taking a dive is what the brits call match fixing. it is when a player throws a game and intentionally loses. Lebron James is a ridiculously talented NBA player who had an explosive career during the regular season, and yet until this year seemed to have wilted in the clutch moments of crucial big games deep in the play-offs. I believe the brother took a dive because I believe in the conspiracy that the NBA is fixed. In regards to Portugal then the Euro 2012 Semis, I can't say exactly
who took the dive or
how or
when, but my gut feeling watching their meh performance when I know they could have played at a higher level suggested to me a dive, that the match was fixed for Spain.
Oh yeah, and Phil Jackson is a legendary NBA coach who dominated the league in the 1990s and 2000s, winning 3 consecutive championships coaching Michael Jordan's Chicago Bulls TWICE and then winning 3 consecutive championships with Kobe Bryant and Shaq's Los Angeles Lakers and then again getting 2 consecutive championships with the Lakers in 2009 and 2010. Combining that with the two he got as a player in the 1970s for the New York Knicks and Jackson has THIRTEEN championships.
I connected this to Spain because I understand they are the first international soccer team to win three consecutive
international championships, with the Euro 2008 World Cup 2010 and Euro 2012.. That is what in NBA is called a "Three-peat", a term coined by Pat Riley when he as coaching Magic Johnson's Los Angeles Lakers in the 1980s but Coach Riley didn't get a 3peat, but Phil Jackson did, three times!!
I thought he had the first ever, but it turns out I was way off!!
Quote:
Occurrences of three-peats
There have been numerous instances of teams winning three or more consecutive championships in the National Basketball Association, National Hockey League, Major League Baseball and Australian Football League most of which occurred prior to the advent of the term three-peat.
NBA Finals (National Basketball Association):
1952–54 Minneapolis Lakers
1959–66 Boston Celtics (eight-peat)
1991–93 Chicago Bulls
1996–98 Chicago Bulls
2000–02 Los Angeles Lakers
NCAA Division I Men's Basketball
1967–1973 UCLA (seven-peat)
NFL champions (National Football League):
1929–31 Green Bay Packers
1965–67 Green Bay Packers
Stanley Cup (National Hockey League):
1947–49 Toronto Maple Leafs
1956–60 Montreal Canadiens (five-peat)
1962–64 Toronto Maple Leafs
1976–79 Montreal Canadiens (four-peat)
1980–83 New York Islanders (four-peat)
World Series (Major League Baseball)
1936–39 New York Yankees (four-peat)
1949–53 New York Yankees (five-peat)
1972–74 Oakland Athletics
1998–00 New York Yankees
Grey Cup (Canadian Football League):
1909–11 Toronto Varsity Blues
1922–24 Queen's University
1945–47 Toronto Argonauts
1954–56 Edmonton Eskimos
1978–82 Edmonton Eskimos (five-peat)
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Championship
1976–78 Cale Yarborough
2006–10 Jimmie Johnson (five-peat)
U.S. Open Cup
1965–67 Greek American Atlas
2009–11 Seattle Sounders FC
Football League First Division
1924–26 Huddersfield Town
1933–35 Arsenal
1982–84 Liverpool
Premier League
1999–2001 Manchester United
2007–09 Manchester United
La Liga
1961–65 Real Madrid (five-peat)
1967–69 Real Madrid
1978–80 Real Madrid
1986–90 Real Madrid (five-peat)
1991–94 Barcelona (four-peat)
2009–11 Barcelona
Italian Football Championship
1898–1900 Genoa
1902–04 Genoa
1911–13 Pro Vercelli
Serie A
1931–35 Juventus (five-peat)
1943, 1946–49 Torino (five-peat)
1992–94 Milan
2006–10 Internazionale (five-peat)
Fußball-Bundesliga
1972–74 Bayern Munich
1975–77 Borussia Mönchengladbach
1985–87 Bayern Munich
1999–2001 Bayern Munich
Ligue 1
1902–04 Roubaix
1967–70 Saint-Étienne (four-peat)
1974–76 Saint-Étienne
1989–92 Marseille (four-peat)
2002–08 Lyon (seven-peat)
Primeira Liga
1936–38 Benfica
1947–49 Sporting CP
1951–54 Sporting CP (four-peat)
1963–65 Benfica
1967–69 Benfica
1971–73 Benfica
1975–77 Benfica
1995–99 Porto (five-peat)
2006–09 Porto (four-peat)
Eredivisie
1897–99 RAP Amsterdam
1900–03 HVV (four-peat)
1911–13 Sparta
1966–68 Ajax
1986–89 PSV (four-peat)
1994–96 Ajax
2005–08 PSV (four-peat)
Belgian Pro League
1900–03 Racing de Bruxelles (four-peat)
1904–07 R Union Saint-Gilloise (four-peat)
1924–26 K Beerschot VAC
1933–35 R Union Saint-Gilloise SR
1949–51 RSC Anderlechtois
1954–56 RSC Anderlechtois
1964–68 RSC Anderlechtois (five-peat)
1969–71 R Standard Liege
1976–78 Club Brugge KV
1985–87 RSC Anderlechtois
1993–95 R.S.C. Anderlecht
Veikkausliiga
1998–2000 FC Haka
2009–11 HJK
Allsvenskan
1945–48 IFK Norrköping (four-peat)
1949–51 Malmö FF
1985–89 Malmö FF (five-peat)
1993–96 IFK Göteborg (four-peat)
Tippeligaen
1972–75 Viking (four-peat)
1992–2004 Rosenborg (thirteen-peat)
Danish Superliga
2009–11 F.C. Copenhagen
DDR-Oberliga
1976–78 SG Dynamo Dresden
1979–88 Berliner FC Dynamo (ten-peat)
Soviet Top League
1966–68 Dynamo Kyiv
Yugoslav First League
1933, 1935–36 BSK Beograd
1961–63 Partizan
1968–70 Crvena Zvezda
1990–92 Crvena Zvezda
Costa Rica, American Football 1st Div.
2010–12 Santa Ana Bulldogs
English rugby union
1991–94 Bath (four-peat)
1999–01 Leicester Tigers (four-peat)
2003–05 London Wasps
Victorian Football League/Australian Football League
1906–08 Carlton
1929–32 Collingwood (four-peat)
1939–41 Melbourne
1955–57 Melbourne
2001–03 Brisbane Lions
New South Wales Rugby Football League/Australian Rugby League/National Rugby League
1911–13 Eastern Suburbs
1915–17 Balmain
1925–29 South Sydney (five-peat)
1935–37 Eastern Suburbs
1953–55 South Sydney
1956–66 St. George (eleven-peat)
1981–83 Parramatta Eels
All-America Football Conference
1946–49 Cleveland Browns (four-peat)
NCAA Division I Women's Basketball
1996–1998 Tennessee
2002–2004 Connecticut
NCAA Division I Football
1934–1936 Minnesota
NCAA Division I Baseball
1970–1974 USC (five-peat)
Champ Car World Series auto racing
2004–2007 Sebastien Bourdais (four-peat)
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