Is He Ready To Go Yet?

Last week Trevor Ariza was cleared to practice, and Laker Nation thought that was a subtle way to say "Ariza will play in the Western Conference Finals."

Well, it appears that isn't the case since last night Ariza was on the Lakers bench...in a pressed suit.

Manu Ginobili isn't going to have very more 10 point games considering he lead his team in scoring all season. So the Lakers might consider pushing Ariza's recovery along faster than planned since his long, athletic style might really get in the way of Ginobili' game. Besides, I think Ariza looked pretty good in practice the other day.

Check out his reverse dunk!!!
http://cbs2.com/video/?cid=92

Watered Down Fanhood

I have watched almost every major sport in the U.S. and luckily, I have been able to also attend at least one live event from each sport. To me, college football stands out because the fans are so passionate and involved in their team's game. A bunch of rowdy, usually drunk, college students and alumni cheering for their team on a Saturday afternoon creates an impressive atmosphere. But yesterday, I officially decided that all American sports fans, no matter what sport or team you follow, are watered down compared to the passion and sheer emotion of a European soccer fan.

I went to a small pub called the Crown and Anchor near my home yesterday to watch the Champions League final between Chelsea and Manchester United. Both these clubs are from England, but the Champions League is a a competition where all the best clubs from around Europe compete in several months of games and it just so happened to end with two clubs (teams) from the same country. Anyway, I went to the pub wearing my blue Chelsea jersey and was quickly subdued by the large volume of Man. U fans wearing their red jerseys. The game was entertaining, but a few specific moments stood out that made me realize just how passionate the English are about their football (soccer). Towards the very end of the overtime period, the top scorer for Chelsea (Didier Drogba) received a red card and was sent off or kicked out of the game. At this point, the pure hatred of the opposing team showed through as several Man. U fans took their full pints of beer and flung them up against the ceiling of the pub showering everyone around in frosty Stella. Of course my reaction was a little different since it was my team who had just lost one of their best players, but I couldn't help but crack a smile at witnessing the level of enthusiasm and sometimes pain that these fans exerted while watching their favorite club. And when Man. U finally won the match in penalty kicks, I don't know if I have ever seen grown men be so joyful. The entire match I was sitting beside 5 English men who appeared to be die-hard Red Devil supporters (they were the ones that flung the beer up when Drogba received a red card). But when that final shot was stopped and the game finally was over, these men got together, hugged and cried harder than I have ever seen someone cry over a sporting event. They then picked up their beers and poured them out on each others heads as they started screaming and dancing around the pub.

I'll admit it, I was jealous because at that minute I realized that even though I think I am a die-hard fan of certain teams, I really have never begun to comprehend what it means to be a passionate, loyal and supportive fan. I understand that many people (its really just Americans) cannot stand soccer, but step back and look at the bigger picture and you may realize soccer isn't a sport as basketball or baseball is to us...its a lifestyle that consumes you almost everyday and when your team finally reaches that pinnacle or the Championship that has eluded them for so long, you can cheer because you were apart of it.

You Want To Bet On That?

This Charles Barkley sports betting saga has become a big mess. Barkley went to Vegas and bet a lot of money and he lost it (what a surprise). But losing the money is not the problem...the issue is that Barkley never paid the casino for the money they loaned him. Barkley needs to abide by two simple rules that I will call the "Meister guidelines":

First rule of betting: make sure you have the money.

I will give credit to Barkley (no pun intended), he has the money. I know he gets a nice little paycheck from TNT, so his bank account is probably o.k.

Second rule of betting: pay your bet, whether you win or lose.

This is where Barkley failed miserably. Can't his people remind him that he owes a casino $400,000. I mean, its not like that amount just slips through the cracks when your accountant is balancing your finances. There are only a few people who read this blog, and a good number of them bet on sports ALOT...I know personally. The thing is, when they lose, they pay up, something Sir Charles hasn't done yet.

Today we hear that Barkley paid the $400,000, but didn't pay the 10% interest he owes. The freaking articles that broke the story mentioned that Barkley owed 10% interest. So how on earth did Barkley himself not know this? Either he truly is as dumb as he acts on camera or he needs some new assistants to make sure he is doing the things that he should be doing. Because, if this 10% interest isn't paid soon, the mafia could be making a trip to Atlanta.

New Crop Gets Bullied Around

This is nothing more then an observation, but I found it pretty interesting that in the 2nd round of the NBA playoffs this year, each series seemed to have an underlying story of the old superstars verse the future generation of superstars. Despite the excitement behind the young crop of players and their inevitable rise up in the NBA, it seems the basketball Gods have a few more years of dominance in mind for the veterans.

Lakers vs Jazz: Kobe Bryant (11 years pro) defeats Deron Williams (2 years pro)

Spurs vs Hornets: Tim Duncan (10 years pro) defeats Chris Paul (2 years)

Pistons vs Magic: Chauncey Billups (10 years pro) defeats Dwight Howard (3 years pro)

Celtics vs Cavaliers: Kevin Garnett (12 years pro) defeats Lebron James (4 years pro)

Who knows how much longer the veterans will have before the very exciting and talented group of superstars begin to take the torch. But for now, it appears that the oldies aren't willing to go away without a few more years of dominance.

