Leave it to the Dodgers

The Associated Press


Vinny always knows what to say.
"Leave it to the Dodgers," LA's legendary broadcaster said after they beat the Angels 1-0 Saturday night without getting a hit.

According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the Dodgers were technically not No-hit because they didn't get to bat in the ninth. I'm sure that doesn't phase them, since every win a light hitting team like the Dodgers gets in a light winning NL West is important. Despite their struggles all season, they find themselves just 2.5 games out of first place.

The pitching is beginning to resemble the dominance we expected at the beginning of the season. Though Brad Penny and Hiroki Kuroda are on the DL, Chad Billingsley (full disclosure: he's on my keeper fantasy team) has given up just 14 runs in his last nine starts, and has pitched at least five innings in every start this season except for his first.

The Dodgers are second in the NL in ERA and first in least home runs allowed.
After dropping five straight, they've won 7 of their last 11 games. In their last three wins, they've allowed a total of 0 runs.
That ERA would be even better if they got to face the Braves with strikeout artist Andruw Jones.
Jones is scheduled to begin his rehab assignments with the Dodgers triple A affiliate in Las Vegas on Monday unfortunately. On the bright side Fafael Furcal and Nomar Garciaparra are also set to play for the Vegas 51s on Monday. Also, Jason Schmidt reportedly threw as high as 91 miles per hour in 2 and 2/3 innings for the 51s against Fresno.
As the Diamondbacks continue to nosedive, and LA inserts players from the infirmary, the Dodgers have a chance to catapult themselves into the division lead before long.


For your education:
At the same stadium where the Euro Cup Final will take place on Sunday, a lot of atrocities were committed.

No flow
Kobe has no response to Shaq's rap.

Not so fast:
It appears the East Valley Tribune may have jumped the gun a little bit. According to a source close to the team, Jennings won't know if he passes the NCAA guidelines for eligibility until July 5th. The source said he's still hopeful Jennings will don an Arizona uniform in the coming season. Stay tuned.

Drafting for Dummies

Upset that they weren't getting calls in the playoffs, the Lakers went out and drafted Joe Crawford with the 58th pick of the NBA draft.
Informed that Crawford was a player from Kentucky and not an NBA referee, since owning the rights to a referee is illegal aside from that game 6 against the Kings in 2002, Mitch Kupchak asked for a draft do-over. He was denied.

Kupchak wasn't the only GM looking for a draft do-over. Crawford will most likely not even make the team, and the Lakers don't really need him. They got the No. 1 overall pick in this draft, and that's Andrew Bynum. 7-foot center, good in the low post, blocks shots, has improved every year. You may have heard of him.

The Lakers will be fine, but other teams won't. Let's take a look at draft and trade mistakes, not in any specific order.

No. 1 Chicago Bulls
They drafted Derrick Rose to fill a backcourt with Kirk Hinrich and Ben Gordon. Only there's two guard spots and last I checked Hinrich was a point guard. With a four years left on his deal and more than $11 million per year due, he won;t be easy to trade either. Before the Raptors got on the Jermain O'Neal sweepstakes, the Bulls could have pulled this off: Hinrich and Drew Gooden (expiring contract) for Jermaine O'Neal.
The Bulls still draft hometown favorite Rose and get the big man they've coveted.
The Pacers take a Larry Bird type player Hinrich, who's white and has proven to be a good citizen, exactly what the Pacers have been looking for since they put together a team full of troublemakers. Plus, wouldn't you rather have steady Hinrich than the oft injured T.J. Ford and the 17th pick in the draft with which they took Roy Stiffert...I mean Hibbert.

No. 2 Charlotte Bobcats
I understand Raymond Felton is no Chris Paul, but he's not terrible. Passing on Brook Lopez to take a future back up point guard in D.J. Augustin makes no sense. New head coach Larry Brown HATES rookies, and is notoriously tough on point guards. I almost feel bad for Augustin who will be yelled at every single day and than rewarded with no playing time. I know the Bobcats are shopping Felton but there's no way Augustin is ready to come in and start.

