Monthly Archives: June 2013

Season Over For Beckett

beckett image

 

June 29th, 2013

Remember when the Dodgers had a surplus of starting pitching to start the season?  Now they are desperate just to find pitching.  LA got some bad news today, as right-hander Josh Beckett will undergo surgery and miss the remainder of the season.

Beckett has been diagnosed with Thoracic outlet syndrome, and has been experiencing nerve irritation in his neck, as well as numbness in his pitching fingers.  The surgery is expected to sideline Beckett for 3-5 months, and will be performed by Dr. Greg Pearl in Dallas.

Although Beckett wasn’t slamming fried chicken in the clubhouse like his days in Boston, this season he’s been more abused than a battered housewife.  He went 0-5 with a 5.19 ERA.  He’s also owed $15.75 million this year and next year.

Cardinals pitcher Chris Carpenter underwent the same operation last July, and is currently experiencing a slow recovery one year later.  This means the Dodgers will now have two pitchers under contract next year, who may miss time recovering from injury in Chad Billingsley, and Beckett.

Lakers Waive Duhon


 

 
June 29th, 2013

Let the Chris Duhon sweepstakes begin!  The Lakers waived point guard Chris Duhon today, after playing just one season for the team.  The 30 year old, 8 year veteran from Duke, was owed $3.5 million, however, LA had the option of buying him out for $1.5 million, which they took advantage of .

Duhon was acquired in the Dwight Howard trade from Orlando last August, and played in 46 games for the Lakers this year, while starting 9 of them.  I’ve always been amazed that Duhon has managed to average about 4 points and 2 assists since the 6th grade, yet he still has a professional basketball career.  In fact, over the course of his entire career he’s made more than $31 million!

I must say however, that I am extremely disappointed that we didn’t see the dance moves on the bench that he showed while he was in Orlando.  It’s no wonder the Lakers let him go.

Monday Morning Coffee

Stern Veto Gif

June 24th, 2013

Donald Sterling was hoping he could take the easy way out again.  He was going to tell Chris Paul he tried to give him what he wanted and thought that would be good enough.  Sterling turned out to be more naive than Manti Te’o, because Chris Paul wasn’t going to let up.  Paul convinced Sterling to fork over 3 years and $21 million to Doc Rivers after a week of public pressure.  The Clippers have now taken a huge step in transforming the culture of their team by adding one of the top coaches in the NBA.  As a result, Paul is now expected to re-sign with Clippers in one week for 5 years and $107 million.

Now comes the tricky part.  The Clippers would complete their identity change by acquiring Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce, but that will be impossible in a two team deal.  David Stern has already informed both teams he will impose his dictatorship and veto this deal for no other reason, other than being an a-hole, and pissing off Marcellus Wiley and the remaining 10 Clipper fans.  However,  the Clippers may still be able to acquire Garnett in a 3 team trade, which would be hard for Stern to veto.  At that point, how could Stern argue that the Rivers deal and the Garnett trade were contingent upon one another?  Garnett may be older than the bible, but he could vault the Clippers into championship contention.

Meanwhile, the Lakers are bracing themselves for the departure of Dwight Howard.  Laker general manager Mitch Kupchak mentioned to the media that Phil Jackson was serving as an un-official consultant for the team.  Dwight has expressed his desire for Phil to be part of the organization, but we all know that really can’t happen until Jimmy Buss starts to play nice with his future brother in law.  Maybe Jimmy is banking on the fact that Dwight changes his mind more than a teenage girl, however, even Donald Sterling was convinced to bring in someone to appease his star player. Are you really going to let Donald Sterling outsmart you Jimmy?

