Saturday, October 4, 2008

Cubs cursed again as Dodgers sweep NLDS


Los Angeles, CA (Sports Network) - The Dodgers broke a 20-year postseason spell with a shocking sweep, while extending the playoff futility for the Chicago Cubs to a century without a championship.

James Loney doubled in two runs in the first inning and Russell Martin had an RBI double in the fifth, backing the strong pitching of Hiroki Kuroda as Los Angeles moved to the National League Championship Series with a 3-1 victory over the Cubs.

The Dodgers swept the best-of-five Division Series against the team with the top record in the National League and will face either Milwaukee or Philadelphia in the NLCS. The Brewers staved off elimination in the other first-round series with a 4-1 win Saturday, forcing Game 4 Sunday.

Kuroda (1-0) allowed six hits, walked two and had four strikeouts in 6 1/3 innings, consistently dodging trouble as the Dodgers swept a postseason set for the first time since beating the New York Yankees in the 1963 World Series. This was also the Dodgers' first postseason series triumph since 1988 when they beat Oakland to win the Fall Classic.

Jonathan Broxton retired the side in order in the ninth inning to get the save, fanning Alfonso Soriano to end it and sending the Dodgers into celebratory mode on the field before their frenzied fans.

It was also a sweet moment for Manny Ramirez and Joe Torre. Ramirez, acquired in mid-season from Boston, walked twice, singled and scored on Saturday. Torre, in his first year as manager of the team, has the Dodgers roaring again.

Despite winning 97 games during the regular season, the Cubs couldn't carry that momentum into the playoffs. They were outscored 20-6 in the sweep and lost their ninth straight playoff game since an infamous collapse during the 2003 NLCS against the Florida Marlins. The Cubs haven't won the World Series since 1908.

Rich Harden (0-1), acquired by the Cubs this season from Oakland, gave up five hits and three runs before being lifted with one out in the fifth inning.

Derrek Lee had three hits and scored the lone run for the Cubs on a pinch-hit single by Daryle Ward in the eighth inning, but the Cubs left nine men on base and went 1-for-11 with runners in scoring position. Soriano finished 1-for-14 in the series.

Lakers' Pau Gasol, Andrew Bynum get acquainted


By Mike Bresnahan, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
October 4, 2008

Pau Gasol doesn't smile blissfully on the way to work every day. He swears it's true.

The veteran forward-center is experiencing his first training camp with the Lakers after six and a half seasons in Memphis.

Preseason predictions have the Grizzlies near the bottom of the Western Conference, again. The Lakers, on the other hand, are the popular choice to win the West, if not the NBA Finals.

Not that Gasol is celebrating.

"Probably I did last year for the first month or so [after the trade], but I'm a guy that I always look forward no matter what, no matter how good things are, no matter how bad things are," he said.

His midseason acquisition energized the Lakers and helped them get through the rough-and-rumble West in the playoffs. He never played with Andrew Bynum until now. He likes what he sees.

"We're starting to develop our relationship on the court," Gasol said. "He's a young, talented man with a lot of potential. Hopefully he'll be able to explode this year and be able to produce a lot and I'll be able to do the same."

Already, Bynum and Gasol have a system in place on defense. Whichever one doesn't get the rebound sprints to the other end and establishes post position, as per Coach Phil Jackson's wishes.

It has been a long year for Gasol, who joined Kobe Bryant as the two Lakers who kept going after the NBA Finals. Gasol played in the Olympics for Spain, which lost to the U.S. in the gold-medal game, 118-107.

When that was over, Gasol rested for 16 days after consulting with a trainer and physical therapist. He then began strength exercises for his ankles, back, knees and shoulders, though Jackson said Gasol needed to do more running.

"He's not in the kind of shape Kobe's in, so he needs some conditioning work," Jackson said. "When he took off after the Olympics, he took off. He hasn't done much."

