much as a kid.

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ESPN’s The Last Dance – A Few Thoughts

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I was born in 1977, so I got to experience the Bulls’ championships while in high school and college, which was pretty cool. I loved the NBA during those years. I remember staying up late on school nights every season during the playoffs to take it all in.

When The Last Dance debuted on ESPN, I felt disappointed because we don’t have cable–we’re cord cutters. I kept hearing it was on Netflix as well, but I came to find out that was just for the international market.

However, last week I learned that the ESPN app is free on smart TVs and that The Last Dance is available to stream via that app. Guess what my wife and I have done for the last few nights? That’s right–we binged The Last Dance after the kids went to bed, and we loved it!

I have to be honest–I know Michael Jordan is the greatest player to have ever picked up a basketball, but I forgot just how damn good he actually was. Seeing those years compressed into ten hours … wow. Amazing, amazing stuff.

The documentary played with time in an interesting fashion. It kept bouncing back and forth between the first championship run and the second. This juxtaposition made for some interesting viewing as you compared the “young” Michael Jordan to the “old” Michael Jordan.

Plus, it was fantastic to see those players I loved to watch so much back in the day. Not just the Bulls players, either. Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Charles Barkley, Patrick Ewing, Isiah Thomas, John Stockton, Reggie Miller, Karl Malone, Gary Payton, Shawn Kemp, Charles Oakley, John Starks, and very young versions of Shaq and Kobe.

If you enjoyed 90s basketball, The Last Dance is extremely fulfilling. Keep in mind, though, that this is pretty much Michael Jordan propaganda. There are no hard questions for the man, no controversies, no awkward moments for him to tackle. This is purely reliving his glory years, and I’m absolutely okay with that.

Here are a few things I learned from The Last Dance that I didn’t know back then …

  1. Michael Jordan tormented every teammate and opponent he encountered.
  2. Scottie Pippen was a little more selfish than I thought, but, even so, he wasn’t very selfish at all under the circumstances.
  3. Dennis Rodman’s shenanigans were far more calculated than I imagined.
  4. Phil Jackson cursed pretty hardcore for a zen master.
  5. Steve Kerr has always been hilarious and really, really smart.
  6. Scott Burrell was on the team.
  7. Horace Grant was a bit of a whiner.
  8. Jordan had a security guard who could have been a member of Lynyrd Skynyrd.
  9. Before Jordan joined the Bulls, they were a traveling cocaine circus.
  10. Michael Jordan had a very special relationship with his dad.

The Last Dance proved incredibly fun. I still enjoy the NBA, but nothing will ever replace those formative years spent watching the League and Jordan.

Oh, and I’ll finally admit that Jordan was better than LeBron, but I still like LeBron more and I always will.

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I Once Made An Amazing Basketball Play … That My Coach Hated

Though I now love basketball as an adult, I wasn’t into it at all as a child.  In fact, I didn’t really start playing basketball until I entered seventh grade.  I’m guessing a four inch growth spurt (also, my last growth spurt) prompted this interest in the sport.

I liked it a lot, more than football, but had some catching up to do with the guys who played in the youth programs.  Luckily, I was from a small town, so if you tried out for the team … you were pretty much on the team.

Seventh and eighth grade basketball treated me well.  I wasn’t anything better than average, but I learned a lot about the sport and, even more importantly, had a great time.

By ninth grade, I was feeling pretty good about myself.  I still wasn’t anywhere close to being the star of the team, but I regularly did particularly well on the “B” team, so I thought I still had plenty of room to improve, and I believed that I would improve.

With my confidence soaring, I once made a play that I thought was inspired, efficient, and full of style.  My coach completely disagreed.  Thankfully, this all happened at practice.

I don’t remember the exact circumstances, but I somehow gained possession of a loose ball while playing defense.  I remember I had to chase it down and bend over to retrieve it.  I knew members of my team were already fast breaking to our basket.  Sure, I could pick the ball up, turn, and then thrown it down court to them, but that would waste precious seconds, seconds that would allow the defense time to catch up.

