Baylor & Johnson

Women Should Play Sports: Ronda & Leticia Bufoni

2015-08-03T10:33:00.001-07:00

I thought Rashard Evans made a very perceptive comment pre-fight to UFC 190, Rousey v. Correia; he said it was Ronda's imagination that separated her from the pack. I couldn't agree more. The thing I love about watching her fights -- and the Gracie breakdowns -- is her ability to see two moves ahead, or adjust on the fly, improvise, and pivot to other possibilities. She's like Coltrane, improvising like crazy in a stream of consciousness way, but from an unshakeable bedrock of classic theory. You put elite skill level together with the creativity of a top flight artist and the mental toughness of Godzilla and you have athletes like Muhammad Ali, Rickson Gracie, Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Joe Montana, Ted Williams, Sandy Koufax... and Ronda Rousey.

Then there's Leticia Bufoni. Being an LA boy, I couldn't help but be exposed to skateboarding although my first loves were football and basketball. But skating has an element of freedom I admire and the rogue, non-bullshit attitude perhaps best embodied in LA legend Jay Adams. Leticia, I think, reflects that attitude. If it's seemingly at first odd to put Ronda and Leticia together in a post, I thought of it because both possess this quality; they are of course highly accomplished and yet self-possessed. They own themselves before anything and that sets the table not just for themselves, but for anyone searching for meaning in this upside down world. Particularly young women.

That they're both LA girls -- Ronda by birth, Leticia via Brazil -- is just icing on the cake.

The New America: CHEAT!

2014-09-09T10:35:00.000-07:00

The following is in response to a couple of college buds in the wake of the Ray Rice wife beating video.

Guys-

I thought/think the same as TB; TMZ [who broke the full video inside the elevator] (an LA company and reference, btw)! nuff said.

Add this to the Chomsky-an take of Americans not being stupid based upon their involvement in sports analysis, as being thoughtful about very complex things from trades to matchups. maybe he's added to his thesis. But when you think about sports turning over every rock to expose the vermin underneath, it makes the msm slimes "reporting" on EM08 (econ meltdown 2008) look like cub reporters. Let's not forget, the City of Bell scandal was an accidental discovery.

Other thoughts: with roids, here again, i think, we see the hidden hand of economics. when i was a kid in love with the Rams, a 300 pound lineman was a rarity, and, in fact, i only recall ONE: Roger Brown, who actually played for the Rams for a sec. Deacon Jones, a hall of famer and one of the most revered d-ends in history, would be a linebacker today - at best; he was a mere 235 or so.

Chasing the big brass ring of big bucks, the players are shockingly bigger, faster, stronger than ever. i mean, who ever heard of a lineman at 300 pounds who could clock a 4.6 forty and have a 26"-30" vert??? And some of them, like Michael Oher -- the subject (ostensibly) of Lewis' The Blind Side, one of the greatest books i've ever read -- who also was a huge lineman but could ball hoops and dunk!

Roids have long been associated with not just physical but mental performance; testosterone exhibits aggressiveness, pretty much a scientific fact. However, brains are complicated things and subject to a myriad of contingencies, from genetics to food to hydration to drugs (prescription and otherwise), let alone pollution. Now, with football, we throw in high impact, and you've a volatile lab. At least.

And of course, the leagues, owners and law enforcement don't care. There's simply way too much money, and here's where we come full circle: It's media, television, that, much like the Saudis funding Al-Qaeda (and trickle to Isis, Boko Haram and god knows how many other bad actors) - is the oil and gas greasing and fueling the infernal machine. There's other money too, but it pales.

On the athlete side, it's companies like Nike that provide the economic imperative, at least for the name athletes. Lance Armstrong was a Nike guy for how many years...? funny how Nike never made a commercial addressing the fact that Marion Jones -- a Nike athlete during the Olympics -- did a perp walk while king roids Armstrong gets to do a mea culpa on Oprah and retire to his home in the Hamptons. What a bunch of Janus faced donkey crap.

When have you ever heard Sportscenter lead with: ESPN will not broadcast teams that do not avidly police illegal drug use, because anything that provides an edge beyond your genes and work ethic happens to be CHEATING. Furthermore, that goes for anyone caught fixing games, including refs.

Other than Congress and Wall Street, I've never seen such in your face cheating. Look at the World Cup - confirmed cheating (refs again). It's a stark contrast to my childhood and while what Uncle Scam and Wall Street do makes my head explode, perhaps sports provides the greatest lessons of all, simply because of the passions involved.

The Greater Good of Ole Skool

2014-06-16T19:58:00.000-07:00

That the Spurs won surprised no one. That they won going away also wasn't that big a surprise. What was surprising is the way they won, through a combined effort of all members contributing, selflessly, for the greater good.

In many ways, this theme of selflessness serving the team is a throwback to the NBA's golden age, the 1980's. Epitomized in the play of Magic Johnson, the 6'9" point guard reveled in making his teammates better; indeed, it was what he came to be known for. John Stockton, the game's all-time assist leader and true iron man, built his game around getting his team involved. Isiah, as talented and skilled a player as ever touched a basketball, was a brilliant playmaker. Other ones of the 80s such as Mark Jackson were also brilliant assist men.

But the game has changed, with an emphasis on iso or breaking down defenses and kicking it out to the 3 point line and jacking up 23 footers. Today, a one exists in name only, with the best argument for this being Russell Westbrook, whose blazing quickness allows for jaw dropping acceleration but little by way of fundamental basketball, at least by the standards of the 80s.

