Sports Tidbits June 30th

Come Midnight tonight NBA Free Agency begins. Of course players can’t sign with a team until July 8th, but over the next month it will be fascinating to see where LeBron, Wade, Bosh, Stoudemire, Nowitzki, and others will go. Here are my predictions for where the players will go, which will probably be all wrong. Also I do not think Chris Paul or Carmelo Anthony will get traded this offseason. Maybe later next season, but not this summer.


LeBron James- Chicago Bulls

Dwyane Wade- Miami Heat

Paul Pierce- Boston Celtics

Ray Allen- Boston Celtics

Shaquille O’Neal- Dallas Mavericks

Dirk Nowitzki- Dallas Mavericks

Chris Bosh- Chicago Bulls

Nate Robinson- New Jersey Nets

Joe Johnson- New York Knicks

Amar’e Stoudemire- Miami Heat

Carlos Boozer- New Jersey Nets

Allen Iverson- Retirement

Tracy McGrady- Toronto Raptors

Jermaine O’Neal- Memphis Grizzlies

Derek Fisher- Los Angeles Lakers

David Lee- Los Angeles Clippers

Rudy Gay- Minnesota Timberwolves

Luke Ridnour- New York Knicks

Darko Milicic- Indiana Pacers

Zydrunas Ilgauskas- Cleveland Cavaliers

Kyle Korver- Orlando Magic

Raymond Felton- San Antonio Spurs

J.J. Reddick- Charlotte Bobcats

Where will Wade, Bosh, and LeBron land? Will it be all together?

Speaking of NBA Free Agency, the ESPN NBA Free Agent Summit featuring Tony Kornheiser, Michael Wilbon, Dan LeBatard, and Bill Simmons was thoroughly entertaining. It’s great to watch for guys passionate about the NBA argue about what LeBron and the rest of the free agents should do. You won’t be smarter by watching it, but it’s a great 24 minutes of sports talk.

Oh and by the way Sabres fans NHL Free Agency starts too. Look I am no hockey expert, but I will say two things. One the Sabres have to make some dramatic changes to the roster. Two is while I want the Sabres to do this, I’m not sure how they do it, because the list of NHL Free Agents for 2010 quite frankly sucks. It is the complete opposite of the 2010 NBA Free Agent list. You want a 34 year old Saku Koivu? How about 36 year old John Madden? Booom!!! Does 39 year old Mike Modano entice you? 34 year old Paul Kariya anyone? The fact is NHL Free Agency 2010 is like golfing at Cassadaga Golf Course. It’s alright, but nothing spectacular. NBA Free Agency 2010 is like golfing at Augusta National. You can’t beat it!

What a great year for Team USA Sports. First the Men’s Olympic Ice Hockey team took the nation on a ride, and lost the greatest hockey game I ever saw to Canada in the Gold Medal Final. Then U.S. Soccer kept coming back each game, and made it to the round of 16 before bowing out to Ghana. After that game Kase said on Facebook that the loss to Ghana was a terrible blow to U.S. Soccer. I could not disagree more. The U.S. met expectations by making it in the Round of 16. And the dramatic way they played captured the entire nation. They simply lost to a better Ghana team. Hopefully four years from in 2014 the U.S. Hockey team can make another run for the gold in Russia, and the U.S. Soccer team will make the Round of 16 again in Brazil, and maybe advance further. All I know is I want to thank both teams for their heart and the way they played. Who could forget Zach Parise’s goal to tie Canada with 24 seconds left in the 3rd period, and Landon Donovan goal in the 91st minute to beat Algeria 1-0, win the Group C for USA, and send U.S. to the round of 16. Probably the two best sports moments of the year in this country.

After that Donovan Algeria goal I heard people say this was the 2nd greatest moment in U.S. Team Sports history right behind the Miracle on Ice. Please!! First off it’s not a better moment then when U.S. Soccer beat Mexico in the Round of 16 in 2002 to make it to the Quarterfinals of the World Cup. Second off it’s not even the best Team USA moment of the past three years. That would belong to the Redeem Team lead by Kobe, LeBron, Wade, and Bosh and beating Spain in the Gold Medal game in one of the best basketball games no one saw (expect me I stayed up all night to watch that one). If you didn't see or don't remember that game here are the 1st and 2nd half highlights of that game below. Note Wade, Bosh, and LeBron all playing together. Will this happen again with the Miami Heat?





