Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers out there! They really do the Lord's work. That being said, here's this week's version of "Who Would You Throw Under The Bus?". Time to call out those sports figures that so p****d you off over the past week. And here we go!

NASCAR

Darrell Waltrip: you have to keep in mind he's a shill for Toyota. Yet his constant lovefest with Kyle Busch was downright disgusting and takes away from the broadcast. I like DW; he's entertaining and brings a former driver's perspective to the broadcast. But I have to call them as I see them. Hate to do this, but DW goes under the Bus.

NBA

The Officials: or more specifically, the officials that allowed a Pistons 3-pointer that should have NEVER counted. The clock froze at 4.8 seconds left in the third quarter of Game 2. Any official in the history of the world (except these officials) would have stopped play and awarded the Pistons the ball with 4.8 seconds left. Because the clock froze, the Pistons were given extra time to hit the three. And because of that, the officials get thrown under the Bus.

Los Angeles Lakers: or more specifically, their bench. They were totally outclassed by the Utah Jazz bench today. Going into the series, I'd have rated the two benches even. Did the Clippers hijack the Lakers' bench and play in this game? The Lakers bench gets thrown under the Bus.

MLB

Los Angeles Dodgers: they got swept by the weak-#### Houston Astros. At home, no less. It's one thing to lose to the Mets; they're a good team. No shame in losing to the Mets. Houston is only slightly better than Pittsburgh. And I have to throw Jonathan Broxton under as well. He's the reliever that the Astros took batting practice off of. (Word had it the Astros had a team brawl at the bat rack) He let a stellar outing by Hiroki Kuroda go to total waste. Kuroda no-hit the Astros for 6 2/3 innings. And he has NOTHING to show for it. The Dodgers and Broxton get thrown under the Bus.

NFL

Marvin Harrison: the Colts' WR has carefully cultivated an image of being a quiet, unassuming player that goes out and does his job. That image is being called into question. He was involved in a shooting in a seedy part of Philadelphia at a bar he owns. The gun involved was found in a bucket at a nearby car wash he also owns. Details are sketchy, because no one's talking. Sorry Marvin, gotta throw you under the Bus for being involved with seedy ####.

Cincinnati Bengals: because they have become the league's halfway house for bad seeds, ingrates, and general all around bad guys. And it's a shame for classy players like Carson Palmer and T.J. Houshmanzadeh that they have to be lumped in with their malcontent teammates. The Bengals (except Carson and T.J.) get thrown under the bus.

NCAA

Ryan Perriloux: this guy had the opportunity of his young lifetime to be THE MAN at LSU. Starting QB for a national championship contender. So what does he do? He gets kicked off the team for allegedly failing a drug test. He was allegedly found with chronic in his system. He apparently didn't attend Common Sense 101 in the school of life. Is getting your bong on so important to you that you #### away the opportunity that just about every young man your age would rip his arm off for? For sheer stupidity, you get thrown under a FLEET of buses!

Those are my nominations! Feel free to come in with yours! 

I very rarely (in fact, never) blog on the NBA because there are other sports that hold my interests better (NFL, NASCAR, MMA, MLB). However I will make an exception because of the soap opera that is my Los Angeles Lakers/Kobe Bryant.

This is getting more ridiculous by the moment. Who's at fault? Is Kobe at fault? Shaq? Dr. Buss? Mitch Kupchak? The head trainer's dog? I will do my best to break this thing down to its very basics.

After the 2004 Finals, Shaq was traded. A lot of people thought Kobe was at fault for allegedly running an immensely popular, albeit aging, center out of town. When you look at it down to its core, it was a business decision. Question: who scratches those checks with all that jack? Dr. Jerry Buss. Shaq was due $33 MILLION for the following season. Dr. Buss balked at paying an aging, injury-prone center $33 million. Whether Shaq felt slighted or not, that's between him and Dr. Buss. I look at it factually--Dr. Buss didn't want to pay Shaq all that money, so he traded him. I don't think it was a "me or him" ultimatum. Yes it hurt to trade a Hall of Fame center but the team felt that Shaq was on the downside of his career and Kobe was just reaching his prime.

Any good GM worth his salt would have busted his #### to surround Kobe with better players right off the bat. Bring in a veteran center to mentor Andrew Bynum. Bring in a Sam Cassell to distribute the ball and bring floor leadership. Bring in a Ron Artest for rebounding and toughness. Kupchak sat on his #### the whole time--where's his share of blame in this soap opera?? He didn't bring in the necessary personnel to surround Kobe. He could have had Jason Kidd (a future Hall of Famer) at the trade deadline this season but didn't want to give up Bynum. No wonder Kobe is pissed. 

At the end of the day he's not going anywhere. I predict heads will roll (Kupchak's). If that happens, it's long overdue. And I wouldn't be surprised to see Magic Johnson take on a larger role in the franchise, perhaps as a consultant. Personally I hope Dr. Buss one day decides to sell the franchise to Magic.