Beckham Beckons Confrontation with Fan

A 27,000-strong sell-out crowd apparently ended up a 26,999-strong sell-out crowd this last Sunday night at Home Depot Center. Galaxy headliner, David Beckham and a particular fan almost came to fisticuffs when Beckham decided he wasn’t going to take anymore abuse from the most raucous section of the stands, known only as the L.A. Riot Squad. I know it seems surprising that this classy group of young ladies and gentlemen would ever be involved in such an altercation, but it apparently shocked everyone. Only having recently returned to the Galaxy squad, David Beckham has taken his fair share of nastiness, but apparently something coming from the Riot Squad triggered something forcing Beckham to beckon this fine upstanding young citizen down to face him directly on the field. The young man promptly jumped over the guard rail, hopped down from the stands, and was immediately tackled by stadium security.

In every sport, fans are going to get heated. It happens. But under no circumstances should any fan ever feel entitled to go out onto the field. I might not agree with what the L.A. Riot Squad has to say and I definitely don’t agree with how they say it, but I will argue for their right to voice their opinions. However, I will in no way support any fan who feels the right to physically assault any other human being due to uncontrollable emotions and conflicting sports allegiances. This is big boy world, we’re not 6 years old in the sandbox and someone else stole our toy truck here. Whining and hitting someone is not the way we solve problems at the grown-up table. The Home Depot Center is a multi-functional facility that house everything from moto-rallies to circuses and this loser stands to possibly be banned from ALL future HDC events, and rightfully so. People like this put both players and fans at risk. I don’t want this guy at Chavez Ravine when I take my family to a Dodger game. It’s people like this who either end up stabbing someone in the parking lot or getting into a fight in the stands with some guy who said his team sucks. A simple rule of thumb for people like this might be, “if sports are your life, then it’s time to get a life.”

With a steady finger on the “bleep” button, local news crews were able to interview a few of these fine examples of America’s ever-honorable youth. Their main points stated were that 1) they paid to see the game and are entitled to their opinions, 2) Beckham has not come through on his promises and has let them down, and 3) It’s obvious he doesn’t want to be in MLS. Response? 1) Grow-up, 2) Grow-up some more, and 3) you’re right, but go cry to Mommy about it. In the end, it’s not going to make a big difference. Is it ridiculous how much he’s getting paid? Of course it is, and it’s also ridiculous what he’s not doing here and how everything has turned out. Take a look at my July 17th article on Beckham for my real opinion. But nothing any of us sports talk guys blab about warrants a charge onto the field to give David Beckham a smack in the mouth. If there’s anyone a Galaxy fan should be mad at, it should be the Galaxy front office. They’re the ones who have no control over the situation. According to Colin Cowherd of the ESPN Radio’s The Herd, “The ‘Beckham Experiment’ has been an unmitigated disaster," and he is absolutely right. In the 31 games he's played, he's only scored 5 goals and only won 8 of those contests. But whose responsibility is it if they overpay for an employee who underperforms and is never there? It's true that the Galaxy should have never made the deal in the first place, especially for the outrageous amount they signed him for. Still, there’s no excuse for knucklehead behavior.

Sport vs. Not A Sport – Debate Over

For many years I’ve heard friends, family, and coworkers discuss whether certain events are sports or not. In the days where ESPN airs the National Spelling Bee, it’s not too surprising to hear. Although I may make plenty of people angry, I’ve made a 100% solid way to make the classification. But first, we must distinguish that even though all things may not be “sports,” it doesn’t make them any less athletically challenging or require any less skill. We also have to dethrone the term “sport” as some form of elitist nomenclature that only the true champions can use, because there are gonna be plenty of duds in the sport heading. In short, I’ve created two crystal clear categories and one relatively hazy one. SPORT, COMPETITION, and GAME.

A SPORT is an event in which there is a clear winner by some feat of athletic skill. Whether by time, points scored, or distance, there is an undisputed champion. In the 100 Meter Hurdles, whoever crosses the finish line first wins. In football, whoever scores more points than the other team wins. In shot-put, whoever throws the further distance is claimed the victor. No questions, just a winner and a loser. The only problem with this form of judgment is that it leaves room for things like chess, but the amendment to the rule is that it requires some athletic skill, leaving events like chess, out in the cold.

