I hope I don't wake up to a horse head in my bed

By: Jeff Girouard

After avoiding all things sports for the last 14 hours, my anger has subsided. Hoping to find a clearer perspective on just what the hell happened in that Laker loss to the Cavs last night, I've come to some rather unsettling conclusions.

Three days before the start of the season, Rasheed Wallace had these comments regarding last season's Eastern Conference Finals series:"This game ain't basketball anymore, it's entertainment. It's starting to get like the WWF. There ain't no real wrestling anymore either. It's all fake."

I did not take these accusations as lightly as some television pundits, who dismissed his reaction as simply "'Sheed being 'Sheed." It's unfortunate that his reputation, has soiled his credibility. He may be a little extreme in his assessment of the current state of officiating in the NBA, but there are certainly nuggets of truth in that statement.

Has the game really become predictable? Will championships and playoff series continue to be decided from the charity stripe? Look I understand superstars get special treatment, that ratings are important and that invested interests usurp what is actually happening on the floor. I get it I'm a Laker fan. I remember game 6 of the '02 Western Conference finals against the Kings. I remember that phantom call against the T'Wolves in '04. That being said, does our acceptance of these factors really make the NBA fan base anymore naive than, say, pro wrestling fans?

Heres a rundown of the last 3-4 minutes of last night's ballgame:

With 3:16 the Lakers have a 2 point lead 90-88 and 2 fouls to give. Kobe draws a blocking foul trying to take a charge on Larry Hughes in the backcourt. There was little contact on the play and Kobe didn't force Hughes to lose his dribble. The play was probably a no call, but still reasonable. Not 5 seconds later Derek Fisher is called for a ticky-tack blocking call on Daniel Gibson. Again, probably a no call, but just like that, Cleveland is shooting free throws the rest of the game. Fast forward to Lakers last chance to tie or win the game, with the score 92-90. On the long rebound (a completely free basketball) Fisher secures the ball with both hands, but a mid-air collision with Daniel Gibson leads to the game ending loose-ball foul. GAME ENDING LOOSE BALL FOUL??

My initial response to those questionable calls were: a) Sad, but predictable and b) We should get some calls like that in the rematch in Los Angeles. I don't think I was the only one with these immediate reactions, which disturbing. Its really unfortunate that the psyche of the NBA fan has devolved to the point that we must even consider such a subplot. Are we as fans doomed to face a never ending cycle of give and take, when it comes to officiating?

Sad.

Oh yeah and the spread on last night's game... had the Cavs favored by 2 at home.

The LA Sports Blog: What's that all a-boot?

By: Jeff Girouard

After being up by as many as 11 in the first half, the Clippers squandered yet victory, falling 80-77 to the Toronto Raptors. With Elton, Sam, and Shaun Livingston all out with injuries, the Clippers have really struggled to find their way offensively this season. They are certainly still a talented group, but the lack of a dominant personality on the court has turned this team into a bunch of freelancers, a professional pick up team.
I thought the Brand injury might finally afford Corey Maggette the opportunity to maybe, possibly be “the guy” on this squad. However, nagging injuries have kept him from entering that Richard Jefferson, Josh Howard territory. Currently, the Clippers are a team in search of an identity. That frame of mind leads players like Tim Thomas to bank home a three one possession and on the very next play pull up from 30 and launch another long 3 off the back iron, at a critical stage in the second half, no less. No continuity, no balance to the attack

Two stats were killers on Tuesday: free-throw shooting and team turnovers. At home, on a night when perimeter jumpers just aren’t falling (a meager 39% from the floor), you’ve got to get to the line. Chris Bosh finished with 24 and 9 for the Raptors, but struggled from the field (a pedestrian 6-22). Bosh made it to the line 16 times and Toronto as a team shot 12 more free throws than the Clippers, which in a 3 point loss is critical. The other stat that jumps out is the turnover category. Los Angeles didn’t have an overwhelmingly high number of giveaways (15), but the Raptors certainly took care of the ball, as the Clippers forced just 6 turnovers on the evening.

On a related note: Jose Calderon is really, really good. Calderon continues to make me look like an NBA fantasy genius, as his 12 points on a super-efficient 4-6 from the floor, 6 boards and 9 assists (and 0 turnovers) lead the way for the Raptors. And to think I was able to pick this kid up Week 3 off the waiver wire, in a 12 team league.

NBA -Thy Name Is Andrew Bynum

By: Nate Gordon

When the petulant, spoiled and possible sexually impotent son of the owner of your hometown franchise drafts a 17 year old out of the Draft Night bleachers, your bound to have a few restless nights. When you pay $2000 a night for floor level seats, your questioning your investment. When your the star of said franchise, you stop macking on the chick who works the register at the Dolce&Gabana store at South Coast Plaza to say "What the F%$@"??? That spoiled, alleged Enzyte user is jim buss, that kid is Andrew Bynum and that superstar is Kobe Bryant.

However that spring night in 2005 seems like a distant memory, and the shy loppy man-child has grown into a true NBA center, in the mold of his mentor Kareem Abdul-Jabar. His minutes have increased week by week and therefore his conditioning has improved. The love shown by Phil Jackson has allowed young Master Bynum to flourish defensively. He's been averaging 10 rebounds a game and over 2 blocks. Over the last 2 games he's recorded 10 blocks! (6 last game, 4 this game) Bynum recorded over 40 minutes in tonight's 12 point win over the Bulls (103-91) and helped the Lakers improve to 15-9. This was the first time Bynum recorded over 40 minutes in a game in his career. He's producing nightly double doubles and uncanny defensive ability, proven last night in containing Chris Kaman, and his dominance over Chicago's "defensive" big men posting 12 points, 10 rebounds and the aforementioned 4 blocks.

With tonight's win, Andrew has proven himself against Ben Wallace, Marcus Camby, Jermaine O'Neal, Sheed Wallace, Yao Ming, Carlos Boozer and Amare Stodemire. I think it's safe to say that Andrew is among the leagues 2nd tier of Centers and is only going to get better with each passing game. If you haven't taken notice, look out now because LA's "Baby Showtime" is starting to grow into it's own.

e-mail: LASportsblog@gmail.com

LA Sports Blog: Lakers Prevail in Hallway Brawl

By: Jeff Girouard

So in an attempt not to pull a jinx of monumental proportions, I decided to hold off on any predictions about Kobe’s health in a Weekend Laker Report until I got to see him play on Sunday. Well after intense around the clock therapy, Bryant went and dropped 32 on the hapless Clip show in a 113-92 Laker victory. "We did a good job staying on top of it and making sure that it was good enough for me to go out there and play and help the team. I didn't sleep. I was doing therapy for 24 hours, iced it down, had a weight-training session for my legs, kept stretching and doing what I needed to do.”

He didn’t sleep.

Are you kidding? Without naming names, I ask: Would your franchise player go to such lengths in a 36 hour period, just to play the Clippers? The man treats DNP’s like the plague. He had decent elevation of his jumper and seemed pretty active on D. By the second half he was skying for rebounds (8 on the night) and sinking ridiculous and 1's. Critics will question his shot selection until the day he’s enshrined in Springfield, but no one can ever question his toughness.
After a hot start the Clips have struggled as of late. A quarter of the way through the season and Elton Brand’s absence has taken its toll. Even in Brand’s “down season” in 06-07, you could pencil him for 20 and 10 with a couple blocks. Chris Kaman has filled in admirably this year and as the Clipper’s most formidable post option you knew he was going to come out firing Sunday. Chris ended up with 18 points and 16 rebounds in the loss. His 20 year old counterpart grabbed 9 boards and had 14 points on an efficient 7 of 9 shooting. Though statistically Kaman may have gotten the better of him, Drew’s defense including 6 impressive blocks proved to be the difference. His length challenged Kaman from the outset, forcing him to miss 7 of first 8 shots. As a result, the Lakers were able to build an early cushion and never really looked back.
Luke Walton also had a nice game shooting a solid 6 for 6 from the floor. In Friday’s loss his over-dribbling and ill-timed turnovers cost the team down the stretch. He’s also struggled shooting the ball this season so Sunday’s perfect night had to have boosted his confidence a little.
I’d like to acknowledge the play of Sasha Vujacic. Yes, the Sasha Vujacic. He has certainly endured his lot of hecklers and criticism in his short professional career, but believe it or not his play this season has been...gulp... not bad. He’s actually putting up some decent numbers this season. After cleverly flying under the NBA radar for the past few seasons as a shoot first point guard that couldn’t shoot, Sasha has reclaimed his shooting percentages and is starting to see regular playing time. He’s shooting 45% from the field and a respectable 38.5% from the land of three. In the post game interview Sasha revealed the secret to his most recent success.“Whenever he (Coach Phil Jackson) gives me that confidence that I can let it go and play certain minutes... between 15-20. I’m happy and I like to develop.” There you have it folks. Contrary to popular belief, Sasha Vujacic does in fact like to develop...and he wants 20 minutes a game.

The LA Sports Blog - Bowlin', Sackin' and Cadillacin'

By: Nate Gordon

The temperature in Los Angeles is lukewarm according to the thermometer. If you were to stick your toes in this pool you’d say out loud: “Ew, that’s kind of icky.” But that doesn’t keep us Angelinos from frolicking silently in this mildly hot stew.

It’s happened again to Dodger fans as Ned Colletti did his infamous ‘GM Two-Step’. Andruw Jones comes to Los Angeles with the promises of an influx of power and defense being injected into the Dodger line up. His reputation would indicate that the Dodgers got an upgrade from Juan Pierre in Center Field. Jones is 30 and the man boasts so many Gold Gloves he could keep an orphanage warm all winter. Despite major drops in offensive production last season he still had more HRs (26 to 20) and RBIs (94 to 87) then any everyday player on the Dodger roster last season. However, his average (.222) was the lowest in a season in which he plays everyday and Strikeouts (138) where higher then his hits (127) for just the first time since his rookie season. Why am I not only the only person concerned about this, but the only person talking about this??? The Jones signing might improve the Dodgers defense but I expect his offense numbers to continue to tail off and the Colletti ‘GM Two-Step’ will be in full force again.

We jump in the Cadillac and cruise from Dodger Stadium up the 2 Freeway to the 210 where we quickly find ourselves in Pasadena and the Rose Bowl. The University of South Central… er, Southern California has secured their 6th straight Pac-10 Championship and another trip the Tournament of Roses. This time they will take on unlikely Big Ten qualifier Illinois. John David Booty has played increasingly more composed as the weeks since his injury have past; pair that with a USC defense that has matured into one of the most dominating units in the country and you have your Rose Bowl Champion. I like Illinois and I think they have a lot of talent on the offensive side of the ball, but all it takes is USC to force a couple of turnovers and this game can get away from the Fighting Illini in a hurry.

