Spring Into Hope

Today as I worked on the Shooter Fantasy League Rankings (three leagues this year, and yes, I need help), I turned on the Phillies-Cardinals game. Your starter today for the Fightin's is Chan Ho (Pliss) Park, the possible fifth starter and immediately derided off-season free agent acquisition, given that he'a always been an arsonist outside of Chavez Ravine.

Here's the final line for Chan Ho: 4.2 IP, 3 H, 0 Rs, 6 Ks. And that's a Cardinals lineup with Albert Pujols, Rick Ankiel, Ryan Ludwick, Khalil Greene and Colby Rasmus. He had good movement on a lot of breaking stuff, and got some hitters to flail on stuff that bounced. If he didn't have a 61 on his back, you'd be officially encouraged.

The announcers talked about how Jamie Moyer has been helping Park to have more confidence in his change-up, and how he's truly healthy now for the first time in years. He's also grown a freaky three-quarter beard, which just looks all kind of wrong on an Asian gentleman; in his post-pitch interview, I kept expecting him to speak in dubbed dialogue.



(Oh, and nice work by the local affiliate to rarely switch to commercial ion the inning breaks on the HD channel. I knew the economy was bad, but is it so bad as to have no ads at all?)

Now, in the grand scheme of things, does this matter? Probably not: Park has a career 4.34 ERA over 1846 innings for a reason, and the Phils will be his fifth team in the last five years. It's one thing to pitch well in a more or less meaningless preseason game in Clearwater, Florida; it's an entirely different matter when the home crowd is surly and the ball is carrying well to left.

But, well, less of Kyle Kendrick is an almost unquestioned benefit, and it's not as if Park doesn't have the talent and stuff to be an above-average fifth starter and overall asset. If I were drafting in an NL-only deep league, he might be worth a last-round grab. And that, in a nutshell, is why you should never watch spring training games while you are making your rankings...

This Game Is Easy

You'll forgive, Dear Reader, if I'm a little less snarky or hate-filled than usual today. I'm in the afterglow of the best night of my life on the felt.

One of the guys at my monthly game gave me the tip on another house game, this one in a flat-out unbelievable setting. You drive up to a place with a quarter-mile long driveway, into a game room with five full tables, the biggest big-screen TV I've seen outside of a showroom, high-end framed NFL memorabilia and more, more, more. Twenty-seven people signed up for the tournament, and with some of the best play of my life (and cards, and luck), I was able to get to the final table in just my second tournament (outside of my single-table home game).

Just a few hands in, I doubled up against one of the guys I rode in with when I caught trips on my pocket sixes, then boated with aces on the turn; he was unable to get away from his trip aces. Trip deuces gave me another big payday at my second table, and I was able to chip up against a player who read my table presence as strong, even when I had little.

At the final table, I was to the left of the guy who paid me early, and my Q-K was able to break his A-10, and score the knockout, when I caught a queen. The short stacks to my left kept catching cards to make the table last until the antes got huge, leaving the final players all more or less short-stacked. When we got to heads-up, the final opponent and I split the pot for everything but the last $50 (awfully sporting of him, really), and after dodging a half hour of all-ins with several river saves, he took me out. Second place was worth a nice chunk of change, and after a break, I joined the cash game with a nice bankroll.

The cash table that I sat down at was loose and wild, with players putting cash on the table for straight and flush draws like they were betting on high pairs. I joined in the insanity when a minimum blind bit on 10-J spade matched up with Q-K spades on the flop. I hung in long enough to catch a 7-spade on the river, and from there, my table image was made. I didn't take a bad loss in the next two hours of play, was able to take down a fair number of pots without showing a card, and more or less added to my chip pile for the entire duration of play.

The whole night reminded me, oddly, of golf. Play that game long enough, and you'll have a breakthrough round, one where the shots fall, the putts lip in, and the luck is with you. You then make the great comic joke of golf, the one that men have been making for centuries, and the subject header of this little post.

And the next time you've got a club in your hand, it all goes to hell.

So, if you're free next Friday and want some easy money, come on down. I'm due for hours of crap cards, bad plays, and hard-core misery.

Lucy Takes Out The Football Yet Again

Tonight in Philadelphia in their last game before the All-Star Break, your Philadelphia 76ers edged the Memphis Grizzlies (seriously, can't they change their name by now? Not many grizzlies eating BBQ and visiting Graceland) to go to three games over .500. Lest you think that this is less than a noteworthy achievement, please note that it's the highest they have been over the break-even point since, gulp, 2006.

Despite a huge night from Hakim Warrick and a slow start from star Andre Iguodala, the home team finished a 7-game homestand with four straight wins, and are now just a game out of the 5th seed in the East. That's meaningful, seeing how the top three teams will get the Celtics, Cavs and Magic in the first round. They've won 14 of their last 19, and are 18-10 under interim head coach Tony DiLeo.

