Kobe’s Week Was Better Than The President’s

The President has his scandals and the bad news about the war to deal with every day. But out here, the wreckage that was the Lakers only 10 days ago, after their awful string of losses, has turned around. In danger of losing their #6 spot in the Western Conference and tired of losing, Kobe got the leash taken off by Phil Jackson. Rather than holding back in the first and second quarters to get the engine going inside his fellow players he has come out shooting from the get-go. He has scored at least 50 in four straight games and the triangle offense has taken a back seat to the Kobe Bryant offense: just get it to him anywhere on the court and he’ll make the shot whether he’s double or triple teamed. What has given this new offense its ability to feed the big dog is the return of Lamar Odom and Luke Walton who are freely giving up good stats each game to pass the damned ball to Kobe. They are the best passers on the team and Walton, next to Phil and Tex Winter is also the best interpreter of the triangle; but more importantly these guys move with and without the ball to force opponents to respect their ability to score. That frees up Kobe to be Kobe. I’m not sure how long Kobe will utilize this offense which makes all lookers get goose bumps but tells his team mates that they are truly a supporting cast and no longer worthy of being made better. Walton and Odom are not only double-double kinds of guys but how do you go into the playoffs without developing the skills of all players on the Lakers except maybe their passing and staring skills? Don’t get me wrong; I love that they are winning. It makes me happier than the losing streak but at what cost to our ultimate hopes to get past San Antonio in round 1 of the playoffs? I don’t even know if they can keep this up for another couple of games. Then what? Tune in as we all talk about Kobe, his prowess and his skills and forget that there used to be a team here in LA prior to the massive injuries to starters at all 3 front court positions. That team is now back to health but forgot how to play together. Oh well, yet another year in which we see that Kobe plus mediocrity equals….well, just Kobe.

 

How’s Your Bracket Look?

Don’t tell me you had this Final Four. Don’t tell me that you picked Georgetown as a sexy #1, although Lake is as happy as a pig in mud (fooled you didn’t I? Thought I’d resort to bad language didn’t you?) Don’t tell me you thought Florida could turn it on yet again to look dominant after a so-so season for them. Don’t tell me you believed in UCLA after they were one and done in the PAC-10 tournament and as Serg likes to say, lacks that “go-to guy” at crunch time. Although 2 #1’s have balled their way to Atlanta Serg and Lake view the NCAA’s picks for that slot as tainted. Oh well, too late now for the purists that they are to muck up the NCAA’s decisions. But if you are a college basketball fan this past week was the wildest you could hope for or stand. How many games did you watch a day/night? Out here in La-La Land, we have the luck of having the games start early enough to see at least 2 sets of games, and still get to bed on time. The fact that over this weekend there were only 2 games per day on Saturday and Sunday made me feel like there was a void in my life. Watching 4 a day was getting exhausting but what choice does a girl have? So it’s on to Atlanta next weekend and now it really gets interesting and tight. So rip up the old bracket and start one just for the weekend. Who’s gonna know? I promise I won’t tell anyone.

 

Will Throw A Football For Food…

I sure hope that David Carr has a great sense of self esteem or a soft shoulder to cry on. Last year, at this time, he was given a vote of confidence by the Houston Texans: their new coach, Gary Kubiak, wanted to keep him so badly that he urged management to exercise an $8M guaranteed option in the QB’s contract to extend it for 3 more years. They had the #1 pick in the draft but passed up Reggie Bush who would have looked good in Carr’s backfield and left him with Domanick Davis to take the team far into the season and the playoffs. In this off season, after losing more than winning, as they did every previous year of their existence, they picked up Ahman Green for the backfield, re-signed Ron Dayne, who had come into his own by mid-season and ran well down the stretch and in the ultimate irony of all cut both Davis (now Williams) and Carr. In Carr’s place the Texans took Atlanta’s back up, Matt Schaub who has fewer then 10 NFL starts, having sat behind Mike Vick. Schaub is an unproven commodity on the field but you’ll hear folks in Atlanta talking about his “leadership skills” which I guess they could figure out from what exactly: how he is in practice and in the clubhouse? Let’s call this what it is: waving the white flag of surrender for a franchise that had promise and made all kinds of bad decisions. Carr has paid the ultimate price for being sacked more than 250 times in his tenure there and in one year Houston went from having the #1 pick in the draft to trading this year’s #8 position to Atlanta for the Falcons’ #10 as well giving up their second round pick…oh yeah and their second round pick next year. Carr hasn’t signed on with another club as of this writing and is slated to make $11.5 per season under his current contract on which he’s got 2 more years. How different would this have been had Reggie Bush come to town? We’ll never know will we? In the meantime, Atlanta has no back up, the Texans have 2 backups to pick from for their starter and David Carr bore the brunt of his team’s inability to get out of its own way. That’s just sad.