The team and usually calls the Rose Bowl home, UCLA have fired Karl Dorrell for not meeting program expectations. Pundits across the nation have defended the job Dorrell did at UCLA. In fact, they have defended him so well he is likely to be the next future-fired-coach of Duke. I understand and appreciate the job that Coach did while he was at UCLA but it simply wasn’t enough. People have looked at me like I’m crazy “he never had a season where he missed a bowl! What more do you want from UCLA football?” I’ll tell you what I want; I want UCLA to be in the national picture right there with USC 7 out of every 10 seasons. When you sit every season and watch USC tear apart mid and top level SEC and ACC teams in non conference play year in and year out and UCLA struggle and lose to the Oklahoma States’ and Utah’s and Fresno States’ of the world it gets annoying and frustrating. While USC is winning multiple Pac-10 championships, UCLA is playing in the Las Vegas bowl and the Sun Bowl. It’s as simple as this: when you share a city that doesn’t have pro football with a national powerhouse in college football – you better get results, or your ass will be in the unemployment line. (I didn’t even mention Dorrell’s 1-5 record against USC.)

Back at the start of the month I wrote about the Clippers fast 5-2 start and their favorable schedule, implying that they could play themselves into a position to make a run at a playoff spot. Well after injuries to Corey Maggette and Cuttino Mobley the Clips pissed away their soft schedule and now sit at 8-12, which would make them 3-10 since that article. The Clippers now have 4 road games in a row (@ NJ, Charlotte, Memphis and LAL) then a home game against Toronto before back to back road games at Dallas and San Antonio and a home/away series against Phoenix. Life as a Clipper fan has to be a rough one…

Meanwhile a quick memo to the Lakers front office: Do not… I repeat DO NOT give up Jordan Farmar or Andrew Bynum for anything that is currently on the market including Jason Kidd. Both kids are proving to be blue chippers, especially Farmar and it would be foolish to blow up a team that is playing great team basketball (not usually said about a team featuring Kobe Bryant) and is going 10 deep every night. Usually this means Kobe playing under 40 minutes a night and multiple starters finding themselves in double digits in the points section of the box score. Andrew Bynum is averaging 10.9 pts, 9.7 rebounds, and 2 blocks a game in 26 minutes. The kid already has 10 double-doubles including all 9 of his starts. Farmar averages 20 minutes a night and has yet to start but contributes invaluable ball handling and leadership skills off the bench. Add to that 9.8 pts, and 3 assist a night and he is making a solid contribution. Oh and guess what folks, these two aren’t going to get worse.

On some personal notes, Orange County Angeles fans: We don’t care about Hunter. We don’t care that we didn’t get A-Rod because you didn’t either. Hell guess what Orange County, the only thing that makes us pay any semblance of attention to you at all is the fact you force yourselves upon us with absurd market sharing that the MLB defrauds the Dodgers with. The Angels aren’t located in Los Angeles or Los Angeles County, so why do the Dodgers have to share their market, and in turn their market revenue? It makes no sense to me. I don’t get excited about a team without a tradition or identity. The club was more popular for “Angels in the Outfield” then anything they did on the field prior to 2002. Now you got 1 world championship that’s becoming more and more in the rearview and a couple of stars and now we are suppose to care when I get e-mails like: “We got Hunter and are a lock for a playoffs, how do you like NOT having A-Rod, or Santana?” I like it just fine thank you, because you’re basically irrelevant as a rival. The AL is much better then the NL so naturally the Angels will get over on the Dodgers in interleague (something I don’t care for) so you can dance and hold that over our heads. I’ll allow the multiple championships and pennants, not to mention to reputation of “The Ball club others should strive to be like” keep me warm at night.

On another side note, I’d like to respond to this: “You don’t update your webpage 3 times a day, so how are you a Sports blog? I mean, I want my LA sports news and pictures! And I want it everyday.” Okay, fair enough buddy, I’m not Perez Hilton. I don’t sit around touching myself to gay website all day and make a bunch of useless bullet and link post about every little thing going on in LA Sports. Hell if I update my site more then twice a week it’s something to write home from war about. I guess it’s more of an opinion column or editorial, except it’s not published in a newspaper or magazine publication. You know what? I don’t care, because even unpublished I think I’m one of the top editorial writers that no one is publishing.

Oh and the final note to leave you all on – I was listening to Stephen A. Smith’s radio show while driving to get my check this morning and I got to admit that I agreed with a lot of his rant. He was talking about Author Blank’s “fried chicken and fries” comment regarding Michael Vick’s jail time. Smith articulated: “I’m not ashamed that I love fried chicken, and no one should be. I was depressed for nearly a month when the doctor said I had high cholesterol and couldn’t eat fried foods anymore… Mr. Blank ‘’’should’’’ know better then to use a statement that some have found to be sensitive. But I hardly find his using “Fried Chicken” in this context as insulting. There isn’t anything racial or wrong in Mr. Blanks statements… he spoke ad lib in an on the spot interview and if that’s the worse that comes out of his mouth, I’ll take it.” I’ll take it too Stephen A. When I heard him on air I didn’t think twice about it. I use to have a coach (black man mind you) who would lambaste all the unfit players about their cultural eating habits. He’d let me know that I had to lay off the fried stuff, and suggested to my Latino teammates to push away the tamales. Did we find this offensive or racial? Not at all, these are the things we like to eat and we aren’t ashamed of them, they are what they are. LaDanian Tomlinson reiterated Smith’s feelings while doing his weekly interview on the Steve Mason Show on 710 ESPN Los Angeles: “Nah, I didn’t find the statement offensive, I love fried chicken. If you’re ashamed to love fried chicken, then there is something wrong with you. But Me, you can sign me up for that fried chicken in a quick minute,” I don’t even have to say anything.

So I’ve laid the table for debate and disagreement, but unlike Joe Grande or Petros of 570 KLAC Los Angeles, I don’t make arguments against myself for 15 minutes just to fill a segment. I actually talk about relevant stuff, heads up 570AM management…

E-mail: LASportsblog@gmail.com
LAFanblog.blogspot.com

In The Spirit Of Thanksgiving...

Hey All-

A fellow writer has fallen on some hard times as the holidays have approached. He's a talented guy and I stumbled across this at ArmchairGM.com this morning. If anyone has any possible way to contribute, even if it is re posting this message where someone who could possibly help would see it; that gesture would be greatly apperciated. This is the day where we reflect on what we have to be thankful for, let's give Andrew something to be thankful for today by doing something small in our lives, that my be large in his:

Notice Yesterday we were served with an eviction notice with 48 hours to pay or move out of our apartment. Just in case we can't come up with the money I wanted to let the readers know what happened if there are no more posts forthcoming from Baseball Etcetera.

If we cannot come up with the money by tomorrow we may be forced to move out with only the barest necessities. If there are no more posts I want to thank everyone for reading Baseball Etcetera which started in May of 2004.

May God bless each reader if we are unable to write again. There is still a slim chance of not being evicted but as of today the future looks very bleak.

Thank you for understanding,
Andrew

It is my belief that a purpose of ArmchairGM was to help nurture and cultivate new writers with the hopes and aspirations of one day becoming a professional journalist.
For some of us, including myself, that is not a reality. However, Andrew Godfrey has an ability to concisely articulate the current sports' scene (especially towards baseball) with statistical supporting evidence along with drawing upon a lifetime of experience.

In his time here at ArmchairGM, Andrew has been an invaluable member to our community. He needs our help now. Yes, it is Thanksgiving and perhaps not the most convenient timing for our own personal family celebrations and holiday festivities. But take a moment and just imagine yourself in his position right now facing a 48 hour eviction notice just received the day before Thanksgiving.

We can help.

The following link provides all of Andrew's work here at the 'Chair: http://www.armchairgm.com/Category:Opinions_by_User_Niteowl049

As you can well see, it is quite impressive in quantity and quality. Andrew would be an asset for any sports blog looking for a columnist to provide its readership an accurate recap of the previous day's sporting activities along with insightful commentary.
For those curious about his past, please read the following:

Served in Hawaii and Vietnam with the 25th Administration Company of the 25th Infantry Division from June 1963 till May 1966 as a postal clerk. Retired newspaper production worker having worked 36 years for Alexandria, Louisiana Town Talk. Have been fortunate enough to see Mickey Mantle, Roger Maris, Ted Williams in baseball games in Kansas City back in the 60's.Also have seen Elvis Presley, Beach Boys,Righteous Brothers, Ernest Tubb and Loretta Lynn,Merle Haggard, Buck Owens,Johnny Cash and seen Julie Newmar, Stefanie Powers and Sue Thompson in person. Enjoy southern gospel music especially the Dove Brothers Quartet. Like listening to old time radio shows from the 30's, 40's and 50's and like easy listening music by Diana Krall and Frank Sinatra. Emails can be sent to Niteowl049@msn.com

When his country called upon him, Andrew gladly served his country. For some of the younger readers here at the ArmchairGM (and Cyberspace in general), that may or may not be fully appreciated. However to some of us older folks, that selfless act of courage and bravery will never be forgotten nor unappreciated. Plain and simple, Mr. Godfrey deserves a shot. If you are reading this message (because many of us here at the 'Chair are hopeful that this message will reach several message boards, sports blogs and websites) and are in a position to make a difference for a person overdue for an opportunity, Andrew is your man.

In the following comment section below, please post why Andrew Godfrey (aka Niteowl049) deserves his moment to shine. Think carefully before you type. Your words will have a dramatic impact upon a reader deciding whether or not to provide Andrew his rightful opportunity. And be fully aware that this is not a trite matter of fulfilling some personal quest. The man is in need of emergency assistance of real life financial difficulties with a consequence of not even having a roof over his head tonight.

Think about it. And do the right thing.

-Tyrone Briggs, (Tyrone is the Jaythejoke.blogspot.com creator and all around cynic and Jay Mariotti bloodhound.)

Don’t Look Now: Clippers 5-2 and ready to explode.

By: Nate Gordon

(Los Angeles, Ca) – I stood with you all at the wake, black suit, bow tie, clean hair cut and fresh black Nikes to lay at the memorial. It was August 5 when I wrote this obituary on Elton Brand, and therefore the Clippers 2007-2008 season: “It's difficult to imagine, much less believe, that after all these seasons of almost iron man like service that Elton Brand would succumb to an Achilles injury. Mr. 20-10 as I like to call him, Brand has been a faithful servant to the Clipper fan base for the last several years and before that was the clear superstar on a horrid Chicago Bulls team… It is very possible that Brand will only be a shell of his once dominating presence on the boards and his mid-range jumper and first step will most likely be off. With all those inhibitions stated I can only hope that Brand will come back 100% and I wish him a speedy and full recovery. ” I also mentioned the Willie Mays like break down of Sam Cassell’s body and that Shawn Livingston was still out indefinitely. But did the Clippers listen to me or anyone else writing them off as a top 10 lottery team this season? Not at all, they’ve instead looked towards role players who are finally stepping up as big time performers and have the Clips at 5-2. I submit to you 3 players who if they continue to produce at this level will likely keep the Clippers in the playoff race all the way through April.

