WWE Basketball...Stern predictably rigs Game 4 of Heat vs. Bulls

True to the spirit of my word, I have not followed  the Eastern Conference Finals charade. I know that the WWE has the higher rated Miami Heat slated for a victory. There is no need to watch a rigged fight. But just for fun, I flipped the channel to overtime of Game 4 of the Heat/Bulls. I did not bother to watch regulation.

First thing I did was to identify which company men were on the case. 

Right away, I spotted Joey Crawford's bald shiny head (He is Stern's number one man). Bennett Salvatore was on the case. He is another Stern favorite. The third referee was Ed Malloy. He seems to have a Tim Donaghy heir about him. Malloy was the company man that needlessly ejected Paul Pierce during the fourth quarter of the 2011 Eastern Conference Semifinals Game 2 Miami Heat win against the Celtics.

Stern was clearly serious about getting the Heat a crushing 3-1 lead against the Bulls. The line-up paid dividends. 

Late in overtime, Lebron James drove to the basket, barreled into the chest of Joakim Noah and made a lay-up. James wanted the 'and one.' These days, 'stars' not only expect to have their offensive fouls ignored, they whine when they are not rewarded with free throws in such instances. 

It's the Kobe Bryant Syndrome. How many times have we seen Bryant throw elbows, push defenders away and then drive to the basket get then get a ghost foul and one. I for one have seen it enough to know just how rigged the NBA is. But this is nothing new. Back in the 98 WWE Finals, Michael Jordan two hand pushed Bryon Russell away and then nailed a wide open shot to win the championship.

The no-calls are a huge weapon in the company men's arsenal. Never was this more true than in overtime of the Heat and Bulls. In overtime, the interficials (refs) swallowed their whistles when Lebron James traveled and when Dwyane Wade goal tended.

On the traveling no-call, James pump faked, and the defender lunged forward and closed out without fouling. With the shot clock winding down, James now had no space to take a good shot. That was no problem, he simply had to switch his pivot foot while literally taking two steps to free himself from the defender. It was an amazingly obvious travel, but the refs did not want to call the travel against their dog in the fight. James subsequently made the jump shot.

On the very next possession, Derrick Rose drove to the hoop, shot a scoop shot that was on its downward path when Dwyane Wade blocked the shot. Once again, the company men swallowed their whistle.

That four point swing sealed the win (and essentially the series) for the Heat. Stern gets what he wants; LBJ/Wade championship ratings. The company men will get rewarded with their per diem championship games and playoff bonuses.

It's ridiculous. It's not even a conspiracy theory any longer. We've seen this before. David Bowie said it best. 'The film is a saddening bore.'

Picture 1: 'This is my house!' Ed Malloy tells Paul Pierce. 'Get out of here! My Heat are going to win this thing! I don't care if Wade has to take out Rondo in Game 3! This is our series!'

Picture 2: No amount of pleading by Avery Johnson was going to stop Bennett Salvatore from fallaciously putting Dwyane Wade on the free throw line during the 2006 WWE Basketball Finals.

Picture 3: 'You'll get your chance smart guy!' Joey Crawford shows fans just how far he's willing to go to shut up the competition.

Brad Miller, Chicago Bulls get Rondo'd

With the series between the Boston Celtics and Chicago Bulls tied at two, late in overtime of the pivotal 2009 NBA Playoffs Game 5 of the first round, Brad Miller found out what it means to get Rondo'd.

We had thought getting Rondo'd meant running marketing campaign that irks their prospective consumers. Now the term is taking on new meaning. In this case, it appears to

Late in overtime of Game 5, with 2.9 seconds left and the Celtics up by two, the Celtics defense had a huge lapse. They allowed Brad Miller to catch the ball with a lane to the basket so wide that you could drive a truck through it (complimentary clique).

Miller drove to the lane and air balled a layup after getting Rondo'd (knocked) in the face by Celtics point guard, Rajon Rondo with 1.3 seconds left. Or if you prefer he was Shaq Attacked (reference to Shaquille O'Neal punching the notorious Brad Miller in the back of the head).

Miller was treated for a bloody tooth for five minutes, while the referees reviewed the play and inexplicably did not call it a flagrant foul, which would have given the Bulls two shots and the ball. Shots Heard is not a fan of any of the two shots and the ball rules since it allows for a team to punitively be punished with a loss of a possession at cantakerous times in games. But the rule is there and it should have been called.

Do not feel too bad karma lovers. Shots Heard is going to step into the karma cosmos. In this cosmos we can decipher intent and see how karma (justice) was properly distributed. Cosmos blastoff!

Ahhh. It seems that had the flagrant foul been called, the Bulls would have stated that Brad Miller was too hurt (bloody gums) to play. Although Miller The Bulls would have then been allowed to pick the free throw shooter, who would have been Ben Gordon. Gordon would have tied the game and the Bulls would have got the ball back with a chance to win. Uh oh, the centrifical force that operates the cosmos machine is fading. We cannot see if the Bulls would have won on that possession. Though certainly Ben Gordon would have a free shot at winning the game.

Snap back to reality. As no flagrant fould was called, if Brad Miller could not shoot the free throws, the Celtics could have picked the worst free throw shooter on the Bulls roster to shoot the shots. Knowing that an Ollie ('Hoosiers' reference) would not likely step up and hit both free throws and that they would not be awarded a free posession, the Bulls patched up Miller. The 83 percent free throw shooter could have made the shots, but he choked on the first one and the Bulls would end up losing the game 106-104.

Perhaps that was karma returning for Miller's illegal screen that instead was called a foul on Celtics shooting guard, Ray Allen, fouling him out with 5:27 still left to play. With Ray Ray out, the struggling Starbury (Stephon Marbury) through up bricks as the Bulls dared him to shoot open shots.

So despite the cheap foul by Rondo, the better team for that game won and Paul Pierce's series of late game heroics were not relegated to a footnote. And should the justice come full circle, the NBA will retroactively assess Rondo with a flagrant foul two that would force him to miss Game 6 in Chicago. In that scenario, the Bulls would likely win and we could have a Game 7 that would make for a glorified re-do. It would also allow for one of the greatest first round series of all times (Only NBA Playoffs first round series to feature three overtimes) to climax in the pinnacle of sports. That pinnacle being the two sweetest words in sports, 'Game Seven.'

Picture: Rajon Rondo, Boston Celtics point guard