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I know the Lakers loss is going to be blamed on Kobe taking the shots, but the fact is that it's just not true. The Lakers lost this game because they couldn't play defense, (and to a lesser extent) because Smush Parker fucked up repeatedly all night long. Kobe made damn near everything he took, but when you let the Suns score on the pick and roll about 98% of the time they run it, you're not going to win the game, period. I mean really, Devean George is about the most consistent clutch shooter the Lakers have after Bryant and he couldn't even make a free throw. If anyone else was taking the shots at the end, it just would have made things worse.

I just want to say that this has been an incredible game thus far. There have been huge performances on both sides, and you really couldn't ask for anything better in terms of a game that will likely decide the series. The one thing that's bothering me though as a Lakers fan is why the hell is Smush Parker still in? He's been terrible for the entire series, and he's doing everything he can to fuck up the game. You know that Devean George would do 100 times better out there, especially with all his playoff experience.

Kobe FUCKING Bryant bitches! Tremendous three to end the quarter.

OK, Mr. Kobe better get the job done tonight. After not betting more than $130 on a game throughout the playoffs, I bet $150 on the Lakers with the spread, and then bet another $300 on the moneyline, so that I'll at least break even if they only win by one or two. They've got the pivotal game of the series at home with Raja Bell on the sideline, so I really don't see who I could get a much better situation than this.

Here's you're interesting MLB fact of the day: Chan Ho Park makes more per year than the entire Florida Marlins team combined. ($15.3 million to $14.3 million) (Yes, the same Chan Ho Park that hasn't had an ERA under 5.00 since 2001 and plays for the small-market Padres.)

Seriously. It's not like they're getting off scot-free if they don't get the death penalty. I think after 20 years of "federal pound you in the ass prison", you've probably been punished pretty severely for whatever you were stupid enough to do one night. Now, if they got probation with no prison served or something, that would be ridiculous, but if they're charged with attempted murder (rather than sexual assault), I'd think that their sentence would probably be relatively severe.

Lakers 105 Suns 100 Phoenix will play hard and put out a valiant effort, but they're just not as talented as the Lakers and I can't see them winning at Staples Center. Also, I see this as the game that Kobe finally starts scoring for the Lakers, now that the Suns expect him to be dishing to his teammates all game long. Something like 38 points sounds about right.

If I ran the NBA, and I was in charge of determining what was a flagrant foul, and what was suspension-worthy, then no Raja Bell wouldn't have gotten a suspension. With that being said, his clothesline against Kobe was much more blatant than any of the other fouls that people have gotten suspended for throughout the playoffs, and for the sake of consistency, I can't imagine that the league would let him skate by on this one. Also, Nash and D'Antoni's arguments that the Suns have been getting bad call so it's only fair are whiny as hell. If anything, it just hurts their cause, as their admitting that Bell cheap-shotted Kobe, and then complaining about the refs as if the league office ever looks kindly on that.

Are you sure that he said this before the trial? I don't remember hearing that and I can't imagine that he would. After the trial, the "victim" drafted some big long statement, and basically said "read this, and I'll drop all the charges". Just because Kobe read it doesn't mean that every detail in it was true. If anything, I thought it made the accuser look even more suspicious in that she wanted him to read the statement in order to cover up the fact that she made the entire case up. I really believe Kobe was innocent, and to be honest, I didn't start becoming a big fan of his until after the trial.

Come on now. Jack Bauer HIJACKED A PLANE! How can that be a transition episode? I loved the idea that he could take out the air marshal without anyone knowing, and then it was super fun when he fucked with the steering to make the pilot let him out of the baggage hold. Basically, they take a concept that's just out of this world ludicrous, and make it look believable because Jack Bauer > the universe. I love this show. Oh, and the stuff with the President is a tremendous subplot. Usually, the White House stuff's kind of boring since it seems less important than whatever terrorist plot's about to destroy the United States, but this year it's really good, because the President is the villian and it's fascinating seeing him try to cover everything up.

I'm moving on up like the Jeffersons. From 19th to 10th to 5th to 2nd now, as the Cranky Old Men are only one game back. For the second time this year, i faced the team who previously had the best record in the league, and gave them a beatdown, as I took out Infinite93Intensity 8-3. I really love my team right now. The ony even minor hole I have is on the outfield, (Brady Clark's been playing shitty all year), but Coco Crisp will fill that in a couple weeks when he comes off the DL. My starting pitching's been awesome, as I have 5 pitchers that rate in the Top 80 on Yahoo fantasy baseball this year.

No chance in hell. It's going to be the Lakers and the Mavs in the Western Conference Finals. If it makes you feel any better though, Dirk and Co. will probably blow through Team Kobe in five or six games.

I agree. Anything that helps get this board back to its wrestling roots is a bad thing if you ask me.

No, I just thought that I was one of the vaginas actually. I was explaining my menstruations for you.

Anyone other than Pujols at 1B in the NL has to be considered a "wrong answer". He was considered the best player in baseball going into the season, and through April he's on pace for 96 homers. He hit more home runs than anyone has in April in the history of baseball. And he's not just swinging for the fences every time either as he has an OBP of .495. Most important of all, he's carried the Cranky Old Men St. Louis Cardinals to one of the best records in the league.

Well, after a disastrous NCAA tournament, I'm doing really well betting the NBA/NHL playoffs so far, as I'm currently 8-2. I'm 3-0 on the Mavs, 3-0 on the Lakers, 2-0 on the Senators, and 0-2 on everyone else. The Dallas win netted me $75 today, as this was my largest single game bet so far these playoffs.

I like how Joey Crawford has to make sure his presence is felt by making one ridiculous call before the game's over. (The flagrant on Dirk.) Luckily, the Mavs already had the game pretty much in hand, but I still think that guy's a total asshole.