Said Gasol: "The legs in training camp get a little tired, a little sore, a little heavy, but you get through it."

Gasol correctly pointed out that it's how you finish a season, not how you start it in October.

And he laughed when asked if he and Bynum would each average 20 points and 10 rebounds a game.

"That'd be nice, but we still have Mr. Bryant on the team," he said. "We have so many weapons out there that one night there's going to be one guy the defense is not paying as much attention to, or one guy that has a better night than others. But we all should produce consistently well."

Sun not contagious

Rookie guard Sun Yue has been cleared to practice with the Lakers after doctors determined that his type of mononucleosis was no longer contagious.

Sun, a second-round pick of the Lakers in 2007, will still battle fatigue but has been allowed to join the team at training camp.

"The doctor said I've just recovered and still need a lot of time to rest, but I don't want to miss much in camp," Sun said. "So I've come here to see what I can do. I can run, but I still feel weak."

Sun, who signed a two-year deal with the Lakers, practiced with the team during non-contact drills Friday morning.

Sun, 22, started for the Chinese national team in last month's Olympics but was not expected to be a rotation player this season because he lacked NBA-level experience. If he doesn't get any playing time, he might be sent down to the Lakers' Development League team, the D-Fenders.

"He's a talented young guy and he's drawn the attention of our crack scouts and personnel people, so we want to see what kind of evaluation they gave him and if he fits in our system," Jackson said.

Etc.

Luke Walton might begin scrimmaging with the team early next week, Jackson said. Walton, who had off-season ankle surgery, has been taking part only in non-contact drills. . . . Jackson has been keeping tabs on the Dodgers as they try to win a playoff series for the first time in 20 years. "Manny [Ramirez] hit a home run the other night that was pretty stupid. Guy hits the ball off his shoe tops and it goes out like 400 feet. Pretty ridiculous."

Friday, October 3, 2008

Dodger Playoff pics Round 1 games 1 & 2

Lakers to open training camp with recently signed Sun Yue sidelined

LOS ANGELES, Sept. 30 (Xinhua) -- The Los Angeles Lakers will begin their training camp with recently signed guard Sun Yue sidelined indefinitely because of mononucleosis, the team said on Tuesday.

A doctor's appointment planned for Monday was rescheduled for Tuesday because of a high fever, according to John Black, the team's executive vice president of public relations.

The Lakers drafted the 6-foot-9 Sun, a member of China's national team, in the second round of the 2007 NBA Draft and signed him to a two-year contract on Aug. 25.

The Lakers will practice twice daily through Sunday and once on Monday, then begin exhibition play Tuesday against the Utah Jazz at Anaheim's Honda Center in Los Angeles. They will play their two exhibition games at Staples Center in downtown Los Angeles Oct. 18-19.

They will open the regular season Oct. 28 against the Portland Trail Blazers at Staples Center.

"We're the favorites for a reason," Kobe Bryant, the NBA's Most Valuable Player Award winner for the 2007-2008, said.

"That's one of the things I tell the guys... We've got all the tools here, we've got all the pieces to the puzzle, now it's on us to do the work. If we do that work, we should win it."

Jackson's designation stems in large measure from the team's reconstituted front line.

Andrew Bynum will return as the starting center after missing the final 46 games of the 2007-2008 regular season and all of the playoffs because of a knee injury that eventually required surgery.

Pau Gasol, the starting center after Bynum's injury, will move to power forward, and Lamar Odom will shift from power forward to small forward.

Gasol, acquired in a trade after Bynum's injury, has never played with Bynum.

Gasol will spend some time at center when Bynum is on the bench and Odom will also play some at power forward.

"We have to figure some things out before we'll know we're going to go in the regular season," Jackson said. "We need some answers. We probably won't have them all until the first couple weeks of the season."

In an interview Monday, Bynum pronounced himself "100 percent" recovered from the knee surgery. However, Jackson said Bynum needs to regain the necessary stamina.

