Online reviews are always a great source of entertainment, and TripAdvisor reviews may be the most entertaining of the genre. There is nothing better than a TripAdvisor post excoriating a dining establishment, to which the proprietor responds with a devastating takedown of the reviewer — often including a description of the reviewer getting drunk, vomiting on the waitress and leaving without paying the bill.         

But recently I stumbled upon a TripAdvisor review that stands on its own by perfectly capturing the essence of a certain type here in Scotland, the persnickety Scottish OAP (that’s British for Old Age Pensioner, better known in the States as a retiree). I was researching the Gordon Highlanders Museum, a must-visit in Aberdeen for any lover of 18th and 19th century Scottish regiments and infantries, which I assume is most if not all of us. The review was not for the museum itself, but rather for the café within the museum.

While I at first scrolled by the review, thinking nothing of it, something made me do a digital double take. Was it the gripping title? The dapper profile picture? The 219 likes? Perhaps. Or maybe, just maybe, it was the fact that one ordinary Scotsman had emerged from the masses and taken it upon himself to take a stand. To query the difference between a cream tea and a cream scone, instead of sitting idly by whilst being robbed of 90 pence. And, most importantly, to epitomize and honor the courage of the highlanders whose museum he had not been round.

The title is perfect, because it makes so clear that the author is completely genuine and not writing the review for attention. At the very least he hopes that someone will read the title and be warned of this potential mix-up on their way to an actual museum review. If anyone reads the rest, great, but it’s just gravy.

Then, our author reveals that he hasn’t even been round the museum, which begs the question of why he was at the museum’s tea room in the first place. My theory is that, at a young age, he reviewed one museum tea room, got hooked, and then realized it was his calling, his passion and his destiny. From that day on, he’s made the ultimate sacrifice by going tea room to tea room, warning us of their hazards while allowing us to experience the exhibits’ wonders. The man likely hasn’t entered an actual museum since TripAdvisor was founded in 2000. But everybody needs a niche.

The stereotype of the cheap and thrifty Scotsman is nowhere more accurate than this review. To our author, 90 pence is the difference between whether or not he observes the gift-giving portion of Christmas this year. Yeah he paid up, and yeah it was delicious, but you’re bloody right he had to punch a couple more holes in the money belt. And then, after all the complaining, he ends up loving the “huge” cream scone and complementing the tea room’s free hot water. But let’s not forget the confusion – it tainted the experience.

With one or two reads of the review, you may allow the waitress to get off scot-free. But upon further inspection, it is clear that she’s horribly unfit and frankly unqualified for her position. Sure, she’d probably say that his accent was incomprehensible or that it was an honest mistake or that he misspoke and did in fact say cream scone in the first place. But this is Alastair N. we’re talking about. Lips with mustaches like that above them aren’t often at fault. The fact that he even considered giving her a tip is heroic in itself.

And then there’s that smug Nigel Thornberry grin coupled with the name Alastair.  If he wasn’t so damn good at museum tea room reviews, I’d say he has an outstanding future as a cartoon detective.

Joking and teasing aside, this is what makes certain Scottish OAP’s so great. They are naturally funny. They’re funny without trying and sometimes without knowing it. Yeah they can be persnickety (such a perfect word, I don’t care how many times I use it), cheap and blunt. But that’s why we love them. Five minutes after he wrote the review, Alastair was probably back at the museum tea room inviting the waitress for a pint. That or he was on his way to his next museum tea room.

Well, a trip to the Gordon Highlanders Museum beckons, and so does a cream tea. Wait, no, I mean a cream scone. Until next time, Black Bears.

When I woke up on the morning of Monday Oct. 2 shivering under the cold, wet Bavarian dawn, with no money in my wallet or recollection of returning to my tent, and minimal time to get to the airport, I knew Oktoberfest had gotten the best of me. But I also knew that I had gotten the most out of Oktoberfest.