So what do we have, really? A team that has recovered from a terrible start, that's playing its best ball of the year, with more than a puncher's chance of getting into the top half of the draw in the East, especially if Atlanta slips a bit. Realistically, it's the best chance for the franchise to achieve that modest Final 8 standard since, gulp, 2003. So, let's all be happy, right?

Well, no. The Sixers have the worst personality trait you can ever give to a professional team: they have disappointed. After signing Elton Brand to give them the half-court scoring option that they sorely lacked against the ready to be taken Pistons in last year's playoffs, they were supposed to be on the cusp of 50 wins and some significant sweat from the Celtics. We all dreamed of them as the clear #2 in the Atlantic (well, they are still that, thanks to the Raptors also having issues), and maybe even a little more than that with the application of a few breaks.

Specifically, that would be the breaking of a Kevin Garnett kneecap or two. (Hey, the Celtics do have real miles on the odometer and too many carries from the previous year. The town has seen worse bets.)

Of course, that's not how things worked out. Brand didn't fit in when he was healthy, or he was never really all that healthy. When he tried to return after the injury, nothing looked good, and the team can only hope like Hades that this is just a temporary problem, given the number of years and revenue that he's got on the clock. Trade rumors continue to swirl around Andre Miller, because he's good and not young, and everyone thinks that you should tank in the Association if you're not a title contender, because no one values a just good team.

Well, almost no one.

This isn't something that you can explain to all of the fans of teams that have won titles in the last 25 years, but there is actually some value to a team that's not terrible. It makes the winter months pass a little faster, gives you some small amount of false hope that you can catch lightning in a bottle and take out a better team in a playoff, and in general, makes going to the games less of an obvious waste of time and money.

It was all far more exciting last year, of course, when this all came out of nowhere, Sam Dalembert looked like he was emerging as a top-tier center, and we were in no way disappointed. There's also the simple fact that they play five out of their next six games on the road, so this might all be complete false hopes.

But what the hey. We could be rooting for the Knicks. Or the Clippers. Or the Bulls, Raptors or Wizards...

No Mo Mo

Tonight in Philadelphia, the Sixers won Tony DiLeo's coaching debut, which isn't all that impressive, considering it was a home game against the Wizards. But it was still telling for the following points.

1) Sam Dalembert, who has been so bad that he was losing playing time left and right, played 33 minutes and pulled down 17 boards. In other words, he did what he's supposed to do.

2) Andre Miller took 4 shots in 38 minutes and had 12 assists to 2 turnovers. Again, what he's supposed to do.

3) By starting Willie Green at the 3 and getting good minutes out of Lou Williams, they had 37 points from the bench -- a plus six edge on the Wiz bench.

4) They shot 51.4% from the floor, mostly because they only took 12 shots from the three-point line -- always a good idea for this collection of talent.

5) They got to the line 35 times, and made 26. Compare that to the Wiz's 21, and that's a 12 point edge.

Add it all up, and it's a 15 point win where they were never in danger. It gets them to 10-14 for the year, and not very far at all from the top 8 in the conference, which is looking like another one of those .500 gets in moments.

Say this for Mo Cheeks; he's a remarkably decent man, and his rescue of the little girl during the Portland national anthem was one of the five best moments in the Association's history. He also is the best point guard in the history of the franchise, of course. But as a coach, there's no evidence that he got more out of his talent. It's also a matter of course that the new GM, Ed Stefanski, was going to make his own hire for the top spot.

Can they actually turn it around? Well, there are plenty of games left in the season, and making it into the top 8 shouldn't be impossible. On the other hand, it's very hard to imagine them having home court in the first round, or how they avoid Boston or Cleveland in the first round. It's also hard to see how that would win that series... and, well, DiLeo has never held a head coach job before. There's as much chance of them staying bad. But at least they made a move before it was too late.

The Audacity of Green Hope

First and foremost, let's get the formalities out of the way. Andy Reid needs to resign. Clearly, the team is far too good to be just 7-5-1.

Now, having said that... here's the really scary part of the last two weeks.

Donovan McNabb (shh!) hasn't really played all that well. What has happened instead is that Brian Westbrook has gotten healthy, and the play calling has (finally?) gotten sane. Instead of trying to force big plays to DeSean Jackson, they've gone with much easier throws in the flat. Hell, against the Giants, there was even a positive game for LJ Smith. McNabb made some nice plays on third down, especially with his feet, but it's not like they were exposing him to 25 yard crossing routes.

