goingyard

Lakers in 6. That has been my rallying call since game one in the Western Conference Finals.

The Los Angeles Lakers ended up beating the Denver Nuggets in 6 games. How lucky am I? I can tell you that luck had nothing to do with the Lakers winning. They did it by learning from their mistakes in the past. From facing adversity. From growing into a championship calibur club. The Denver Nuggets are not ready to make that step yet. And I don’t believe neither the Cavs nor the Magic are ready either.

Another big step is the maturity of Kobe Bryant. And I’m not talking about his stats (although it is nice to see such balance). I’m talking about his leadership. Time and time again Kobe lead the team. By letting players know when they made a mistake, when they made the right move, and he reminded them what their main goal was. And this team responds to that.

The Lakers will only lose the championship if they lose the championship. In other words, they won’t lose it because the Cavs or Magic play better. They will only lose it if the Lakers don’t show up. Neither one of those teams is better than the Celtics last year and I think this Laker team might have beaten that team also.

So I’m saying it now. If the Lakers play the Cavs they will win in 6. If they play the Magic they will win it in 5.

That is unless A) they don’t show up or B) an injury occurs. Mark my words.

I had bought tickets to last nights game a couple of months ago. Who would have known I was going to attend the first suspended game for Manny.

The mood of the fans entering Dodger Stadium was a somber one. The crowd seemed very subdued. That  feeling quickly went away after the first inning. The Dodgers came out swinging.They built a 6 - 0 lead with the help of a grand slam home run by Matt Kemp. The crowd woke up and it was a great feeling to be amongst craziness in the stands.

The euphoria disappeared when the Nationals took the lead in the 8th and never looked back. The Dodgers bull pen obviously didn’t hear the same speech the offense heard in the locker room before the game. The Dodgers clawed their way back and almost pulled off a come back victory but ultimately fell short.

If nothing else this showed that the Dodgers are not going to just lay down their bats and wait for July 3rd to arrive. They will move on without Manny. And they will be a better team for it.

I’m tired of hearing all these ex NBA players and NBA analyst say that what Derek Fisher did against Luis Scola was a horrible thing. Your wrong. It may not have been the smartest thing he’s done but it was not the dumbest either.

The ting all of you have missed is that Fish was defending one of his own. He was telling the Rocket’s that if you mess with one of us, you mess with all of us. Team unity is what he was preaching. Missing one game won’t hurt the Lakers.

I doubt any of the Rockets would do the same for Ron Artest.

In case you have been living in a bubble and have not heard yet, Manny Ramirez has been suspended 50 games by Major League Baseball for testing positive for a performance enhancing drug. Per Section 8.G.2 of the Program.

Here are the facts as of today (10:36 am, May 7 2009): Manny suspended 50 games. Tested positive. He will not fight the suspension. He will be eligible to be back July 3rd. Manny will be losing 1/3 of his salary (around 7.7 million dollars) from his 45 million dollar contract. Xavier Paul will be called up from triple A to take Manny’s roster spot.

Here is what is not known: What Manny tested positive for. According to Manny, in a statement he released earlier , that he was given a prescription drug from a physician for a personal illness. The doctor thought this medication was not on the banned list. And they are also saying it was not a steroid.

Being a Dodger fan I hope that what Manny is saying is true. I really really want to believe it. But it’s almost like “here we go again”. Another great baseball player showing us he’s not so great. What Manny needs to do now is come out with everything. Have the doctor come out and speak, tell us what ailment he has, show us the prescription, and let us know what drug he took. If he can’t or doesn’t do that, why should we believe him?