Throughout the month of September and into October, there are Oktoberfests held all over the world. The foremost of these celebrations is in Munich, Germany. Naturally, my buddy Lex and I had to make our pilgrimage to the Oktoberfest mecca of Munich. And maybe have a few steins along the way. Our hajj for hops, if you will.

I met up with Lex, a Frenchman I met working at a dude ranch two summers ago, at the Stoke Travel location where we would be staying. My dad found the company online and forwarded me their info, saying it might be a good option. The prices were extremely cheap (we would be staying in a tent), they were a short bus ride away from the festival and they sent me emails starting with “Hey there Legend” and “Are you ready for the hedonistic mayhem that is Oktoberfest?” I put on my Hunter S. Thompson hat and prepped my pen for battle.

The Stoke Travel tent compound was the closest thing I’ve ever seen to what I picture a 1960’s hippie festival would be like. The employees drank beer on the job and some of them seemed pretty out of it. There was a distinct lack of clothing, spanning across all genders and ages. The men’s bathroom had one communal roll of toilet paper for eight stalls, so you had to make sure you knew how much you needed before going in. And surrounding the bar area was a sea of small tents, which were big enough to fit two small air mattresses and protective enough that you woke up with clothes that were just damp, not wet, after a rainy night.

After spending the first night taking advantage of the unlimited drinks package and making acquaintances with people from Austria to Australia, we got up on Sunday, Oct. 1 and headed to the mothership. The surrounding area in Munich was surprisingly quiet, but once we entered the actual festival, we realized why we had come so far. There was traditional music, fine German cuisine and giant beer tents all around. And rides, I suppose for the kiddos. Send them off with Heike the nanny while you drink enough Lowenbrau to get you to the new year.

Lex and I sauntered up to our first beer tent, jittering with excitement, until the security guard saw our Stoke Travel bracelets and said “no Stokes!” Apparently our accommodations had built up quite a reputation. I can’t imagine why they would want to discriminate against those staying at a campsite with unlimited beer and sangria. Surely over-inebriation can’t be a concern!

We spent the rest of the day hopping from tent to tent, listening to live bands, sometimes making it inside a tent to sing and party. The insides of the tent are where it’s popping, but it’s incredibly hard to get a seat. Everybody is up on tables belting out classic tunes and dancing their hearts out while waiters and waitresses scurry around and yell at the people in their way.

It was at the Lowenbrau tent that Lex and I got our true Oktoberfest experience. The tables are big, and since there were just two of us, we were seated with eight other people. With steins flowing, we laughed and joked all night with a Korean guy, some Germans and a couple Brits. It was everything I had hoped Oktoberfest would be. People that would probably never see each other again were just having a good time, enjoying the spectacle of it all and reveling in celebration.

The seasonal cold beckons, and so does some Nyquil — and with it some Nyquil-induced dreams of Oktoberfest (I know Heike the nanny is going to appear in some regard and I’m terrified). Until next time, Black Bears.

In most pubs in Aberdeen, Scotland, there is a dartboard, a pool table or both. Though I haven’t played much darts, I did grow up playing pool at the daycare my friends and I went to until the end of fifth grade. Our daycare provider had a slightly smaller-than-regulation table in her basement, so we would go down there and make bets on pool games involving the loser eating a pre-established number of pieces of the daycare provider’s dog food (intended, of course, for her two Rhodesian Ridgebacks). Gross, I know, but it was the only accessible and acceptable form of punishment we could scrounge up and, in retrospect, it surely put hair on our chests. Thus we quickly discovered a love for Pedigree (an acquired taste we told ourselves, though I don’t think any of us ever acquired it), gambling and, most importantly, pool (between episodes of Saved By the Bell, of course).  After rekindling the fire with a decent amount of time chalking up the cue in bars and saloons in Wyoming this past summer, I was pleased to discover that the University of Aberdeen had a pool society.