Early Retirees...Is It a New Trend?

In the last 24 hours, one of the top female golfers (Annika Sorenstam) and one of the worlds top ranked female tennis players (Justine Henin) both announced their retirement. Henin is only 25 years old and has a pretty strong resume. She was won seven Grand Slam titles and spent over 100 weeks ranked as the world's number one player. Sorenstam is a little older, 37 years old, but she plays a sport where an athlete's age tends to have a higher ceiling. Sorenstam is one of the most dominate and decorated female golfers ever. She has won 72 tournaments, 10 majors and even teed up against the men. Many called Sorenstam more dominant in her sport then Tiger Woods is in his. In fact, despite an early retirement, Woods said he thinks Sorenstam is the greatest female golfer of all-time. That is quite a compliment from a player who might just be the greatest golfer ever.

With these two sudden retirements from two of the best female athletes of our day, you have to wonder if this might become a trend. No longer does an athlete have to keep playing in order to financially support themselves. With today's advertising deals, endorsements, contracts and winning money, an athlete can have one or two dominant years and be set for life as far as money goes. That means athletes have the ability, if they aren't too greedy for more money, to play solely because they love the training, game and competition. Once that disappears, there really isn't any other reason to play. These two retirements are big, but they will not be headlines in the morning paper. But if in fact this becomes a trend, whose to say Kobe Bryant won't call it quits if he wins the NBA championship this year. I mean, he won the MVP and will have lead a team to the top (on his own), so whats left to prove?

What a Mighty Bore!

Not only is the NHL losing popularity based solely on the fact that it is a boring sport that has confusing rules and tends to have the interest of another country in mind above our own(Canada), but this years Stanley Cup playoffs might just be the most lopsided, lifeless playoffs ever...in any sport. In the 2nd round of the playoffs, the eight best teams faced off. Although one might think this would lend itself to some intriguing and entertaining match ups, those four series ended at 4-0, 4-1, 4-1 and 4-2.

So, one would figure that the conference finals were going to be amazing considering four teams stood out above the rest in the conference semifinals. Well, your wrong. So far, the Pittsburgh Penguins are leading their series 3-0 and the Detroit Red Wings are up 3-0. Man, the NHL sure knows how to make their playoffs interesting. I guess we have to look at the bright side. At least the games are being played on Versus so that we don't have them taking up precious time on our major networks.

This Is No Longer An Isolated Incident

When a teenager falls into a lifestyle of drugs and partying, we say this is a result of choices they made and we place the problems and consequences on the shoulder's of the individual. But if a family has four children fall into a life of drugs or crime, we must look deeper and realize we are dealing with a parenting problem, not four isolated instances of bad decisions.

I know people are going to call this a head-hunt and say that the media has their sights set on the biggest, most lucrative programs, but with the recent details coming out of O.J. Mayo and how he accepted gifts and money from agents, I have begun to believe that there is a problem with the USC athletic department. I realize that the player, not the school, decided to take bribes and money. But, USC must take part of the blame. There are two possible explanations. 1) The USC athletic department is run by a bunch of naive, clueless, incompetent individuals who didn't think it was weird how the biggest basketball recruit in 2007 just happened to choose their school without being pursued by the University. 2) If Mike Garrett and Tim Floyd and the other staff are not clueless, then this means they knew what they were getting when a kid from West Virginia (with a pretty shady background I might add), made it clear he was coming to Southern California for the sole purpose of being one and done. If this doesn't raise eyebrows, alarms, red-flags and every other type of cautionary sign then I am not sure if this is the right business for you to be in. Has USC forgotten that they are first and foremost an academic University. If Mayo was so key on getting to the NBA ASAP, why didn't he sit out a year, workout 24/7 and prepare emotionally and mentally for the NBA...I take that back; that is exactly what he did last year considering he didn't have any class or schoolwork to attend too.

The NCAA needs to keep a close eye and start regulating collegiate athletics much better than they have been. And for that matter, they need to place certain programs with bad track records underneath a magnifying glass. The University of Miami continues to have current and former athletes involved in crime related activities. If its one or two athletes then o.k., but when a trend arises it hints toward a deeper issue. And recently, a supposedly well behaved Florida Gator program has had one player use the credit card of a dead women and then yesterday, a player was shot at a park.

Another program that needs to be watched is USC. They have had top athletes demonstrate or be linked too some shady antics (Jeff Trepagnier accepted money, Reggie Bush accepted money (allegedly), Matt Leinart isn't your poster child for responsible leader, adult, quarterback or father, and Mayo might have been the most predictable athlete to make this list of any to come through Heritage Hall). These are no longer isolated instances. This is a trend at a University that has suddenly forgotten what is important and what isn't. Maybe Coach Neuheisel can teach some of the people in the Trojan Athletic department what accountability and consequences are all about.