Something is Missing

Last Friday, ESPN’s the Sports Guy dedicated a column discussing the recent trades in the NBA. In reference to the Pau Gasol for Kwame Brown trade he said that Laker fans “should feel really, REALLY lucky right now.”

Truer words have never been written. I haven’t felt this happy to be a Laker fan since 2003-04 when the Lakers, with the newly signed Gary Payton and Karl Malone, began the season with an 18-3 record.

The Lakers are 9-1 with Pau Gasol. Kobe, when not getting ejected out of games as he did last night, is playing great with his bad pinkie. Bynum’s recovery appears to be going well. Lamar Odom is playing some of the best basketball of his NBA career. The bench is continuing to perform extremely well.

The only thing missing aside from a championship, is Chick Hearn’s voice. It’s been six years since Hearn passed away and listening and watching Laker games hasn’t been the same since. Sure Hearn had started making a lot of mistakes while calling games, like referring to Shaq as Kareem, towards the end of his broadcasting career, but there was still that something about his voice that just screamed “Los Angeles Lakers.”

Since Hearn stopped calling games, there have been three individuals who have tried to fill the shoes of that giant of sports announcing: Paul Sunderland, Joel Meyers, and Spero Dedes. Sunderland called games for the Lakers from 2002 to 2005. I didn’t have much of an opinion of Sunderland. I knew he was in a no win situation since he was Chick’s immediate successor. He was a little bland but I thought he did an admirable job.

Chick Hearn was one of the only announcers who did a simulcast of the game for television and radio. Somehow he managed to do an excellent job of describing the action well enough for the radio listeners to get a good picture of what was going on without boring the television viewers with descriptions of what they were watching. After Sunderland’s first season, the Lakers did away with the simulcast and made Sunderland the television guy and hired Joel Meyers as their radio voice. When Sunderland was let go, Meyers took over the television spot and Spero Dedes was hired to do radio play-by-play.

I didn’t mind Joel Meyers as the Lakers radio voice, since I don’t usually listen to a lot of radio games. However, when he switched over to television I was exposed to him a lot more and quickly grew tired of him. One of the first things that really stood out for me when I started watching him is that he was much more of a homer than I expected, especially when it comes to complaining about the referees. Now I’ll be the first to complain about bad officiating, but as a fan, that’s what I’m supposed to do. I don’t need to hear it from an announcer who I expect to be somewhat impartial. I just don’t get much insight from listening to Meyers. It doesn’t help that he looks like a turtle.

So now I’m hoping history will repeat itself and that Dedes will eventually replace Meyers. I like the way Dedes calls a game. He doesn’t complain about the refs as much as seems a lot more objective, more like Chick used to call games. However, no one is perfect and I do have one bone to pick with Spero. Last week before the Phoenix show I was listening to the pre-game show while I was on the road. Matt “Money” Smith, host of the pre and post-game shows, and Spero were discussing Pau Gasol’s first game as a Laker at Staples Center and the reception that the Laker fans gave him. Then Spero made a reference to the large Spanish population in Los Angeles. I wanted to reach through the radio and smack Spero on the head. Obviously Spero meant Latino not Spanish. But I can’t really hold it against him too much since he is from the East Coast. But now that he's in LA, he needs to learn how to tell the difference between Spanish people from Europe and Latinos from Latin America.

Hopefully he’ll get straightened out soon and won’t make the same mistake again. And hopefully he takes over television duties soon. He won’t be able to truly replace Chick, but I’ll be able to enjoy the Lakers’ recent success a little more.

All-Star Thoughts

Just wanted to share a few thoughts on this weekend’s NBA All-Star festivities.

Celebrity Game
I was in the Maui airport for a layover on the way back to the mainland during the game. I watched some of it in an airport restaurant. I didn’t pay too much attention to it. My only real impression is that Gabrielle Union, the coach for one of the two teams, is pretty hot. Alyssa Milano was the coach for the other team. I used to have a huge crush on her until I heard she used to date Brad Penny, the overweight All-Star pitcher for the Dodgers. That soured me on Milano a bit. Same thing happened with Eliza Dushku.