It seems almost too good to be true: $10 at the start of the semester and from then on, unlimited pool on Wednesdays and Sundays. The meetings take place at one of two pool halls. The larger one, called Riley’s, is in the center of the city and probably has upwards of 30 pool tables, as well as multiple snooker tables. A game invented by British Army officers stationed in India in the 19th century, snooker is similar to pool but it is played on a much larger table, involves many more balls, and involves a significant amount of strategy. I haven’t been able to play snooker all that often, as it also takes a bit longer than pool, but I look forward to discovering its nuances during meetings to come.

Pool might be the perfect game for a male in his early 20s whose dreams of playing in the NBA fell through but who enjoys competition, a few pints and some good conversation. And by conversation I mean about 75 percent trash talk. It seems every week there’s a president’s game to determine who truly is the president between the two lads who founded the group, and it’s always entertaining and funny. It really is a great time as there are a lot of people from a lot of different countries in the society and it’s really more about hanging out and having a good time than it is about the pool itself. The leaders of the society have done a great job and it’s definitely something I look forward to every week. The game of pool certainly lends itself to the Scottish tendency toward conversation. A game can go as fast or as slow as the two people at the table want it to go. And yes, Mom, there are women there too. Yes, they usually beat me. No, they haven’t shoved dog food down my throat; that was daycare only.

On a different note, I feel as though I’ve encountered noticeably fewer shy people here, which I don’t think is coincidental but rather the product of a culture of people who have both a knack for conversation and a love for it. Even the reserved folks in Scotland have something to say. Small talk is abundant and not seen as a chore. It seems people are more open to sharing their opinions with people they might not know very well, whether it be politics, pop culture or, God forbid, football.

On a rare sunny day, a walk through Seaton Park beckons, and so does a wee dram of Famous Grouse. Until next time, Black Bears.

Being from a rural Maine town, I thought my bus riding career was over after my junior year of high school. That was when I retired from Kathy’s bus and took my talents to my deceased grandfather’s cigarette-scented Hyundai Santa Fe, which I recently totaled on the plains of Saratoga, Wyo. (Although that’s a story for another day, I must pause here for a brief moment of silence in loving memory of Tamantha Mae Santa Fe. To friends and family she was simply “Tammy.”). But now that I’ve been thrust into city life as a study abroad student in Aberdeen, Scotland, I’ve come to rely on buses in order get anywhere further than the University of Aberdeen campus. Frankly, I’m not sure if this marriage is going to work.

Firstly, a tip of the Tam o’ Shanter to all the bus drivers in Scotland. Their ability to navigate extremely narrow cobblestone streets with parked cars on either side is nothing short of astounding. Recently the bus I was on confronted another bus head on and there wasn’t enough room for either bus to go forward. So my driver had to back up about 30 meters (metric ‘til I die) and basically parallel park in order to let the other bus pass. I looked around at my bus mates, feeling an urge to stand up and offer an ovation of some sort for this mind-blowing feat, but it was clear that it would take far more than that to impress them.

The bus requires exact change, which is typically two pounds (sort of like dollars) and 50 pence (sort of like cents), and they also require a familiarity with how the change in Scotland works. My first time boarding the bus I proudly presented the bus driver with what I thought was a two pound coin and a 50 pence coin, but turned out to be a two pence coin and a 50 pence coin. So as he’s sternly explaining in a thick, incomprehensible Scottish accent something that might have been along the lines of “you’re one pound, 98 pence short,” I was just shaking my head telling him that I had no idea what he was saying and what could POSSIBLY be the problem? Finally he took pity and gave me the pass. Know your coins, kids. That being said, where’s the reasoning for a one cent coin AND a two cent coin?