Yasiel Puig needs to be an all-star.  In 19 games this season, he has easily been the best Dodger player, and the most exciting in the entire league.  Of course baseball purists will say he hasn’t earned it, but I hear those people also enjoy watching paint dry.  The MLB instituted a rule that every team needs to have at least one all-star, and Puig should certainly be that for the Dodgers, with all due respect to Clayton Kershaw.  Besides, now that Bud Selig decided to make the all-star game determine home field advantage in the World Series, it’s that much more important to have a player like Puig in there, who is one of the hottest hitters in baseball.  That would be a small consolation in a season from hell for the Dodgers.

Speaking of hell, the Angels were swept away by the Pittsburgh Pirates at the Big A this weekend.  Does anybody realize how bad the pitching is for these guys?  The Halos have now lost 8 times when they score at least 6 runs.  If they had won just 5 of those games, they would be back at .500.  Only 3 teams in all of baseball have a worse team ERA than the Angels, and one of them is the Houston Astros, who aren’t even trying!

Many Kings fans were surprised they didn’t get a bigger return for backup goaltender Jonathan Bernier, however, general manager Dean Lombardi really pulled off highway robbery.  The only thing that pisses me off is that we helped out that two-face bastard Tim Leiweke.  That guy deserves to go find his own damn goaltender after trashing Kings fans!  In any case the Kings got two useful players, and Toronto payed a third of their salary.  Sending Bernier out also improves their reputation of how they develop players.  Plus, how can you not love your new backup goalie when he posts this on his twitter feed?

I’m hip! I’m with it! https://vine.co/v/bVUnQKwBLKl 

I hope nobody in my keeper fantasy football league was planning on having Aaron Hernandez on their team this season.  Even if he is somehow able to avoid jail time, Rodger Goodell is going to suspend this guy for eternity for being a dumb ass.  Why does this guy feel the need to carry so many guns?  He’s busy carrying guns, while Tom Brady is carrying the Patriots.

I just have one question for Kim and Kanye: WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING?  North West?  I wonder how old that child will be when she comes to the realization that her parents were senseless morons?  Then again, by that age, I’m pretty sure that her parents will be long separated by then, since Kim changes partners more frequently than a Nascar Driver changes tires.

Doesn’t the name “Edward Snowden” make you think we are talking about some Game of Thrones character?  Everyone is all up in arms about their rights when this story came out, but people are freaking out over nothing.  The US government isn’t reading emails and listening to phone conversations to find out what color panties your girlfriend is wearing.  As long as you aren’t talking to Al Qaeda, or some other terrorist group, I’m pretty sure the government doesn’t really care.  I don’t complain when I have to go through a long security process at the airport because it keeps the airport safe.  I see this the same way.  As for Snowden, who is now in Russia, here’s an idea: Putin should give the U.S. Snowden and Robert Craft’s Super Bowl Ring, and we’ll give them George Zimmerman and Frank McCourt.

Finally, watching Nic Wallenda’s high wire across the Grand Canyon on Discovery was one of the most amazing, and simultaneously, one of the dumbest things I’ve ever seen.  For a man who has made Christianity such a focal point in his life, even Jesus has to be wondering what kind of idiot would high wire across the Grand Canyon in jeans?  Obviously, if this guy were blacked out drunk he could still pass a sobriety test with skills like that.   I love how he jogged across the wire for the last few feet as well.

Skywire

 

Clippers InDOCtrinated

Boston Celtics v Denver Nuggets

 

June 23rd, 2013

I just have one question for Chris Paul:  How did you do it?  How did you convince Donald Sterling to pay Doc Rivers $7 million per year?  You must have slipped some roofies in his drinks at dinner the other night.  Maybe you called Charlie Sheen and he supplied you with some of his cheap hookers for the night to show Donald a good time which softened him up?  Well, whatever it was, it worked.  The Clippers have agreed to a deal in principle with the Celtics for Doc Rivers to become their next head coach.  Rivers will be paid $21 million over the next 3 years.

