I dashed off an item late Monday night, after the Lakers lost Game 1 of their series with Houston. I was determined to catch the 12:07 a.m. Metrolink train back to Long Beach, along with several dozen of my best crazy and drug-addled homeless friends … And, yes, I made it, but only by a […]

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I wrote this game story for the North County Times, out of Game 1 of the Lakers’ series with the Houston Rockets, on Monday night. I expected the Lakers to be angrier, after it was over, but the dominant theme seemed to be surprise. With a dollop of frustration. One school of thought: The Lakers […]

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No great surprise here. No, really. Houston played hard and with great energy, which didn’t surprise much of anyone, and the Lakers seemed distracted and flat — which also didn’t surprise much of anyone. The Rockets led all but, like, 47 seconds of the game,  and it was no accident. Now, we shall see if […]

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Andrew Bynum runs over a screen with 150 seconds played in the game. Two fouls for Bynum, and he’s out of the game for Lamar Odom. Nice going, kid. Good thing the Lakers can’t really have been counting on you to be a difference maker — in a positive way.

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First possession of the game, clock running down on the Rockets … and Andrew Bynum fouls Yao Ming. While the latter was putting up an offbalance shot ahead of the clock … So, Bynum has played 24 seconds and has a foul. About on his average, of late. At least the Lakers have someone to […]

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The last time I was in this building was for Game 5 of the NBA Finals, last June. Lots of stuff has happened since then, including the Olympics, four months in Hong Kong, some assignments with the New York Times. Finally, I’m back … and it hardly looks different. Actually, I’d say it doesn’t look […]

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It was a score that had to be a typo. A misprint. But there at the bottom of the television screen, Monday night, was this partial score: Denver 105, New Orleans 55. It was mind-boggling … and it was true. Final score: Denver 121, New Orleans 63. What makes this so hard to accept is […]

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Lakers fans have them in the NBA Finals. What we’re going through now are just the preliminaries before the big event. The Utah Jazz, then Houston or Portland, then probably Denver. Before what really matters: The Finals against LeBron and Cleveland — unless the Celtics somehow slip in there. Would it be boorish of me […]

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A sense of dread had been hanging over me for a few weeks now. The Lakers aren’t going to win a championship. And Kobe Bryant is not going to win another MVP title.

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It will take a while for the surviving media pundits in downtown Los Angeles to notice … but the last serious player in Inland Empire sports journalism — and one of the final 3-4 in the entire Greater L.A. market — has given up its claim of “major league” status in the past 24 hours. […]

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