No. 3 Seattle Supersonics
Drafting the most overrated player in the draft, Russell Westbrook, isn't the answer to help Kevin Durant and the Oklahoma City Sonics. He might be a good defender but he can't shoot a lick and was arguably the third best player on his college team. That's enough to be the 4th pick in the NBA draft?
I'll take proven over potential any day.

No. 4 Los Angeles Clippers

They had to be on this list. I mean, no one has screwed up the lottery more time than Elgin Baylor and the Clip show. Eric Gordon averaged all of 2.4 assists per game at Indiana, can't handle the ball, and struggled in big games. And he's the answer at point guard. My money says the Clippers will be right back in the lottery next year. I do like DeAndre Jordan in the second round though, because if he ever figures out that being 7-feet tall alone won't make him good, he actually has the tools to be a solid NBA center. Big if, however.

Other thoughts:

The Raptors had to get rid of T.J. Ford and I applaud their move because Jose Calderon was head and shoulders above Ford. But I'm curious to see how Chris Bosh and O'Neal mesh together. Both love holding onto the ball for long periods of time and both like shooting 15 foot jumpers. On paper it looks great, especially if O'Neal stays healthy, which is never a guarantee, but on the court this isn't foolproof.

The Blazers will be a playoff team:
PG: Steve Blake/Jerryd Bayless.Sergio rodriguez/Rudy Fernandez
SG: Brandon Roy:
SF: Travis Outlaw
PF: LeMarcus Aldridge
C: Greg Oden

Plus they've been stockpiling assets including trading for Nicolas Batum this year, who I think will eventually turn into a solid NBA player.

I'm not completely sold on the T-Wolves/Grizzlies trade. I would have thought pairing Mayo and Jefferson together makes sense considering you always need a post threat and a perimeter threat. Instead they traded for Kevin Love and moved Al Jefferson to center. Getting Mike Miller, a proven veteran who can score is a nice addition and I would have done the deal if I was the Wolves also. Maybe the Wolves know something I don't about Randy Foye and Sebastian Telfair but for the time being, they are extremely weak at the point guard position. The Grizzlies meanwhile have a nice core with O.J. Mayo, Rudy Gay, Mike Conley, and the steal of the draft Darrell Arthur. So overall, this has the potential to be a good deal for both sides. Mayo, though has a chance to be an All-Star while Love will be a solid player and most likely nothing more.

Starting lineup of guys I hate:
PG: Brevin Knight (Because if u play 15 years in the nba, u should be able to make a 10 foot jumper)
SG: Stephen Jackson
SF: Vince Carter
PF: Rasheed Wallace
C: Shelden Williams

Note: Stephon Marbury was once on this list, but his decision to sell his shoes at $20 a piece, a reasonable price, earned him some respect. Now, I think, he's just lost it, gone off the edge. I almost feel bad for him and his craziness. And he's still a horrible player, has never made his teammates better and is a perennial loser.

Starting lineup of guys I hate in this draft:
PG: Eric Gordon
SG: Russell Westbrook
SF: Mareese Speights
PF: Anthony Randolph
C: Roy Hibbert/JaVale McGee

Draft day highlight:

No question it was the Lopez brothers, although Dick Vitale opening and folding his hands while yelling came in at second place. Not only are they both goof balls and talk like they're from some cartoon, but Brook being wired was the most comical part of the draft. Also, Robin looked like Sideshow Bob from the Simpsons.

Here are a few of Brook's musings.

"Ryan just sent me a text message saying sit up straight."
"I'm gonna be like what's his name, Brady Quinn."
"Who's the management for the Nets?" Upon being informed that Lawrence Frank was the coach, Brook looked incredulous and with an OMG expression moved his head forward and said "Lawrence Frank," in his goofy voice. You really had to see it. I just watched it again since I tivoed draft. It's great every time.

