I love my country and have cheered for them enthusiastically throughout these Olympic games. But I have to say that recently we have shown very very poor sportsmanship.

Of course, by now if you haven't heard about the ALLEGED under-aged Chinese woman gymnasts, you probably don't even know the Olympics are on. At the heart of the whole scandal, you have 3 Chinese gymnasts who don't look 16 (the required age to compete). Although I also think those girls don't look 16, who gives me or any Americans the authority to judge?

Anyone who has close Asian friends knows that Asians typically look younger than their actual age. My mother-in-law (my wife is Chinese American) is the same age as my own mother, but she looks at least 10-15 years younger (Sorry mom, but that's the truth). This disparity in aging is even more pronounced for teenagers. While we Americans have girls like Jamie Lynn Spears giving birth at 16, most Chinese girls (in China) don't even start dating until they are in college.

The point I am making is that it's very possible that those Chinese gymnasts are really 16 or older, and they just look younger by our American-Caucasian standards. It's funny that you don't hear the Japanese or Koreans complaining about the Chinese "ultra-youth". Perhaps it's because to other Asian nations, they do look their documented age of 16.

But the problem is not whether the Chinese cheated or not. Afterall, it's not the Olympics if you don't have cheating or at least su####ions of cheating. The problem is that we Americans have been the ones complaining. And we picked the worst time to complain, right after losing to the Chinese girls. And we aren't just complaining or raising su####ions politely, we are crying like little children, we are screaming and scratching like bitter ex-wives. The Karoyli couples (the American coaches) actually called them "half people" on TV. This kind of behaviors just sickens me. What has happened to the American values of dignity and statemanship?

If we really believed that they were cheating, then we should have refused to compete, until proper investigation took place. But we did not, we went ahead and competed, and by doing that, we basically agreed that the competition was fair. Now to turn around and to cry foul only after we lost is nothing but....being sour grapes, sore losers, and terrible terrible sportsmen.

Now I have to give credits to our girls. For the most part, our girl gymnasts have shown great sportmanship. Shawn Johnson and Nastia Liukin have really shown grace under fire. Congratulation to them for winning the individual honors! But you don't hear the Chinese complaining or demanding investigation, after their girl Yang took the bronze. Afterall, Shawn Johnson doesn't look 16 either and Nastia Liukin was born in Moscow. If the Chinese were us, I bet that they would start demanding the IOC to investigate Johnson's age and Liukin's citizenship.

Perhaps we can learn a thing or two about sportsmanship from the girls and.....ouch the Chinese communists!

To me, the only thing hazier than Beijing's pollution during the Olympics is the reason why anyone (not from Wisconsin) cares a thing about Brett Favre's unretirement!

First of all, it wasn't really a retirement to begin with. To retire from a sport, you have to be sitting at home (doing nothing or golfing) when everyone else is playing. Brett announced his retirement during the off-season. He played the final game of last season for the Packers, and he will be starting for the Jets for the opener of this season. So...basically he will miss ZERO time! In other words, NOT a real retirement!

Second of all, he is almost 39 years old! That is fossil age for NFL players. Although he would still be effective if you put him in the perfect situation (strong line to protect him, good receivers to not drop his passes, and great defense to cover his mistakes), who wouldn't be? The bottomline is that he is on his last legs, and the Jets were 4-12 last year! It's like watching MJ playing for the Wizards in the regular season after they were eliminated from the playoff.

And speaking of MJ, I am so confused as to why Brett Favre is now being regarded as great and legendary as guys like MJ, Babe Ruth, and Ali. Watching ESPN's non-stop coverage of this saga, they've made Brett sound like the Second Coming or Jesus with helmet.

Sure, Favre had a great career, a definite HOF career. He holds many career records for QB and brought a Super Bowl to Green Bay, but he is not at the level of MJ, Ruth, or Ali. In fact, he is not even the best QB (let alone football player) of his time. Actually he is probably not even the 2nd or 3rd best of his time. I would rank Brady, Elway, and Manning ahead of him, probably even Aikman.

His major statistic accomplishments (254 game streak, most yards, and most wins) are just the result of Green Bay having blind loyalty for him. He never took a game off even when he probably should have from time-to-time for the long-term success of his team. In other words, his game streak was mostly because of his fear of giving the backup QB any chance and his desire to be football's ironman.

As for yards and wins, sure he has more than Elway, Marino, or Montana. But he probably also has more interceptions and losses than any of them. It's like Lenny Wilkens being both the winniest and losiest coach in NBA history.

Finally, for everything he has done in the regular season, Brett Favre has won.....ONE Super Bowl! I know one is better than none. But putting things in perspective, even Trent Dilfer won a Super Bowl! Some team and some QB have to win it every year!

Okay, I know that I will get killed by all the Favre worshippers. But I have nothing against the guy. I actually like Brett Favre and have enjoyed watching him over the years. But please put things in proper perspective!

Worship him if you are from Wisconsin or the Packers are your team. If not, then just praise him for his accomplishments on the field, but don't turn him into the Obama of football. In other words....

Like him for his substance, but don't love him for his image!

Well, congrat to the Celtics! And congrat to myself! I was one of the few who predicted a Celtics championship. And I was definitely the only one here who predicted Celtics in 6. Guess I should call myself the genius! Just kidding!