This is, of course, all for the best. When your most physical receiver is either Jason Avant or Hank Baskett, relying on timing routes down the middle of the field is a good way to get your INT-averse QB to lose his way. The fools' gold that is big play drives (and an erratic offense, and a bad time of possession, which really isn't helpful for a small speed defense).

Finally, one last point about the offense. Nick Cole came in for this game to replace the injured Max Jean-Gilles. I don't mean to speak ill of the departed, and it's an odd thing to think that being on your third guard of the year might be a positive. But the simple fact is that they are getting push now, and they weren't before... and it's not as if they are suffering in pass protection. Heck, maybe it's even a plus because with Cole in, they are just more interested in calling running plays. I'll take it, however we get there.

Now, as to the defense... note that Omar Geither was shown the bench for the Cardinals game for Akeem Jordan, and that Joselio Hanson and Quentin Demps were getting some serious playing time against the Giants, rather than Lito Sheppard. In both cases, the team has gone for production over a name and/or pedigree.

Now, we can wonder why this didn't happen weeks and/or months ago. We can even chastise the regime for its stultifying sense of loyalty, and point out that if either of these changes had been made, maybe they add a game or more to their win total.

Or you can look at the changes as being a real and tangible reason for better play, and keys to a sudden and shocking resurgence into a Top 5 NFL team.

Very good time to go out on top, Fat Man.

Epic Drop: Top 10 reasons to have hope

So here's today's list. Now, let me get back to the horror that is age.

When I was 10 years old, the Phillies won the World Series; I was 14 when the Sixers broke through and took out the Sixers. A year or two after that, the USFL Stars won (I was a big fan), and I even went downtown for the parade. I felt, in no way, like any kind of Sports Victim. Sure, the Eagles didn't break through, and I still have scars of every playoff loss ever. But what the hell, that's what sports *are*, and it's not like we were Cleveland or Boston or any one of a million other sports cities that didn't get to see Hall of Fame players for every franchise. You could have grown up in Kansas City, for heaven's sake.

Now, imagine you are a 10 to 12 year old fan of the Cowboys. You're too young to remember the Aikman-Irvin-Smith years. Your Mavericks ripped your hearts out in the Finals, and now they're a bad joke with big names and an increasingly unhinged owner. Your baseball team is terrible, and has been throughout your consciousness. And your football team keeps signing head cases, and just lost its franchise quarterback for a month. You're a sports victim, right? And yet, there's no way you feel that way, since the history is anything but Victim Status.

The point is this. When you are young, you don't fear losses. You just celebrate them. You don't know that Lucy will always pull away the football, that the other city is always going to be taking the champagne bath at the end of the festivities.

I have friends that have already written off this year's Eagles team, despite the fact that we're barely past the one-third pole. They only watch game replays if the team wins; they spend the live telecasts either listening on the radio or reading updates online, because, dammit, their hearts just can't take it.

They are most likely "right"; the Eagles are, after all, 3-3 and maddeningly inconsistent in just about every facet of the game. But I wouldn't be that way for anything; if I were, I'd give up sports and blogging in a heartbeat. It strikes me as a pale imitation for living, a life ruled by fear, a perversion on every level.

So, um, folks? Lighten up. Be better than your fears. Have hope. It's just more fun.

Act like you've been there

Hey, kids! It's time for Shooter's weekly or less foray into the stuff that makes so many of you hate humanity -- politics!

Now, depending on which polls you read and believe -- and oh dear God in heaven, if we want to have a better functioning democracy, the first thing we should do is make this activity off-limits to the media, since the poor dears can't cover anything but the numbers -- the Blue Guy is pulling away from the Red Guy. And if you don't believe me, you can ask Red Guy Karl Rove, who just flipped his projections to Blue over the weekend.

Now, I've been rooting for the Blue Guy for a long time now, so I know how the game is played. When Blue Guy is losing, Blue People question their will to live. Some of us take the Emigration Daydream, wonder if we'd have been better off letting the South secede, console ourselves with the fact that well, this Red Guy can't possibly be worse than this other Red Guy, and just, well, generally Assume The Position.

When Blue Guy is ahead, however, Blue People worry. It's all a cruel tease! Don't notice! Work harder! We're doomed! Remember that other election where we thought Blue Guy was gonna win, and then he didn't? It's just like that one! People are stupid and we're all gonna die! Waah! Waah!

And furthermore, Waaaahhhh!

Similarities to Cubs Fans abound, really. And that's not a good moment for anyone's brand, really, to be compared to Cubs Fan.

When Red Guy is ahead, Red People react in one of two ways. If they are Red People of means, they rub their hands together in that good Uriah Heap / Monty Burns way, tell the servants to throw some fresh orphans on the fire, and party down while never actually being on the one.

