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Kobe:
Bryant declared guilty!!! (Of proving me and every other critic wrong, with his s-i-c-k, how-could-we-have-doubted 42-point binge to lead L.A. to 98-90 win.)
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The Lead Item
Two Words For You:
HOME COOKING.
Now that Kobe has everyone convinced --
including me -- that those court appearances really do
elevate his game, the Lakers are toast:
Kobe doesn't have any hearings left in this
series.
The next schedule conflict (probably time to stop
using that word) would happen May 27 -- the middle of
the conference finals -- but that's too late if the Spurs knock out the Lakers in this series.
Can't Kobe get busted for jaywalking or
littering -- anything! -- just so he can be scheduled
for some kind of court session before Game 5 on
Thursday, Game 6 on Saturday or, most important, Game
7 a week from today?
What irony if lack of off-court distractions
keeps the Lakers from beating the Spurs.
Nets Tie Up Pistons
Maybe now Larry Brown will pipe
down. Two Brown complaint sessions -- and two
thumpings -- later, the Pistons' Game 1 rout is a
distant memory, and the inspired Nets (94-79 W) are clicking
enough that Game 5 in Detroit is a legit
toss-up.
Clemens: 7-0
With Bonds' slump, Roger Clemens has
become the "must-see" attraction in
baseball:
Scary: Perfect 7-0 record
Scarier: 1.99 ERA
Scariest: Season-high 11 Ks last night
LeBron: Olympian
Someone at USA Basketball has locked up
the 2004 "Master of the Obvious" Award for
finally naming LeBron to the team. (And I can't
stress this enough: Duh!)
Orange You Glad
Syracuse Orange:
Sounds like a regional fruit, not a team nickname.
'Cuse is dropping "men" and "women" from its nickname.
"The Orange" was cool fan shorthand; making it
"official" doesn't just erode the cachet -- it's sure
to create "disgruntled" alums, like the one who e-mailed me this morning.
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CHECK OUT THE QUICKIE EVERY WEEKDAY MORNING! |
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| WHO'S GOT THE MOMENTUM ... |
Pedro Martinez: Clemens-like (11 Ks) en route to Boston W
Cincy RB Rudi Johnson: 1/$1.8m reward for replacing Dillon
NBA playoffs: How great is the every-other-night schedule! |
| ... AND WHO'S GOT NO MO' |
Pistons: Listen to Big Ben Wallace, "We played like bums."
Mizzou: Wants to appeal NCAA ruling against its hoops team
Kerry Wood: Had to exit game early (tight throwing tricep) |
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Reminds me of my favorite party game: Name the
handful of college teams whose nickname:
(a) isn't an animal;
(b) doesn't reference a color;
(c) and doesn't end in "s."
(Answer coming tomorrow.)
BCS Watch
BCS honchos meet again today to talk
about the "plus one" plan that would add a fifth
"title" bowl game, matching the teams ranked 1/2 after
the usual four BCS bowl games are played.
Reminder: Last season was an aberration; there
are pitfalls everywhere. Just one example: How would
plan supporters have handled Miami-Ohio St. two
seasons ago' make OSU "prove it" in a "plus-one"
rematch?
Flame(s) On!
Good seats still available on the
Calgary bandwagon, even after they won a second game
in San Jose (for a 2-0 lead in the West finals).
Americans without a hockey allegiance (and there are
many of you): Outsource your loyalty; join me in
rooting on the one Canadian team left in the NHL
playoffs.
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Baseball's Start Date
Baseball myth inaccurate? (Ooh, stop
the presses!)
Pittsfield, Mass., historians Tuesday trumped
Cooperstown's "1839" baseball start date ... by 48
years, claiming they have a document that
establishes baseball -- in Pittsfield, naturally
(which is as ludicrously unverifiable as Cooperstown)
-- by 1791.
Funny how you don't see last week's "purists" rushing
to move the Hall of Fame -- or even to investigate
correcting the record. They would never want to let
pesky facts get in the way of myth.
Kings-Wolves
The Kings will win Game 4 at home
tonight, but -- even if they don't -- I have so little
confidence in the T'wolves' ability to finish off the
Kings that I'm not even willing to say that tonight is
"must-win" for Sacramento; they could easily win three
straight, (including two in Minnesota).
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Spurs' third quarter:
Anatomy of blowing a 10-point halftime lead: Score only 16 points, but allow 31; corral Tim Duncan and force *any* other Spur to beat them.
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Today on ESPN.com
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| Page 2: Dueling Diaries |
| Gammons: The AL's best player |
| IN: Can Spurs get back on track? |
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| Quickie Top 5 Sports Towns |  Chicago
| Would crush L.A. in bar brawl
|  Boston
| They even love Boston Rob
|  Detroit
| Too scared to say otherwise
|  Baltimore
| On behalf of Cleve/Pitt, too
|  Philadelphia
| | See: I'm really no hater |
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More NBA tonight: Hope the Heat enjoyed that 17-game
home winning streak, because the Pacers are about to
obliterate it ...
Only problem with LeBron-as-Olympian is that Marbury
might be named to the team too (to replace Kidd);
would LBJ ever actually see the ball? ...
Speaking of Olympic invites: Uh, is Carmelo going to
get one too? He better -- he deserves it as much as
LeBron ...
Just because the Colorado AG doesn't want to charge
anyone for alleged assaults at CU, that doesn't mean
the admin should be off the hook ...
More MLB injury watch: Tejada (shin); Thome (thumb);
Snow (banged head) ...
L.A. being declared the No. 1 sports town in America
(Men's Journal) is the biggest farce in sports this
week; it's Chicago ...
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