General Sports Discussion

[Maj]

Watching the Lakers vs Clippers game on TNT right now. One of the announcer dudes has no clue whatsoever what "draws the foul" means.

[Maj]

Yay, Lakers finally won a game. Smush Parker's quest to knock us out of the playoffs has been thwarted!

Kobe's 10th 50-Point Game

And Kobe scored 50 by going 18 of 25 from the field. What's even crazier is that damn near all of those were amazing shots. Hella fun to watch.

Sucks that Clippers probably won't make it to the playoffs this year. I hope that disappointment doesn't cause everything they've built to fall apart.

[Maj]

Wow, this is depressing. The only upside is that the more depressing it gets, the more drastic the changes in the offseason will need to be. The Lakers are not a mediocre franchise. They've never been this terrible for more than 2 years. I mean, when your franchise revenue is top 3 in the whole NBA, you need to get your shit together.

Man, that post-game locker room interview with Lamar Odom broke my heart. Craig Sager didn't do shit by the way. He just asked some dumb fucking generic media question and Lamar answered it, but ... he just didn't stop talking. Got all personal and way more honest than expected. I dunno, it was really weird to watch.

It was really embarrassing to come in here and lose such an important game the way we lost it. Really, there's no answer for that.

So, obviously, we need to do something. We need to think about some things as a team. It's kind of sad, but I don't know if we're as close as a team as we need to be right now. As far as camaraderie, and things like that, because that's the only way you lose games like that.

Dude needs a hug or something : (

[Magnetro]

Wow, this is depressing. The only upside is that the more depressing it gets, the more drastic the changes in the offseason will need to be. The Lakers are not a mediocre franchise. They've never been this terrible for more than 2 years. I mean, when your franchise revenue is top 3 in the whole NBA, you need to get your shit together.

Man, that post-game locker room interview with Lamar Odom broke my heart. Craig Sager didn't do shit by the way. He just asked some dumb fucking generic media question and Lamar answered it, but ... he just didn't stop talking. Got all personal and way more honest than expected. I dunno, it was really weird to watch.

It was really embarrassing to come in here and lose such an important game the way we lost it. Really, there's no answer for that.

So, obviously, we need to do something. We need to think about some things as a team. It's kind of sad, but I don't know if we're as close as a team as we need to be right now. As far as camaraderie, and things like that, because that's the only way you lose games like that.

Dude needs a hug or something : (

They lost by a lot, may as well play GGAC or something

[Maj]

Well, that's that. Fun while it lasted. Except for the constant losing. I hope next year we actually have a team with a shot at the title. Or at the very least, some fucking progress.

Postgame Press Conference: Kobe Bryant

Don't think i've ever seen Kobe so genuinely pissed off. Should be an interesting offseason. The one good thing about a terrible second half of the season is that the worse it is, the more drastic the changes will be before the next season starts.

On a less depressing note, i just found this mad old article that speaks tha true truth!

[Xenozip.]

Redskins suck.

[Maj]

The Los Angeles Kobes are back! Owned up the Suns too. After last night's game against the Phoenix Angry Coaches and the last two minutes of the game against the Houston Lucky Threes, i'm gonna have to renew my prediction that the Lakers will win a championship this year.

Though honestly, getting past the first round is all it's gonna take to make me happy.

Also, Kobe not getting traded would be great.

[Maj]

Lakers are playing well. Got whupped by the Celtics but it's not important. I'd love for the Lakers to steal one from 'em, but unfortunately we only get to play Eastern Conference teams twice per season. They probably won't be as good next season either cuz these things never last. Guess i gotta hope we make it to finals.

In completely unrelated news, i finally took a minute to look up Ronaldo highlight videos and now i'm depressed. Dude is totally old and fat now, slow as hell and injured twice as often as he's able to play over the last 5 years or whatever. But that kid was downright amazing back in the day. Check out the shot at 1:58 - that thing actually went in. A lot of the crazy shit that we associate with Ronaldinho, Ronaldo was doing it all 10 years ago. So sad. Nowadays he's laid back, chillin', partying, taking forever to get anything done. Ronaldinho isn't doing so great either. He's not putting forth the effort into training and staying in shape, so he's nowhere near as dominant as he was 3 years ago. Yup, Watson and Valle status. Except there's no excuse cuz those fools get paid millions to do what they (supposedly) love.

edit: One more Ronaldo video, more dramatic this time.

[Maj]

R-R-R-R-R-R-R-RONALDOOOooooo!!!!!!