Now come the Spurs, with all of their ole skool and selfless throwback values. Young kids at the YMCA say "They're boring" while not even lifting up their eyes from their phones, seemingly mesmerized by the amounts of attention they get from their billion "friends" on the new fangled social network flavor of the moment. There are many adjectives I can think of to describe the Spurs, but "boring" isn't one.

While talking to my friend Vartan at the YMCA before game 5 yesterday (Father's Day), I told him that if I were going to teach kids basketball, that I'd show them games 3 and 4 of the Finals, because to me they are like textbooks on team play. It was sport played at the highest level and in the the realm of beauty on par with any work of art. Vartan enthusiastically agreed.

Amid all of the other flattering and pandering messages bombarding us in this media modern world, the Spurs winning is like an oasis, or maybe a well-oiled machine (it's hard to avoid cliches when talking about the Spurs, they are that great) powered by synergy. Krishnamurti once remarked about how he wasn't a savior, that he was just a sign on the road pointing and saying, "look."

Individual commitment to a group effort - that is what makes a team work, a company work, a society work, a civilization work.

-Vince Lombardi

Team. Unselfishness. Synergy. Group effort. What's so refreshing about the Spurs is their mindset. When Kawhi Leonard received the Finals MVP trophy he seemed at a loss for words, but it was his teammates, whooping and hollering, who seemed happier than him!

Here's another important ole skool word: loyalty. When the 80's Lakes lost to the Celts in their first matchup of that decade, I was crushed. The ghost of Tommy Heinsohn was mocking me. But did Magic jump ship? No, he hunkered down, got back to work and trusted then Lakers GM Jerry West to do his job. When Bird lost - twice - to the Lakes, did he jump ship? When Isiah lost in the Finals in '88, did he jump ship? And Jordan languished as the Bulls were the whipping boys for the east for the first 4 years of his career. But he didn't jump ship.

You can see where I'm going with Lebron. But San Antonio's big three, Duncan, Parker and Ginobili, have stayed with the Spurs through thick and thin. That's Ole Skool.

Of course, no rundown of the Spurs' greatness is complete without a nod to Pop. His management and more, the way he gets his team to buy in is legendary. Only a handful of coaches achieve this.

Not to mention Pop's hilarious interview manner, terse, and to the point. But the bottom line of this truly great coach is that he's ole skool. Better watch all you can of this guy as, like Jerry West, he's the last of a special vintage. They don't make 'em like him anymore.

The main ingredient of stardom is the rest of the team.

-John Wooden

The Spurs win is a signpost beyond sports admiration. They are an anomaly, a testament to the Ole Skool ways. If it's true that sports provides life lessons, and I believe they do, then the Spurs point the way to success for everyone, through hard work and a commitment to something bigger than the individual. It's a lesson for the ages.

On Continuity

2014-03-07T18:21:00.000-08:00

I thought this was a pretty good, insightful piece and like this kid Bonsignore, who's with the Daily News. Good Sir, indeed.

It's always important to get a bigger picture. I can think of many coaches who'd be freaking out in Mike D'Antoni's position. Guys like Jim Harbaugh and Petey Carril look like they're one step away from a cardiac anyway. Yes, as we all predicted last year when the injury wood chipper began chewing through us, these are the dog days. But I can't think of one team in the NBA, NFL or MLB who's had to put up with this ridiculousness not one, but two consecutive seasons.

No one could possibly expect something good out of this, coaching wise.

The LHL -- Lakers Hate Line -- otherwise known as the "Verizon Wireless Lakers Line" post-game run by A. Martinez (710 KSPN) has been a season-long torrent of D'Antoni hate, all centered on lack of d. And while I'd be the first to agree that, as the Super Bowl champ Seattle Seahawks displayed in spades, defense really is key, I just don't see how continuity can be dismissed.

Continuity is important, vital and arguably integral to many things. Scientific research, education, entrepreneurship, family life, and yes, sports, to name a few things. What a smart entrepreneur, gambler or coach is always attempting to do is eliminate volatility.

There's just no way the unprecedented volatility of these past two Lakers seasons can be discounted. What can be criticized, I think, is D'Antoni's rotations. For some strange reasons, two players, Jordan Hill and Chris Kaman, have been in Mike's dog house, getting spotty playing time. When you think about it, Kaman and Gasol played well together when Kaman first arrived. Great interior passing, cutting and high hoops IQs. Jordan Hill is, simply, our lesser Joakim Noah, always crashing the boards, trying like there's no tomorrow. You can't teach hustle, effort, and this kid's got it.

Together, Gasol, HIll and Kaman form a pretty solid front court. But that combo has yet to materialize, and for that, I do blame Mike.

It stands to reason you can't expect continuity if you don't even give it a chance.

http://www.sbsun.com/sports/20140307/doc-rivers-can-sympathize-with-mike-dantonis-position

Doc Rivers can sympathize with Mike D’Antoni’s position

Lakers coach Mike D'Antoni, left, and Clippers coach Doc Rivers greet each other at the end of the game in the NBA season opener between the Lakers and Clippers at Staples Center in Los Angeles, CA on Tuesday, October 29, 2013. ¬ Lakers won 116-103. ¬ (Photo by Scott Varley, Daily Breeze)
By Vincent Bonsignore, Los Angeles Daily News

POSTED: 03/07/14, 9:30 AM PST | UPDATED: 14 SECS AGO

Prior to being anointed the respect befitting an NBA championship, Doc Rivers was — in a manner of speaking — Mike D’Antoni.

It was the 2006-07 season and Rivers was the face of the perennially storied but presently horrible Boston Celtics.

With the losses piling up and a proud fan base restless for a culprit, Rivers was an easy target.

