Bryant, Brady, and Woods.. Difficult to catch your heroes huh...

The three most prolific American athletes of the last 20 years are Tiger Woods,Tom Brady, and K obe Bryant.  Derek Jeter is in their group but he is not considered to be the greatest player in his sport.  Roger Federer is the only athlete to accomplish the goal of exceeding the lofty accomplishments of his hero. Lionel Messi and Micheal Phelps have done it too, but swimming ,and soccer only matter in an Olympic year and over seas. Brady, Bryant, Woods, have wowed us with their prowess, excellence, and killer instinct.  They have won title emphatically, impressively, and unexpectedly.  Woods shocked the world with his unbelievable win at the masters. His margin of victory on that day is the stuff of legend.  Brady took over for an injured Drew Bledsoe and lead the Patriots over the "greatest show on turf" St. Louis Rams. Bryant won titles as a sidekick for Shaquille Oneal but was the go to guy when the Lakers needed a basket. They have been heroes and villains. Have they all reached to high to reach their stated goals?  Bryant is trying to make us forget Micheal Jordan. He shoots like Jordan. Talks like Jordan. Plays like Jordan. He is one title away from tying Jordan. His Lakers team is really struggling. They have talent, but can't figure out how to play together.  The Patriots are 7-7 in his last 14 playoff games. The last won the super bowl in 2003. They played in last years game so they are close, but fell short the last few years. Brady has matched most of his idol Joe Montana's records.The window is beginning to close on him.  Tiger was at one time a shoe in to catch Jack Nickalus records in the major tournaments. He has caught him in overall tour wins, but not in major titles. There s a new threat in McIlroy who is the"next" Tiger or Jack. Tiger has not been the same player since his marital problems.  He is ready to start his season and chase down Jack. 
Has the clock run out on these men? Brady and Bryant could put together a magical season next year and get it done. Tiger has 15 years to win 5 majors. 60 chances to get it done. Kobe and Brady need help from others. Tiger needs to play better in the first round and continue to score well on the weekend. Will they catch their heroes? I think Brady and Tiger will. The NBA has a new crop of hungry "tigers" and The challenge will be difficult for Kobe. Father time stops for no one. He always wins in the end. I look forward to seeing them try to complete their careers. They won't stop fighting and trying.  We won't stop cheering for them as they achieve

Lakers are a mess..

  I didnt want to do this and all of a sudden the Lakers go on a ten game win streak and I look like a fool but I have to.  The Los Angeles Lakers may have fallen and may not be able to get up.  The latest in the series of comical statements coming from the Lakers is Coach D'antoni wants Kobe to be the defensive catalyst for the team.  As if leading the league in scoring isn't enough.  He want Bryant to guard the opposing teams best scorer if he is a guard or small forward  and still score as he does.  Is this man nuts. He needs to go and get some old school tape of the Houston Rockets when they had Olajawon and Sampson or get some tape of the Kentucky Wildcats when  they had Bowie and Turpin and figure out how to play two big men together before they go exhausting Kobe.  The twin tower attack has only worked in San Antonio and Boston.  Kobe is having his best offensive year ever.  He is the reason the seats remain filled. Yes he had a great game guarding Kyrie Irving. Yes he is capable of guarding everyone this side of Kevin Durant and maybe Carmelo. Who then picks up the load on offense?  Nash is absolutely scared.  He does nit want to ruffle any feathers here in L.a.  He and Kobe should be doing pick and roll basketball or when  teams double team Kobe, Nash not Artest should be a viable and productive option.  Instead Nash swings the ball instead of shooting.  Jodie Meeks and Antawn Jamison are not afraid to shoot, but they can't shoot like Nash. I have never thought that Nash would be this tentative.  Shoot the damn ball Steve. I guarantee you  no one in Laker land will complain.
    Dwight Howard is a goof ball.  He is learning now that this is serious business and not only a game.  In Orlando, no one was watching so it would be okay to put up good big numbers and fail.  No one cares about them Magic. In the big basketball cities, the media is everywhere and they want answers every night.  When you win you be goofy and have fun at the expense of the coaches and everyone around the team. Shaquille O'neal made a career of that. Dwight can really play, but he has not shown up every night.  If he is hurt the rest him. No one wants to hear about his injury when he scores 10 points but don't hear nothing when he scores 33 and grabs 20 rebounds.  You cant have it both ways.
    Pau Gasol is a mental mess.  Just because he makes three point shots in practice does not always translate to the game. He should be the first option and if he does not get the ball in the post in the first seven seconds of the shot clock the get out and let Dwight post up.  Movement without the basketball is what made the Celtic big three get it done when they had two dominant inside players. The Spurs had Robinson on top and Duncan in the low block. They moved or cut to the basket and got dunks all of the time.  Gasol just stains at the three point line and watches a good game. He need Phil Jackson to erase the negative feelings I his mind.  Don't get me going about that fiasco.  The Lakers humiliated him and will have to give him ownership of the team just to get him to talk again. Isn't he still dating the owners daughter?
Oh oh.. Miami is coming on Thursday..