Want more? Read my Daily Dose of Duffy column at www.incidentalcontact.com and listen to me on the Sports Journey radio show on Wednesday and Friday.

© 2007 Incidental Contact, LLC

Can Pavano Still Pitch?

Isn’t every Yankee fan thinking the same thing? How many years has the club paid this guy to be injured, stupid, lie about how he got injured and now, finally as he is getting ready to be on the mound in a spring training game he has personal issues that prevented him from pitching on the appointed day. He claims they involved his girlfriend and no details were given. Actually Joe Torre mentioned that Pavano didn’t actually ask NOT to pitch. He just talked about how troubled he was with whatever the situation was and Torre said that if he was so conflicted and upset that it might not make sense for him to go out there for the first time in a game. How long can he keep it up? As I write this, Pavano is scheduled to pitch Monday night against the Red Sox for the only spring training game between the two clubs. What a stage for a comeback for this guy. What did he do in his past life or lives to give him the luck of the Irish, although he’s not, and get paid tens of millions in guaranteed salary while not pitching for more than 2 years? Would love to know. I’d like some of that fairy dust coming out of the magic wand. Today the rumors are being squelched by the Yankee brass that the team is looking to trade the pitcher. I leaped for joy til I saw that the team is denying it all. Would I be the most happy Yankee fan if the guy turns into the second coming of Chien-Ming Wang? Absolutely. Would I be surprised if he were…beyond surprised; how about flabbergasted. So please, please, please stun me Mr. Pavano. You owe the team and us fans.

 

The Mavericks Are Looking Like the Team to Beat

And I’m not just saying that because they beat down the Lakers so badly on Sunday that it was literally the worst loss in the history of the team since it moved from Minnesota. Is anyone alive who still remembers that besides George Mikan? Nowitzki is just the center piece, well not technically since he doesn’t technically play the center position, of a team that just seems to be able to plug and play guys into the lineup who can do the same kinds of things: shoot, defend and win. It’s that simple but not many teams get it. I know, as Laker fan I can tell you that the Mavs dismantled my team and the triangle offense the Lakers run doesn’t allow for that ease of substitution. Too bad since half the starting lineup has either been or is still on the disabled list. The Mavs beat you in every way a team possibly can. They can outscore you or they can steal you blind and win on turnovers. They can frustrate the heck out of you by playing man to man D and then score on fast break points in transition. They are top to bottom the best roster in the league. The Little General (aka Avery Johnson) has them in the top 10 in teams who allow the fewest points per game and their scoring capacity has barely taken a hit after their new resurgent defensive presence. What they look like is a more poised and mature college team that plays for pride and for each other. Will they achieve the 70 win mark this season? I say why not.

 

John Amaechie Gets An Endorsement

And here we thought that a gay athlete who comes out will forego his endorsements; obviously not. A company called HeadBlader, Inc. has chosen him as the new face (head?) of their company because as they said in the press release, “He is a man comfortable in his own skin and not afraid to go against the grain.” Is that for real? Yeah, and I think it’s great. He is a hunk and he’s got the perfect head for the shaved look. Why not? Every gay man I know thinks he’s cute and many of those men crop their hair pretty damn short if they are losing it. So Amaechie was wrong about the lack of support he received as well as corporate America’s willingness to use him. What a country!

