Noj

Dodgers have lost four of their last five. The pitching has been shaky and the bats have been cold. Hopefully Manny's return will re-energize the team.

I see Jrue Holiday went to Philly at #17. The former UCLA Bruin has size, athleticism, and raw talent. Really raw. It would have been great to see him play another year for the Bruins and develop at the college level, but maybe it will work out to have his abilities honed by practicing against pro players. Darren Collison went at #21 to New Orleans--this kid was a great Bruin, a leader who stepped up to make shots and plays in tough situations. His lack of size may hurt him at the NBA level, but I hope he is successful.

Gesundheit. I was poking around on the net last night trying to find some info on the kid. Good to hear he has potential. Thanks Agg!

Rubio's passing ability looks really great in his highlights, hopefully he'll be an impact player like Tony Parker or Steve Nash. Funny to note that Blake Griffin sported a purple shirt to the draft. Hoping to come over to LA's varsity squad?

As I understand it the Bucks released Bowen and Oberto so both will be back with the Spurs, for less money.

Weird trade for Orlando, leaves their bench in shambles. Hedo must be leaving. They better bring in some more pieces.

Spinning Off The Wall now. He sure got creepy, but this album is great. RIP.

Hahahaha, that's great! The rapper J-Live already made a whole song using the Iverson bit.

If the Cavs can re-sign Varejao then Shaq can play limited minutes and save his strength for the Celtics/Magic/etc.

Camped at Lundy Lake in the Eastern Sierra this past Father's Day weekend. Cell phone pix of the Bodie Ghost Town (forgot my camera, D'OH!)

:tup :tup I actually made an audio file of this to keep on my iPod, right next to the cover by Jimmy Ponder.

Condolences Magic fans! The Lakers earned this title, and won games which were completely up for grabs. Kobe Bryant, MVP averages 30ppg and just under 8apg. One of the best nights of my life as a sports fan. A dominant close-out win.

This has been making the rounds for quite a while now. "Boom goes the dynamite" is the stuff of legend.

As much as I like the college game, and as much as I agree that players leaving early hurts the college game, high school graduates are legal adults. They should be allowed to make whatever professional decision they desire. The success stories are many: Darryl Dawkins, Shawn Kemp, Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Dwight Howard, Andrew Bynum...Europeans such as Tony Parker were pro overseas in their late teens, and the experience has made them impact players at a very young age. If anything, the NCAA should do itself a favor and relax its eligibility rules to allow players to come back to school if under 25 and their pro careers are not panning out. Here's the highlights of Fisher's two big threes.

Nelson was moving, and the offensive player must be given the space to pivot unless the defender is set and straight up. If you put your face too close to the ballhandler, you run the risk of taking one off the chin. I've seen it called both ways, depending on the perceived intent of the offensive player and the positioning of the defender.

It doesn't surprise me that there was no call on that play, mouthpiece boy was moving and they owed the Lakers about 25 whistles. We can go through the laundry list of muggings they let Howard get away with--including shoving Gasol in the back which was called a foul on Gasol, reaching across Ariza's body with a virtual bear hug for what should have been his 5th foul but instead was called a jump ball, and setting more blatantly moving picks without getting it called than anyone since Chris Webber and the Sacramento Queens. Add to that the fact that Turkoglu pushes off on every single jumper to create room, uncalled touch fouls when Kobe gets hit on the arm by Pietrus, and the phantom whistles on Bynum... The Lakers shot zero free throws in the 4th quarter to the Magic's 13 attempts.

^^^ Weird. I had to install a new version of the download manager to get my tracks this month. Pleased with what I got this time: Shawn Lee & Clutchy Hopkins - Clutch Of The Tiger (instrumental electronic) Brownout - Homenage (latin funk instrumental) Chin Chin - The Flashing, The Fancing (neo soul) Menahan Street Band - Make The Road By Walking (instrumental funk, highly recommended) V/A - Black Feeling (great jazz funk compilation) The Last Poets - Delights In The Garden with Bernard Purdie (spoken word & funk) Gil Scott-Heron - It's Your World, The Mind Of Gil Scott-Heron, From South Africa To South Carolina (been meaning to get these for a while) Mayer Hawthorne - Maybe So, Maybe No 12" (neo soul)

Derek Fucking Fisher. Retire his number. I'm absolutely beside myself. One of the best Laker victories ever, right up there with Fisher .04 and Horry's three. Totally stoked. Let's go Lakers, close them out.

Why "Since 1991?" Pat Riley = 6× NBA Champion (1972 as player), (1982, 1985, 1987-1988, 2006 as coach). '88 was guaranteed, too.

Not for me. The endless hate for Kobe makes me want to vomit. Any mistake he makes is magnified, and anything he does right is understated or misstated. This stupid "best closer" label is completely inaccurate--he's at his best when he just plays within the system and shares the ball. When he's forcing up bad shots, the Lakers lose. It's Kobe's work ethic that rubbed off on LeBron, Howard, Deron Williams, CP3, DWade, etc. They all became better players because of Kobe, and have said so. The vast majority of players in the NBA like and respect Kobe. The guy is a great player who gets a bad rap for shit people don't have any right or authority or verifiable information to judge him by. They err on the side of guilt and choose to see him in a negative light.

The Magic shot 75% in the first half (an NBA Finals record) and 63% for the game, and the Lakers still could have won had they made their free throws. I can't remember the last time Kobe missed more than two free throws.

Awful game, I can't believe the Lakers won. Felt like a loss the whole time. Orlando is in serious trouble if they can't beat the Lakers on a night like this one. Kobe was crap and the Magic hit all sorts of tough shots.

It might not be the case in this image, but posts like that which I have seen around here have a lock which releases them at the bottom and they slide out.