I banged the drum for an arena in the Inland Empire for, oh, 20 years. OK, almost 30, while working as sports editor and columnist at The San Bernardino Sun. Going back almost to the day in 1981, I believe it was, when the pilot of a small plane had a heart attack while flying […]

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I may need to get my blood sugar tested after reading one sickly sweet “Shaq and Kobe kiss and make up” story after another out of the NBA All-Star weekend. It’s nice that they’re no longer glowering at each other. But several of the assumptions made by reporters , over the past few days — […]

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That was fairly huge. A 6-0 road trip. Including the loss of Andrew Bynum for maybe the rest of the season. A victory in Boston that snapped the Celtics’ 12-game winning streak, and a victory in Cleveland that was the Cavaliers’ first home defeat in 24 games. If this were June, the Lakers would have […]

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I haven’t done a list in ages. Since before Hong Kong. Maybe since before Beijing. I was looking occasionally at the Pro Bowl today, and I remembered a stat about that … So, in the vein of “it’s all about me” … 10 events I covered, as a sports writer — that happened an impossibly […]

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* – Subtitled: “Or See the Item Below.” The Lakers’ 110-109 victory over the Celtics in Boston certainly falls into the above (hurray, I’m wrong) category. Since I may loathe the Celtics as much as any team in sports. It’s them or the San Francisco Giants. (Hmmm. Celtics or Giants? Giants or Celtics? Probably Giants, […]

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No, make that “a certainty” of impending doom. The Lakers are going to be crushed by the Celtics tonight. May as well just accept it right now and think about dealing with it. All the shots of the annoying Kevin Garnett screaming and pounding his chest, and Boston fans exulting, blah blah blah. I don’t […]

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Interesting day, Monday, on the Los Angeles pro sports scene. —Kobe Bryant sets a Madison Square Garden record by scoring 61 in the Lakers’ victory over the Knicks. —Manny Ramirez turns down the Dodgers and GM Ned Colletti and their offer of $25 million for one season. Turning point days, for the area’s most popular […]

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If I’m picking up on this correctly, from the other side of the ocean, 2008 can’t be over fast enough for a lot (most all?) of people. “People” meaning Americans. Or at least English-speakers. Like, everyone is all fixated on this “economy” thing … Letting it get them down. Hey, 2008 wasn’t that bad. Take […]

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It’s already Dec. 26 here in Asia. In Hong Kong, it is Boxing Day, a holiday the Hongkongers picked up from the British. Mostly, it’s just an excuse for a semi-serious public holiday and a chance to do more shopping, as if not enough of that goes on around here. But it is a real […]

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I have gone over the availability of sports here, on Hong Kong cable TV. Fifteen-plus sports stations, and nothing to watch. Unless you love the English menu of sports — led by soccer, soccer and soccer and including rugby, cricket, Formula One and, yes, snooker. And I generally don’t love any of them. But I […]

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