{AAHHHHH} - NBA Opening Day.......like Christmas in October...

The World Series is going on and I have yet to watch a single second of it...has anyone outside of Tampa or Philly? I normally DO watch...whether it's one of my teams or not...it's the freakin WORLD SERIES for heaven's sake. But this year, I'd rather watch Murder She Wrote re-runs...and I can't STAND Jessica Fletcher

Pompous old hag.

...don't ask me why cause I have no idea. I love baseball...oh well...on to BASKETBALL!

The Ko.Be.A. ...errr...NBA...

 Season tip off means the chase for a ring begins now. It's 30-14 Los Angeles over the not quite ready for prime time Blazers. Basketball fans in the great Northwest are giddy about the return of Rip City, and with good reason. This Blazers team is loaded with talent but the Lakers were in the same position in the years before Phil Jackson came to show the way back to the Finals and three straight championships. It was universally noted that they had more TALENT than anyone during those years, but were spanked and sent home by a seasoned Utah team. Those baby steps included Shaq's first signs of his general manager aspirations with the departure of my favorite Laker of that time...

See the tip money in his hand?...No wonder the stripper is smiling.

The pre-Phil Jax / pre-3peat squad...

Nick Van Exel. The Baby Faced Killer, as dubbed by Bozo the Nellie (aka Don Nelson) after he drilled a buzzer beater vs Golden state. Nick the Quick WAS the Lakers during the post Magic / pre Shaq years. This guy hit clutch shot after clutch shot with the flair of Vince in The Color of Money. He'd hit a last second trey and "raise the roof"

...his signature celebratory gesture. Some times he'd do a boxing motion too. Some may have misinterpreted this as rubbing it in...I see it differently. Sports is an emotional thing, excessive celebrating and choreographed dances can seem braggadocios -but Nick's didn't strike me that way. (that could be my homer glasses clouding my view) but I didn't care much for Kobe yanking the front of his jersey last year, so maybe it depends on the player and the situation. Terrell Owens takes it to a whole-nother level with his antics...entertaining as they may be, I think he's a bit of an ass, so like I said...it depends on the player. I miss Nick. He had a sweet left-handed shooting touch and handled the rock like it was an extension of his body. "He plays because the 37th pick in the draft usually doesn't - he plays for the sound of nothing but net...he plays for Prime Sports" or so the commercial went...before Fox Sports West bought up Prime Ticket anyway...He was the fiery little leader of the Lakers in the early-mid 90's and I was always regretful that he wasn't a part of the championship teams. The shame of the whole thing was that the Lakers basically GAVE him away, trading him to basketball Siberia (Denver) for Tony Battie and Tyronn Lue...highway robbery. Shaq overheard him say "Cancun" in the huddle before what turned out to be the elimination game vs. Utah. Cancun meant he knew they were going to lose and must've been planning a vacation to sunny MeHEEco. Stool pigeon Shaq ran to management and ran Nicky V right out of L.A. (I happen to think it was more than that...it was NICK's team up to that point...after his exile, it became Shaq's team..and no one loves Shaq more than Shaq.) Though I can't argue with the resulting 3peat, it seems a shame Nick (one of FOUR Lakers All-Stars that year) missed out on championship glory. Let's not forget, ShaqEGO O' Nealo  ran All-Star Eddie Jones out of town too. For all of Shaq's greatness, he should have been TEN TIMES the player he ended up being...his ego was the only thing that exceeded his raw talent. He's been burning bridges ever since. Mark my words, his exit from Fee-necks won't end pretty either...especially since they have ZERO chance at a ring. Stevie Nash has TWO MVP awards...Jerry West ZERO, Shaq and Kobe...only one each, how the hell does THAT happen??....BUT...I bet Nashty eyeball would trade BOTH MVP trophies for ONE ring and a decent haircut.

Nashty!!!!

At any rate, I see the current Portland team in the same light as those 96, 97, 98 Lakers squads. Dripping talent like Oompa Loompas drip chocolate. Speaking of the candyman, Veruca Salt has return to us...welcome back Veruca! We've all missed being dissed and dismissed...and some even missed being slapped. Not me, I tend to slap back.

But, to each his B@Own, right?

WOW! Kobe just reminded me why he's the MVP...Joel Pryzbilla bumps him, tries to intimidate him by hovering over him for a second only to be ignored by Bryant, and the next trip down the floor, MVKobe makes and acrobatic layup in traffic and takes over the game...like clockwork. (56-41 L.A.) No sign of Greg "Chaka" Oden. He's joined Lamar Odom in the Land of the Lost (ZERO points so far in his debut)Seperated at birth?

...quit hacking rook...maybe you'll learn something. Refs don't like rookies much...ask Andrew, he fouled out quite a bit last year too. You may LOOK like you're a vet who's a year away from retirement, but the AARP goes by the paperwork not looks. Now it's 63-43...shouldn't have rocked the boat Joel. I'm putting this game in the refrigerator...(with 3 minutes left in the third quarter)

We miss you Chicky Baby!

Brandon Roy is a nice player and plays with a poise that's uncommon for such an inexperienced player...but like I said, not yet ready for prime time players...

Next up, B-Diddy and the re-vamped Clippers.

Next three...Clippers and Thuggets and Clippers OH MY!

Not only will they get Clipped...they might just get neutered...Bob Barker would be proud.

Don't hate the player...

Movie Recommendation:

Green Street Hooligans

This movie stars Elijah Wood as an American who moves to England and joins up with a Fight Clubesque soccer gang that fights other soccer gangs...now, I HATE soccer but this movie was tight. It came out on dvd about a year ago but not a lot of people I talk to have even heard of it. It's sports related, violent and has a hottie in it...Claire Forliani...you may remember her as the love interest in Meet Joe Black...         

Go check it out.

Until next time...keep blowin' smoke!