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Entries from June 2009

Print Column from Lakers-Magic, Game 2

June 9th, 2009 · No Comments · Basketball, Kobe, Lakers, NBA

Kind of old news. But here is the link to the column I wrote for the Temecula Californian out of Game 2 of the NBA Finals. With Game 3 only a few hours away, it seems to me the key will be if the Lakers can match the enthusiasm and intensity that playing at home […]

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Magic Fans: Stop Whining about Gasol ‘Goaltending’

June 8th, 2009 · 2 Comments · Basketball, Kobe, Lakers, NBA

By “Magic Fans” I am, in this case, talking about two ESPN.com correspondents who are making a big deal out of Pau Gasol wrapping one finger around the rim on Courtney Lee’s missed layup at the buzzer in regulation in Game 2 of the Lakers-Magic series on Sunday. Point 1: That shot was not going […]

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A Close Call, but Lakers Now in Charge

June 7th, 2009 · 1 Comment · Basketball, Kobe, Lakers, NBA

The Lakers damn near lost this one. If Courtney Lee catches that end-of-regulation lob from Hedo Turkoglu perhaps six inches farther away from the backboard, he scores at the buzzer, the Lakers lose … and the NBA Finals is 1-1 as it shifts to Orlando. Instead … Lee caught the ball a little too deep, […]

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Some Changes Made: U.S. 2, Honduras 1

June 7th, 2009 · 4 Comments · soccer

Hard to believe this was the same team that stunk up the joint in San Jose, Costa Rica, three days before. Then again, it wasn’t the same team. Neither in its makeup nor its formation. U.S. coach Bob Bradley made a half-dozen lineup changes that could be described as  “deeply inspired.” I prefer “stunningly obvious.” […]

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Interviews and the Lost Art of the Succinct Question

June 6th, 2009 · 10 Comments · Journalism, Sports Journalism

A major component of journalism is asking questions. We want to know. We have a source or an authority or a witness in front of us, and we need information from that person to improve our stories, or even to make them possible. Generally, journalists are in a hurry. Often, their time is limited. The […]

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Secore’s Take on Costa Rica 3, USA 1

June 5th, 2009 · 6 Comments · soccer

Damian Secore and I worked together in San Bernardino in an earlier life. He always has been a soccer guy, courtesy of his English mother, I believe. He was my co-driver on a hare-brained scheme from 2005, our “drive across Mexico to see the U.S. play a qualifier at Azteca” event. So he’s not only […]

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Lakers in 7 … Because of Kobe

June 4th, 2009 · 1 Comment · Basketball, Kobe, Lakers, NBA

I’ve been thinking about this since Orlando clinched. Lakers or Magic? Magic or Lakers? Back and forth, I’ve gone. Back and forth. And now we’re just hours from tipoff. My first notion is … Magic.

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That Was Ugly: Costa Rica 3, U.S. 1

June 3rd, 2009 · 4 Comments · soccer, World Cup

It was almost as if the U.S. national soccer team was channeling the Lakers: Hardly showing up for a road game they really didn’t have to win — and getting hammered. It’s tough to play in Costa Rica. The Ticos are one of the top three soccer nations in CONCACAF, and carried into the match […]

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The China Daily: I’ll Never Be That Desperate

June 3rd, 2009 · 6 Comments · Beijing Olympics, Newspapers, Sports Journalism

It looks like it might be a good job. A print journalism job. Titled. Overseas. Maybe a real salary. The sort of job any of the thousands of print journos thrown out of the business in the past couple of years might find attractive. The ad is for a pair of openings at the China […]

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