From The Stands

FAREWELL ARIZA...IDIOT.

The day started with a conversation with Soul, Miza, Rigo and Me.  We were discussing this very topic.  Ariza and Nut Job.  Soul doesn't like Mitch Kupchick (The GM for the Lakers), in fact I think I could safely say he hates him.  Everything bad that's happened in the last 10 yrs to the Lakers is his fault and everything good is somebody elses doing.  Same conversation. EVERY. SINGLE. TIME.

I made no secret Ariza was my favorite Laker, I saw only a glimpse of him last season before he got hurt and instantly saw his upside.  Soul, Miza and Rigo thought I was cookoo because I would say they needed Ariza last year in the playoffs.  Well we saw what he could do this year.  He was awsome.  Big shots, big steals, big everything.  The Lakers offered him what they could, mid-level exception, 5.6 Million.  Lakers even offered him a long term deal. He was nothing before he came to the Lakers, he was a practice player on the Knicks (a last place team) before he came to L.A.  He blossomed under Phillip and eventually became a starter on a championship team. 

Oh well, he's gone.  He ran his mouth and pissed off Dr. Buss.  They gave the same offer to Ron Artest and he took it.  You know why?  Because he knows the best team in the NBA is the Lakers.  He knows the best chance he has to win is in L.A. and he's going to work his ass off to repeat.  You know what, the more I think about this "exchange" the more I like it.  Lakers finally get an edge.  They are a soft team, even though they proved they can also punch you in the mouth, but it's not there all the time.  Now they got their Rodman, only this version of Rodman likes to shoot.   

If you ask me though, Ariza should've gone to the Cavs.  When I heard Artest might be going to the Cavs the first thought that came into my mind was "Cavs are in the finals. No doubt about it.  Shaq likes to put it together for 1 yr and Artest wants a ring".  If Ariza would've gone over there it would've been the same situation.  Thanks for the memorable season Ariza, hope you don't end up like Turi...IDIOT.

HUMBERT

IT GOT A LITTLE CHIPPY

It's been pretty calm the last few weeks at the gym.  A good group has been going to play and for the most part its been fun.  Last night though was the complete opposite.  I was on a decent team, it was myself, Big Bird, Brunswick, Fat Kobe and Tovar.  Nice mix of size and shooters.  We played five games, losing only the last one.

Everyone was very physical though.  The funniest was when Sheep Herder was guarding me.  He was playing me very tight, which isn't a problem but the way he would grab me and seemingly direct me with his arms was at first annoying, but became funnier as the game went on.

Big Bird was in rare form though, he gets fouled a lot and calls even more fouls, but it was different last night.  There were two instances I could remember where he went a little too far.  One being when he got in a little scuffle with Sassoon, in which Big Bird ended up with the ball, came up and flung an elbow right at Sassoons face.  Only reason why nothing happened after that was because he missed.  The following game, Goat was guarding Big Bird.  I have to tell you though Goat doesn't play defense he just hangs on you and pushes you.  He was doing this on Big Bird and one trip down the court, after a series of fouls by Goat, he goes up for a layup with his right hand and swings at Goat with his left hand.  Slapping Goat right in the face.  Goat has a little bit of temper and I thought something was about to go down, but he did nothing.  He crouched down, checked for blood, got up and walked away.  

That was bad but Soul might tell you different.  Because when Goat went out, Song came in.  Song is OK but yesterday he was balling.  That game was the closest we came to losing and I'm was very surprised we won.  Games are to 21 and I think Song had about 15 pts on about 6 or 7 shots. 

We'll see how it goes tonight.

HUMBERT

MAN VS. DOG

Miza sent me a text this morning (yes we text and were 30 somethings, whats a matter with you people?)  about Donte Stallworth being charged and pleading guilty to a DUI and Manslaughter in the 2nd degree.  Stallworth because of his plea "may serve some jail time", yet Michael Vick kills dogs and he serves 23 months in jail.  What's wrong with this picture? 

Does animal life carry more weight than human life? Just by looking at these two cases one can only assume yes.  There is a definite problem with the judicial system and this world in general.  Im not condoning Vicks actions, I think it was horrible what he did, but for someone who killed a human being to get less jail time, IF ANY, is ridiculous. 