One of the usual suspects of this debate is cheerleading. To me, this clearly falls under the category of COMPETITION. A competition is where the winner of said event is determined by an objective ruling, in other words, a score given by a judge. Placing competitions, like cheerleading in the red zone. The unfortunate part of deeming these contests outside the realm of “sport,” is the fact that it leaves out several items that have been deemed “sports” for years, including several with Olympic stature. The major players are the events like figure skating, gymnastics, and diving. And here’s a good example that shows I’m not biased against “girly” sports, snowboarding, skateboarding, and BMX are all really “cool” sports, but any X-Games event outcome that is determined by a judge is not technically a sport. While all of these require extreme athletic ability, grace, and skill, and could easily be deemed as some of the most difficult events, due to the way a winner is determined, it cannot be declared a “sport.” A quick explanation of this is comparing all of these types of events to dance, which is not too far of a stretch considering most of them have a large element of dance in their judging. While dancing in itself is very physically demanding, most dancers won’t tell you that they compete in a sport, it’s a “dance competition.” Is doing amazing acrobatic skills to music on the ice or using props in a floor routine in rhythmic gymnastics closer to a dance competition or to a swimming match? Nothing about this devalues the validity of the competition, it’s just a different class of events.

Now we get to the short bus. While “sports” may not technically be in the same class as “competitions,” they are essentially equals in terms of respect for their category. There are duds in both, but there are several major disciplines in each. GAMES are essentially the left-overs. The things you sometimes see on ESPN or Fox Sports and say, “what the heck is this doing on here?” Games are events where the outcome is controlled completely internally by the player. While there may be an outright winner, there is no athletic ability whatsoever, which is where this category gets a little hazy. For instance, let’s take the headlining Scripps National Spelling Bee. Essentially, it’s an extremely difficult version of Scrabble without a board. Chess is also one of these events. Both of these require much higher mental capacity than I would ever be capable to match, but these are not in the same stratosphere as the first two categories. Here’s a really good example. Competitive video-gaming is on the rise and one of the new out-of-place-shows on ESPN is a show called Madden Nation. It’s essentially a reality TV show that has a bunch of guys who still live in their mom’s basement competing in Madden NFL on the Xbox to win a certain amount of money. These guys claim to be “athletes,” but unless eating Doritos and Mountain Dew qualifies as serious training no one in their right mind should be putting them in that category. It’s a friggin’ VIDEO GAME!

This categorization method has nothing to do with the training required, money made, or anything other than the technical aspects of each event. I am not some biased guy throwing down every event that I don’t like to watch. This is purely analytical. There are other methods out there that try to use a more "numbers" approach like the John Hollinger, but I've tried to simplify it by just focusing on the process of determining the outcome. While there is plenty of room for debate, the rules and regulations of each sport don’t lie, and this is just about as good as any other determining environment that I have come across. I know I make a lot of you synchronized swimming fans out there irate, but we have to remember that the term “sport,” is not a be all and end all term to describe something that is a legitimate contest. So all of you sports talk radio wannabes, here’s the end of the debate. Three categories: Sport, Competition, and Game. Use them well.

Beckham is Back-ham... I Guess...

David Beckham craftily picked a good time to re-enter Major League Soccer last night when the already impressive LA Galaxy faced off against the continually discouraging New York Red Bulls. His triumphant return conveniently coincides with one of the most unimportant games of the season against a New York team that seems to make every opponent look good. The Galaxy certainly looked good winning the match 3-1 with impressive goals from Alecko Eskandarian, Landon Donovan, and Eddie Lewis. Beckham himself made several key plays including setting up Eskandarian on a nifty back heel flick. Beckham had been on loan to AC Milan, playing in Europe for the last several months.

Regardless of the Thursday night's outcome, wasn’t Beckham supposed to do more for soccer in the states? Upon his arrival two years ago, many were comparing his move to “The Trade” when Wayne Gretzky went to the LA Kings. Coming from out of the country, Gretzky came for many reasons, but a large portion of it was to bring good hockey awareness to the States and to be the franchise face for the sport. He did it by constantly talking to the press, going to events, and being a part of the community. So far, Beckham hasn’t done any of those things, even though he said it was about being an “ambassador” for the sport. So far all he does is go to movie premiers with Posh Spice, make colognes, and pose for magazine ads.

