The Post Mortem

Funny thing, anytime a guy beats Tiger Woods in a major, he always seems to react the same way an adolescent does after beating his dad for the first time. There seems to be a little bit of shock more than anything else. Many of us sitting at home were surprised that Tiger did not win the thing, probably none more than Angel Cabrera. The thing that blows for Cabrera is that people will now talk about how Tiger lost the thing rather than Angel coming in to win this thing.

And as much as the golfers complained about the conditions, it was refreshing to see. The everyday hacker can relate to nailing a good tee shot, flubbing a chip and leaving it on the fringe, then blowing the next shot. That, to most of us, is golf. Keep it coming.

ANGELS OWN FREEWAY

Beating the Dodgers on the field is about as significant as beating the Kansas City Royals. The Angels are a better team in terms of starting pitching, bullpen and offense, so the outcome is no surprise. The Angels can beat the Dodgers playing an American League style, and they also proved they are a better National League, too. So really, it's more of a disappointment that the Angels didn't sweep the Dodgers again.

But beating those fans will always be sweet. Well, that is if there were any Dodgers fans at Chavez Ravine this weekend. The stands behind home plate were a sea of red-clad Angels fans. The only time the idiot Dodgers fans were vocal came when Casey Kotchman was hit in the head and injured on a botched pickoff attempt. But the way the Dodgers play on the field, you almost can�t fault the fans for wanting to cheer for anything.

That instant karma also came back to bite the Dodgers fans on Sunday as James Loney went face-first into the outfield wall and was taken off on the field via a golf cart.

THANKS KOBE

So Kobe Bryant did all he could to dismantle the Lakers dynasty and now he wants to get out of town? So be it. The vindictive side would like to see Bryant languish in the situation he had a hand in creating. That would only be fair. But the Lakers need to make a few changes. There are calls for Jerry Buss to sell the team to Phil Anschutz. And seeing how great that has worked out for the Los Angeles Kings, that would be an absolutely brilliant move.

For the Clippers.

No, the Lakers should trade Kobe to the Bulls for some of their young talent and a draft pick. People who follow the NBA (like Marcel Mutoni and Sam Rubenstein) could probably cite the players the Lakers should nab from Chicago, and just move forward. Some might note that the Lakers botched its trade of Shaq, and that�s just not true. The Lakers received Lamar Odom and Caron Butler, and hey, that�s a pretty good deal. Until Kobe insisted that the Lakers trade Butler for Kwame Brown. Can't say that Kobe will be missed.

• Boston fans are supposed to be so tough, but Barry Bonds escaped from town without and on-field incident. Weak.

• Redskins draftee LaRon Landry is unable to practice because he was shot in the groin playing paintball. Are these the crippling injuries that has caused Iron Mike Ditka to tear up? Nice job, Redskins. Maybe you should just take Norv Turner back.
  

• For the second consecutive year, the Titans were done in by a base-running blunder at third base. The problem with Fullerton is the same as the Dodgers, they don't have enough punch to score runners. Four base hits to score a single run does not equal success. Pity, Wes Roemer pitched well enough to win. But as stated here before, this tournament is ASU�s to lose. But knowing Coach Murphy, don�t count out a Sun Devils' patented choke-job.

• A couple of shows you should check out, Man vs. Wild on the Discovery Channel and Ice Road Truckers on the History Channel. Obviously they are trying to cash in on the success of the Deadliest Catch, but still pretty cool.

• How much of a mess must your life be if you lose a custody hearing to David Hasselhoff?

AND FINALLY

You would think that if you were a member of a football team that went 2-14 the previous season, you would want to put in a little extra work in the offseason. But that�s not the Raiders way. Some whistle blower (first guess would be Jerry Porter) narced out coach Lane Kiffin and the Raiders have had to halt offseason workouts.

"I was notified that the (NFL) Players (Association) believes our total commitment to improving our football team has resulted in some violations of rules regarding practice standards� The union has complained about the high level of intensity, player aggressiveness and fast pace of our practices and, as a result, has taken away the final week of our offseason program," said Kiffin, the NFL's youngest and least experienced head coach.

Well, the kid just learned a valuable lesson right there. This is going to be a great season for the Raiders.