Red People of no means just shoot their guns in the air (presumably, they think the air is where the Blue People live), drink something from Cousin Skeeter's #1 still (the Good Times still, as opposed to the Blindness Still), and eventually pass out after procreation. Ain't no party like a Red People party!

As for how Red People behave when they think they are going to lose... well, that's just it. They don't think that way. They have confidence that Blue Guy will screw it up, that their media will do what they need it to do, and that Blue People can bring anything down with their baggage. They save their recriminations and hate for *after* Red Guy loses, at which point he is never heard from again. (Don't believe me? Find Bob Dole. Even the Viagra people have moved on.)

And who knows, they might be right. At the very least, Blue People certainly do take the fun out of winning. By the way, Red People, your Emigration Daydreams seem to start and end with Australia, since they are white, drink and screech English. It's good timewaste.

Now, for my fellow Blue People, a simple plea in the remaining time that we have left before we tear our Blue Guy to ribbons for not being Blue Enough... um, dare to imagine that you are actually going to win this thing. Delude yourself into the belief that something you want can actually occur. Put a cork in the killjoy and self-fulfilling prophecy that Blue Guy can't possibly win for whatever pet factors you've got working for you.

More importantly, take some joy in Red Guy losing.

Oh, and one more thing -- say the word Landslide. Out loud. It's fun.

Ending Badly

This is how messed up Philly Fan is from the decades of championship-free major sports: people are worried that our hopes are too high.

No, I'm serious.

You see, it's not enough to just savor, for a little while, a home opener when the weather was as perfect as the home team. Patriots Fan watched The Horror Of Tom Brady's Knee Injury (I think they should have taken him off on a wheelchair, then had him fall in a heap as he tried to run back on the field -- and why, yes, I am Still Bitter over Faker Pierce).

Colts Fan watched Peyton Manning whiff at home against the Kyle Orton Bears, mostly because they no longer seem to have a center. Chargers Fan watched their team get smacked in the face by a Steve Smith-less Panthers team. You'd think that with the Injury Gods passing over us on this day, and even the special teams looking like the Super Bowl Year, it was just a good day to sit back and relax.

You would, of course, also have no real clue how Eagle Fan thinks.

While the game was on, the Shooter Sister was counseling against exuberance, because she had been to a game Just Like This One (i.e., the 2006 home opener, when the Giants hit on an improbable fourth quarter comeback).

After the game was out of hand and the Rams were "driving" towards their one field goal score of the day (albeit with no third down conversions), the room started to grumble.

And on sports talk radio later (yes, I know, I shouldn't have given them the opportunity), the hosts were also saying how this meant nothing, and things would be very different and much harder against Dallas in Dallas next Monday night. As if that didn't go without saying.

Let me save all of the haters some time here. Of course it's all going to end badly. Of course McNabb is getting hurt and Andy Reid's Kids will go on a six-state crime spree and the players will get hurt and yada yada yada.

But you know what? Life ends badly, too. There is no reason for you to think otherwise, or that your candidate will win, your kids will grow up to be healthy and successful, your job will be another but a brain-killing timesuck, and so on, and so on.

Pull the wool over your own eyes. Give yourself the possibility of a pleasant outcome. Act like you've been to the winners circle before, and expect to go there again.

Or, um, be an Eagles Fan...

Inky Iggy Do

A quick note about the Sixers locking up swingman Andre Iguodala before someone else says it out loud... yes, by all means, it's too much money for a guy who should be the third-best player on a championship team and I almost fell asleep typing that.

Now, quick question time... who was the best player on the 2004 Pistons championship team? Your starters were Rasheed and Ben Wallace, Prince, Hamilton and Billups. Let's say, for argument's sake, that it's Hamilton (and that Iggy is better than Andre Miller and Sam Dalembert, and worse than new guy Elton Brand).

So, is Iggy better than Rip?

AI, age 23 -- 19.9 ppg on 45.6% from the floor, 72.1% from the line. 5.4 boards, 4.8 assists, 2.1 steals, 0.6 blocks per game. 32.9% from 3-point range, playing 39 minutes a game.

Rip, age 23 (with Washington) -- 20.0 ppg on 43.5% from the floor, 89% from the line. 3.4 boards, 2.7 assists, 0.6 steals, 0.2 blocks per game. 38.1% from 3-point range, playing 35 minutes a game.

Well, maybe yes, maybe no -- they are dramatically different players, and Rip's real value is undercut by the fact that high percentage scorers always look like empty calories. Besides, steals can be a misleading defensive statistic, since they frequently come from bad positional defense. But it seems to be that Iggy is well within the Rip range at this point in his career.

So, given his age, durability (he's missed six games in four years), the fact that he's never gotten in trouble with the law or his coach, and is three flaws away (handle, three point shot, free throw percentage) from being a plus player in every aspect of the game... well, isn't that worth the risk?