Anyway, the Celtics won simply because they were the better team! The real bad news for the Lakers is that the Celtics aren't going anywhere. Barring major injuries, it will probably be the Celtics and Lakers in the 2009 Finals. And Celtics, by playing in the weak East, probably will get home court ad again, where they have been virtually unbeatable

I am neither a Celtics or Lakers fan, thus my neutral view is that we are getting back to the 60s again, where "the Celtics beat the #### out of the Lakers" happens. Finally Kobe gets to play like his idol, Jerry West!

Now my observations on the draft!

1. Bulls-Rose: Of all the Chicago players during the MJ era, why does Paxson get to run the Bulls. He hasn't done a thing since taking over, and he messed up again last night! Yes, Rose will be a solid player, but the Bulls already have Hindrich, Hughes, and Gordon at guard. You really think Rose will be that much better? The one thing that the defense-minded Bulls need is more scoring, and Beasely would have provided exactly that! And by the way, Rose is not Chris Paul or Deron William!

2. Miami-Beasely: Miami, by default, made the better pick. I know Riley really wanted Rose, but I think a Rose-Wade backcourt would have been disastrous. Like Kobe, Wade plays best when he has the ball, thus he doesn't need a PG who dominates the ball. He needs a Derek-Fisher-kind of PG, good handle, great defense, and clutch spot-up 3s. Plus Beasely fits right in with Haslem and Marion. Look for Beasely to avg at least 15ppg and 8rpg, and Wade to have a breakout year if healthy.

3. Minneasota-Love (via trade): I can't say whether I like this pick/trade or not. On one hand, Mayo has more superstar potentials, and Love will just be a smaller version of Brad Miller, at best. On the other end, T-Wolves already have too many wing players and need a quality big guy, plus they get Mike Miller in the trade. But in the end, I say this is a bad move for McHale.

He and Chris Wallace (Memphis GM) right now are tied in the chase for MSG (most stupid GM), due to the Gasol and KG trades. Wallace is a bit ahead, because at least McHale was a great player (cut him some slacks) and T-Wolves have Al Jefferson (not much) to show, whereas the Grizzlies have nobody. But now McHale has put everything on the line. If Mayo turns out to be the best player of this draft (a good possibility), McHale will go down as the biggest #### in the NBA. I guess we will know in 2-3 years.

4. Seattle-Westbrook: I don't know much about this guy, so I can't comment. To me, he is just one of the many PGs in this draft not named Rose. Chances are we will never talk about him again.

5. Memphis-Mayo (via trade): Good gamble for Chris Wallace. Mayo may turn out to be the best player of this draft! Plus, what does Wallace have to lose, after screwing up with the Gasol trade? At worst, he goes from being "hopelessly moronic" to "really hopelessly moronic".

6. NY-Gallinari: Great move! I know the Knicks fans booed this guy, but they boo everyone. This guy has been a star in the Euroleague, which is much better than NCAA basketball. Look for a good rookie season.

7. Clippers-Gordon: It's the LA Clippers, so of course this pick is bad, and Gordon (or whoever else) will have no career. Enough said!

8. Milwaukee-Alexander: I love the trade between the Bucks and Nets. It's one of the those trades where everyone involved benefits. Bucks get another potent scorer in Jefferson. The Nets get major salary relief (to make a run at the King in 2 yrs) and a young 7-footer who can shoot in Yi, who finally gets to play in a major market. The ironic thing is that the Bucks then drafted Alexander, who grew up in China and speaks fluent Mandarin. I guess they just cannot let go of the big Chinese market. Talk about Yellow Fever!

9. Charlotte-Augustin: Another PG in this draft not named Rose! MJ is quickly joining McHale, Bird, and Isiah in the former-superstars-who-don't-know-what-the-heck-the
y-are-doing-as-GMs club!

10. NJ-Lopez (the talented one): Good default pick for NJ! But I do worry about the fact that he slipped about 5 spots down from just 2 weeks ago. Either many GMs were putting out smoke screens, being clueless, or Brook really sucked during the workout! The funny thing is that Brook, by having a post game, gets to play with Vince "I am on vacation" Carter, whereas his twin Robin, by having nothing but energy, gets to play with the great Nash! Look what talents can do for you! It's possible that Robin may avg more points than Brook as rookies

11. Indiana-Bayless: Another PG not named Rose! Who cares!

12. Sacramento-Thompson: Thank God someone FINALLY values education for NBA players. But where the hell is Rider University?

On a last note, it was totally awesome to see Mario Chalmers not get drafted until the 2nd round. The guy did nothing except hitting one big clutch shot. Had Memphis make their free throws, this guy would still be in school. Talk about Karma!

Okay, I admit that I was wrong about the Lakers in game 5. They didn't give up and fought bravely to the end and prevailed. But I know for sure that the Celtics will win game 6. No doubt about it! In fact, it will be a major blow-out. Here are couple reasons:

1. The Celtics are home! Other than Pierce and Posey, none of the other Celtics really wanted to win in LA. Being up 3-1 (with 2 home games), they felt like they really could afford to lose one on the road. This was especially true for KG, who totally costed his team the game. The Boston home crowd for game 6 will be 22-years-in-the-making loud.

2. The Celtics is simply the better team. They could not have played a worser game than game 5, yet they could have easily won the game. The Lakers simply have no defensive answer for the Big Three, other than just "praying" the open shots don't go in.

