Hello sports lovers, this is my new daily blog (well Monday through Friday at least) to touch on whatever is in the news of the sports world from local high schools to the national stories everyone is talking about. The idea is for you to make this a small part of your workday morning and to join in the conversation by commenting and interacting. So, here we go.
POINT ONE — Lethargic Lakers
It’s hard not to start with that flat Lakers outing last night in a 99-91 loss to the Dirk-less Mavericks. Yikes. Lakers’ fans holding out hope that the winless preseason was meaningless have to at least be a little nervous as it took one game to find out some obvious faults with the team. The offensive continuity will take some time, Dwight Howard’s free-throw shooting will be a problem in the fourth quarter of close games, and the defensive inadequacies can’t all be erased by having Howard hanging out near the rim. Another weird note is that Pau Gasol leads the Lakers in everything, very Magic Johnson like. He outscored Kobe 23-22, outrebounded Howard 13-10 and out-assisted Nash 6 to 4. This effort by the team was at the very least sobering. We know they won’t play this bad every night, but to know that they can play this bad ANY night is disconcerting.
POINT TWO — Thunder-whelming trade
Why did the Oklahoma City Thunder trade James Harden? I get the monetary part, and how the trade can help in the future, but what about right now? This is borrowing a page from the Washington Nationals playbook with how they handled pitcher Stephen Strasburg. It is so rare when you have a team capable of winning a title, you have to do everything you can to win right then. Even if it means mortgaging the future a little. With Harden the Thunder were the clear favorite in the West. Without him they aren’t. Simple.
POINT THREE — Something fishy
The MLB gold gloves were handed out Tuesday and web gem specialist Mike Trout of the Angels was not the center fielder for the AL. It was Adam Jones. Sabermetrically the two are similar, perhaps Jones was given the edge since he played all 162 games. Also it does undermine Trout’s general awesomeness when Mike Scioscia starts Peter Bourjos in center and moves Trout to left when Bourjos starts. Not even the best CF on his own team, nonbelievers can say. I would have chosen Trout.
| POINT FOUR — Playoff time |
| Want to watch some playoff action in the valley today? You can as the fall prep playoff season starts with a pair of home games in the valley as both Palm Desert and Palm Springs host first-round girls’ tennis matches. The Division I field is tough, so the girls can use your support. If you have today off, head to the home of Aztecs and/or Indians and root them on. Action starts at 2 p.m. |
POINT FIVE — Series sweep
Nope. I thought it had been enough time, but it’s still too painful for this Tigers fan to talk about the World Series. Maybe tomorrow.
–Again, the idea of this daily blog is to interact, so if you’re reading this online or on twitter please comment. Let’s have some fun.