Cuttino Mobley: Mobley has been unconscious to start this season shooting 59% from the field and 43% from behind the 3 point line. Averaging 16.6 ppg and 3 assist a night in only 27 minutes of floor time, the man is being efficient also contributing 3.6 boards a night. If Mobley can stay healthy and contribute at this rate all the way through the season he can help tip a few extra wins in their direction.

Chris Kaman: There is solid contribution, and then there is the slack that Kaman is picking up where the Brand Void is. Kaman is a career 9 point, 7 rebound a game guy, he can contribute, but he’s not going to change any games. However Kaman has been an absolute force in the middle for the Clips to start the season. Chris is averaging 18 points, 14 rebounds and 2 blocks a game. He’s being a dominating presence on both ends of the court and with only 3 fouls a game he’s able to go 37-40 minutes a night. (Only 10 more minutes a night then his career average, so he’s also being efficient with his minutes.)

Tim Thomas: Because of Brand’s injury, Thomas has had an expanded role this season and his numbers improving with his extra minutes, shows that he’s starting to earn his paycheck. The Tony Yayo of Basketball (because he does that stupid crap with his hands) is going for 13 points and 6 rebounds a night, up from his 11 and 5 respective numbers from last season. However this season will ride on if Thomas can improve his numbers into the 15/8 range or if he regresses as the season drags on to lower numbers when the team needs him the most.

Bonus Reason: The Schedule: So far the Clippers are 5-2 currently and are only behind Phoenix in the Pacific Division, tonight they play at the 0-6 Warriors followed by 1-6 Chicago tomorrow night at home. So the Clips can build up to 7-2 before the schedule hits a rough patch of: Denver, at Phoenix, New Orleans, Houston and at Denver. Splitting the Denver games and taking 1 of the 3 others leaves the club at a respectable 9-5 before the schedule gets really sweet, at home vs. below .500 Indiana and Milwaukee before going to 1-8 Seattle and 2-6 Sacramento. Then it’s Miami, New Jersey and Charlotte. Can you remember the last time the Clippers had a realistic chance to start 15-6? Yeah, I don’t either.

Am I saying that the Clippers are for real, or that they will be in the final 4 teams come June? No way, what I am saying is watch out because at some point this team will get Elton Brand back and if they can build on a fast start, the sky is the limit for the other team in Los Angeles.

e-mail: LASportsblog@gmail.com

Why Trade Kobe Whe Other Options Aren't Exhausted?

By: Nate Gordon
Since the NBA Finals the only story in the Association bigger then the referee betting scandal are the trade rumors surrounding one Kobe Bean Bryant aka Black Mamba. Pundits have flip flopped non stop for nearly 5 months telling the world first that Kobe is untradable, then he is the only player every team in the league has to make a move for, and again he isn't worth trading for. This week Chad Ford of ESPN.com explored the idea that Kobe isn't the most desirable or talented player in the league. In the article, Ford uses John Hollinger's PER system, as well as another websites plus/minus stats breakdown to support his point. While I appreciate and respect Chad Ford's opinion, I must purpose a caveat, Kobe Bryant is not only the most desirable player in the league, trading him is both impossible and preposterous and the Lakers are not only at fault, but should of been focusing on getting Kobe help all along.
Kobe Bryant posses the Associations only no-trade clause, the most powerful contract weapon a player can have in their business arsenal. If the pieces aren't in place with another team, Kobe would rather stay in Los Angeles where his family is happy. Would it make any sense for him to uproot his whole life to move into the same situation he is currently in while playing for the Lakers? The Lakers brain trust (if you can all these incompetent men that) led by the Owners son, Jim Buss require any other teams major pieces in a trade for Kobe Bryant. Obviously they don't want to repeat the nightmare that was the Shaq trade (Lamar Odom, Curon Butler and Briant Grant for Shaq, the literal .75 cents on the dollar.) However any trade in which that much talent leaves a team that Kobe goes to in return will be vetoed by the Black Mamba. So what should the Lakers do? What they have done all along, make a public announcement that Kobe is going no where until '09 when he can opt out of his contract, and do everything they can to help Kobe win.
Some people will argue that Kobe is too much of a distraction to keep around, I would strongly disagree. When Kobe re-signed before the '04 season Jerry Buss promised him that he would surround Kobe with enough talent to win another championship. In 2004 the Lakers started Chucky Atkins, Bryant, Butler, Odom and Chris Mhim. You would believe that Atkins and Mhim don't play defense because it is against their faith, Butler needed another year to develop and the bench depth was as frail as the starting depth on the court. In 05 and 06 the Lakers rolled out Smush Parker (the first downgrade a team has suffered after starting Atkins) Bryant, Luke Walton, Odom and Kwame Brown (who they traded Butler for in the off season.) Kwame's hands are smaller then mine, and I'm a foot smaller then him, making him next to useless offensively, the young Andrew Bynum and Ronny Turiaf are young, under developed big men and the questions remained at the Point. Bryant is looking around through 3 seasons and realizing that management have actually regressed, not progressed the squad around him. Frustrated by feelings of losing and betrayal Kobe made his move, he spoke out and demanded that if the team wasn't going to hold up their end of the bargain, then maybe it was time for the relationship to end.
Naturally everyone ignored the feelings of betrayal and lies that the Buss family had fed Bryant 3 years before, focusing on the endgame trade demand. Kobe didn't turn around and start complaining after 1 season, he gave them 3, 3 full seasons to show him that they were committed to the promise they made him and they should no good will in that effort. Kobe spoke up and finally the management began to respond. Instead of letting Derek Fisher go to New York or the Clippers, the Lakers took advantage of Fish's family situation (one we hope is resolved and Tatum Fisher returns to full health) to bring Fisher back home to Staples Center. With the point guard depth and leadership solved you would expect the team to try and fix the issues in the front court; instead they focused on trading Kobe.
The rumors and talking radio shows finally got to Jerry Buss, he was sick of being painted as the bad guy in Los Angeles. He's Dr. Jerry Buss, he's brought countless championships to Los Angeles and he is going to have his ego and ability challenge by 1 player? Hardly. Dr. Buss let his ego get the best of him and decided that the situation was all about Kobe leaving, naturally Dr. Buss again missed the point. So what is the point, and what should the Lakers do instead of this dance of death with the leagues most feared talent? Use what they have to get Kobe the on-court help he desires.
Kwame Brown is in a contract year in which his salary is about 8.8 million dollars. As the trade deadline nears, and with the Lakers crowded in the front court, it would make sense to use Brown's expiring contract and Luke Walton's deal to get Josh Smith from Atlanta, a highly talented defender and team player. Atlanta doesn't want to pay Smith what he will be worth when his contract is up and getting the cap space from Browns contract can be appealing. Smith could seriously upgrade the Lakers at the 3 spot and give Bryant the "Scottie Pippen" he desires. With Odom and Turriaf at the 4 and Bynum's improved play backed up by Mhim at the 5, I see this as an improvement. It may not be an ideal option but it's the first step in the right direction, the direction the Lakers should of headed down in June.

e-mail: LASportsblog@gmail.com for more visit www.ArmchairGM.com search user: LASportsblog or www.RootZoo.com search LASportsblog

Brooklyn Born ~ Joe Torre press Conference, Mattingly and Bowa also in.

By: Nate Gordon

(Los Angeles, CA) - I was disappointed Sunday night when I received news that Joe Torre's Dodger Stadium press conference was set for 10 am PST. There would be no way I could be at the stadium to cover the press conference and get to work on time, wasn't going to happen. Lucky for me ESPNews is covering the press conference so I can bring you a running journal of it. So I'll cut the crap and get to the cream:

10:10- Vin Scully opens the press conference with a few statements about Torre:
"...5 times and All Star, Gold Glove winner, MVP and as we all know as a manager 12 consecutive seasons in the playoffs and 4 World Series. So we firmly believe that his day will come when he goes to that pretty little town in Northern New York, called Cooperstown - that'll happen. He embodies all of the values that define the Dodgers at their best, and as someone that has known him for many many years I can't tell you how happy, delighted I am that he'll finally wear the Dodger uniform. It's only right since the roots of the franchise's roots are also his roots, the borough of churches, the borough of Brooklyn So right now to introduce to you a man who's organization has made this bold move and dedicated it really, to the millions and millions of Dodgers fans out there waiting to win again, the Owner and Chairman of the Dodgers, Mr. Frank McCourt."

10:15- McCourt comes to the podium and promises the fans Championships won the Dodger way for years to come and all the other stuff owners say. McCourt is a good owner, a competitive Boston Real Estate developer with deep pockets. My fondness towards McCourt just goes to show contrary to some misconceptions I don't dislike everything Boston, and never have. But I can't do anything about people who are busy being insulted. After gushing over Joe for a couple of minutes McCourt finally introduces him.

Joe - "Wow, this has been wild here, the last two weeks have been a whirlwind for my wife Ally and myself. You say goodbye to one prestigious organization and say hello to another prestigious organization. Growing up in Brooklyn as Vinny was talking about, I might as well get this out real quick okay. I grew up with, 4 brothers and sisters, we had the Giants the Dodgers and the Yankees, we were pretty spoiled in the East. I have managed the Yankees and now I get to manage the Dodgers and I was a Giants fan, and I want to apologize for that now, I want to get that out real quick."

Cute Joe. Get it out of the way like anyone really cares that you were a Giants fan as a kid. Your a Yankee and we would hold that against you first, but your also a winner so that is clearly more important. Torre continued:

10:20 - "...This is one of a handful of organizations that you automatically say yes to or are interested in going to, and I'm not just saying that obviously because we are sitting here today in center field where Willie Davies use to catch everything I hit. Although I did hit one out over there (pointing towards left-center) off of (Don) Sutton one time. So it was okay, yeah. But the fact that when I think of the Dodgers I think of pride, I think of efficiency I think of measuring stick. I've been fortunate as a manager over my years to have a number of ex-Dodgers I had Rube Walker... 8 years with Don Zimmer that I wouldn't wish on anybody. But Zimmer and every single one of them would talk about their Dodger days. Jackie (Robinson) and Pee Wee (Resse) and Duke (Synder) and Gil (Hodges) of course Sandy (Kofax) and Don (Drysdale). It was just ingrained what the Los Angeles Dodgers, previously the Brooklyn Dodgers meant to the game of baseball. You always measured yourself by what the Dodgers did because they did everything right. They dealt with a lot of class that you use to look up to."