The Clippers will send the Celtics a first round pick in the 2015 draft as compensation for Rivers. The deal still needs to be approved by the NBA, but that isn’t expected to be an issue.  However, acquiring Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce could prove to be another challenge for the Clippers, as the league will likely frown upon adding players in a separate deal.  The NBA has a policy against making deals that are contingent upon one another, and David Stern has shown he will institute his ridiculous rules whenever he damn well pleases.

This saga has dragged on for over a week now, with a great deal of posturing back and forth.  The Clippers tried to put pressure on the Celtics by leaking that they had begun to discuss the financial parameters of a contract with Byron Scott.  The Celtics countered by calling a press conference for Monday announcing that Doc Rivers was staying in Boston.

The bottom line however, is that Chris Paul had more leverage than anyone in this deal.  If the Clippers had any hope of keeping Paul, they had to get this deal done, and Paul urged Donald Sterling to make this happen.  One always has to wonder how Sterling will screw things up, but this time, it was Paul who saved the day.

 

 

Jonathan Bernier Traded to Toronto

Bernier Image

June 23rd, 2013

The Kings have finally granted Jonathan Bernier his wish: a chance to be a number 1 goaltender in the NHL.  LA traded Bernier to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Sunday, in exchange for forward Matt Frattin, goaltender Ben Scrivens, a 2nd round pick, and $500,000 cash.

Most Kings fans are sad to see Bernier go, but knew this day was coming.  The Kings have arguably the best goaltender in the NHL in Jonathan Quick, so having a quality backup like Bernier was a great luxury.  Last summer, Kings General Manager Dean Lombardi promised Bernier that he would be traded by either the 2013 trade deadline or the upcoming NHL draft.  Lombardi obliged.  Now, Toronto may be luckier than a lottery winner with the acquisition of a potentially elite goaltender.

In return, the Kings got a speedy 3rd line right winger in Frattin, who scored 7 goals and 13 points in 25 games for the Leafs this season.  He’s been in the league 2 full seasons, and carried a cap hit of just $925,000.   Scrivens was the backup for the Leafs this past season, and was 7-9 with a 2.69 GAA, to go along with a .915 save percentage.  His cap hit is only $625,000, and with the Leafs throwing in $500,000, that covers nearly a 1/3rd of the Kings cap hit.  In other words, Dean Lombardi should be arrested for shop lifting.  As for the draft picks, the Leafs will get to chose between either giving the Kings a 2nd round pick in 2014, or in 2015.

Lombardi and the Kings will now turn their attention to re-signing free agent defenseman Rob Scuderi.  In a conference call, Lombardi explained that dialogue has been ongoing for the last several weeks with Scuderi’s camp.   However, he acknowledged that with the salary cap coming down, he will have to fit in at a reasonable price.

Is Sterling Trying to Bamboozle Us?

donald-sterling

 

June 21, 2013

The Clippers on again, off again trade with the Boston Celtics is off again.  In this bizarre saga that has unfolded over the last week, the Clippers were initially trying to acquire Celtics coach Doc Rivers and Kevin Garnett for DeAndre Jordan and 2 1st round picks.  However, NBA Commissioner and Dictator David Stern would not allow the deal because it is against NBA rules to trade coaches.  It is also against NBA rules to make two trades that are contingent upon one another, which further complicates the Clippers ever acquiring both Rivers and Garnett.

Nevertheless, the Clippers claim their focus shifted to acquiring just Doc Rivers and worry about Garnett later.  But if that’s the case why wasn’t this deal done days ago?  The Clippers were going to give up two 1st round picks in the initial proposal, and now they are reportedly only offering one 2nd round pick.  Really?  This deal is being held up over draft picks that will eventually be terrible first round picks anyway?  This smells fishier than a Florida election, and Donald Sterling is behind it.

The Clippers had initially called off the negotiations earlier in the week, until Chris Paul urged the front office to keep negotiating.  Paul also sat down with Clippers broadcaster Ralph Lawler this week, and Lawler tweeted he was informed by Paul that he badly wanted to play for Rivers.  Despite these pleas from the team’s franchise player, Sterling never had any intention of giving any coach a 5 year deal, let alone paying him nearly $7 million per season.