He had bombed previously with the Orlando Magic, and with the Celtics regressing rather than progressing there was sincere concern in Boston he was the right man for the job.

Upstairs in the front office, Celtics general manager Danny Ainge was feeling the heat too. But a top-heavy draft the following summer featuring college greats Greg Oden and Kevin Durant was his out card.

With each loss improving the Celtics lottery chances, the Boston faithful consoled themselves with visions of Oden or Durant pulling them out of the darkness.

And that bought Ainge time.

It was different for Rivers, an outsider who elicited little confidence.

In fact, well-known Celtics fan turned national columnist Bill Simmons penned one of the all-time spiteful articles in sports history when he sarcastically chastised Rivers and called for his firing.

The hits were coming from all angles, and with his team unable to mount a disproving retort, all Rivers could do was sit there and take it.

“Obviously it’s not fun to go through,” Rivers recalled before his Clippers played the Lakers Thursday night at Staples Center.

Sound familiar?

Across the corridor, D’Antoni stood outside the Lakers locker room and fielded questions about a wounded, talent-deficient team currently barreling toward one of the worst finishes in franchise history.

For fans and pundits thirsty for a perpetrator, D’Antoni is the embodiment of the Lakers struggles.

Maybe he’s the long-term answer for the Lakers, maybe not.

But to judge him based on the flawed roster he works with these days is about as fair and foolish as Simmons demanding Rivers’ head because he couldn’t turn Allan Ray into Ray Allen.

These guys are coaches, not magicians.

The Lakers’ problem is a lack of talent, not a lack of coaching.

And in just a few more months, the talent issue can finally be addressed.

The Lakers will have a max contract to lure a top free agent and a high draft pick to add a potential impact rookie.

Or maybe they trade the draft pick to the Cleveland Cavaliers for reportedly unhappy point guard Kyrie Irving, then resist the free agent market this summer in favor of chasing Kevin Love in 2015.

The point is, the luxury of payroll flexibility and a lottery pick await the Lakers.

Not that it helps D’Antoni at the moment. He’s just trying to win a game.

Rivers understands.

“I respect anyone who goes through that because I’ve been through it.” Rivers said. “And it’s very, very difficult.”

With the benefit of retrospect, we know Boston resisted outside pressure and stuck with Rivers. And history shows the following year the rebuilt Celtics rose all the way to the NBA Finals, where they beat the Lakers to win their 17th title in franchise history.

In one calendar year the perception of Rivers was forever altered. He is now known as one of the great coaches in the NBA, and the Clippers ascent in the Western Conference is proof of his impact.

But it wasn’t a change in philosophy that altered Rivers’ history.

It was patience.

And the plays he called the following year for Kevin Garnett were essentially the same he called for Brian Scalabrine.

He didn’t change.

The players did.

“I believed in what we were doing. As far as our schemes, defensively and offensively,” Rivers said. “I knew we needed more players. But I liked what we were doing.”

That conviction pulled Rivers through many a sleepless night.

“You just have to believe in that,” Rivers said. “That’s the time not to question yourself.”

Ironically, the draft lottery Ainge and Celtics fans pinned their hopes wasn’t a benefit.

Another lesson their Lakers counterparts might want to heed.

The Celtics finished with the fifth pick that summer, not the first or second.

That left them out of the running for either Oden or Durant.

“That was a bad moment, for sure,” Rivers said.

Initially, anyway.

Ultimately it moved them off Plan A and onto Plan B.

Rather than build around a rookie they reached into the trade market to add proven veterans.

They traded the fifth pick to the Seattle Supersonics for Allen, then traded six players to the Minnesota Timberwolves for Kevin Garnett.

With a pair of future Hall of Famers now teamed with Paul Pierce, the Celtics rolled to the NBA Championship.

And the perception of Rivers was forever changed.

“Obviously it all fell together,” he said.

Down the hall at Staples Center, D’Antoni was just trying to win a game.

And maybe buy himself another season.

He’s in an impossible position coaching a terrible team beset by injury.

You don’t have to explain that to Rivers, though.

He’s been there.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Reach the author at vincent.bonsignore@dailynews.com or follow Vincent on Twitter: @dailynewsvinny.

Full bio and more articles by Vincent Bonsignore

Should Nash Retire?

2014-02-13T16:30:00.000-08:00

Nash: Hey, Gar, should I retire?
Vitti: Uh, umm, well, you know, uh... YEAH?

In fairness, Kobe's deal was a bad one and arguably, now that he's injured, hurts far more. Pun intended.

But Kobe at least has a legacy with LA where Nash's wishful thinking has been one expensive LA-cation,

Think about it; dude's already older than dirt for an athlete, let alone an athlete in the NBA. Then, there's the way the game's evolved, with it's heavy emphasis on guard play, quick, no, make that quick guard play.

And nowhere is this emphasis on guards exhibited more than the west, which pretty much has the highest concentration of good guards I've ever seen. But even this evolution -- like everything -- has consequences.

Derek Rose. Russell Westbrook. Kobe Bryant. Elite guards, all with bad wheels. Is this a tragic coincidence? Just the other day John S and I were shooting the shit about Rose, how much fun he was to watch, but how it's doubtful he'll ever be the same. The fundamental axiom of Rose's game is -- was -- his quickness, and the amount of torque -- stopping and starting, changing directions, pivoting... -- is, like everything else in sports, bigger, faster, stronger.

But have wheels evolved to absorb the increased stresses from the evolution of the game and the bodies that play them? Evolution is fluid, and therefore it's doubtful every part of an athlete's body has evolved to accept the insane pounding the modern game demands. In other words, maybe fast twitch muscles are firing at a quicker than ever 2014 rate, but with acls stuck in the 80's.