east coast bias??? what is that?

What I love most about being out here on the West Coast is listening to the bitterness people have about the east coast in sports. Can we help it? All of the major sports teams that matter most are located on the east coast. The NBA sucks if the Celtics aren't good. The Major League Baseball sucks if the Yankees or Red Sox stink in baseball. Even if the Mets suck baseball sucks for me. In football, when the Giants matter, the NFL is better. Despite what all of the Cowboy and Patriot fans think. In hockey, the 1994 playoff run by the Rangers put hockey on the map in this country. Detroit may win every year, but I guarantee you that if the Rangers win the cup this season, ESPN will buy the hockey package back because it will be devastated that it allowed their championship run go uncovered. The Lakers and the USC Trojans are the only show out here. Every year USC loses a winnable game and takes them out of the national championship picture. Kobe Bryant keeps the Lakers relevant out here even if he doesn't win championships because he is compelling t.v. He is the closest person to emulate Micheal Jordan so people enjoy watching his rise and fall. A month ago, the Red Sox and Angels played a game in Boston and the umpire seemed to be intimidated to make a call and it cost the Angels the game. Right after the game someone from the Angels said that the know of two parks where umpires wouldn't make that call. He didn't specify but we know he meant Boston and New York. Though he may right and based on what we have seen in the post season with bad calls helping the Yankees win a couple of games, what can we say. When the Bulls were winning championships, most people felt that they got a lot of calls that benefited them. Micheal Jordan only fouled out of one playoff game to my knowledge. Nowadays, people are saying that the university of Florida is getting that treatment. The two bogus calls against Arkansas that helped put Florida in position to win Saturday have people talking down south.
I guess the lesson here is win championships or have the media centers in the country located on your neck of the woods and then you can dictate to the world what you want. The fact that A-rod is delivering really shuts up people all over he country. When Mark Sanchez was winning for the Jets, he was the second coming of Joe Namath. In fact CBS out here has aired every New York Jet game this season. I know Sanchez went to USC, but the Chargers and Raiders play out here too. I know most of you think that I am biased being from New york and basically just trumpeted the New york area teams like a cheerleader, but you know what i say to be true. Even right now as the New york Knicks are struggling, the NBA is wishing that somehow some way that the Knicks can somehow win enough games to make the playoff. Or They are hoping that next season the Knicks could sign either Lebron James or Dwanye Wade. Amare Stoudamire would look great in a Knick uniform. The papers in New York would have a field day. The old joke about the east coast bias was based on the fact that many of the newspaper reporters would not stay up and watch the ends of games on the west coast so they seemed only interested in sports on the east side. Then Earvin "Magic" Johnson took over the west coast in basketball. Wayne Gretzky became a King and people began caring about west coast hockey Ken Griffey Jr. made me care about the west coast sports scene in baseball. Joe Montana and Jerry Rice made the west coast relevant in football after the Raiders started to flounder. Great players have been out here and have made the west coast relevant but i will take the energy and passion of the east coast any day of the week..