Donald Sterling simply does not value his coaches.  When Sterling fired Bill Fitch in 1998, he refused to pay him, and even sued him when he claimed he wasn’t looking for another job.  When he fired Mike Dunleavy in 2010, he refused to pay him, and was eventually forced to pay $13.5 million after an arbitrator made him.   When he hired Vinny Del Negro in 2010, the Bulls were paying part of his salary.  Now he’s got Byron Scott high on his list or replacements because the Cavs are paying part of his salary.

This saga won’t officially end until the Clippers actually hire a new head coach, however, Donald Sterling thinks were as dumb as Miss Teen South Carolina.  Sterling and the Clippers front office will come to Chris Paul and tell him they tried really hard to bring in Doc Rivers, but they’ll claim the league stopped it.  Now, Paul has the right to do whatever he wants because he’s a free agent, and if he leaves town the Clippers will be bombed back to the stone age.

The Clippers had a chance to completely alter the trajectory of their franchise for the next decade over the coming weeks, starting with making Doc Rivers their head coach.  Hiring Rivers would not only guarantee that Paul would re-sign with the team, but he would give the team instant credibility, and rid them of all the previous skepticism about the franchise.  The acquisition of Garnett and eventually Paul Pierce would have made them the favorite to win the Western Conference next season, and an instant championship contender.  Even after Garnett and Pierce retire, free agents would be lining up to play with the Clippers.

Instead, Donald Sterling is finding a way to screw this up.  Throughout the negotiations, several members in the Celtics organization were reportedly baffled by the Clippers erratic demands, and were unsure where the decisions were coming from.  To make matters worse, the Clippers have slowly begun to alienate Blake Griffin, when their front office started rumors of a potential sign and trade to the Lakers for Dwight Howard.

The Clippers are at a pivotal point in the history of their franchise.  If someone in the organization could actually convince Sterling to step up and spend money, they could actually have a championship contender next season and beyond.  However, it doesn’t even seem that Chris Paul can convince him.  Soon enough, they could return to being the same old Clippers.

Voynov Agrees To Deal

slava-voynov

June 19th, 2013

The Kings took care of one of their biggest off-season priorities on Tuesday.  They re-signed defenseman Slava Voynov to a 6 year $25 million contract.  I know most of you were told there would be no math here at Jock Talk LA, however, that results in a very reasonable $4.1 million cap hit over the next 6 years.

Voynov is a 23 year old native of Russia, and is emerging as one of the best young defenseman in the league.  He had 6 goals, 19 assists, and was a +5  in the shortened 48 games season this year.  He also  led the Kings with 6 goals and 13 points during this year’s playoff run.  Voynov set Kings playoff records this year for most goals scored by a defenseman in one year, and most game winning goals in one year.

Interestingly enough, in 6 years from now, both Drew Doughty and Slava Voynov’s contract will expire at the same time.  Most Kings fans should be experiencing a heart attack at that point.  Still, the Kings salary cap issues this off-season pale in comparison to many other teams.  The club currently has $56.7 million committed to 15 players for next season, which still leaves some room under the $64 million salary cap.  Dean Lombardi’s next challenge will be trying to re-sign veteran defenseman Rob Scuderi, who has been a key cog for LA’s defense.  The Kings also have 6 restricted free agents who will be due raises, along with unrestricted free agents Dustin Penner and Brad Richardson as well.

Lombardi is also shopping backup goaltender Jonathan Bernier, who has expressed a desire to be a number one goaltender for another team.  There are currently about 10 teams who are interested according to ESPN’s Pierre Lebrun.  One of those teams is the Flyers, who have been a frequent trade partner with the Kings.