The city of Aberdeen is extremely passionate about its football (soccer) team, which currently sits in second place in the Scottish Premiership. Recently I attended their match against Kilmarnock, a historically lowly side that sits second from the bottom of the Premiership standings. My friends informed me that it could be a bloodbath in favor of the Dons (the nickname given to the Aberdeen football club, likely due to The River Don, which runs through Aberdeenshire and into the North Sea) but it was nothing of the like. Aberdeen struck early for a 1-0 lead but conceded a goal right after halftime. The game ended 1-1, about which the Aberdeen faithful were none too pleased. With about five minutes left in the game, an Aberdeen defender gave the ball up at midfield, which triggered a roar of displeasure from the crowd and an “Oh for fooks SAKE lads!” from an angry Aberdonian at the top of the stadium.  While I wish the lads in red had seen a better result, a stadium full of screaming, angry Scotsmen is worth its weight in gold.

The pool society beckons (more on that next week), and so does a pint of BrewDog. Until next time, Black Bears.

The University of Maine men’s and women’s rugby teams traveled to Rhode Island on April 22 and 23 to compete in the Beast of the East Championships, one of the largest collegiate rugby tournaments in the world.

Both teams returned to Orono victorious, with the men winning the championship game 24-0 against the University of New Haven and the women winning the championship game 17-12 in overtime against the University of Connecticut.

The men faced off against Framingham State University and Salem State University in pool play, defeating the two teams 29-10 and 7-0, respectively.

They then faced UMass Dartmouth in the quarterfinals, defeating the Corsairs 17-10. In the semifinals, they beat Colby College by the same score and then shut UConn out to win the championship.

The women did not give up a single point until the championship game, shutting out their first four opponents by a total score of 143-0.

In pool play, the Black Bears beat Babson 46-0 and Binghamton 21-0. In the quarterfinals, they defeated Plymouth State University 37-0 and then beat UMaine Farmington 43-0 in the semifinals.

UConn would give Maine a contest, pushing the game to overtime, but Maine was able to edge the Huskies 17-12.

It was a good weekend for Maine rugby as the women were dominant and the men are now ranked fifth in the nation by the National Small College Rugby Organization.

Aaron Hernandez’s suicide has brought an end to the saga of one of New England sports’ all time greatest “what if” players. With passing time, it looked like Aaron Hernandez would, for lack of a better term, “rot in prison” as he faded from any sort of significant notoriety. But with his recent actions and the reaction to them, it became clear that all of New England still cares about or has an interest in this man. Why?

After an arrest and life sentence, why couldn’t we just detach ourselves? Why couldn’t we just say goodbye? Apparently, a Pro Bowl murderer is like an old girlfriend; no matter how long it’s been and how bad she treated you, if she calls you, you can’t help but pick up.

The Patriots distanced themselves from Hernandez — largely dumping him early on in the murder investigations. But New Englanders themselves still seem to feel “weird” about Hernandez. Now, we want answers about his death. What was written on the reported suicide notes that he left?

Aaron Hernandez was a Whitey Bulger-like character for Bostonians: someone who gave us some good, did a lot of bad and was sentenced to a life in prison. We’d get occasional updates a couple times a year on something that had transpired in one of his murder cases, but other than that, out of sight out of mind.

Hernandez and Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski were practically reinventing the game when Hernandez’s arrest occurred. Football had never seen a team utilize the tight end position or a two-tight-end set like the Patriots did from 2010-2012. Both Gronkowski and Hernandez could run, catch and block and were dominant physical presences. Hernandez’s performance as tight end number two is one that Patriots Head Coach Bill Belichick still hasn’t been able to replace.

Aaron Hernandez didn’t suffer a career-ending injury (Tony Conigliaro) or not get a chance to showcase his talents (Len Bias). We got a solid sample size from Hernandez (almost 2,000 receiving yards in three seasons). We knew what we had and we were excited about it. But he was forced out of the league because of his off-the-field actions. Hernandez is the perfect example of someone who appears to have had it all and then threw it away.

I think the thing that gets us is the potential. It’s a sad story because of the lost lives, the families affected and Hernandez’s now fatherless daughter. But it’s also the sad story of a talented young man with endless potential throwing it all away because of gang commitments and other complications. We just can’t make sense of it. That any player on any of our teams could be arrested for something at any moment strikes fear in the sports fan part of our heart.  

