It appears each week as I get busier and busier I am able to write less and less, but ahh, I finished with another school year with the graduation of the 2007 class and now I should have some time to write.  But I also begin summer school on Monday, so I know that time will still be at a premium, thus the weekly installment that I like to call Sunday Socal Rants:

• Billy Donovan:  Give the guy a break!  Very few of us ever get a "do over", but Billy is lucky that he gets one.  SEC fans in every state but FL are in mourning because they now have to recruit against this guy and play his teams each and every year for a long time.  Donovan is the one who made the Magic put that 5 year no competition clause in his "exit" contract so that he could promise recruits he was staying put in FL.  Not to mention that he signed a 6 year deal, players should feel secure in the knowledge that they can play for him and finish their college career under the coach that recruits them.

• Michelle Wie:  Where shall I start?  In one of my many posts on Wie that I have written over the last year and half, I put the blame for most of her troubles sqaurely on B.J. Wie, Wie's father.  He has totally ruined what could have been a brilliant career.  I will say it again, and maybe this time people will listen, Michelle Wie will never win on the men's tour much less make the cut, and her career in the LPGA will be an afterthought.  Pressel, Ochoa, and Lincicome will lead the next generation of great LPGA players and Wie will be the equivalent of Justin Rose on the PGA.  Don't get me wrong, Wie has talent, but she lacks killer instinct and her handlers have so #### with her psyche that she finds ways to withdraw from tournaments that are so bizarre that the rest of the LPGA has come to realize she is a fraud.  They do not fear her anymore and as a result, her finishes are at rock bottom.  Sorenstam is so right when she says Wie has no class.  Not only is she losing it mentally in every tournamet she appears in, but I believe she is headed down the same path as Jennifer Capriati and I would not be suprised if Wie turns to "medicinal" help to calm her frayed nerves.  Cocaine, marijuana, alcohol, and antidepressants will all be availabe to her once enrolled at Stanford and I fear she will become the Lindsey Lohan of the LPGA.

• Daunte Culpepper:  While I am no fan of Culpepper, it appears the Dolphins do not plan on using Daunte this year at QB.  He is not allowed to work out with the team during drills, but Cam Cameron says he has no plans on facilitating a trade.  Come on Miami, treat the man fairly.  If you bring in Green from KC, draft a young QB, and have no plans on playing Culpepper, you should not only release Daunte but you should help him find a new team.  There is such a thing as having class.  And to think the Dolphins were giving Nick Saban a hard time and saying he was a jerk. 

• LeBron James:  I am one of the few who will say I think the Cavaliers have a shot at winning the NBA Championship.  In fact, let me go ahead and even predict that Cleveland will win after being down one game to nothing.  James impresses me like no other player in recent memory.  I have followed his progression over the last few years and I truly believe he is a one of kind player who will lead his teams to multiple NBA titles.  It should be fun to watch him and D Wade over the next 10 years.  My opinion on James changed when I saw him yell at his team during the third game of the Pistons series.  As he was marching back down the court after one of his magical fading away three pointers, he yelled at Larry Hughes, "Be strong, be strong!"  At that moment I knew he was not ever going to give up.  Even though they were down by two games, James led them to four straight wins over the much vaunted Pistons.  Of course I also think the Pistons will never win with Flip at the helm and C Webber on the court.  Having two cursed people on your team is too much to overcome.

• Roger Clemens:  Simply amazing, or is it?  Speculation abounds about Barry Bonds and steroids, but I maintain that there is no way Roger can pitch like he is pitching without some special superhuman abilities at his age.  Maybe Roger has found the fountain of youth, HGH, as well.  Certainly one sportswriter, Kevin Hench, agrees with me that at least we should be asking the question is Clemens using steroids?  I wrote about this last year, and I maintain that pitchers use steroids more than hitters.  At least if and when Barry breaks Aaron's HR record, we can take solace that he did it against steroid juiced pitching.  Bare in mind that Roger's name has come up on several lists by federal investigators, but for some reason he is never pursued the way Bonds is.  Some may believe race has something to do with hit while I think the fact he is about to break a "sacred" record is probably the main reason.  Of course I think 7 Cy Young's is pretty impressive and possibly should have an asterisk next to them when Roger saunters into the HOF.

That's it for another edition of my Sunday Socal Rants.  Have a great weekend and go Cavaliers!

SoCalSportsFan

Reports are out by the Arizona Republic that Steve Nash will be given the MVP for this year making two years in a row, the first such honor since Tim Duncan won back to back MVP honors in 2001-2002.  Michael Jordan won it back to back in 1991-92.  Nash is in good company and on his way to greatness.   Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, and  Moses Malone each won it three times, Wilt Chamberlain winning it four times, Michael Jordan and Bill Russell  winning it 5 times, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar winning it 6 times. 

It should be pointed out that this is still just a rumor as it has not happened yet.  This report is citing sources close to the voting process, but it is not official.  Unfortunately, when things like this are leaked, they are usually true. 

Typically, controversy erupts with these types of announcements just as Jessie Jackson surrounds any national news event that he thinks he can introduce the “race” card.  We already have those who are saying LeBron or Kobe deserved the trophy more than Steve.  Certainly there will be pundits on the national sports networks who will argue in favor of one player over the other because that is their job, to present controversy.  Reporting of the news is no longer enough so each network has their own daily show such as Rome is Burning or The Best Damned Sports Show Period. It is here that talking heads regurgitate the weekly sports news and then proceed to rehash every decision that was made as if they were somehow gods on Mt. Olympus and we are mere mortals without any sporting knowledge at all. (Oddly enough, I do find Jim Rome has a strange resemblance to Hades and maybe that is why he is burning)  Luckily, I have the remote in hand and can change channels when they try get me to #### this unsavory mixture. 

This post is not to decide if Kobe Bryant, the regular season’s scoring leader at 35.4 points per game, is more worthy than Steve Nash, nor is it here to discuss the Greatness that is King James.  My point is that would we be discussing Nash's selection if he were a black man. 

The stars of the NBA are primarily black.  That does not mean that over the last 30 years that the NBA has not had its share of great white players because Larry Bird, Kevin McHale, Pete Maravich, John Stockton, and Steve Nash are all great players.  The trouble is that in writing this post, those are the only obvious names that I came up with when contemplating the greatest white players in the short span that I have been following the NBA.  If you go back a few years you can list four or five more, but I can list many great black NBA players during this same time frame without much thought at all:  Kareem, Dr. J, Moses, Hakeem, Patrick Ewing, Shaq, Magic, Isaiah, Joe Dumars, MJ, Dominique, Iceman, Worthy, Iverson, Alonzo, Duncan, Mr. Robinson, Dwyane Wade, LeBron just to name a few.   

The question I have is if Nash were black, would anyone have a problem with his selection?  No one would have a problem with LeBron or Kobe winning based upon their statistics alone, so why does anyone have a problem with Steve Nash.  Certainly, 18.8 points per game, 10.5 assists per game, (Highest in the league), and his field goal percentage of 51.2% is unbelievable for a point guard.  He makes his team better and he does all of this without detracting from his teammates. Nash is the consummate professional.  He shows up for work on time, does his job without complaining about other employees, and above all he is a winner.  Phoenix will not make it past San Antonio or Dallas without Amare Stoudamire, but they won the Pacific division largely because of the presence of this year’s MVP, Steve Nash.  Race should have nothing to do with the selection of MVP nor should it be a reason for others to complain.  Nash has won two in a row now, and until LeBron or Kobe involve a few more team mates, he may win number three next year.