Joe continues to talk about how special he thinks the organization is. Telling a story about Tommy Lasorda and another about Vin Scully, both which were amusing, we can thank Torre for making them both short. The press conference rolled along pretty standard from there. Torre talked about getting to know his new team and focusing on putting together a championship product.

Then Torre and 10:30 said something important.

10:30 - "We do have two coaches already in the fold. Larry Bowa and Don Mattingly who follow me from New York We're gonna work hard folks, we're gonna work hard... it's great being here thank you."

Torre then put on the Hat and #6 Dodger jersey that looks slightly awkward at the moment, but will be more then comfortable in short order. Colletti of course appears on the scene for the photo opp. It was a good press conference, a fairly short press conference and the Torre Era has officially begun in Los Angeles.

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Little Resigns, Torre In. A-Rod, Shilling to Follow?

By: Nate Gordon

(Los Angeles, CA - AGM Exclusive) The rumors had raged across Los Angeles even quicker then last weeks wildfires. They spread so fast in fact that, before Joe Torre had boarded the jet heading for Tampa with Brian Cashman, we in the local media started wondering if the Dodgers commitment to Grady Little would be reconsidered if Joe was available. I went so far as to write this last week: 'The sports equivalent to watching your best friend date your sister and pretend like it's no big deal is being a Dodger fan watching Ned Colletti pretending like Grady Little as our manager is no big deal. Granted I will have to concede that the '07 Dodger collapse can hardly rest on the shoulder of Little alone, but his managing style had a lot to do with it. Grady is a laid back, roll with the punches type of guy, not too much upsets his 'apple cart' and he does little to upset the ship as it sails.' We were all disgusted by the Dodgers losing 11 of their last 14, while Jeff Kent whined and cried and pissed and threw a 6 week fit, destroying locker room chemistry. A change was needed in the Dodger clubhouse and with Joe Torre unemployed and the Dodgers his childhood team, it seemed obvious that they would fire Little and go after Joe. But Grady wasn't pleased with his situation in the organization, with the whispers of Torre's arrival in Los Angeles lurking over his shoulder, Grady took a few moments to reflect on the previous season. Injuries and malcontent veterans on his roster were wearing on him in the second half of the season. Even if the Dodgers stood true to their word and these rumors were just that, rumors, Grady would be on the hot seat all season. An early season skid would see his job all but terminated. Grady saw no need for all that stress and hardship in his life, realized he could negotiate a severance package and resigned. It was the classy thing to do, it was the right thing to do and as always, Grady has found a way to not upset the ship as it sails.

While listening to 'The Big Show with Steve Mason and John Ireland' on 710AM ESPN Radio Los Angeles yesterday, they piped into the Ned Colletti/Grady Little conference call at 4:00 pm PST. Grady stated himself that he was resigning and that the decision was mutual. Ned Colletti had this to say: '"It's a difficult thing for many of us, Grady's a man I'm very fond of and I have grown very close to him these last few years." Grady also contributed: "It's something that had to happen at this time, it's better for this organization. I got so much respect for this organization... it's something me and my family have talked about, we've included Ned in our conversations and it's the decision we made." When asked what he plans to do in the future Grady simply stated "I'm going to play with my grand kids, a lot." I wouldn't be surprised if Little ends up in the Dodger front office in the future.

Colletti was as ambiguous as your buddy who hooks up with the ugly frat girl and doesn't want you to know about it when talking about hiring the Dodgers next manager. A fellow writer from the Orange County Register (I couldn't hear their names over the radio, not like it's important, he's from Orange County) grilled Colletti over hiring Torre. Ned only had this to say: "We haven't hired anybody. We'll talk about it at a later date." That later date apparently was today, as Torre and the Dodgers are currently in negotiations.

I also wrote last week: '''That 3rd base question is a big one, with the Dodger looking for someone with both All Star defense and power. The answer that makes the most sense when not talking about money is Alex Rodriguez. A-Rod would receive all the attention and endorsements he could ever ask for by coming to the Entertainment Capitol of the World.
However will Frank McCourt be willing to shell out the $27-30 million a year that would be required over the next 7-10 years to put A-Rod in Dodger Blue?''' With Torre all but signed on to be the Dodgers skipper, it would seem obvious that Donny Ballgame would come along to be the bench coach (Don's Son Preston Mattingly is in the Dodger Farm system as well). Both men have very good relationships with A-Rod which should give McCourt even more incentive to fork over the monetary compensation that he and Scott Boras demand.

Today Curt Shilling was also associated with the Dodgers as one of the teams he would be willing to play for next season. With 3 World Series rings already on his hand, would Shilling be willing to take less money to come out to Los Angeles to play for Torre, along side A-Rod for a legitimate shot at a 4th championship? It's fun to talk about and kick around, a Dodger offseason with that much impact would rival what Danny Ainge and the Boston Celtics did this summer.

It's been 50 years since the Dodgers left Brooklyn for Los Angeles, Walter O'Malley gave us a gift, it's time for Joe to come home, 3000 miles away.

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The Pride and Shame in Being a Fan and a Writer

The LA Sports blog is undergoing some changes, some growth and some development… no it’s not puberty, although I sometimes wonder if Jeff shaves, if I had to guess I’d say no. Also no, we are not all appeasing Matt Berson and converting to Judaism, no matter how many of their holidays we use as excuses for time off. If those loaded words I began with don’t mean crap to you without a bit of context let me fill you in. The other two writers on staff are doing big things in our local university area. Matt created the “Rec-Sports Newsletter” last year with our friend Farva and the publication has exploded. From a 2 page bi-monthly pilot newsletter it has grown into a UC Santa Barbara supported and privately sponsored university publication. Matt and Farva hired our other LA Sports Blog writer Jeff to join the squad; I can’t blame either of them because it is a paid writing position. This might lead you to ask “what about you Nate, why aren’t you on the staff”? That’s a good question; I’m not currently enrolled at UCSB that’s why. So Matt and Jeff will do special pieces for the LASB from time to time but for the most part they will do their Rec-Sports Newsletter which can be accessed at www.recsportsnews.com

It’s been a depressing week to cover LA Sports, with USC and UCLA coming off losses the only peace can be found in the fact that the Orange County Angels have been eliminated from the playoffs, good riddance. Oh and for goodness sake

The Lakers have started pre-season workouts and exhibitions in Hawaii, while the Clippers have set up shop here in Santa Barbara. We had plans to send a reporter to cover the Clippers camp at Santa Barbara City College, however those plans were reconsidered after we sent Farva to interview Mike Brown, Cleveland Cavs head coach for Rec-Sports and his best question was “Is LeBron James really any good”? We apparently aspire to be Jim Gray around here.

The important thing about this is that the Lakers look pretty good with the return of D. Fish being the catalyst for a much improved ball-handling unit. Javaris Crittenton looks like a player who has been in the triangle his whole life. This shouldn’t be surprising because he and Dwight Howard won a state championship in high school running the triangle through Howard, led by Crittenton. What is surprising is how good Crittenton is at making plays on his own, taking on defenders and penetrating thus vastly increasing his options with the rock. Kwame still has tiny hands but the return of Chris Mhim will reduce the minutes we put at-risk having Brown or the depressingly soft Andrew Bynum (he’s a MAN and a professional athlete, I’ll call him soft.) It’s not so much Bynum’s personality that is soft, it is unwillingness to lay claim to the key on both ends of the floor, establishing himself as the dominating presence on the floor. Can this change? Yes, but this season is a make or break season and we will see if he is making significant process in the first 20 games.

Circling back to USC I boycotted watching them this week as I was so disgusted by last week’s mediocre effort against the Cardinal that I didn’t want to be subjected to the Mark Sanchez show, a QB who’s only play of note before this game since graduating from Mission Viejo High School is being accused of sexual assaulting a girl. The charges didn’t hold up, but Sanchez did as he did just enough to help #10 USC defeat Arizona 20-13, led by Sanchez’s game winning 4th Quarter TD pass to Fred Davis.

I can’t believe I just wrote the preceding paragraph about USC. The team that has since ’02 produced Palmer, Lineart, Fargas, Cassell, Bush, White, Mike Williams, Lufa Tatupu and TP42 himself is struggling to beat Arizona in the middle of October with a back-up quarterback that looks painfully average for a top tier D-1 program. Matt Cassel sat behind Palmer and Lineart, never able to call the Trojan offense his own, yet he was still so talented that he was drafted by New England in the 6th round. I don’t think Sanchez, or John David Booty for that matter would go in the 6th round of the World League draft.

That’s enough, I can’t bash anymore, I don’t think I can do much better then saying Booty and Sanchez wouldn’t make the world league, even Kevin Kiely played in the World League, although he pretty much stunk the joint up himself, at least he has Emmys in broadcast journalism. (This is like the Pulitzer equivalent to winning for best writing by a writer who doesn’t really do writing. That’s not fair, that should only be said about TV “Journalist” where Kevin has done a lot of hard-hitting stuff on the radio. So although the awards are justified and deserved, they hold little weight.

Is there anything you’d like to see more of, or changed about LASB let us know, we love your feedback when we get it, expect for those AGM guys… nah just playing. I assume by the low number of votes I get for my pieces that either A. The guys there don’t like my writing or B. They aren’t interested in LA Sports.

Here they come…. The Random Rants:

-The writer who compared the passionate and big-hearted Mike Hart to that of the heartless and money chasing A-Rod was displaying is lack of common knowledge. Moreover comparing a PROFESSIONAL BASEBALL PLAYER who plays like Cal Ripkin but has the heart of JD Drew to a COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYER who plays like DeShaun Foster and has the heart of Beowolf ready to lead his troops into war is like comparing an autistic music artist to Picaso, they are judged completely differently. And I think A-Rod might be slightly autistic, just a hunch.

-Yea that was a Beowolf reference, what’s more appalling to me is that there is a Beowolf moving coming out soon. Are we lacking so much creativity and work ethic in this nation that we are reaching that far into the Shakespeare play list? Seriously, Beowolf, what’s next King Henry VIII?

