Congratulations To The Lakers

Now I can get off my soapbox for another ten months - or at least until the 2010 playoffs begin again. The Lakers completely dominated the Magic from the middle of the second period for a 99 - 86 victory in Orlando to win the NBA Championship.

You could see the momentum change in the middle of the second period after the Lakers went on a 16-0 run to take charge of game five. It appeared the Magic surrendered at that point and it was just a matter of playing out the clock. Congratulations to Stan Van Gundy and the Orlando Magic for giving the Lakers a good series and remaining competitive for all but the first and last games in the finals. In the end the Lakers had too much firepower for Orlando to handle. Coupled with great defense the Magic went quietly and were never in the game after the second half.

This makes up for the embarrassing 39 point defeat last year at the hands of the Celtics. I do feel the two best teams in the NBA were/are the Lakers and Boston but the Celts couldn't get over the loss of Kevin Garnett and were not the same team this year. The parade is scheduled for Wednesday here in Los Angeles. Oh yeah.

Lakers - Win Or Go Home

What was the ad campaign the NBA used a few years ago? Win Or Go Home. Well tonight's game is the epitome of that ad - except the go home part will be to win at Staples. Will the Lakers finish this series in Orlando or have to return to L.A. to close it out? There is no way any team will beat the Lakers three games in a row so I'm gonna go out on a limb and pick the Lakers to win this series. The question is will they win in Orlando. I think they will. The game starts at Five Pacific time.

Brilliant Comrade? Bwaaahaaahaaaa!

You got to love the North Korean leaders for some of the asinine titles they assume. It's been reported that Kink Junk Mentally Ill, the current leader of North Korea has bestowed upon his successor (and Son) the title of "Brilliant Comrade". "Dear Leader", as Kink Junk Mentally Ill is known, evidently has plans for passing on the reins of leadership soon to his Son. So much for the "Democratic" in the peoples republic when it comes to the NOKOS. Can you say the words Monarchy and Nepotism and NOT include the North Koreans?

What a mockery and perversion the various Communist leaders of the World have made of two simple words - Republic and Democracy. And yet there are nitwits in the USA who still extol the virtues of Communism. The lessons of Cuba, Venezuela, China and the failed USSR among other totalitarian Governments are lost on these people. One of the great lunacies of the far-left in the USA is they have learned NOTHING from history. They continue to advocate the same mistakes of the past while expecting different results...which is the ultimate definition of stupidity.

For Example: We actually have a working Republic (NOT a Democracy) here in the U.S. and it can hardly be called a success these days when you consider the Unconstitutional power grab by our current Socialist regime headed by Barack Obama and the Democrat controlled Congress. We will have the option (hopefully) of throwing some of the rascals out in less than two years. Then again things are changing fast in the USA and nothing would surprise me at this point in time considering the corrupt actions of ACORN and other so-called community organizations.

But - you have to laugh at the ridiculous terms the North Koreans use for their leaders considering the Country is starving to death and the citizens glean the fields for grass and mud pies in lieu of food. Now I wonder how much food could have been provided for the people of North Korea had "Dear Leader" abandoned his plans to be a Nuclear Power and invested all those resources in food and fuel for his people. There's a special place in Hell for for "Dear Leaders" such as Kink Junk Ilk for allowing his people to starve and freeze so he can watch porn, drink good Scotch and eat lobster.

Brilliant Comrade? You have got to be kidding!

Swish! Lakers Go Up 3-1 On Orlando!

Thanks to Derek Fisher (again) the Lakers were able to pull off one hell of a comeback against the Orlando Magic. This game will probably be remembered just as much as an Orlando choke as a Laker comeback thanks to poor free throw shooting and turnovers by the Magic. Add a couple of coaching goofs by Phil Jackson and Stan Van Gundy and the Lakers came back from a twelve point half time deficit to win in overtime.

In the after-game press conference Van Gundy was a little testy and for good reason. As usual, the sports reporters asked some of the dumbest questions imaginable. I love Van Gundy's candor and intolerance for stupid reporters. He was the first to admit he made a coaching mistake by NOT fouling with eleven seconds to go. Phil Jackson also made a mistake by having the Lakers inbound at full-court rather than half-court on the last Laker possession in regulation. Phil was confused about the Magic foul situation and thought Orlando had a foul to give. In the end it turned out to work to the Lakers advantage.