On a side note, it's interesting to consider these three great players in another light; Rose had probably the most explosive lateral pivot off the dribble I've ever seen; Westbrook's forward move is greased lightening and Kobe is probably the greatest vertical shot artist (along with basketball's grand sorcerer Maravich); driving, stopping on a dime and then employing his bag of tricks: elevating, spinning, pump faking, or fading, in combinations and variations so as to make him un-guardable. In each case, the emphasis on the legs to drive either into or away from their opponent creates one of basketball's core commodities: space. And that space is bought by the best guards at a price.

For Nash, the elephant in the room is his nasty divorce. He needs moolah. Insurance. Something, some kind of hedge. This isn't about morals, loyalty or even optics (hey, i love watching the guy play but what he's doing now is not playing). Nash's divorce from Miss Slinky Peanut Oil of 2005 is the only explanation that makes sense; an economic one.

Companies fire peeps with contracts all the time. that's how, for instance, that human puss-sack Rick Wagoner stole his booty from GM after trashing that company like few ceos in history have ever trashed a company.

If Nash was 32, my thinking would be really different. I played tons of hoops as a kid, from first grade through high school. When I hit 30, I could still hang, but the youngins were a step or two quicker. And, newsflash, it doesn't get better from there. Reality check; Nash is 40. FORTY. When he was relatively healthy last year, his defense made Swiss cheese and matadors feel like they'd found their missing link.

Again, it doesn't get better from here. George Foreman is sport's one lone geriatric triumph.

As for my beloved Lakes, listening to ESPN's (Steve) Mason & (Lakes pbp man John) Ireland earlier, I was in total disagreement. Basically, their take was to keep Pau or Kaman, but not both. Even Hill came up as bait.

My take: You gotta build on something. And I think we have something.

1. Pau, Hill and Kaman are a very solid frontcourt. Remember, when Kaman and Pau played together when the former first arrived, they gave defenses fits with their interior passing and basketball IQs. And there are times when I think the only one who tries harder than Jordan Hill in the league is Jo Noah.

Bring Ryan Kelley and Wesley Johnson in as backups.

2. Jodie Meeks and Steve Blake are serviceable starters. Xavier Henry and Jordan Farmar can backup.

4. Keep that frontcourt and maybe Johnson; I just took a look at the freeagent list. Everyone else is fair game.

Here's Ramona Shelburne's romantic take on Nash. Meh.

=======================

http://espn.go.com/los-angeles/nba/story/_/id/10449859/los-angeles-lakers-guard-steve-nash-continues-work-get-back-game

COMMENTARY

For the love of the game

Steve Nash keeps fighting because basketball means so much to him

Updated: February 13, 2014, 12:34 PM ET

By Ramona Shelburne | ESPNLosAngeles.com

LOS ANGELES -- Steve Nash was halfway home Wednesday afternoon when he got word that some of the reporters who cover the Lakers were asking to speak with him.

There wasn't much for him to say, other than to reflect on his latest injury setback. But sometimes it doesn't matter what you say, as long as you're there to say it.

So Nash drove back to the Lakers' practice facility to take questions.

There's nothing remarkable about that other than the fact that you can't imagine just about any other professional athlete doing it.

He came back to take questions from local media he's barely had time to get to know in his two years in Los Angeles, except when he's been talking about the career-threatening nerve irritation he's struggled to overcome or the team's wildly dysfunctional chemistry last season.

It's one thing for Kobe Bryant to stand in front of his locker and tearfully answer questions the night he tore his Achilles. This Kobe's town. His franchise, his fans.

Nash has little equity here. Little connection to Lakers fans. No real responsibility to communicate with them as the face of a franchise normally would. Heck, with half the town urging him to retire, you couldn't blame if he never wanted to talk at all.

But there he was, getting in his car and driving back. Because ... ?

More than once in the last few years Nash has asked himself why.

Why does he keep playing? Why is he putting his body through the rigors and pain of recovery for an 18-34 team nosediving into the All-Star Break?

He's accomplished plenty in his 18-year career. Loads more than his slight, 175-pound body should have been able to do in a league as physical as the NBA. Other than winning a championship, there's nothing left for him to prove. And this is not that championship season.

So why?

The answer is always the same.

"I fought to get back," Nash said the other day. "Because I love the game."

Not the chase, not the glory, not the money or the fame. The game. Five guys on the court working together to win a basketball game.

It's sometimes hard to appreciate the purity of such sentiment. It's easier to focus on how much money the Lakers could have saved if Nash had simply retired this season, on the free agents they would be able to pursue if his contract were to come off the team's books or on the hope of a savior waiting for the Lakers in this year's draft lottery.

But if you can't appreciate what Steve Nash has done just to squeeze a little more basketball out of his career, just to try to deliver some return on the Lakers' investment in him, what can you appreciate? Who can you root for?

The focus on championships can sometimes obscure other values. Playing the game the right way, living up to commitments and responsibilities, giving a great effort, putting on a good show. These things should resonate too.

It takes something like the spectacle of a 62-point night in Madison Square Garden to snap people out of the idea that only the pursuit of a championship matters. It took 62 points, but for one night, Carmelo Anthony had the NBA and its fans reveling in the present tense.

Nash had one of those moments Friday night in Philadelphia. He scored 19 points in 28 minutes on his 40th birthday, the Lakers won and for a night, everyone in Los Angeles smiled alongside him.