The only press conferences he does are short and he never reaches out to the fans. Beckham isn't even on good terms with his own teammates. He and Galaxy Captain, Landon Donovan have recently recently bickered back and forth through the media on these same issues of "unprofessionalism." All Beckham has really done for the sport is make the rest of us wonder how it’s possible to sign a contract for $250 million (50 times the average MLS salary) and not play for the team you signed it with. So he’s an Ambassador, eh? He can’t even keep his butt in his theoretical “Soccer U.N.” seat. His extended vacation to Milan had him missing the MLS playoffs for a third straight season. Apparently helping the team that pays his salary is out of the question. But it’s all for the “good of football” anyway, right?

Whether you love Beckham’s move to the Galaxy or think he moved to prostitute “Brand Beckham” to the LA circus, it is undeniable that he makes good teams better shown clearly in the outcome of last night’s game. So Galaxy and Soccer fans rejoice, after a long hiatus from the MLS, Beckham is officially back. That is until he decides to leave again to go play in Europe. In fact, in recent press conferences he has even stated the possibility of him returning to Europe on another loan to maintain his status on the England squad. With the World Cup right around the corner, maybe Galaxy and MLS fans shouldn’t get too excited.

New Zealand is Still the Home for the STIHL Timbersports Trophy

COLUMBUS, GA. An old king was given a new crown this past June 21 in the Pro Finals of the STIHL® TIMBERSPORTS® Challenge. Jason Wynyard (pictured above), a 6’4” 297lbs lumberjack from New Zealand won his 8th Timbersports Challenge by one of the closest margins in the history of the sport. After his $10,000 saw quit working before the Hot Saw event, he had to borrow another competitors to stay in the competition. The saw had completely different torque and was much more shaky than his own and the event ended in disqualification for Wynyard. Even though he thought his hopes of winning another championship were gone, due to rare mistakes made by other top performers and incredible, near-world-record-breaking times in all of his other events, Wynyard made up the distance to claim the title.

The Timbersports Games attract competitors from all over the globe, including many from the U.S. and Canada. Australia and New Zealand are the other main two countries to show, bringing 8 athletes of their own, but seeing men and women from as far as the Czech Republic or Switzerland isn’t uncommon. New Zealand itself only has three competitors on the pro circuit, but two of them hold world records in 5 out of the 6 major events, Jason Wynyard and David Bolstad. Even though this is a “professional sport,” these men and women carry on regular jobs like the rest of us. From civil defense trial attorneys to substitute teachers, there’s a wide range of professions on the stage.

For all of you aspiring lumberjacks, there is a STIHL® TIMBERSPORTS® Collegiate Challenge as well. It’s a separate competition set up by Stihl to challenge college athletes from all over the U.S. and Canada as a way to help identify top talent and to provide them opportunity to advance in the sport. It’s a head-to-head competition with the same rules/regulations used in the PRO TIMBERSPORTS CHALLENGE. Each contestant will also have travel and lodging compensation for themselves and a coach, various prizes and vouchers for equipment, a training session with pro competitors, and have a $1000 check in their name sent to their school with the funds to be applied for any scholarship or program of their choice. Athletes compete in all of the major events as the pros.

Between Jason Wynyard and David Bolstad, the STIHL TIMBERSPORTS championship has had a resting place in New Zealand since 1997 (no one else has won it since then). There are several others vying for third best, many of them from the U.S. For more information on this spectacular competition visit the Stihl Timbersports website. This year’s competition will air on ESPN2 beginning November 15, starting with the quarterfinals in Lehi, Utah.

EVENTS (Click on event title to see video):


SPRINGBOARD: In this discipline, competitors must chop a slot big enough to fit a springboard into a veritcal tree trunk. The First of which is chopped standing on the ground, then the next standing on the springboard the competitor just placed. The aim is to cut through a block of wood on top of the trunk (diameter 27 cm) at a height of about 2.80 m above the ground standing on the second springboard.



