Four days of NBA opening night is too long

The season started on Tuesday, yet six teams won’t play their first game until tomorrow (Boston, New York, Atlanta, Charlotte, Minnesota, LA Clippers). Four teams would have already played two games before Friday (San Antonio, Houston, Utah, Seattle).

It’s just frustrating that I’ve seen NBA games on TV for two nights now and the team I’m a fan of won’t open up until tomorrow night.

I’d understand this if the NBA opened up in another country or an odd number of teams, but that didn’t happen this year. I’d understand spreading out opening day over two or three days max, but four? It’s just too much. Whenever a baseball team opens up on a Tuesday instead of Monday or Sunday I think the wait is too long. Add another day and that’s what is happening to the fans of six NBA teams this season.

It’s not a huge deal and no one will care by next week. Just pointing it out.

Schilling’s openness is great (and his refusal to play for the Yankees)

I love it when athletes are honest and open (except for cases of spewing insults at people or saying something detrimental to the team). In today’s sports world, athletes are getting more and more politically correct, few are speaking their minds.

Curt Schilling isn’t one of those athletes. He’s said a lot of things I’ve disagreed with over the years, but I appreciate that he’s willing to share his thoughts on everything, in interviews on TV and radio, and more recently, on his blog, 38pitches.com.

It’s rare you see a free agent publicly release a list of teams he’s interested in playing for. If you ever hear specific teams, it’s usually either the hometown team or the Yankees (who are willing to pay him the most money).

Here’s what Schilling said (ellipsis mine):

The list of teams that our family has talked over, that we think would be a fit for next year, should we not come back, are pretty much teams in cities we agree would be ok for our last year, …

Cleveland, Detroit, Anaheim, New York Mets, Philadelphia, Atlanta, L.A., S.D., Arizona, Chicago Cubs, St. Louis, Milwaukee

Most noticeably, Schilling left off the Yankees, which I find impressive, because I would figure they’d likely be interested in him with their shaky rotation, and they usually have a lot of money to spend. I don’t like either the Red Sox or the Yankees, but understand how big of a rivalry it is, and it’s good to see a player not wanting to switch sides.

Links of the Day: Bonus edition

I know I usually only do one “Links of the Day” posts a week, but found some more great ones today I had to point out.

The best analysis I’ve seen over the Taco Bell free taco promotion — it’s just one free taco people. Not that big of a deal. (One More Dying Quail)

Another sign the L.A. media is tame — the reporter who’s doing the best job of putting pressure on Karl Dorrell writes not for the L.A. Times or another major newspaper but for the student newspaper. The Daily Bruin is a great college newspaper, but they shouldn’t be the only ones smart enough to see Dorrell is a horrible coach. (Daily Bruin)

I always feel silly linking to AOL Fanhouse or Deadspin, since I’m guessing 99% of you who read my blog read those, but this choose your own adventure, Alex Rodriguez post is one of the funniest things I’ve read recently. (AOL Fanhouse)

More excellent coverage of the Red Sox’ victory parade. (Center Field)

A funny Photoshop production combining Jonathan Papelbon and the recent Taco Bell promotion. (Epic Carnival)