Then he banged his knee on Chicago guard Kirk Hinrich's knee Sunday and all the good feelings were gone. He tried to play again Tuesday because the Lakers only had eight healthy players, but couldn't handle the pain in his hamstrings and called it a night at halftime.

Nash could sit back and collect checks for the next 18 months without putting in another day of work in the gym and he's trying to play through pain for a losing team against the bottom-tierUtah Jazz on a Tuesday night because he didn't want to let his teammates down?

"You can understand people's perspectives in L.A.," said Rick Celebrini, Nash's longtime, Canadian-based physiotherapist. "But all you wish for in my line of work ... is for athletes to commit fully or have a real sort of professionalism in terms of how they prepare and how they maximize their performance.

"Here's a guy that has done that in every way to the Nth degree possible. How can you ever fault somebody that is so honest and so committed and focused and so giving to not only himself and the team, but to the game?"

There are those who think retirement is a noble option, a personal sacrifice that would help the Lakers' finances. But again, that's about the future, not the present in which a 40-year old future Hall of Famer is playing through pain in a meaningless game because he finds meaning in helping his teammates through a rough time, and joy in playing the game of basketball for as long as he still can.

"He looks at it like, 'I made a commitment, I can't not fulfill my commitment,'" Nash's agent, Bill Duffy, said.

"Whether it's helping the young guys, or doing whatever he needs to do to get back on the court, that's what he's going to do.

"He respects the organization and he feels that the best way he can help them is to get healthy and get back on the court."

Just what did it take for Nash to get healthy this last time?

Before Celebrini even began working him out last summer, he made him explain why he wanted to do it. The physical part of his recovery would be so daunting, Celebrini figured, it wasn't worth it to even try if Nash didn't have a deep well of desire to keep playing.

"Our work is demanding mentally and physically," Celebrini said. "Maybe even more mentally than physically because you're focusing on every single movement. It takes a lot of mental focus to do that twice a day, every day."

Celebrini essentially had to retrain Nash's way of moving. The nerve root irritation in his back affected his every movement. To treat it, he had to unlearn and then relearn everything he did on a basketball court in a way that wouldn't irritate the nerve.

Their workouts have been a mix of intense core strengthening and conditioning that would make a rigorous Pilates class feel like a warmup.

"One of our drills is called Basketball Tai Chi. We go through a lot of his basketball specific movements in slow motion," Celebrini said. "He's trying to perfect the transitions and the motions he makes."

It's very different from the work Nash and Celebrini did earlier in their 15-year partnership, when the trainer helped him after he was diagnosed with a congenital back condition called spondylolisthesis.

"At that point, people were saying he was only going to last a few more years," Celebrini said. "Of course that was before his two MVPs.

"He came to Vancouver and we worked two-a-days for eight weeks in the heat of the summer, jumping into the ocean to cool off in between sessions because [the training] was so intense."

It's very different from the basketball tai chi they work on now, but the principle is the same. Whatever the challenge, Nash will try anything to work through it or around it.

Perhaps this would have gone differently in Phoenix, the same way it will go differently for Bryant in L.A. or Derek Jeter in New York. Perhaps Suns fans got to know Nash well enough over the years to understand why he keeps doing this, why he won't give up.

You see, it's always been enough for Nash to know he gave it everything he had. Others dwell on all the bad luck that befell his great Suns teams in the playoffs, the games they could've or should've won but for an unlucky break -- or suspension -- or two.

Not Nash.

"I do remember those things," Nash said in an interview last season. "But I don't look back on them. That's life. You move on. We never got to the Finals, we never were a championship team. But we also accomplished a lot and had a lot of success.

"We also never played with a defensive center. We were a flawed team that got pretty dang close to our potential and maybe it was never quite good enough."

They're the words of a man who seems to have made his peace with the past.

At some point, he learned that all he can do is train hard in the morning, jump in the ocean in between sessions to cool off and do it all over again in the evening.

There will come a day when Nash won't want to do any or all of it anymore, of course. When he'll get out of the ocean and simply want to relax on the beach.

"Obviously he's 40 years old, so that's imminent," Duffy said. "It's just a matter of when, whether he's 100 percent healthy or not. He's one of three guys, from what I'm told, who played beyond this age at his position.

"But he's made the comment that he wants to fulfill his contract, so anything less than that, or short of that, is something we'd have to discuss."

Celebrini sometimes wonders when Nash will walk away, too.

"Before last summer, we talked about the, 'Why?'" Celebrini said. "Why he does what he does. And why he wanted to go through this at his age, after all that he's accomplished?

"It was for no other reason other than he loves playing and he loves preparing to play. Once that goes, once it's not enjoyable anymore . . . once he loses that essence, then I think he'll walk away."

Nash wasn't a part of the Lakers' past. He won't be a part of their future either.

But he is a part of their present, and win or lose, his essence distinguishes this time.

# # #

The End: Lakers 2012-13

2013-04-29T18:57:00.000-07:00

It's tough to make predictions, especially about the future.

--Yogi Berra

There's a bit over six minutes left in the the final game of this season, that is, round 1 of the west playoffs, game four. Decimated by injuries as I've never seen a team besieged, I texted my boys John and Greg yesterday:

The Lakes are a wounded animal, writhing in pain. Pop[ovich] has a rifle. He'll end the pain tomorrow.

Now that Popovich's mission is accomplished, there's little sense in feeling sorry for ourselves; it's Kupchak time.

So, in light of the craziest season ever, here are a few thoughts. Stick around for the link to Zeke's interview with Max & Marcellus from a week ago.