Can people stop calling Cristiano Ronaldo as simply “Ronaldo.” The Ronaldo I know was one of the greatest soccer players of all time for Brazil, who holds the record for all time World Cup goals with 15, lead Brazil to win the 2002 World Cup, and in 2008 had sex with three transvestites who all turned out to be men. Cristiano Ronaldo couldn’t hold Ronaldo’s jock (and probably wouldn’t want to) when it comes to International Soccer competition. Cristiano Ronaldo may have Tom Brady looks, but he did not come up big when it mattered in the biggest soccer tournament in the world. So please refer to Cristiano Ronaldo as “Cristiano Ronaldo”, not Ronaldo. That includes you Homer Simpson (by the way that’s the best commercial going these days).

Same can be said for L.T. The L.T. I know is the greatest defensive player of all time, who currently is indicated on rape of a 16 year old girl. That’s Lawrence Taylor. The “other” L.T., or as I like to call him LaDainian Tomlinson is a washed up running back, who never came up big when it mattered in the playoffs, and has a tattoo of the New York Jets logo on his leg. Please don’t confuse Tomlinson with the real L.T.

I don’t want to hear a vuvuzlea while watching any NFL or College Football game this year, but I probably will. Damn those things!

Stephen Strasburg is the real deal. I have seen all of his starts and don’t let the 2-2 record fool you. If he had a better defense behind him, and if the Nationals could score more than the 0-1 runs they give Strasburg, and if he had a manager who was competent Strasburg could easily be 5-0. Should he play in the MLB All-Star game? Absolutely! Here are three reasons why. 1.) Based on how he’s pitched so far he has earned it. Besides Ubaldo Jimenez, and Roy Halladay I don’t think there is a better pitcher in the National League than Strasburg. That includes Tim Lincecum, and Johan Santana. 2.) It would create a dramatic spike in interest in the game, and boost Fox’s TV ratings of the broadcast for that game. He’s a star, he will generate viewers. 3.) MLB has the only All-Star game that actually has meaning. If Charlie Manuel is serious about winning this game, and finally giving the National League home-field advantage in a World Series than Strasburg should be on the roster.

One final tidbit. This is non sports related. Did anyone see Chris Brown’s crying performance at the BET Awards while he was doing a tribute to Michael Jackson singing Man in the Mirror?! I would never watch anything on BET, but when I heard about this on the internet I look around to find the video. Does anyone think those tears are sincere at all?! Was Chris Brown really choked up about it being one year since MJ’s death, or was he really crying because he knows his career has fallen down faster than BP stock?!?! Look I know I am riding the front seat on Team Rihanna, so I certainly have a bias here, but all I can say is shut up and go away Chris Brown!!!!

Jerry Seinfeld vs. Lady GaGa

Lady GaGa has made quite a scene at Mets and Yankees games lately. A couple of weeks ago at a Mets game in Citi Field she wore sequin bra and underwear and proceeded to give the middle finger to photographers and Mets fans. She was the escorted to Jerry Seinfeld's luxury box at Citi Field. Then on Saturday at a Yankees game in Yankee Stadium GaGa wore bra and underwear again with a Yankee jersey barely covering her. And she got hammered. And she snuck into the Yankees clubhouse, and had a conversation with Robinson Cano. Well this behavior did not sit well with Jerry Seinfeld. He did not appreciate that GaGa was moved to his box at Citi Field, and was equally unimpressed with her performance at Yankee Stadium. Below is a video describing the excerpt of Seinfeld's rant on GaGa. He did it today on WFAN, New York City sports radio. To hear the entire interview here is the link.



Kofod

French Coach Refuses to Shake Hands with South African Coach

Well France is gone in the World Cup. They went with little effort and zero wins. And zero class. From a player cussing out the coach, to the players refusing to practice (practice?...we talkin' bout practice?), to the French President giving his dissaproval, the France soccer team really dissapointed its nation. And today after its 2-1 loss to South Africa France's coach Raymond Domenech refused to shake hands with South African coach Carlos Alberto Parreira. One can only wonder how Ireland would have done in France's place if France wasn't awarded an obvious handball goal against Ireland, that elimanted Ireland and put France into the World Cup.

 

Kofod

Winners and Losers of the College Conference Expansion

Alright all the college football conference expansion, and lack thereof, has come and past. So here are who I think came out as winners and losers of all the conference expansion mess.