Rookie Challenge
Also missed this one due to by travel plans. As much as I enjoy watching the game every year and was looking forward to seeing Brandon Roy, Rudy Gay, and Jordan Farmar, I think I made the right decision in choosing Hawaii over the game. I did hear about the game and looked at box score and it was nice to see Farmar ended up with 17 points and 12 assists. Who knows, maybe one day he’ll play in the actual All-Star game along with the Laker’s young center Andrew Bynum.

Shooting Stars
Not much to say. The San Antonio team won. It was amusing to see David Robinson out there with the other “legends” Bill Laimbeer, Eddie Johnson, and B.J. Armstrong. Also don’t know how Chris Duhon ended up representing Chicago when Detroit, Phoenix, and San Antonio sent all-stars Chauncey Billups, Amare Stoudamire, and Tim Duncan.

Skills Challenge
I don’t know why but I got a kick out of the two finalists, Chris Paul and Deron Williams, being on my fantasy team. It was a shame that Williams, who won the competition, was not in the real game, but I’m sure it’s only a matter of time.

3-Point Shootout
It always surprises me how entertaining this event can be. Sometimes it’s even more exciting than the dunk contest because of the clock and the absence of judging. Jason Kapono was very impressive in defending his title and tying the record for most points in this competition.

Slam Dunk Contest
First of all, I want to say that Dwight Howard was amazing. I absolutely loved his first dunk when he threw the ball behind the backboard and dunked with his head behind the backboard. I also loved his first dunk of the final round in which he threw the ball while in the air off the backboard with his left hand and caught the ball with his right and powered it through the rim. However I had a couple of issues with the Superman dunk. While I thought it was creative, it wasn’t a real dunk. He threw the ball through the rim a foot or two away and his hand never touched the rim. For me, a dunk has to involve the player touching the rim, usually with his hand, although for Vince Carter it can be the player’s elbow. My other problem is that Shaq is the real Superman. It’s too soon for Howard to try to take that nickname. I also agreed with Dr. J that Gerald Green didn’t get enough credit for his socks dunk and I was really impressed with his birthday cake dunk in which he blew out a candle while dunking. He probably should have saved that one for the final round.

57th NBA All-Star Game
When I learned that the NBA would force Kobe Bryant to play in the All-Star game despite Kobe’s injured finger, I was somewhat upset. But upon further reflection, it was the right decision. The game is meant to be for the fans. The fans voted for Kobe to be in the game and if he’s healthy enough to play for the Lakers, he’s healthy enough to start for the All-Star team. The game was somewhat boring since the East was in control for much of the game. It didn’t help that the uniforms made it hard to tell the teams apart. My girlfriend T-Nap mentioned that it looked like there were three teams out there, a blue, red, and white team. The end of the game was really exciting and I thought Ray Allen deserved the MVP award for stopping the West’s run although LeBron James did have a hell of a game.

Getting Lost

Tomorrow morning I will be heading to Hawaii for a little vacation. Even though I’ve lived most of my life on the West Coast, this will my first trip there. I plan to stay four days in Oahu and four days on the Big Island. I can’t wait to lay out on the beaches, go snorkeling, see a luau, and visit all the sights. I’m also excited about being at the location where Lost, ABC’s award-winning drama, is filmed.

Before I go any further, I do want to offer a little spoiler alert. If you haven’t watched through last week’s season premiere of Lost, you probably shouldn’t read any further. I first checked out the show back in season one. I resisted the hype for a while, but eventually I gave in and watched a couple of episodes. I didn’t get hooked. Part of the problem is that I didn’t know the characters. I also felt I had been down the road before with supernatural shows like Twin Peaks and The X-Files. I hated the way both of those shows ended and I didn’t want to get sucked in again. I also felt the show didn’t make much sense and got the feeling that the writers were making things up as they went along without a vision of where the show was to go.