3. If history holds up, Odom will have a terrible game 6. He played well in both games 4 and 5, so expect Lamar to go back to his old self. And Gasol won't be much better. The Lakers basically have no chance unless both Odom and Gasol play well.

4. The Lakers are "satisfied". I love how they "acknowledged" the Lakers home crowd after game 5 victory, thanking the fans for their support for this unexpected magical season. They acted like they were satisfied with not allowing Boston to celebrate on their home floor. Which means no real motivation for game 6.

5. Kobe is tired, really tired. You could tell by the way he played last night. He was drained out. The Boston defense has taken him out! He played like MJ, when the Pistons used to kill the Bulls in the late 80s.

6. The Celtics bench will dominate! There is a reason why Boston has been almost unbeatable this season at home. Their bench plays at a different level at home because of the fans support. Expect another Leon-Powe-in-game-2 kind of performance by their bench.

7. Finally, the fix will be in! After the whole Donaghy scandal, you think the NBA will allow a classic game 7 between the Celtics and Lakers. Sterns will call in and make sure the series ends in 6. Look for Boston to dominate free-throw shooting again.

As I predicted before this Finals began, the Celtics win the championship in 6!

Wow, what a historic comeback or what a choke job. A few observations:

I guess Phil Jackson isn't so great afterall! Did Red Auerbach ever screw up a 24-pt lead during the Finals? The Zen master was too relaxed and didn't do enough to stop the bleeding until it was too late.

Doc Rivers can actually coach! Give him some credits for going with Eddie House and Posey. Their timely sharp shooting was the reason why the Lakers couldn't cheat by leaving anyone open and had to play the Big Three straight-up.

Sasha played great defense all night until the final play when he simply let Ray Allen "walked" by him for a game-icing layup. Odom had a breakout 1st half and then was back to his old self.

Gasol continued to disappoint with his soft gentle approach to post play. I don't want to hear another word about how the Lakers stole him, he didn't play much better than what Kwame would have done.

Can Radmonvic ever give a hard foul? I hope before this series ends, he can at least give one hard foul! Stop avoiding contacts after getting fooled by a Pierce pump fake! Next time it happens, put your elbow directly to Pierce's nose! It would be great to see Pierce celebrates the championship with a broken nose.

The Big Three have played like the Big Three. And to all Lakers fans, don't expect the Celtics to be like the Heat 2 years ago...one and done! The Big Three are still not far past their prime. They have been extremely durable (especially KG), so expect them to continue playing at this level for the next 3-5 years. Which means as long as they can avoid accidental injuries and stay hungry, expect championships #18, #19, and maybe #20. This means no Shaq-less trophy for Kobe!

Speaking of Kobe, how sad it was to see him in the final 5 mins of last night's game. All by himself, with no help, going against all odds, doing everything he could, despite being totally exhausted, still came up short!

On the flip side, each of the Big Three just took turn to kill the Lakers. And when they didn't, it was House and Posey. And speaking of Posey, shouldn't he be public enemy #1 in LA? First, he helped Shaq to win a ring without Kobe, now he helps the Celtics to embarrass the Lakers. The Lakers should have traded for him 3 years ago.

Finally, unlike most people here, I picked the Celtics to win this Finals, not because I am a Celtics fan, but because I know basketball. The Lakers built their entire team around 1 legend, while the Celtics is built around 3 superstars. Kobe is much greater than KG, Pierce, and/or Ray, but 1 against 3 is just too tough. Unfortunately for Kobe, other than Fisher, everyone else on the Lakers is too mentally soft. Gasol and Radmonvici are prime examples of soft European nice guys. Lamar Odom is too inconsistent. And rest of the team is just too young to handle pressure.

Look for the Lakers to lose big in game 5!

Wow, what a perfomance by Mr. Paul Pierce! I mean what an "acting" performance! I guess his boyhood idol, growing up in Inglewood, must have been Jack instead of Magic.

Game 1, in my point of view, kind of sucked. As a big NBA fan (but neither a Celtics or Lakers fan), I have been waiting for this marque matchup. But I have to say it was boring. Nobody played well! Kobe was missing every meaningful shots. Gasol and Lamar didn't do much. The Bench Mob was more like the Bench Sob. Fisher couldn't hit anything other than free throws.

Garnett had two monster dunks but just an okay overall game. Ray wasn't much of a factor. Rondo was his usual self, sometimes promising, most-of-the-time puzzling. Sammy hit 3 big shots early, then couldn't turn down a shot.

Even the coaches didn't do much. The only thing Doc kept saying was "just play hard for 48 minutes". Talk about superb insightful "original" strategy! Even Phil was half sleep on the bench and looked like he was day-dreaming about how to "celebrate" with Jeannie Buss after the game.

Unfortunately, the only thing that people will remember about Game 1 is how Pierce "injured" his knee and came back Willis-Reed-or-Bird-in-91 style.

It was like neither team cared much, then Pierce got injured and came back, then the Celtics went crazy and the Lakers fell asleep.

This was truly sad, even for the Celtics fans, because you guys basically won not because you played better, but because the whole world (which includes Pierce, ABC, the Celtic crowd, and the Lakers) blew the incident totally out of proportion. For your team's sake, I hope Doc has some plans other than KG pulling a "Pierce" with his shoulder in Game 2.

