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Random Notes - June 28, 2002 
I was in attendance for Saturday and Sunday's games between the Red Sox and Dodgers at Dodger Stadium. The Red Sox
faithful were there in full force, but the weekend turned out to be total wash for the Sox as they found new and
exciting ways to lose close ballgames to National League foes. The worst part of the weekend for Sox fans,
however, was dealing with the taunts from the Dodger "fans" for three straight days. In case you don't know,
Los Angeles sports fans are far and away - probably by a factor of five - the most fair-weather fans on the planet.
When the local teams win, the people of LA start attending games. They gloat and brag about players that they
had never heard of before the winning started. They fly flags featuring the team's logo from their 4-ton SUV's/
status symbols. When the local teams lose, they simply do not care.
As Sox fans, we all know how difficult it is to tolerate the barbs of Yankee fans, but at least there is some acceptance in the fact that New Yorkers are as loyal to their baseball team as we are (I am of course excluding the lowest members of the sports fan food chain - the Yankee fan born and raised in Massachusetts. These people are such vile, traitorous front-runners that even the LA "fans" pale in comparision.). Most Yankee fans can name the players from the dreadful Yankee teams of 1983-1993. Most of the supposed fans in attendance over the weekend couldn't name more that two Dodger players at the start of this season. What's worse is that most of these people were hopped up on arrogance stemming from the Lakers 3rd consecutive NBA Championship. The fact that the title was won with a combination of dumb luck, fortuitous officiating and their opponent's ablity to choke didn't seem to matter to fans of such limited knowledge. On the positive side, in typical LA fashion, the fans fled the scene by about the seventh inning so there weren't as many left to gloat by the end of the game. My only response was to ask "What's your shortstop's name?" which seemed to be an effective comeback because most of them didn't know the answer. I'll remember that next time.
The miserable weekend of baseball (at least from a Sox fan's perspective) was nearly salvaged in the
seventh inning of Sunday's game. I was sitting about ten rows deep in the leftfield seats when Juan Diaz
drilled a two-strike pitch in my direction. As the ball came closer, I carefully secured the nachos in my
right hand as I extended my left hand into the air above me. As the ball moved closer, it was clear that I
would not have a play on it as it would be over my head, so I began to turn and prepare for a possible richochet.
Unfortunately, the
ball landed on an empty seat two rows behind me and remained there for about a second before a grown man in a
Dodgers jersey could wrestle the ball from a couple of ten-year-old boys. The man raised the ball above his
head with pride ... as if he had actually caught it and not simply grabbed it from the top of an empty seat.
Immediately, the Dodger crowd urged the man to throw the ball back onto the field, stealing a tradition of
returning the opposing team's homerun ball to the outfield that began in Wrigley Field many years ago.
The man pondered his dilemma for a few seconds then gave into peer pressure and tossed the ball into leftfield.
Just for the record, to throw the ball back in Wrigley is a great tradition. To throw it back anywhere else is
simply moronic. The story does have a happy ending though because: (a) Juan Diaz was able to keep his first
major league homer as a momento and (b) the brainless Dodger fan who tossed the ball onto the field was
escorted out of the ballpark. That was one of the few victories for Boston's side during the three game sweep.
I'd love to watch the World Cup Finals this weekend but I already have tickets for a paint-drying contest.
I think it's safe to say that a sport is officially boring to watch when the game's highlight package is
a collection of players shooting and missing the net. "Wow, did you see that? He almost scored!"
Thank god this only happens once every four years.
Speaking of boring sports, a couple of weeks ago I flipped to a sports radio station in LA and heard the live
broadcast of a NASCAR race. I could not believe my ears. The dumbest sport on television is now apparently
the dumbest sport on radio. It's got to be a great gig for announcers though. "Left turn, left turn, left
turn, deadly crash, left turn."
NBA Playoff Notes - June 4, 2002
Believe it or not, winning Game 3 after trailing by 21 points in the fourth quarter was the probably
the worst thing that could have happened to the Celtics. They simply didn't play with any sense of
urgency after the dramatic fourth quarter in Game 3. In Games 4 and 5, the Celtics came out flat
and in Game 6, they let a solid first half slip away in the third quarter. In the final three games
of the series, Boston played as if they
could simply flip the switch and make another dramatic comeback. They nearly did in both Game 4 and
Game 5, but they allowed themselves to fall behind by too much. I hate to use one of the tiredest
sports cliches of all-time, but it fits in this case -- the Nets wanted it more.