If the Sixers are going to become a traditional championship team, they need Thaddeus Young or Lou Williams to become one of the ten best players in the Association. If they are going to become a simply tolerable team, the kind that's always in the second round of the playoffs with a puncher's chance at sneaking a title in a year when other teams have injuries, they needed to sign Iguodala to this contract.

So, um, they did.

That doesn't make them stupid, clueless, short-sighted or limited. It just makes them what they are -- a franchise without a true superstar, but with a more than reasonable chance at playing good basketball for many years to come.

Considering what Sixers Fans have had to watch for most of my adult life (i.e., terrible basketball interrupted by one great player against the world acts in Barkley and Iverson), we'll take it. Gladly.

Oh, and we'll take his ability to do this, too.

Epic Drop: Top 10 Sports Uses For A Time Machine

Today's list defines pain on a lot of levels. Come wallow with me... and contribute your own fix moments in the comments.

Epic Drop: Top 10 Reasons Why The Eagles Are Doomed

Today's link is a cunning encapsulation of all of the reasons why I'm enthused about he Eagles' chances this year, along with the fact that all of the pre-season prediction magazines seem to think that their off-season moves were crap... mostly, one suspects, because they didn't help to produce the sure thing wide receiver that will ensure fantasy league success, and because, absent injury, there is no growth stock among the Eagles' skill players. (Yes, Bryan Westbrook is now a top 5 play, but he's also one that jangles the nerves, since he's injury-prone, getting up there in years, and just had the best season of his life.)

Heh Indeedy

About the only reaction I can give to the Sixers going out and getting it done with Elton Brand, who is really going to enjoy being a big man in the Eastern Conference, as opposed to the West. Is he enough to make up the gap between them and the Celtics, especially if Andre Miller slides back a little next year? Probably not, but it's nice to dream, and this gives the team a much better plan than Waiting For Thaddeus Young To Get Instantly Great. It also means that there are clearly three over .500 teams in the Atlantic, assuming that Toronto continues to be annoyingly good.

Combined with the still intriguing Samuel Dalembert, you've got the makings of a very good defensive team. Having an actual low post scorer and presence makes the Sixers, well, one of the half dozen teams in the NBA to have that. Brand can bang with Garnett and make him work, and the team suddenly matches up a lot better with those Pistons that keep ending their seasons.

The more sour Philly folks look at this as another in the Coleman / Webber line of broken-down big men, but it's not like Brand is ancient, or as if no one has ever recovered from what he's been through. It's also just plain nice to have a 20 and 10 guy to just rely on.

Oh, and this just in from LA... is Baron Davis hurt yet?

Halfway to a Miracle

Forty nine wins and thirty two losses after 81 games gives you a 98 win pace (I'm good at math), and right now, an AL East crown. The team on that pace is your Tampa Bay Rays.

Here's how good the Rays are right now -- they are making Andy Sonnastine, a guy with a 4.6 ERA and a 1.39 WHIP, have a very real chance at 20 wins. He's even 6-0 after a loss. They're getting big RBI games from their backup catcher. They have the most wins in the first 81 games ever for a team that had the worst record in MLB the year before. Thanks to Boston losing to the Astros in Houston, they're in first, just in time for a 3-game set against the defending champions.

Can it continue? Well, since we're already into the unknown with their won-loss record, there's really no way to know. It might be hard to imagine Evan Longoria continuing his .875 OPS all year, but all the scouts saw this guy as a Rookie of the Year candidate, there's no reason why he can't. If anything, the offense might even get better, since Carlos Pena isn't likely to struggle all year.

Meanwhile on the pitching side, they've got a 3.69 team ERA, with Scott Kazmir's 2.28 ERA and 1.04 WHIP putting him heavily in the running for the AL Cy Young. James Shields and Matt Garza are both providing good innings and lots of them, and either would be the #2 starter in the Bronx right now. The back end of the rotation (Sonnastine and Edwin Jackson) isn't exactly dominant, but they've both managed to stay healthy and throw a significant amount of innings, which is keeping the bullpen fresh. There's even talk of them adding payroll -- yes, the Rays, adding payroll -- to get the extra arm or two they'd need to get over the hump.

There's also this: if karma and the rooting interest of non-affiliated fans have anything to do with it, the Rays are going to win this division in a walk. With the departure of Elijah Dukes, there isn't a genuine bad guy on the roster, and the fever dream of a playoff season without the Red Sox or the Yankees... would Fox even put the games on? Would MLB even count the results, or would there have to be a strike?

Lakers-Celtics Game Two, Fourth Quarter: Don't Believe the Comeback

> Farmer three after a miss, and it's still Lake Show Bench. Leon Powe goes to the rack and scores, and it's just ole time, with Luke Walton as the matador. Kobe's back and feeds Turiaf for a slam.