Winners

Texas- Bevo and Texas without a doubt came out the biggest winners of this whole conference expansion mess. Before this it seemed Notre Dame was still the biggest college power around. Now they are still a power, don't get me wrong. If all your home games are on NBC then you are a power. But the second Texas flirted with leaving the Big XII every conference was on their knees willing to give Texas what they wanted. Including the Big XII itself. While every other conference divides money equally among its members, Texas now gets by far the biggest piece of the pie. They also don't have to worry about a Big 12 Championship starting next year. They beat Oklahoma and they can have a great shot to make it to the BCS Championship. And Texas can develop their own television network now! Texas established itself as the power school in the BCS.

Bevo and Texas will be living real easy now.

Nebraska- Nebraska is much better suited for the Big Ten than the Big XII. They no longer have to worry about recruiting in Texas against Texas. Now they can recruit in the New Jersey to Midwest area. And trust me they will get recruits in this area. Ohio State, Penn State, Michigan, and Iowa better move over, because Nebraksa will make their case in the Big Ten.

With the move to the Big Ten Nebraska can return to the Glory Days, like they had with Tommie Frazier, sooner rather than later.

Colorado- I really think Colorado will be better off in the Pac 10. As Colin Cowherd said Boulder, Colorado really has more of a Pac 10 feel to it. A much more liberal place than the other areas of the Pac 10. And they get equal money in the Pac 10 to every other school, which they would not have gotten in the Big 12. Good move by Texas.

Utah- Urban Meyer while he was coach at Utah thought Utah should be a Pac 10 school. Now they finally get their chance. Now it will be much harder to go undefeated in the Pac 10, but at least they have a chance to be an automatic qualifier for the BCS. And they get to rub it in BYU fans that they are in the Pac 10 and
BYU is not!

Dan Beebe- The Big XII Commissioner went from GOAT to hero in the final hour. He gave in to Texas and let them have everything. And it seems for now that all the schools in the Big 12 are happy. But it's a short term solution. I can't imagine Kansas, Iowa State, and Baylor will be happy with this forever. But the Big 12 is still alive. And a few weeks ago it seemed certain to be dead.

Orangeblood.com- This Texas Longhorns' recruiting and blog website got every story right about the conference expansion news. They were the first ones to report that it looked like Texas was going to stay in the Big XII instead of move to the Pac 10. They certainly got more stories right than ESPN did.

USC- USC is going to have an uphill climb coming out of these NCAA sanctions, especially the lack of recruits. But they have a far better chance of coming back when their toughest competition in the Pac 10 is Oregon and Utah, rather than Texas, Oklahoma, and Texas Tech.

Big East- When the conference expansion chaos looked like it was going to happen not only did the Big XII look like it was going to die but so did the Big East. It seemed if the SEC started taking teams out of the ACC, than the ACC would go after schools like Georgetown, Louisville, UCONN, and possibly Syracuse to createt a super mega basketball conference. And that West Virginia and Pitt could join the Big 10 in a super Big 10 turned Big 16. But Texas stayed in the Big 12 so the snowball effect never happened. And for now the Big East is still alive.

The lack of gigantic movement in conference expansion kept the Big East alive and great Big East basketball rivalries alive like Syracuse vs Georgetown.

Big Ten- Big Ten adds a great school in Nebraska. They get a Conference Championship game which I think will be a lot like the SEC Championship. A must see event each year. They have put more pressure on Notre Dame now. And they have room to add more schools from the Big East, and ACC if they wish to down the road. The Big Ten are big winners!



Losers

College Basketball- College basketball took a huge punch to its ego. It was shown to the whole world that college football is a much bigger player than college basketball. Say what you want about the lack of a playoff in college football, but college football has games that matter from September to January. College basketball, with a 65 team tourney, really only matters in March. And for all the love March Madness gets the college football bowl games have far more people watch them, and get much bigger ratings than March Madness games.

College Football Playoffs- If college football went to four major super conferences it pretty much meant that it would only be a matter of time before a college football playoff would have to form. But with the lack of college conference expansion the BCS has a much better chance of surviving for a few more years.

Kansas- Bill Self and Kansas lost some swagger. They found out no one cares (unless you are in the ACC) if you are a powerful college basketball school, if you don't have football to back it up. Even with Kansas' 2008 BCS Orange Bowl win over Virginia Tech. And now they look up at Oklahoma and Texas who will be making more money than them. They were oh so close to ending up in the Mountain West where their best rival would have probably been UNLV. Yikes! For now they stay in the Big XII, but if I were Kansas I would constantly keep one eye open if better opitions are out there for the future.

