Well, it's Monday and it's 129 degrees in Virginia today and has been for several days. I was riding around the town I live in yesterday afternoon and given the color of the sky (orange) it appeared that I was driving around in Los Angeles. This is not a good sign for anyone who might have breathing difficulties. I like L.A., but not the air. I don't go to L.A. for the air.
Speaking of L.A., the Lakers are playing like the Lakers of 2006 who shot too many jump shots, never would challenge anyone in the paint, get out rebounded by a bigger team, get all the calls to go against them, and Kobe to take all the shots and shoot death laser glances at his own team mates. He shot Pau Gasol, the true NBA MVP this season, several of these glances during the game last night. Despite the fourth quarter where the Lakers tried to make the biggest come back in the history of the Finals (or any other major sporting event) they collectively look like they are in a dream state. The Celtics role players are playing like...role players. The bench has such an edge right now that many did not expect. Going into the series I was hearing everyone say the Lakers were going to win the series. I reluctantly picked them to win, but I was worried about the home court advantage that Boston has and whether or not the Lakers would throw up every time they walked onto the court. I was saying that the Lakers needed to win last night to go even with Boston and go to LA for three. Now, they are down 2-0, the odds are against them (over 90% of teams down 0-2 lose the series), and they would have to win one game in Boston to win the series. The Lakers need to wake up and stop being intimidated like the Hawks were in their first two games. The Lakers face the prospect that they must win three in a row in LA to have a chance. Even if they did that I am having serious doubts that they could win a Game 6 or 7 in Boston. It is really sad to watch this series so far as I do think that the Lakers at their best are the better team. However, they played in a coma during key parts of Game 1 and 2 and lostt badly. Time to wake up before Kobe ends up killing one of his team mates or being accused of sexual assault.
I don't know if I should laugh at Dippy's diary or never ever let him write on this blog again. I am wondering what you think. I'll go with the majority. On one hand, he is funny and has some, let's say, interesting insights. On the flip side, he made several runs at me and took endless numbers of hits from the bong he built in the leaky dark basement in his mother's house. I don't know. I am not sure it's good for a blog guest columnist to go Ricky Williams during writing a blog entry.
As a Braves fan I am so frustrated at the team and the fact that nearly everyone is on the disabled list or has one step away from it. The Braves blew an opprotunity to cut into the Phillies lead and show everyone that they plan on contending for the duration. Instead the bullpen blows every chance they had to hold the lead or tie, someone blows a simple fielding play, and the bats went cold all weekend. It was ugly. The obvious bright spot and the most intriguing story line is Chipper Jones who hit .570 last week, but also has a partially torn quad. Today, the Braves bought the contract of former major league pitcher Brian Lawrence who started for six games for the Mets last year. Where was Mr. Lawrence pitching when the Braves picked him up? The Camden Riversharks of the Independent League. It only gets better. I think the Braves should strongly consider signing Doc Gooden or Kevin Costner to pitch just to round out the starting rotation.
Now for your update:
BARRY ZITO
Barry had two starts this week and actually won a game in Washington yesterday afternoon. However, he pitched nine and a third and gave up eight earned runs. He walked nine batters and struck out three. Luckily, his team mates actually are giving him some run support by getting six runs for him each game. His WHIP for the week was 2.46 and opponents batted .389, which for Barry Ziti is real bad. Just real bad.
W-L: 2-9 ERA: 5.83 WHIP: 1.87 SO: 35
By the way, Barry is five walks behind the league leader in walks with 40. I have watched several Ziti games and I continue to maintain that his mechanics are totally off. He is off balance in his wind up and delivery. His release point is at a different angle depending on what inning he is pitching.
Andruw Jones is still on the DL.
Mark Kotsay is on the DL in Atlanta. No surprise.
I don't want to jinx Chipper.
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