Well, several somethings. You don’t get to hear the national anthem. Often that’s no loss. But when Davis Gaines (of Phantom of the Opera fame) does it … and just nails it with a voice both supple and powerful … that’s a treat. And this whole pregame thing the Lakers have been doing with the […]

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A big story in the second round of the playoffs has been the total domination by the home team. Everyone plays better at home, but this is getting ridiculous. To the point that the home teams are about to be 18-1, if the Celtics can hold on to any part of that 10-point fourth quarter […]

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Good thing newspapers are dying. Otherwise we wouldn’t be able to get all these folks into the “press” room. I’m in the Chick Hearn press room, as it’s officially named, at Staples Center, and we basically are out of space here in the working area of the place. Every single work space has someone sitting […]

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David Bristow wasn’t meant to be a sports journalist. He is too smart. Too interested in real-world topics. He was meant to make news, not report on it. But for 3-4 years there, he did more than dabble in sports journalism, and we all had a splendid time. David may be as fondly remembered by […]

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Well, nobody much rose to the bait of the rumor tossed my way, of Hearst perhaps about to take over operations of the L.A. Daily News. Nobody within LADN, and that probably is telling. A rumor always is hottest at its source. I labeled it a rumor in a post a day ago, and that’s […]

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(Warning. Sarcasm alert.) Wow. Never saw that coming. O.J. Mayo, most-pimped-college recruit since, oh, forever … might have received “improper benefits” (I believe that is the NCAA term) while playing basketball in his one-and-done Trojans career? I am shocked. Shocked. A guy agents and other sleaze balls have been hanging around since he was a […]

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A former colleague of mine was in a press room yesterday when a rumor came through that Hearst is looking to buy/take over/run the L.A. Daily News, currently the big dog of MediaNews’ L.A. News Group. Anyone know anything about this? This is complete rumor, as of this minute. I don’t see anything about it […]

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The Lakers are a rising tide. Every time you think their popularity has crested … it washes over us again and rolls to greater heights. During their last stretch of serious playoffs runs — 2000-04 — I finally realized, as a sports editor, that the Lakers’ status in the newspaper was this: There is no […]

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How bad can a guy be when he makes you pine for Juan Pierre? When he’s as bad as Andruw Jones. Jones whiffed twice tonight, hit a lazy fly that fell for an error … and saw his average fall to .170. With one homer and four RBI. It’s time for the Dodgers to take […]

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Terrific regular season, in The League. The Celtics breakthrough, the Lakers’ rise, the crazy scrum in the Western Conference. Blockbuster trades. It was going to lead to great playoffs, almost inevitably. Had to. When these great teams begin meeting each other. Oh, yes. Instead, we’re looking at one lopsided game after another, only one seven-game […]

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