Birthday Wishes!



On the eve of my 27th birthday, I have many wishes for the upcoming basketball seasons in both college and the NBA. Let's take a peak into my fantasy land...

I'm wishing that a team steps up and represents college hoops as well as the Florida Gators did. While people can grow tired of seeing repeat champions, you have to respect a team that hustles, plays defense and plays with an overall passion. The team that could fill this role in the upcoming year is UCLA.

I also wish for a player to capture the nations consciousness like Kevin Durant did last year. While I'm a bit down on the character of players like OJ Mayo and Michael Beasley, they have the type of talent to get viewers to tune in.

I wish for an NBA champion to be decided by the play on the court rather than politics or bad officiating. I don't want to see a player rewarded free throws because of star status or a team punished because of another team's actions. There should be a clear champion and no doubt in anyone's mind.

I wish people in the United States would love basketball as much as myself. While I enjoy football, baseball and many other sports, I'm tired of basketball continually being third fiddle. I'm happy to see the rest of the world coming along for the ride and I hope in time that Sportscenter will lead off with basketball highlights instead of a discussion about the Giants and Falcons during the fall.

I wish NBA players would stop thinking about dollar signs and endorsement deals so the game could be played in an unselfish manner and so the negative perception of the NBA as a whole would disappear. Casual fans only see the Kobe's and Carmelo's instead of Steve Nash, Dwayne Wade, Tim Duncan and many other great ambassadors for the game.

I wish the NBA would call traveling consistently... Seriously, just one time.

I wish an NBA trade that is rumored would happen at least one time. I don't know if I can handle another Shawn Marion for any player in the league scenario.

Finally, I just wish for a good season with some parody and good games played well and good health to all those involved. Get well Greg Oden!