> Another signature play; Rondo lobs it to the rim at the clock buzzer, and the miss is an o-board. Bryant finds Turiaf, and even in the crap game, the Celtics are weak on pick and roll. Farmer hits another 3, and maybe he'll have some use at home. Powe gets another call, and here's how good this game is going for the Celtics: KG is hitting fourth quarter jumpers. Powe has 18 in 12 minutes. Sheesh.

> The Lakers part like the Red Sea for Powe to make it 20. Kobe doesn't drive and misses. The Lakers have a big rule tonight: no layups that aren't rim-rattling dunks. KG hits. Bryant responds with Yet Another Jumper. Powe to the line. If there is a Laker with any good feeling about his defensive effort tonight, they're deluded. It's 23 and Utter Garbage; if the Lakers had any kind of sac, there would be a flagrant around now, but I can't imagine it will happen. They Just Don't Care.

> Powe finally misses, but Gasol throws the worst alley oop to Bryant seen outside of an All-Star Game. A Pierce travel is accompanied by laughter; that's how meaningless these minutes are. Radmanovic 3. Mike Breen actually says, "Kobe Bryant has not given up on this game yet." Um, I'm not sure he even gave in on this game; that would involve risking contact, or guarding Paul Pierce.

> Fisher makes both to cut it to 16 with 5:56 left. Whoop De Damn Do. The Celtics run clock, then Pierce gets to the line. You see, Kobe, when you go to the line and look like you aren't afraid of wetting yourself, good things *can* happen. Pierce makes one, and I'm not sure why starters are in right now. Radmanovic misses, but Gasol gets the board and Vujacic hits for 3. A KG miss, but a terrible lack of rebounding, and Allen waltzes in for a bucket. Fisher hits a 3, and it's 13 at 4:24. Can the Lakers make a face-saving run? KG misses. Radmanovic misses, but Gasol doesn't get off the ground, and it's a Celtics board; a make there would have kept it possible, but far from likely. It's 13 with 3:48 left.

> A Posey 3 should end any doubt. Kobe doesn't get the call, but Gasol cleans it. A Kobe 3 makes it 11 at 2:50. It Won't Matter -- at least not for this game. Rondo gets to the line before the TV timeout, and misses the front. A chance? Bryant to the rim, scores, makes it 9, the closest they've been in the second half, but they can't stop Pierce, who now has 26. Bryant answers, but no call, and they're running out of time to trade hoops.

> Fisher steals from Pierce, and Vujacic backs out to an open 3 and hits... and it's 6 with 90 seconds let. Wow? Then, Radmanovic steals and slams, and it's 4 with 63 seconds left. Holy moley. It's a 29-9 run, and I still don't believe, but wow. Better than garbage time, at the very least.

> 1:03 left. Lakers need a stop. Rondo misses. Bryant gets a cheap, dumb foul from Pierce, and will go to the line with 38 seconds left. If he hits both, this is very, very possible. He gets the roll on the first. It's 3 with 38.4 left. He gets the second. Allen almost turn. Pierce with Kobe on him, gets beyond Kobe, and a call on an ugly drive with 22.8 left. He hits the first, and it's 3 with 22.8 left. He hits the second, and Jackson takes a timeout.

> What this run signifies, really, is just how dependent the Celtics are on emotion for defense; when they don't care, they don't defend. KG cursing on the bench. Kobe now has 30. Do the Lakers shoot a 3 right away, or take the drive for two? Neither, and on the most important possession of the game, Bryant never gets the ball back, and Vujacic is blocked on the 3 attempt. That, finally is your ballgame, as Posey hits the free throws. The final possession for the Lakers runs too much clock, Fisher misses, and that's it... Boston 106, Lakers 102.

Despite the final score and lead evaporation from 24 to 2, I'm not sure how much the comeback matters; when the Celtics needed a stop, they always got it, and the Lakers just don't seem to be able to D up, even against a team that has real issues offensively. While I suspect the Lakers will get Game 3, I'm not seeing them coming back to Boston with a 3-2 lead... and there's no way they are winning this series in a seventh game, considering that they've shown none of that closing ability that the world thought they had over the Celtics in the pre-series analysis. The Celtics may very well have finished this series tonight.

Final note... Phil Jackson opens his press conference by noting that Powe got more free throws than his whole team. Welcome to your meme from LakerLand for the next three days...

"Their Year" Wins

When you root for a team that you don't think will be very good, there's a slow process in which they can start to win you over. There's a lucky bounce here, a catching the other team at the right time there, a sudden and unexpected performance from a young player and voila... you're daring to hope. Day by day, grateful for the opportunity, but more or less convinced that it's all going to pop like a balloon, and you will be back where you were, but probably still OK with the ride.