The Kings don’t need to waste their time adding any players that are old, underachieving, or that just aren’t worth a crap anymore like Jerome Iginla, Brad Richards, or Daniel Briere.  They simply need to try their best to retain as much of their current team as possible. If they can bring back Scuderi on a reasonable deal, they will maintain the strength of their team, which is defense and goaltending.  That is what wins championships.

Monday Morning Coffee

Halos Collision

June 17th, 2013

Well folks, it’s that time of the week where I remind you all how much our So Cal baseball teams stink.  The Angels found a way to be pathetic on and off the field this weekend.  The Angels were promoting Yankees reliever Mariano Rivera coming to town this weekend, and even gave out collectible certificates commemorating his career.  Are you kidding?  Don’t we have enough douchy Yankee fans that are showing up to the Big A when NY comes to town?  Arte Moreno must be getting desperate to fill all the empty seats at the stadium.

The team was equally as horrible on the field yesterday as well, with a 6-5 loss against the Yankees.  Once again, Jered Weaver looked more like Sigourney Weaver after getting lit up for 5 runs and 7 hits in 6 innings of work.  The Halos tried to rally, but Albert Pujols proved that $250 million just doesn’t buy what it used to, when he struck out with the bases loaded to end the game. One a positive note, Josh Hamilton’s batting average didn’t drop any further, and that’s a relief because Mike Scioscia kept him chained to the bench.  Oh by the way, Torii Hunter is making half of what Hamilton is this year, and he’s batting nearly 100 points higher and driven in more runs.

Then there’s the Dodgers, who continued to take one step forward followed by three steps backward.  The Boys in Blue dropped 2 of 3 to the Pirates, and are now a season worst 10 games under .500.  This team couldn’t hit water if it fell out of a boat.  Yasiel Puig is hitting .479, and he can’t even save this team.  Don Mattingly did announced that Puig is going to remain in the major leagues for the rest of the season, so at least the team will be entertaining.  The Dodgers are 5.5 games behind the Padres, who have a payroll that’s not even one-third of LA’s.  Now I see what the Dodgers meant by “A Whole New Blue”.  Watching this season hurts more than blue balls.

Why is Clayton Kershaw so upset over details of his contract extension leaking?  Kershaw claims it’s a distraction, but let’s be honest,  we all need a distraction from this piece of crap season the Dodgers are giving us.

The NBA rumors surrounding the Clippers this weekend were crazier than Justin Bieber speeding through a neighborhood full of kids.  The Clipps were deep into negotiations with the Celtics, and were attempting to acquire Doc Rivers, Kevin Garnett, and eventually Paul Pierce, while giving up Deandre Jordan, Caron Butler, and some draft picks.  Both sides reached an impasse after the Clippers refused to put Eric Bledsoe in the deal.  The most shocking part of this deal would be the fact that Donald Sterling would be willing to pay Doc Rivers $7 million per year.  I’m still waiting for Sterling to call the deal off when he finds out it’s really Doc Rivers and not Doctor Jack Ramsey.

Even if the Clippers pull this off without including Bledsoe in the deal, the rumor that Blake Griffin and Bledsoe could be dealt in a sign and trade for Dwight Howard is hard to imagine.  Although Griffin and Bledsoe solve a lot of the Lakers current problems, Jim Buss isn’t going to help another franchise in his own building put together a super team with Chris Paul and Dwight Howard.  The Lakers end game is to try and acquire Lebron next summer, even if the chances of an asteroid hitting LA are greater.  Letting Dwight Howard go to the Clippers would not only reduce the Lakers chances of landing Lebron, but would also increase the chances of the Clippers landing Lebron next summer if Pierce and Garnett retire.  In other words, Jim Buss and Mitch Kupchak would have to be drinking jet fuel in order for them to trade Howard to the Clippers.

