jpapagan's Blog

I can't stand when people pluralize the names of individuals to make a point or a comparison.  You hear it all the time from sports analysts and reporters, i.e.:

"He's got to develop a better outside shot if he wants to be mentioned with the Kobes, the LeBrons, the Chris Pauls of the world as an elite NBA player."

HUH???!!  What the hell is that?  There are not multiple "Kobes," there is only one guy.  Why do you need to pluralize them when you say this?   Wouldn't it be equally effective just to say "If he wants to be mentioned along with Kobe, LeBron and the elite players of the NBA, yada, yada..."  ??

I don't know who started this ridiculous trend among sports media "professionals" but it makes no sense and needs to stop.

Many experts have said that the Angels have the best pitching, great defense, great speed, but they need one more big bat to win it all.

Well, they're hoping First Baseman Mark Teixeira is the answer. 

The way they've been playing lately, you might not think they needed another bat and Casey Kotchman has been heating up.

What do you think?  Is this the right thing to do?  Will it secure a championship for the Halos?  Or did they give up too soon on the promising Kotchman?  Could they have won it all without this trade?

Say it isn't so, Elton! 

Seriously, you're going to Philly?? 

Perhaps you haven't been around the past few days, but did you know that I made a verbal agreement with the Clippers?  That's right, I was planning on coming to L.A. to play with you and make us instant contenders in the Western Conference next year.  Isn't that the whole reason you did the 'wink, wink' opt-out move so that you could restructure and the team could make room for my contract? 

What the heck's gotten into you?  Dude, call or text me ASAP, we need to talk.

With you and Cory gone, I'm basically going to have to lead a young team through the west that has as little, if not less, talent than the one I am leaving.  What the deuce are you doing to me?  Andre Miller is no Baron Davis, E.B... that boy is going to shoot first, feed A.I.2 second, and dish to you under the hoop third. 

What about the unspoken agreement?  What about the City of Angels?  What about all that Clippers pride????  (okay, maybe that's a stretch)

Anyway Elton, please clear your head and give me a buzz.  If not, I may have to send my pal, the Zohan after you to fix this.  Believe me, E.B., you don't want that.  Did you see that Jedi mind crap he pulled on me in that NBA Playoffs commercial? 

This is all kinds of nuts, Elton.  You're screwing up everything.  Don't go to Philly.  There's still time.  I'll even shave my beard if you stay.

Call me,
Baron

Seriously, this is the slant that the L.A. media is taking with this Lakers team?  When they beat the Spurs to advance to the NBA Finals, all of the media in L.A. was delivering the story of "... a goal that was four years in the making" and even worse, I heard one reporter say "Lakers fans have been waiting a long time for this..."

Are you kidding me?

This is hardly a franchise that's been starved for success or been deprived of greatness for any marginally significant stretch of time. 

I even heard one media outlet say something to the effect of "First there was Magic, Worthy and Kareem, now there's Kobe, Pau and Lamar!"

Did everyone forget that the Lakers won THREE NBA titles IN THIS DECADE???  are we forgetting that Kobe's already been here 4 times with Shaq Daddy 2001-2004 and won rings three of them??

Look, in full disclosure, I'm a Celtics fan, but I was  rooting FOR THE LAKERS to beat the Spurs, because I want to watch a Lakers-Celtics Finals. 

But please, media, don't take this approach with this Lakers' run.  It just sounds idiotic, pompous and entitled and insulting.  The Celtics haven't been to the finals in 21 years but even I'm not stupid enough to play the "finally, after years of torture" card and pretend that they haven't had many years of success.

We'll miss you Kwame Brown... now don't let the door hit your ass on the way out.

Ah, the Kwame Brown era has come to an end... and just when he was starting to come into his own. His star was shining and opportunity was knocking - Andrew Bynum was on the shelf and Kwame was starting to string together double-doubles like he was channeling, well, Elden Campbell?

Anyway, let the Pau Gasol era begin!! I'm not sure how Memphis is going to explain this trade to the long-suffering Grizzlies' faithful but they continue to be about a decade away from a championship.

Lakers get: Pau Gasol

Grizzlies get: Kwame Brown, Javaris Critendon, Aaron McKie, Marc Gasol, 2008 & 2010 first-round draft picks, 2010 second round draft picks.

Well, Kobe has no excuses now, assuming Bynum comes back strong for the playoff run.

What do you think??