Kansas found out being a basketball power meant nothing.

Pac 10- New Pac 10 Commissioner Larry Scott sold the 10 Pac 10 schools of a bigger, better, and richer Pac 10. But instead of Texas, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Texas Tech, and Colorado he gets Utah and Colorado. Certainly great for Utah and Colorado. But I don't think it dramtically improves the conferences. And I have a feeling the Pac 10 Championship will be more like the ACC Championship than the SEC Championship. A conference championship with half empty seats and little interest.

ESPN- If Orangebloods.com got every story right, then ESPN seemed to get every story wrong. And it seemed ESPN had two completely opposite sides of the story for every news that came out on conference expansion. ESPN was not the best source to turn to during all this conference expansion talk. And when you are THE sports channel, and now THE home of the BCS again that is a big dissapointment.

Joe Schad- Schad reported that he had multiple sources tell him that their was a 0% chance Texas, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Texas Tech, and Texas A&M would listen to Dan Beebe's pleas and stay in the Big 12. Well that is exactly what happened. Nice job reporting Schad!

Boise State- When Boise State joined the Mountain West they dreamed they were moving to a conference that was about to become a BCS conference. Instead they left a much easier WAC conference to a much harder Mountain West conference, in which both are not BCS conferences. So now they will make it much harder for themselves to consistently go undefeated and get BCS births.

Mountain West- When Boise State joined the Mountain West it looked like with 10 teams, including TCU, BYU, Utah, and Boise State that the conference finally had enough power to become a BCS conference. Then Texas declined to join the Pac 10 which lead to Utah getting to the Pac 10. Now the Mountain West is right where they are. They could have added Kansas, and had one of the 5 best college basketball schools in the country and started a legitmate basketball rivalry with UNLV and Utah. Instead Kansas never came, and they lost Utah. I think the conference is making a big mistake by not adding a 10th team now. If they were smart they would add Fresno State.

Notre Dame- As I said earlier Texas came out over Notre Dame as the top college BCS power. Now in my mind it's Texas #1 and Notre Dame #2. And they may have missed a golden opportunity to join the Big 10. The fact is they might be an Independent for the next 10 years, but someday I think they will have to commit to a conference.

Texas A&M- Texas A&M chose tradition over taking a chance. They chose to stay in the Big XII and keep their rivalries with Oklahoma and mainly Texas. But the fact is Texas A&M is still a "little brother" in Texas compared to the Longhorns and Texas Tech. If they had taken the chance and gone to the SEC they could have made a big stake in recruiting in that state, and would have stood out as the only SEC school in Texas. I think A&M really blew it!

Florida State, Clemson, and Virginia Tech- Fans of these three schools were hoping the SEC would call coming. I know I was certainly begging for it for FSU. But when Texas said no to the Pac 10, and Texas A&M passed on the SEC these three schools were left out of the SEC. Look I love FSU vs Clemson, and Miami but those are the only rivalries worth watching in the ACC for FSU. I would have loved to have rivalries with Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, and LSU rather than Maryland, NC State, UNC, and Duke. It's just sexier.

Instead of a new great SEC rival like Alabama as a FSU fan I have to stick with crappy rivals like N.C. State.

Kofod

Retro Running Diary on the 2005 Orange Bowl Part 1

So with the NCAA coming down hard on USC with sanctions, which included taking away USC's 2004 National Championship, I thought I would do a running retro diary on the game USC won to win the National Championship. It was the 2005 Orange Bowl a 55-19 win over Oklahoma. USC came into the game ranked #1 with a 12-0 record. Oklahoma came into the game ranked #2 with a 12-0 record. Auburn was ranked #3 with a 13-0 record after beating #8 Virginia Tech 16-13 in the Sugar Bowl lead by Jason Campbell, Ronnie Brown, and Cadillac Williams. Also #6 Utah with a 13-0, lead by Urban Meyer, defeated #21 Pittsburgh 35-7 in the Fiesta Bowl. So clearly Auburn, and Utah, no matter how this game ended up, were going to make their case they should get a piece of the title. The game featured the top four finalists for the Heisman Trophy that year. USC QB Matt Leinart was the Heisman Trophy. And USC RB Reggie Bush was one of the finalists. OU had freshman RB Adrian Peterson who finished second to Leinart in the Heisman, and OU QB Jason White who was also a Heisman finalist. Jason White won the Heisman Trophy the previous year. This would be the first time ever that two Heisman Trophy winners would be on the same field playing against each other with Jason White and Matt Leinart.