Speaking of the NBA, ESPN insider Marc Stein is a fantastic and reliable reporter, however, he’s a bitch.  Back in 2002, Stein refused to come on my Jock Talk radio show at UC Irvine, and he said “sorry, you are an Anteater, and I’m a Triton, can’t do it.  Great show though”.  Good reporting this weekend Marc.  You’re still a bitch though.

Phil Mickelson is the Kevin Durant of the PGA.  Mr. 2nd place!

Did anybody catch the Miss USA pageant yesterday?  Miss Utah stumbled and rambled through a question regarding income disparity in the U.S., and ended her bizarre statement with a  “to create better education” phrase.  This was not as bad as Miss Teen South Carolina’s legendary jibberish back in 2007, but still gave everyone watching a good laugh.  I’ve never really understood the concept of the Q&A portions of these pageants.  More often than not, it just makes these women look like morons.  It’s a beauty pageant, not a Model United Nations Conference!

 

Getting Mean At The Ravine

McGwire v Williams

 

June 12th, 2013

These brawls never seem to go well for the Dodgers.  The boys in blue got into another brawl with a division rival on Tuesday night at the Ravine, but this time, Zach Greinke wasn’t dumb enough to charge into somebody and break his collarbone.  Even though nobody was injured and the Dodgers won the game, that doesn’t mean it won’t prove to be costly for LA.

The Dodgers rookie sensation Yasiel Puig may be suspended for his role in the brawl, which would be another blow to a team that has been sinking faster than the Titanic.  Puig has suddenly become the team’s best player, which explains why his teammates protected him after he was hit in the nose in the 6th inning on a pitch by D’Backs ace Ian Kennedy.  Zach Greinke does deserve credit for fearlessly plunking Miguel Montero in the next inning, but the game of revenge should have stopped there.  Greinke was plunked by Kennedy near his head in the bottom of the inning, which resulted in the bench clearing brawl.

The best part of the brawl was the fact that the old-timers on both sides took center stage.  Mark McGwire tossed around Matt Williams, and Don Mattingly took down Alan Trammell.  The only thing that would have made this more entertaining is if Charlie Steiner had stormed into the Diamondbacks broadcast booth and body slammed Bob Brenly.

Why the hell is baseball the only sport that allows this nonsense to go on?  Even in hockey, where they allow fighting, they never allow the benches to clear.  Then again, I’m trying to rationalize the rules of a league that refuses to eliminate cheating and use more instant replay to help its umpires.    I forgot that Bud Selig must be trying to preserve “the purity of the game”.

Regardless of this ridiculous culture, pitchers should never throw at anyone’s head.  They are messing with players careers when they do it, and they need to be punished for it.  Ian Kennedy should be suspended for at least a month for doing this not once, but twice!

As for the Dodgers, the notion that “they finally put up a fight” is absurd.  Most of the fight was handled by the old-timers on their bench anyway.  That’s like your grandpa standing up for you when you’re getting your ass kicked in a bar by somebody half your size.   The real fight these guys need to put up is in the batters box, where with the exception of Puig, the Dodgers have been getting a beat down.

 

Monday Morning Coffee

Kings eliminated

 

June 10th, 2013

Saturday night was a reminder to all Kings fans what being a sports fan is all about.  That is enduring 99% kicks to the ball and 1% glory.  Kings fans experienced that 1% glory last year, but it’s back to another kick in the balls this year.  This came after Blackhawks forward Patrick Kane ended the Kings bid to repeat as Stanley Cup champions with his game winning goal in double overtime of game 5 of the Western Conference Finals.

The Kings fought harder than Mel Gibson resisting arrest in this game. They could have easily packed it in after trailing 2-0, and 3-2 late in the game.  However, LA continued to battle back while I sulked and threw pillows across my living room.

