LA Sports Blog: Good Friday

This was orginally posted 2/1/08 and is being reposted due to an error.

By: Nate Gordon

I'm sitting on my buddy Steve's couch this afternoon watching ESPN after stopping by the rental office to pay the rent, it is the first of the month after all. After the relief of paying for the housing and partaking in some after class activities Steve and I stare into the television and allow the PTI guys to inform us of the days events. The problem was that neither of us were focused on what was actually on the television, Steve was ignoring his girlfriend who was talking to him from the other couch, and I was just staring off thinking about everything that had happened in my life in the last 24 hours. I come out of my day dreaming slightly because I see Lakers on the TV but I can't figure out why; then the words at the bottom of the screen jumped out and inject me with a shot of excitement: "Gasol traded to Lakers". I payed attention just in time to hear Korn-hole say that the deal was for 2 picks, Javaris Crittenton and Kwame Brown and Aaron McKey's contracts.

Futility be damned! No longer shall you haunt the halls of Staples Center! No longer shall you turn sure dunks into missed lay ups, and easy And 1s into missed a lay up plus two missed free throws! Kwame Brown had finally been traded from the Los Angeles Lakers and no longer would the fanbase, and team have to suffer through his uselessness and offensive impotencey that could only be compared to another different impotence. I had to call Jeff (who is home sick with the flu) right away and let him know that the days of Kwame Brown were finished.

"Hello"

"Jeff, the Lakers finally traded Kwame Brown"

"What? Are you serious?"

"Ya man, they traded Kwame, two picks and J. Crittenton for Pau Gasol."

"What!?!?! Dude..."

"What? You don't like it?"

"No dude - J. Crit. is going to be a star man, that was a big mistake"

"But dude, Pau Gasol -"

"Dude, Kwame, whatever, J. Crit is gonna be huge." *click*

I'm thinking to myself the fever has gotten to Jeff's brain, one of the big reasons this blog was started was that Kwame sucked and needed to be traded. We finally got what we wanted and the kid is hung up on J. Crit? *ring*

"Yo Jeff."

"Dude, I'm sorry, the flu must be getting to me, I didn't even realize you said Pau Facking Gasol!"

"Ya dude can you believe it? The Lakers get an All Star big man in his prime to go with Bynum, Lamar, Kobe and D-Fish, this is gonna be huge"

"Ya man Pau can help the Lakers make the Finals"

"And like Steve said to me Jeff, J. Crit would breakthrough before Kobe is done in LA and he will leave for bigger money, this way we get a top notch player for his potential."

That summed it up right there, Lakers management found the right mix of youthful potential, picks and contracts to get the player that could propel the Lakers into the Conference Finals and maybe into the NBA Finals. I would love to see a modern day Lakers vs. Celtics Finals.Derek Fisher, Kobe Bryant, Lamar Odom, Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum vs. Rajon Rondo, Ray Allen, Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Kendrick Perkins - what a 7 game series that could turn out to be! There are 6 All Stars in those line ups combined, the ratings would be through the roof. The Finals would finally bring household appeal back to the Playoffs with such an match up. Of course, this is all hypothetical, but one can dream in the hype of the minutes after a blockbuster trade.

The Lakers fanbase pretty much are united in the belief that this trade was a huge step in the right direction for the franchise. Some have gone so far as to say that this is already enough to make Kobe want to commit to the team past 2009. I won't go so far as to say that, but I will say that if he was sitting on the fence when he woke up this morning, he is most likely leaning towards ending his career as a Laker as of right now.

Steve and I agreed that this was a great move and Steve even proclaimed "I'm now going to watch every Lakers game for the rest of my life." He was so happy he even started paying attention to what his girlfriend was saying. I sat back and smiled, finished the after school activities and gathered my things to go home and take care of family business. Even though things were so high in the aftermath of the trade breaking, I was about to be brought back to earth. But then I thought to myself "there is no reason to be brought back down by the upcoming errands, the removal of Kwame Brown from my life was like finally breaking all contact with an ex that was 10% sex and 90% drama and bullshat.

So the Lakers rolled into Toronto with a short bench, but who needs Kwame when Kobe Bryant goes for 46 on 19 of 28 shooting, adding 7 boards and 5 assist. With this 40 point game Kobe moved to 3rd on the all time list with 89, passing James Worthy. The Lakers cruised to a 121-101 victory, Sasha Vujacic was huge in his 26 minutes off the bench dropping 22 points with 4 threes. The Lakers shot 55% and got a much needed win after a tough loss the other night against the Pistons. They are now 1-1 in the 9 game road trip, the inclusion of Gasol on Sunday should increase their odds of finishing the road trip strong.

I called this Good Friday not because it was all good for me, but beacuse it was wonderful for so many people. The day was beautiful, the blockbuster move was made and the Lakers short handed played the Raptors off their own court. Upon reflection it was a good Friday for me as well - the dream I lobbied to have realized for so long was finallly reached - and as Newton theorized "for every action there is an equal an opposite reaction".

E-mail: LASportsblog@gmail.com

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

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