Maybe I'm wrong, maybe I don't have all the facts about the Stallworth case, but this is beyond wrong.

HUMBERT 

Lakers Win!!!

It's been a long season and it's finally over.  Now Kobe and my thumbs will finally get some much deserved rest.  It's kind of an odd feeling knowing that it's the last game for awhile.  I've invested so much emotion into this team this year that i'll probably have some withdrawal symptoms.  I guess the Dodgers will have to do for now.

The game last night started out with the Magic getting out to an early lead, thanks in large part to some horrible officiating (i'll have more on that later).  The Lakers weathered the storm and went on a 16-0 run in the 2nd quarter.  This all happenned right after Hedo butted heads with Trevor Ariza.  Trevor was awesome last night, just as he's been all year.  He's had some periods where he kind of disappears on offense but that's more Kobe's fault than anything else.  When Kobe is aggressive going to the basket it opens up the whole floor for everyone else.  Once the Lakers got the lead they never looked back. 

Some random observations:

Why did they have a Celtic giving Kobe the Finals MVP trophy?  They should've had Kareem or even Magic give that trophy out to him.  I love the way that Kobe just got the trophy and kind of dissed ol Bill Russell.  I was expecting 33 to jump out and drop a skyhook on him.

When the celebration started Kareem was all up in there.  I love that.  Kareem kind of gets a bad rap for being a stoner and kind of quiet, but you could tell he was enjoying himself yesterday. He was passin out the hats, hugging people left and right.  I love Kareem.

The officiating was horrible.  HORRIBLE.  Bill Simmons on ESPN has been raggin on the ref's for a while now, he thinks that eventually it's going to kill the NBA and I agree.  I know what you're thinking, he's a Laker fan so he's gonna say the calls were biased against the Lakers.  Nope.  I'm gonna say that for the most part the Lakers got the shaft, but the problem is that on one side of the court the refs let them bang away, then you come down to the other side and people are getting called for touch fouls.  It's impossible to play the game like that.  This series was filled with horrible calls that went against both teams.  I will say that Game 4 where the Lakers shot no free throws the ENTIRE 4th quarter AND MOST OF THE OVERTIME PERIOD was an embarrasment.  Up until Pietrus went gangster on Pau the Lakers had gone almost 20 minutes without shooting ft's.  Maybe the Magic just played great defense...OR maybe the refs were trying to even the series for the Magic.  The NBA has always been filled with conspiracy theories and having such horrible officiating doesn't alter that image.  

The only thing that would've made this year better would've been the Celtics in the Finals.  I truly hope that both teams can get back next year and the Lakers can exact some revenge for last years defeat. 

I love the Lakers!

Soulman

Game 3

Here it is a few hours before game 3 in Orlando.  I'm not feeling as nervous or anxious as I was before game 1.  Teams coached by Phil are 854-0 when they win the first game of a series, so after game 1 you could say this series was over. 

Unlike a certain IV Press sports editor who shall remain nameless, if the Lakers were to sweep I wouldn't find that boring.  Actually, I would find that real exciting. 

Does anyone else find Kobe's attitude during the Finals annoying?  They keep showing him during the games, gritting his teeth.  He's got this dark somber attitude in the press conference's after the games.  It's a gimmick (i got that from TK on PTI).  I don't know what annoy's me more, Kobe's act during the finals or the way the media laps it up.  If I had a dollar for everytime an announcer says "Kobe wants it real bad" i'd be rich.  I wish Kobe would just play the game. 

I've read online where people say Courtney Lee blew that shot at the end of regulation, even his coach said "he just missed it."  Uhh, no he didn't. That was a tough shot, falling out of bounds with a 7ftr between him and the basket and a horrible angle.  I've tried that exact same shot, me falling out of bounds with a 7ftr trying to block that shot.  It's hard.  Hey coach, way to back up your player!

When they show all the celebrities in attendance in Orlando, they better show Jack last. 

Soulman

Game 1

Here it is about 2 hours before game 1 starts and I can't help but feel anxious.  I want it to start already.  Im done with the hype, done with the breakdown of the matchups, just start the game already.  All week at the gym people have been talking about the matchup.  Gasol and Bynum are no match for Howard, who's gonna guard Rashard Lewis, blah blah blah.  I'm confident the Lakers can win it all this year.  I know I said the same thing last year, heck I even wrote about it in the newspaper.  We'll see how it goes.  Go Lakers!