Feeling the lows:

Just three days ago, I wrote that things are becoming to calm down in Tucson. With the shocking return of Chase Budinger, Arizona basketball had a chance to be good. Ummm... think again. Brandon Jennings did not qualify, reported the East Valley Tribune.
It looks now like the talk of him playing in Europe may actually come to fruition.
I also wrote about the Cats lack of depth. Without Jennings, Arizona not only loses a star, but barely has enough decent players to even compete in the Pac-10. It could be an ugly year.

Annual Mock draft

(Note: This is not what I think will happen, it's what I think should happen)

The Bulls are making a mistake if they don't select...

No. 1 Chicago Bulls - Michael Beasley F, 6-7 240 Kansas State

Everyone has jumped on Derrick Rose's bandwagon after the season even though Beasley appeared to be the consensus No. 1 during. Why? Because somewhere in the rumor mill, Rose's character is winning out over Beasley's immense talent.
Forget that Beasley put up ridiculous numbers against a tough Big 12 Conference despite seeing triple teams on a nightly basis and having arguably the worst guards in the league, guys who for some reason refused to give him the ball on every possession and instead jacked up wild threes. Forget that he had the best PER of any college player in the last six years according to John Hollinger.
Forget that he has huge hands, catches everything around the rim, and has a sweet stroke from three.
Forget that he was a model citizen at Kansas State even though he had Bill Walker on his team.
That all doesn't matter because he played a few pranks in high school.
So now, the Bulls who already have a point guard, and one that played for the USA team not too long ago, and who desperately need a scorer inside, the biggest reason they haven't gone anywhere in the last decade, are going to take another point guard.
This reminds me a lot of the Hawks draft three years ago. They took Marvin Williams, the best player on their board and passed up a need position in pg Chris Paul. Williams is going to be a very good player but Paul is great. The same scenario will happen here. Rose will be a very good player, maybe an all star, but Beasley will lead the league in scoring and possibly in rebounding at some point in his career, become a perennial All-Star, and be a great player.

No. 2 Miami Heat Derrick Rose PG 6-2 Memphis

This a two player draft. You can't go wrong with either Beasley or Rose, unless you have an obvious need for scoring inside and you take a point guard (see Bulls, above). Combine Rose with Dwyane Wade and Shawn Marion, and you have a top 4 team in the East. The only concern would be control over the ball. Wade has it in his hands a lot and you'd want Rose with the ball a lot too, but neither of those guys can shoot so they really can't kick it to each other. The Heat need someone like James Posey or Jason Kapono. O wait, they let both of those guys go.

No. 3 Minnesota Timberwolves O.J. Mayo G 6-4 USC
With all the character concerns surrounding Beasley, O.J. Mayo is getting a relative free pass. To me, Mayo is the biggest boom or bust example. He can be one of the next great players in the league or his off court issues could derail his career. The notion that he's capable of playing point guard is mind boggling. When was he ever effective running the point at any point in his college or high school career? He's a natural scorer with a lot of NBA moves, by all accounts a hard worker, has a chip on his shoulder, and is a very good defender (see his defense on Rose in the Memphis/USC game). Team him with Al Jefferson and the Wolves have a nice 1-2 nucleus to build around. Just don't rule out Mayo getting three DUI's in one month during the Minnesota winter, having a Reggie Bush type hoopla surrounding him, or getting in a Ron Artest type melee.

No. 4 Seattle Supersonics Jerryd Bayless G 6-4 Arizona
The Bayless/Kevin Durant pick and roll will be hard to stop. So long as Bayless isn't going left. The ultra competitive Bayless, I would hope has been dribbling the ball with his right hand tied behind his back, because he has all the tools but doesn't go both ways equally, a weakness that will be exploited to the fullest extent in the NBA. I'm still not sold on his ability to run a team yet either. He's a scorer just like Mayo. He plays like Ben Gordon. He struggled juggling scoring and distributing duties at Arizona. He was most effective when teamed with point guard Nic Wise. But out of the remaining combo guards, Bayless is head and shoulders above guys like Eric Gordon and Russell Westbrook.

