MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[Greek Tragedy]

I guess you haven't been watching the NBA playoffs these past few weeks.  They have been nothing short of spectacular as far as the level play and parity that is being displayed, especially last night.  The Phoenix/LA Clippers game went to double overtime and didn't end until about 1:15 am (BTW, Doug Collins called the game), and the night before, the Dallas/San Antonio game was a thriller of the same magnitude as it went to extra periods also.  Great team play and gritty individual performances are all over the place, and I don't even mind listening to Bill Walton.  WOW!   

I'll agree with you up to the Bill Walton part.  I haven't really watched any of it, but the highlights are exciting and I'm interested in how D-Wade does. 

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

The movie Monty Python's The Meaning Of Life opens with a brilliant pre-credits short film entitled The Crimson Permanent Assurance, which is about a group of accountants at a small insurance company whose office building is transformed into a pirate ship that "sails the perilous seas of high finance". People are apparently under the impression that your reference to Keelan Amelianovich "missing out on the exciting world of chartered accountancy" is a reference to The Crimson Permanent Assurance.

Ah, merci.  Although I usually am quick to take credit for any accidental brilliance I stumble into, I am compelled to say that I have never seen this picture, and any resemblance of my remark to the movie is entirely unintentional.   

The truth is, I actually think chartered accountancy is thrilling.  Well, certainly more thrilling than the (*yawn*) NBA, anyway.   

It's not just the Crimson Permanent Assurance (although its true, that is one of the greatest things ever caught on film), chartered accountancy was a theme throughout the Flying Circus television shows.  I thought that had to be a reference to the Pythons.  (And I think John Cleese is making 4 million per from his current movie career, that is if they aren't all making that much from royalties, etc).

The NBA is boring, if only because you have to wait until April to get anything resembling entertaining basketball.  The playoffs have been good this year, but that is a rarity.  By the way, I am and always have been a huge Bill Walton fan, even as a broadcaster.  I can tell what's going on by watching the game, I want someone entertaining me with outlandish comparisons and extreme opinons, not to mention Grateful Dead references.  It's the same reason why I hold Dennis Miller to be the second greatest MNF broadcaster since Howard Cosell.

[Knightstalker]

The truth is, I actually think chartered accountancy is thrilling.  Well, certainly more thrilling than the (*yawn*) NBA, anyway.   

To quote another favorite movie of mine; "...I want to party with you"

[matblake]

By the way, I am and always have been a huge Bill Walton fan, even as a broadcaster.  I can tell what's going on by watching the game, I want someone entertaining me with outlandish comparisons and extreme opinons, not to mention Grateful Dead references.

Bill Walton commentary is like watching a car crash or one of those videos people forward in e-mail where a person wrecks a BMX bike and probably several bones in their body.  You keep trying to turn away but you just can't. As a paraphrase from the Howard Stern movie Private Parts "People that love Howard tune in to see what he will say next.  People that hate Howard tune in to see what he will say next." And yes, I do realize the comparing Walton to Stern is like comparing Ed Sullivan to Lawrence Welk, both on television but completely different.

[Titan Q]

Notes on Keelan's Milwaukee Bucks workout...

http://www.nba.com/bucks/features/DC06_Workout1_060515.html

[matblake]

Notes on Keelan's Milwaukee Bucks workout...

http://www.nba.com/bucks/features/DC06_Workout1_060515.html

Good stuff, Q!  I particularly liked the fact that they interviewed the players.  Good quote with regards to academics.

[robberki]

Does the "Coming Out Party" refer to one or more Nebraska football players being released from prison on that day? 

Actually, it refers to the inevitable return to the top of the college football universe with a statement game against the actual jailbirds of USC. Nebraska by 3 touchdowns.

[True Basketball Fan]

The NBA is boring, if only because you have to wait until April to get anything resembling entertaining basketball. The playoffs have been good this year, but that is a rarity. By the way, I am and always have been a huge Bill Walton fan, even as a broadcaster. I can tell what's going on by watching the game, I want someone entertaining me with outlandish comparisons and extreme opinons, not to mention Grateful Dead references. It's the same reason why I hold Dennis Miller to be the second greatest MNF broadcaster since Howard Cosell.

It's perfect timing.  College basketball ends in early April.  So for us die hard basketball fans it gives us another two months of good basketball, which happens to be the best part anyway.  Bill Walton was especially entertaining this year when his son, Luke, made that flagrant foul on Tim Thomas, and the comments he made.  I really love it when he says "What was he thinking?!" or "That's just terrible", the guy doesn't hold back much.  He's much better than the fossil Billy Packer, who by the way needs to be placed in the asylum along with Dick Stockton (who also has no clue what's going on anymore).