Soulman

THE NEW WWE

These playoffs havent been very exciting for me.  In fact they have been a great source of frustration.  It's partially due to the lack of cajones of the Lakers but mostly due to the officiating. 

It was obvious the NBA did not want the Celtics to lose to the up-and-coming Bulls.  It's disgustingly obvious the NBA wants Lebron to make it to the Finals at whatever the cost and it's frustratingly obvious the NBA wants the Western Confernence Finals to be a seven game series.

After Ramon hit that (hope-to-God-this-ball-goes-in) lucky shot to win game 2 all they were talking about was how much of clutch shooter he is, how much of an improved shot he had and how he can basically do no wrong.  When they got blown out of game 3 despite the help from the refs all they were talking about was the... (hope-to-God-this-ball-goes-in) lucky shot.  UNBELIEVEABLE!!!!  The Cavs are outmatched by the Magic.  The Magic are to big, to strong, to talented and are revieling how weak the Cavs actually are.

At the beginning of the Western Confernece Finals I told anyone who would listen it was not going to be an easy series.  I was sure it was going to at least 6 and very possibly 7.  What I did not expect, but I really should've, was how the refs were going to take control of this series.  The Lakers have not taken any games off this series like they did against the Rockets and they are still in the same position.  Tied 2-2 going into game 5.

With all I've seen I have to ask myself, how is this different from the WWE?  If the NBA knows who they want in the Finals and most likely have already picked who's going to win it all, why make the Fans watch this CRAP?!?  I know it's a stupid question, I know it's a business.  I know they want to put out the product they believe will make them the most money, but as a fan I'm this close to not watching at all. 

HUMBERTO

I'm Baaaaack...

That's what Manny said when he re-signed with the Dodgers in Spring Training.  I was happy and excited.  It's been awhile since 1 player made such a difference for the Dodgers.  I heard some people compare his run of 53 games in 08 with "FernandoMania" in 81.  After winning a playoff series and bringing Manny back the Dodgers were looking forward to a great 09 season.  Things started great, the Dodgers went 13-0 at Dodger Stadium to begin the season and had the best record in baseball when word came down that Manny was being suspended for 50 games. 

Was I surprised?  No.  I cant say that ANY player using steroids would surprise me.  I also don't believe it was an accident or a result of some medicine prescribed by his doctor.  More information has come out in the last few days that proves that he was definitely using steroids and not a fertility drug for women.  While it isn't surprising it definitley is disappointing.  Especially after all the drama in the offseason. 

I've been a Dodger fan all my life and for me no player has ever been bigger than the team.  My first favorite players were Pedro Guerrero and Fernando Valenzuela.  I remember Guerrero would wag his pinky when he was rounding 3rd after hitting a homerun.  Then he got traded in 88 for John Tudor and that was that.  Fernando was unceremoniously dumped before the 89 season started.  Why?  After not missing a start from 81 until late in 88 the Dodgers thought he was done.  They rode him for 7 years and they paid him back by getting rid of him.  At one time or another i've loved watching Orel Hershiser, Mike Piazza, Eric Karros, Raul Mondesi, Paul LoDuca, Eric Gagne, even schmucks like Gary Sheffield and Kevin Brown.  My point is that no player is bigger than the team.  In this case this team is loaded.  They have great young players like Andre Ethier, Matt Kemp, Russ Martin, Billingsley and Broxton.  They've also added some solid veterans like O-Dog (even Vin Scully calls him that), Casey Blake and Rafael Furcal. 

After beginning 13-0 at home, the Dodgers lost their next 2 games after Manny got suspended.  They've rebounded since then, winning 2 out of 3 from the champion Phillies.  As of today they still have the best record in baseball and a 5 game lead in their division.  If and when Manny comes back the Dodgers should be in a good spot. 

Regardless of who's playing i'll continue to cheer for the Dodgers.  Think Blue!!!