I Never thought I would say this, but the Celtics sorely missed Vitaly Potapenko in the series
against New Jersey. Vitaly's physical presence would have been a huge benefit to the Celtics who were
trying to defend the inside with three guys (Walker, Rogers, and Williams) who appear to be allergic
to paint and another (Battie) that would probably be outmuscled to the basket by Steve Urkel. The Nets
were able to drive to the basket without absorbing much punishment. Meanwhile, Pierce and Walker were
paying a severe physical price every time they drove to the hoop. By the end of the series, both appeared
much more reluctant to enter the paint, and thus settled for jump shots. Unfortunately for the Celts,
few of those jumpers were going into the basket.
Despite the amazing disappointment of the last three games, it was a great season for the Celtics. Pierce
and Walker both took their game to the next level and Jim O'Brien showed that he is the right guy for
the program. Rodney Rogers could be a key contributor again next year, assuming that the Celtics can sign
him. Both Kenny Anderson and Tony Battie played well at times, especially in the playoffs. The Celtics are
clearly a couple of players away but you can't help but feel good about the team's future. The Eastern
Conference should be much improved next year, but I suspect that so will the Celtics.
It truly sickened me to hear phrases like "heart of a champion", "greatness" and "dynasty" to describe
the Los Angeles Luckers (oops, I mean Lakers) after their seven game victory over Sacramento in the Western
Conference Finals. Everyone outside of Greater Los Angeles knows that LA's appearance in the Finals
this season has little to do with what they did and everything to do with what their opponents did not do.
The Game 7 choke-job by Sacramento would have been about the worst in playoffs history if not for the
three games coughed up by San Antonio in the previous series against the Lakers. Just one look at the
purple and gold along with the number "4" under the word "Period" on the scoreboard caused the
Spurs to wilt, much like last season. The Lakers took Game 1
against the Kings fairly impressively but then relied on a fluke bounce to give Robert Horry a chance
to win Game 4 with under one second remaining. In Game 6, the generous officials handed the Lakers 27
free throws en route to a close win. In Game 7, the Lakers benefitted from a Sacramento free
throw percentage of under 50% in regulation time, enabling to contest to go into overtime. An
overtime played without Vlade Divac, who fouled out on a questionable call. Vlade missed most
of the final 16 minutes of regulation. The Lakers would not have been close to winning had he been
on the floor for even half of that time. Near the end of regulation, a rusty and clearly tense Peja
Stojakovic air-balled an open three-pointer that likely would have won the game. The Kings had open
jump shots all night long, but missed most of them. The delusional people of Los Angeles will go
on thinking that the Lakers are a great team, but anyone who watched the Western Conference playoffs
knows that is far from the truth. Let's not forget that LA's 7th Game victory over the Portland Trail
Blazers in 2000 was only possible because of fortuitious officiating on behalf of the Lakers. Just
ask Arvidas Sabonis and Steve Smith.
Speaking of greatness, some credit needs to be given to Kobe Bryant. I have always thought of him
as this decade's version of Scottie Pippen, a man who succeeded almost entirely because he played
next to the greatest player in history. But Kobe made big shot after big shot during the playoffs
and proved me wrong.
When Shaq was out of gas, Kobe was there to finish it. He's a terrible outside shooter in the first
three quarters, but somehow he can't miss in the last five minutes. Some fools will continue to
use the word "greatness" to describe Shaq. Well, if greatness the ability to toss smaller men out
the way and stuff the ball through the hoop, then yes, he is indeed great. My opinion is that a man
who shoots about 9% from outside a four-foot range is not, in any way, great. However, Shaq is the
most dominant physical force in any pro sport in at least thirty years. When they want to be, Kobe and
Shaq are unstoppable. They need to be, because 3-12 the Lakers are the worst team in the NBA. Take
Kobe and Shaq out of the mix and the Lakers could go 0-82. I'm not kidding.
On Sunday, I heard Peter Vescey say that the Knicks wanted to trade Marcus Camby and New York's pick
(#7 in the draft) to Houston for the #1 pick overall. If this is true, I would have loved to hear
the laughter coming from Houston after that call. I'm not sure I'd give up the 10th
pick for Camby and the #7.
Please note: due to overwhelming demand, the New Jersey Turnpike will be running 1,000 extra bandwagons to
and from the Continental Airlines Arena during the NBA Finals. I wish I had a nickel for everytime
someone in the arena asks "Why isn't Buck Williams starting?" during the NBA Finals. The only thing keeping
the Nets from having the worst fans in pro sports is the Expos.
Speaking of fans, I must give credit to the people who supported the Celtics at the FleetCenter during the
playoffs. Normally, the FleetCenter is filled with people that are either: (a) talking on cell phones and
ignoring the game, (b) trying to make business deals and ignoring the game or (c) booing Antoine Walker
for no good reason, even if the team is up by 30 points. During the Playoffs, however, the atmosphere at the
Fleet was electric much like the old Boston Gah-den in its heyday. The energy clearly sparked the team on
numerous occasions. Hopefully, we'll see more of that in 2002-2003.
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