For all the great plays and heartwarming stories in sports, there’s also the ugly and awful. Each weekend, we’ll be bringing you 3-5 of the worst plays/decisions/anything else from that week. Some will be sad, some will be pathetic, but hopefully, most will be funny.
Carmelo Anthony
Oh, Melo, dear Melo.
You are one of my favorite players, as a longtime Knick, and also one of the least appealing to watch, with contested turnaround midrange jumpers and a defensive philosophy that can best be described as sieve-like.
After a number of injuries to their frontcourt, the Portland Trailblazers decided to take a risk on Melo as their team was flagging after a charmed run to the Conference Finals last season.
That has gone about as predictably as possible. In his first three games, the Portland Trailblazers have gone 0-3 and Melo has more shot attempts than points – and that doesn’t even reflect the defense. Melo also has a new number, 00, meant to reflect infinity but actually symbolizing the number of good NBA minutes he has left in him.
Woof. Maybe this is the absolute galaxy brain shit. #StayMelo #staytanking
NFL Refereeing
I wrote this on October 20th.
“This is more of a follow up on Jay’s excellent article earlier this week, which can be found by clicking here.
The clearly bad calls need to stop. It’s weird, as most things in sports are getting better, it seems that the NFL officiating is getting worse. There are constant conversations about the fact that bad officiating comes from the fact that NFL refs are not full time employees – so this intrepid reporter tried to do research and fired up his google machine.
While NFL refs are indeed not full time employees, that has not stopped their compensation from being quite generous. Without playoff/Super Bowl bonuses, NFL refs make an average of 200k a year. This is far more than baseball umpires, basketball refs, and most other sports rules officials. So… not an excuse. Get better.”
Nothing has improved – if anything, it’s gotten worse. The play below was reviewed and somehow not called pass interference.
After the game, Hopkins, a top 5 reciever in the league, had this to say.
Al Riveron is the man who makes the final call in New York, and he’s pretty much universally disliked – so much so that his approval rating might be lower than Goodell’s. Now his sticking around makes sense.
Mitchell Trubisky
Last week in the fourth quarter, Matt Nagy pulled Mitch Trubisky during another disappointing outing which the Bears would lose 17-7 to the Rams.
It was ostensibly because of a hip injury – but if this doesn’t remind you of Michael and Fredo in Godfather 2, I’m not sure what you’re seeing.
A reminder that Fredo was not the starting quarterback for the Corleones after that.
The Mitch issues haven’t only been on the field this season. A couple weeks ago, he asked that the TVs in the team facility be turned off because he apparently couldn’t stomach the criticism. Of course, you have to realize that Trubisky’s self-esteem issues go a lot deeper.
“I remember throwing the football so much when I was little that if I didn’t have anyone to play catch with I’d throw it up in the air to myself, catch it and throw it again.”
This is what Mitch Trubisky said. In an interview. About how to grip the football. I feel bad for the guy – he’s just not NFL starting quarterback material but has to pretend to be. It can be lonely at the top.
Russell Westbrook
For people like myself who prize efficiency in basketball, it is enjoyable to mock Melo above and now Russell Westbrook here. Westbrook has long been one of the paragons of inefficiency, stealing rebounds, jacking up low-percentage shots, and dribbling the air out of the ball. When he was traded to Houston in the offseason, many hoped that the positive aspects of his game would shine while James Harden’s domination of the ball would help stifle the weaknesses.
Heading into today’s likely barnburner between the Mavericks and the Rockets, it has been a mixed bag. The Rockets have played close to expectations, sitting at 11-5 and tied for third in the West. James Harden has somehow taken his scoring up another level, with a legitimate shot to get to Wilt-tier with 40 points a game. Westbrook has been.. more mixed, with two obvious lowlights this week.
The first got him on Shaqtin’ A Fool – it displays Russ dribbling around the whole court and throwing up an awful shot – when he could have passed it to any of the other 4 Rockets on the court, all of whom are shooting better than Russ this year.
More crucial for the Rockets was the end of the game against the Clippers on Friday. Harden had again been lighting up the scoreboard and the Rockets had the ball down 1, with a chance to take the lead…
That is Russ’s teammate from last year, Paul George, double teaming Harden to give an open shot to Westbrook. With 7 seconds left, Westbrook could have driven or passed the ball back to Harden. Instead, he decides to throw up an absolute brick, leading to a Rockets loss. The best part of the entire sequence? Westbrook holding his follow-through as if he had nailed the shot. That misplaced arrogance is what has doomed Westbrook’s teams to first round exits the last few years.
Bonus: Antonio Conte’s Invasive Management Style
This week, Inter Milan coach Antonio Conte revealed some interesting aspects of his managerial requests to players. To quote the man himself
“I advise my players to have sex for short periods and with the minimum of effort,” he told L’Equipe. “[And] use positions where they are under their partners.”
We should give some credit to Conte for being anti-adultery, as he quipped later in the interview “And preferably, with their wives, because if with others, well, that needs extra action.”
A couple quick thoughts on Conte’s proposed quickies.
First, it’s working? After a disappointing 4th place finish in Serie A last year, Inter Milan is in second place and only one point behind Juventus.
Second, how do we know this wasn’t an ask from the players? After a day running around, I can imagine they want to be pretty low-effort… maybe this is the ultimate player’s coach move.
Third, there are only a few losers here – the wives and girlfriends of Inter’s players. Having to wait months to get off? That’s truly the worst of the week.
