The best seat in the house is the view from the couch

The dynasty is over before it ever really had a chance to begin.

The Lakers are no more.

(Wait for it…)

AAAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!

That didn’t take too long now did it? Lose the title, then lose the best player in the game, the most dominant player in the game, one of the best coaches ever, and one of the most consistent power forwards ever, and the only thing that this Los Angeles team has left to show for the season is Gary Payton. They assembled what was supposed to be “The best team ever in the NBA”, a team that was supposed to flirt with 70 or more wins, a team that was supposed to go 16-0 through the playoffs and earn a first ring for Malone and Payton, a fourth for Shaq and Kobe, and a ridiculous 10^th for Phil Jackson, and yet somehow they stumbled into the playoffs, then almost unbelievably made it to the Finals where they were exposed for the mediocre, aging team that they were by a younger, more talented, better overall team in the Detroit Pistons (you remember Detroit, right? You know, the team THAT ACTUALLY WON…)

I’m actually not sorry to see the dismantling of this particular team. I’m excited about the fact that the Eastern Conference has regained a modicum of respectability, small as it may be. I’m positively salivating about the idea of Shaquille O’Neal returning to the Eastern Conference, although I know there’s no chance that he would end up on a team I actually care about. And the two hottest rumors going around the league late last week and into this week center around Kobe Bryant ending up either in Orlando or Boston via sign-and-trades with T-Mac or Paul Pierce plus draft picks, assuming he doesn’t stay in L.A. How great would that be to have the two best players in the league in the same conference, and for once, it WOULDN’T be the West?!

I don’t see it happening; Orlando will part with T-Mac if necessary, but not T-Mac AND the #1 overall pick, which is what it would take to get Kobe. Boston would gladly give up Pierce and 2 or even all 3 of their first-rounders, but they don’t have the cap space. Kobe will remain in L.A. – the only question is, Lakers or Clippers?

Shaq, on the other hand, would have to take a serious pay-cut for any team to afford him. And although he would be a nice fit back in Orlando, the Magic have no way to afford him unless he took the pay cut, or the Lakers agreed to absorb either Grant Hill or T-Mac’s contracts, preferably both. Shaq is owed $60M over the next 2 years, meaning that if the Magic took him without unloading either Hill or McGrady, Orlando would only have the cap space to have about 6 players on their roster. Something tells me that’s not happening…

So anyway, congratulations to the Detroit Pistons for beating the unbeatable. And best of luck to them next year; we all know Boston ain’t got a chance in hell…

RUMORS AND LIES

Very hot rumor coming around the greater Boston area today involving a three-way deal between the Sox, Royals, and A’s. I don’t know how I feel about this deal, but anyway, it goes like this: Red Sox give up either Kevin Youkilis, Kelly Shoppach, or both to K.C. and Scott Williamson and Curtis Leskanic (whom they plan to sign by tomorrow) to the A’s, Oakland gives a couple of low-level minor leaguers to the Royals, and the Royals give Carlos Beltran to Boston.

Here’s the problem. The Red Sox don’t look like they’ll be catching the Yankees anytime soon (yes, I admitted it. But if you ever bring it up again, I’ll deny everything). So that means they’re playing for the wild card, and their primary competition is… Oakland. So why in hell would Theo and the Trio want to help a team whose only major weakness seems to be it’s closer situation? That is beyond me.

Another rumor has an even bigger deal involving essentially the same players, except Boston would also include Johnny Damon (and his remaining salary) to Oakland, who would then flip Damon (and half of his salary) to the Royals, and the A’s would send Barry Zito to Boston, with K.C. still sending Beltran to the east coast. I like this one a bit more…

Finally, the hottest name other than Beltran involved in early trade talks is Freddy Garcia from Seattle. It seems EVERYONE wants this guy, and it looks like the Yankees, somehow, are putting together the best package for Seattle. Apparently this is the precursor deal so that later in the year New York can absolutely rape the Mariners when they essentially steal Bret Boone at the deadline (c’mon, you know its coming…). Anyway, the Yankees are probably going to send Jose Contreras, whom the Mariners front office loves for some reason that no one else can comprehend, along with a minor league catcher to Seattle for Garcia. Dunno, seems like Seattle is getting killed here too…

Other thoughts…

Not many other thoughts this time around, but here goes…

The rubber chickens that San Francisco Giants fans hang every time Barry Bonds draws a walk are perhaps the funniest and most creative things I’ve seen in baseball in a long time. Maybe opposing fans should hang pictures of a scrawny, string-bean looking Bonds in his rookie year every time he hits a ball nine-thousand feet…

I am dumbfounded by the barrage of reporters questioning Phil Mickelson and saying that he choked in the U.S. Open on Sunday, but more so at the people calling his Masters win a fluke. A fluke?! Are you serious? Oh, it’s a shame he only finished SECOND at the U.S. Open. It’s unbelievable how much we have become a country that focuses only on results, not on the entire scope of the event. Mickelson should, and probably will be ranked #1 in the world very soon. Let’s see the detractors them…

I’m not sure which dismantling is more disturbing to me, the 2003-04 Lakers’ or the 1997 Florida Marlins. I guess I’ll have to go with the Marlins, although they at least got enough young players to build a team that was able to win it all again within six years. Only time will tell how the Lakers recover from this debacle…

Last Lakers point: How funny is it that Gary Payton, a man who openly complained that he didn’t want to be in L.A., now looks like the only one of the big five personalities that will be staying around? Now that gives me a chuckle…

Finally, I promised pictures. Click here to see a few pictures of the two newest additions to the Big D family. I adopted Toby and Tucker over the weekend, and I couldn’t be happier. Stop by sometime and say hi to The Boys.

That’s it and that’s all folks. Until next time, I’m out.

posted by Big D @ 12:00 AM