1. I'm tired of Dwight. Yes, there are extenuating circumstances, but he's a big ticket item. I'd much rather see that price tag go toward CP3, who's unrestricted.

2. My favorite position after 1 is 4, and the Lakes have never been a powerhouse there. I think good 4's are the rarity of the league; Z-Bo, Noah, Faried, Boozer... and then? I really like Jordan Hill, but will he fulfill the promise we saw? Let's hope so.

3. That defense was the black cloud for the 2013 Lakes needs to be contextualized. During the Heat's run, my first response was they would never be doing that in the west. I think in some ways defense is much tougher to play than offense because it's reactionary, a communal way of thinking that necessitates a high degree of communication. The ball is now in D'Antoni's court, and he's got his homework cut out for him as the west is on fire with talent, great coaching and a year of experience for teams like the Thunder, Warriors and Nugs who present problems for west teams; great guard play specifically bent on mercilessly breaking down defenses. And it's no mistake that two of those teams are coached by former 1's: Mark Jackson and Scott Brooks. The Nugs just have a great coach period in George Karl.

4. The Lakes need an intervention. Badly. Companies and organizations have retreats where they can concentrate on particular issues, bring in outside consultants and solicit from the team their thoughts and suggestions. Like good defense, it's based upon communication, and it has to be 360, not just the typical top down flow. The Lakes need to begin the process now, not later. As athletes know, if you take the day off -- which is highly tempting when you're young, a millionaire and in LA -- you can be sure there's someone out there working at their game.

My boy John S recently told me that recent 6th man of the year JR Smith succeeded because he gave up partying. JR Smith; one of the most notorious head cases in the league, somehow turned it around. Some call that sacrifice, I say it's common sense based upon priorities.

Good mourning, Mitch

Kupchak now has the mother of Lakes assignments, and I don't envy him. However, he's gotta step up, as he's a leader on this team as well. You get the sense from Michael Lewis' Moneyball that BIlly Beane found the golden ticket. He bucked a century old tradition in the process of trying something different, by thinking it out. That, not just personnel fit, is Mitch's assignment.

This problem has a solution, but there are a lot of moving parts and little cohesion that I see faint hope of tackling if we keep going at it in the typical fashion. Baseball found it's DNA building block via Bill James' great discovery: on base percentage. That discovery led to a radical departure in thinking and analyzing baseball. Hoops I believe has a corollary, but I'll leave that for now.

This offseason should be very "on."

Here's Zeke on Max & Marcellus:

http://espn.go.com/espnradio/losangeles/play?id=9201606

Chris Herren: "Unguarded"

2013-01-01T14:53:00.000-08:00

Some people meditate. I got the pot sink. This is where I found myself.

--Chris Herren

What's valor? Maybe a better question is, what's valorized?

About six months ago, fellow hoop head Johnny S and I were talking and he mentioned the Jonathan Hock, ESPN 30 for 30 doc on Chris Herren, Unguarded. As someone who's been following hoops all my life I knew the surface story about Herren, but when Johnny told me about this flick I made that mental note that sticks.

It's not a great story insofar as surprise, mystery or forecasting. In fact, it's the classic predictable tragedy made right and triumph, much like The Pursuit of Happiness. Yet it's really moving, and credit goes to Hock, who edits Unguarded masterfully, weaving different presentations by the now clean Herren deftly to various audiences: youth, druggies and cons.

This story formula could have easily sunk to pandering, and the truth is that the major credit must be paid to Herren who deals straight and with the voice of the real behind him, exerting a solid undercurrent that builds empathy.

The coda has his current life in stride; wife and kids, the fans who loved, then reviled and now respect him, all back on board. That of course is a great thing, but for me, the most moving parts of stories where people triumph over adversity are those moments, those turning points, where a crossroad is approached. For Malcolm, it was lying in prison, his mind coming alive through books. With Herren, his was also a punishment; having to wash dishes in solitary, the pot sink room, for hours on end. It's where he was alone with the biggest hurdle; himself.

It gets better, and speaks to a rare quality in individuals, the ability to introspect, to really get down and look at yourself. He speaks in the coda about how one day he noticed something about his behavior, that where once before, for years on end, he'd taken his shaver and toothbrush into the shower, but all of a sudden with sobriety, he'd stopped.

And in an insight that speaks as much to psychology as to that ability to really observe yourself, he said that now he was able to look at himself in the mirror.

Got Scandal?

2012-06-11T12:55:00.001-07:00

The recent Pacquio/Bradley split-decision win for Bradley made me laugh in derision. It's sad to watch this, and along with the scandals of the big 3 american sports (roids in baseball [as well as other major sports like the NFL], the NFL's hit lists, the NBA's ref gone wild, Tim Doneghy), not to mention sky high prices everywhere, it's an interesting metaphor for what's going on in the world.

Jason Keidel's article below is pretty good, but I think he misses a point. He makes one by saying that the days of the mob are over, implying that the fix wasn't in. BUT, what's missing is this; before the fight I checked the odds - Bradley was about a 3-1 dog. Not outrageous, but good enough to make a payday, and some peeps made a a good one indeed out of that action. I think it'd be really interesting to see who the high rollers were betting on, specifically, who won.

Also notable in the pre-fight, HBO did something I've not see before; Harold Lederman was running down the judges and casting doubt on at least two, with the woman garnering a real thumbs down from him. And it's not that boxing shows don't mention judges -- they do. But THIS particular segment went into great detail, with Lederman casting doubt. A lot of it.

I remember back in my media studies classes learning of a technique which I'll call "planting." Basically, it's talking about an upcoming event in ways that forecast. In itself it's legit as predictions are made all the time. BUT, I've never seen a boxing program where the judges were run down in such detailed criticism in my life, and I've followed boxing since I was a kid. Coincidence?

