Cool Stuff, GT and BP. Always fun to get together in person with anyone and everyone here. But GT obviously is the roving ambassador at large!

Well, since it's a short lull between the draft and rookie camp, a few words on other sports.

The 'real' season starts in a few days with the NHL playoffs. Optimistic about the Habs, but wouldn't be devastated with an early exit. They're way ahead of schedule after cleaning house and putting in an unbelievable upgrade with new management, coaches, elite rookies and creating a great team chemistry. In the playoffs it's ALWAYS about goaltending, and Price can easily be the hero or the goat, depending on whether he's back in mid-season form or continues a late slump. We'll see. Going from 25th overall to 4th and the division title has made this season a success regardless of playoff outcome though anything less than the Cup returning to it's rightful home never quite provides the fulfillment I grew up thinking was part of the natural order of things. The last couple of months I've expanded my collectible parameters into the twenties, thirties and forties and really have enhanced my appreciation of team history and tradition way before my lifetime. I acquired some amazing old scrapbooks from those decades with really detailed minutiae cut from old newspapers and magazines that give a vivid feel for the times and the sport. And the crowning jewels of my autograph collection are of the "Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig" of their time (20s - 30's). Howie Morenz and Aurele Joliat. I'll post some pictures here in the near future of my always-under-revision little sports shrine and all the displayed and archived relics.


I'd also like to see the Sharks handle my local team. I've just never liked the unsubstantiated sense of smugness here every time they have a semi-respectable team. Also a very arrogant organization, led by the owner and down through the management and into the media. And in a match of perennial enemies, I want Boston and Toronto to play seven games of long and draining mayhem so that the survivor has nothing left for the next round.

Lakers.

You know, I found it incredibly interesting watching them this year. And, contrary to almost all their fans, I found it somewhat rewarding watching them go through so many existential crises. In sports, sometimes you have to go through every level of hell and try to maintain poise and professionalism. Especially when the franchise is reviled by a large fan segment and many gloat in the fall from grace. Jealous fans sense of hubris. At times it was pathetic. At times, excruciatingly ugly. Not a person in the organization was spared the constant humiliation of failed expectations. And the injuries. Absolutely insane. Never in my life have I seen such a season of serious long term injuries. But still, they fought on when it would have been easy to just mentally give up when they were way below .500. Under the circumstances, they probably went as far as they deserved to under those conditions and just finishing 20 - 8 at the end was a minor but legitimate sense of accomplishment. The playoffs? Who could have expected much different. Maybe a bit closer score, but they played a poised and polished team with a roster never dreamt of in any Laker fan's nightmares.

But even before the chaos, I sensed something very fragile about the way the team was assembled. When you put together a starting lineup of old veterans, there is no safety net once some of the pieces of the puzzle start to fail. Management really went out on a limb, presuming the big name/future HOF players would quickly find chemistry and smoothly adapt to each other. On paper, under ideal conditions, the lineup was expected to dominate. But warning signs were obvious when they lost all their exhibition games. When their was no progress early on Brown got the blame. But I think management was panicking and desperate to justify their decision in creating this mix. Would D'Antoni have been hired if he hadn't worked well with a younger Nash? I think there was some infatuation with that memory. MWP had somewhat of a resurgence , but he had been in decline in recent years and is always a potential source of trouble. Kobe is always going to be Kobe, but there are real chemistry and strategy issues with who he plays with. You can't just adapt on the fly and improvise from game to game. Mind you, injuries kind of forced some of that. Gasol had already been 'traded' and the heart of more rumors, and then had his role constantly redefined. Some players don't react well to uncertainty. And Howard. Where was the due diligence? At the least, more thought should have been given to the effects of his back surgery. If he wasn't able to play the way he was expected to, then right from the beginning Laker fans would only see him functioning in a reduced capacity. And he looked dreadful the first part of the season. And by alienating the fan base with cryptic comments and odd behaviour he lost a lot of sympathy. And even when playing better, he just wasn't the presence that he was expected to be. And the strategy of opponents intentionally sending him to the free throw line proved to be an embarrassment for the team as well as strategically awkward to overcome. Nash had a very few flashes of his career self, and when he did he added something. but his defense is horrible and he seemed injured just about every game he played. And the bench? Clark was a nice find for a month. Hill's injury also was a loss. So was Blake missing so many games. Jamison also played hurt. The others made minor contributions. At times I just wanted to see Sacre play out of curiosity.

With Kobe's career possibly at or closer to the end, and at best a long difficult rehab, the franchise is facing their worst crisis in decades. I have no idea what they should do. You can make reasonable arguments for hundreds of scenarios. Amnesty any of the starters. Fire another coach, though I have a feeling the call for Phil is past it's due date. Howard really has marginalized himself. I wonder if he ended the last game the way he did as a subconscious (or conscious) rejection of the role everyone anticipated? Kobe calling him the next superstar, putting him in line after the other greats. Maybe he just was overwhelmed in that environment. Many talented players just couldn't handle the pressure of expectations from a glamor franchise in a major market. That's not a fault or a criticism, because each personality is different. Maybe both Dwight and Laker management were too optimistic that the fit would be right. Howard was seen a lot in L.A. before the trade, at Dodger games, celebrity events, and elsewhere in the media. Maybe he got infatuated with a certain celebrity status and lifestyle before he had it earned? And management (Buss Jr. primarily I guess) seemed willing to make a major gamble. There was a certain cockiness in taking him with only a one year contract. As a free agent now, it looks like the ball's in Howard's hands. Who knows? With salary cap/luxury tax chaos anything and everything is possible. Maybe just maybe the franchise has to take a few steps backwards, find some young talent and create a different mix. They may be forced into it. The alternative is to patch together a team with a nucleus of the current players and hope they stay free of injuries and find the chemistry they were just starting to acquire. But I don't see how they can keep Kobe, Nash, Gasol, Howard together even if they wanted to. MWP is almost certain to be gone I suspect. But Los Angles craves the stars, so ... interesting times.

On a footnote, I always enjoy looking at the Staples Centre crowd for the celebrity sightings. Interesting that Jack and Lou left after the third quarter the last game. But Dyan stuck it out. As did Norm and Mary. One guy that bugs me is James 'Jimmy' Goldstein. A really strange (but apparently very wealthy) dude. Obviously he's not a Laker fan, but he's at all the games, sitting behind the basket on the opposite side from Dyan. Every time the opposition scores he dutifully claps. Never so for a Laker basket. He's known as the ultimate basketball fan, traveling from city to city for games and has season tix for both L.A. teams. I guess years of watching Laker success instilled a desire to see the opponent win. He also owns the house used in the Big Lebowski (the Jackie Treehorn beach house) and is a fanatic about clothes. He always has on a big brimmed hat and has some shimmering kind of clothing. He must be in his seventies or older. I do like his business card though. Fashion. Architecture. Basketball.

http://www.interviewmagazine.com/culture/james-goldstein/

Also, who sits where. A few years old, but interesting.

http://www.thedailytruffle.com/2011/05/lakers-seating-chart/

Last Edited By: Arnold49 04/30/13 02:05 AM. Edited 2 times.