After the final inbound in regulation for the Lakers, Derek Fisher did what he's been known to do in the past - he hit a clutch three-point shot to tie the game. Orlando had time enough to win it on their last play but couldn't get the job done. This scenario was set up by Dwight Howard missing two critical free throws in regulation that could have sealed the game up for the Magic. In overtime the Lakers were tough and escaped with a 99-91 win in a game they should have lost.

In retrospect Van Gundy said "this one will haunt me forever". All I can say to Van Gundy is welcome to the Ghost House. There are games and plays from Laker playoffs past I will never get over. Now it's on to Sunday's game and we'll see if this broke the back of the Orlando Magic. This was a heart breaker if you root for the Magic.

Stay Classy Snaggletooth

I guess by now everyone has seen the Litterman video embedded below where he suggests A-Roid "knocked up" Palin's young daughter. Real class act there David. My only thoughts are that David Litterman has a young Son and Karma has a nasty habit of coming back around and biting one in the ass. Stay classy Douchebag. I hope your Child doesn't inherit your lame sense of humor. Sarah Palin's classy reply to Litterman is at the bottom of the page.



Sarah Palin replies to David Litterman.....
"Concerning Letterman's comments about my young daughter (and I doubt he'd ever dare make such comments about anyone else's daughter): 'Laughter incited by sexually-perverted comments made by a 62-year-old male celebrity aimed at a 14-year-old girl is not only disgusting, but it reminds us some Hollywood/NY entertainers have a long way to go in understanding what the rest of America understands -- that acceptance of inappropriate sexual comments about an underage girl, who could be anyone's daughter, contributes to the atrociously high rate of sexual exploitation of minors by older men who use and abuse others.'"

Timothy Treadwell's Grizzly Encounters In Alaska

I often watch the Discovery Channel and a few years ago they featured a program about Timothy Treadwell . For those who aren't familiar with Mr Treadwell, he was a pseudo Grizzly/Brown Bear expert who spent many Summers in Alaska observing the behavior of the Bears. Last night in the process of Googling a few topics I happened upon one of the Treadwell sites. I spent over two hours reading about his experiences in Alaska.

In 2003 he, along with his companion/girlfriend Amie Huguenard was attacked and eaten by one of the Bears in Alaska. I'm not making fun of Timothy in any way. His death was a waste and a tragedy - but.... he must be given the Lion's share of the blame for his careless disregard for the nature of Bears and by putting himself and Amie in harm's way once too often. While reading about Timothy I came across this shocking YouTube video. I just had to share this. RIP Timothy Treadwell and Amie Huguenard.

Warning: this video may be too intense for younger viewers.

Forget The Regular Season - This Is The Playoffs

A lot of people are making a big deal about the Lakers going 0-2 against Orlando in the regular season. Forget it. This is the Playoffs. The Lakers came out smoking tonight while the Magic barely showed up. The result was an easy 100 - 75 blowout at Staples Center.

I know this isn't the same Magic team that dethroned King James and the Cavs so we can probably chalk this one up to a case of the nerves on the part of Orlando. Make no mistake about this - the Magic will show up on Sunday and erase this sub-par performance from the minds of Laker fans. Don't get cocky L.A. This was not the same team that throttled Cleveland last week. I eagerly await Sunday's game to see if I'm right. It isn't going to be this easy.

More On Obama's Booty Smooch Tour

I'm no fan of Sean Hannity and his knee-jerk actions but he does ask President Obama NOT to do something in his upcoming Middle East Junket. It's real simple Mr President - stop apologizing for the U.S. You are not speaking for me or a majority of the American People.

The Latest Executive Ass-Kissing

Thanks to Jammie Wearing Fool for posting the latest chapter in the Booty Smooching Chronicles of Barack Obama.

After recently proclaiming that America is not a Christian Nation President Obama did some revision and spin during an interview and declared America could be considered one of the World's largest Muslim Nations.