No. 5 Memphis Grizzlies Kevin Love PF 6-8 UCLA
If you're scoring at home, that's three Pac-10 guys in the first five picks. If Memphis takes Love, they can just have Rudy Gay leak out every time, and have Love throw him a full court alley-oop. That can be their offense. With 94 point guards already on the roster, they have to go big, and Love is a sure thing, unlike Anthony Randolph, DeAndre Jordan, Javale McGee, or any of the other tremendous upside potential guys. He needs to shed a few pounds and get in better shape, but he's the most skilled player in the draft, and he'll be a contributor for a long time. He's the Shane Battier of power forwards. He will make your team better.

No. 6 New York Knicks Danillo Gallinari SF 6-8 Italy

How can one Italian Mike D'Antoni pass up another Italian? That'd be like reverse racism. Foreigners haven't really worked out for the Knicks. Remember Frederic Weis, aka the guy that Vince Carter jumped over. Yeah, he was Knicks property. Also, Milos Vujanic, who started over Marko Jaric on Serbia's national team had his rights held by the Knicks but never came over. I've never seen Gallinari play aside from youtube, but I wouldn't draft a combo guard here when you already have Nate Robinson, Jamal Crawford, and Stephon Marbury. What the Knicks really should do is make a trade.

No. 7 Los Angeles Clippers Joe Alexander SF 6-8 West Virginia

If Alexander is available here, the Clippers won't draft him. They have Elgin Baylor as the GM and Donald Sterling as their owner. Draft decisions aren't exactly their strengths, despite having a lot of lottery experience. I can see the Clips taking overrated Russell Westbrook here, who averaged 12 points a game in college and can't make a jump shot. Plus with Corey Maggette likely opting out, the Clips will lack depth at the three with Al Thornton and no one else.

No. 8 Milwaukee Bucks Eric Gordon SG 6-4 Indiana

I'm not high on Gordon or Westbrook but at this point with Alexander gone, the Bucks need an insurance policy for Michael Redd. I don't see Gordon as a point guard because he's not a very good passer, not a particularly good decision maker, and really regressed as the season went along. Maybe it was the tough coaching situation in Bloomington, or maybe Gordon just isn't as good as he was hyped. The Bucks already have young player along the front line with Andrew Bogut and Yi so I wouldn't take Brook Lopez, the best remaining player available.

No. 9 Charlotte Bobcats Brook Lopez C 7-0 Stanford

Brook Lopez will quickly find out that playing for Larry Brown is no fun. Especially when you're a rookie. But Brown will make Lopez even better, if he gives him a chance that is. Lopez is a good low post scorer, has more toughness than he's credited for, and will be a good shot blocker and defender. He's no 7-foot stiff like Roy Hibbert. Lopez can at least be as good as Kendrick Perkins, but more likely he'll be a 15 and 10 guy by year three. In the NCAA Tournament, Stanford went to Lopez every time down
No. 10 New Jersey Nets Russell Westbrook SG 6-4 UCLA

Westbrook reminds me a lot of Leandro Barbosa. He can kind of run the point guard like the rest of the combo guards but doesn't really look comfortable there. As a sixth man, he'll be able to contribute to a Nets team that will most likely lose Vince Carter to injury at some point in the season.

No. 11 Indian Pacers D.J. Augustin PG 6-0 Texas
Aside from Derrick Rose, Augustin is the second best point guard in this draft, and even he sometimes plays like a 2 guard. Augustin is a terrific shooter, but hasn't showed that he can finish around the rim. He has career backup written all over him, but should be a good backup and a solid shooter for years to come. He'll have a long NBA career, just don't expect him to be the big tease's (Jamaal Tinsley) long term replacement. Expect Tinsley to go down in game 32 and then come back and get hurt four more times, so Augustin will get a chance to play.