The University of Maine men and women’s track and field teams traveled to Worcester, Mass. to compete in the Holy Cross Invitational on Saturday. The meet consisted of athletes from Maine, Holy Cross, Stonehill and Rhode Island.

Maine’s lone competitor in the women’s shot put was second place finisher fourth-year Ashley Donohoe, who threw the shot just .03 meters shorter (12.51) than the winner of the event, first-year Shayla Lyons from Stonehill (12.54).

In the other throwing events, it was Donohoe and third-year Rachel Bergeron placing for the Black Bears. Bergeron won the hammer throw (58.11m), while Donohoe took third in the event (44.05m).

Second-years Briana Degone and Kayla Greenawalt finished fourth and fifth in the javelin throw, with throws of 38.43 meters and 34.64 meters respectively.

In the long jump, second-year Ariel Clachar beat out Holy Cross third-year Alanna Hitscherich to win, with a distance of 5.61 meters.

Second-year Olivia Wallace and fourth-year Kayla Marquis tied for fourth place in the pole vault with vaults of 2.75 meters.

In women’s running, second-year Lauren Magnuson won the 200-meter dash in 25.78 seconds. First-year Cassidy Hill placed fifth (26.36 seconds) and fourth-year Teal Jackson placed seventh (26.49) in the event.

In the 1500 meter, the top Maine finisher was fourth-year Naomi Holzhauer, with a time of 4:52.46, good for seventh place.

In the 800, first-year Tiffany Tanner finished three seconds behind Rhode Island second-year Katie McNulty for third place (2:15.09).

In the 400-meter hurdles, first-year Brittany Torchia (1:08.15) finished sixth and third-year Synclaire Tasker (1:11.16) finished seventh.

On the men’s side, first-year Branden Kuusela finished fourth in the 110-meter hurdles (16.74 seconds) and first-year Camden Cleathero finished sixth (16.91 seconds).

In the 1500 meter, third-year Jacob Johns earned the Maine victory with a time of 3:56.43. Third-year Logan Moses came in third in the event (4:02.59).

Maine secured a 1-2 finish in the 400-meter dash as fourth-year Jake Osborne (50.10 seconds) and fourth-year Joseph Slattery (50.26 seconds) grabbed the top two spots on the podium.

In the 200-meter dash, Maine grabbed the three spots with third-year Mozai Nelson (22.79) in first, Slattery (23.16) in second and first-year Erick Seekins (23.27) in third.

Second-year Aaron Willingham finished second in the 5000 meter (14:54.02), followed by third-year teammate Joshua Horne in third (14:57.48) and fourth-year teammate Justin Tracy in fourth (14:58.83).

Maine finished first in the 4×400 relay with a time of 3:24.88, three seconds faster than second place Holy Cross.

In men’s field events, Maine third-years Jeremy Frantz (14.76 meters) and Adam Lufkin (13.90 meters) came in first and second in the shot put.

In the discus, fourth-year Shane Corbett came in first with a throw of 44.94 meters. Lufkin followed Corbett in second with a throw of 42.39 meters. Corbett finished second in the hammer throw (42.33 meters).

Maine now looks ahead to the Penn Relays in Philadelphia on Thursday, April 27, after which they’ll head to the University of Massachusetts on Saturday, April 29.  The UMass meet will be the final competitive chance for the Maine athletes before conference championships the following weekend.

The University of Maine men’s and women’s track and field teams traveled to the University of New Hampshire on Saturday, April 15 for the Wildcat Invitational. Athletes from Maine, New Hampshire, Bates College and Merrimack College competed in the invitational, with Maine athletes on both the men’s and women’s sides faring well.