That’s it for this week folks. Til next week, check out my daily Dose of Duffy columns at www.incidentalcontact.com and listen to me on the show Tuesday and Friday.

© 2007 Incidental Contact, LLC

The Snake Sheds His Skin

On Friday’s show, I was the only one out of the three of us on the air who said Jake Plummer wasn’t quitting due to an ego problem. Even the usually kindler and gentler Reggie Williams thought that he was having a hissy fit and quitting to screw the Broncos’ trade with the Bucs; or that he was too full of himself to accept a bench role after 10 years as a starter. My belief is that we don’t really know Jake Plummer as a person and that we are programmed to believe that ball players will play until they drop dead on the field or are suspended for banned substances; that without being told to stop by someone outside of themselves they will continue like the Energizer Bunny and hit the wall. Well welcome to the world of reality folks; people quit jobs every day. If they have the money they don’t take another one; especially if it’s a lower tier job than the one you had. Is it unusual when you’re only 32? Sure, but with his millions and the years he’s been in the game, including high school and college, he has the equivalent of an early retirement from the Army or the police force or fire department.: almost 20 years and a chance to start a new life. Jake Plummer was profoundly affected by the death of his dear friend Pat Tillman who had the courage to leave the world of celebrity, sports culture and big money to join the army and fight in the Gulf. When Tillman died Plummer was never the same. He finally decided to have the courage of his own to walk away from something when people wouldn’t understand; the same people who pilloried him every day in the press and on the air. Why do it anymore if it isn’t fun and you don’t have to? Guess what…..he gets it and those that criticize him don’t.

 

It’s March Madness

I am fond of telling Lake and Serg that I don’t follow college football or basketball til it’s time that it actually matters. For football it’s the final couple of weeks of the season when everyone is scrambling for rankings and eligibility for bowl games. And the time came about 10 days ago for me to follow the college basketball scene. I started with the Florida/Tennessee game. What could have been better than Pat Summitt, the steel magnolia of women’s college basketball coaching, wearing a cheerleader outfit and wacky hat singing Rocky Top at pre-game and then joining the cheerleading pyramid to get the folks into the spirit? Well the game topped it. Bruce Pearl had the arena filled for the first time for a men’s event and they beat the pants off the reigning national champs. What could top that, right? Well the Texas/Texas A&M game was one of the best games of any kind I’ve ever seen. Two of the three best players in the nation went at it for regulation and 2 overtimes only to have A&M lose by 2 when they failed to get the offensive rebound and basket to tie it up after a free throw that was purposely missed. Jeez, it was exhausting just watching it and embodied to me what college basketball is all about: passion and selflessness. The team concept works so well at that level. The kids haven’t been corrupted by Nike, Pepsi, agents, groupies and hangers on. This week of conference tournaments is further ramping up the excitement and the desperation for inclusion in the magic 64 team Big Dance is palpable. As I like to tell women who want to learn about it all, you can’t help but root for these kids, no matter what school they come from. Try it, you’ll like it.

 

D Wade Should Be Selfish

As Reggie said on the show this past Friday, he has two words for Wade: Grant Hill. Wade whose shoulder injury could turn the Miami Heat season from hopeful to hopeless has chosen to wait and see if he gets better, try and play again and make a stretch run towards the playoffs. The thinking is that his injury won’t get worse if he comes back, hurts the same shoulder and that without him, the Heat can’t make it to the Finals. So? Didn’t they just win last year? Let Shaq Daddy prove he is still the MDE (most dominant ever) and can carry a team with other great talents on it. Make Pat Riley prove he is the evil genius coach he and others think he is and take your time to have your shoulder heal or get surgery and be ready for next season. What’s that you say…. Shaq will be a year older and Pat Riley might not come back? Oh, well then I guess you’re Atlas holding up the world by yourself right? Give me a break.

Want more? Read my Daily Dose of Duffy column at www.incidentalcontact.com and listen to me on the Sports Journey radio show on Wednesday and Friday.

© 2007 Incidental Contact, LLC