Sports: UglyBall

The San Antonio Spurs defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers yesterday night, sweeping the best-of-seven series and winning their fourth NBA championship.

It wasn't pretty.

The commentators from ESPN seemed to dance around what was being shown on screen - a fairly poor display of basketball from most of the players, at least on the Cavs' side. LeBron James, heir apparent to Air Jordan himself, cannot beat an entire team alone. It seemed every time James kicked it out to someone else on his team who was wide-open, the teammate rewarded James' unselfishness by throwing up a brick.

Tim Duncan, though he brought his usual effort and dedication, looked discombobulated against Varejao. His usual array of post moves and jump hooks were mostly off for the evening. Even the much-ballyhooed defense of Bruce Bowen looked a bit suspect - Bowen's tendency to sag dared James to shoot fairly open midrange jumpers. It was only the fact that James himself struggled so mightily in every game of the series that kept the Spurs' strategy from backfiring.

But, as the coaches always say, "a win is a win." Although I'm really more of a Rockets and Heat fan, I grew up during the "Twin Towers" era of Spurs basketball, and seeing David Robinson in a cream-colored suit next to Tim Duncan produced a wave of nostalgia.