Now that its over, we’ve learned that the Kings were more beaten up than Rhianna when she hangs with Chris Brown.  Justin Williams played with a separated shoulder, Dustin Brown had a torn PCL in his knee, and Drew Doughty had an injured ankle.  Anze Kopitar insists that he wasn’t hurt, but he looked like he was skating with a piano on his back for much of the playoffs.  Nevertheless, the Kings made too many mistakes against a skilled Chicago team.  Jonathan Quick wasn’t quite as sharp as he was previously, and the Kings made costly turnovers that the Blackhawks capitalized on.

Nevertheless, the Kings made it further than the last 3 defending champions have, and are poised to be contenders for at least 2 or 3 more years.  Many of their core players are under contract for quite some time, and in case you haven’t noticed, their twitter handle is hilarious!  After Saturday’s loss, they tweeted this gem: “@penguins you guys wanna grab a drink later?”

Now that the NHL is over, we can all focus on how crappy the Angels and Dodgers are.  Do the Halos really not have anyone better than Joe Blanton to send to the mound every 5 days?  This guy is a human launching pad, giving up 3 more home runs in Boston yesterday, and he’s now on pace to lose 20 games.  Blanton was asked if his next start was a critical one, and he responded by saying “Why should I feel urgency now? I don’t have anything to prove.”  Nice to see you are ok being the worst starting pitcher in baseball Joe.

As for the Dodgers, it’s becoming clear now that even Yasiel Puig can’t save their season.  They’ll need to win about two-thirds of their remaining games, and that’s not happening if they have to send Stephen Fife and Matt McGill to the mound on a regular basis.  At least Puig has given the Dodgers something exciting to watch despite the carnage that is their season.

I like how the new Dodger owners are trying to conceal the details of their business partnership with Frank McCourt, because they claim it will hurt their chances of the NFL wanting to bring a team to LA.  I’m pretty sure that just by admitting that they have torpedoed their chances of an NFL team coming to LA.  At this point it’s pretty obvious that the NFL is only going to do a deal that works for them.  They like the idea of a stadium at Chavez Ravine, but they aren’t dumb enough to do a deal that involves McCourt.

So Lane Kiffin just recruited a 13 year old quarterback who hasn’t even played a down of high school football yet.  What good does it do any 13 year old to commit to a school when you are in 8th grade?  And will Lane Kiffin even still have a job with USC in 2015?  My guess is he won’t.

Why haven’t the Clippers hired a coach yet?  They should have contact George Karl 5 seconds after he was fired by the Nuggets.  The Clippers seem to have lots of good options in Karl, Brian Shaw, and Lionnel Hollins, however, the real issue is whether or not Donald Sterling’s people can convince him to pay one of these guys what they are looking for.  The Clipps should be getting really nervous because the Chris Paul and Dwight Howard to Houston rumors are heating up, and Chris Paul has been strangely quiet about the entire process.

The irony of the Nuggets firing George Karl is that Mike D’Antoni is the perfect fit for them.  The Nuggets roster is loaded with young and athletic players that would allow D’Antoni to play his uptempo system.  Unfortunately, the Nuggets probably won’t call the Lakers about him, since they currently have a few options on the coaching market.  That means the Dwight Howard breakup with the Lakers is coming.  This is starting to have the feel of that sometimes crazy girlfriend that you want to stay with, but you can slowly start to feel her pulling away.  The really depressing part is that when Dwight signs with the Rockets, it will be as though your girlfriend left you for Urkel.

Finally, season 3 of Game of Thrones is in the books, and it was outstanding.  Although the season finale was not quite as exciting as the previous week’s episode, the show is riveting.  I’m still astonished at the morons that are threatening to cancel their HBO subscriptions after complaining about the deaths of Rob, Talisa, and Catelyn Stark.  If you’ve been watching the show from the beginning, you know that the show isn’t about love, happiness, and moral righteousness.  It’s about a world where those who use cruel, devious, and underhanded tactics come out on top.  Not that I’ve read the books, but the writers of the show seem determined to deviate from plot in the books a bit in order to emphasize these points.   It’s going to be a long wait until season 4, but looking forward to it!