Author Archives: omzzzzz

A Letter To Jim Buss

May 25, 2013

Dear Jimmy,

You are a very intelligent man. Far more intelligent than most people give you credit for. However, you are also a man with incredible pride, which is getting in the way of your greatness.

You deserve credit for trading for Chris Paul, and saving the Lakers $20 million in the process, before NBA Dictator David Stern vetoed it. You also deserve credit for drafting Andrew Bynum, who did help the Lakers beat the Celtics in the 2008 Finals, and eventually helped you acquire Dwight Howard.

You’ve learned from arguably the most successful owner in the history of sports, which I admit is a tough act to follow, now that you are the owner of the Lakers. I have no doubt that you are very motivated to both honor your father by continuing his legacy, as well as prove your own ability as a basketball executive. The only way to do that is by winning, and the best way to do that is to bring back one of the greatest basketball minds ever to your organization next season: Phil Jackson.

At this point, you are well aware of the fact that your future brother in law is a much better coach for this current Laker team than Mike D’Antoni. The players all told you that, and you saw it with your own two eyes this season. You are also smarter than all those people who think that Phil will never actually coach again, and know that he would gladly coach your team if you put your pride aside, and asked him to coach your team for just next season. Your current team has a window of exactly one year left, they were tailor made for Phil, and he might even help you win a title next year in place of D’Antoni.

I realize Phil can get on your nerves sometimes Jimmy. His ego is massive, but what NBA great’s ego isn’t? His triangle offense seems boring, but it’s also won your last 5 championships while your delusional competitors are convinced “it’s a point guard driven league”, and have yet to win anything. Nobody really knows if it’s actually sage or marijuana he’s burning in the locker room either, but didn’t you smoke a little weed with your race track buddies a few years ago?

Kobe and Shaq showed you years ago that everyone in the organization doesn’t have to get along to be wildly successful. Phil has no desire to be a GM like Mitch either, and you could easily grant him his consulting role in the front office after next year. You, your dad, and Mitch always used to go down to California Pizza Kitchen, and put your heads together whenever a big decision had to be made. That third chair at CPK is now open, so why not put Phil in that chair and hear what he has to say? The final say will still rest with you.

You know deep down that Dwight Howard really wants this too, but he hasn’t forced this on you because he doesn’t want to be the bad guy. But do you really want to wait until July 1st to see him sign with the Rockets to show you how unhappy he really was with D’Antoni? You know that bringing back Phil will insure the future face of your franchise will re-sign.

So here I am Jimmy, speaking on behalf of all Laker fans. Put your pride aside, and do what’s best for your franchise. Bring back Phil Jackson to the organization next year, and you’ll make your family proud, and you’ll be a hero among Laker fans. More importantly, you’ll honor your father’s legacy in the best way possible: by continuing the Laker tradition of winning.

Regards,

Omar Shaban

Shutting Down The Sharks

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May 24th, 2013

Jonathan Quick and the Kings answered the bell. I can’t believe some people suggested the Kings should start Bernier in the playoffs, or even trade Quick when he was struggling to find his game earlier in this season. Quick should never be doubted again!

The Sharks have tried to get Quick off his game by bumping into him, and forcing him to complain to the officials. In game 5, the Sharks continued to do that, but the difference was that Quick didn’t let it rattle him, and just responded with save after save. He even flashed a few smiles at some of the Sharks players after making some stellar saves. Almost reminded me of the former Kings killer Patrick Roy in the 1993 Finals.

Anze Kopitar also came to play as well, and just when I think the guy is about to disappear like hodini, he shows up when you need him more than ever at both ends of the ice. Daryl Sutter must have beat the crap out of these guys the last few days because Carter, Richards, and Brown were very good as well.

The good news is that the Kings are up 3-2, and are only 1 win away from advancing to the Western Conference Finals for the 2nd straight season. The bad news is that they have to play game 6 in San Jose, where they’ve had about as much luck as I had playing the Powerball last week. In some ways, the Kings are probably due for a win on the road, but that also means they might be due for a loss at home after 13 straight wins. In that case, the Kings better close it out on Sunday!

What happened to Jim Fox’s hair? I’m too afraid to ask. And what the hell has happened to the Chicago Blackhawks? They are letting a team that is half as talented as them completely dominate them.

Monday Morning Coffee

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May 20th, 2013

What a bunch of garbage that took place in San Jose on Saturday night. I’ve always said that NBA referees are by far the worst in sports, but the nonsense I saw on Saturday night made me think that NHL refs might get that dishonor. Trevor Lewis was clearly shoved into Sharks goalie Anti Niemi at the end of regulation, but the referees called an interference penalty on Lewis. That of course, led to a 5 on 3 man advantage for the Sharks in overtime, and a 2-1 win.