STOCK SAW: The competitor uses a MS 660 STIHL Magnum" chain saw and begins with both hands on the log and the chain saw idling on the deck. At the gun, the sawyer makes two cuts through 16 inches of white pine. With only four inches of wood to work with, precision is key. If a competitor saws outside of that or fails to saw a complete cookie, he will be disqualified.



UNDERHAND CHOP: The competitor stands with feet apart on a 12- to 14- inch log and chops down. Before chopping all the way through he must turn and complete the cut from the other side. Time ends when the log is severed completely.




SINGLE BUCK: One cut through 19 inches of white pine using a single man cross-cut saw. Time ends when the block is clearly severed.





STANDING BLOCK CHOP: Competitors chop from both sides of a vertical, 12- to 14- inch white pine log. The competitor must chop from both sides of the log and the time ends when the block is severed.





HOT SAW: Competitors use a customized chain saw with a modified engine usually taken from a personal watercraft or snowmobile. At the signal, the competitor starts the saw and makes three cuts. With only six inches of wood to work with, precision is key.




BOOM RUN: (Women only) Competitors begin at the end of a dock and across their own chain of spinning, floating logs until they reach a second dock. Next, they circle a stanchion, run back across the chain of logs, and return to the first dock.




SPEED CLIMB: Two climbers ascend a 65-foot Spar Pole using special climbing gear. At the top, they must touch their climbing ropes above the mark and then begin their descent, touching the pole at least once every 20 feet as they free-fall to the ground.

Sucker Bets: I'll Take Tiger, You Take the Field

This Thursday the 138th British Open will tee off from Turnberry's Ailsa Course, Scotland. It’s a 7204 yard course with a Par 70, but if the weather looks anything like it did last year, Turnberry’s course might as well be Par 90. Last year Tiger Woods was about two weeks removed from reconstructive knee surgery, meaning none of you watched it. Apparently some guy named Padraig Harrington won it. He won it the year before too, but I knew that because Tiger was playing so it was slightly watchable. I have more respect for Golf and Golfers than most any other sport, mainly because I don’t have the patience to play it, but also because it takes such a tremendous amount of skill to be excellent. It’s just so darn boring without Tiger, and everyone knows it.

So I tell you that I’m going to take Tiger to win it and you get everyone else, what do you do? Never under any circumstances take this bet. Here’s some numbers to help. According to stats from BoDog, Tiger is currently favored at 2/1 odds. The next closest is Sergio Garcia at 20/1. Padraig Harrington isn’t far behind him at 22/1 and he’s won it twice in a row! Whether you bet on sports or not, you can tell that those odds aren’t even close. This spring before the NBA Playoffs, the same BoDog took the wrong side of a similar bet. They proposed to give $50 back to anyone who placed a bet on anyone besides the Lakers to win the Championship, essentially saying, take the Lakers and we’ll take everyone else. About 8,000 hungry fans took them up on it and BoDog ended up losing about $400,000, although I’m sure they ended up in the black before the day was done. To them, it was mostly a marketing ploy and they’re the bookie, so they play by different rules anyway.

Making financial decisions based off of odds set by the betting company is never reliable. Vegas will usually write odds in a way that will swing the hoi polloi into betting a particular way that will make them money. But those tilts are usually small and hard to notice, not 2/1 vs. 20/1. So if someone ever tells you that they’ll take the best two teams/players, and you get everyone else, just say no. Hey, it’s pretty good odds and I know you really want to take it, but you just can’t bet against Tiger. Just like BoDog and the Lakers, it just sounds fantastic, but it’s a sucker bet and you should know it. Whether Tiger wins or tanks this weekend is irrelevant, never take a bet like this.

Gene Wojciechowski of ESPN says that “Turnberry is built for shot-makers. That's why Tom Watson, Nick Price and Norman won [there] (and Nicklaus finished second to Watson in 1977).” Which, of course, begs the question: is there a course that isn’t built for shot-makers? I digress, PGA players and golf experts both say that putting on this course is much more difficult in comparison to the norm. Tiger’s long ball may still be suffering the after effects of having major surgery, but his short game is as strong as ever. It’s an advantage that could make the difference in an Open like this one, and could send him back for another trophy-laden photo-op this weekend in Scotland.