[diehardfan]

David, someone else assumed you were talking about Monty Python, so I did too. I haven't seen any of them in their entirety, and only probably 15-20 minutes of any of them total. That was just the only scene in one of those movies, that I've heard enough about (aside from that scene in The Life of Brian where Jesus is on the cross singing "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life") to make a joke about it. Plus, I got to state how much I love Wheaton and make a random nonsensical joke at the same time. You can't beat that!

The NBA is boring, if only because you have to wait until April to get anything resembling entertaining basketball.

It's nice to know that you can't enjoy basketball without me. 

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

Right on with the Billy Packer comment, how he and Nantz got to do the final four is beyond me.  CBS had at least four broadcasting teams better than those clowns and that's being generous.

I do love Walton because of those opinions.  Whether you agree with him or not, he makes you laugh.  Like the way he compares nearly every post move that ends in points to something Bill Russell or Kareem did.  Those are classic moments.

[matblake]

I do love Walton because of those opinions.  Whether you agree with him or not, he makes you laugh.  Like the way he compares nearly every post move that ends in points to something Bill Russell or Kareem did.  Those are classic moments.

Or when he talks about his Trailblazer teams.  He sometimes sounds like he is comparing them to the Celtics of old.

The thing that gets me about Packer is how incredulous he gets when he thinks someone is challenging him.  Gosh, does he think that he is infallible?  CBS probably is afraid of the backlash if they change something about the formulaic "Final Four"

[titan2000]

DC:

I hope that this link will help you with the "Lemon Curry" reference that seemed to confuse you.  You must be a tangential Python fan.


http://www.crunchyfrogcomedy.com/cfc/lemon_curry.html

[Gregory Sager]

Not sure if you mixed up your movies or were just referencing The Meaning of Life in response to Keelan/NBA related posts.

I didn't mix up the movies. I've seen all five Python movies more times than I can count. I can quote Holy Grail in my sleep, opening credits included. (My friends and I once ran a papier-mache llama head for Student Association president during my undergraduate days at North Park, a gag based upon those opening Holy Grail credits.) DC referenced the "exciting world of chartered accountancy", the Python references started coming from other posters, and I simply referred to the most likely reason why someone would think DC was making a Python quip. Also note Hiker Jim's post about The Crimson Permanent Assurance that was right before mine.

Bill Walton commentary is like watching a car crash or one of those videos people forward in e-mail where a person wrecks a BMX bike and probably several bones in their body. You keep trying to turn away but you just can't. As a paraphrase from the Howard Stern movie Private Parts "People that love Howard tune in to see what he will say next. People that hate Howard tune in to see what he will say next." And yes, I do realize the comparing Walton to Stern is like comparing Ed Sullivan to Lawrence Welk, both on television but completely different.

I can't stand Bill Walton, to the point where I won't even stay in the same room if someone has an NBA game on and he's pontificating commentating. He drives me straight up the wall. I can't stand the Grateful Dead, either, but that doesn't really enter into my Walton loathing. There's no other sports commentator who can drive me out of a room like that, not even that self-parodic loudmouth Dick Vitale.

As for Howard Stern, I'm in category three: People that hate Howard and would never think twice about tuning in to listen to him.

David, someone else assumed you were talking about Monty Python, so I did too. I haven't seen any of them in their entirety, and only probably 15-20 minutes of any of them total. That was just the only scene in one of those movies, that I've heard enough about (aside from that scene in The Life of Brian where Jesus is on the cross singing "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life") to make a joke about it.

It wasn't Jesus who was on the cross singing "Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life" in The Life Of Brian -- it was the false messiah, Brian (Graham Chapman), and a chorus of his fellow executees, led by Chapman's fellow Pythonite Eric Idle (who composed "Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life"). That's what made the scene funny; it was a show-stopping Broadway musical number, except that there was no dancing because all of the members of the chorus line were hanging on crosses as they belted out the preternaturally cheery song. If you aren't offended by this kind of irreverence, it's a gut-bustingly funny scene.

[David Collinge]

Maybe if there were an NBA telecast with Amelianovich playing and Michael Palin and John Cleese broadcasting, I'd watch it.  Those are about the only circumstances where I might find the NBA "spectacular."  YMMV.

[John Gleich]

Interesting...  the discussion turned to Bill Walton when the thread page reached 420.  Coincidence?    

Just to put in my two sense, the only entertainment value I get from listening to Bill Walton is along the same lines as mascots at sporting events.  Usually, they're not doing (or saying) anything of consequence, but occasionally, they'll do (or say) something outrageous and get your attention.  It doesn't have anything to do with the sporting event at hand, but...