Anyway, seriously, for Paul Pierce's sake, I hope the whole injured-knee-and-Willis-Reed-return was totally fake and planned ahead, and he was just acting. His team was dead in water, the Lakers were getting on a roll, Kobe just hit an incredible shot, and he needed to do something. ####! Fake injury and fake heroic come back! What a brilliant ploy! What a cunning move!

For the sake of his manhood, I hope that was totally the case! Because the opposite would be so....SISSY!

Maybe I am too tough. Maybe I just hate soft cupcake (watch out Gasol!). But I rather have my superstar fake an injury to get the crowd going than to overreact or freak out over a total non-injury.

My suggestion to Kobe...

Next time when you get hit on that injured pinky, regardless of the severity, just fall to the ground and hold your hand in agony, and pretend someone just cut it off.

Then have Chris Mihm and Andrew Bynum hold your arm and injured hand like the holy grail as you walk back to the locker room to get it "checked". Then come back with a custom-made Lakers uniform (with "PIERCE" on the back). Then take over the game and win the ring like there is no tomorrow.

Man, I would pay $1000 just to see that happen.

First, before my insightful preview, let me get something off my chest. I can't stand the biased New-England-based media anymore! 2 items:

1. The most common thing we hear these days is how the Lakers "stole" Pau Gasol from Memphis. I know the Lakers-hating media wants to handicap the potential Lakers championship before they even play. They don't want to give the Lakers their proper dues, so in case the Lakers win, they can then just say, "well, they didn't really earn it, they were 'given' the championship with that Gasol donation."

I am not here to argue that it was a fair trade. But you can call most trades in NBA or sports history unfair. In every trade, there is a winner and there is a loser, there is one team who got the better end and the other who got shafted. So why focus so much on the Gasol trade? Memphis got exactly what they wanted...cap space. I for one think the KG trade was the bigger steal. Both Memphis and T-Wolves went from bad to very bad. Lakers went from good to great, but Celtics went to worst to best. Now tell me which deal made a bigger difference.

2. The most common thing we heard last week was the Fisher-on-Barry no-call in Game 4. I love how conspiracy theorists (aka the New-England-based biased media) kept mentioning Joey Crawford (who got fired last year for feuding with Duncan). Although I don't understand the decision to have Crawford officiating that game (maybe David Stern isn't so smart after all), I doubt he was put in place to hurt the Spurs. Give me a break, the Lakers were up 2-1 at the time, the last thing the league wanted was a quick end to the West Finals. Anyone who saw the game knew the refs were actually helping the Spurs. It's just that they don't call last second foul unless it's an obvious shooting foul and the player who gets fouled is a superstar. It's a stupid unwritten rule, but it's a rule! Just like you don't bunt when the opposing pitcher is pitching a no-hitter.

My favorite part of the whole deal was when Phil Jackson correctly pointed out after the game how the refs missed the previous call too (the one with Fisher's shot grazing the rim, but the refs called it an airball, which led to Kobe's forced shot instead of 2 game-icing free throws). That particular botched call totally debunked the conspiracy theory. So you know what Sports Center came up with? On the game recap, they added a Kobe traveling that wasn't called before the Fisher shot. They were totally trying to one-up Phil Jackson! They just couldn't bring themselves to admit that the Lakers were just the better team. They were just younger, hungrier, faster, and deeper. No conspiracy, just better team wins!


Okay, enough complaining. On with the predictions...

Which team am I rootin for?

Personally, it's the Lakers. Not because I am a fan. But because a Shaq-less ring for Kobe would just drive the biased media crazy. Just like I rooted for Hiliary just for the hope of pissing off bigots like Sean Hannity and Rush Limbaugh.

From a basketball point of view, it's the Celtics. They play hoops the right way (hard nose defense, ball sharing on offense), and KG winning a ring in Boston will bring so much good publicity to the league.


But what will really happen in reality?

Game 1...The Celtics will start the game sharp and build a large 1st-half lead. Kobe will start cold but heat up in the 3rd. The Lakers get close but Ray Allen ices the game with a couple big 3s. KG has a decent game, Pierce and Lamar both struggle, Gasol a non-factor, Kobe 27 pts on 25 shots.

Game 2...Knowing a Boston 2-0 lead would mean an early end to the best Finals in years, the refs will surely favor the Lakers. Game tied at half, both teams struggle in the 3rd. KG in foul trouble throughout, Pierce and Rivers both get technicals, Kobe gets all the calls and go the line 12 times in the 4th. Lakers win a close one on several biased refs mistakes.

Game 3...The Kobe game! Kobe goes for 35+ in 3 quarters. A blow-out by the Lakers. None of the big threes plays well, but Perkins and Rondo will gain some confidence.

Game 4...Kobe struggles. Paul Pierce has a break-out game with 38. Lamar, Fisher, and Walton carry the Lakers for 3 and half quarters. But as the Phil turns to Kobe and Gasol in the final 5 mins, both fail. A close win by the Celtics, and Gasol will miss 2 big free throws.

Game 5...Double overtime! Both team play decent. Gasol rebounds back from a bad Game 4. Kobe goes for 32 on 24 shots. Pierce makes a fade-away to force overtime. KG makes a shot to force double overtime. Ray Allen makes the game-winning shot.

Game 6...Kobe has a huge game, but Gasol goes down with an injury in the 2nd quarter. Celtics up by 15 at the end of 3rd quarter. Kobe mounts a furious comeback with Sasha and Fisher making big 3s. In the end, Rondo and Perkins make the difference, with key shots and rebounds. Celtics win by 8...and the trophy.

