NBA Lockout

Dear NBA, I am one of your biggest fans (ok, not of the league as a whole but for my beloved Lakers). If you lose the entire 2011-2012 season I will not come back. Yes, you heard me. I will be done. Lakerjosh will have a new name. To the players I say the United States is a capitalistic country, which often times means those who make the most money are the ones who do the least. To the owners I say the people pay to see the players, not you. With the way the economy is today I can't imagine anyone will have sympathy for either side. I certainly don't. Figure something out or you will lose a guy who has spent thousands of dollars on your product and I will donate all of my NBA gear to the less fortunate, something the owners and players should think about. Thanks for reading.

ESPN errors

UPDATE: They've since corrected the error (see below for original post). Not sure if I had anything to do with it or not but I'll find out.

It really irks me that ESPN consistently makes errors that I have to point out yet they won't give me the time of day when I apply for an editing job. The following is the latest in their long list of mistakes that I find on a weekly basis. This is on their homepage in the headlines section (see the highlighted section). Why does it say Modano returns for Stars? He's not on the Stars anymore and even if he were it wouldn't be relevant news because they're not in the playoffs right now (nor did they even make it). This compares to the time I had to send them an email (which led to them fixing the error) when they said "Can Anthony and the Bulls become contenders in the East"? HE'S ON THE KNICKS. Companies like this need more people like me who won't tolerate these errors. Thanks for reading.

Broken Computer System

So today the NCAA revealed that there was a discrepancy in one of the 6 computers used to determine the final rankings. It turns out that Boise State, which initially finished 11th, one behind LSU, has actually swapped positions with the Tigers. Is this not reason enough to do away with the BCS once and for all? Why do computers determine the champion of arguably the most popular sport in the country, college football? Computers are not perfect, and certainly if any of these 6 computer systems uses any Microsoft-based applications that makes them even more susceptible to imperfections. When will the heads of the NCAA finally go to a playoff system? How much money will sponsors need to throw their way to get rid of the current format. What happens if TCU beats Wisconsin, a team from one of the automatic BCS bid conferences? We should rely on a computer to tell us that Oregon or Auburn is better than TCU? Who's to say Alabama was better than Boise State last year? Or LSU was better than USC in the 2004 season? Or USC was better than Auburn the following year? And the list goes on... The C in NCAA stands for "Collegiate" but when it comes to its dealings with college football it should stand for "Coward" because nobody is willing to stand up to this broken system. I will be rooting for Oregon in this year's title game because I'm loyal to the Pac-10 however I would love to see nothing more than Auburn winning then later the title is stripped away because they determine Cam Newton should not have been eligible. Thanks for reading.

Barry Bonds

Why isn't Barry Bonds playing on the road? Is he hurt? Is it because he's struggling? Are they resting him for the stretch run? None of the above. He wants to break his homerun record at home. Why? Because at home will be the only place where he is cheered. I was hoping he'd have a chance to break it in LA next week but that likely will not happen. Especially if he continues to rest his ego. If I were a Giants fan (I'm thankful every day that I'm not) I'd be furious that he's not playing. Have the Giants given up on the season? Sure, they're the Giants, and they suck, but at least put forth an effort. I think the best part about this whole thing is their manager Bruce Bochy, goes from a contender to a laughingstock. Why? Not because he saw the potential to win. Not because he wanted to see Bonds break Aaron's record. But because of $$$$$. If I were a Padres fan (which wouldn't be nearly as bad as being a Giants fan) I'd be ecstatic that my team is doing so well and his is doing so poorly. What a joke Bochy is. Hopefully someone will give Grady Little some $ and we can get rid of his sorry, well you know what. Can we bring Lasorda back?