Milan 5 - 2 Napoli (ghetto highlights)

Ok, i missed out on most of Ronaldo's career but the kid could play. In recognition of his legendary status as O Fenômeno, i'm now officially a halfway supporter - a casual fan, if you will. If he continues playing for the remainder of the season and proves himself once again, i'ma be a full-fledged fan. However, if he plays like two more games then goes back to wearing a suit on the bench, i will regretfully be forced to withdraw my support.

edit: better highlight reel (in Italian)

[Maj]

Never thought i'd get to say it this season, but it's a good time to be a Lakers fan. We're currently tied with Phoenix for the best record in the Western Conference at 26-11. Lakers are currently number one in the NBA.com Power Rankings and Kobe is at the top of the Race to the MVP after hitting the overtime game-winner last night against the SuperSonics.

What's funny is that Boston has lost two games in a row to the Wizards and last week they lost to the Bobcats. Michael Jordan played for the Wizards during the last stretch of his career and now he's part-owner of the Bobcats. With the Celtics' record dropping to 30-6, they have virtually no chance of beating the Bulls' 72-10 season record that Jordan helped set. Jordan's legacy is owning up Boston from beyond the grave, and Jordan isn't even dead yet.

[Maj]

It's official. With Dallas and Phoenix both losing their last games, the Lakers are undisputed number one in the Western Conference while the Celtics are number one in the East. Too bad it won't last. It would be all sorts of crazy if the NBA Finals this year featured the Lakers vs the Celtics.

waterb0y: didnt watch the ronaldo clips
waterb0y: you are gonna have to send me the link again
Maj: http://youtube.com/watch?v=6zKATpRYQMs
waterb0y: wtf
waterb0y: do you have that shit bookmarked or something?
Maj: nah, trillian autosaves log
Maj: sometimes i tell people to watch videos just so i can find the link later
waterb0y: 2:47 is impressive
waterb0y: still not a fan
Maj: no dude, 2:57
Maj: the OTG goal
waterb0y: haha that one was better
waterb0y: ok how bout this
waterb0y: im a fringe ronaldo fan
waterb0y: but im no soccer fan
waterb0y: and im only a ronaldo fan for his otg goal
Maj: haha deal

[Maj]

Not entirely sure where i'm going with this, but i started a blog about the Lakers:

less than three Lakers dot com

It's more or less a way for a few friends of mine to stay in touch, but hopefully it'll be fun for any Lakers' fan to read too. We're gonna try to keep it light cuz being a "serious" fan very rarely pays off. After all, only one team is crowned champion at the end of each season. This year it's definitely going to be the Lakers though.

[Magnetro]

so the lakers are in the playoffs? gl maj dont kill yourself when coby trips and breaks his ankle

[Maj]

Thanks, i appreciate the sincere concern that you are expressing at the current time.

Btw, jchensor posted his Early Playoff Predictions and it has sparked a heated debate! Everyone, join in the discussion and add your thoughts to uncontrollable destructive fire of sports speculation.

[Magnetro]

lol that made me laugh for a while actually. good stuff.

how hard do you think it would be to get the (black) lakers to play Marvel? that picture james posted of kobe is like WOOOOO'

also, i hope you dont mind me talking about non-laker stuff in this thread as I don't even know the rules of basket-ball. I'm just using this place to talk nonsense to you guys as i would do on aim. except everyone could see it

[Magnetro]

Seems like this thread should get more activity seeing as how the Lakers are in the finals vs Celtics...

[Magnetro]

How many times will cristiano ronaldo flop??????

Will Green fumble again?

But yeah, it was pretty funny seeing that happen cause John Stewart's Brittish comedian was talking about how bad USA players were. Howard did madd saves and got kicked in the chest. MVfree

http://img.lulz.net:8080/src/14xl6r9.jpg

[Dark_Chaotix]

England were lackluster and should of scored more. Didnt dominate the game as they should of and rooney wasnt give the ball that he requires. USA did well tho, but fuck Green....

[Magnetro]

You guys should learn Spanish. The KOF guys will agree, the Spanish Univision announcers are hilarious. They ripped on Algeria's goal keep saying he and Green learned how to goal tend from the same school (jajajaj).

USA's goal keeper outer was clutch, i swear i heard him shift. He even got kicked in the chest -- had a pain and couldn't breathe. mvp. Green MVP too. Sorta. Although with the pole's assist, he kept a goal out. So that's kinda good for him. edit* lol http://dl.dropbox.com/u/7341816/1276432513300.jpg

[Maj]

Originally i said Lakers in 5, but after Game 2 it looked more like Lakers in 6. Hopefully LA can win tonight, but i'm not worried either way. Last game was absurd though. We always get owned up by random bench scrubs. Leon Powe won the 2008 Finals for them. (Who the fuck is Leon Powe?)