So it was last month with the Sixers, and so it is now with the A's. The little team that didn't even seem to want to try is 22-14, tied for first in the AL West with those Anaheimian Angels of Rancho Cucamonga, and since it's never too early to look at the wild card, 3.5 games ahread of (gulp) Tampa Bay. Only the DBacks have a better record in all of MLB.

Yesterday's win finished a sweep of the fast-falling Orioles (gosh, summer came early this year), and was punctuated by a walk-off foul pole home run from Mark Ellis. And while they've played six more games at home, they also get back Rich Harden on Sunday, which means that they will move Chad Gaudin (and his team-leading 3 wins and horrible 3.75 ERA, 1.19 WHIP and 2.6 to 1 K/BB ration) to the bullpen. Yes, this does mean that the A's are sending a guy to the pen who, on performance, would be the #2 starter on the Yankees. Keith Foulke's return is also imminent, and he's looked good this year.

Is it time to believe yet? Well, 36 games is over 20% of the season, and it's hard to imagine that the pitching (currently with a 3.13 ERA and 1.20 WHIP) and defense is going to completely collapse. Offensively, they all get on base, and it hardly seems possible that they'll hit for less power for the rest of the year (they've hit, um, 20 homers so far this year, which is kind of mind-boggling for a team playing .611 ball). Heck, they might even get something out of Frank Thomas and Eric Chavez later in the year. So...

No. Nope. Ain't gonna believe. No chance. And there's no way this is a double-jinx, because that kind of thing is just childish. (Go A's!)

First in ERA, Second in Runs, and Not To Be Believed

I've spent the first 30 games of the 2008 MLB season waiting for the other shoe to drop on the A's, who started the year with a split in Japan, and have quietly showed that they plan on playing meaningful games all year long.

Remarkably, they've done it without power (26th in MLB in homers and slugging, 20th in OPS... but 4th in runs scored), or experienced pitching (40 innings of sub 1 ERA from relievers Santiago Casila, Joey Devine and Andrew Brown). Offensively, they've just been getting on base (7th in MLB at .343, and more importantly, a whopping .42 edge on their opponents). It's all added up to an 18-12 start, and if the season ended today, a wild-card berth.

Can they keep it up? Well, it would have been better to ask this before they spit the bit for two straight home losses to the Rangers, and there is no way that the relievers will continue to be this good. They are also getting good innings out of a lot of young starters (Smith and Eveland most predominantly). They are due to get another 20 to 30 innings out of Rich Harden before he gets hurt again, and they're getting good offense despite no real power.

Pleasant surprises include the world's only leadoff hitting catcher (Kurt Suzuki, who seems to have aced the Jason Kendall lesson), a resurgent Mike Sweeney (his .832 OPS is his best in years, especially with the switch in home fields), and 26 well-timed RBIs from Emil Brown. They've also defended relatively well, which is to be expected in this era of A's baseball.

I still don't think they are any real threat to win the division; they need these unknown pitchers to hold up under the workload, and/or Harden and Justin Duchscherer to return, pitch well, and stay healthy. The odds are still a lot better that they will be dealing away bullpen depth at the trading deadline for future years. Billy Beane has always enjoyed playing Closer Roulette. Once the AL East shakes down to what it always is, and the Tigers fully erase their bad start, they'll be back to the Division Champion or Nothing mode, and they're not better than the Angels.

But I've already had a month more of meaningful baseball than I expected this year from my team. We're well into the House Money stage with this team.

Hmm...

You really shouldn't be able to win a game on the road when you don't score in the last 2:27.

Nor should you be able to pull off a road win against the #2 team in the conference, two days after never really being in it at home, against the #1 team.

Finally, there's no way you're going to pull off a win when you put the Pistons on the line in the fourth quarter. That's how Chauncey Billups and Rip Hamilton always close out games.

And yet, here are the Sixers, with a truly meaningful if not particularly attractive one-point win in Detroit. Give it up for shaky lead dog Andre Iguodala, who led the way with 22 points. But the real hero was Sam Dalembert shaking off a 3 for 9 night to contribute 15 boards, 2 steals and 3 blocks, along with yeoman defensive work. (Yeoman is one of those words that no one would know, if not for sports. Have you ever heard it attached to anything outside of the arena?)

I'm not sure exactly what was sprinkled on Sam's corn flakes, but he's been trying for well over a year now, starting back with the Iverson Emancipation. It's hard to completely get in his corner, given his erratic performances in the past, but he's averaging a double-double with over 2 blocks a game for the season. Heck, he's even getting to the line a few times a game, and cutting down the fouls and turnovers, despite increase minutes. With the departure of Shaq to parts west and Jermaine O'Neal to the recesses of his own anus, he's even... shudder... starting to get to the point where you have to consider him one of the best centers in the East.

