Great comeback by the Lakers

.... last night at the Staples Center as they rallied from a 20 point 3rd quarter deficit to win Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals. Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol did most of the damage and then Phil Jackson, in his infinite wisdom, brought in three striped shirted players to close it out in the final minute. There's a reason this guy has won 9 NBA Championships as a head coach - he always knows when to make the call to the bullpen.

The NBA is now 6 wins away from their dream of a Lakers-Celtics Finals and I don't see any possible way that it does not happen. The league won't allow it. In the meantime, I'd love to see the Lakers-Spurs series go to 7 games. Perhaps Kobe Bryant would find himself at the FT line a few times during such a game. I don't even think the league would leave it to chance - I'm pretty sure that David Stern would pull a Jeff Gillooly and hire someone to bash in Tim Duncan's legs with a crowbar the night before the game. Or maybe he'd just sabotage the Spurs team flight and make them sleep on a plane instead of in a hotel room....(No wait, scratch that. That's too outrageous. That would never happen.)

It's Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Finals tonight in Boston and the Celtics are a 4.5 point favorite. I heard JK on the radio yesterday bragging about a big play on Pistons +2.5. Not sure where he got that number but I doubt he'll need the extra bucket. No big deal - all his big money is on WNBA games anyway.... The Pistons could really put a lot of pressure on the Celtics (and David Stern, the NBA, and ABC) by winning tonight's game so my prediction is.... they won't. Celtics win and we draw one game closer to our "dream" Finals.

Yesterday morning I had 2 options - go watch the Champions League Final at a bar with several people from work or drive out to Red Rock Canyon with my parents. I could either get drunk and publically embarass myself watching sports (Literally my favorite pasttime) or sit in the back seat while my parents argue over which way to turn as they both cling to different maps. It was a tough call. When I finally worked up the courage to approach my mom and tell her I wanted to go watch the soccer game (Yes, she's 5'2 tops and now in her late 50s, but trust me she is intimidating) she had the same look on her face I probably did when I found out I was on the same side as one of Chad's "locks" last week. I then glanced at my Dad who gave me a look that screamed "Boy if you ditch me to go watch a game and I have to listen to your mother bitch about this all day long, I am going to cut your balls off...." so I chose Option B: Go to the Red Rock Canyon and drive around aimlessly with my folks. It was great: We got lost (somehow), they argued most of the way there, and when we finally arrived it was so windy at the lookout points that it was difficult to keep our eyes open and basically impossible to take pictures. Another great family outing. I hear that the soccer match was decided on penalty kicks. How was the beer? Was it good?

I hate you guys.


Ed says that my picks are garbage and I should just stick to writing. We'll see about that....

Here's what I'm playing on Thursday:

Angels

Astros

Indians


No Silver Bullet Special today. I like all these plays equally. That's right - 100 dimes across the board. I'm definitely going to keep my eye on that Phillies-Astros game. Not because of my play on the Astros, but because it is an opportunity to watch Phillies slugger Ryan Howard play the game. What a mammoth shot he hit last night at Nationals Park. He then followed that up with another HR - his 12th of the season. Say what you want about this guy but he is truly one of the greatest sluggers of this generation. I'm sure none of you (certainly not any Phillies fans) would disagree with that.

The blog was recently dealt a blow as one of my biggest fans and a future contributor, Chris Bennett, told me that he felt I needed to broaden my horizons and write about more topics. He felt the blog was too sports gambling and Jorgen-themed (Yes, there's Jorgen's name.... everyone calm down) and that I needed to branch out. Chris said that I should do reviews of bad movies in my blog. I see what you're saying Chris - you don't think I have the acumen to write about anything other than sports (and Jorgen.) Well, I will take your challenge, sir, and I will write a review of any movie, so long as it is a terrible one. That narrows your choices down to only 99.9% of all movies, so choose wisely. In fact, the blog will now be taking suggestions for a movie I can review. Once I receive 4 suggestions that I feel are good enough (In other words - movies I've already seen) I will create a poll that will allow the reader's to decide which film it is I review. I am capable, Chris. You'll see.

Let's go to the trivia:


Thursday's Trivia Question: What is Kobe Bryant's middle name?

** Tuesday's answer: Pearl Jam's original name was Mookie Blaylock. Several people got that one but special kudos to Andy Ross for answering in the blog. Nice job. But how many of you also knew that their 1991 album Ten was a reference to Blaylock's jersey number?

All of you, huh? Alright....moving along....


Send in those movie suggestions and we are still taking sign ups for the NFL team previews.

That's two homework assignments for you, guys, and here's a third:




Enjoy the game.