So Celtics in 6....Just remember you heard it from BBing!

Get me a break! Horry's totally LEGAL pick/screen on West is a cheap shot? You gotta be kidding me! Has the NBA become the WNBA? I apologize to the ladies of the WNBA (you gals ain't that SOFT). Does Emperor Stern's PC "dress code" mean a player needs to wear a pretty "dress"?

I can't believe it! I think if Horry gets suspended, fined, or even officially criticized by the league, then I will forever ever not watch the NBA. The soft fans probably think the NBA stands for...

National "B*tches" Association
National "Butterfly" Association
National "Buttercup" Association
"Neutered" Basketball Association

My friends, what Horry did was totally legit! He set a legal back screen on an opposing defender. That's basketball! So what if West had a tender back and Horry knew about it? If West was afraid to get hurt, stay home! It's like if Kirilenko injures Kobe's broken pinky on a block and gets called dirty or cheapshot. It's ridiculous!

The other hilarious argument is that people say that Horry did it "on purpose" or he "wanted" to hurt West. C'mon, you retards live inside Horry's mind? You guys know exactly what and how he thinks? And let's say that you are right about Horry's dirty intention, so what? He made a LEGAL play! It wasn't even a foul! Get over it!

Maybe you "cotton" lovers want the NBA to install a new rule.....red jackets for players with injuries. So Kobe should wear one tonight, and if any Jazz player seems or appears to be hurting Kobe on purpose (however legal their plays may be), they get rejected.

Welcome to the new NBA, where TOFU happens!

The more I think about the whole situation, the angrier I become. How come my beloved NBA is becoming so soft? Well, I can't explain the overall "baby-skin" trend. But my explanation for this particular incident is that the biased media just loves Steve Nash too much. I know I know, what does this have anything to do with Nash? But hear me out!

The Nash-loving media just can't get over the whole Horry-WWF-Nash incident last year. They just can't get over the fact that Horry fouling Nash, which led to the infamous suspensions, caused their golden boy his best chance at winning a ring or at least play in a Finals (so that their biased decision to give him two MVPs would actually become legit). Never mind Horry probably didn't think his hard foul would trigger Amare and Diaw to leave their bench retardedly (Horry couldn't be that smart and calculating). Never mind his so-called hard foul wan't even that hard! For God's sake, Nash didn't even get a scratch on him.

You see, my friends, the biased media loves to rewrite history. They know 20 years from now, when people look at this post-Jordan era (1998-2010), everyone will freak out over these stats....

Shaq....4 rings....1 MVP
Kobe....3 rings....1 MVP
Duncan....4 rings....2 MVPs
Nash....ZERO mins in a Finals....2 MVPs

They know with Mike "B*tch-face" D'Antoni in NY, Nash's championship window is pretty much closed. So they come up with plan B....

When some curious kid in the future asks...

"How come Shaq with 4 rings and being the most dominating player of his time, only got 1 MVP, while this small dude named Nash won 2 MVPs, without ever getting to at least the Finals, and despite playing with so many all-star teammates? Look, Dirk Nowitzky went to a Finals once, so did Kidd twice."

The biased media (looks all embarrassed) can then say...

"Well, my son, that's because Nash would have been won a ring in 2007 had it not been that cheap-shot Robert Horry."

The curious kid....

"Horry? You mean that guy with 7 rings and so many clutch shots? Why do you call him cheap shot?"

The biased media....

"Yes cheap shot. You want more evidence? He also cheap-shot David West the following season."

The kid (knowing it's just a lame excuse)....

"So it's all Horry's fault?".

The media (feeling so happy that West's injury provides a perfect coverup)....

"Absolutely."

So there you go....Horry's latest heroics is only a cheapshot if you want to excuse Nash from failing to advance to the Finals.

After the first weekend, here are my thoughts about each matchup:

1. Lakers vs Denver

Kobe Bryant is definitely the MVP. I know Gasol had a huge game and so did Lamar. But they mainly did so because Denver decided to focus their entire defensive attention on the Cape, thus allowing the Lakers' triangle offense to go totally off, and Gasol was merely the biggest beneficiary.

2. Dallas vs Hornets

Dirk Nowitzky is soft, but the Mavs are softer. How could they allow David West to totally disrespect Dirk like that? Mark Cuban, in one season, has gone from the coolest owner to the dumbest. At least Devin Harris would have stayed with CP3, unlike the helpless Kidd and the clueless Terry. And triple double in the playoff can be totally misleading & meaningless. Do you realize Kidd was only 1 rebound and 1 assist away from another triple double, but what did that get him other than a whipping from CP3.

3. Boston vs Hawks

The NBA is better off giving Boston a 1st-round bye, or replacing the Hawks with Golden State. After going 3-0, the Celtics should try to win game 4 by just playing their reserves plus Danny Ainge, with Kevin McHale making a 3rd-quarter cameo, since he was really the one who put this Celtics team together. Now that would turn the most boring 1st-round matchup EVER into something worthy of our eyes.

4. Detroit vs Sixers

Flip Saunders is quickly establishing himself as the most under-achieving coach of all times. No doubts he knows the game and knows his x's and o's, but when it comes to leading, mentally stabilizing and motivating his team, he has no peers for the bottom spot. Dumar should just coach the team himself.