Well, if this was a con, it was being set up beautifully, with all of the versimilitude of big media and an expert.

I also disagree with Keidel when he says the damage is irreparable. Maybe to Pac and his crew it is, but the game can do things. For one, I think they should have long ago gone to 5 or even 7 judges to get more of a spread.

But the larger point is that there will be a re-match, as Keidel and everyone points out. The real issue is not whether or not boxing can be cured, but that in spite of a horrendous scandal, everyone will pony up their 50 bucks and tune in for the re-match. And for that, I have a prediction; it'll surpass the take for this first fight.

Of the aforementioned major sports scandals, I told friends that the biggest by far was Tim Doneghy. When you have a ref betting, it's not just a conflict of interest, it throws the entire view of the game into question. Basically, it boils down to this for the viewer: is what I'm looking at real?

And in many ways, the parallels to the economic meltdown of 2008 (EM08) are right there, with a whole roster of refs who were supposed to have served as check-points along the way. For one reason or another, and to puckishly come back to sports, they all dropped the ball.

Just as with EM08, gambling is at the heart of the matter and is the elephant in the room when it comes to sports. That no one talks about it hints at the can of worms it hides. When you consider how Vegas' sports books dominate casino action, handling billions, the implications are vast, and if I seem suspicious, it's because I am. So while I may agree with Keidel that it's no longer the mob pulling the strings, I'll say in the same breath that it's something that makes La Cosa Nostra look quaint.

-jp

from WFAN

Pacquiao-Bradley Decision

June 11, 2012 8:45 AM

By Jason Keidel

With a weekend so fertile for sports, the number three rings loudly through the five boroughs and beyond. The Yankees took three from the Mets,I’ll Have Another didn’t win the Triple Crown, and an unknown trio may have ruined a sport.

Manny Pacquiao, perhaps the best boxer on Earth, whipped Timothy Bradley on Saturday night in Las Vegas. And everyone knew it, except the three people who judged the fight – a most unholy trinity who had the best seats in the house yet didn’t see the bout.

Inexplicably, Bradley was awarded a split-decision and a worthless, welterweight title belt. Even the lone judge who got it right somehow found five rounds in Bradley’s favor.

First, let’s strip the euphemisms from the decision, with “controversial” chief among them. Call it disgusting, grotesque, galling, or hideous.

Harold Lederman, who has been scoring fights since 1967, gave Pacquiao 11 of the 12 rounds.

ESPN boxing analyst Dan Rafael also gave Pacquiao all but one round.

Jim Lampley, the television face and voice of boxing for decades, said it was the worst decision he’s ever witnessed.

Larry Merchant, who has been calling bouts for HBO since 1978, said Pacquiao won handily.

USA Today conducted an informal poll of the boxing writers ringside, and all of them gave Pacquiao the fight. All of them.

Famed boxing trainer Teddy Atlas said, “If you’re an honest man, you know who won that fight. It’s an injustice.” He was being diplomatic. This was inane, if not insane.

Bob Arum, who promotes both fighters, gave Pacquiao ten rounds.

Bradley’s own manager, Cameron Dunkin, gave his fighter just four rounds. Even Bradley, before he changed his cadence once the tainted crown rested on his shaved head, told Arum, “I tried, but I couldn’t beat the guy.”

I won’t drown you with boxing bromides and statistics. Google can cover that. But a most telling metric in pugilism is, of course, punches landed. According to CompuBox, Pacquiao landed 253 total punches to Bradley’s 153. Pacquiao landed 190 power shots. Bradley landed 108. How do you win a fight when you land fewer total punches and about half the power shots of your opponent?

You don’t.

The wretched decision doubles as a time warp to Frankie Carbo, when a certain Sicilian fraternity ruled boxing with a murderous fist. Raging Bull wasn’t fiction; fighters fell when they weren’t hurt and judges were paid based on betting trends.

It was a boxing buffet for conspiracy theorists. Indeed, I’ve been asked many times if the fight were fixed. I doubt it very much.

Boxing should not be corrupt anymore. Carbo and his Murder, Inc. brethren are dead, and the Mafia has been marginalized, particularly when it comes to boxing. Don King, who once acted like an honorary member of the Mafia, is irrelevant.

No, boxing is worse than corrupt. It is inept. When the fix is in you find, fine, fire, and perhaps imprison those on the take. But when an entire sport is incompetent, when it ruins its life, drops the Golden Egg of a final megafight between Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr., it’s hard to find hope.

The only reason boxing matters anymore is because of smaller men like Pacquiao and Mayweather and smaller men only box because no other sport needs 140-pound men. And rather than facilitate that fight, quite legally and morally, it immorally aborts the bout that would find its final place on the front page.

What can fix this? Nothing. Because the damage from this decision is irreparable. Pacquiao has to fight Bradley again when he shouldn’t, and a whole lot can happen in during boxing’s glacial movements. And Pacquiao will need a rifle in the ring, because nothing short of killing Bradley will get him a win. And no one cares about the sport enough to clean it up. And by the time the final two titans of the sport can sign a contract, they will either be too old, or one will (legitimately) lose, or the fans will refuse to watch two old men jam to the oldies, or all the above.

Many Pacquiao, who was humble in defeat, is not the only one who pays. We, who have worshipped this sport since before Pacman was born, also suffer. I’ve adored boxing since my old man took me to see Roberto Duran in the old Felt Forum in 1979, when both boxing and Manhattan were great, before the former became neutralized and the latter sterilized. Oddly, both die at the hands of those charged to preserve them.