"(He) has lost the edge of how to play continual basketball from A to Z," Jackson said. "He's still just in the playground stage here. We'll see if he can get to that level where you compete every moment you're on the court."

The Lakers "were probably a year ahead of schedule" in reaching last season's NBA Finals, where they lost to the Boston Celtics, four games to two, but "we jelled well at the end of the season and played up to a potential that was higher than I expected," Jackson said.

A goal for this season is "not to be complacent and come back and have that same desire," Jackson said.

The 2008-2009 Lakers will "be deeper, a little bit quicker, we're going to be bigger as a basketball team," Jackson said. "There's a lot of things that's going to give us that tensile strength that we lacked in the sixth game where they took the game away from us right from the start," referring to a 131-92 loss in the final game.

Wretched at Wrigley (game 2)


CHICAGO – The morgue was empty, except for the two men smacking dirt off shoes.

They stood to the side, away from the Chicago Cubs lockers, and struck each pair with a steel brush, thwack-thwack, thwack-thwack, like a drumbeat to which the Cubs marched out.

First there was Jim Edmonds, in his 17th major-league season, and he said he was ashamed. And then came Rich Harden, the pitcher, who said he barely could watch the carnage. And finally the rest of them: Derrek Lee and Mark DeRosa and Ryan Theriot and Aramis Ramirez, the Cubs’ infield from right to left, all culprits in the messiest, ugliest, most harrowing defeat of the year, the one that reinforced the suffocating sense of doom that chokes Wrigley Field every time it’s graced with baseball in October.

This was no curse. Just a disaster.

The 10-3 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers on Thursday night left the Cubs with an 0-2 deficit in the National League Division Series and the task of winning three consecutive games – including the next two at Dodger Stadium – to save their season. The overwhelming favorite in the NL – the 97-win juggernaut, the team upon which destiny was smiling, the one that would break the championship drought before it reached 100 years – self-destructed in spectacular fashion.

“It’s embarrassing,” outfielder Alfonso Soriano said. “Everybody’s upset. We had the best team in the regular season. Now we play like we don’t know how to play the game.”

The gaffes, the tragicomic sort patented by the Cubs, came with the fury of a god scorned. DeRosa botched a double-play ball at second base that would’ve allowed Carlos Zambrano to escape the second inning unscathed, and Lee followed with an uncharacteristic mangling of a ground ball at first base, and eventually a bases-clearing double from Russell Martin staked the Dodgers to a 5-0 advantage.

ADVERTISEMENT

Ramirez followed with an error in the fourth inning and Theriot with his own in the ninth, completing the trapezoid of ineptitude. Certainly no playoff team ever had seen all four of its infielders botch routine defensive plays in the same game.

History reserves some things for the Cubs.

“It’s like we might as well not have had gloves out there,” Lee said. “We just couldn’t catch the ball.”

So this is what becomes of the most promising Cubs season since, what, 1984? Maybe 1969? No. Probably 1945, a 98-win outfit managed by a man named Charlie Grimm, appropriately enough.

The city, panicking after a 7-2 loss to Los Angeles in Game 1, suffered through Thursday’s with the grace granted the familiar. They booed, sure, and each was deserved, whether for the errors or the clueless Kosuke Fukudome or even the comical moments when catcher Geovany Soto twice bounced throws back to Zambrano. One man braved the nippy weather and ran around bare-chested urging a nine-run rally in the ninth inning, only to see the Cubs manage two. The organist, bless his heart, tried to stir some action in the crowd of 42,136.

He might as well have been playing “Taps.”

“It wasn’t fun to watch,” Cubs manager Lou Piniella said, “I can tell you that.”

Piniella called Games 1 and 2 the two worst the Cubs had played all season, and it was tough to argue. The Cubs’ infield had been steady, if not spectacular, and to see it disappear like flash paper confused everybody.

“I’m not surprised,” Zambrano said. “I’m shocked.”