It seems the head Dhimi in charge could use a lesson in the science of Demographics. Considering the U.S. currently lists about 76% of its citizens as Christians I wonder how he came to this conclusion? When compared to the 0.06% of people who identify themselves as Muslim you have to wonder about his math and the underlying reasons for the ridiculous statement that we could be considered a "large Muslim Nation". These are the words of the Chief Executive Dhimi - not Greasywrench.

I don't suppose this would be considered any sort of groveling before the Muslim Nations of the World as Obama prepares for a major junket in the Middle East - would it? Let's see how Press Secretary Robert Gibbs, the head nitwit in charge of Obama's press conferences spins this one.

Time For Redemption

Congratulations to the Denver Nuggets for giving the L.A. Lakers all they could handle. But after six games the Lakers finally prevail in an almost textbook perfect game. And once again to all the fair weather fans who claim the Lakers have no heart - take this game home with you!

I've blogged on this before but I will repeat: to win an NBA championship you have to win on the road. Teams have to overcome home-court officiating which can be tough on the road. Last night the Lakers did both.

Kobe had thirty-five points and was perfect at the free throw line as all the Lakers were. Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom scored twenty and Trevor Arriza had seventeen points to spread the wealth around. Now it's on to ?

Here's hoping for an Orlando victory which would give L.A. the home-court advantage. We'll know more after tonight's game in Orlando.

Lakers Tough One Out In Denver

After a series of blowouts in the Rockets vs Lakers semi-final we're getting to see some dogfight Basketball now. All three games have been close and could have gone either way. After losing home-court on Thursday night the Lakers toughed on out in Denver and went and got it back.

Kobe was great tonight along with Pau Gasol, Trevor Arizza, Lamar Odom and the rest of the Lakers. After being down early in the first period the Lakers wouldn't quit. To all the sports writer who have been questioning the heart of the Lakers, it's time to shut up. They didn't stop fighting and scrapping until the final buzzer.

Thanks to a key steal by Trevor Arizza in the closing minutes and great defense by Lamar Odom on the inbound the Lakers were able to pull this one out. Kobe had forty-one points and two very clutch three pointers in the fourth period to nail it down.

Game four is on Monday in Denver. Unlike the Utah and Houston series, this one is shaping up to be everything I hoped it would be. We're seeing some very good Basketball and hard fought games.

Lakers vs Rockets - Things Are Heating Up!

Game one: This was a cold shooting error filled game with the Lakers playing like they had this series already won. Someone forgot to tell the Rockets and they caught the Lakers with their pants down. Yao Ming was a problem matchup for the Lakers as I predicted and he burned them. And Andrew Bynum did get into early foul trouble once again. Ron Artest scored 21 points, Yao had 28, and Aaron Brooks scored 19 to lead Houston. Poor free throw shooting and turnovers via ball-handling mistakes probably cost the Lakers game one, along with the home court advantage.

Game two: This was a completely different story. The Lakers came out running and Yao quickly got into foul trouble trying to keep up with Pau Gasol. Lamar Odom started in place of Bynum and the Lakers jumped on the Rockets early. But...the Lakers have a bad tendency to give up leads and last night was no different. After leading in the first quarter the Lakers fell in love with the three-point shot and ended up tied at 57-57 at the half-time buzzer. The second half showed an entirely different Laker team. Not usually known for playing a physical type of game, the Lakers got rough. In times past the Lakers would tend to fold when challenged with force. This time they fought back. Derek Fisher was ejected (rightly so) for a flagrant foul on Scola and suspended for one game. Kobe (a few minutes later) put an elbow to the throat of Ron Artest while fighting for a rebound. The officials missed that one. In retaliation Ron Artest subsequently charged Kobe and gave him a verbal warning about rough play resulting in Artest being tossed. He should have been given a Technical and nothing more. Anyway, the Lakers got tough and ended up with a win.