So how do I have this game. Well to the suprise of no one that knows me I am a huge sports nerd. For years I have taped games to keep. This game happened to be one of them. I have it on DVD. So let me fire up my XBOX 360, put in this game, and write about it. Now I am going to write about it, as if it happened at that time with a little bit of a wink, wink. You'll see what I mean as you start reading this. So here it is.

The DVD starts with College Gameday at the Orange Bowl about 45 minutes before the ABC coverage begins.


Here are some of the highlights from College Gameday.

Chris Fowler says the game; the atmosphere has an Ali-Frazier, Holyfield-Tyson feel to it.

Corso: “This game has the combination of the best talent ever assembled on any college football field ever!”

All three agree the game has been a build up for four months. Clearly these are the two best teams, even over undefeated Auburn.

Herbstreit says no advantage in coaching. Bob Stoops and Pete Carroll are even.

Mark May “Adrian Peterson is the best freshman running back I have seen since Hershel Walker.”

A story was told about how USC WR Dwayne Jarrett nearly left the team because he was home sick, only Matt Leinart convinced him to stay. Another example of a USC WR who had it all together lol!!!

55% of ESPN SportsNation thinks USC will win. 45% thinks Oklahoma will win.

The Crystal Ball Trophy is known as the ADT Trophy in this season. From ADT, to Sears, to Dr. Pepper it has had so many name changes. I don’t even know what the hell it’s called now?!?! I have a brilliant idea for what the Crystal Ball Trophy should be called but I will save it for the next college football blog I will do.

Chris Fowler “Beginning with the coin toss Oklahoma will try to get into Leinart’s head the way they did four years ago here when Chris Weinke won the Heisman over a couple of their guys. They went out got in Weinke’s face let him know you shouldn’t have won that trophy that belongs to our guys were taking it back and they’re gunna try to do the same thing tonight.” Lee Corso “Not so fast my friend that was Chris Weinke that’s not Matt Leinart!”… And he adds this USC team is much better than that Florida State team….Ouch that hurt for me!!

Herbstreit “With respect to Matt Leinart I don’t know if there is a quarterback with better touch on the ball than Jason White.”

Mark May says he’d take Jason White over Matt Leinart in a 2 minute situation.

College Gameday just showed a montage of highlights from the 2001 Orange Bowl Oklahoma 13-2 win over Florida State. Excuse me while I go to the bathroom and make myself bulimic.

Herbstreit says Oklahoma is the most balanced and explosive offense in the country.

Gameday show highlights of USC’s 4th quarter defensive stand against Cal and Aaron Rodgers. The win ended up giving USC a one win edge over Cal in the PAC 10 standings, and thus won the Pac 10 Championship. After the USC scandal came out Aaron Rodgers on his Twitter account said “looking forward to getting my PAC-10 championship ring from the '04 season.”

Jill Arrington (who worked for ESPN at this time) reports that some of the celebrities at the game include Will Ferrell, Pat Riley, Brad Pitt, Nick Lachey, Jessica Simpson, and O.J. Simpson (who was seeing his first game in USC in 10 years…I can’t imagine why it took him so long to see a USC game in person lol?)

Trev Albert picks Oklahoma. He says USC will be surprised at how physical OU is on both the offensive and defensive lines. He not only thinks Oklahoma can win, but he says Oklahoma will blow out USC.

Mark May agrees with Albert. He’s picking Oklahoma, and similarly he thinks it could be a blowout for OU.

Herbstreit picks Oklahoma. He says they will learn from the mistakes of playing LSU last year. Thinks Oklahoma will win 24-20 and Adrian Petersen will be the MVP.

Fowler picks Oklahoma too. So far that’s 4 Oklahoma picks to 0 USC picks.

Now it’s Corso time!

Corso picks USC and puts on a Trojan head with a dagger to go with it. Corso thinks it will be a close game.



Alright now time for ABC’s pregame coverage.

Brad Nessler is doing the play by play with Bob Griese.

The Ford Pregame coverage consists of John Saunders, Craig James, and Aaron Taylor.

A montage is showed telling how all the USC players and Pete Carroll are determined to win the game, because they don’t want to share a title like they did in 03’, they want both the AP and Crystal Ball trophies this year.

For OU the montage is about “Unfinished Business” and completing what they could not do last year when they lost to LSU.

