I grew up as an avid fan of the NBA. But somewhere along the way, the league lost me. There are several contributing factors to my disinterest in pro basketball (poor playoff system, lack of fundamentals, corrupt refs), but the main reason is that the NBA is WAY too focused on its stars rather than its teams.

I understand that superstars sell the merchandise and put fans in the seats, but in today's free agency market, players are jumping from team to team, and there seems to be no loyalty. It's all about the contract. It's a problem in every pro sport, but in basketball more than any other, one player leaving town could make the difference between contending for a championship and hoping for a high draft pick.

Look at the LeBron James saga for instance. I understand that free agency is part of the game, but give me a break. One of the reasons I always enjoyed football (especially being a New England Patriots fan) is the focus on team, and how one player leaving town doesn't lead to doomsday for a franchise. Granted, there are more players on the field in football, but still...you get my point. In the NBA, teams are relying on marquee players to draw fans rather than building a cohesive unit that plays a good brand of unselfish basketball (idealistic, I know).

With all that being said, there is hope. One thing that guarantees more focus on the teams rather than their stars is a good, old-fashioned rivalry. And here we are four wins away from another Celtics-Lakers matchup in the NBA Finals. If Boston and L.A. can win their respective conference finals series, the storied franchises will lock up for a record 12th time to battle for the title.

Let's flash back to the 80's, shall we? From 1980 to 1989, either the Lakers and/or Celtics appeared in every NBA Finals in that span. From '84 to '87, the Celtics played the Lakers three times for the championship.

Some people would argue that having the same two teams at the top every year is bad for the sport, but not in the case of Lakers-Celtics. If it was Raptors vs. Grizzlies every year, I would argue for more parity, but you could have Boston vs. L.A in the Finals for 12 straight years, and the TV ratings would still be off the charts.

So while LeBron James, the league's best player, is working on his golf game over the next couple weeks, the best TEAMS in the league will be playing for a world championship.

The Mount Everett at Drury varsity tennis match, which was canceled today because of the wet weather, will now be played tomorrow (Thursday, May 20) at 4 p.m. at the MCLA tennis courts.

Coaches and ADs are encouraged to send cancellations and/or event announcements to pronan@iberkshires.com.

Well, if you were dying to know what actor David Arquette — from such cinematic gems as Scream, Scream 2, Ready 2 Rumble and See Spot Run — has been up to lately, here is your answer.

According to the report, he was trying to help a security guard, which is quite noble of him. It’s still hilarious. I mean, common, Arquette is probably one of the worst actors in Hollywood. Seriously, maybe the absolute worst. Thus, him falling down in public only makes sense.

But apparently he’s a pretty good guy, which is worth something. So in his honor, the picture of him laying on his butt at a Lakers game is my new desktop wallpaper.

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Wow. The Red Sox are finding new and exciting ways to lose baseball games. I was on my way back from a meeting Monday night, listening to the game on the radio, and heard the Sox were down 6-1 early. A rout in progress, or so I thought.

I was still working at around 10:30 p.m. when my roommate, who happens to be a Yankees fan (I know, it’s terrible), called me, all excited, because Alex Rodriguez had just tied the game in the bottom of the ninth with a two-run bomb. TIED THE GAME? The Sox were winning? Since when? Since then. Now it was tied.

Five minutes later, I get a text from my Yankee-loving roommate, saying “Walk off!!!” — referring to the game-winning home run hit by Marcus Thames.

Although the days of a Red Sox win or loss actually affecting my mood are long gone, some losses leave a residual sting. Monday night's stung a bit.

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If you haven't been following Dylan Dethier's blog Eighteen in America, get on it. Dethier’s latest blog, detailing his experience as a caddy in the Quail Hollow Pro-Am Tournament, is a great read. 

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To all local parents, coaches or ADs, if you have a cool sports story idea or event announcement, please feel free to pass it along to pronan@iberkshires.com.

 WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The search for the next head football coach at Williams College is over, and the job hunt has ended with a historic hiring.

On Monday, the college officially announced Aaron Kelton as the successor to Mike Whalen, who left Williams in March to become the coach and assistant athletic director at Wesleyan University. Although records at Williams College cannot verify every coach in the program's 126-year history, it is believed that Kelton is the first black head football coach in school — and New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) — history.

Kelton said in an interview Monday afternoon that he has been informed by other sources that he is the first black head football coach in Williams history.

"This is monumental," Kelton said. "I'm elated by it. It shows the commitment Williams has by making sure it goes about the process in the right way, by giving everyone an opportunity. It helps carry on the rich tradition that Williams already has."

In a press release, Williams College Athletic Director Harry Sheehy expressed his excitement in the hiring of Kelton.

"I’m thrilled that Aaron and his wife Charlotte will be joining the Williams athletic family and college community," Sheehy said. "The search committee was impressed with Aaron’s energy and passion for teaching the game of football to young men, and this passion resonated with people on our campus throughout the process. He’ll be a tireless teacher, coach, and recruiter. Current and future Eph football players will be inspired and challenged to reach for their potential under Aaron’s tutelage. It’s with much enthusiasm that we call on him to carry forward the great tradition that is Williams football."

Kelton joins the Ephs after four seasons coaching in the Ivy League at Columbia University — he was the Lions' defensive coordinator for the last two seasons following two seasons as their secondary coach. He came to Columbia after five seasons as a defensive coach at Virginia State, where he spent four as the linebackers coach and one as the secondary coach.

Following his graduation from Springfield College in 1992, Kelton was an assistant at his alma mater, Wellesley (Mass.) High School, for four years and an assistant at Wayland (Mass.) High School for one season. After one season each as an defensive assistant at Clarion and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, he filled roles as the defensive coordinator, defensive special teams coordinator and recruiting coordinator at Concord College (West Virginia) from 1999 to 2001.

The job at Williams will be his first head coaching position.

So the Bruins are wandering into Yankees territory.

Oh well. Should make for an exciting Game 7 on Friday night in Boston. If Philadelphia wins, it'll become just the third team in NHL history to come back to win a best-of-7 series after trailing 3-0. If the B's lose, they'd become the first team — in the three major sports that use best-of-7 (NHL, NBA, MLB) — to lose a series after leading 3-0 since, well, you know.

I hate to pick on the Yankees — actually, I love it — but when the Sox are in fourth place in the AL East, you tend to live in the past.

Coming back from a 3-0 deficit to win a series is remarkable, a statistical anomaly. But there are some stats that I feel are just unnecessary to focus on. In every story I've read about the Bruins-Flyers today, the stat I keep seeing is that Boston is 16-0 when leading a series 3-0. Really?

Two teams in NHL history have come back from 3-0 to win a series. That's a good stat because of the improbability of it actually happening. The Bruins being 16-0? It's a space filler.

And same goes for the Celtics-Cavs series; one recurring stat I'm seeing is that the Celts are 32-1, in team history, when leading the series 3-2.

Those stats look good on paper, but how much do they really matter? Do you think the Bruins will be in the locker room tomorrow night, ready to take the ice, when head coach Claude Julien says "Listen men, the Bruins as a franchise, which existed 50 years before most of you were born, are 16-0 when leading 3-0. So don't fret, we've got history on our side tonight!"

I understand that some players take pride in their team's legacy, but most guys are just collecting a pay check from the club that decided to acquire them. And most will end up playing for another team with a whole new set of historical stats that have no direct bearing on their performance.

Maybe I'm making too much of it, but I just think it's silly that these sort of team-history stats are used in print. They're useless. The city and jersey doesn't make a team more likely —  or unlikely — to win a series. The players who make up the team determine that.