A sense of dread had been hanging over me for a few weeks now. The Lakers aren’t going to win a championship. And Kobe Bryant is not going to win another MVP title.
Entries from April 2009
Lakers’ Grim Reality: Cavs, LeBron Stand in Way
April 12th, 2009 · 4 Comments · Basketball, Kobe, Lakers
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The Angels, and Skill in Handling a Crisis
April 11th, 2009 · 4 Comments · Angels, Baseball
I was around the Nick Adenhart story for two days. The Angels’ young right-hander, their best pitching prospect, died early Thursday morning after being involved in a grinding auto accident in Fullerton, when a guy driving with a suspended license, apparently drunk, ran a red light and slammed into the small car Adenhart and three […]
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Adenhart, Day 2
April 10th, 2009 · No Comments · Angels, Baseball, Sports Journalism
I went to Angel Stadium this afternoon to listen to Mike Scioscia, Mike Butcher and two players talk about Nick Adenhart, and to see how the Angels dealt with the issue in the hours leading up to their game with the Boston Red Sox. I covered this for the New York Times, as well. You […]
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Nick Adenhart: 1986-2009
April 9th, 2009 · 4 Comments · Angels, Baseball
I was looking at the early stories on the death of the Angels’ prize pitching prospect, Nick Adenhart, when someone in the sports department of the New York Times called and asked me if I could get on the story, and then I was off and running. Funny, but right off I was thinking it […]
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Two Reasons Why the Galaxy Can’t Be This Bad
April 8th, 2009 · 6 Comments · soccer
1. Bruce Arena 2. Landon Donovan I just have trouble coming to grips with the idea that a Major League Soccer team led by Bruce Arena and featuring Landon Donovan can be wretched. It just cannot be. Though the results, to date, seem to indicate otherwise.
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A Dull and Dreary NCAA Tournament
April 7th, 2009 · 2 Comments · Basketball
Is it rude of me to have noticed? The NCAA Tournament just concluded, Monday night … sucked Minimal drama. No Goliaths slain by Davids. Just a couple of semi-big guys defeated by semi-small people, who were then immediately ushered out in the next game. Capped by a blowout in the championship game. The point of […]
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Sign of the Apocalypse: Linking to “Cosmo”
April 6th, 2009 · No Comments · Baseball, Dodgers, Lists
And, no. It’s not Cosmo Kramer. I’m linking to Cosmopolitan magazine, which is to sports what Sports Illustrated is to hedge funds. Cosmo usually is about how to find a man or steal one from someone else, and how women can manipulate men. Key stuff. Anyway, Cosmo strayed into baseball this week, and it’s not […]
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Harassing Joggers: I Get It … But I Don’t Understand It
April 5th, 2009 · 12 Comments · Uncategorized
This is weird behavior. What goes through the mind of someone who makes a point of harassing a jogger? What mental process deems it OK to treat a jogger with a sort of aggression so overt that it would be viewed as an invitation to fight, in almost any other circumstance? I don’t get harassed […]
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The Cuddly Dodgers, Such as They Are
April 4th, 2009 · 3 Comments · Baseball, Dodgers
This is the team I grew up with and, in theory, remain a fan of. As noted before on this blog, anyone who has spent time covering a professional sports team as a working journalist … well, that person loses the ability to think of pro athletes with any regard. Let alone admiration or (gag!) […]
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Draft Night, 2009: Yes, Another Fantasy Baseball Post
April 3rd, 2009 · 3 Comments · Angels, Baseball, Dodgers, Fantasy Baseball, Lists
We had the 28th annual Sun Baseball League draft the other night. And before I go any further, I am reminded of a comment I overheard while covering the 2006 Winter Olympics at Turin — and may even have had on this blog somewhere, sometimes. I’m not exactly sure who said this, but I believe […]
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