Timothy Bradley is a good man who came from the part of Palm Springs they left off the brochures, where drugs and gangs were within reach of his gifted hands. He chose a more honorable path, and a noble life. Bradley is very good fighter who earned every fight he’s won, except this one.

Feel free to email me: Keidel.jason@gmail.com

www.twitter.com/JasonKeidel

Look Back In Anger

2012-06-06T22:14:00.002-07:00

The following is a re-post from my old blog. One of the reasons I'm re-porting it is that I like it, another is that because of the time crunch I'm in I just haven't gotten around to posting here. It's not for lack of subject matter or ideas, it's for lack of energy. It'll happen, but it's just not time.

So, maybe I'll cherry pick some of my old sports pieces and compile them here. Maybe not. At any rate, that's what's happening with this piece.

Originally posted May 15, 2010.

A One Way Street Named Loyalty

I've been up in Berkeley for about 2 weeks now, and I must say, it's a welcome break from LA. One of the good things is I got to see my cousin Warren and his wife, Janet.

During our dinner, we got on the topic of sports, and being much older than me - sorry, cuz - Warren had all these great stories about his early support of the Raiders. There were some great anecdotes, but one of the most astounding was when he said that in the early days - this must have been the mid 60's - when they played in what sounded like a podunky kind of field (Youell Field...?) he said you could walk right up behind the bench and hear all of their chatter.

My god, can you imagine that?

This was a team whose rep preceded them by a country mile, and I have to admit, the Rams who I was loyal to for years but who ended up telling all of the LA fans to fuck off, paled in comparison. The Raiders, from the artistry of Fred Biletnikoff to the craziness of "The Mad Stork" Ted Hendricks to the beautiful aggressiveness of Jack Tatum (one of my favorite players because I played free safety) defined "bad" and backed it up in spades. I just can't imagine what it would have been like to have watched and listened to these legends of the game.

That being able to listen to the players, it's no small point, as Ed Sabol's NFL Films would show some years later, slowing down the game and making it heard so that its beauty could be greater appreciated. Today it's all about security and posses, let alone the crush of media. A kid's lucky if he even catches a glimpse of a player these days.

The other major point in Warren's reminiscences was his being an early season seat holder, for a mere few hundred bucks. When in 1992 the team - let's be honest, shall we? Al "I never saw a dollar I wouldn't run over my mom for" Davis - picked up and moved to LA, it was merely following in the footsteps of the Rams, who had done the same. Thus, money triumphs over loyalty, and in a mark of cruelty seen only by the likes of Stalin and that shithead priest who was preying on deaf kids, Davis would move the team back to Oakland. This, after having pocketed a cool $10 mil non-refundable deposit from LA's Irwindale after a failed bid, screwing the old Raider fans by making them put down a huge deposit much like what the Yanks did to Artie Lange and getting the city of Oakland to once again mistake bending over for opening one's arms in welcome.

~~~~~

It's a habit of old folks like us to romanticize "the good ole' days" but damn sometimes it's true. Later, while watching the Lakers and Jazz play, I was prompted by a commercial to tell Warren that I feel lucky in one regard to having come up before the mega-growth of sports. I have no memories whatsoever of one of the NBA legends and my boyhood hero Elgin Baylor acting like a jerkoff in some shitty, canned commercial for sugar water or a car that promises to get you any amount of women. Talking to Warren makes me think of the Little Richard quote I used for Ma's eulogy where he talks about the old time rock and roll as representing the joy, fun and happiness in music. That's how it was then, just a joy, awesome, really, to watch these magnificent athletes strutting like titans. All without a motherfuckin' posse and them feeling as if the universe was lucky to have them.

After hearing Warren's reminiscences the anger I had about pro sports today was slowly replaced with feeling awfully lucky to have come up when we did.

Me: "It ain't like the old days."

Warren looks down, slightly wistful, with a smile: "No, it sure isn't."

Back to the Beginning

2012-04-07T16:27:00.000-07:00

The reason I've more or less decided to leave my other blog is that I am just burned out on writing about EM08 (for the curious, if you go there look for the sidebar down a ways on the left that explains what EM08 is). There simply is just way too much crime and corruption going on there and it's a never-ending pit. Enough has been said there for peeps to gain a perspective, and if they don't care, well, I don't know what a little blog like that can possibly do to sway them.

One positive result of my "EM08 burnout" was that I made a decision to stop listening to NPR and Pacifica in addition to the long ago banished msm. At the same time, the rise of Jeremy Lin was in effect, and so with the advent of the net, I began listening in to WFAN religiously. As a Stern fan, I'd been aware of Mike Francesa through Artie Lange, and quickly got familiar with the roster. Steve Somers, a former Bay area guy, and Tony Paige are favorites now.

Then the Ryan Braun scandal erupted.

And a curious thing happened; I got rejuvenated. Sports, my first love, long neglected in favor of politics, business and art, took on a second life for me. And I recalled what Noam Chomsky once said about Americans, about how, contrary to popular opinion, they're not dumb, and for proof, all you have to do is tune in to sports talk radio and listen to the fans. A fair amount of them are pretty informed, knowledgeable and articulate in their comments on a landscape with a myriad of variables, from player matchups to coaching strategies, trades, and on and on. I also recalled what Michael Lewis said in his quote under the masthead.

That was the impetus for this blog. Until next time, here're some funny vids from AT&T's recent campaign during March Madness (evidently produced by agency BBDO), "Brackets by Six Year Olds." I think these are LA kids. Kenneth is hilarious.