On the men’s side, third-year Mozai Nelson finished first in both and 100 and 200-meter dash, finishing in 11.28 seconds and 22.60 seconds, respectively. In the 100, Nelson was followed by first-year teammate Erick Seekins, who finished in 6th place (11.74) and in the 200, he finished four spots ahead of first-year teammate Andrew Clement (23.43).

In the 400-meter dash, Maine grabbed the top two spots as fourth-years Jake Osborn (49.70) and Joseph Slattery (49.94) finished within .24 seconds of each other.

In the 800 meter, it was third-year Jacob Johns finishing first for the Black Bears and fifth overall with a time of 1:56.07, followed by second-year Tucker Corbett, who ran a time of 1:56.94.

In distance, Johns and fourth-year Jesse Orach led the Black Bears. Johns finished first in the 1500 meter with a time of 3:56.49 and Orach led the pack in the 3000 meter, finishing in 8:36.06. In the 3000-meter steeplechase it was Levi Frye finishing in second place for the Black Bears with a time of 9:38.59.

Maine also finished first in both the 4×100 relay and the 4×400 relay.

On the women’s side, first-year Cassidy Hill won the 100-meter dash, coming in with a time of 12.41, while fourth-year Grace MacLean, second-year Lauren Magnuson and fourth-year Teal Jackson, finished in 2nd, 3rd and 4th place respectively, in the 200-meter. Hill finished fifth.

First-year Tiffany Tanner placed first in the 800-meter, finishing with a time of 2:17.34.

In field events for the men, fourth-year Assad Hicks finished first with a jump of 1.95 meters. He was followed by first-years Camden Cleathero and Troy Davis, who both jumped 1.85 meters and tied for fourth place.

In discus, fourth-year Shane Corbett brought home first place, throwing the disc 46.34 meters. Third-year Adam Lufkin and first-year Jacob Stanko followed him in fifth and sixth place.

Third-year Thomas Murray finished second in the hammer throw to UNH’s second-year Jonathan Chapman, throwing the hammer 52.11 meters to Champan’s 53.81 meters.

In the men’s javelin throw, Maine’s Kelby Mace finished in the top spot with a throw of 62.82 meters.

In women’s field events, second-year Ariel Clachar won the long jump with a jump of 5.65 meters.

In the shot put, Maine fourth-year Ashley Donohoe and third-year Rachel Bergeron grabbed the top two spots. Donohoe threw 12.61 meters while Bergeron threw 11.93. In the discus, Donohoe and Bergeron finished third and fourth, respectively.

Bergeron won the hammer throw with a throw of 59.09 meters and Donohoe finished third with a throw of 45.31 meters.

In the javelin throw, second-year Kayla Greenawalt finished third with a throw of 34.22 meters while fellow Black Bear, second-year Briana Degone threw the javelin 33.97 meters, good for 4th place.

The next chance to see both the Maine men and women in action will be Wednesday, April 19 when they head to Worcester, Massachusetts for the Holy Cross Multi-Meet.

With the NBA season coming to a close, the table is set for the Oklahoma City Thunder to play the Houston Rockets in the first round of the playoffs. This should excite any basketball fan, as the seven-game series will feature this season’s two best players going head-to-head in Russell Westbrook and James Harden.

Both Westbrook and Harden have been the talk of the league all season, both making their cases for why they should be the MVP. And it’s still up for grabs among MVP voters as to who should get it. Harden has reinvented himself at the point guard position and Westbrook has had one of, if not the best statistical season of all time, averaging a triple double with three games left to play.

It’s a shame MVP voting can’t happen after this series, because it will hopefully make the case clear. Two men who carry their teams are going head-to-head at the same position in a league where exciting first round matchups can be hard to come by.

The Rockets are known for getting out in transition with a fast-paced style and there is no better player in the NBA to counteract that than Russell Westbrook. Westbrook is seemingly tireless and can grab a rebound and head the other way in a flash.