But then a funny thing happened. I started dating a girl that loved the show. The Not-A-Pocha (T-Nap for short) convinced me to give Lost another shot. It didn’t hurt that the Sports Guy was raving about how great the third season finale was. T-Nap had season one on DVD and we started to watch it. Her dvd player was in her bedroom so it also gave me a nice excuse for lying in her bed.

After watching the first season, I got reeled in. Despite my qualms about the show, there is no denying that it is really suspenseful. The writing and acting is also top notch. I also love the diversity of the cast, even if the two Latinos weren’t necessarily role model figures, one being an obese, mentally unstable lottery winner and the other being a cop turned vengeful vigilante.

But I don’t think I’ll ever love the show as much as T-Nap does. I still get a sense that the writers are pulling stuff out of nowhere. It doesn’t help when story lines are dropped. For example, what was the point of showing that Libby was in the mental hospital with Hurley if the writers were only going to kill her off a few episodes later. Also whatever happened to Michael and Walt. Although I guess Walt’s brief appearance at the end of season three suggests we will see more of them eventually.

It also drives me crazy when the characters act stupid on the show, recent examples being when no one bothered checking to see if Mikhail or Naomi were really dead. Speaking of dead, it also bothers me how many cast members have died. When so many characters die (Boone, Shannon, Ana Lucia, Libby, Mr. Eko) it takes away from the shock when the next character dies. I was bothered by the fact that Charlie’s death didn’t really impact me as much as I think it would have if those other characters hadn't gotten killed off.

Nevertheless, I still do enjoy the show and I’m very upset that this season may only last eight episodes because of the writer’s strike. But I am excited about the Hawaii trip and seeing locations in person on Oahu that I’ve only seen on television. I just hope that my flight doesn’t pull a Lost on the way there or on the way back. While I’m looking forward to seeing the beaches, lush jungles, and green hills, I’d rather not see any killer polar bears, Others, or smoke monsters.

Christmas in February

It’s funny how the vicissitudes of life can take you from one emotional extreme to another. Thursday night I was depressed. The Lakers had lost by one point to the Detroit Pistons. I think it was the low point of the Laker season for me. Even though I had fully expected for the Lakers to lose to one of the best teams in the league on the road without their blossoming young center Andrew Bynum, it still hurt to see them so close to winning the game but having victory snatched away like that. To make things worse, I was tracking the game on the internet since it was tape delayed on television and when I hit refresh on my browser I initially read the final score as a Laker victory and squealed with delight. When I realized my mistake it felt like I had been punched in the gut. I really should work on my reading skills.

That feeling carried over the next day until about noon. I checked my cell phone and listened to a voice mail message. My friend El Jefe told me that the Lakers had traded Kwame Brown for Pau Gasol. Of course I was sure he was lying to me. So before I even called him back I checked ESPNews. And much to my delight there it was in the ticker. I called El Jefe back and just started saying “Dude!” and “Oh my fucking God.” I told him that I didn’t believe him and he told me he was telling the truth. Then I told him I had already check the news. We were giddy like schoolgirls. This had to mean the Lakers would win a championship within the next two years. His brother called him so I got off the line and started calling my other Laker fans.

I called Johnny Ringo and he didn’t answer so I left a message. Thursday night he had taped the UCLA basketball game so he was avoiding all sports news before he watched the game. So when he called me back his first question was “Are you fucking with me because you know I can’t check the news.” He broke down and checked and confirmed the news. I also called Vayacondios and when we spoke he also said he still didn’t believe it was a done deal and was sure that the deal would somehow fall apart. How could the Lakers have turned an athlete that was recently voted by his fellow players as the player doing the least with the most talent into a past All-Star still in his prime? When I saw Gasol on the bench of the Washington Wizards game on Sunday, I finally believed it was true.

Now being the “optimist” that I am, I do have some concerns. I remember feeling this excited when Karl Malone and Gary Payton joined the Lakers in the summer of 2003. While that team came close, in the end they failed to win a championship, in part due to an injury to Malone in the playoffs. So I know nothing is guaranteed (just ask the New England Patriots). The Boston Celtics are still currently the best team in the league and the Lakers will still have to get past the Suns, Mavericks, Hornets, and/or San Antonio to get to them.