[Maj]

I still can't figure out the schedule. Looks like ESPN is replaying all these games the next day at 10pm? I wanted to watch the USA/England match but in all honesty the other two are probably more important. It'd be nice to see the US not only advance but play well, but that's a tall order. Seems like every World Cup, they hype up Team USA before it begins and then all their matches end with zero or one goals. They have to play well to convert all these new viewers into fans. (Pretty funny how ESPN "analysts" were calling USA vs England the most anticipated match of the tournament.)

So Brazil and Spain don't play until Tuesday?

Not gonna lie, i'm pretty bummed out that my second favorite player Pato isn't on the team. But at least Kaka is still starting, and i think no matter how structured Brazil tries to play, they'll still be true Brazil in flashes.

[Dark_Chaotix]

"Thanks for coming AUS, leave the 3 points at the door."

I know AUS would have a tough game but this was ridiculous. Poor defending, poor decision making and poor ref. We should of got a pen for handball and Cahill shouldnt of gotten a red card.

[Magnetro]

I will feel very bad for Kobe if they lose again. When he had a bad back a while ago, someone said it was from carrying the Lakers. : (

[Magnetro]

Denmark game was silly. 1 owngoal and one regular one. Tho one of the players did save a 3rd goal from happening by drop kicking the ball before it passed the line

[Maj]

It's alright, i'm not worried. I think we still have the advantage in this series, at least on paper. There should be no way we lose Game 6 and assuming we win that, then we have a clear (slight) advantage in Game 7 played on our home court.

But the way this series has played out, they've all been close games and it's felt like anything could happen. So until we're down 8 points with 20 seconds to go, worrying is a waste of energy. And like i've been telling everyone, no matter who wins this series, i'll gladly walk away with the "At Least We Don't Have Paul Pierce On Our Team" Championship.

[Rufus]

Despite my personal bias, I'm pretty sure that everyone (even the unfortunate socceroos) will agree that the Germans are the most stylish and classy display so far.

[Dark_Chaotix]

Arg were quite good too. Some good 1 pass plays, but stats hurt them. They had like 20 shots and only got 1. Messi is showing his class at top level which isnt surprising. Surprised Holland took awhile to get going, considering the side they have.

I do agree that the germans were great in their form and plays. They knew we were trying to play offside trap (who plays that these days??) and pretty much ran at us and exploited our gaps. Pim did the worse thing possible by play a formation thats old and players that were only tried in this game (yeah thats right, players havent tried the position, yet they get put there for an opener game).

[Rufus]

Arg were quite good too. Some good 1 pass plays, but stats hurt them. They had like 20 shots and only got 1. Messi is showing his class at top level which isnt surprising. Surprised Holland took awhile to get going, considering the side they have.

South Korea was a very positive surprise to me. I wonder whether they'll look as fast when they face Argentina.

[Maj]

I heard some ridiculous stat that either Brazil or Germany have made it to the grand finals of 13 of the previous 15 World Cups. That's absurd. I guess that makes the Germans the Celtics? Not sure if that means i have to hate them by analogy.

The Netherlands/Denmark game had a dope corner kick play where the ball rebounded back to the corner and he chested it down and tried again.

Italy looks like it has the same problem as '06 Brazil. Bunch of old folks who couldn't be turned away because they'd won the previous World Cup. I didn't realize Zambrotta was 33, but it guess it fits perfectly with the running Milan joke. Anyway i don't really care what happens to Italy apart from Zambrotta and Gattuso having a good game or two.

And i can't believe this Keisuke Honda guy caught a (relatively) high cross and kicked it in. That's bullshit. He should only be allowed to score with headers. Speaking of which, i would totally play a Street Fighter soccer game. When's the next time the World Cup is gonna be hosted by Japan? We'll hella see Capcom vs Adidas then.

[Rufus]

I heard some ridiculous stat that either Brazil or Germany have made it to the grand finals of 13 of the previous 15 World Cups. That's absurd. I guess that makes the Germans the Celtics? Not sure if that means i have to hate them by analogy.

There were 3 prewar World Cups. 1930, 1934, and 1938 with no finals appearance from either team. In the 15 world cup finals since then, the two teams have 7 appearances each. To get a sense of how long ago it was, prior to the 1970 World Cup, there were no substitutions (no, not even for injury).