-People who were complaining about USC dropping to #10 in the polls are people who don’t watch USC or haven’t watched them in the last 5 years. When looking at the last 5 years of USC teams that were ranked #1-5, all of them are head and shoulders better then this team. Hell if you look at the teams ranked #1-5 this year I’d say they are all currently better teams top to bottom then USC, but then again what do I know, I just watch them every week. (Expect for this last one when I boycotted)

I’m over it, enjoy until next time.
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The Worse Day In LA Football History

By: Nate Gordon

As a Los Angeles writer I sit in awe, absolute amazement. I'm going to have to hear the ATH guys, 15 article on AGM and every sports talk show in LA talk about "The Play" and the coaching genius of Jim Harbaugh. The thought of the Cardinal being in position to win at the Colosseum in the 4th quarter is nauseating enough, I don't need people telling me about a play that Haurbagh should of never been in a position to call. Fact of the matter is, unlike the Chicago Bears, the Trojans aren't who we thought they were. They don't have the championship drive that the teams earlier in the decade had. I don't see a Palamalu/Palmer combo of leaders who are all-Americans and have that heart of a winner. Neither do I see a Bush/Lineart combo of explosiveness. This Trojan team is a team of really good players who have no identity and they have yet to give us one. This team fluctuates from half to half, some Saturdays quarter to quarter. Still on the schedule are trips to Oregon and California before a season finale at the home against UCLA. Those are three losable games and while I trust Pete Carroll to get the ship straight for a 10-1 season and trip to the Rose Bowl; the possibility of 7-4 has to be addressed individually, how do you react as a fan when your team starts at #1 and ends 5-4 in the Pac-10.

While that upset shook South Central, the Bruins were experiencing their very own nightmare up the 710 at the Rose Bowl. Notre Dame and Jimmy Clauson of Thousand Oaks, an LA suburb came in and kicked the crap out of UCLA 20-6. What the hell am I suppose to do now? I was given a 2 team teaser by Gavin Smith for 5000 bucks with a 20 point spread to the LA teams in each game. I might as well jump off the Hollywood sign if I'm the generic compulsive Los Angeles sports gambler. However, I'm not and no one in their minds would of given me a 2 team teaser with SC and UCLA this week so I'm just a really pissed off fan. The Dodgers choked outta the NL race, SC are a bunch of lost players, Karl Dorrell can't coach out of a paper bag, and the

Angels are alive and kicking in the playoffs. I hate Orange County, that may be beyond the point but do I care? I'm really cynical enough before all this crap.

Oakland is one play from being 3-1 this year, Denver is 2 plays from 0-4, San Diego is 1-3 and Kansas City is one NFL Apparel Children's Fashion show from Herm Edwards resorting to doing a terrible job preparing the team and their season going to shit. Daunte Culpepper doesn't have his accuracy back yet but he is making plays and that's what's important. I keep hearing people ask the question in their blogs: How will Dom Rhoads complement Justin Fargas in the running game? Excuse me, let me clear my throat and proceed to smack and down body slam these fools. Justin had a great half last week, a career half as a matter of fact, but it was against an run defense so shameful JJ Arrington could of busted off 125 and a TD. Justin is an exciting kid in spurts but he can't carry the load and we've seen this before, mainly because he's prone to fumble. LaMont Jordan has used the bye week to properly prepare his back for the long haul and Fargas and Rhoads should split carries to spell LaMont and keep him healthy.

Alright it's time for Random Thoughts: These are thoughts about things going on in the world because I'm cynical of most crap out there and I know that my thoughts commonly spark conversation. That conversation usually has an opposing viewpoint; I set to crush viewpoints while promotion conversation - the contradiction continues.

-In some suburban LA cities, the city counsels want to impose laws that ban smoking everywhere within the city limits, including your own home. I remember the teachers in my public schools growing up preaching pro-nanny state lectures to the class and now city counsels want to do the same thing and I have this to say to them: Get out of my life. It isn't governments duty to rule how we live our lives. If you want to smoke within your own home or in an open air area then by my guest, it's your life. Government should never impose law on our personal choices.

-I'm sure all of you have heard of the Jena 6, well now there is a black girl here in Palmdale, CA. who got out of control during a high school food fight and was restrained by a white campus security guard. Al Sharpton rolled into town with his crap a couple of days ago and said that "This girl was only guilty of 'Going To School While Black'" and that the security guards actions were 'worse then the actions of the Jena 6'". Does this guy listen to what he says? I'm sure he doesn't, Al Sharpton is practically menstrual comedy and a parody of our Civil Rights activist of yesteryear. How is a security guard restraining a girl who is flailing and screaming in the middle of a cafeteria food fight worse then 6 kids beating up another, regardless of race or social status. When you add race into it how is hate crime retaliation not as bad as a security guard doing his job when the girl was clearly a threat to other students well being? This is a joke, I almost don't want to touch the 'Going to School While Black' thing. What the hell Al, that is so embarrassing for you to say. He doesn't even know what happened, he got a phone call saying a little black girl was hurt while being 'assaulted' by a big white security guard and he comes and and does his little speech and checks all the mini-race cards off the list. A 'while black' accusation, an exaggerated injury, a big white man at the center of the alleged problem who acted upon his alleged 'racial hate'. It all makes me sick, shame on you Al Sharpton, your not a voice of my people, your merely a washed up Apollo acted who runs for camera time.

Okay, I think 2 random thoughts will do it, I'll blog again this week because I've been lacking due to laptop issues. Think about this until next time:

Going into Saturday: Notre Dame and Stanford combined record 1-10. UCLA and USC combined record: 10-1.

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It's Called Fall For Falling On Your Face

By: Nate Gordon

Those good 'ol Bums. Once falling on their face at Ebbets field now imploding this fall in Chavez Ravine and on a TV or Radio near you. While I gotta sit by and listen to the band wagoners awake for another Orange County/ Golden State Angels playoff run, me and the rest of Los Angeles are stuck without October baseball. The Dodger pitching staff has been lackluster the last 2 months and the bats have been far from consistent. This shit hit the fan and the the whole second half of the season was summed up by Jeff Kent's remarks on 710ESPN with Kevin Kiley (D'Marco Left the show for opportunities in the NFL and good luck to him. Kevin isn't liked enough to be a sure thing in the time slot so they didn't name the show after him, I find this funny.) Jeff stated "...some of the younger guys didn't approach this last Rockies series like professionals and it showed... now we are out of the race..." The Dodgers were cleaned out by the Rockies and the D'Backs and are all but eliminated from playoff contention. Like they always say Dodger Fans, Wait 'Til next Year.

In other baseball news Milton Bradley tore his ACL while being tackled by his manager who was trying to restrain him during an argument with the 1st base umpire. I almost am lost for words about this, after watching the video several times it seems like the 1st base Ump says something pretty offensive because the 1st base coach for SD goes to get in the Umps face instead of turning to restrain Bradley. Things got escalated and as the skipper tried to hold Bradley from going after the umpire Milton's knee gave out and he collapsed onto the field. This whole story is something that could only come out of the 'Dennis Rodman/Carl Everett/J.R. Rider/Milton Bradley/Albert Belle/Kyle Turley/John Rocker File'. You never hear about Ken Griffey getting picked on by an ump to get his blood boiling, then having his manager so worried about Jr. going after the ump that he tries to hold him back resulting in an injury. You don't even hear about this happening to Sheffield, only someone like Bradley could be this ridiculous. The question is now how is Bradley's career affected and how might he be compensated for this freak accident?

Switching sports quicker then Smush Parker can turn the ball over I got a thought or two about Lovie Smith and the Bears situation. All the NFL experts and pundits have been writing in their articles and blogs and saying on TV that Lovie has to bench Rex. In every one of these 'original' pieces they mention how loyal Lovie is and how he needs to quit his loyalty and make a switch at quarterback. I'm going the other way with this, Lovie Smith is a loyal man by nature, it's part of his personality. If Lovie feels that his team is better off with Grossman at quarterback then I support his decision to keep 'Sexy Rexy' under center. Smith has to bring his locker room together and unite them behind Rex otherwise he might have some trouble, but don't change who you are as a coach to appease the pundits, stick true to yourself Coach.

How do I spell vindication? K-I-F-F-I-N. After last Sunday's debacle in Denver i went to Gillis's place to collect on a debt of 20 dollars owed by one Steve Dodge thanks to a 5 1/2 point spread bet I took in the Raiders/Broncos game. I was met with Dodge's 'all hail Shanahan' cack riding for an hour and not one dollar from his Hebrew hands. Despite my argument that Kiffin makes sound adjustments and had engineered back-to-back comebacks Dodge brought up the damned timeout and debunked my 'Kiffin is a good coach' argument. I thought this was stupid that a good move by Shanahan would mean that Kiffin was a bad coach, but most things in Steve's world make little to no sense. Either way Kiffin pulled the same move on the Browns this week that Shanahan pulled last week and when I called Steve to talk trash and feel vindicated I found his phone going straight to voice mail, that a boy Steve, showing those true Blue and Orange colors.

A quick final note on the Raiders, their next 4 weeks are @ 0-3 Miami, BYE, @1-2 San Diego and H vs. 1-2 Kansas City. The Raiders could be 3-3 after 7 weeks, in '06 they were 1-6 and in '05 they were 2-5. Also I love how aggressive the secondary players are but Michael Huff has to read the play fake better because he left the DBs without inside help on 2 occasions in which Derek Anderson couldn't convert.

All stats in the next section are from NFL.com

My top 5 Quarterbacks through 3 weeks -

AFC:
1.Tom Brady
The numbers and SC highlights say it all.

2.Carson Palmer
9 TDs and 300+ YPG/AVG.

3.Peyton Manning
1 INT 66% comp + 873 yds

4.Matt Schaub
76% comp and HOU: is 2-1

5.Ben Rothlesberger
TD/INT ratio 6:1 29 comp for 1st down.

NFC:
1.Bret Farve
His teams 3-0 and his TD/INT ratio is 6:2

2.Tony Romo
TR: TD/INT: 8:2 and 15 plays +20 yards

3.Jon Kitna
980 yds and 68% comp

4.Donovan McNabb
158.3 QB Rating in week 3... that's perfect

5.Jeff Garcia
66% comp 0 INT and TB is 2-1.


My top 5 Running Backs through 3 weeks-

AFC:
1.Lamont Jordan
5.1 yds/carry 18 runs for a 1st + 116 yd/gm

2.Willie Parker
leads NFL in yards (368) and has 5.0 avg.

3.Jamal Lewis
5.8 yds a carry and 307 yds, mostly against CIN.

4.Travis Henry
302 yds. 5.0 yds/carry and 9 kids

5.Joseph Addai
271 yds, 15 rushes for 1st and 4 TDs

NFC:
1.Brian Westbrook
5.7 yds/carry and 1/3 of his carries go for a 1st down.

2.Shaun Alexander
91 yds/gm, 2 TDs and 275 yds.

3.Marion Barber III
256 yds, 6.4 avg, 4TDs

4.Adrian Peterson
AllDay had 16 rushes for 1st downs and 271 yds.

5.Edgerrin James
2 TDs and 277 yds.