James and Taylor don’t make picks. I don’t understand this! What’s the point of having studio analysts if you do not let them make picks on the game?

Nessler talks to Griese about how the last time OU was here in the Orange Bowl they beat Florida State and Chris Weinke. Seriously shoot me!

Griese: “You give me one pick of all the college players and I’m taking Reggie Bush.”

Both teams come running out on to the field. The stadium is electric.

JoJo sings the National Anthem. Figure an artist like that would be black. No she turns out to be white. This would make Bill Simmons musical part of the "Reggie Cleveland All Stars". I have never heard of her. And this game was in 2005. So obviously her career never really picked up after this performance. Can’t say it was great, it wasn’t bad, an alright performance.

Shaq does the coin toss wearing a nice collared shirt and jeans. Gets a huge ovation from the crowd (this is from is Heat days). Oklahoma wins the toss. OU defers and USC will receive the ball.

Only I could write over 950 words on the pregame for a game that occurred (well according to the NCAA now it never did occur) over 5 years ago!!!! Oh well now for the game itself.

1st Quarter

15:00: Oklahoma kicks the ball out of bounds, trying to avoid kicking off the ball to Reggie Bush. I’m sure OU will rebound from this!!

14:50: USC goes 5 wide. Reggie Bush catches a screen pass and runs for 28 yards. Oh how USC will one day fondly remember Reggie Bush!!

13:49: OU’s defense then tightens up the next three plays allowing -4 yards, and forces USC to punt.

13:40: OU starts on there own 8. Peterson takes the first carry for only 1 yard. That certainly won’t be a trend in this game!!!

12:54: White rolls out and hits Will Peoples for a gain of 25. Great footwork by White!

12:30: Peterson runs for a gain of 9. Now OU is really rolling!

9:45: Travis Wilson catches a pass from Jason White on 3rd and 8 for another 20+ yards. White had a nice scramble out of the pocket. OU is the one responding to adversity so far. And Jason White looks real goooood!!!

8:27: White hits Mark Bradley for 30 yard gain down to the 10. Once again White rolled out of the pocket and bought time. It’s clear he is going to play much better than he did in the previous year against LSU in the Sugar Bowl.

7:44: White on 2nd and Goal fires a bullet to Travis Wilson for the touchdown. Oklahoma 7 USC 0. OU’s bench is fired up. Pete Carroll looks dumbfounded. OU just drove 92 yards down USC’s throat. Could Trev Alberts and Mark May be right that Oklahoma will blow out USC?

6:26: USC gets a delay of game. Now Leinart and Carroll look completely flustered.

5:57: Antonio Perkins just leveled Reggie Bush. Man oh man OU is dominating USC. OU’s bench is jumping up and down like crazy right now.

5:18: Leinart on 3rd and 11 from USC’s own 38 throws a frozen rope to Steve Smith at midfield. USC really needed that.

4:54: Leinart hits an over the shoulder throw to TE Dominique Byrd to the 33. Now it looks like USC has shown up to the game.

4:29: Leinart rolls out to his left and throws a perfect spiral to Dominique Byrd who makes an amazing one handed catch for the touchdown. USC 7 Oklahoma 7. Oooh this could be a classic!!!

2:57: OU goes three and out. Jason White nearly throws an INT on third down. The USC D-Line dominated the OU O-Line in that series. I’m sure this will only be temporary.

2:39: LenDale White busts through for 10 yards to USC’s own 41. Griese says there is concern for USC that LenDale is not in the “best shape.” I’m sure this will be a one time issue, and will never come up in the NFL!

1:19: Oklahoma forces USC to punt. Lynn Swann interviews country artist and huge Oklahoma fan Toby Keith on the sidelines. He feels really good about OU so far, even yelling “Boomer Sooner!”

0:23: Perhaps this will be the game changing momentum play when one day fans look back on this classic game say 5 years from now in 2010. USC punts it down to 8 and three USC players let the ball roll. All of a sudden, inexplicably, OU’s Mark Bradley tries to pick up the ball around the 4 after it seems to hit a USC player. He never gets a handle on it and 6 USC players are right in position to fall on the ball which they do.

0:23: Lynn Swann explains “I believe if the USC player first touched the ball before Oklahoma touches it it’s dead.” Bradley thought a USC player touched it, thus even if he fumbled the ball OU would still get it back. However, replays clearly show the ball never hit a USC player. Bradley touched it first. Major bonehead play!!