5. Phoenix vs Spurs

All 7 games should be on network ABC as this series will definitely go 7. (Emperor Sterns won't allow otherwise). But neither team will win the championship ultimately. The Spurs are too old and now rely too much on Duncan. It's never a good thing when Duncan needs to score 40, and remember there gotta be a reason why they never repeat.

The Suns and Steve Nash are just cursed. I felt so sad to see Nash doing everything he could and still came up short. For the first time, I am rooting for the Suns to at least make the Finals. I don't want Nash's legacy to be the best player to never play in the Finals. And Amare is still not a 1st-tier player. I know he puts up great numbers, but does he commands an automatic double team? He is like Kobe during the Shaq era. We won't know how good he is until Nash (and now Shaq) retires.

6. Houston vs Jazz

Now people should realize how valuable Yao is to the Rockets. With him in suits, the Jazz doesn't need to double-team anyone, which means every shots the Rockets take are contested. Unfortunately, this means that T-Mac's infamous streak will continue.

And by the way, is it just me or does anybody else realize how "WHITE" the Jazz are as a team? Harpring, Korver, Okur, and AK47 can all flat-out play. Even the so-called black guys on the team, namely Boozer and Deron, are as white as black men get. Call me a conspiracy theorist, but it can't be a coincidence that the whitest metropolitan area (Salf Lake City) in American has the whitest NBA team. It like the SF Giants trading for Ichiro, Matsui, Matsuzaka, and Chie-Ming Wang. (Bay Area is 30-40% Asian)

7. Orlando vs Raptors

Note to any top-5 lottery teams this year....don't fall in love with Kevin Love's skills, IQ, and fundamentals. Take someone who is bigger and more athletic. Just look at Dwight Howard. 4 years ago, he didn't know a thing about hoops other than dunking, now he is probably the most physically imposing player in the game. Players can always learn the fundamentals, but you can't teach size and physical attributes.

8. LeBron vs Le####es

Okay it's the Cavs vs Wizards. But the Wizards are the biggest joke so far in the playoff. First, they shouldn't have trash-talked to the King. Then after trash-talking, they shouldn't have allowed him to totally ####-slap them (heard of triple-team or the Jordan rule?). To make matters more laughable, then they waited until late in the 3rd quarter, after getting blown out, to take a cheap shot at Bron Bron (talk about a bit too late). Then they couldn't even cheap-shot in a correct, effective, or non-####ish way. Note to Brandon Haywood, check out what Malone did to Zeke years ago! At least you gotta make LeBron to get a few stitches after the game! You flagrant foul like a Dukie not a Tar Heel!

Okay that's it for this week!

Over the past few weeks, I have read dozens and dozens of blogs, from sports writers to ordinary fans, on the MVP debate. Allow me to sum it up for you...

In general, there are 2 major camps:

In camp #1, you have the Kobe supporters, who argue that Kobe is the best player in the league, his team is one of the best, for the 1st time Kobe is leading and playing team basketball, and it's about time. In other words, he is the best player on the best team playing the right way, and it's long overdue.

In camp #2, you have the LeBron supporters, who argue that LeBron has the best numbers, and his team would be playing for the lottery if not for him. In other words, he makes the biggest difference for his team.

Both camps have legit arguments for their candidates. But I gotta say that to me they are both hypocritical. Allow me to explain...

I often find that Kobe supporters are supporting Kobe mainly because he is their favorite player. They support Kobe for MVP every year. They argue passionately against LeBron this year because they feel that LeBron is Kobe's biggest threat. They reason that LeBron's great numbers are meaningless because his team is only 500.

This is a legit argument, except Kobe supporters are often the very same people who supported Kobe 2 years ago when he was averaging 35ppg on a 500 team. It's funny/hypocritical that they don't feel the same way about LeBron this year as they did for Kobe 2 years ago. They are using the same argument against LeBron as others used against Kobe 2 years ago.

LeBron supporters aren't that much better. I often find that LeBron supporters aren't really LeBron supporters, but just Kobe haters. They basically care more about Kobe not getting the MVP, and LeBron happens to be their best chance to deny Kobe. They just hate the man for whatever the reason!

They often say that LeBron is putting up MJ/Oscar-like numbers and single-handedly keeping the Cavs in the playoff race (never mind it's in the easy East). They often say that LeBron has no help, and Kobe is playing with Pau Gasol (never mind Illgualsgus has more All-Star appearances than Gasol). They often say that Kobe dissed his teammates before the season started so he is not a team player (never mind that his public ridicule of them was probably the main reason why they got motivated and Kupchak got busy. And a good leader should not accept his followers slacking).

These reasons are all somewhat legit, except the LeBron supporters or Kobe haters are the very same people who supported Nash and Dirk for MVPs. Why didn't they point out that Nash was playing with Marion & Stoudamire while Kobe was playing with nobody? Where were they when Dirk won his MVP playing with Josh Howard, Devin Harris, and Jason Terry, while Kobe had nobody? Why didn't they say the same thing for Kobe as they do now for LeBron? Talk about double standards!

The bottomline is that Kobe was doing the same thing 2 years ago as LeBron is doing now, so if you didn't think Kobe should win it then, then you cannot logically think that LeBron deserves it this year. On the flip side, if you thought Kobe should have won it 2 years ago, then you should definitely support LeBron right now.

