Offtopic/fun » league is turning on that standpoint. Eve

To say Najam Sethi at the PCB has been a shade bullish about the Pakistan Super Leagues prospects would be an understatement. It is understandable, given the PSL was virtually entirely his idea, and it is a mark of his influence at the PCB that the league has come into existence at all. (The public support of Shaharyar Khan, the PCBs chairman, for the project was mystifyingly muted; was it indicative of his thoughts on the whole idea?)Sethis delight at the PSL getting underway was irrepressible. The PSL will be the biggest thing that has hit Pakistan cricket, he said in an interview. He added that, five years down the line, if the PSL were held in Pakistan, it would be far more exciting than any FTP engagement could ever be. The PSL will be more like the IPL than other leagues, he declared.Although Sethis bombastic build-up to the PSL and his eagerness to associate it with the IPL come off as rather transparently insecure, the league has whipped up excitement among Pakistans cricket-starved fans in a way quite unlike anything else in recent memory. Hopes that the PSL will help bring back Pakistans glory days, even bring international cricket back to the country, fly unchecked. The extent and variety of raw young Pakistani talent on display is marvelled at. The number of international stars present is pointed to as proof of the tournaments marketability. Anything less than utter and complete admiration of everything PSL risks coming off as churlish in the extreme.Make no mistake, there is much that the PSL needs to be admired for. It has given Pakistani players the chance to participate in a lucrative T20 league. It has allowed them to gain precious experience sharing dressing rooms with international crickets biggest names, and financial incentives of the sort that have, unfortunately for Pakistani players, been severely curtailed in the past for a multitude of non-cricketing reasons, from a precarious security situation in Pakistan to an unstable political relationship with India. The PSL has greatly boosted the earning potential of young players on Pakistans domestic circuit, many of whom have had to hold part-time jobs, and often had to choose between feeding their passions and their families. It has enabled parts of Pakistan rejected by the cricketing establishment to take pride in their citys exploits. The irony of Quetta being joint top at the end of the group stage, the capital city of a province that has never seen a player turn out at ODI or Test level in Pakistans history, is not lost on anyone who loves a good underdog tale.But fans and administrators alike seem to be laying a greater burden on the shoulders of the tournament than it can possibly bear. Sethi, Ramiz Raja and Wasim Akram among many others have talked up the possibility of the PSL bringing international cricket back to Pakistan. One cannot help wonder how. Cricket did not move away from Pakistan because the countrys appeal went down in cricketing terms - indeed, Pakistan won the T20 World Cup three months after its international isolation began - but because of security issues, which have nothing to do with whether the PSL is a roaring success or a whimpering failure. The PSL could be as successful as the English Premier League and it couldnt bring cricket back to Pakistan as long as the threat of a team bus being ambushed and attacked by bullets and hand grenades on its way to a stadium remained realistic. If that is the yardstick by which the event will be measured, the PSL risks being unfairly set up for failure. Moreover, if the concept and layout of T20 league cricket is designed for entertaining, fast-paced cricket, the PSLs format could not have done more to blunt its sharpness more effectively. Five is an awkward number of teams to play in any league, but stipulating that four go through to the knockout round (which isnt actually a knockout, but thats a different story) makes the group stage almost pointless. Thats an unwelcome indictment, given the group stage is more or less the entire tournament. Therefore, all the teams needed to do to stave off elimination was ensure they didnt finish rock bottom, which meant that very soon, Quetta and Peshawar werent playing for too much at all.It also, surely, made Karachi Kings the worst team in the short history of T20 cricket to advance to a round where they were three matches away from winning the entire event. Shoaib Maliks (and then, of course, Ravi Boparas) men were so ordinary by the end of the group stage that they were guaranteed a losing win-loss record, even if they went on to win the tournament. A format that permits this to happen cannot be much more than a work in progress. Surely the only sensible format was the top two teams making the final? Make that a best-of-three if you must. It would be far more exciting to see Quetta and Peshawar play three hard-fought contests between them than the mess that is the current arrangement.The disappointing crowds at almost every game not held on a Friday, particularly in Dubai, have been a sobering reality check. The huge, lifeless stands that have become an unwelcome hallmark of Pakistans adopted home have been in full evidence for large parts of the event. A smattering of passionate support in a small part of the ground does not do nearly enough to dispel the impression of indifference to the PSL in the UAE - which Sethi put down on the eve of the tournament to a tight marketing budget. While it seems hardly fair to criticise the PSL for sparse crowds - it was an inevitable consequence of the tournament not being held in the cities whose teams featured in the league - such a strong lack of interest in the event from the people of the cities where it did take place is a solemn reminder of the work that still lies ahead if the PSL is going to last much