He was one of the first to leave, the unopened bottle of Champagne still in his locker. Irony a cruel witch, Zambrano, ever the live wire, actually was the most stable Cub in Game 2. He would recount his evening to friends and family via the Bluetooth headset in his ear, followed by Soriano and his 30-diamond necklace, Ramirez and his two suitcases and reliever Carlos Marmol and his black leather cap.

By that time, well past midnight, DeRosa was the only Cub still in uniform. The morgue was silent again. The six TVs in the room were off, the four ceiling fans whirring, wet towels all over the floor, Wrigley itself perhaps saying goodbye for the 93rd time in its 93 seasons without knowing the celebration of a World Series title.

On the back wall, a scrolling ticker, designed to keep the team abreast of that day’s top sports news, revealed its pixelated news. One item spooled through, taunting anyone who dare look:

Cubs have not won playoff game since Game 4 of NLCS in 2003, it read.

Underneath the ticker was a sign, spelled out in big, red capital letters, with an arrow pointing toward the door. It said EXIT.

Wednesday, October 1, 2008

Kobe Bryant - Media Day talk


What a difference a 365-ish days makes. Right around this time last season, Kobe Bryant was barely masking his dissatisfaction with the Laker front office and barely bothering to fake any enthusiasm about kicking off the season. One year (and a blossomed Andrew Bynum/stolen Pau Gasol/solidified bench/returning Derek Fisher and a Finals appearance) later, dude's happy as an ectasy-addicted clam about life in the purple and Gold lane. There was more smiles and wit on display than any hint of trepidation, and talk of the Lakers being among the creme de elite sits just fine with him. "We're the favorites for a reason. That's one of the things I told the guys. We've got all the tools. We've got all the pieces of the puzzle. Now it's on us to do the work. If we do the work, we should win it."

Kobe discussed topics ranging from the notion of him playing in Europe (as BK and I have both said, it's a purely media-driven, far-fetched scenario) to playing fewer minutes in America (he can handle 40-43 mpg no problem, but decreasing them is always a mutual Mamba/PJ goal) to being 30 (which, as he put it, is "the new 20"). He also provided more info about his un-surgeried pinkie, which he feels will need to endure an nearly identical hit as the one causing the original injury for him to miss time. "The scar tissue has settled. It's pretty thick right now." That particular nugget provided some relief for me, as I've been through a similar situation after tearing my ACL and cartilage in a skiing accident. Originally, the doctor thought I would need separate surgeries for each ailment, but when it came time to go under the knife, my ligament had almost entirely re-scarred itself, which led to an easier rehab and quicker recovery. Thus, playing through the condition now seems less potentially risky than I thought back in early September.

NLDS breakdown: Dodgers vs. Cubs

Cubs at bat: This is the National League's best run-scoring lineup, and why not? Even without career years from some of its core people, there is tremendous lineup depth here, particularly with the emergence of catcher Geovany Soto. The Cubs have power, but they also can play small ball. This is the North Siders' most versatile, most effective lineup within recent memory. Or longer. One possible problem looms. The Cubs are predominantly right-handed, and they'll be going against at least three right-handed starters -- Derek Lowe, Chad Billingsley and Hiroki Kuroda -- each of whom has been pitching effectively. Lowe has been especially good, not losing a decision since August. His heavy sinker could seriously limit the production of any lineup, even this one.

Dodgers at bat: When the rest of the world thinks about the Dodgers at bat, over the past two months that has been Manny Ramirez. His performance has gone from Hall of Fame in waiting to otherworldly. But there is much more going on for the Dodgers. The development of Andre Ethier, Matt Kemp, Russell Martin and James Loney as run producers has certainly been aided by Ramirez's presence in the L.A. lineup, but these are talented young players and they are making an impact. But they'll be facing a very strong Chicago rotation. Game 1 starter Ryan Dempster has been virtually unbeatable at Wrigley Field. Rich Harden, when he is healthy and on his game, is one of the best in the game. Lefty Ted Lilly has been brilliant late in the season, and he is just the fourth starter. The "X" factor may be the nominal ace, Carlos Zambrano. He threw a no-hitter against Houston, but then, he was roughed up in his next two starts.