The Rockets won three out of the teams’ four matchups in the regular season and the Thunder will be coming in as the 6-seed to the Rockets’ 3-seed. James Harden has become one of the league’s elite passers after being moved to point guard from shooting guard this season by Rockets head coach Mike D’Antoni. The Rockets trail only the Golden State Warriors and the San Antonio Spurs in wins this season, with 53. The Rockets have also averaged 117.1 PPG at home and 113.4 PPG on the road.

After a recent loss to the Phoenix Suns, Russell Westbrook was accused by the media of going for assists to pad his triple-double rather than trying to score to help the team win. Westbrook responded by saying, “If I wanted to get 10 assists, I can get 10 assists.” Those are the words of a man with a lot of confidence heading into the postseason – a scary sound for the Rockets.

The series could likely turn into a shootout, with the Rockets letting Westbrook do what he does to an extent and then trying to outscore the Thunder on the other end.

While both teams have their stars at the point guard position, the series will ultimately be decided by the players around them. Look for the Rockets’ perimeter shooting and Thunder’s size down low to be the teams’ respective advantages. If the Rockets can make shots, they will be tough to beat, but the Thunder have the size to dominate them in the paint.

These two teams going head-to-head could turn out to be one of the best series of the 2017 postseason. Two of the league’s best players, both without a championship, fighting to get to the second round has the makings for must-see television.

If you’ve ever played organized sports at any level, from 5-year-old recreational soccer, to high school sports, to even the pros, you’ve seen a mom or dad who takes the game a bit too seriously.

Oftentimes these parents can be tough to watch — getting too worked up about a call, being too hard on their child after the game and just overall being a little bit too involved. We now have one of those parents consuming the news and it’s not good for him, his children or the game of basketball.

Lavar Ball is the father of projected top three NBA draft pick Lonzo Ball who, after leading UCLA to the sweet sixteen, has declared for the 2017 NBA draft. Lonzo’s brothers, LiAngelo and LaMelo, are still in high school but have verbally committed to play basketball at UCLA.

Lavar Ball has been outspoken in the media, even going on the popular sports debate show in “First Take” to not only speak for his children (and boast for them) but more so to talk up his own hypothetical athletic feats, one of which was that he could have beaten Michael Jordan in a game of 1-on-1 basketball when Jordan was in his prime.

We’ve seen all seen a father (OK, it’s not always a father but it usually is — testosterone working its wonders) take the fun out of the game for his child. And the crazy thing is that Lonzo’s play, for the most part, has backed up his dad’s talk.

Ball was arguably the best all-around player in college basketball this season (14.6 ppg, 6.0 rpg, 7.6 apg). There aren’t many children-of-psycho-dads whom you can say that about. And he seems like a humble guy, never saying outlandish things to the media or bragging about his abilities. He seems to want to play his game. So maybe his dad’s talk doesn’t affect him.

But even if it doesn’t bother him, it will surely bother his NBA teammates who are forced to answer questions from the media about a rookie’s obnoxious father. Players are treated a certain way in a high school locker room if their dad won’t shut his mouth — imagine what it’s like for grown NBA players, who then have to answer questions about it in press conferences.
In fact, after Lavar came out and said that it must be hard for LeBron James’ son to grow up with expectations to be like his father, LeBron responded by saying, “Keep my kids’ name out of your mouth, keep my family out of your mouth. This is dad to dad. It’s a problem now.” Certainly not a friendly conversation by any means.

People are taking Lavar Ball’s comments with a grain of salt and that’s not a bad thing. But there’s a short shelf life on his act and that shelf life can’t possibly carry on for many more years.

His next oldest son, LiAngelo, is a senior in high school and next year he will be playing for UCLA as a first-year, just like Lonzo was this year, which ultimately means more Lavar Ball in the spotlight. His youngest son in LaMelo is currently a sophomore at Chino Hills high school and is also committed to UCLA. The best question is not whether basketball fans can take another decade or more of Lavar Ball. It’s whether his sons, their teammates and their coaches can.