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My Eye's On The NFL... And It's Writers

This is absurd, not just a little absurd, but completely and utterly ridiculous even by my low and half-baked standards. Basically i look forward to reading two things on Tuesday's: 1. The UEFA Champions League Previews on SI.com and 2. Gregg Easterbrook's Tuesday Morning Quarterback. People have their varying thoughts on Easterbrook and the rest of the Page 2 staff at ESPN, a section once reserved for the opinions of award-winning writer Hunter S. Thompson, now a bastardized shell of it's original self that features such writing heavy hitters as Bill Simmons and DJ Gallo. I'm not saying I have a problem with either Simmons or Gallo because I enjoy reading them from time to time but you can't hold them and Scoop Jackson in the same light you would Mr. Thompson. Anyway here we are on Tuesday afternoon and I finally have a subject to move me away from writing a 2000 word sequel to OJ's "I Did It, Here's How It Happened" regarding Mike Shanahan.

Gregg Easterbrook set out to put us through one of his weekly 4000 articles regarding everything NFL from the previous weekend, this weekend he failed so bad I almost wanted to stop reading his work altogether. I have previously loved reading Easterbrook's common sense take on how the NFL should run and how coaches call games, partly because his ideas give validity to how I coach and play in NCAA Football and Madden '08. But this week he decided to stick it to me and the rest of his readers with a 1600 word rant on the auto industry and fuel economy... I'll take a page out of Easterbrook's book and repeat myself because I don't believe you have the mental capacity to go back in the paragraph and read what I just wrote 50 words ago; this week he decided to stick it to me and the rest of his readers with a 1600 work rant on the auto industry and FUEL ECONOMY! The Browns beat the Bengals... the Browns beat anyone, moreover they won a 51-45 shootout in which DEREK ANDERSON threw for 5 touchdowns and Easterbrook waste 1600 words in a football article on fuel economy. I don't even understand why he bothered to include it in the article, it had no football lead-in or anything, it's just dropped into the middle of the article. 1600 words on fuel economy between 400 words on the NE/SD game and only 100 words on the Raiders/Broncos debacle at the end of their game that lead to the NFL again basically telling Oakland "sorry, we know the rule is horrible and has no place in the book, but we're too incompetent to do anything about it and we we're also hoping you would be the victim before we are forced to change the rule." I won't get any further into the DEN/OAK game expect to say that Oakland is not only the best 0-2 team in the NFL, from their performance in Denver on Sunday, they look like the only 0-2 team who might still have an outside shot at the playoffs. A couple of 0-2 teams each year find a way to turn it around and make the playoffs, why not Oakland? It all comes down to this Gregg, I think your a level-headed and intelligent American with plenty of good ideas in your head, spending almost half of your weekly football article to make a political statement against the American Auto Industry wasn't one of those good ideas, and now the only thing I look forward to reading on Tuesdays is the UEFA Champions League Preview.

While I'm on the idea of ESPN's Page 2 Jemele Hill has done something that had to be done, she just did a poor job of doing it. Hill took on the task of writing the "reserve judgement on OJ's latest arrest" article and for lack of a better word, murdered it. Jemele spends the entire article asking the reader to go easy on her for what she's writing and reminding everyone that she isn't supporting or defending Orenthal James instead of doing her job by presenting the reasons for why we should reserve our judgement. She even goes on to list off different things that look like Orenthal James might be getting rail-roaded by Las Vegas Metro Police, going so far as to bring the argument: "Realize this is the same police department that still can't find out who murdered Tupac, WHO WAS KILLED RIGHT OFF THE STRIP." How disgraceful for Jemele to use the Tupac incident to discredit LVMPD in a case against Orenthal James Simpson, as a black man in America I'm completely disgusted by this, as a young black man in America, I'm ashamed by Jemele. She claims that she isn't defending Orenthal James, she claims that she is just trying to give him a level playing field in the public court of opinion. Yet 1 of her 4 signs of the situation sounding like a set-up is that LVMPD couldn't find Tupac's killer, therefore they have to be rail-roading OJ. (to think anyone in a position of power was looking for the killer of my generation's most influential voice in black culture is to live in a dream land anyway) Orenthal James Simpson was only acquitted of double homicide in Los Angeles because he was on trial in a city fresh off race riots and the acquittal of the officers who beat Rodney King. If those acquittals don't happen, as well as the riots or if OJ is on trial in another city he goes away for life; OJs acquittal was the apparent "eye for an eye" in the LA justice system. Orenthal James Simpson is a man who is a lifelong criminal who has used his celebrity to avoid convictions on Road Rage, Domestic Violence, Stolen Cable and Double Homicide, I hope the buck stops at Armed Robbery, and I suggest a sentence of 32 years if convicted.

On a lighter note instead of Peter King's "Ten Things I Think I Think" I provide you with "5 Talking Points I know I know" mostly because I'm cynical, opinionated and think you might possibly give half a damn about what I believe; but also partly because knowing things is more decisive, even if u don't.

1. I know that Derek Anderson is not for real: It's much more likely that Cincinnati's defense is really that bad and no one really realized it. Ponder this:

Derek Anderson's Career Passer Rating Through 5 games in 2006: 63.1

Derek Anderson's Passer Rating in 2007 Through 2 games: 101.3

I don't think Derek Anderson will drop 40 rating points in 3 games, but I do think he will drop about 25 points, he's always looked like a 75.0 passer rating guy, a career back-up. So before he get crowned and the trade rumors start over Brady Quinn, just know that Anderson isn't a sure thing.

2. I know Mike Shanahan is the Anti-Christ: this is no explanation of this one... I just know it.

3. I know Roger Goodell sent a message on Football Night in America and that message was "I'm more interesting then Olbermann": Goodell told me three things with his interview on Sunday night: 'those who cheat in my NFL will face harsh consequences', 'if you try to weasel outta punishment for cheating then I'll do unthinkable things to your franchise' and 'interviewing Me during halftime each Sunday would be far more interesting than anything Keith Olbermann could possibly do, so cut your losses NBC and just quit the "worst person in the NFL" segment before Olbermann ends up as the 2nd part of my "I did it, here's how it happened" book about Shanahan.

4. I know San Diego won't make it pass the 2nd round of the playoffs: I only offer you this piece of information for my argument: Re-watch the SD/NE game and the first quarter and a half shows not only how poorly Norv Turner and his staff prepared his team for a New England team with something to prove at home, but how they were unable to make adjustments to the defense and passing game to counter-act the New England game plan. Hear me now, loud and clear Alex Gillis and Dave Liu, Norv Turner will never win a Super Bowl, and your teams talent can't overcome Turner's incompetence as a head coach.

5. I know that I forgot to wish Alex Gillis happy birthday on Sunday and that makes me a bad friend: I was so busy bitching about the Oakland game Sunday afternoon I forgot to say happy birthday when I called him... I called him and forgot to say it, it makes me a bad friend and a real jackass. So Gillis I hope your girlfriend took care of you since youf Friend and football team let you down. All you kids out there, don't be a douche-bag friend, call your friends on their birthday, and actually wish them happy birthday.

Football Fanatical

By: Nate Gordon

During the 2006 NFL season I made 4 mistakes:

1. I drafted Dom Davis in the first round of my fantasy league draft. (The next day he tore his ACL in practice missing the whole season.)

2.I drafted Clinton Portis in the second round of fantasy league draft. (He separated his shoulder making a killer tackle on an interception, in the first series of preseason.)

3. I forgot how bad Art Shell's clock management skills were from childhood. (Simmons wouldn't let me forget during this season though.)

4. I rationalized Aaron Brooks as my starting quarterback. (Insert joke here)

Each of these mistakes screwed me one by one. I finished 7th in my fantasy league last year after starting like 5-2 in a 14 game season while simultaneously learning to hate everything about LaDell Betts from the way he ran the ball to his first name. Seriously if he wasn't black his name would be Dell Betts and how horrible is that? Art Shell's loyalty to his coaching staff a la 1988 left the Raiders with an offense so embarrassing even Kansas City's defense was laughing at us; of course they were only laughing and not doing they're job because Herm Edwards did a terrible job preparing the team, a terrible job. (I just found out that Herm has been doing such a terrible job preparing the team because he is busy directing Children's Fashion Shows for NFL Apparel - do I need to go further with this?) And Aaron Brooks, well unsigned JaMaracus Russell currently owns his number 2 jersey. Basically I'm still trying to kill the brain cells that remember the entire year of 2006, I'd like the promptly flush it down the shitter. A 3-day weekend at Keith Richards house should provide enough blow to do the trick.

Since I've now forgotten 2006 I can't speak about it anymore, so I'll fast forward to this morning. I was sluggish waking up since it was 6 AM on a Sunday... yes I said 6 AM. I stumbled to the car much like a drunk would later at a stop light to ask for change, it was cold so I had my windows rolled up and couldn't be bothered. Some of you will think that was heartless of me, but you know what.... if Keyshawn Johnson and Bill Parcelles were on your radio together on NFL Opening Sunday, you wouldn't be bothered either, so I don't wanna hear it. I find it enjoyable to hear what Key and Tuna have to say, I mean who wouldn't considering neither of them have shut the hell up since 1996 when they first met up. I'm mostly happy to hear Tuna on the radio cause that means I don't have to see he's old man boobs in those horrid form fitting coaches polo's on Sundays. I was finally starting to get excited about football again. I was getting so excited to see the Raiders play in a real game again that I wasn't even sleepy when I got to work. The thought of getting home to see the Raiders/Lions game in the afternoon was more then enough.

When I got home this afternoon at 1:10 I was excited to still see Jim Brown's increasing receding hairline and Dan Marino's constant look of being uncomfortable. They were making fairly obvious observations and given very little true analytical information but I could care less, it's week 1 and more importantly I missed the morning games and they're filling me in. Adrian Peterson looks like an absolute animal, ignore the 4.3 speed and killer footwork, this kid is strong, and as Jeff said to me S-T-R-O-N-G!!! AD would of been the mornings most impressive player for my money if it weren't for New England lighting up the J-E-T-S like they were L-O-S-E-R-S. Then Jim Brown said the one thing that ruined my day "Thanks for watching, up next US Open Tennis." What!?!?! CBS isn't carrying the game and I'm in a local market? This is bad, that means that Fox is carrying the game and (like the douche bags they are) they're showing the LA Market San Diego/Chicago because it's a higher profile NFC game. CBS always shows LA the Raiders as the regional team.... this is overwhelmingly depressing, so i found the expensive smoking lamp and turned on the computer to get the stream online. It's just not the same, I hit up Jeff who is in Santa Barbara to see what Fox is showing there. "We have the Raider game man." That's all I needed to hear, an hour away my team is on TV, in the city I was working in this morning. I had contemplated during work going to where Jeff was to watch the game but then decided that because they're Charger fans there I would go home and watch. Here I am at home, watching the damn Chargers...