Key late-game matchups:
1. It's a natural. Ramirez against Cubs closer Kerry Wood. Power against power. Wood has almost miraculously regained the mid-to-upper 90s velocity that seemed lost forever. He has not been unhittable this season, but he presents serious problems, between that velocity and a nasty slider. With Ramirez having two of the best months of his career -- or anybody's career -- and Wood back in the form that once made him a strikeout phenom, this would be a classic ninth-inning matchup, particularly in October.

2. On the other side, a similar matchup beckons, Alfonso Soriano against the Dodgers' flamethrower, Jonathan Broxton. Soriano was a target for abuse early in the season when he wasn't hitting, and his defensive shortcomings were magnified. But he hit his way back into the good graces of Cubs fans. He's a streaky hitter who is capable of being a game-changer for weeks at a time. The Cubs can only hope that one of those streaks occurs in October. Broxton, whose stuff parallels that of Wood, has also been less than impenetrable, but his stuff can be overpowering. A matchup between Broxton and Soriano with the game on the line would be another moment fully worthy of October baseball.

Secret weapon


Edmonds

Cubs center fielder Jim Edmonds. The veteran rejuvenated his career with the Cubs this summer. He's a candidate for secret weapon because he's been here before and because, with the right-handed nature of the most of the Chicago lineup, he's going to see a number of favorable pitching matchups. Kosuke Fukudome could fit in the same category, but his work in the second half does not encourage this outlook.

Achilles' heel
Many of the Dodgers' central performers are young, and they're inexperienced at this level. Maybe the pressure causes them to press, they swing at something other than strikes, the overall performance suffers. The reassuring and supremely experienced postseason presence of manager Joe Torre should help in this regard, but the phenomenon of young players struggling in the postseason is always a postseason possibility.

The Cubs will win if ... they simply play the way they've been playing all year. They have no dramatic weaknesses and they have numerous strengths. They were the best team in the NL's regular season by a substantial distance. They're supposed to win. And you know what? Maybe, at long last, it's their turn.

The Dodgers will win if ... their pitching staff delivers. In October, as the saying goes, good pitching beats good hitting. The underdog Dodgers will need their staff to deliver.

Friday, September 19, 2008

E60 - Reggie Love From Duke To Washington

E60 - Reggie Love From Duke To Washington


Reggie Love, a former Duke University football and basketball player, tried to make it in the NFL, but after tryouts with the Green Bay Packers and Dallas Cowboys fizzled in 2004 and 2005, he landed a job on U.S. Sen. Barack Obama's staff, starting in the mail room and rising to his current position as his personal aide.

Rachel Nichols gets an all-access pass on the campaign trail. Through interviews with Love and Obama along the way, we'll show you just what a body man does, how Love finds himself now in a position of a lifetime, and the bond that has formed between Love and the Illinois senator.

Monday, September 15, 2008

Matt Kemp and James Loney on Best Damn sports show period



Matt Kemp and James Loney on Best Damn sports show period talk about baseball and playing with Manny Ramirez.

Friday, March 28, 2008

LeBron James vs. Stephon Marbury "Shoe War"



Gezus Zaire analizes LeBron James' comments on the low price of Stephon Marbury's "Starbury" shoe on his radio show BPRN, in Cleveland!

By MARC BERMAN

March 30, 2007 -- Stephon MarburyStephon Marbury gave his sneaker rebuttal to LeBron James and said the Cavaliers superstar didn't do his "homework."