No. 12 Sacramento Kings Darrell Arthur PF 6-9 Kansas
Arthur is the sleeper in this draft. He's got a lot of the same skills David West had coming out of college. Good mid range shooter, athletic, understands how to score and rebound. Mario Chalmers, who's overrated got a lot of credit for Kansas' title, but Arthur was the most dominant player on that team and has the athleticism to contribute right away in the NBA.
No. 13 Portland Trailblazers Nicolas Batum SF 6-8 France

If David Stern doesn't come up to the podium and say "There has been a trade, the Portland Trailblazers trade..." I will be shocked. There's enough young players on this team to build around and it's time to add a few veteran pieces. The Blazers still lack a point guard but there's no one at this point who can help them right away or for that matter ever. No point guard remaining will be better than Jarret Jack or Steve Blake, or Sergio Rodriguez even. If the Blazers keep the pick, they might as well draft a Euro and keep him over there until he develops. Batum is athletic enough to play in the NBA and slid because of a poor season in Europe. But he has a lot of potential to be a very good player down the road. The French players have actually turned out very well in the NBA. Look at Tony Parker, Mikael Pietrus, Boris Diaw, and Ronny Turiaf.

No. 14 Golden State Warriors Donte Greene 6-9 SF Syracuse
The Warriors only play games at home, or so it seems, and they only take one kind of player. Athletic wing guys. Greene is that guy. A self-proclaimed great shooter despite taking a ton of bad shots and shooting 40 percent, Golden State is the one place that will allow him to jack it up and not think twice. He's one of the most athletic players in the draft and should fit right in with Cap Jack and Monta Ellis.

No. 58 Los Angeles Lakers Nikola Pekovic C 6-11 Serbia

Chad Ford has the Lakers taking Davon Jefferson of USC, who I think could have been a lottery pick next year without O.J. Mayo stealing the limelight. But Jefferson, who's a 21 year old freshman for a reason, proved that he was stupid again and decided to enter the draft. He could one day turn into a good defender and scorer at the NBA level or have a long NBDL career. At No. 58, you could gamble on him, but I'd rather not waste the 300 grand or so to take him and instead leave Pekovic in Europe for a few years until Vlade Divac convinces him to bring his strength to the NBA so he can be the Lakers version of Luis Scola.

The No. 1 quote of the NBA draft: "It's been a dream since I was a little kid."

Calming down in the desert

Arizona actually looks kind of good for a change. The Wildcats were No. 25 in the preseason rankings on CBS Sportsline, and just received a commitment from 2009 center/power forward Greg Smith, a real big man.

He's already 6-foot-8 and 220 pounds, and look at those actual muscles in the picture, but why is it no surprise that he has academic issues. Despite being a four star recruit and supposedly being recruited by big name programs, it came down to Fresno State and Arizona. Not exactly competing with UCLA or Duke, but anytime a bulky high school kid comes to Arizona, it's a good thing. It's too bad he still doesn't have a big man coach to develop him.

With Chase Budinger's shocking announcement that he is returning to school, and the optimism that Brandon Jennings doesn't go play in Europe (hope he passed that third standardized test),
Arizona's lineup could look like this:

PG: Jennings
SG: Nic Wise
SF: Budinger
PF: Jordan Hill
C: Jeff Withey

Bench:
Fendi Onobun
Zane Johnson
Jamelle Horne
Alex Jacobsen
Brandon Lavender
Kyle Fogg

It's obvious that depth will once again be a huge problem.
Jacobsen is nowhere near ready to play in a Pac-10 game, Lavender and Fogg are more mid-major players than power conference guys, and Johnson looked out of place a lot last season. Which leaves just Horne, who should develop into a top notch defender and good rebounder at least, and Onobun, who's solid when he has his confidence and is out of Olson's doghouse.
That's slim pickings if anyone gets hurt, especially along the front line. Once again, Arizona's is going to have to go small a lot.

It figures that one of the Dodgers in this embarrassing situation was the Dodgers first round pick.

I like the message of the 50 million pound challenge. However, for every one involved with losing the 50 million, I'll bet there's more people out there gaining it right back, plus another 50 million.
America is fat as fuck. Just look at Bartolo Colon.

Name Change

Pacman to Adam, from Thug to Jew.

I do actually have a full time job: Check out my story on Olympian Mike Day.

Look out
for my annual Mock Draft, coming soon.