Governmental Sports

Recently it seems as if the Government is trying to put their hands in everything and the public is screaming for intervention in the areas in which they’re not. With the steroids controversies to the Tim Donaghy scandal, it appears that the athletes are inviting politicians into their courts and fields. Tonight at the MLB All-Star game, one very special politician will grace us with his presence on the field, a Mr. President Barack Obama. President Obama will also join Fox Sports announcers Joe Buck and Tim McCarver in the booth sometime between the 3rd & 5th innings. Obama is scheduled to throw out the first pitch tonight in St. Louis at Busch Stadium. The last first pitch this monumental came during the World Series in 2001, when George W. Bush threw out the first pitch in Yankee Stadium shortly after the 9/11 tragedy. Obama will also be joined by former Presidents George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George H.W. Bush and Jimmy Carter in a seven-minute video address to be aired during the pre-game ceremony.

If the president wants to be a sports announcer for an afternoon, that’s fine by me, but when they want to try and pass legislature who’s only purpose is to help govern College Football Postseason, I think there’s a bit of a problem. When the Supreme Court has to take time away from other pressing issues to see whether Barry Bonds took drugs or not, it seems a little ridiculous. I’m pretty sure there’s more important things that Congress should be doing. I can think of a few blaring problems right off the top of my head that are slightly more important than sports. Jobless Americans? Misuse of welfare? Trillions of dollars going out in bailout money to companies who didn’t run their businesses well in the first place? Economy in the stinkpot? Any of these ringing a bell? To most fans sports is life, but does it really rank in the same stratosphere as health care and social security? Of course it doesn’t. So for all of you politicians out there, keep doing what your doing. Fix this economy, find a solution to our education problems, and resolve that stuff over in the Middle East and bring our boys home, just stay out of our games. They’re not important enough in the grand scheme of things to require your attention. If you don’t think so, what was the final score of the last Super Bowl?

President Obama will join FDR, Nixon, Ford, and George Bush Sr. as presidents to throw the first pitch at an All-Star Game. One thing remains on everyone’s mind, where will Obama throw from? Will he be brave enough to go to the mound? If he does, he better get it across the plate. Well, even if he doesn’t, he could throw Fox Sports a cheap trillion to give him a do-over. That’s it! Goodnight everybody! Don’t forget to tip your waitress.

The Honorable Mountain West Gets Bought

Wednesday, July 8, 2009. The Mountain West Conference gives in to the cash. The MWC’s back was up against the wall after a 6 month battle against the BCS which is generally accepted as being fundamentally flawed. On Wednesday, a statement was released from the MWC. Their efforts to change the current system had not been accepted and they felt they had “no choice at this time but to sign the agreements.” When faced with either compromising morality or being able to survive, most will find themselves swaying towards survival. The contract runs through the 2013 season.

The main problem with this new agreement is that the Mountain West champion would still not automatically qualify for a spot in one of the top-tier bowls. They would have to be voted in like Utah was this year. It would still qualify them as a "BCS Spoiler." Recently, the other major conferences that make up the BCS, along with Notre Dame, rejected a Mountain West proposal for an eight-team playoff to determine a national champion. The release also states that “if a conference wishes to compete at the highest levels of college football, and the only postseason system in place for that is the BCS, no one conference can afford to drop out and penalize its football programs and student-athletes.” Essentially, if they held their ground for a playoff system, the BCS would muscle them out of money, exposure, and recruiting. Option A: stand firm in what you know to be right and hope someone else decides to drop millions of dollars to feel better about themselves or Option B: take the money and run... wise decision Mountain West.

While all College Football can get behind a conference that’s pushing for the much needed playoff, it’s hard to get behind a conference that continues to get the benefit of the doubt. Last year, the Utah Utes finished the season ranked 2nd in the Nation. The Utes have twice gone unbeaten in the BCS era. Each time the Utes were left out of the national championship game, but soundly defeated an opponent from one the leagues with a guaranteed spot in another BCS game. The last of which was against Alabama in the Sugar Bowl where the Utes finished the season with a trouncing Nick Saban’s Crimson Tide 31-17. While that may look spectacular on paper, one must remember that their most difficult game on the road last year was their first game of the season in which they barely beat Michigan by a measly score of 25-23. Michigan, although a historical powerhouse, only won 3 games last year in a weak Big 10 conference.