James, who has a $90 million endorsement contract with Nike, took a shot at the quality of Marbury's sneaker/apparel line before Wednesday's KnicksNew York Knicks game. The discounted Starbury shoes go for $14.98 and his T-shirts and sweatshirts for $9.99. By comparison, James' Zoom LeBron IV retails for $150 and a James' T-shirt for $55.

"I laughed," Marbury told The Post when he saw the remarks. "I'd rather own than be owned. When he retires, he's not going to own anything.

"I don't think he did his homework," Marbury added. "We're putting out the same stuff he's putting out, just at an affordable price. But I understand that he's got to say that because it's part of the business."

James said Wednesday he would never have a discount line.

"Me being with Nike, we hold our standards high. And we do a great job of putting out great merchandise, great shoes. It does come with a price that is pretty high, but at the same time you're getting great quality for it."

Marbury, who makes $17 million this season on his Knicks' contract, said he's not in it for the money. James is making $5.8M on the tail end of his rookie-scale deal.

Wednesday, March 26, 2008

LeBron-Gisele Vogue cover draws criticism


NEW YORK (AP) - When Vogue announced its April cover starring LeBron James and Gisele Bundchen, the magazine noted with some fanfare that James was the first black man to grace its cover.

But the image is stirring up controversy, with some commentators decrying the photo as perpetuating racial stereotypes. James strikes what some see as a gorilla-like pose, baring his teeth, with one hand dribbling a ball and the other around Bundchen's tiny waist.

It's an image some have likened to "King Kong" and Fay Wray.

"It conjures up this idea of a dangerous black man," said Tamara Walker, 29, of Philadelphia.

Photographer Annie Leibovitz shot the 6-foot-9 NBA star and the 5-foot-11 Brazilian model for the cover and an inside spread. Vogue spokesman Patrick O'Connell said the magazine "sought to celebrate two superstars at the top of their game" for the magazine's annual issue devoted to size and shape.

"We think LeBron James and Gisele Bundchen look beautiful together and we are honored to have them on the cover," he said.

James told The (Cleveland) Plain Dealer he was pleased with the cover, saying he was "just showing a little emotion."

"Everything my name is on is going to be criticized in a good way or bad way," James told the paper. "Who cares what anyone says?"

But magazine analyst Samir Husni believes the photo was deliberately provocative, adding that it "screams King Kong." Considering Vogue's influential history, he said, covers are not something that the magazine does in a rush.

"So when you have a cover that reminds people of King Kong and brings those stereotypes to the front, black man wanting white woman, it's not innocent," he said.

O'Connell, the Vogue spokesman, declined further comment.

In a column at ESPN.com, Jemele Hill called the cover "memorable for all the wrong reasons." But she said in an interview that the image is not unusual — white athletes are generally portrayed smiling or laughing, while black sports figures are given a "beastly sort of vibe."

For example, former NBA star Charles Barkley was depicted breaking free of neck and wrist shackles on the cover of Sports Illustrated. Dennis Rodman graced the cover of Rolling Stone with horns poking out of his forehead and his red tongue hanging out.

Images of black male athletes as aggressive and threatening "reinforce the criminalization of black men," said Damion Thomas, assistant professor in the Department of Kinesiology at University of Maryland.

But others say the image show James' game face — nothing more. And they note that Bundchen hardly looks frightened.

"James is a huge, black beautiful masculine statue and Gisele is a feminine, sexy gorgeous doll," said Christa Thomas, 36, a black account supervisor in Los Angeles.

"I didn't see any kind of racist overtone to it," she said. "I still don't. I think there is such a hypersensitivity to race still in this country."

Husni said it is too soon to know how the magazine is selling, though the controversy could increase sales as people rush out to get a "collector's edition."

If nothing else, Walker said the cover underscores the need for a more diverse workplace.

"If more people of color worked for Vogue in positions of editorial authority, perhaps someone in the room might have been able to read the image the way so many of us are reading it now, and had the power to do something about it," she said.

Youtube uploads by officiallakersdotcom