But of course people cannot be that unbiased, thus we have this debate right now. The MVP debate as always comes down to who you like and sometimes who you don't like. Unfortunately for Kobe Bryant, he is such as polarizing figure. There will always be people who support him no matter what and there will always be people who hate him no matter what.

The biggest trade of this regular season has been completed. All-star PF Pau Gasol has been traded to the Lakers for Stone-Hand-Draft-Bust Kwame Brown (I really think he is missing a nerve or something in his right hand). The only thing of value the Lakers gave up was the promising young guard Crittenten. But they held onto the more promising Jordan Farmar. As for the 2 future 1st-round picks, considering the Lakers will probably be title contender for the next 5 years, so who cares about LATE 1st rounders.

The more important thing is the fact that Kupchak has redeemed himself in Lakerland. 2007-08 has to be the best season for him. First, Mitch somehow has survived the storm known as "I am the guy who traded Shaq AND Kobe". And not only has his boy project Andrew Bynum been showing full potentials, at least before the injury, the Lakers have been contending, and more importantly the Heat with the "Big So-Ready-to-Retire" is the joke of the town. To all those people who thought Riley robbed the Lakers, Kupchak just said, "screw you all".

Mitch is finally showing why Dr. Buss handed him the franchise after West left. Finally, with Bynum, Kobe, Odom, and Gasol, the Lakers are a real force to be reckoned with.

For the millions of Lakers fans around the world, the real reason why you should be happy today is not because Gasol is so much better than Kwame. The real reason is finally you can be sure that Mitch is for real!

Mitch Kupchak.......from stupid to genius!

Anyone who has read some of my blogs knows how I constantly talk about the unfair double standards of the biased media. For example, while they "investigated" Barry Bonds for steroid, they "celebrated" Roger Clemens.

Well, I got another one for you....

We all know how bad the Knicks are. They are the biggest joke in the world. Isiah Thomas was a total #### for believing in Starbury and Fat Curry. He was a terrible GM, but he is dwarfing that incompetence with his I-have-no-idea-what-the-hell-I-am-doing coaching performance. His team sucks at a unbelievable level. They play with absolutely no smarts, no hearts, no passion, and no brains. They act like a bunch of overpaid dummies running around. At 8-20, they are destined to finish with only ~23 wins, despite having the highest payroll.

To sum it up, Isiah Thomas sucks! He deserves to be fired for totally messing up the Knicks. And the media is right for calling him out. Night after night, guys on ESPN and Foxsports let Isiah Thomas know how bad he is at his job. On average, there is at least one national sport article ripping Isiah each week. From Rick Reilly to Bill Simmons, the media makes sure Isiah and his weird boss know about their total failure.

Well....you know what? As much as I dislike the Knicks, I feel sorry for them. Because there is another team/GM/coach that is worser......the Minnesota T-Wolves or Kevin McHale. At 4-23, they have half the wins.

Both teams missed the playoff last year, but at least Isiah tried to improve his team. Granted he failed miserably, but at least he tried. Kevin McHale, on the other hand, sold his team out! He should have kept KG and rebuild around him. But instead he traded a superstar for a bunch of garbage. If you want to tell me how great and how much potential Al Jefferson has, save it! The T-Wolves have no future!

The bottomline is this, Kevin McHale could have gotten a lot more from other teams than what he got from Boston. But he wanted to help his former team out. He wanted to do his best buddy, Danny Ainge, a huge favor. Instead them both being labeled as #### GMs, he sacrficed himself to help out Danny, at the expense of his team.

The most amazing thing is that the media is totally giving McHale a pass. You don't hear anyone question his ability as a GM. It's almost like there is nothing wrong with giving your franchise away for basically free and at the same time challenge to set the worst record in NBA history.

For everyone who has called for Isiah's job, where is your outcry for McHale? I recently read somewhere that Danny Ainge should be the executive of the year. Well...in my humble opinion, it should be McHale, as the secretive GM for the Celtics. Because in that big trade, he was looking out for the best interest of the Celtics, and not the team that actually pays him.

You know the new ad campaign of the NBA? Where amazing happens! Well...the NBA is "where unfair double standards happen".

Thank God for the Mitchell Report! Justice has finally been served! For years, it's obvious to anyone with an ounce of brain that Mark McGwire, Barry Bonds, and Roger Clemens all cheated by taking steroids. They weren't the only three, but they were the three biggest names. Take steroid out of the equation, if you don't vote for them as first-ballot HOF, then you have never watched baseball.

But unfortunately justice hasn't always been served. While all three cheated, pathetically only one has gotten fully punished. Barry Bonds, because of steroid use, has all of his superhuman records tainted and labeled with asteriks. He is facing prison time for lying to the grand jury, and he has been universally chosen as the scape-goat for baseball of the steroid era.

Although Barry is an arrogant SOB, he doesn't deserve to be single-outed by baseball. If you hate Barry Bonds because of his attitude, then boo him when he plays, but don't single him out. If you hate Barry Bonds because you think steroid is cheating, then hate everyone who cheated, with no exception!

As we are near the end of the steroid era (perhaps at the beginning of the HGH era), justice has finally seemed to be serving. Other than the biased #### Tony La Russa, everyone now admits that Mark McGwire (who is probably a very likable good guy) cheated. His HR record no longer stands, he is no longer playing, and he probably will never get into the HOF. Mission of justice almost accomplished!