Jason Schmidt

So Jason Schmidt is having season ending shoulder surgery and won't be back until next Spring. Great use of $47 million Dodgers. I've heard on the radio that the Dodgers knew he had shoulder problems but were willing to take a chance. How stupid can you be? Will this turn into another Kevin Brown situation? We all know how that went. They could have used that money to resign Greg Maddux for another season. In fact, they wouldn't have had to use the whole lot of it. Ned Coletti and Mitch Kupchak must be long-lost brothers because of their highly questionable moves. Why did the Dodgers use all that money when what they really needed was a big bat? They have no power. How about Juan Pierre? What a defensive liability. I could throw the baseball farther and with more speed than him. What a croc. That's all for now. Still waiting on some more Kobe developments so I can write about it. Thanks for reading.

Kobe

Since neither Kobe nor Jerry Buss have confirmed what has been printed about the switching of Bryant's mind possibly again I really can't comment much. I will say that I don't believe the Lakers will trade Kobe unless given no choice. If they are forced to, hopefully they'll be smart enough to get a superstar in return unlike the Shaq trade. More to come as the saga develops. Thanks for reading.

Los Angeles Times

So today I open the newspaper, hoping to read about the Angels-Dodgers game and the story at the top of the page reads, "Source: Bryant Tells Buss He Wants Out." Who is this source? Was it the waiter at the restaurant? The hostess? The limo driver? The couple next to them? Somebody put a bug on their clothing? That little fly on the wall really can talk? Maybe it was that Lakers insider that started this whole mess a few weeks ago. It could actually be a conspiracy designed by the LA Times to draw more readers. After all, they've had some big layoffs lately and they lost one of their best writers, J.A. Adande. I don't know what to expect anymore. After all, this is the same paper that said the Dodgers played the Mets in the World Series once. I also had to correct their writer a few weeks ago who said Kobe had played all but one of his seasons under Phil Jackson. Funny, because Kobe came into the league in 1996 and Phil Jackson was in Chicago leading the Bulls to three straight titles and didn't start with the Lakers until 1999-2000. Maybe that was Kobe Bryant in Jordan's body. Wait, I got it. Phil Jackson was actually both Del Harris and Kurt Rambis in 98-99. This newspaper has turned into such a laughingstock that maybe I should start my own paper. Anyone want to invest? I guarantee my facts would be facts and my "sources" would be real. Thanks for reading.

ZZZZZZ

Wow, what a great NBA Finals. A 4-0 sweep with Cleveland averaging 80 points a game. I'm surprised their average was that high. It's probably because they made a late push in game 2 otherwise they would have definitely scored in the 70s. I think this series is a wakeup call to not only the NBA, but to all sports. ELIMINATE CONFERENCES. Ok, maybe we can't eliminate them entirely but how about re-seeding all 16 playoff teams based on record. I know why there's conferences, to eliminate travel time but in the playoffs, who cares? With my proposal, it's quite likely that the Finals participants would both be from the Western Conference. The Leastern Conference has turned into a joke. Since the Bulls won in 1998 the Western Conference has won 7 of the 9 titles (Lakers with 3, Spurs with 4). The first win in that span for the Leastern Conference came in 2004 when the Pistons beat the Lakers with the help of the referees and Shaq's inability to score and rebound against a much smaller and weaker foe. Interesting how he played better against that same foe in 2006 when his team actually beat Detroit. Hmm, very suspicious. The other win for the Leastern Conference was last season after Dallas blew a 2-0 lead and a big 4th quarter advantage in the 3rd game. Let's face it, Dallas choked but judging by how they fared this playoffs, it's to be expected. Although I love Robert Horry, especially when he was knocking down those big 3s when he was in LA, I still think the Spurs owe him for their title. His check to the boards of Steve Nash won that series. Sure, Stoudemire and Diaw are partly to blame, but it's human instinct to help out your friend/teammate and this "leaving the bench" rule has to be modified. I also think the NBA should do like the NHL and re-seed after each round. There's no reason why #4 Utah should face #8 Golden State in the 2nd round while #2 Phoenix faces #3 San Antonio. That's all for now, let me know if you have any comments. For those fans of deathofasportsfan.com, I will now be using this site but obviously will make no promises as to how often I update because we all saw how that went. Thanks for reading.