Author Archives: rahulchhabria

Community in Sports

Jason Collins made big news this week by announcing that he is gay. This makes him the first active gay athlete in any professional US sport. It’s both fortunate and unfortunate that his announcement made headline news.

It’s fortunate news because I hope that Jason’s announcement paves the way for other professional athletes to be open and accepted for who they are. I think it’s an inherent right to live your life as you so wish. To feel like you can’t do that must be incredibly difficult.

To my second point, it’s unfortunate that Jason’s announcement is news. It tells me that as a society, we’re failing. This nation’s history is full of advancements in civil rights yet for some reason I feel like no one knows that. What’s that saying… those who don’t know history are bound to repeat it? We all know it, why are we repeating it? But, as with any glass full person, I have hope, and I think sports will be a pioneer as it has been time and time again to breakdown these barriers.

I can’t even tell you how many times I was at Firestone’s Grill down in San Luis Obispo watching the Lakers and Kings play each other in the playoffs. It must have been three years in a row. I’d be there watching the games with some of my best friends who were Kings fans (I bleed Purple and Gold) but would be jumping up and down, high-fiving, or hugging some random Lakers fan after the Lakers would win. Or even consoling some stranger after they lost. I didn’t know those people. I had no idea who they were, if they were gay or straight, but we had one thing in common and that’s all that mattered. Sports brought us together.

Sports brings out the best in us as a society. We’re there for each other through the good times and the bad. Except for San Francisco Giants‘ fans. They only come out when the team is winning =). But the point is: community. When people are at the games, wear their colors, and cheer for their teams, all opinions, values, and beliefs seem to go by the way side. I would hope that this type of community forming flows through to professional teams. At no point should someone’s personal beliefs dictate the support an organization shows for something irrelevant to their goal.

I hope that we’ve witnessed enough of bigotry and hatred in our past to now know that those things that we supposedly hate about someone impact our own lives negatively because it takes away from the end goal. Jackie Robinson broke down racial barriers and showed how powerful a team really can be. I hope that everything he fought for and endured will not be in vain. I don’t say that to take away from anything he’s done for modern day professional sports; I say that because we’re facing a new challenge and the lessons we learned from him apply now more than ever.

I tip my hat to Jason. Whether or not you agree with his lifestyle has nothing to do with your capability to admire his courage. I think it’s something we all need to do. It’s time to finally acknowledge people for their achievements and not who they love. Oh and treat them like people.

By @rahulrchhabria
You can contact Rahul at rahul@thecouchletes.com

Dear Kevin

Dear Kevin,

It was great to watch the second half of the Packers and 49ers game with you. My Sunday afternoon was awesome. Not only did the 49ers win their season opener against the top seed Green Bay Packers, I won the season opener in our fantasy league. What do Rahul and the 49ers have in common? They’re 1-0. I know you and I didn’t play each other in fantasy this week, but it was symbolic. I beat last year’s number one seed in our league just like my 49ers did. Not to mention, you love the Packers and told me there was no way the Packers would lose at home against the 49ers.

I really enjoyed watching the 49ers run all over the Packers D. If I’m not mistaken, even Kaepernick ran for 17 yards. That’s a little over a third of what the Packers rushed for as a whole. Benson ran for 18 yards. Oh, before I forget, I would like to thank the Packer that pushed Gore into the end zone. I don’t know who it was, but I want them to know that I appreciate it.

As expected Rodgers threw for a ton of yards. Weird though, Rodgers threw for 90 more yards but he ended the game with 1 turnover and a rating of 93. I’m no Alex Smith fan but, even you have to agree that something isn’t right when Alex Smith has zero turnovers against the Packers with a rating of 125. Right?

I have Greg Jennings on my fantasy team too. Unfortunately, he had a quiet game and suffered a groin injury. However, the true beauty of this game was that I could actually cheer for the Packers and Jennings without worrying about the 49ers losing the game. I think the 49ers lead by 2 scores for 75% of the game. Again, I had a great Sunday and Week 1.