0:17: From the 6 LenDale White takes the ball and barrels into the end zone for a TD. USC 14 Oklahoma 7.

0:17: Stoops is arguing hard with the ref thinking the USC player touched the ball first. I’m sorry Big Game Bob your wrong.

0:00: AD runs for 2 yards to end the quarter. Peterson has just not got anything going so far. Personal foul on USC though gives OU 15 yards and a first down up to its own 45 yard line. So perhaps OU can turn around this game, after finishing it off so bad to end the 1st quarter!

End of 1st Quarter USC 14 Oklahoma 7.

2nd Quarter


14:50: Sideline announcer Todd Harris interviews USC fan and alum Will Ferrell. Ferrell looks really thin in this interview. He talks about liking Shaq when they met on SNL and Shaq “cradled” him in his arms. Ferrell says USC is doing great and hopes they can run it more. Brad Nessler says he loves both Elf and Anchorman, and laughed throughout both movies. I agree with Nessler. Elf and Anchorman are in his Top 5 of movies. I’d throw in Old School, Kicking and Screaming, and A Night at the Roxbury as his best 5 movies where he had a starring role (not like Wedding Crashers where he only had a small cameo). I’d put Talledaga Nights and Step-Brother as two of the worst twenty movies I have ever seen. Absolute garbage those two.

13:55: OU is quietly moving the ball down towards USC’s 38.

13:27: Jason White throws a bomb down to the 10 yard line where 4 USC players are surrounding the one USC WR. Needless to say it is intercepted. Jason White is starting to unraivel. Who could have predicted that? Certainly no one from College Gameday.

13:27: Bob Griese: “I don’t understand what Jason White was thinking there.” Brad Nessler :“That was a hope and a prayer.”

13:10: LenDale White busts through for a gain of 15 yards to the there own 25. Big hole for him. USC’s o-line is starting to dominate.

11:54: On a 3rd and 8 USC goes 5 wide. Leinart throws a lolley pop pass up to Dwayne Jarrett for about 15 yards. Great catch by Jarrett to USC 45. Once again USC converts a third and long against OU.

11:46: USC runs a play action pass. Leinart has great protection as he hits Jarrett in stride down the sidelines for a 55 yard touchdown. Jarrett easily beat his man, and OU’s safety was not there in time. USC seems to be faster than OU. Can Jason White lead OU back? Probably not! USC 21 Oklahoma 7.

11:43: Adrian Peterson runs for a yard. Just doesn’t seem to be his night. The game is on the shoulders of Jason White. No worries OU!

10:06: On 3rd and 14 from there own 16 Jason White throws a terrible INT to USC’s Eric Wright. White’s feet were hit as he threw it, but still it was another awful descision by him. Wright takes it to the 10 yard line. First and goal for USC coming up.

10:06: On the replay you can see that it turns out Mark Bradley slipped allowing Wright to make the play. So actually that one is on Bradley not White. OU needs some better shoes out there, this is not the first time they have been slipping. No slippage for USC. Both wear Nikes. Why does USC have better Nikes than OU?!?!

10:00: LenDale White carries the ball to the 5.

9:21: Incomplete pass on 2nd and Goal. USC’s Reggie Bush and OU’s Rufus Alexander exchange “pushes.” Bush seemed to start the “fight” but no flag for either side. Everyone loves Reggie how could you flag him!!!

9:21: Reggie Bush calls a timeout. Pontiac then announces its Game Changing Performance of the Year in 2004. God I hope it’s a Reggie Bush play. Can you imagine if Pontiac came out today and said “in light of the findings of the NCAA on Reggie Bush Pontiac has decided to take away the 2004 College Football Game Changing Performance of the Year, because Mr. Bush was involved in the play.” That would be epic!!!

9:21: Unfortunately none of the 6 plays that are finalist involved Reggie Bush. Damn! The winner is the Wisconsin caused fumble against Kyle Orton and Purdue in 2004 that lead to a TD and a Wisconsin win. That seems to be right! I remember coming into that game everyone thought Purdue was as good as any team in the nation. I even remember Neal saying Purdue was going to go to the BCS National Championship game. Then that play happened. I know I am a sports nerd when I remember stuff like that.

9:17: On 3rd and Goal Leinart hits a wide open Steve Smith for a TD. Great catch by Smith to keep the ball from hitting the ground. USC 28 Oklahoma 7. The rout is on!