If this is a preview of a first round series, you still go hard for the Pistons; after all, they have the experience, and it's not like they are going to go 65% from the line with ten misses very often. But the Andres seem to match up well with the Pistons guards, and the hometown heroes are now just three games under .500... and .500 gets you a playoff spot in the East with time off for good behavior. And maybe they'd be better off with Detroit, rather than Cleveland, Toronto or Orlando. (Yes, it's blasphemy. But not a terribly strong one, really.)

Jerk Out

So I'm talking to the Shooter Mom tonight, and she's been keeping track of the possible Eagles free agent signings... and yes, she's heard the Larry Fitzpatrick and Assante Samuel rumors, and she's pumped. And all I can think is... with the massive and wonderful exception of the Owens/Kearse year (which you have to admit, worked well in the very short term), that's just not how they operate.

But, um, Andy? It'd be OK with us all if, for once, you take that lovely cap space that you are so proud of having and, you know, USE IT TO MAKE YOUR TEAM BETTER. Even if it doesn't work out, we'll still feel better knowing that you are, like, TRYING. Even if it's true that the teams that make the big free agent signings (hello, Little Danny Snyder! What shiny new toy did you buy for yourself this year, you saucy little boy!) rarely hoist the Lombardi Trophy at the end of the year. Even if the Patriots didn't benefit from having Randy Moss in the end. We'll still feel like, you know, we haven't seen how the movie ends before it begins.

We now return you to the real world of the Eagles, where they have just... wait for it... I hope you are sitting down... made offers to.... Joselio Hanson and JR Reed! Woo Freaking Hoo!

Master of the Jerk Out, indeed. (And for anyone who is reading this and thinking that I'm pulling off a Masstermind-level double reverse jinx move? Well, this denial of that level of mental gyrations makes your double reverse move zero times infinity, and I do hope I just BLEW YOUR MIND.)

Malicious Drop: Who's Going To Win The NBA Finals

The good Don over at our favorite Pacific Rim sports blog (With Malice) asked who we thought was going to win the NBA Finals, so we spent some brain cells on the question. You can see the results here, but the short answer is that I'm glad I didn't pick the Rockets, even though it was pre-Ming Tragedy...

I'm Not Prepared For The Sixers To Be Relevant Again

Saturday night, the Sixers picked up their 11th win of the season, riding a big fourth quarter comeback and a game winning shot at the buzzer by lead dog Andre Iguodala to a win in Memphis. Coming a night after a surprisingly competitive 5-point loss at home to the startlingly competitive and cooperative Los Angeles Lakers, the team is now 6-6 in December, and just a game out of the last playoff spot in the East.



(By the way, you have to love the Sixes play-by-play guy going off for a game-winner in December. Yes, we're kind of hungry for a decent team here, really.)

If they can beat Miami on Wednesday and survive an upcoming six-game Western road trip (it starts tolerable with Sacramento and Seattle around the surging Blazers, before the auto-losses against Utah, Denver and the Lake Show kick in)... well, shoot, this is the East we're talking about here. While the top end has Boston, Detroit and Orlando to make everything seem a lot more balanced with the West than in past years, the bottom rungs of the playoff ladder are still a complete clusterf***, enough so that even the Knicks keep telling themselves that they aren't out of it. I could easily see 38 wins getting in.

More importantly, the way that the Sixers are playing actually has glimmers of this strange emotion that I'm not sure I'm familiar with. Let's check good old Dictionary.com... "the feeling that what is wanted can be had, or that events will turn out for the best..." yes, that's it! I think it's a Navajo word: hoap, or some such thing. Yes, hoap. With Sam Dalembert seemingly giving a damn, Reggie Evans doing what he will do, Andre Miller giving the team an edge by being an actual point guard (I'm not in love with him, but seriously, he's probably the first actual point that the team had since Eric Snow, and the first that you had to defend since Johnny Dawkins pre-surgery)... well, they resemble a basketball team! Light the candles and slaughter a hog! (Please note that any team where Iguodala, a classic Pippen type to someone else's Michael, is your best player... is a team with no real threat to go anywhere. But at this point with this franchise, and 0-3 playoff run against a high seed would be just fine, really.)

Having noticed this brief burst of competence, I'm sure that they'll go 0-for-6 on the West Coast trip, and that AI will torch them for 50 in Denver, the way that Charles Barkley used to ritually sodomize Armon Gilliam in this post-trade years when he was a Phoenix Sun. And just like in that trade, my Sixers fandom has taken many, many months to come back to any kind of awareness... but it's there, men. Go .500 on the West Coast swing, and we'll talk.