Sure, for the last two days I’ve heard crap like “the hockey gods evened things up”, or “justice was served”, since the Kings stole game 2 in controversial fashion. That however, is a bunch of monkey crap. The referees set a tone for the players by not calling a lot of penalties throughout the game, including numerous contact the Sharks made with Jonathan Quick that was not called. Then, when the game was at its most crucial moment, they decide to call a penalty. A players aggressiveness is determined by how the referees are calling a game, and when there is no consistency, it screws up the game.

FINE. Take your game 3 victory San Jose. In a game 3 must win on your home ice, you needed a two man advantage in overtime, which you couldn’t even score on until the very end of the powerplay. That’s all you’ve got? Quick and the Kings have got this.

Ken Rosenthal is reporting that Dodgers skipper Don Mattingly could be fired on Thursday if the Dodgers perform poorly over the next 3 games against the Brewers. Just one year ago, Mattingly was overachieving with a crappy roster. Now, he’s been saddled with a bunch of overpaid underachievers, and he’s about to be canned? Firing Mattingly isn’t going to fix Matt Kemp’s swing, or keep the Dodgers any healthier. It was Ned Colletti that traded for reliever Brandon League last season, when the Mariners gave him away for a bucket of KFC Chicken. Now’s it’s Colletti that’s choking on the bone after signing him to a 3 year extension.

Here comes another Phil Jackson book, so prepare for more drama. This time he felt the need to compare Jordan with Kobe, and he favored Jordan in almost every way. I like how Phil briefly mentions that he always resented Kobe for the sexual assault charges that were filed against him in 2004, because it symbolized his daughter previously being victimized by sexual assault. Phil has always enjoyed criticizing Kobe, and it’s the nature of their relationship. However, for a guy that’s responsible for your last five championship rings, you would think he might be able to say a few more positive things about Kobe. How about the duration of Kobe’s greatness lasting longer than MJ’s? How about Kobe’s superior shooting range and ball handling skills? Glad to see that Phil’s hiatus from the NBA hasn’t altered his ego in any way shape for form.

Apparently, nothing has changed for the Clippers. ESPN LA’s Ramona Shelburne reported that Donald Sterling is actually considering keeping Vinny Del Negro around because he doesn’t want to give a coach a multi-year contract, and he knows Del Negro is probably one of the few who would accept such a crappy deal. I wonder how Chris Paul feels about this? I have a feeling we’ll find out in July, when Paul and Dwight Howard leave LA together.

Rally Time?

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May 18th, 2013

Ok, I’m going to try and be positive about the Angels. Let’s see…..they are only 12 games back of first place Texas in the AL West? Ok let’s try again. They are only 9 games back in the wild card race? Shoot! This is much tougher than I thought. I’ve got it! Their ERA isn’t quite the worst in baseball, because Toronto and Houston are worse. I knew I could do it.

Can I go back to be being honest now? Because the Halos are quickly flushing this season down the toilet. One quarter of the way through the season, the team is on pace to lose 103 games, and keep in mind, the franchise record is 95. $127 million clearly doesn’t buy what it used to, because the Angels have no starting pitching, and they have nearly half a billion committed to three players whose best playing days are behind them.

Even Arte Moreno acknowledged this week that Mike Scioscia isn’t responsible for this mess. It isn’t his fault that none of his starters can give him 6 innings. It isn’t his fault that his best pitcher, starting shortstop, first baseman, and his starting center fielder are all hurt. It also isn’t his fault that Josh Hamilton keeps coming down with these mysterious illnesses, and seems to be emotionally unreliable for this ball club.

Arte has spent enough money to feed several small African countries, but in all the wrong places. He’s taken one of the best managers in baseball, and made him useless by building a team that is incapable of executing the fundamentals of the game, which is essential for Scioscia’s success. The Halos have always been successful when focusing on pitching and defense, and manufacturing runs, yet they are now inept in all those areas.

The good news is that the Angels have two great cornerstones in Mike Trout and Mark Trumbo that they can build their team around for the next 5 years. The bad news is that the contracts of Albert Pujols, Josh Hamilton, and CJ Wilson won’t allow them to build much else around them during that time. Those 3 players need to produce now, because we all know they won’t during the back end of those dumb contracts. In the meantime, the Halos better build start building that farm system back up because it’s currently considered the worst in baseball. At least the season is almost over (I told you I could be positive!).

