FT% & Why it should be 100

**In full disclosure, my husband refuses to participate or condone any portion of this post.

This week Jared and I celebrated our 8 year anniversary. We're all still shocked he's put up with me this long. But hey, I make some pretty fantastic babies, so that could be why.

On a similar note, this was MY anniversary of being married to (and living with) a die-hard sports fanatic. If you've come from a family like mine, where a baseball game was occasionally on in the background at a family BBQ and not much more, then you can appreciate the huge accomplishment here. Sports fans are a unique breed - and it certainly takes some patience and understanding to learn to live with one. It's all about the compromise, right babe? We're still working on the fine print of our relationship-agreement with regard to sports (thanks Sheldon Cooper), but we've managed to make it work for the last 8 years already.

Since I wasn't really raised in a home with a gigantic sports fan, I've had to learn a LOT about sports over the years. Even when I was unwilling, some of it was sinking in (to the surprise of my husband) and I've slowly learned enough to carry on a conversation about football, basketball, and golf. Not quite enough to get into specific teams, or players necessarily, but I understand the main concept of the games... and their organizations.  Now, to the meat of why I am even talking about sports. Because I know you're wondering why I would ever post ANYTHING about sports on the family blog. 

It's the NBA Finals - Series Finale, Championship Game 7 tonight between the Miami Heat & the San Antonio Spurs. Like you didn't already know. It's kind of a big deal around our house. (Well, for Jared, because the rest of us will be in our jammie's tucked into bed - probably watching The Big Bang Theory while he's downstairs yelling at the television.)

I have become a conspiracy theorist. I'm not a huge one (I don't believe 9/11 was staged - please people, get a grip), but on occasion, I have been known to throw out a good theory. And most of the time, they revolve around sports and their organizations. I had a pretty good theory going about Peyton Manning's final season and eventual exodus with the Colts going for a while. I even had a few NFL fans on board with me. Sure, they have a passion that I just don't have but sometimes you can still get them to think about things logically. Sports organizations seem similar to wall street, in that there are a few head honchos who are making boat loads of money and can pull a lot of strings. The major difference between David Stern (the NBA Commissioner) and Joe Cassano (the guy credited for bringing down AIG) is that the government enforces more regulations and speed bumps on Cassano than they do on Stern. Really, since the NBA is a business entity the government really isn't too concerned about what they are doing so long as they make a lot of money and pay their taxes. (But let's be honest, the government is letting Cassano off scott-free too, so...)

I don't want to talk about the corruption on Wall Street, I just wanted to draw a parallel to the NBA and how there really isn't anyone looking over David Stern's shoulder, and if he REALLY wanted to, he could pull a few strings to get what's best for him. For example, I think that the individual teams are responsible for getting themselves to the playoffs (hopefully), but once the teams are determined Stern chooses who is winning what and when - all in an effort to draw more money in at the end. Because if you think about it, if the Pacers had beat out Miami in the last series and it ended up being Pacers vs. Spurs in the championship series, they would have missed out on a larger market of fans (who either love or hate Miami). As my husband calls them "fringe fans". The Miami Heat are loved & hated all at the same time, and I'm sure they sell a heck of a lot more T-Shirts and promotional crap, bring in higher ratings on TV, and for goodness sake who doesn't want to watch (and subsequently complain about) crybaby LBJ? We're going to see who wins tonight - but just know that my vote is for the Heat. One way or another, either the Spurs just don't play good enough defense, or the refs call a very tight game for the Heat... We'll talk again in the morning. (But not if I'm wrong and the Spurs walk away with the title for a 6th time in a decade.)

SPEAKING OF LBJ- I have a bigger beef with the NBA than just my conspiracies surrounding the Championships. FREE THROWS. 

I'll say it again, because it gets me really fired up. FREE THROWS. If you get paid as much as Lebron James to play in the National Basketball Association, then you should be hitting a much higher FT% than .776! You've been a professional for NINE YEARS. You've been playing basketball for much longer than that. WHY CAN'T YOU HIT DARN NEAR EVERY FREE THROW?! THAT'S YOUR JOB!

I apply this frustration to every single NBA player equally. Not just LBJ. The hubs has arguments against it like:

"There are 30,000 people screaming at him."  - So? It's his job. Every job has pressure, but we're still expected to perform. How about the fact that in his nine years in the NBA he's played roughly 738 Games (82 regular season games x 9 seasons), NOT including the 112 possible games he has played in the 7 seasons he's made it to the playoffs. In 738 games of pressure, he hasn't figured out a way to not hear the screaming fans? Or feel the immense pressure? Because I'm guessing he's a lot less nervous than he was back in 2003-2004 with the Cavaliers. 

"There's more pressure riding on him." -- See answer above.

"Basketball players have to be trained and practiced in many skills not just free throws. They play defense, offense..." --

I have some serious issues with this, can you tell? I just think for the amount of money that they are getting paid, and the fact that most of them have played basketball their entire lives, there should be no excuse for them to miss a free throw. Ever. It's unacceptable. Here are a couple more for you to chew on.

Dwyane Wade - FT% - .756% (Playoffs Average)
Tim Duncan - FT% - .693% (Career Season Average)
Manu Ginobili - FT% - .871 (2011-2012 Season Average) He wins an award for breaking the 80% mark.

I just MIGHT be getting to the portion of my pregnancy where I can't filter anymore. It's a possibility. But with the NBA Finals in my house over the past few weeks, I can't help but mention some of the things that have been on my mind. Feel free to leave your comments below. But don't be too harsh, because after all, I'm not a sports fanatic, I only live with one.

Apologies to my husband for having to put up with this for as long as he has. :-)