longer than its debut season.That will be the greatest challenge of all. For the PSL to have any kind of long-term future, it needs to come back to the country whose name makes up one third of the acronym, and the unlikelihood, at present, of that happening makes its long-term prospects rather bleak.The PSL has done many things right, but there is room for improvement. (It could take on three more teams and adopt a logical format, for starters.) However, a number of factors in Pakistan cricket simply arent within the PSLs power to change, and it is crucial the tournament doesnt become a wishing wand for spectators and administrators alike. It may well fill the PCBs coffers, but it cannot fill Pakistans stadiums.Charlie Lindgren Canadiens Jersey .R. Smith realized how easily basketball can be taken from him, and he wasnt going to take his place in the NBA for granted anymore. Artturi Lehkonen Canadiens Jersey . It just didnt show when he hit the ice. Berra made 42 saves and Kris Russell scored at 1:32 of overtime, lifting the Calgary Flames to a 3-2 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks on Sunday night. http://www.canadienssale.com/authentic-max-domi-canadiens-jersey/ . It says Pocklingtons lawyer filed the appeal Friday in a California court. CTV Edmonton also says Pocklington gave a $100,000 cash deposit as part of the conditions of his bail, and that he will be out on bail until his appeal is heard. Montreal Canadiens Jerseys . After Gasquet beat fifth-seeded Ivan Dodig of Croatia 7-5, 6-3, Tsonga followed up with a 6-7 (3), 6-2, 6-2 win against sixth-seeded Edouard Roger-Vasselin in an all-French match. Mats Naslund Canadiens Jersey .Y. - General manager Billy King says the Brooklyn Nets are looking to add a big man and confirmed the team worked out centre Jason Collins, who would become the first openly gay active NBA player if signed.BOSTON -- If Celtics fans had their way, and if their dreams had come true, Kevin Durant would be playing for Boston instead of the Golden State Warriors when the teams meet Friday night.Last summer, when Durant was deciding where to spend the next years of his career, the Celtics put on a big push, bringing their players and Tom Brady to a meeting with Durant on Long Island, N.Y.However, Durant spurned the Celtics and also spurned his former team, leaving the Oklahoma City Thunder for the Bay Area.It could make for an interesting reception by the TD Garden folks.What can they be mad about? Durant said Wednesday. I never played there, I never said I was going there. Theyre going to support their team.Its one of the best fan bases in the league. Top five, easily. So no matter who goes in there, theyre going to boo them. But I have no attachment to Boston at all.Buttering them up -- sort of -- may not keep the boos from raining down on Durant, but it will make for an interesting night.The Warriors lost just nine games in their record-setting regular season last year. One of those defeats was to the Celtics, in Oakland on April 1 -- and Boston was this close to being the only team in the NBA to beat Golden State twice.On Dec. 11, with TD Garden rocking, the Warriors rallied for a 124-119 double-overtime win against the Celtics, which gave Golden State a 24-0 record at the time. The Warriors record opening streak ended at Milwaukee in the next game, at the end of a seven-game road trip.The Warriors, who actually won their 28th straight regular-season game in Boston, trailed by five with 2:07 left in regulation, then played through a sloppy first overtime and then won the 58-minute game.We continue to fight. We believe in ourselves, Golden State forward Draymond Green said that night. We believe in each other and we trust each other. So, nothing new. The same old same old, which has made us who we are.They look a little different this season after failing to hold a 3-1 lead and losing to the Cleveland Cavaliers in last yearrs NBA Finals.dddddddddddd Durant arrived, and some key parts, such as Harrison Barnes and Andrew Bogut, left. However, coach Steve Kerrs team is 9-2 and hits Boston for the second game of a four-game road trip having already done something special.The Warriors have won five straight after a 127-121 victory at Toronto on Wednesday. They recorded at least 30 assists and shot 50 percent or better in all five games of their streak -- the first team since the 1990 Chicago Bulls to pull that off.And they meet a Celtics team that has been battling through the injuries suffered by Al Horford -- the big name brought in instead of Durant -- and Jae Crowder. The latter returned to practice Thursday, and both appear close. But having either of them for this game appears doubtful at best.After Durant went west, Crowder, in an interview with MassLive, said, That team is for sure the villain of the league. Every other NBA guy, friends of mine, are really disgusted from how the league is turning on that standpoint. Everybody is joining together. Everybody wants to go to Golden State or Cleveland.On Wednesday night, Isaiah Thomas and Avery Bradley, the guards who have to deal with Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson on Friday, combined for 48 points, 17 rebounds and seven assists in Bostons win over the undermanned Dallas Mavericks -- Thomas putting on a one-man show down the stretch.The little big man, who has yet to score fewer than 23 points in a game this season, scored 22 in the fourth quarter, 20 in the final 6:01. Bradley had the other two Boston baskets in the run and also grabbed a career-high 13 rebounds in the win that lifted the Celtics to 6-5 on the season.The same night against the Raptors, Curry scored 35 points and dished out seven assists, while Durant went for 30 points, nine rebounds and six assists.Curry is averaging 33.6 points per game and Durant 25.4 during the five-game winning streak. ' ' '