Hopefully we can do this again soon. Good luck on Thursday.

Best,
Rahul
You’re friendly neighborhood 49er fan.

The 2011 – 2012 Most Hated NBA Player

Last season The Hump dethroned the King. He was the most hated man in NBA. I’m not sure why though. Lebron James was an ass and screwed over the entire city of Cleveland. Where, Humpty Dumpty here was screwed over by an ass the size of Cleveland. In my expert opinion (yes, I’m an expert, I watch all the shows and read the magazines while I wait in line at the Supermarket), Kris did nothing wrong to Kim. She opened her shallow heart for all of us to see and then milked every minute of it to land a huge deal with E!. Too bad K-Hump didn’t get a spin off or a decent NBA contract…until today.

Kris finally got what he deserved. He landed a 2 year $24MM contract with the Brooklyn Nets, which, by the way is part-owned by his Ex-Wife’s Boyfriend’s BFF. Awkward… But this is a sports blog, so allow me to touch on a few things that I find shocking. Humphries has been treated like a D-League Power Forward for his entire career.

Hump was drafted by the Jazz in 2004. After two short seasons in Utah (’04 to ’06) he was traded to Toronto. Granted he didn’t do much for the Jazz, but from what I can remember, the Jazz weren’t doing much either. In Canada, Kris busted his ass every little chance he got to play and started showing off his boarding skills. Regardless of having career high games of 18 boards and proving to be a valuable Power Forward he was shipped to Dallas in 2009. After one short season in Dallas he was traded to then New Jersey Nets. So in 2011 around the time he started dating Kimmy he averaged a double double for the Nets. That means he was averaging double digit points and double digit rebounds. So how do they reward him? The hook him up with a one year $8MM contract 20 days after he filed for divorce. After that whirlwind sham of a wedding and being dragged through the Kardashian mud, he was able to average a double double in points and rebounds for a second season in a row!

Last season he averaged:

PPG RPG BLKPG PER
13.8 11.0 1.2 17.98

According to ESPN: “Only 5 players have averaged at least 10 points and 10 rebounds per game in each of the last 2 seasons: Kevin Love, Dwight Howard, Blake Griffin, Pau Gasol…and Kris Humphries.”

He kept his head up and did his job well. Even Lamar Odom, golden son-in-law, couldn’t play in Dallas. He’s in his head so bad that E! had to cancel their best spin-off, Klohe and Lamar. I tip my hat to, Kris, weathering that stuck up narcissistic storm would have broken most men.

It’s about damn time Brooklyn. You should have signed him sooner. You just watch, he’ll back up Gerald Wallace better than any monster contract you would have absorbed from Orlando. It’ll just be a little weird next season on Keeping Up with the Kardashians when Kim and Kanye double date with Jay-Z and Beyonce at a Knicks – Nets game.

Stupid

I know, I know. More NBA. But c’mon, it’s like asking Jon Stewart to not cover politics. I was inspired by LeBron this morning. This is what The King said in response to Serge Ibaka’s comments about his defense:

“I don’t really care what he says, he’s stupid. Everyone says something to me every series then (the media) tries to get a quote. It’s stupid.”

This lead to a conversation with a friend of mine about  the stupidest NBA players. Our list started with Metta World Peace aka Ron Artest. Aaaand that’s where it ended. Seriously, we couldn’t think of anymore players. So here’s a top five list of Ron Ron’s stupidest comments/moments (excluding the Detroit Brawl) in no specific order:

1. Labor Day? @MettaWorldPeace: Happy labor day….Enjoy it” On Memorial Day, the Laker’s Forward wished everyone a Happy Labor Day. May… September… Yeah, Ron Ron needs to hire a Community Manager and an Executive Assistant to manage his social media and keep him aware of the calendar.

2. “I don’t shake substitutes’ hands.” Dude, James Harden is the 6th Man of the Year Award winner. That mean’s he’s putting up numbers you couldn’t put up off the bench for the Lakers or when you were a starter.