But before the Mitchell Report, we had one more big cheater out there, thinking he had gotten away cleaned (kind of like Lance Armstrong, but that's another blog for another day). He had been so arrogant that he thought he would never be outed by the biased media who adores him so much. Thus he had continued to play and cheat, even after 7 Cy Youngs and countless of millions earned. His arrogance and belief in the double-standard media had enabled him to continue to play/cheat despite being in his mid-40s, having won 350+ games, and with absolutely nothing else to prove.

Ladies and gentlemen, this unbelievable world-#1 cheater is....Roger Clemens (aka the Brett Favre of baseball and the poster boy for the red-state-supporting, conservative-tough-Texan, church-going, and all-white-American GOLDEN BOY). Because the biased media has loved him so much, they have collectively and conveniently ignored so many obvious signs: the sudden career resurrection in Toronto, the exponential increase in head/body size, the 95 mph fastball at age 40, so on and so on.

While they were doing investigation on Bonds and doing everything they could to destroy the man, they were showering Clemens with awards, praises, and endorsements. Now after the Mitchell Report, they all look like the biggest idiots! They now have to admit that their superhero Roger Clemen isn't so super and isn't much of a hero! He is just a cheater who thought he could get away with anything because everyone likes him. In many ways, he is even more de####table than Bonds or McGwire!

Finally, my suggestion to the HOF is to have a special wing for Shoeless Joe Jackson, Pete Rose, Roger Clemens, Mark McGwire, and Barry Bonds. Like the title of this blog....hate one, then got to hate the others!

Well, it's that time of the year again! Time to take a closer look at the two shining examples of college stars failing in the NBA. I wrote a similar piece last year midway through the season, and surprisingly many fans were still defending these two imbeciles, saying that they were just rookies and with their sweet jumpshots, they would eventually become good players, if not stars.

Well...what do you say now? Morrison is done for the season with a bad knee injury. Chances are with a balky knee, he will never be able to create his own shot...wait....he wasn't doing that before the injury anyway. The most unfortunate thing about his total failing is that once again Michael Jordan got burned in the draft. With Kwame Brown, MJ got a super athlete without an ounce of basketball sense. But with Morrison, he got a good shooting stroke without an ounce of athleticism. MJ just can't win! The sad truth for Morrison is that he is making Kwame look like a draft steal. I guess the moral lesson here is that you are still better off drafting a stupid brainless black athletic freak than a white dude who can't jump or move! Ha Ha Ha!

Now in comparison to Morrison, our beloved Dookie JJ has been even more pathetic. At least Morrison averaged double digit in points last season (while shooting ~35% FG). Redick on the other hand didn't even play much last season (45 games; ~5.0 ppg). Now you might have thought this season would be different, especially with Dwight Howard dominating the middle, sure the Magic would need an outside gunner, right? Well..."NAH! I don't believe in affirmitive action!", says Stan Van Gundy! Here is Redick's line ~10 games into this young season.

3 games, 0 starts, 3 shots taken, 0 points, 0 rebounds, 0 steals, 0 block, and God-almighty......1 assist

I guess Coach K really taught him well! He "really armed him with more than a jump shot"!

In conclusion, I hate to rub it in, but I am going to do 2 semi-annual updates every season from now till these two useless garbage get kicked out of the league, which probably won't take long.

For all the fans who hated JJ Redick and Adam Morrison, and knew they were totally overrated, welcome to my party.

For all the die-hard Dookies and Morrison fans, one advice from me:

Stop dreaming about Kevin Love (over-hyped UCLA freshma; on the SI cover with OJ Mayo) being the next Bird!

I am out, just like Morrison!

I wrote a piece a week ago about the trade mess that Kobe had created. I basically explained why it has been so hard for a deal to be done, and that his trade demand doesn't make any sense. Now a week later, I kind of understand where Kobe was trying to do...

He just wanted to motivate his baby teammates. He never wanted to go anywhere. Everything he has done this summer has just been a part of this overall scheme to challenge those kids! As we all know, the Lakers have been very young since Shaq left. At 29, Kobe is actually one of the elders. The Lakers have some talents. Their main problem has always been a lack of experience, which leads to bad plays, which lead to a lack of interest or motivation, which ultimately leads to a lack of efforts. You see that with Kwame, Bynum, Farmar, or basically everyone on the team.

It's easy to be one of them! They get paid millions and nothing is expected from them. They just need to show up and wear jerseys. When they play poorly and the Lakers lose, well...so what? nothing new! When they stink but the Lakers win, well...that's just because of Kobe, the superman! Who cares about the other guys? They don't matter a bit. And when they play well and the Lakers win, people still think it's mostly about Kobe and the good performances are preliminary. In other words, there is nothing really in it for them to try hard and make a difference. There is no sense of urgency what so ever.

But what Kobe had done this summer was trying to change that attitude. He basically called them out! Thus they can no longer sleep walk their ways through the games. They actually have to play hard, or else either they get traded or Kobe is no longer there to save their ####.

It's leadership on the highest level! It's the ultimate sacrifice! Kobe basically risked his public image for the sake of the team. And so far, it has worked wonders. The Lakers are actually playing very well, beating quality opponents. If this winning trend continues, I expect Kobe to shut down the trade demand by the end of this year.