The Truth Hurts

I always say the worst day of the year is the day when the Lakers lose their final game. This year that day came a lot later than expected at the beginning of the season.
For that delay, I am grateful. It doesn't mean the day hurts any less, however.

A lot of things hurt about the way the Lakers lost to the Celtics. First and foremost is The Truth.
As in Paul Pierce. He completely outplayed Kobe Bryant in this series and deserved the MVP. The Lakers had no answer for him, and that includes the times when Kobe defended Pierce.

Here are some other truths.

• I never thought I'd say this but the Lakers were outcoached...badly.
• Phil Jackson made no adjustments. The Lakers should have had Lamar Odom guarding Paul Pierce, put Vlad Radmanovic on Kenrdick Perkins or P.J. Brown and Gasol on KG. Or better yet, they should have benched Vlad and Luke Walton, and put in Trevor Ariza. They even could have gone big with Ronny Turiaf on Perkins, Gasol on KG, and Odom playing small forward. All those options would have worked better. It would have been worth a try, but Phil just sat on his ass. Pierce may still have won the series for the Celtics, but at least it would have been tougher. At least, Pierce wouldn't have been able to drive into the lane while pressing the Easy Button.
• The Lakers fans (or the people who went to the Laker games in the Finals) were an embarrassment to basketball fans and real Los Angeles Lakers fans.
• The Celtics crowd was terrific.
• James Posey was the X factor. When he wasn't hitting big 3-pointers, he was doing a great job defensively on Kobe.
  
• Pau Gasol was the negative X factor. Sure, Lamar Odom was inconsistent, but he didn't completely lay an egg like Pau who played softer than Charmin. Those sure hands that he had all season completely went away in the finals. At times, he looked like dare I say, Kwame Brown. He even missed an inordinate amount of free throws, a telltale sign that he was nervous.
  
• The game 4 loss was ten times more excruciating than the end of the series.
• Had the Lakers won game 4, they wouldn't have won the series anyway.
  
• Kevin Garnett was hilarious after the game. He was crying, screaming, laughing all at once. I thought he was going to have one of those Kenny in South Park moments where his head explodes.
• Nothing beat the comment "Michelle you look good tonight, girl," to ABC sideline reporter Michelle Tafoya.
  
• Chris Mihm playing a minute in this series is a testament to Phil Jackson having no clue how to beat the Celtics.
  
• I hope Jeff Van Gundy never coaches again. Because he's a great analyst.
• I hope Hubie Brown lands a job somewhere because he puts me to sleep.
• I hate ubuntu.
• Ubuntu worked for the Celtics, who played together all series and showed great passion and heart.
  
• Andrew Bynum will look good in a Lakers uniform standing next to Pau Gasol.
• I wish next season started tomorrow.
  

The Mustard is off the Hot Dog

The Lakers are in the Finals but Chick Hearn isn't there. It's odd. Chick was the ultimate regular at Laker games. He put the Iron Man (Cal Ripken Jr., not the movie character) to shame.
He would have loved this, his wife Marge told LA Times writer T.J. Simers in an article that had me choked up.
Just the other day at work, I was telling people how I think about Chick every game as I listen to one of the worst announcers in sports during regular season games, Joel Meyers.

"I think the kid that does the radio is tremendous and I think Chick would have thought so too," Marge said. Notice how she didn't say anything about the television announcer.

Chick's favorite saying was "since Hector was a pup." Marge's was the "bunny hop and the pea patch."
I liked the "Mustard is off the hot dog," and when people were "put in the popcorn machine."

I miss the words that accompany the game because no one said them better than Chick.
Chick loved the fans and the fans loved him back.
"And he was always proud of the fact that the person who could not afford a ticket could listen to the game and still enjoy it," Marge said. "Those were his kind of fans, those were the ones he loved."

As the Times said when he passed away,
"He always knew what to say, and now we are at a loss for words."

Keys to Game 2 today:

Kobe needs to make some shots. In all three games so far this season, Kobe has been awful. He's 24-72 for a shooting percentage of 33 percent.