Jumping the Shark

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May 17th, 2013

Holy Toffoli! Two goals in 23 seconds and the Kings shocked the Sharks at Staples Center on Thursday night to take a 2-0 series lead. As usual, Jonathan Quick was amazing, except I’m beginning to think the Kings players think they can go into a coma for long stretches because of his greatness.

Speaking of coma’s, I thought Anze Kopitar was going to go into one when he got hit in the face with the puck in the 3rd period. After Kopitar left, the Kings were without 2 of their top 3 centers, and you could tell. The Sharks won 44 faceoffs to the Kings 21, and they outshot the Kings by a wide margin until the last few minutes of the 3rd period. I also take back half of those bad things I said about Jake Muzzin, who is playing some better defense.

This game was phenomenal, but the finish wasn’t better than the Miracle on Manchester in 1982, or the Frenzy on Figueroa in 2000. Both of those comebacks had much greater deficits, and were at much more pivotal points in those playoff series than where we are now. The Sharks have had plenty of playoff disasters over the years, but that collapse has to be right up near the top. If these guys were a Canadian team, they might have their citizenships revoked by now.

That collapse serves them right for that cheap bull shit they pulled in the 2nd period when Vlasic faked an injury to draw a penalty on Carter, only to come back one shift later and score a goal to put the Sharks ahead. Of course Shark fans are now crying because Raffi Torres is suspended for the rest of the series, and because they think they were wrongfully penalized for delay of game just before the Kings comeback. At least Sharks Coach Todd McClellan wasn’t bitching too hard. He admitted “When you get three, you better beat this team.”

The Sharks are just as good as the Kings at home, so it’s hard to imagine LA sweeping this series. Still, the Kings need to put the Sharks away quickly so they can buy some time to get healthy before facing the Blackhawks. They’ll need the likes of Stoll and Matt Greene to win that series.

Reality Check For Nor Cal

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May 15th, 2013

Don’t you just hate Nor Cal? They might as well be a separate state as far as I’m concerned. Apparently, mastering the concept of public transportation and considering themselves “cultured”, has made many of their fans delusional about their hockey team. The Kings gave them a dose of reality last night with a 2-0 win in game 1 of their Western Conference semi final series against the Sharks.

Every year, we’ve heard about how talented the Sharks are, and how this is finally the year they break through to win the Cup. The only cups these guys have drank out of are the champagne glasses on their annual plane ride home for the summer. In round 1, San Jose swept a team that’s had even more playoff ineptitude than them, in Vancouver. Last night, they looked like the same chokers who have been showing up in the playoffs the last 5 years. Meanwhile, the Kings played a Blues team that might have actually come out of the Western Conference if they didn’t run into LA in the 1st round.

Jonathan Quick was phenomenal again. He single handedly shut down the Sharks, and already looks like he is in their heads. The Kings sat back for much of the game, waiting patiently, but imposed their will for about 25 minutes of the game, and that was all they needed. The Kings were extremely composed throughout the entire game, unlike the dude sitting next to me in section 116.

Just one minute into the game, the guy starts bitching “Where is the forecheck??!!! Damn it Where is the forecheck!!!?? We’re screwed!!!” This guy clearly had not taken his meds because San Jose hadn’t even taken a shot yet and he was already panicking. This guy was clearly a fan for many years because he had an old 1990’s Kings jersey on, but oddly enough, winning a Stanley Cup last year hasn’t given the guy enough faith in the Kings, or prevent him from losing his mind.

Raffi Torres better be suspended for his cheap shot on Jarret Stoll. The Kings can’t afford to lose their best face-off man for an extended period of time. They nearly lost Drew Doughty on the same play, which would have been disastrous.

In the NHL playoffs, there is something to be said about having mental toughness and grittiness. The Sharks have plenty of talent, but they have always lacked that type of toughness to get them over the top. The Kings developed that part of their game last year when they won the cup, and have shown more of it the last 5 games. They are built for the playoffs. The Kings took the Sharks to six games two seasons ago without Anze Kopitar, and with a banged up Justin Williams, yet Shark fans seem to think they are going to take this series in 4 or 5 games from the defending cup champions. Keep your mouth shut Nor Cal, and just keep sending us the water.

Monday Morning Coffee

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May 13th, 2013

I’d like to thank the Anaheim Mighty Ducks for crushing the hopes and dreams of all Southern California hockey fans over the weekend. The Ducks had two chances to close out the Red Wings, but instead, folded like a deck of cards. A series win would have meant the Ducks and Kings would have an epic Southern California hockey showdown in round 2, but the Red Wings would have none of that after their 3-2 win in game 7 in Anaheim on Sunday night.

