IF YOU DON'T LIKE THAT WITH GRANT NAPEAR

If you're tired of hearing about Aaron Rodgers of the Green Bay Packers, Deshaun Watson of the Houston Texans and Trevor Bauer of the Los Angeles Dodgers I've got good news for you.  There are three guys who are dominating their sport and are easy to root for.  Giannis Antetokounmpo of the Milwaukee Bucks, Shohei Ohtani  of the Los Angeles  Angels and Colin Morikawa of the golfing world are doing it with class!  With all of the double standards and hypocrisy in sports that I've talked about on this platform, those three are a breath of fresh air.

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You saw it.  Game 4 of the NBA finals.  That long, lengthy analysis of the game.  It had to be what felt like one whole minute.  At least.  Yeah.  A minute.  And 12 minutes of commercials.  Are you kidding me?  Why bother?  Who are they kidding?  Turn it off and don't even give them the benefit of talking to you.  That's just a horrible, horrible viewing experience and it certainly demonstrates the confidence ESPN has in its' crew.  TNT would be my preference  for real analysis. What's yours?

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Bob Rathbun has been doing the Atlanta Hawks for 25 years on television as the voice of the team.  But his story began at the age of 12. Yes, 12.  That's when he was at the local radio station running errands and learning the craft.  You have to hear his first on mic broadcast story to really get a grasp of how this man has grown his career.  And what a career it's been.  He's a motivational speaker, sportscaster, former voice of the Detroit Tigers.  He's done baseball, football, hockey and of course basketball and he has a unique perspective on what Nate McMillan has been able to do in Atlanta as well.  He'll share his relationship with Dominique Wilkins and some personal, retrospective observations from his many years in the industry.  This is a show, you'll not want to miss. 

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With the uptick in Covid cases why is the NBA going with a  2-2-1-1-1 format for the NBA Finals this season?  Everyone knew the situation before the season began.  Before Game 5 a player, coach and referee were ruled out because of Covid protocols.  Why didn't they do a 2-3-2 format this season to reduce travel and exposure?  Makes no sense.  And speaking of the NBA I wonder what Lebron James of the Los Angeles Lakers and Mark Cuban the owner for the Dallas Mavericks  has to say now that the league has once again implemented the Play-In Tournament for next season?  They both ripped the tournament a few months ago if you remember.

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Tokyo alert.  I've said it before and I'll say it again.  These Olympics should have been postponed again.  Japan is surging in Covid cases, many of the countries are surging in Covid cases, even the United States Covid situation is very delicate.  Yet, over 200 countries are going to come together, play to empty stadiums and put everyone involved in the Olympics at risk.  Brilliant.  For what?  Money?  Ridiculous.  I'm not a fan of this sort of risk, then again, I'm not an Olympic official. Am I alone in this concern or would you agree?  Let me with a tweet, a comment on line or on YouTube.  I think it's crazy stupid. 

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So Adam Silver, Commissioner of the NBA, tees it all up last week in addressing the significance of all lives being important and walks back a year's worth of comment, criticism and cancellation of so many personalities.  Present company included I might add.  He goes on to say nobody should lose their jobs, their  livelihoods over it.  Again, present company has had the experience along with many others this past year.  And then we have ESPN hosts being terminated on one hand and other hosts, like Steven A. Smith rattling off what has cost others their jobs.  I just don't get it.  The NBA, ESPN and other media outlets just can't seem to get it together.  Can't seem to make a rule and stick to it. Where does that leave us going into the second half of the year?  Where are we as a country headed?  Is this what it's going to be like going forward?  I for one, sure hope not.  After you've had a chance to listen to this podcast, let me know your thoughts.  You can reach me on Twitter at @grantnapearshow.  I would love to hear what you think.  

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A  lot of people watched Major League Baseball's All Star Game Tuesday night in Denver and I'm still trying to find one person who liked the uniforms.  I haven't heard, or read one positive comment from a player regarding the uniforms.  Wouldn't you like to meet the person, or people who designed those hideous things?  And what about Rob Manfred...did he really sign off on this?  What ever happened to a player wearing his team's jersey so when you're watching the game you can easily identify your favorite player.  Does MLB ever do anything right?

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Ben Simmons of the Philadelphia 76ers appears to be on the trading block.  Why would the Sacramento Kings, or any other NBA team want Simmons?   He just completed his fourth season and still can't shoot.  He won't even attempt 3pt FG's and is a career 59% FT shooter.  In this year's playoffs Doc Rivers had to take him off the floor down the stretch of close games, because he is a liability at the FT line.   Why do you think the 76ers don't want him anymore?

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ESPN's Stephen A Smith says on First Take that Ohtani can't be the face of the league because he needs an interpreter to tell him what's being said and to respond.  That may be the case but so what?  Nobody is going to a game, much less the All-Star games to listen to Ohtani speak.  Hey, unless I'm wrong, the millions of us watching are looking at something special, incredible.  Honestly, I'm pretty content if most of the athletes today kept their mouths shut and didn't speak anyway.  Then again, that's just me.  Let me know what you think and leave a comment.

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TV  Voice for the Utah Jazz Craig Bolerjack chats it up with me today as we look back on the storied Utah Jazz characters including Hot Rod Hundley, Karl Malone, John Stockton, Jerry Sloane and today's young stars like Donovan Mitchell.  We also drift into a discussion of some of the favorite stadiums in the SEC as Craig also did collegiate and even NFL football broadcasts. His history and associations with so many people really makes our show a fun and informative one.  I hope you'll pull up a chair and join us.  

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