Game three: With Jordan Farmar starting in place of Derek Fisher we got much better play last night from the Laker starters. Better free throw shooting and three-point shooting. I expected things to get dirty but surprisingly the game was a hard fought and clean game. The Rockets looked flat. Artest couldn't buy a three point shot in the first three quarters. Once again, Artest got tossed. He fouled Pau Gasol on a drive that should have just been a clean, but hard foul. At the very worst a continuation basket. The referees are obviously making an effort to take control of a series that was starting to get out of hand. The Lakers win and take back the home-court advantage. Game four is Sunday

Damn - That Didn't Take Long!

In an earlier post I predicted that Manny Pacquiao would drop Ricky "The Hitman" Hatton in six rounds. Well WTF do I know? Hatton barely lasted two rounds.

The Pacman ended the fight with a left that had the Hitman unconscious and on the canvas for six minutes. Here's hoping that Ricky Hatton suffered no lasting damage from the devastating punch that put him on queer street.

As for Pacquiao, it's on to bigger and better things. Perhaps a match next Fall with Floyd Mayweather Jr. Maybe Floyd should re-think his un-retirement after witnessing what happened last night to Hatton. As I said in a post last year - it is Paquiao who is the PFP best fighter in boxing, not Mayweather.

Now if Floyd has the stones to step into the ring with Manny he may learn a very painful lesson about the proper time to stay retired. Oscar De La Hoya learned the hard way and so may Floyd Mayweather Jr.

Lakers Vs Rockets - It's On!

This should be a very good series. The match-ups are interesting to say the least. In March the Lakers played the Rockets and Kobe and Ron Artest got into a trash talking exchange. Well after that, a pissed off Kobe torched Artest for thirty-one points in the second half. If there's one thing special about Kobe Bryant it's his competitive spirit. He can and will take over a game if need be - or if he gets angry as he did with Artest. In seasons past it was often necessary for Kobe to do so. Now that the Lakers have a great starting five and probably the deepest bench in the NBA the load can and will be spread around.

The match-up at Center should be intriguing. Who's gonna guard Yao Ming? Paul Gasol has the quickness but not the strength. If it's Andrew Bynum will he get into foul trouble as he did in the Utah series? How about Lamar Odom? Lamar has the speed AND strength but he often gets into early foul trouble too. The Lakers do have several options at Center. All three big men (Gasol, Bynum, Odom) can play Center or Power Forward, although Andrew Bynum is a true Center. It gives the Lakers a lot of versatility.

Trevor Ariza is really coming into his own as a Laker and he's been a pleasure to watch. The same can be said about Josh Powell and Jordan Farmar. They have all really matured this season and are key players. As of now Luke Walton is injured so he may not be a factor.

There will be some interesting switching in the low-post. As in the Jazz series it may come down to who makes the fewer mistakes. Passing and ball-handling are the Laker's weakness. Kobe is NOT a good ball handler. Derek Fisher should take care of pushing the ball up court as much as possible. I'm going to pick the Lakers in six. The second round for the Lakers vs Rockets begins Monday night at the Staples Center.

Home court advantage is the deal breaker in this series - unless someone wins on the road. And, as with with all NBA games, the officiating will always go in favor of the home-court team. That's the way it is is. I have blogged about this in the past. This is why home-court advantage is so crucial in the playoffs.

Final note: I watched the Bulls vs Celtics game last night and it was great. What a battle of wills. The game went into three overtimes before Jochim Noah made a great steal and got fouled for a three point play to seal the deal for Chicago. I am rooting for Boston to go all the way to the finals. They have some serious injury problems with Kevin Garnett being out but that's sports. Last year when they played the Lakers Andrew Bynum was hurt and that may have been the difference in the series. Who knows? Anyway - Go Celtics on Saturday. You have an appointment with L.A. in a couple of weeks....... I hope.

Pacman Vs Hitman - Who's Gonna Win?

I have been a big fan of Manny Pacquiao for the last five years or so and the upcoming fight should be a brawl. Ricky Hatton is a straight ahead brawler custom made for Pacquiao's style. And, Manny Pacquiao keeps getting better with each fight. Hatton is also gonna have trouble (as most fighters do) with Pacquiao being left-handed. Manny is too fast, hits too hard and won't quit. Hatton is gonna take a beating - count on it. I'll take the Pacman in seven rounds.