So here we are now at halftime where Terry Bradshaw informs me that Oakland was the upset pick of the week, thanks for jinxing my already doomed team Terry. For Christ sake a hall of fame Raider in Howie Long is sitting right there and he let the team get jinxed on National TV by the guy in the freaking Supercuts commercials; no doubt he actively participated in the jinx. After missing three field goals the Raiders lost 36-21 but only needed to not turn the ball over in the 4th quarter to claim victory when leading 21-20. Oakland claim victory? Al Davis will claim Social Security worked with the NFL in conspiracy to keep him from winning bingo on Tuesdays faster. It is so depressing to be an Oakland Raider fan these days; where is that expensive smoking lamp?

e-mail: LASportsblog@gmail.com

Choose, Los Angeles

By: Nathaniel Gordon - E-Mail: LASportsblog@gmail.com

This is pretty much a total piss take so fellow Angelenos laugh along, outsiders continue to laugh at us.

Choose Los Angeles

Choose Jack Nicholson sitting courtside

Choose sitting in traffic longer then you sit in your seat

Choose Fox as the owner of your baseball team

Choose to be sellers at the trade deadline when your contenders

Choose to have Brooklyn still hate your guts

Choose to be so cool that Anahiem losses it's baseball team to you

Choose to be so cocky that you refuse to acknoledege the Angels

Choose to be so cocky that you cut someone off on the freeway, and then flip them off

Choose to listen to World Soccer Daily

Choose to follow coke'd up socialites

Choose to completely ignore that 70% of your city lives in poverty

Choose to give Tom Arnold air time

Choose to renew the Best Damn Sports Show Period

Choose Earl Van Wright

Choose to use Your Cilppers tickets 2 times a year to see the Lakers

Choose to wear away team jerseys at Clipper games

Choose to ask who are Chivas USA

Choose to care more about Victoria then David Beckham

Choose traffic

Choose to work for TMZ.com just to get close to Kobe Bryant

Choose to pretend like you don't care when JD Drew doesn't show up

Choose to pretend you don't care when the Angeles win the World Series

Choose jim buss

Choose girls who's implants are bigger then their brains

Choose guy on guy public displays of affection at Kings Games

Choose Trojan... and the Trojans

Choose John Wooden as someone still worth bragging about

Choose Slow Speed Chases

Choose aquitting OJ Simpson

Choose rioting after the Lakers win the Championship

Choose to go on and on about Kurt Gibson

Choose to ignore the homeless

Choose to ignore illegal immigration

Choose to give Jim Rome a radio show... AND a TV show (why oh why god?)

Choose to have a Laker owner who cares more about Poker then Basketball

Choose to have a Clipper owner who can't choose between profit and losing

Choose Dave O'Brian announcing Soccer Matches

Choose to ignore the San Diego Chargers

Choose to ignore Mad TV

Choose to miss Chick Hearn

Choose a scandalous mayor

Choose a place where apperances are everything

Choose Kramer screaming Nigger at black people in this day and age

Choose Seinfield being a Kramer apologist

Choost the LAPD

Choose to be opptimistic about 45-39 regular seasons

Choose Kwame Brown over Cauron Butler

Choose Ruben Patterson

Choose Los Angeles

Chick Hern: The Gift And The Curse

By: Jeff Girouard

E- Mail: LASportsblog@gmail.com

What Happened? Its early 2002... Britney is still attractive, the underdog Pats just foiled the “Greatest Show on Turf” in Super Bowl XXXVI, Lindsey Lohan is doing Disney Movies instead of blow, the “Shaw-Shaq Redemption” is in full effect and the Lakers appear poised to capture their third straight championship.

Until ‘02, Chick Hearn was the only play-by play announcer in L.A. Laker history. His staccato delivery kept radio listeners and television viewers entertained and informed for more than 42 seasons. He called all 9 Los Angeles Laker championships and didn’t miss a day of work in 3,338 consecutive games. So when he put a game “in the refrigerator” you knew it was a wrap. Since his death the Lakers have fallen from grace. When the voice of your franchise, a man who invented terms like “slam dunk” and “air-ball” (seriously), passes, does that championship magic leave with him?

January, 2002: Chick’s consecutive game streak ends at 3,338 games, after heart surgery. I remember spending all 17 games of his hiatus wondering, how (with the wealth of on-air talent in Los Angeles) the Lakers could decide Paul Sunderland was the most viable backup.
June 12, 2002: The Lakers sweep The New Jersey Nets in four games and capture a third straight championship. This would be Chick’s final broadcast.

2002-2003: Paul Sunderland takes over the Laker play-by-play duties permanently.

May 15, 2003: The Lakers are downed in six games by the eventual champion Spurs. The supreme lack of depth doomed the team from the outset. Nate has since reminded me of Big Shot Bob’s complete no show in the series (an ice cold 3-38 in the ‘02 post season from the land of 3). Horry had reluctantly become the teams third option which further underscored the team’s weak supporting cast (think names like Tracy Murray, Mark Madsen, and Slava Medvedenko).

Summer 2003: The Lakers sign Karl Malone and Gary Payton...
I find out there is a place called Eagle County, Colorado and Kobe is arrested on sexual assault charges...

Robert Horry leaves the Lakers and signs with the Spurs.

October 2003: The Lakers drop the radio-television simulcast. Sorry Paul but when your staple phrase is a raspy “What did I just see!?!,” you’re style just does not translate to radio. Granted he faced the nearly impossible task of replacing a broadcast legend, but his ambiguous language undoubtedly frustrated Laker fans stuck in commuter traffic.

2003-2004: Karl Malone misses 39 regular season games after suffering a devastating knee injury, still the Lakers finish with the conference’s second best record.

May 13, 2004: .4 This celebration is the only redeemable memory from that season. Karl Malone’s Dion Sanders-esque high-step down the court could only have been outdone if Ho Grant had broke out the goggles and the running-man.

June 15, 2004: The star-crossed Lakers could not overcome injuries to Derek Fisher and Karl Malone and fall to the Pistons in 5 games. This is where the proverbial shit hits the fan.

Summer 2004: Phil drops the Last Season in which he chronicles the frustrations of managing a team with hall-of-fame talent and no identity. He leaves the organization “at peace with the situation.” I think I’d be pretty ok with things too if I was at the tail end of my $50 million contract and still had the boss’s daughter on my... arm.

Shaquille O’Neal is traded to the Miami Heat for Lamar, Caron Butler and Brian Grant...

Los Angeles takes a collective sigh of relief as Laker brass signs Kobe to a max deal...

2004-2005: Rudy T resigns as Head Coach after 41 games siting health concerns. Assistant Frank Hamblin takes over and the team stumbles to a 34-48 record. The Lakers would miss the playoffs for the first time in over 10 years.

June 15, 2005: Phil Jackson returns to the team.

Summer 2005: Mitch Kupchak trades Caron Butler, the most valuable (dollar-for-dollar) player in the Shaquille O’Neal deal, to the Wizards for Kwame Brown. Caron Butler has since become an All-Star in Washington and Kwame still fumbles entry passes out of bounds. Every sure dunk Kwame tries to finesse wildly off the glass is like smoking a cigarette it takes 7 minutes off of Phil
Jackson’s life. The man is basically defying science at this point.

jimmy Buss strains his rotator cuff patting himself on the back after “discovering” Andrew Bynum...

Paul Sunderland’s television contract is not renewed. Some blame the ratings dip, while others point to his awkwardly rigid style either way his transition to Sparks telecasts... seamless.

Vlade Divac retires and Brian Grant gets Allan Houston-ed. OK. Combined: 15 starts, 6.1 ppg, 5.8 rpg, and a $17 million cap hit. Oh but the emotional callus I’ve developed to every failed signing and underwhelming draft choice since...priceless.

2005-2006: Andrew Bynum v. Shaq becomes an instant youtube classic. It is a bigger, more violent incarnation of the epic Iverson v. Jordan matchup in ‘96.

April 30, 2006: This validates watching 2 full seasons of less than stellar basketball.

May 4, 2006: Game 6. Tim Thomas. Let me get this straight...Before being waived by Chicago two months into the 05-06 season he can’t find playing time behind guys like Michael Sweetney and Malik Allen and by April he’s Larry Bird? In Phoenix’s 4 wins Thomas shoots a sobering 55.8% from the field and 44% (7-16) from 3.The man had dollar signs in his eyes and like all good curses, you need that one player, a player whose entire career can be defined in one singular act of pro sports cock block. Game 6. Tim Thomas.

Now here we are... Its 2007, the franchise is reeling from yet another Suns’ flogging, the owner’s DUI, and Kobe’s hot-cold trade demand. The bottom line is whether by curse, chance or circumstance they haven’t won a thing since Chick passed and the Lakers are now a .500 season away from losing the best player on the planet. And if the team wasn’t cursed before...

There's NO Bitching In Sports

Credit: LASportsblog.bravehost.com

(EDITOR'S NOTE: The writer is in no way trying to be offensive or insulting to females. He is using the menstrual process and it's effects on some women as an example of what sports fans are current acting like on a consistent basis, not just 5-7 days a month.)
By: Nathaniel Gordon e-mail : LASportsblog@gmail.com

There is no bitching in sports, no exceptions. You might complain about the field quality or appeal to a referee or umpire about a bad call, but you never bitch about it. When you bitch about a call in Basketball you get a technical foul and in baseball you get thrown out of the game. In football bitching will cost you 15 yards, in hockey you might get 2 minutes in the penalty box or a yellow card in Soccer/World Football. Basically you are punished if you let a complaint spiral into a whiny bitch fest. However in the last couple of months it seems that bitching in sports has become more then acceptable. What disgust me more then ever is the appearance that all fan bases seem to be collectively on their 'rag', bitching and moaning more then ever. Before I go head first into who is bitching and what they are bitching about, we must separate complaining from bitching.

I call the following symptoms the "Johnny Drama circle of bitchdom " if you, your fan base, your team or your local sports pundits are doing any of the following then they fall into the "Johnny Drama circle of bitchdom" and must take significant steps to improve upon this problem:

The Sport Is Doomed Bitch: "Oh no all the games are fixed. The Suns were robbed by David Stern and crooked refs. Pitchers can't get out of the 6th inning, when I was young a pitcher would throw 3 complete games back-to-back-to-back in 110 degree heat, butt naked with piranhas biting his testicles." If you hear this or anything similar to this from a pundit or friend tell them to "cram it up your cram hole LeFlur" cause you don't wanna hear it. Our professional sports aren't doomed, to put American sports into perspective there have been crooked refs and match fixing front office employees in European sports, especially soccer for 75 years and yet they seem to persevere. This bitch especially piss me off when I hear it from the sports writers, when did they become so intent on the doom of sports? If this sports-thing goes to shit, what will they have to bitch (or write and make a living) about?

