Athletes have to realize that when they are on live TV – when they’re sitting up at a podium with a stat sheet in front of them and the token sponsored banner behind them – that they are expected to use language appropriate for any minors that still may be awake past 10:30 p.m.
But sometimes, the rules don’t matter, like when your team drops its second of three straight home games on account of poor officiating and a 21-year-old forward serving as the primary beneficiary of said poor officiating.
Kevin Durant tallied 37 points in Oklahoma City’s 109-104 win over Boston on Wednesday night, and 15 of those points were registered at the charity stripe. As Kevin Garnett so eloquently pointed out during the postgame news conference, the entire Celtics roster attempted 17 shots from the free-throw line.
Do the refs have something against Boston, or is Durant really just getting the calls he deserves?
Stat sheets like that are enough to make Garnett wonder – aloud, on live television – providing us with the best too-quick-for-the-bleeper moment since Beckett took the podium during the 2007 ALCS.
In other news, Tim Thomas proves that drowning out the collective voice of 17,000 fans isn’t as difficult as it sounds, LaDainian Tomlinson reignites the Patriots-Jets rivalry a bit earlier than usual, Shelden Williams recalls his glory days (when he actually played) at Duke and David Krejci explains why his grandpa advised him against shaving his head for charity.
"I thought we were playing Michael [expletive] Jordan tonight, the way he was getting the whistle. Durant damn near shot more free throws than our whole team."
–Celtics forward Kevin Garnett, on CSNNE, following Boston’s loss to the Thunder on Wednesday night
"Were they booing? I don't know. I didn't hear it. I don't know if they were booing me, or booing the fact I was leaving the game. I don't know what they were booing."
–Bruins goaltender Tim Thomas, in The Boston Globe, on being pulled after allowing three goals in 26 minutes in an eventual loss to Buffalo.
“Funny story: David Krejci said he didn't shave head during Cuts for Cause because his grandpa thinks it makes him look like a ‘troublemaker.’”
—Joe Haggerty, via Twitter
“It's going to be fun. The Patriots have always been one of them teams that it's hard for me to swallow that pill of losing to them, so it's going to be fun to play them twice a year."
–Jets running back LaDainian Tomlinson, on Boston.com, on his rivalry with the Patriots
"I'm pretty sure [the original moon landing] was fake. I watched the documentary on it, and it's pretty easy to believe. The flag was standing straight out when there's no wind up there. When they step on the surface, there should have been a big cloud because there's no atmosphere."
–NASCAR driver Ryan Newman,in the News and Record
“Maybe another idiot will come out with something. I don’t really care.”
–Red Sox designated hitter David Ortiz, on WEEI.com, on more potential leaks from a list of MLB players who tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs
"I don't think I've had a whipping like that since I was a little kid and I broke something of my mom's."
–Iowa State women’s basketball coach Bill Fennelly, on NBCSports.com, after losing to UConn 76-34 in the NCAA Tournament
“He’s not messing around. He’s got dinner reservations to get to. … This isn’t his first rodeo.”
–Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia, on John Lackey's efficiency
"Just how much every game means to you, how much the atmosphere comes into play, everybody is into it whether they love you or hate you. Basketball is like king, and everything else is secondary. It's one of the best feelings to be part of."
–Celtics forward and former Blue Devil Shelden Williams, on Boston.com, on the experience of playing college basketball at Duke
"I'm a bit better at short."
–Red Sox third baseman Mike Lowell, after turning a double play at second base on Wednesday. He was forced to cover second when the Sox went into a defensive shift.
"This is going to be a window ornament."
–Ohio State’s Evan Turner, in the AP, after receiving his hardware for the 2010 AP Player of the Year award
"It’s frustrating. It’s interesting. It’s a bunch of different things.”
–Patriots running back Sammy Morris, in the Boston Herald, on a potential NFL work stoppage in 2011
Screen grab from YouTube.