Soulman

I HATE THIS TEAM

I've been rooting for the Lakers now for over a decade.  I didn't see much of the Showtime Lakers.  I started watching when Nicky V and Eddie Jones were the big dogs on campus.  They were a ragtag team, you really never knew what you were gonna get from them but it was fun to watch.  This current Laker team though is pissing me off.  They have all the talent in the world and they seem to not care. 

Last nights game (Game 6) was a perfect example of this.  They (Lakers) absolutely murdered the Rockets in game 5.  Winning by 40 pts.  It was really only close halfway through the 1st qtr.  But last night, in a possible clinching game for the Lakes they don't show up.  How is that even possible.  They didn't even score their first basket until about the 6 min. mark in the 1st qtr.!!!!  By that time the Rockets had already created a sizable lead.  The Lakers did make a run and got as close as being down by 2 but that was it. 

All playoffs long and really all season long it has been evident Fisher can't play anymore.  Against the Jazz Derron had his way with him and in this series Brooks is destroying him.  How can Phillip not see this?!?  Miza has made the comment several times how he is convinced Phillip will not take out a starter.  He needs to take himself out.  But this is ridiculous.  Fishers only purpose in my eyes now is to shoot, BUT HE ISN'T EVEN DOING THAT!!!

The Lakers looked horrible last night but I also gotta put this on Phil Jackson.  His substitutions made absolutely no sense.  He plays Fish for most of the 1st quarter, like he always does.  Then he brings in Farmar and BAM instant offense, he scored a few baskets and the Lakers start making a run.  This is not a coincidence, IT HAPPENS EVERY  SINGLE (ENTER YOUR FAVORITE EXPLETIVE HERE) TIME.  1st qtr ends and I expect to see Farmar out there to continue with his scoring frenzy, and he's on the bench.  WTF?!? Not only him but also Ariza and Bynum.  Three players who were doing well. Phillip was doing this the whole game.  Fish played a little more throughout the game but this game was over before it began.

The Lakers were playing like as if they knew they had another game.  And they do, but why put yourself in that position?  This series should've never gone past 5 games and here we are with a game 7 on Sunday.  I have no idea how the Lakers are gonna come out on Sunday.  If they win by 40 pts again I'm gonna be pissed and you know what I wouldn't be surprised if they lost.  I HATE THIS TEAM.

HUMBERTO

THEY PULL ME BACK IN

The only reason why I'm posting about Brett Favre is because it was requested.  Brett Favre, Brett Favre, what to say, what to say.  There have been rumors floating around Brett Favre is thinking about coming back. SHOCKING!!!!  Apparently there has even been meetings between The Vikings head coach and Favre.  I hate this image the media has created, how hes a real competitor, how he's a Iron Man, how he will do anything for his team.  Well he'll do anything as long as the price is right and his decisions are never questioned.

I took the time to do a little research, comparing him to other great Pass QB's.  I say Pass QB's because it would be unfair to compare him to QB's who had great runningbacks and didn't have to pass all the time.  I looked at the carrer stats of 5 QB's.  Warren Moon, Dan Marino, Steve Young, Joe Montana, Peyton Manning and Brett Favre. 

These are their carreer stats:

WARREN MOON- 291 TD, 233 INT, 80.9 RATING

DAN MARINO- 420 TD, 252 INT, 86.4 RATING

STEVE YOUNG- 232 TD, 107 INT, 96.8 RATING

JOE MONTANA- 273 TD, 139 INT, 92.3 RATING

PEYTON MANNING- 333 TD, 165 INT, 94.7 RATING

BRETT FAVRE- 464 TD, 310 INT, 85.4 RATING

Numbers tell you a lot but they don't tell you everything.   Steve Young and Warren Moon would move out of the pocket and run if necessary.  Marino, Montana and Manning are or were pocket passers.  Brett Favre is known as a gun slinger; throw first, look second. I haven't really followed his career, but I have seen enough of his games to know he makes a lot of mistakes.

There is one thing that seperates Favre from the others.  Only Favre jerked his team around and then was insulted by the fact they started looking else where.  All the other QB's ended their careers with the teams they started with, except for Montana.  But even his departure from what I could remember was amicable.

Brett Favre should put on his pretty wranglers and play mud football with whomever he does that crap with and just go away.