“Jarome, can you please answer the question in such a way that it fits what I’ve already decided to write?”

The problem with the Stanley Cup Playoffs, in a way, is they focus greater attention on a smaller number of teams. This means writers who were previously writing things about the Avalanche or Flyers, for instance, are now writing about the Blackhawks or Rangers. National writers in particular, who have been paying attention to the various comings and goings of teams league-wide, descend on cities throughout North America like a plague of locusts and analyze everything with the most powerful microscopes known to man.

This, in and of itself, isn’t strictly a bad thing all of the time. National writers tend to be the very best in the business, well-connected and intelligent and insightful and knowledgable, much more so than, say, someone who just covers the Bruins all year long. But the problem is that in the ongoing pursuit of angles from which to view such-and-such a series necessarily leads to some rather silly observations, from national and local writers alike, to take hold and become part of the national hockey conversation to the point where it can dominate the zeitgeist.

Take the San Jose Sharks. They are good this year. Well, they’re good every year. But they’re good this year too. This in and of itself is no real surprise, especially because they’re not, like, exceptionally good. They finished sixth in the West, not great or anything, but up one spot from last year. That’s also down from winning-the-division-every-year. But the media’s narrative is that this year’s Sharks are different, likely because they swept the Canucks. The reason for this difference seemingly had very little to do with half of Vancouver’s roster being out injured, but everything to do with The Coming Of Age Of Logan Couture.

The number of times you’ve heard “The Sharks are Logan Couture’s team now” is near-astronomical and it must be said that he is indeed very, very good and probably, at age 23 and a multiple-year veteran, becoming a more vocal leader. But the way people talk about this team, you would think Joe Thornton and Patrick Marleau — LOSERS WHO STINK AND CAN’T WIN — have been left by the curb with the bottles and cans to be picked up by the local sanitation department. This was only reinforced when Couture was the one who happened to score the overtime game-winner in Game 3 to help the Sharks avoid going down 3-0 in their series. This was one of 25 goals Couture has scored since the season began in late January, but this more or less random event, the result of a lengthy power play opportunity in overtime, lent credibility to the idea that he’s The Leader now. Thornton and Marleau, meanwhile, shuffle around in the background, mere point-a-game players in this postseason because, again, they are losers. And Couture is not, no matter how many games his team is down in this series with Los Angeles. Read the rest of this entry »

Ballin: I suppose the Ballinest Baller of the evening was the Cavaliers’ Nick Gilbert, who is neither a player nor a grownup, but still brought his particularly swaggy brand of good luck to the draft lottery and won the whole thing again. Perhaps most amazing, however, is that Lil’ Nicky apparently hasn’t aged since his first appearance at the lottery in 2K11. Stay youthful, my friend. (And lucky.)

Not so much: Zach Randolph ended up with a pretty solid line in the Grizzlies’ overtime loss — 15 points, 18 rebounds, three assists, a steal and two blocks — but he also shot 6-18 from the field, missed five of his eight free throw attempts and turned the ball over four times. That looks pretty bad in and of itself, but it was even worse watching Zach be unable to shoot over the taller Spurs, then trying to meekly pump-fake multiple defenders who weren’t jumping. Not good.

Charles Smith: Here’s what the whole first half was like for the Memphis Grizzlies.

Yep, that’s a lot of missed layups on a single possession. No bueno. But at least it was more than one guy, otherwise all those misses would earn someone a bigger Wikipedia entry for that sequence than the entirety of their career.

Baguette: You might look at Tony Parky’s 15 points on 6-20 and wave your hand at your face while saying “Lordy, no” like an elderly Southern woman, but then you keep scanning and see that T-Bag handed out a career-high 18 assists. And then you check his Basketball-Reference page and see that he’s played 164 playoff games and realize that’s pretty baldwin. (Here’s his sexiest one from last night, by the way.)

“Jump” ball:  There’s a reason Jeff Van Gundy predicted a Zach Randolph-Matt Bonner tip would be “the lowest jump ball in the history of the NBA.”

Believe it or not, you can actually see air underneath both of these guys’ feet. Doesn’t change the fact that they both still couldn’t jump high enough to touch the ball at its apex. So good.

Engraving: Tim Duncan was only credited with four blocks last night, despite getting a fingy tip on what appeared to be any shot taken near him, but that was still enough to give him exactly 500 career postseason blocks. He’s the first player in league history to do that, though it’s worth remembering that Bill Russell, Wilt Chamberlain and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar played all or some of their careers before the 1973-74 season when blocks became an official league stat.

Quinge: Hey, Boris Diaw — there’s a Quincy Pondexter dunk in your face.

Seven points, nine rebounds, an assist, a steal and no turnovers in 37 minutes for Q-Pon, who might be hours away from stealing Tayshaun Prince’s starting job since the Grizzlies probably realize they need to be able to score points to win.

