The Big Zero and Marcu$ Camby

["dan.p" <dan.p@MCI2000.com>]

>Anyways, if anybody watched the game tonight, you were probably pleased to
>hear Heinsohn(sp) and Gorman really lash into Camby and Miller all night
>long. The Raps announcer would call Miller the "Big O" when he was
shooting
>his foul shots. This got Heinsohn mad and he said that there is only
really
>one "Big O". And that is Oscar Robertson. After that, he started calling
>Miller, the "Big Zero" from there on.

Yeah, that was pretty funny.  It's no wonder kids today think the NBA began
with Michael Jordan when there's crap like the Toronto announcer.  It's so
totally phony when they try and act all excited about a game as ugly as 
last night's, give "cute" nicknames to their players (no matter how
inappropriate), and howl the players names after they execute the simpling
of plays.  TraceeeEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEeeeeeeeeeey McGraaaaaaAAAAAAAaaaaaaddy!

Can't you just see the marketers:

Marketer One:  We need a nickname for Oliver Miller.

Marketer Two:  Well, he's kinda fat.  And his last name starts with 'O'.
               Let's call him "The Big 'O'"!

Marketer One:  Great!  Let's go to lunch...

>And they would constantly rag on
>Miller about his weight. Heinsohn once said "I wonder how much he'd
balloon
>up to if he wasn't in shape?". As you all know, he's not in any shape at
all
>and Tommy was just making Miller look like a fool. And Gorman agreed and
>would add his own jokes.

Given the inane comments he made, I thought they went pretty light.  There
are certainly a lot more announcers who would have have a field day with
these two buffoons.

>As for Camby, Heinsohn said something along this
>line... "I don't believe Camby puts much thought into his game. This guy
is
>definitely all about money. He will never be a dominant force in the
league
>and will just cash in on his so called popularity." Well, I'd like to hear
>from all the fans if you saw this and you liked how Heinsohn and Gorman
took
>up for our crew tonight.

It's refreshing to hear announcers talk critcally about NBA players and not
sugarcoat everything.  Rick Barry has a wonderful book he puts out every
year (I think there's a co-author, but I don't remember the name) and he 
reviews every player with a very critcal eye.  I have no idea if Tommy has
any inside information that would lead to his comments - he's certainly
known to make the occasional outrageous statement or two (he makes Dontae
Jones sound like the next Michael Jordan) but Camby hasn't shown a heck of
a
lot in his short time in the league; I'd say he's crusing on his
reputation at this point.  There's a show, Celtic Weekly I think, that's on
Sportschannel and hosted by Mike Gorman.  There's a nice piece each week
called the Back Page by someone whose name I forget, but the most recent
one
was about how satisfying the Washington win was because it was against
players
who are so easy to hate (particularly Chris Webber).  I'd say this win 
qualifies.

D Parker