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Even from the coast of SW Florida I get the feeling of KG overkill in Twin Cities media. Nothing like a blockbuster sports deal in the dog days.
I count myself among the "fans" who pretty much ignored the Timberwolves start to finish last season. I don't recall (TM ... Albert Gonzales, Dick Cheney) listening to one turn-over of a Woofies game on radio and caught only fractions of TV games. Boredom. Ennui. Fatigue. Indifference. It's all kind of the same thing. Even with Garnett the team wasn't doing anything but taking a steady drift downward, and worse, they we're taking that downward drift with what seemed to a part-time fan like me to be minimum intensity.
I did, however, read a lot of Steve Aschburner's stuff as the Strib's pro basketball guy. Tight, punchy, well-sourced. Aschburner's copy was better than any Woofies offense.
As some of you may know Aschburner accepted a Strib buy-out offer while on a Woofes roadtrip in early March, then quickly pulled it back, only to have Strib management insist on "honoring" his original request.
Aschburner, who was President of the Pro Basketball Writers Association when the Strib made sure he left the paper, has a piece on the Garnett deal up on sportsillustrated.cnn.co. . And this morning, another on AOL Sports.
Says Aschburner of KG: "He was the pearl among swine, so goes the popular perception, a silk purse among sows' ears (and other butcher cuts)... ."
That's about right.
Keep it coming, Steve.
Igore them -let me know if you could find the radio signal because I couldn't rember it or tune it in half the time.
That said, KSTP has got to start simulcasting the Twins games on FM. I'm sick of static-filled listening in my SW Minneapolis kitchen when I'm preparing dinner. Ignoring the problem or saying they've had the same signal for 50 years is not a viable solution.
The SI piece is excellent writing and I appreciate your link. His theme -- it wasn't supposed to end this way -- is dead on. That's why I feel such remorse, which is separate from any long-term, admiration of KG.
The Wolves were supposed to acquired Artest or Iverson or even Allen or Pierce. Not the other way around. McHale can't acquire a second banana for twelve years, but Ainge, for christ sakes, in one month can acquire two franchise players, who may have 2-6 years of good basketball left.
I'd rather have Pierce and Allen (or Artest and Iverson) and would have sacrificed Foye and Brewer in order to do so, which is essentially what Boston gave up.
In the end, both Boston and Minnesota are forced to take these severe risks due to the inability of management.
That's Aschy Unplugged. Much better than the Beat version if you ask me.
I know - you gotta tow the line, choose your battles, all that crap, to be successful over 7 months with the team year after year, but I'd miss him more if I could have expected writing close to this good the morning after.
Maybe this kind of perch fits Steve's strengths better than the Wolves Beat. Good luck, Asch!
If you're looking for the best Wolves coverage, it's Britt Robson all the way. He's the only one who can make pro basketball the least bit interesting to me.
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