Our Team Is Doomed Bitch: "Oh no, Kobe is going to Chicago for 3 draft picks and a used condom. What are we gonna do now that Jason Schmidt is injured? What will happen to us if Vick is playing soap hockey with inmates? How will we stop the Yankee's from making up a 10 game deficit? What will we do if KG leaves in the off-season, how will the team ever move on?" First of all, man up! You support your team because you love your team, not just because of the players on the team or because the team is winning. How will you manage without KG, the same way the other 29 teams do, by getting other players. How will you keep the Yankee's from catching the Sox? The Sox gotta put together a few decent games in a row that's how. I don't know what you do with 3 draft picks and a used condom but I assume you spend the picks on 3 Europeans that never come over to the NBA and you put the condom over jim buss' head and hope he gets the point. Basically I'm telling you to stop bitching because your team survived before your current situation and they will survive afterward, and so will the fans. When your team goes through adversity it should make you a stronger and better fan, not a bag of bleeding tampon filled complaints.

The 'This is a Tragedy Bitch': I won't even state an example for this one because they're are way too many to chose from; from Barbaro to Rafa Palmero it makes me sick. Anytime there is more then a little bit of drama in professional sports the fans treat it as a national tragedy. Michael Vick fighting dogs isn't a tragedy, it's just a group of sick bastards fulfilling sick pleasures. People in today's world quickly lose perspective on the current situation, as well as
the pass. The "Bonds Dilemma" (any time an athlete is most likely guilty of something you can't prove it's the Bonds Dilemma.) is a pain in the ass, but it doesn't deserve multichannel coverage for 160 days leading up to 756, it hardly deserves single channel coverage. So many people are upset about Bonds having "the most storied record in American Sports" and they call it a tragedy that a 'cheat' could have the record. News flash, as many pitchers are on the juice as batters or and in case you forgot, Pete Rose BET ON GAMES HE MANAGED! That is horrible, Rose could of been throwing games for personal profit (although to be fair he has time and time again stated that he only bet on the Reds to win games.) Bonds is just keeping up with the times, and the times are filled with cheaters. This isn't a tragedy... watching a plane fly into an American sky scrapper was tragedy.

The 'Our GM is Incompetent' Bitch: "How could Paxon pass on making a big off-season move? What the hell is Ned Colletti doing, I could do his job! Travis Knight and Sam Jacobson?!?!?" If you have ever been a fan of a sports team you have felt at one point or another that you could head the day-to-day team operations. The current generation of video games, web sites and books have closed the gap between GM and fan but the gap is still Snake River Gorge big. I was a victim of this particular bitch all last week, feeling that I could do a better job then Ned Colletti because he was making "two-step player acquisitions" (The 'GM Two-Step' is when you tell your fans that a signing or trade is taking the team 1 step forward, when it's really taking you 2 steps back.) Danny Ainge gets raked over the coals monthly by Bill Simmons, however I don't count that because Ainge is almost as incompetent as it gets and after reading tons of Simmons' work, I'm confident he really could do a better job then Ainge, but that doesn't stand for the rest of us; even if you GM IS a two-stepper.

The "This isn't my Sport" Bitch: It's a warm and clear Sunday afternoon and your settling in for a great afternoon of football. You call the buddies and before you know it your place is the social center of your world, until one jackass brings it all down. That one guy who openly and loudly bitches about the game your watching because it "isn't my sport and I don't like it". Usually there isn't a very good reason for why they don't like the sport, it's either boring or stupid or most likely they sucked at playing it as a kid and were teased endlessly about it. Regardless this guy can screw up even semi-enjoyable sporting events. If your watching boxing he wants to tell you how great UFC is. If your watching NFL he wants to talk NBA, if your watching NBA he wants to talk NASCAR and if your watching Soccer he wants to talk NFL. This guy will take cheap shots to piss you off and get you emotional, then when you get upset he'll say something like "see it's a panzi sport supported by panzis!" or "it doesn't matter what you say it still sucks". Damn it, these bastards need to be dealt with, this is also knowing as pulling a "Jay Marriotti". Bitching about a Big 3 sports because it isn't one of your niche sports and bitching about a niche cause it isn't Big 3 is equally as bad. Considering that the only 2 sports that draw average crowds in this country of over 30,000 per a game are baseball and football, I don't see where everyone gets off as defensive about the popularity about any given sport.

2006 Regular Season Attendance Figures:

NFL - 67,738
GER. Bundesliga: 37,644
English Premiership: 34,459
MLB: 31,423
NBA: (didn't find official number for league but it's in the 20,000s.)
and finally

The Uninformed Bitcher: You've seen the ESPNews commercials and all of us have a friend who says things like "Kobe Bryant sucks man, not only is he a ball hog, but he doesn't make a lot of the shots he jacks up." The preceding quote was made by a guy I know last season, he said it in the middle of a late January game in which Kobe put up 45 on 48 percent shooting plus 5 assist to only 1 turnover. I shook my head in dismay as I quickly ran off Kobe's season stats to date, shutting Brent's face quicker then OJ can say "acquittal." The point is that everyone has a friend, or at least knows someone who thinks they know everything about sports, but it's obvious to everyone that they hardly have a clue. They will come in a room and start bitching about whatever sport is on the TV trying to sound like the expert in the room. This is also known as the "novice sports fraud" but for the purpose of this article it all falls under the Uninformed Bitcher.'

These are the 6 types of bitching I've heard seemingly non stop since the start of summer and it's really pissing me off. What happened to enjoying sports because they are an escape from real life, instead of treating them like Entertainment Tonight. What Donaughy did was a shocking development, but I don't need Rachel Nichols outside of his estate for 20 straight days reporting of basically nothing. I don't need my sports to feel like a direct hyperlink to TMZ.com, that's why we have TMZ.com in the first place to fill the void in our lives where we bitch about nothing, especially nothing of any importance. So I'm gonna throw on my Dodger Jersey and Blue Dodger Fitted Cap cause the sun is shining and I'm not complaining; after all I'm a Dodger Fan. Through all the 'GM Two-Steps' and 'Bonds Dilemma's we're faced with I can always Wait 'Til Next Year, and I'm not bitching about it.

A Silver Lining and Black Quarterback

Also avaliable as well as so much more at LASportsblog.bravehost.com

By: Nathaniel Gordon

E-mail: LASportsblog@gmail.com


Please help me observe a moment of silence for Elton Brand's career....

Thank you.

It's difficult to imagine, much less believe, that after all these seasons of almost iron man like service that Elton Brand would succumb to an Achilles injury. Mr. 20-10 as I like to call him, Brand has been a faithful servant to the Clipper fan base for the last several years and before that was the clear superstar on a horrid Chicago Bulls team. With Brand's injury it appears that the drafting of Al Thorton was sheer genius. You have to admit that it must of been really hard for Clippers GM Elgin Baylor to pass up on hometown star and USC product Nick Young, I was screaming Young's name from the top of the Alps on draft night. Also even though they are different players from different times, Thronton eerily reminds me of Danny Manning (we all know how that went.) Taking the best player on the board isn't always as easy as it looks, however Baylor came through and it will pay dividends. Although Brand's injury isn't career ending it is still very serious and possibly career threatening depending on how he... heals... okay I'll do it - depending on how he HEELS (that was terrible, I should be shot in my writing hand for that.) and rehabs over the next few months. It is very possible that Brand will only be a shell of his once dominating presence on the boards and his mid-range jumper and first step will most likely be off. With all those inhibitions stated I can only hope that Brand will come back 100% and I wish him a speedy and full recovery.

I'll save the full obituary of Elton's Career for his retirement due to injury press conference in a few months...

While I'm waiting for poor Elton to hang up the Nike Air's I've had a chance to catch up with the Oakland Raiders Pre-Season workouts. There is this new quarterback in town with a killer arm. This strapping (no not a gun, complimenting his size) intelligent Black kid is poised to win a few games this season in Oakland if he can get his stuff straight and have a strong pre-season. For those of you not already aware I'm talking about Daunte Culpepper not JaMarcus Russell. JaMarcus is in the middle of a holdout in which the Raiders are trying to low ball him contractually when it comes to contract assurances, however the sides are moving closer and Russell should be in camp middle or late next week. In the meantime Culpepper is busy showing Lane Kiffin and the Raider Coaching Staff why he's still a top notch NFL quarterback. His addition is been called an act of desperation by his critics, but there is much bigger Silver Lining here then a Black Cloud (I swear these Sunday Puns are KILLING me, but I digress.) Culpepper has all the physical gifts that Russell has and the experience in the league to help the team be somewhat competitive while still teaching the young pup the ropes as he becomes acclimated to the NFL.

Culpepper was shaky at best in his 4 games with Miami, however let's put that stint into perspective. Culpepper, desperate to not slide into injured quarterback oblivion, clearly forced himself to play well before he was ready. It was the sports equivalent to trying to have sex the night after you throw your back out; getting back to business feels great but your clearly not yourself and when it comes time to perform your flat on your back. Culpepper knows what it feels like to be flat on his back, he was sacked 21 times in 4 games last year! Only Andrew Walter took more of a beating, (23 sacks in weeks 4 and 5 combined, 12 in week 4 and 11 in week 5) looking like a tackling bag instead of a quarterback. I won't even mention Aaron what's-his-face, that guy was a worse pick up then Kerry Collins, Jeff George (the 1st time) and Vince Evans combined. At least Culpepper gives us a former MVP candidate, it's the most excited I've been by a candidate since Trung Candidate came in the league and flamed out like an actress that hits her prime at 18... I know... I'm thinking Lohan too. Although with a little bad luck and a lot of cocaine we could be talking Dakota Fanning in a few years.

The Culpepper situation in Oakland can best be summed up in this scene from last weeks Entourage:

Turtle: "You can give me the whole thing Drama, I can't do this."

Drama (grabbing a life size bunny suit from the back of the car): "Give me your suit Turtle I'm going in."

Turtle: "What are you doing drama?"

Drama: "If I'm dropping 5 Gs on this shit I'm getting some pussy!"

That's how I feel about the Raiders picking up Culpepper, we are investing all this money and time in Russell, if he won't come into camp we better get something for our efforts and Daunte
Culpepper will suffice. Moreover, I try to fit my favorite show into each and every blog in some way and this seemed to match up the best. Especially since last weeks episode pretty much blew chunks, I don't care about Ari's kid and where he goes to school, nor do I care about a human side to Ari's character. I care about as much as you care about reading this shit in a sports blog - but it's my blog so get yourself sorted out. Anyway things are looking up in Oakland while they're looking down in Clippers Camp, and no matter which side of the coin your on always know that their is a silver lining in every black situation.

E-Mail: LASportsblog@gmail.com