Slip Sliding Away

Has Phil Jackson lost
his team?

That’s one question that was floating around So Cal today. Sure he is working with a banged-up roster, and two of his key offensive weapons are out with injuries. He's also saddled with 'Half Pipe' Radmanovic, who busted up his shoulder while taking up snowboarding over the All-Star break, and then lied about what happened. All of that considered, there is still no excuse for what happened Sunday night. If there’s one thing Lakers fans are, is realistic. Nobody expected the Lakers to beat that steamroller of basketball team. But we certainly didn’t expect the worst home loss since the franchise moved to Los Angeles 47 years ago, especially not on Phil Jackson's watch. I’m certain that most Lakers fans would’ve accepted a 10-point loss to Dallas so long as they showed they had some fight left in them. I could even understand a 15-point loss, considering the depleted roster. But a thirty six-point spread at home? Good grief. At least pretend to show us that you care about the outcome. Some dark clouds have silver linings, but there wasn't one positive thing the Lakers had to hang their headbands on at the end of the day. It was a pathetic effort from top to bottom, and one of the ugliest basketball games I've had the displeasure to watch in my entire life. But at least I wasn't there, or I would have been really bent. Regular season 'nose bleed' seats for two at Staples, with parking, grub and beer will easily set you back a few hundred bucks. Thankfully, I spent the entire weekend at the beach which didn't cost a dime, so all I could really do was just shrug my shoulders.

WWCS: What Would Chick Say?

That’s exactly what I was wondered Sunday night while the Lakers were getting their heads handed to them by the Mavericks. As much as I miss him, it’s probably for the best that he didn’t have to witness that nationally televised embarrassment. Chick Hearn was notorious for lambasting the Lakers when he felt they weren’t playing up to snuff, and that was during the championship years. Old ‘Golden Throat’ would’ve had a field day yesterday broadcasting that atrocity, and nobody would've have been spared--Kobe and Phil included. I couldn’t even begin to tell you what current Lakers play-by-play man Joel Meyers had to say about it. The the days of turning the sound down on the TV during a national telecast, and listening to the local radio broadcast ended the day Chick passed on. Meyers probably made some critical comments, but I’m sure they paled in comparison to the tongue lashing that Chick would have administered. I wish I could hear what he would've said about Lamar Odom being caught on camera in his 'streets', cutting-up on the bench. Down by 30-points in the fourth-quarter is not the time to 'have jokes' or play 'grab-ass', especially when you're inactive. Odom acting like a clown at the most inappropriate time is the least of the team's concerns, but it just looks bad. Now the Lakers are forced to fight for a spot in the post-season, and their chances of advancing past the first round look bleak. I don't know what the Nets were asking for in return for Jason Kidd, so to say that the Lakers should have made a deal to get him would be ignorant of me, but I can't help but wonder what kind of impact he would've made. I guess if I really want to know what kind of alleged impact Jason Kidd makes, I should ask his estranged wife.

Huntington Beach License Plate














After spending the entire weekend loafing on the beach, I am certain of one thing: I am over the whole lower back tattoo phenomenon. Every other woman on the beach this weekend was sporting her, "I like it from behind" ink. Nice job ladies, I'm sure your step-daddies are proud of your 'spinal bulls-eyes'. Frankly, I'm sick of everyone's 'ink'. Thirty years from now, the elderly population of this country is going to look ridiculous with its wrinkled, shriveled up 'body art'. Sometimes I wonder if people realize that they can't just wash that crap off. All I could think of every time I saw a woman proudly displaying her 'HB tags" this weekend, was SNL's lower back tattoo removal ad. I'm sure you've seen it by now as it's nothing new, but it's worth another look-see. Just press play.