Huge clutch performance for Dirk and the Mavs here. If you need one player to be absolutely deadly on a long three to tie the game, I'm not sure you can find anyone better than Dirk.

Oh, and not to beat a dead horse, but I thought this link expressed my opinions artfully. It doesn't prove anything, but when I happen across an article where 4 out of 4 "experts" agree with me right after I spend half an hour arguing a point, I have to post it.

I don't even dislike Mark Henry per se, I just can't see why they think it's a good idea to feud him with Angle right now. They just had a feud three months ago and it ended decisively with Angle beating Henry (relatively) cleanly in the main event of a PPV. It would be like HHH getting pinned cleanly by Cena again at Backlash, losing to Flair at Vengeance and then interrupting a Cena/RVD title match to set up an undercard match with Cena at Summerslam.

All right, I worded that terribly. My point was that whenever Iowa went against a decent team, they got shut down. They didn't have to play Ohio State, and they ended up with a relatively easy schedule, and then they along with Brad Banks got completely exposed by USC in the Orange Bowl. I think Banks was actually projected to go pretty high in the draft before that game, and then after it, he didn't get picked at all. Meanwhile, when Young was on the highest stage, he only came up with the best game by a single player in college football history. That was really only an auxilliary point though. The main focus is that no one could run and pass the ball like Young. Vick wasn't even close passing the ball in college. Here are their respective stats in their last college seasons. Vick: 97-179 (54%) for 1439 yards with 9 TDs and 7 INTs Young: 212-325 (65%) for 3036 yards wth 26 TDS and 10 INTs

All right, 2002 was a long time ago (that was Banks' last year, not 2003, like you said), and I guess that I forgot some details. Banks and Young did have similar statistics. However, the fact is that the Big Ten was down that year, and Banks couldn't replicate those statistics against a good defense when they shut down Iowa's running game. Against USC in the Orange Bowl, Banks was 15-36 for 204 with 1 TD and 1 INT, and in their other loss against Iowa State, Banks was 12-21 for 178. Meanwhile, when Young was tested, it was a different story. In the Rose Bowl, he was 30-40 for 267 yards, despite the fact that the RBs got held to 91 yards. I guess Banks was a better parallel for Young than I thought; I'll give you that; but he's still not on the same level as a QB. Where Young is different from the other QBs is his ability to pass and run the ball. It's not that there weren't any competent QBs (like Banks) who could also run the ball. It's that he passes the ball better than any other dominant running QB in football history. Vick and McNabb were mediocre passers who ran the ball spectacularly. Young runs the ball spectacularly as well, but also passes the ball on an NFL level. It's not that there's no one who passes the ball like him or that there's no one who runs the ball like him. It's just that no one in NFL history has done both on an elite level like Vince Young.

I was there for the 2004 season. That's actually when Leinart played the worst. This season, they used more of a combination of the vertical passing game and the running game, but in 2004, it seeme like all they did was throw screens to and Bush. The reason Brad Banks had the best QB rating two years ago is that he threw about 15 passes a game. Iowa was a running team, PERIOD. Young meanwhile was a catalyst for the entire team, and in the Rose Bowl, he basically outplayed the entire USC offense by himself.

I don't buy into all this "protect the players from DANGEROUS fouls" bullshit. It seems like any remotely hard foul is grounds for a suspension now. Like James Posey's foul on Hinrich the other night, that would have been just a run-of-the-mill personal foul 10 years ago, but now all the talking heads on the "create controversy so we have something to talk about shows" like PTI are acting like its a travesty, and should result in a serious suspension. Give me a break. There's a difference between a person that's legitimately trying to injure someone and a player just throwing an elbow because he gets frustrated. Kwame Brown's elbow either deserved a technical or a personal, but nothing more. That's the kind of shit that people like Isiah Thomas and Karl Malone would do 15 times a game (maliciously, not out of frustration), and no one would even bat an eyelash.

Such a tired arguement. So, everyone on the offense was great, EXCEPT Leinart? It's not possible that Bush and White could have benefited from his ability to stretch the field in the passing game? It's not possible that Dwayne Jarrett could have benefited from having Matt Leinart as his QB from day 1 as a college player? What? What has he ever done to prove that? He's never shown the ability to do a damn thing as a pocket passer. Young has shown the ability to run out of the shotgun. That's it. Listen, I lived on the West Coast throughout Leinart's entire career, and followed college football very closely throughout that period. I watched about 20 USC games, and I can tell you that Leinart didn't make that offense go. Whenever he had to throw the ball further than 10 yards, he was very innacurate and missed receivers on a regular basis. His stats were grossly inflated due to the talent around him. He played somewhat better in big games (the Orange Bowl two years ago and the Rose Bowl last year were probably the only times I've ever been impressed with his game, but I don't think he'll do well over the course of a 16 game season. When those "down" games are against the San Francisco 49ers instead of the Washington State Cougars, I just can't see him succeeding. As for Young, I guess I admit I shouldn't have said "pocket passer" since about 75% of their offense was out of the shotgun. However, what I meant was that he's extremely accurate on pure passing plays where he never threatens the defense with his legs, and he does things as a passer that no running QB has ever done before. Michael Vick and Donovan McNabb have both enjoyed a degree of success at the NFL level, but it was only because of their running ability. Without that ability, I don't think either one would have ever even gotten a starting job, let alone been considered a franchise player. However, Young is different. He was the best passer in the NCAA in 2005, and he may well run better than Vick or McNabb ever did. Basically, I think he's going to change the QB position in a way that no one ever has in the NFL. I think he's an impact player in the manner of LeBron James. The kind that you just can't pass on if you don't want to be listed on "biggest draft mistakes in NFL history" 30 years later.