My other concern is Lamar Odom. When Andrew Bynum returns from injury, Pau Gasol will move to the power forward position and Odom will once again play at the small forward position. The Lakers experimented earlier this year with Odom playing the three and the experiment failed and Odom was moved to the four again and began playing better. Odom might have come into the league as a small forward but he now seems better suited to being a power forward. The Lakers should be fine if they keep Odom, but El Jefe pointed and I can’t help thinking that the team would be better with a more defensive oriented small forward that can consistently make three pointers. If the Lakers could trade for Ron Artest or Shane Battier, they would really be unstoppable.

My final concern is that Gasol is a Spaniard. Being a Mexican American I have some issues with Spaniards. I hold grudges and it’s a little hard to get over the thought that some of my ancestors raped and killed some of my other ancestors. But I guess if Gasol helps the Lakers win a championship, I’ll get over it.

Despite all my concerns, there is no denying that Friday felt like Christmas for me. Though the obvious present was the Lakers getting Gasol from the Grizzlies, the real present for me was the hope that I got from the Lakers. I went from wondering if the Lakers would make the playoffs with Bynum being out for another six weeks to wondering how many championships this team will win. Sometimes it’s better to receive than to give.

No Deja Vu in Football?

I wasn’t planning on doing a Super Bowl preview. First of all, I figure there’s enough coverage of it without me putting in my two cents. Furthermore, as I mentioned a couple of weeks ago, I was really disappointed that the Green Bay Packers are not going to be facing off against the New England Patriots.

But then my buddy, and one of my handful of readers, e-mailed me that I should write about how underrated the New York Giants are and how he expects an upset similar to the one in Super Bowl XXV when the underdog Giants beat the mighty Buffalo Bills. Although I was planning to write on how disappointed I was by the season premiere of Lost, I couldn’t ignore Dr. X’s request.

As I type this, the Patriots are 12 point favorites. Now my understanding of Vegas lines is that they aren’t really predictions of outcomes of games. Rather, they’re used to try to get half of gamblers to bet on one team and the other half on the other team. When that happens, the casinos win regardless of the outcome of the game because they still get their juice, their commission from taking the bet. Since the line hasn’t moved that much since it opened, it would appear that there still isn’t that many people thinking the Giants could win.

I know one thing for sure, if I were in Vegas I would be betting heavy on the Giants. I’m not saying they will win, but the way the Giants have been playing and as vulnerable as the Patriots have appeared against the Chargers and these same Giants at the end of the regular season, I just don’t see a 12 point win.

My friend Dr. X goes even further than that. He actually thinks the Giants have a shot at winning the game. He suspects that all the media attention that the Patriots have gotten will finally get to them and they won’t be as prepared for the game as the Giants will be. As I mentioned above, he also sees parallels between this Super Bowl and Super Bowl XXV. Back in 1991, the Giants defense was able to contain a much-ballyhooed offense powered by Jim Kelly, Andre Reed, James Lofton, and Thurman Thomas.

Unfortunately for Dr. X and New York fans, that Giants defense will not coordinated by Bill Belichick as it was in 1991. The Giants defense has played well, but this time around Belichick will be on the opposing team’s sidelines. And while the Patriots no longer have Adam Vinatieri, one of the best kickers in NFL history, I don’t see their current kicker Stephen Gostkowski being the second coming of Scott Norwood, who notoriously missed a game-winning field goal for the Bills.

So I’m predicting a Patriots victory. And since my friend Johnny Ringo is a bigger Pats fan than Dr. X is a Giants fan, that’s what I’m hoping for also. Although it would have been pretty funny to see the Giants win without the retired Tiki Barber or the injured Jeremy Shockey. It also would have been funny to see the Pats go undefeated in the regular season but fail to win the Super Bowl. Then again I have a strange sense of humor.

On Monday: Christmas in February, the Pau Gasol/Kwame Brown trade.