After last night’s game, Corey Perry was seen kneeling at center ice in disbelief. He was probably thinking “I can’t believe I fooled this dumb asses into giving me $66 million when I can’t even score a goal in the playoffs.” Then there’s coach Bruce Boudreau, who is notorious for putting together great regular seasons, followed by disappointing playoffs. Boudreau is the Marty Schotenheimer of hockey. He’s never made it past the 2nd round with the Capitals, and consistently comes up short in game 7’s.

Meanwhile, the Kings are going to have home ice advantage in round 2 against the Sharks. Do the Kings even know how to win a series with home ice advantage? The last time they had home ice in a playoff series Pearl Jam was cool, and Bill Clinton had started banging interns. Dustin “Pancakes” Penner scored one of the greatest playoff goals in Kings history on Friday, as time expired at the end of the 2nd period, and his club will need much more of that to beat the Sharks.

I think it’s safe to say the Angels season is already over, and the Dodgers probably aren’t too far behind. The Halos are 10 games back in the AL West, and that’s after taking two of three against the White Sox over the weekend. Now, Arte Moreno is starting to hear it from TJ Simers and his friends at the LA Times. The more I watch this team, the more it’s becoming obvious that Mike Scioscia is now forced to deal with a mess that he didn’t create. His sluggers aren’t producing like they should, and when they aren’t, they are incapable of executing his small ball style of play. His starting pitchers are not only ineffective, but are tuning him out. Last night, after CJ Wilson came out of the game in the 7th for giving up 3 runs, Scioscia repeatedly asked Wilson about his pitch selection, yet Wilson was lifeless in his response. Good luck managing these guys the rest of the way Mike.

As for the Dodgers, I love the festive atmosphere in the clubhouse this weekend, after taking two of three from the worst team in the National League. Their season should end this week after facing the Nationals, followed by the Braves in Atlanta. Dee Gordon and Scott Van Slyke now have as many home runs as Matt Kemp, who has become a $165 million singles hitter. The Dodgers need to find a way to get Yasiel Puig into their lineup with Kemp and Andre Ethier trying to pull their heads out. Heck, even Clayton Kershaw has as many home runs as Kemp!

Lastly, my heart goes out to those three girls in Cleveland, who were tortured for 10 years by Ariel Castro. Those three girls are extremely courageous. I would definitely kill myself if I were ever held captive in Cleveland.

Hockey History Awaits

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May 9th, 2013

Just one win away from history. My neighbors think I’m a lunatic from all the yelling and screaming I was doing last night after Slava Voynov scored the game winner. They have obviously never witnessed playoff hockey, and have no idea what’s going on with the Kings and Ducks.

Jonathan Quick has been amazing. He’s stopped 146 of 155 shots, and looks like the dude who carried the Kings last spring. Drew Doughty is unbelievably valuable. The guy just piles on the minutes, and is the backbone of the Kings defense. And who doesn’t love Justin Williams chasing down every loose puck??

Then there’s the resurrection of Kopitar and Carter. Once those two scored in game 4, their entire game has returned to elite level. Kopitar made not one, but two “Gretzky like” passes to set up two of the Kings three goals. Carter hasn’t had much space to get off his lethal shot in this series, but he’s been finding ways to finish around the net.

Meanwhile, in Anaheim, the Ducks were locked up in another game with the Red Wings that was tighter than a Beyonce jump suit. Poor Corey Perry. The guy gets a wide open opportunity in the slot, and Jimmy Howard robs him. Dude still can’t find the back of the net in the playoffs. Good thing Bonino and Palmieri are stepping up.

Neither goaltender has been great in this series, but that’s been a much bigger problem for the Red Wings. Howard was supposed to give the Wings an edge in this series, but he’s played more like Ron Howard. The playoffs are all about grit and toughness, and the Ducks are getting it from guys like Bonino and Palmieri.

Now each team is just one win away from an epic showdown in the 2nd round of the playoffs, for the first time in the history of both franchises. The Kings have won nine in a row at home, and will need to make it ten, or else they will have to go back to St. Louis for game 7. I’ve said that home ice doesn’t matter in the playoffs, because the Kings should be able to win just one game away from home in a playoff series. That’s only true if they win on Friday.

The Ducks need to go to Detroit, where they will need to avoid the distraction of hearing gun fire and crime in that crummy city. Even though they have the luxury of playing a game 7 at home, home ice hasn’t meant much for either team in this series. Take care of business fellas. You’ve all got a date with destiny next week.

