The State of LA Sports

Just a warning: this is an all sports post. I’ve been trying to avoid this, but I’m going to explode if I don’t. What oh what is happening to the state of sports teams here in LA? A year ago, we were riding high on the Laker’s dominance (even though they eventually lost to Detroit in the NBA Finals). We were complaining about cheapskate owner Frank McCourt’s arrival to the Dodgers (they went on to win the division and win their first playoff game since 1988). The Angels were looking good, and the Clippers were looking as dismal as ever. This year, the Lakers are fucking horrible. Right now they are on a 8 game losing streak, the longest since they moved from Minneapolis to LA back in 1960. Barring a miracle, they’re going to miss the playoffs for the second time since 1976. They lost two coaches in the span of a year. They made the stupidest trade of all time: Shaq to Miami for three footnotes in history. And right now, it looks like a feud brewing in the locker room:

[Chucky] Atkins, sitting in front of his locker that used to belong to Shaquille O’Neal, was asked by a reporter before the game what moves he would make during the off-season to improve the Lakers. “I ain’t the GM of this team,” he said. “Kobe’s the GM of this team. Ask Kobe. You’ve been watching this [stuff] all year. You’ve been watching it and I’ve been playing in it.”(Mike Breshnahan, “Atkins Takes His Shot”, LA Times, 3/28/05, free. reg. req’d.)

The other night, I was watching the Lakers vs. Nuggets game. I couldn’t watch it. It was very painful. Yesterday I ended up watching the Clippers play the Timberwolves. It was very entertaining even though the Clippers lost. I’m going to go on record and say that the Clippers are a far better team when healthy than the Lakers. I’ve lived here in LA since 1987, and I never thought I would EVER say that. And don’t get me started on the Dodgers. I’m still extremely pissed off that they got rid of Jose Lima and NL MVP runner-up Adrian Beltre. In return they got JD Drew who’s gone on record to say that he will not play a game unless he is 100% healthy?! I’m sorry, but more and more the Angels are looking very appealing. They have the reigning AL MVP Vlad Guerrero, a strong pitching staff with Bartolo Colon, great hitters, great defenders. What do the Dodgers have? Eric Gagne, a closing pitcher. Then there’s my NCAA bracket which is looking just about as good as Marlon Brando’s decomposing body.