The Post Mortem

Oh well, at least the hot chick won the French Open.

The NBA had sucked us in (me at least) with the recent hype surround the Lakers and Cellbitch series. Almost enough that you started to wonder why you drifted away from the NBA in the first place. But then Game 2 of the NBA Finals happens and you are reminded why you gave up on it. Like a girlfriend that you take back even though she has cheated on you in the past.

And before we move on, lets consider a couple of things. The NBA is not fixed. They aren't that smart. Being an NBA referee is the hardest thing to do in sports. But holy hell, how do the Celtics shoot something like 20 more free throws in the first half? Don't say because the Lakers are settling for jump shots. The Lakers were attacking the rim in the early going just as vigorously as the Cellbitch, only one team was getting all of the calls. Lamar Odom and Pao Gasol were both going hard to the rim and didn't get anything.

And then you give Kobe a couple of touch fouls in the first quarter? You have to be kidding, right? Kobe gets treated like a Colorado hotel worker every time he touches the ball, and nothing.

This is not sour grapes coming from a Lakers fan. You hate to be the guy who complains about fouls, but good lord that was awful. What's worse is that you know that the Cellbitch are going to be homered out of the gym on Friday (or whenever the hell Game 3 is). That is unavoidable. Is this going to become a series where the home team gets all of the fouls? Lame.

And obviously, the Lakers did get beat to all of the loose balls and were completely out-hustled in this game. But came you blame them? This was akin to being at a blackjack table last night in Las Vegas. The dudes winning have no problems high-fiving people and making a ruckus. The dude who is losing will likely go pass out in a plate of $0.25 chicken wings.

Photo from Busted Coverage.

• The referees realize that Kobe is the league MVP, right? This almost smacked of elementary school where the kid who was a little behind in class was given four strikes when you were playing kickball. Like the referees wanted to send the Boston crowd home happy.

• To make matters worse for the Lakers, Doc Buss lost in the first day of his seven-card poker tournament at the World Series of Poker. Shouldn't he have been in Boston trying to help fix the series for the Lakers?

• Do you think the NFL and NBA made an agreement that if the NFL fixed the Super Bowl so the Patriots would lose, they NBA would respond by making sure the Celtics won the NBA title? Because if you asked a non-partisan person to watch Game 2 of the finals, that person would probably swear he was watching a basketball version of the Longest Yard, with the Cellbitch actually being the prison guards.

• Reader Matt P. notes that in three of the Lakers playoff losses this season, the Angels have lost on the same day to walk-off home runs. Maybe it's time to suspend the Angels schedule.

AND FINALLY
Which will happen first, Kobe will get sent to the free throw line in the NBA Finals, or they will finally build this bullet train to Las Vegas? With all of that grant money, can't they build thing by the end of the summer?