In perhaps one of the most ingenious moments in basketball history, I figured out how to bypass those three wasteful moves into one economical motion that would surely result in two points.

I bent over to grab the ball with both hands.  I spread my legs nice and wide.  And then, with the efficiency of an NFL center and with my butt facing the basket in which we wanted to score, I launched the ball with both hands right between my legs to the lead fast breaker.

I’ll never know if my teammate scored because I stopped watching him when I heard my coach scream, “AXLE!”

A quick side note: My coach called me “Axle” after the character “Axle Foley” from Beverly Hills Cop.  Remember, this was all happening in the early ’90s.  I kind of liked the nickname.  “Axle” always sounded pretty cool.  Of course, looking back, I’m pretty sure half the time he wasn’t actually saying “Axle.”  Apparently, my unorthodox methods often befuddled him.

Coach had a brief chat with me about my pass.  He said something along the lines of, “I never … ever … want to see that again.  … Ever.”

I’ve watched a lot of professional basketball since that moment.  I’ve loved the NBA, and, more specifically, the NBA playoffs, since ninth grade.  In all the games I’ve watched during the last thirty years, I can attest that Coach was right.  I’ve never seen that pass executed by, well, anyone.

To this day, though, I maintain that it was a brilliant pass.  I hit my breaker right on the money.  Sure, it looked silly, but it was so efficient.

Man, I loved basketball.

Maybe I should have played past ninth grade.

Maybe one day I’ll tell you why I didn’t.

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(Did you enjoy this article?  Check out Scott William Foley’s Dr. Nekros e-book series HERE)

 

 

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Crossover Dribble by PJ Farris – A Book Review

One thing’s for sure: PJ Farris knows basketball!

In this young adult novel released by Mayhaven Publishing, Joe Perkins is a young man desperately in love with the game of basketball and willing to do anything to improve his playing skills.  However, his father—a hardworking, relentless farmer—is constantly after Joe to help out more on the farm.  Joe concedes, but always with his mind on the courts.

Unfortunately, Joe’s father becomes seriously injured in a car accident and now Joe, along with his grandfather, must somehow meet the farm’s every need if they hope to keep it alive.  Before long, they hire Cuda, an older boy and star basketball player.  An unlikely bond forms between the two ballers, and Joe even learns a thing or two from both his granddad and Cuda.  But will their combined efforts be enough to keep the farm afloat in the father’s absence?  And will his sudden preoccupation with the farm prevent Joe from reaching his basketball goals?

Farris did a nice job of providing a streamlined story full of conflict, tension, and humor.  Joe underwent serious change throughout the novel, which is always the sign of strong characterization.  In fact, all of the main players were believable and utilized a distinct, charismatic personality.  Even Joe’s father—dour as he was—proved to be multilayered and identifiable in the end.

As mentioned, the novel had some truly funny moments, but it also contained very serious, life-threatening situations as well.  Farris juggled the changes in tone seamlessly, and, like life, one led to the other and then back again without much ruckus.

Being from a small, rural community, I especially appreciated the accuracy of farm life displayed throughout the story.  Farris has obviously spent time in the country because the farm machinery, livestock, industry methods, and even dialogue reflected the reality of country life.

Moreover, Farris knows the game of basketball.  No matter what Joe does, he always relates it to his game, often recounting lessons from his coach and things he’s learned on the court.  Farris, through narration, delivers several fundamentals of basketball in such a way that readers can’t help but pick up a helpful tip or two about the sport.  Best of all?  Everything mentioned about basketball is correct and essential to playing well.  If I had to guess, I’d say Farris has coached a player or two over the years.

Crossover Dribble has crossover appeal to all readers, whether they are basketball fans or those wanting to read about farm life.  Young adults will surely find the novel approachable, informative, and exciting.