Monday Morning Coffee

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May 6th, 2013

May just started, and it already feels like the 2013 baseball season is toast for the Dodgers and Angels. Don Mattingly says he actually feels pretty good about his team after getting swept over the weekend against the Giants. Imagine how bad things would really be if he didn’t feel good about his team!

The Dodgers have the 5th best batting average in the NL, and the 2nd best on base percentage, yet only the Marlins have scored fewer runs than them. This team can’t hit when it counts, and I’m starting to question the legitimacy of Matt Kemp’s power numbers the last couple of years.

Things are even worse in Anaheim, where the Halos are off to their worst 31 game start in franchise history. Everyone wants to blame Mike Scioscia for this disaster, but it isn’t really his fault that his starters can’t even give him 6 innings, or that Josh Hamilton is a $125 million scrub. One could actually make a case that if Scioscia were the manager of the Dodgers, his small ball style would be far more effective in the NL, and if Mattingly were manager of the Angels, his ability to manage big names would make him more successful.

Even though the Kings won game 3 on Saturday night, the team can’t feel that great about their inability to impose their will against the Blues. Jonathan Quick has been spectacular, but Anze Kopitar and Jeff Carter haven’t scored since the first Iron Man was in theaters. Apparently, Jake Muzzin needs to cost the Kings a game in this series before Daryl Sutter benches him for good.

The Ducks are catching a big break with the suspension of Red Wings forward Justin Abdelkader. Gotta love Ducks Coach Bruce Boudreau telling it like it is: “The Wings are a good team. We’re not playing the Florida Panthers here.” With Abdelkader out, the Wings may be a lot closer to the Panthers, and the Ducks need to take take control of the series with a win tonight.

We can now add the Miami Dolphins to the list of teams that are using Los Angeles as leverage to get a new NFL stadium in their city. Dolphins CEO Mike Dee told WFOR-TV in Miami that he has to have a public-private partnership in order for a new stadium to be built. The NFL isn’t coming back to LA anytime soon, and any hope of it coming back disappeared when Tim Leiweke was fired by AEG, and took a job north of the border.

Finally, people need to stop crucifying the one writer who voted for Carmelo Anthony, instead of Lebron James for the MVP. Nobody even knows what the criteria is for the NBA MVP award, so at the end of the day, you can make a case that one player is “more valuable” than another. I’ve always thought the NBA needs a player of the year award, and an MVP award, but that will probably never happen because the league enjoys the MVP debate every year.

Clipper Catastrophe

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May 4th, 2013

Just another typical night on the LA sports scene. The Clippers were expected to make a nice playoff run to build upon last season’s success, and then get punked in the first round by Memphis. Oh there’s much blame to go around in this one!

It starts with Blake Griffin, who looked more like Kathy Griffin in this series. Griffin averaged a pedestrian 13.2 points and 5.5 rebounds in this series, while only shooting 45%. His counterpart, Zach Randolph, ate him for lunch by averaging 20.8 points, 8 rebounds, while shooting over 56% from the field. For good measure, Randolph, also put his exclamation point on the series by putting Griffin in an MMA style choke hold in the 3rd quarter.

Then there’s Vinny Del Negro, who will likely be the first to take the fall for this debacle. It took 5 games and 3 more quarters for Vinny to realize that his team should play some zone defense to try and slow down Z-Bo and Marc Gasol, who were beating his teams brains in. For some reason, Del Negro thought it was a good idea to play Jamal Crawford only 12 minutes, which seems strange for a team desperate for some play makers outside of Chris Paul.

I guess it’s also pretty tough to win when you’re starting center is making $10 million a year, and is averaging 3 points and 6 rebounds. You would think by year 3, Blake and DeAndre would be able to develop some real basketball skill, as opposed to just dunking.

Now there’s the real threat of CP3 leaving the Clippers in July, and bombing them back to expansionism. Funny how Dwight Howard and Chris Paul have both refused to answer questions about their free agency all year, yet Howard is viewed by most people as a bad guy, and Paul is viewed as a good guy who will probably stay. Both of these guys are definitely going to evaluate if there is a better situation for them elsewhere, and their identical post game comments after their final game suggest they are leaving the door open for a departure.

I still think Howard and Paul would probably even like to play with each other if the opportunity presents itself. Depending on where the salary cap number is for next year, the Rockets may be able to come close to offering both of these guys max contracts. So can the Atlanta Hawks, which are located in Howard’s hometown, and much closer to Paul’s home in North Carolina. Be afraid Laker and Clipper fans….be very afraid.