3. He changed his name to Metta World Peace and actually responds to it.

4. He wore number 37 one season with the Lakers to honor the number of weeks Michael Jackson’s Thriller was number 1 on the charts. Okay, so maybe this wasn’t so stupid, given that MJ passed away that summer.  I can appreciate MWP honoring MJ, but seriously Ron Ron is weird.

5. A Gem for after the Lakers beat the Celtics in the 2009 – 2010 finals, “A voice came down and told me to shoot the ball,” he said. ” ‘Shoot the ball,’ he said. God told me to shoot the ball and I shot the ball.” He reminds me of GW when he announced his bid for Presidency.

I’m sure I could go on but, hopefully these five made you chuckle. I look forward to the offseason for more of MWP’s ridiculous tweets and appearances. I do hope the Lakers trade him. There may be an opportunity for LA to gain some depth. Clearly he’s no longer the defensive force he once was. But hey, who am I kidding? The old, tired, soft, and immature Laker squad will be back to fall short again next season. Yay, Mitch Kupchak!

No More Tinsel

I can’t do this anymore. I can’t sit here and watch a team just self destruct because they have a bunch of bozos on the team. The Los Angeles Lakers have a lot of work to do this off season and it’s not in the gym. They proved that they can compete. They also proved that they can’t close. AND they proved that Andrew Bynum still doesn’t care, Pau really is soft, and Mike Brown got the short end of the stick.

Bynum. If Andrew Bynum even had 10% of the heart, determination, motivation, whatever the damn “it” factor is, that Kobe Bryant has, he would man handle any opponent. He’s huge, lean and extremely agile. He has the ability to master Kareem’s Sky Hook and modernize it to his own. He’s one of those rare players who is the perfect blend of finess and power. But, he just doesn’t care. He reminds me of that one really smart kid you knew in college, but instead of applying himself he spent his parent’s money on pot.

So Bynum, how about you start respecting the fact that you have an opportunity of a lifetime? You play for one of the most respected franchises in the history of the NBA. Act like it. Even Vlade worked twice as hard as you did. How does that make you feel? I mean sure, you’re an NBA player and I work in a cube but I would never want to be you. Not in a million years. You embarrass the class of the sport and the team simply because you can. If you could harness your idiot power for good there would be no question that you’re the best big man in the league. But since you act like Van Wilder, a 7 year freshman, you will always be mediocre at best. Too bad you will never get traded. The Lakers have wasted too much time and money on you that they’ll never get it back. Oh well I guess us fans can hope that one day you wake up and decide to be an adult.

Pau. Well, I’m sorry bud, you’re being traded. We all know this. It’s just unfortunate because you were the Great Spanish Hope. You were for 1.5 years. You really did suck it up in that 7 Game Celtic Series two years ago. Then last year, you let your girlfriend get in your head. So we thought this year you’d be back with chip on your shoulder. No you’re just old, slow and soft. There’s no other explanation. Every year you were consistently criticized for being soft and every year you came back equally soft. So Mitch (if he’s not with Portland) will ship you off to somewhere warm for a back up point guard. Buy a house and retire.

Mike Brown. Talk about a tough spot. Filling in for Phil. But you should have never gotten the job. It belongs to Brian Shaw. Go figure. If I were you I would have never accepted the position, but that just shows I’m as smart as the rest of the country. Hey, no hard feelings. I’m sure the Lakers management will give you another shot. This next year, don’t say stupid things like “Steve Blake is our starter”.

In conclusion, I’m a die hard Laker fan and it broke my heart to see them lose last night. The series should have been 3-1 going into game 5. Stupid mistakes, immaturity, and the lack of determination is why they’re at home like me. So Lakers’ management, if you’re out there, I’m a free agent next year. I’m 6 feet tall, soft, I can make stupid comments, and act like I don’t care for the Veteran’s Minimum.

@rahulrchhabria
@thecouchletes