Derek Fisher needs more rest so he can be fresh down the stretch. Having him play 41 minutes and Jordan Farmar just seven, didn't help the Lakers in the 4th quarter.

The bench needs to get going. Fifteen points from the Mob, like in Game 1 is not going to cut it.

Trevor Ariza has to play instead of Luke Walton. Walton, 14 minutes, 0 points, two rebounds and one assist in game is an understatement to how ineffective he really was.

Ultimately, with all that said, Kobe needs to knock down his open looks, and all the other factors can be put to rest.

Ray Allen is either pretty smart or is psychic.

"If Kobe doesn't see he needs two and a half good players to be a legitimate playoff contender or win a championship in about a year or two he'll be calling out to Jerry Buss that 'We need some help in here,' or 'Trade me,' " Allen said in 2004. "And we'll all be saying, 'I told you so,' when he says that."

Karma is a bitch. Matt Kemp found that out. He started a fight for no reason (he admitted it was out of frustration) and got his ass kicked by Yorvit Torrealba.

NFL Conspiracy

I usually don't believe in conspiracies but this definitely is a conspiracy.

Check it out:

My article for The Signal Newspaper on Michael Montgomery who was taken No. 36 overall in the Major League Baseball draft.

Stack that Cheese

The blog is back...again. It makes more comebacks than Roger Clemens, although unlike the Roided Rocket, it never misremembers.

I know what you're thinking. Be consistent, write more. I've heard all the criticism. "Did you quit?" one of my friends and loyal readers asked me last week. No, I have not. I've just been on a stacking cheese vacation. See, the problem with having a job where you write is that you're too lazy to write when you get home.

Laziness, it's a trait I share with Andruw Jones. Except, I actually go to the gym and run once in a while.

Anyways, what's been up in the sports world?

Oh yeah, the Lakers and the Celtics are in the NBA Finals. If this were the 80s, we'd be saying what else is new. But we're not. This rematch of the 1987 Finals is huge for the game of basketball. As Magic Johnson would say, the NBA is back.

Kobe's game 5 performance against the Spurs was one of the most amazing I have ever seen. It was Jordanesque. Remember, he scored at will against the best perimeter defender in the NBA. Kobe made Bruce Bowen look like a rec league player. At one point, with about two minutes left, Kobe rolled up his sleeve and then went to work, driving by Bowen and scoring over Tim Duncan.
Kobe is on a mission and he's not letting anyone get in his way. I've said it all year and I'll say it again. We're blessed to watch him play. He's unlike any player in the NBA, in terms of his dedication to basketball and the skill level he has. There's a great article in Sports Illustrated this week about Kobe's competitiveness that I unfortunately can't link because it's not available online.

In the article, it describes how Kobe used to challenge a 5-foot-7 kid named Rob Schwartz to one-on-one contests after practice in high school.
"We'd play games of one-on-on to 100," said Schwartz. "Sometimes he'd score 80 points before I got one basket. I think the best I ever did was lose 100-12."
It also talks about an 11 year old Kobe thinking he could beat Brian Shaw.
Great article and definitely a worthy read.

Like most geniuses or people who are supremely talented, Kobe comes off as a little crazy. His love of the game is over the top. That's what makes him great. There's something odd about the personalities of great people. Eminem is reportedly depressed and was afraid to leave his house despite being one of the greatest rappers of all time. Van Gogh cut off his ear.

So Kobe is obsessed with a sport.
Jerry West called Kobe the hardest worker he's ever seen. His dedication and work ethic is impeccable.
And when the Black Mamba wants to strike, no one can do anything about it.

Arizona basketball

What a mess for Arizona hoops.

Jerryd Bayless punching out Zane Johnson. Lute Olson hanging up on Emmanuel Negedu. Brandon Jennings still not being eligible. Nic Wise considering a transfer. Chase Budinger being brought to tears. The downfall continues.

Tubby Jones watch:
Tubby is out 4-6 weeks with a right knee injury. He's hitting a whopping .165 with two home runs. I feel bad for the Dodgers triple A team when Tubby begins his rehab assignment. He'll mess up their lineup also.