Lil Boozy: While we’re talking about backup Grizzlies perimeter players, let’s shoutout Jerryd Bayless’ 18 points (7-18 shooting), three rebounds, three assists, a steal, a block and just one turnover. Good job, man. But let’s also anti-shoutout the terrible, terrible brick he threw up on Memphis’ last real possession. Lionel Hollins really hated it and so did I.

Other things: Tony Allen flopped to get this game to overtime. Let’s remember that the next time the Grizzlies say “We don’t bluff,” as this is a literal bluff … Hands down the best draft lottery reaction of the night … The complete history of streetball sneakers … Impressive shot that didn’t count, Marc Gasol … Here’s how the draft lottery actually went down … Vinny Del Negro is out as Clippers coach, to the surprise of probably not even Vinny Del Negro

Yep! Thursday is fast approaching and we’ve got a Champions League final to talk about in our Rapid Fire edition, entirely scripted by your good self. Send us your questions on anything football related either by leaving a comment here, or sending an electronic mail letter to counterattack@thescore.com, or Tweeting using the hashtag #counterattackquestion.

Chairs!

One of the biggest announcements at yesterday’s Microsoft reveal of the Xbox One was their new partnership with the NFL. The technology for this collaboration is brand new, so it has potential to be great, or a disaster.

Here’s how it works: You’ll be able to sync your fantasy account and watch live NFL programming through your XBOX (obviously not free). When somebody scores, updates will be “snapped” to the right side of your screen (see image below). Of course, this is only for U.S. markets right now, but Microsoft has a global rollout plan that they haven’t released info on yet.

But the fantasy football aspect is just the beginning. The deal itself is worth $400 million over 5 years, and Microsoft will also be bringing their technology to the sidelines via Microsoft Surface tablets. The shots of wide receivers huddling around a binder, reviewing their previous drives will be no longer. Most of the paper will be substituted for tablets as early as 2014.

Giants splash game is tight tho

Baseball is the weirdest game. The season is so long that early season games seem almost meaningless. By the time September rolls around, even the most dramatic May walkoff victory is long forgotten. Just one of one-sixty-two, another victory of 90 if you’re a playoff team.

But in May, late-inning heroics fuel the game. It is the value of the unexpected that keeps so many of us coming back. You never really know what you’ll see – every at bat presents a fresh opportunity for amazement.

Last night, just a random Tuesday night in May, supplied more than its share of amazement. No baseball fan could ask for much more from a Tuesday night in late May. We saw walkoffs a plenty, dramatic home runs as precursor to those walkoff shots, great pitching performances and another historic night from a young player who already has a fair bit of history to his name.

It was baseball and it was awesome.

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With the bevy of rumours, reports and general speculation over Bryan Colangelo’s job status running rampant over the last few weeks, we’ve already had plenty of time to assess Colangelo’s actions and words recently. On that note, I’m not going to spend any time on Colangelo’s conference call with the media from earlier today after it was announced that he was being relieved of his General Manager duties.

Having said that, new Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment CEO Tim Leiweke held a much more candid media call on Tuesday morning that is worth talking about, so here are some talking points from that call..

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Matthew Stafford is an odd guy. No, not because of his innovative offseason workout habits. You party on, Matty.

He’s intriguing because with OTAs beginning for most teams now and with the NFL offseason clock quickly clicking towards training camps (oh gawd move faster please thanks), projecting what Stafford we’ll see in 2013 is difficult. He’s not unique in that sense, especially among his quarterback peers. Often unless your last name is Rodgers or Brady or Brees or Manning (arguably both Mannings, but definitely Peyton), there’s little need for concern. The rest, though, usually have at least one lingering question mark.

For Stafford, his best efforts to create apprehension could actually be beneficial and result in fine fantasy value.

Oh, and money. That too.

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Spending all day – every day – immersed in sports is a bit like working at Pizza Hut and eating nothing but pizza. If one is unburdened by such matters as personal health and waistline size, pizza is a wonderful thing. Unfortunately, too much of a wonderful thing is likely to leave one no longer believing the wonderful thing to be all that wonderful.

Sports are really, really great. However, the more time you spend reading and writing about a topic, the greater the chance its ugly little cracks and cobwebs will begin to emerge. This is why, over time, the focus of writers and fans alike becomes embittered by the more negative aspects of sports. The cheating. The discrimination. The exploitation. The inequality. It all becomes overwhelming. We forget why sports are so great, and why they fascinated us long before we grew caustic to what they could offer. And so, that’s where The Week In Sports Happiness comes into play.

Every week, I’ll present the ten things that are making me happy from the world of sports. It might be a particular article, it could be a winning streak, it may even be an animated GIF. No matter what, it’s from sports, it made me feel good inside, and I hope it does the same for you.

Without further ado, sports the good:

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