Apart from the Alabama game, their biggest win of the season was against then-ranked 14 BYU, which was at home and they won by 24 points. However, BYU also shared the same Mountain West cupcake schedule. I commend the Utes for scheduling teams like Michigan and Oregon State, but the MWC will not get any respect scheduling out of conference games against St. Mary’s Little Sisters of the Poor College in Vancouver. Winning 13 games is great, amazing in fact, but if you tell me that Utah would have that same record playing top NFL prospects every week in a conference like the SEC, Big 12, or Pac-10, I will vomit all over my keyboard because it’s just outrageous. If Texas, who played 4 top 11 teams in consecutive weeks and only lost one by a last second touchdown miracle doesn’t get in to the National Championship game, Utah doesn’t deserve to. If USC who had, arguably, one of the best defenses in College Football history who had one bad quarter in their 3rd game of the season doesn’t get into the National Championship game, Utah doesn’t deserve to.

Utah’s win over Alabama was impressive yes, and Alabama did deserve to play in the Sugar Bowl, but Alabama was even more over-rated than the Utes. Bama played only 3 ranked teams in the regular season. Georgia, then ranked 3rd by default, showed us why they were there by default and continued to erode throughout the rest of the season ending it with 3 ugly losses. Clemson ranked 9th was their opener. Wait, who? Oh yeah, I forgot, they ended with 6 losses barely making it into a bowl game. That’s why I forgot. And then, there’s then-ranked 16 LSU. If LSU had a quarterback, they would’ve beat Alabama by 30 points. They were then manhandled by Florida in the SEC title game. The final score (31-20) was not indicative of the second half. Throughout the second half of the season, Alabama looked sloppy and unorganized which was incredibly apparent in the Sugar Bowl against a team they could care less about playing. The Sugar Bowl was Utah’s Super Bowl. It was Alabama’s consolation prize.

The BCS ranked the University of Utah 2nd when all was said and done. Above 12-1 Texas and above 12-1 USC. Instead of Utah fans getting all up in arms about not being given a shot at the National Championship, they should be thanking their lucky stars that they’re even talked about with that sort of gravitas, because the comparison of schedules between them is laughable. The Mountain West better be careful what they wish for. According to their statement issued Wednesday, their “goal is to ensure the eventual outcome of these endeavors is what our universities and student-athletes need, what the vast majority of American sports fans want, and what is long overdue: an equitable system.” In an “equitable system,” you would be demolished the first time you met USC, Texas, Florida, or Oklahoma in your playoff system. Be happy you’ve got a seat at the grown up table, now have good manners or we’ll send you back the kid’s table in the family room. Quiet, grown-ups are talking.

Man Dead in Pamplona

Many find it cruel, sadistic, and outdated, but the 700 year old tradition is still one of the biggest annual events in Spain. The festival of San Fermin, or the Pamplona bull running as it's more commonly known outside Spain, is reported to have been around since the early 1300s, but has been a recorded annual event since 1924. There have only been a handful of people who have died in this extremely dangerous event, with the latest casualty falling earlier this week. Daniel Jimeno became the 15th person since 1924 to be killed at the event in which participants run in front of fighting bulls. The killer bull, one of the smaller bulls weighing in at 1130lb (512kg) bull named Cappuccino, fell early in the running and ended up on his own. When bulls go “rogue,” or when they get separated from the pack, is when situations become the most dangerous. When there is no stampede environment or flow the gigantic running animals, a single bull has more time to zero in on a target. Jimeno had major injuries inflicted by the bull’s horns, the most significant being through his neck and lungs. He is the first to die from goring at the festival since 1995.

Before the running, participants are instructed to stay down in the fetal position if they fall. This has saved many runners from being gored. There are several groups that offer help and tips to potentials runners, like BullRunning.com. However, it does remain an inherently dangerous event and there is no amount of preparation that can eliminate all risk. Nine others were injured on the festival’s most dangerous day. Despite all the risks, thrill seekers and adrenaline junkies alike still flock to this event to run alongside the locals. Some say it’s still statistically more dangerous to get in a car and drive to work, but deliberately putting yourself in front of angry, 1300 pound stampeding bulls isn’t probably something the insurance companies like to hear.