So, Barry is in Los Angeles tonight and for the next three games.

Personally, I don't think it needed to come to this.  Barry could have broken the record at home if only he didn't decide to "rest his legs" the week before in Milwaukee and on the home stand.  He stalled on the previous road trip to set it up for himself at home.  Then when he was home last week, only 2 away from the record, he took a couple games off as well, leaving himself only 3 games over the weekend to hit 3 homers.  Well, he only hit one (on Friday) and was shut out Saturday and Sunday.

 The point of the story is, you never know when you'll hit them and you can't just assume that you'll be able to jack one at will, even if you're Barry Bonds.

 Now he's on the road for the next week and he either has to...

a) break the record on the road and get booed

b) sit on the bench to make sure he doesn't break the record on the road

c) play but try not to hit homers

It's all a bad scenario.  Personally I think he will play 4 out of 6 games this week and "conveniently" hit one homer to tie Hank, so that he can break the record next week when he's back at home.  What do you think?

 

The Mayor and the Governor are leading a strong push to bring the 2016 Olympics to Los Angeles.

 

Are you excited about this?  

Or would you rather it not take over your city?

 Or do you care at all?
 

... or will he be just another Elden Campbell? It will take a few years to make an accurate assessment but I think the young kid is showing signs that he could indeed make us forget about the Daddy in a few years.

 

His biggest problem right now is that he gets into foul trouble too early in some games - a very common problem with young players, especially young centers who haven't developed the reputation and rapport with the refs to get calls and avoid them like other veteran centers in the league. But in the games that he stay out of early foul trouble, he is a virtual lock for a double-double with a couple swats every night.

Phil will probably also argue that his defense needs a lot of work too, as he is getting backed down in the lane too easily by more seasoned players - but we as fand don't care about that as much, do we? Well, maybe we do a little. But with a little more maturity and effort, the stat sheets and highlight reels will start to get beefier for this kid. I like his upside A LOT! Let's wait and see...

Okay, here's a Superbowl Prediction - Why? Because screw Peyton Manning. Just remember, Peyton, they're not saying "Boo," they're saying "Moooooov... "

No wait, check that, they are saying "Boo."

So this is a Super Bowl update to my post below in which I correctly predicted that the Bears would beat the Saints - I believe I was the only one in the country who thought that by the way. Well, me and Barack Obama. So, I was wrong in my Pats pick, but that's just because I'm a Homer.

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I haven't heard one person pick the Bears this week. Not one. None of the ESPN experts or NFL peeps and certainly nobody around here. Everybody likes the 'Aints.

Well, I'm going bold and busting the chain. You heard it here first. The Bears will win!

It's going to be a throwback Superbowl to 1985 - Bears-Pats (with the Pats winning this time, of course).

I don't know how they're going to do it - their defense is decimated, they can't stop the N.O. runners and their offense can't last in a shootout either, but somehow, miraculously, the Bears will win this game. I think maybe a Devin Hester special teams play will be a big factor.

And as far as everyone rooting for the Colts? - if you've read Micahel Holley's book on Bill Belichick and you've read Tony Dungy's comments this week about the Colts and Bears, well that's all you need to know to understand why the patriots will win this weekend.

Bears 38 - Saints 30
Patriots 31 - Colts 27

Ok, who thinks it's time for LT and the Chargers to stop whining? Talk about no class! No class is being a sore loser in defeat.

There it is. Look, I loved LaDanian Tomlinson all season as he led my fantasy team to the best record in the league (only to fall short in the playoffs).

But what can you say besides... SOUR GRAPES and SORE LOSER!

Classless? LT, your "class" took a hit by whining about something stupid after your team lost. Nobody wants to hear it and you just come across as a sore loser.

Since when is it wrong to celebrate on the field after a big playoff win?? Who cares? They were excited. And as far as mocking Shawn Merriman's stupid "lights out" dance... again - Who Cares?

You think that's the first time someone's mocked Merriman's dance or anyone else's token dance? It's not. If for some ridiculous reason you don't want people "mocking" your celebratory dance, then don't do the stupid "it's all about me, not the team" dance in the first place. Whether it's the "Dirty Bird" or the "Jump Shot" or whatever other stupid celebration dance you can find in NFL history... they've all been mocked by opposing teams.

So, LT, Merriman, Rivers, and any other San Diego fans or players who are whining about this, it's time to just shut up and stop being sore losers. That's the only way to restore your class.