Do the Lakers Still Want to Win?

After the loss of the round 2 superstar Trevor Ariza and the Los Angeles Times reporting that the Lakers and Lamar Odom are still “far apart in negotiations,” does it seem like the Lakers are still on the warpath? Yes and No, I said in the very beginning that if you have to keep either Lamar Odom or Trevor Ariza, you’ve got to do all you can to keep Ariza. Trevor had never been a lifeline offensively, but as we saw during the Rockets series, he certainly was an X-factor for the Lakers. Maybe it was the fact that he was in a contract year, but what he brought to the table was extreme hustle, and 3.29 steals per-48 minutes played, the second highest in the league last year. After officially signing Ron Artest this last Wednesday, the hole Trevor Ariza left was filled… temporarily. A kooky Lakers haircut on a 29 year old firecracker will only last you so long. The Lakers didn’t let Ariza go, he left. There wasn’t a whole much (short of throwing him a bunch of early money) that would’ve kept him here. Artest is a more talented player than Ariza right now, especially from an offensive standpoint, but it is surprising that a local boy with that much potential and heart wouldn’t stay. In retrospect, it certainly would have been nice for Laker fans to look at a line-up starring Trevor Ariza AND Ron Artest.

So we turn our attention to Lamar Odom, the inconsistent 6th man who’s really the 3rd best player on the team. Low salary caps and luxury tax makes it look like higher end negotiations may not take place. Odom is looking for $10 million a year and the Lakers have offered him something closer to the NBA player average of 5.85 for an unspecified length. It’s not outrageous that they settle on something around 8/year, but remember, for every dollar the Lakers go over the salary cap they match with a dollar out of their own pocket sent to the luxury tax. The Lakers are already $12.26 million over the cap, not including a potential contract with Lamar. Essentially, what ever the front office decided to pay Odom, they’ll have to take out of their own pockets, add to the $12.26 million and send off the luxury penalty office. If the Lakers decide to keep him, every Laker fan needs to send a thank you card to Jerry Buss, because the bench stinks without Odom. The other problem that needs to be mentioned is where will Lamar be if he's not with the Lakers. Portland, the Lakers' 2nd biggest threat in the west, is sitting on $10 million cap space and are looking for a forward as well as someone else to handle the ball besides Brandon Roy. Lamar plays all 5 positions. The one-man swing could mean serious problems for the Lakers who continue to struggle against the young Trail Blazer team in the regular season.

Can they win without Ariza or Odom? Yes, but it will be difficult without one of them, and even more difficult without them both. Artest is a good addition, until he blows up and punches a fan in the face (hopefully this will never happen… again), and the securing of Shannon Brown is a good showing for Mitch Kupchak. It definitely shows that Kupchak’s team is trying to address and redefine the effort and heart factor that seemed so inconsistent with this year’s champions. However, the song remains the same: the best team in world is now the top target for everyone else, including the media and amateur blog writers.

Flavia Zoccari Becomes the Butt of All Jokes

Hopping and flopping around in tiny, skin-tight swimsuits all day can sometimes meet with a terrifying end. Italian Olympian Flavia Zoccari, had one of those embarrassing moments every swimmer dreads today at the Mediterranean games in Pescara. During a race, her suit's seams busted at the rear. I don't know what part of the race it was, but hopefully it was near the end. The "wardrobe malfunction" didn't sit well with the officials either, she was disqualified. I'm sure that once she felt the rip, she wanted to sink to the bottom of the pool. As fans, we can all feel for someone being forced to take a back seat to the other swimmers through disqualification. The truth is, she would've been stuck behind whether she had been DQed or not. The amount of drag that was caught by the open suit would take any competitive edge off and put her much too far in the hole. She's ok with taking a back seat to the other swimmers in this match, and was able to laugh about it later, but unfortunately this won't be her opportunity to claim her seat in the winner's circle. Whether there is any further action to be taken or not, hopefully it will all work out in the end.