8:33: Todd Harris interviews Shaq on the sidelines. Shaq says he is not surprised at all that USC is dominating Oklahoma. Shaq jokes that if Miami Dolphins coach Nick Saban wants him at TE he will be there.

7:47: OU players continue to slip and fall. What the heck is going on?

7:19: So far Adrian Peterson has 32 yards on 13 carries. Ouch!!!!

6:53: On third down Mark Bradley catches a pass in stirde and heads 34 yards down field to USC’s 36. If Oklahoma can get a TD to cut it to 28-14, and keep that score in the half they may have a chance.

6:46: Shaun Cody just rocked Jason white for a 14 yard sack. How is that grass tasting Jason White?!?!?!

5:55: Brian Griese: “Jason White is a little out of sync Brad.” Brad Nessler reminds the viewers that in the 2003 Big XII Championship Game, and the 2004 Sugar Bowl White combined for 0 TD’s and 4 Int’s. I’m sure no OU fan needed to be reminded of that.

5:46: On 3rd and 15 White scrambles to the right and throws a surprisingly great pass across his body. OU’s Keywan Jones makes the catch at the USC 15. OU still has a chance to get a TD on this drive.

3::46 3rd and 4 from the 10. White throws a screen pass to Mark Clayton. The play never had a chance. Loss of two yards. Bob Griese: “Oklahoma is going through the motions. USC is attacking and making plays.”

3:10: OU makes a 25 yard field goal. USC 28 Oklahoma 10. 28-14 would have been much better.

3:10: Todd Harris tells us all the celebrities at the game tonight, as ABC shows video of them. Of course we have Shaq and Will Ferrell. P-Diddy (though Harris calls him Puff Daddy…he was P-Diddy by then right?), Gary Sheffield, Pat Riley, Jerry Bruckheimer, and best of all Mickey Mouse!!! Mickey Mouse came from the Rose Bowl where he was the Grand Marshall there. Quick who played in the 2005 Rose Bowl? If you guessed Texas and Vince “I get into fights at Dallas Strip Clubs when an Oklahoma fan flashes an upside down Longhorn sign” Young against Michigan than you are right. It’s the forgotten Texas Rose Bowl win and epic Vince Young Rose Bowl performance for sure.

3:10: Sources tell Todd Harris that Mickey Mouse has an important announcement to make tonight. You know you are watching a blowout when this is the conversation that goes on.

2:47: Reggie Bush takes a pitch to the left, a huge gaping hole is there for him, and he runs for 45 yards down to Oklahoma’s 35 yard line. USC’s O-line is making the holes the size of the Grand Canyon on Oklahoma’s D-Line.

1:56: Leinart throws a bomb to the back of the end zone. Steve Smith makes another amazing catch for a TD. 4 TD Passes for Leinart so far. Seeing Steve Smith makes the catches it makes me realize people should have known (including me) that he would be a pretty good WR in the NFL. And so far he really has been for the Giants. USC 35 Oklahoma 10.

1:56: A preview of the halftime show is done. Aaron Taylor says the guys will go over what Oklahoma needs to do to turn the game around. How about restart the game? Or pretend the game never happened (sorry I know that could never happen, what am I thinking?!?!)!

0:53: Oklahoma’s Keywan Jones fumbles the ball at OU’s own 35. USC recovers. Jones slipped as he got the ball from White. Brad Nessler: “I think they need different shoes at halftime.” It truly is unbelievable that OU players have been slipping all night, but it seems not one USC player has slipped.

0:37: Leinart hits Dwayne Jarrett for a strike for a 14 yard play to the 16 on third down.

0:30: Bob Stoops call his first timeout. Really?!?! 35-10 USC and Big Game Bob never thought of calling a timeout at any time to calm his guys down! This baffles me! I know football isn’t basketball, but shouldn’t have Stoops called a timeout at some point to calm everybody down?

0:03 OU’s defense “buckles down” and forces USC to a FG. USC 38 Oklahoma 10.

0:00: Halftime USC 38 Oklahoma 10. Lynn Swann interviews Bob Stoops. Stoops says “we can’t beat ourselves up…we just got to make plays.” Can’t beat yourself up?! It’s 38-10. When the hell can you beat yourself up then Big Game Bob? When it’s 55-10? Or how about 75-10?

0:00: Todd Harris interviews Pete Carroll. Carroll has a shit grin on his face like “I’m on top of the world bitches…They’ll never catch me!” Carroll says there is still a second half and OU could do the same thing to them in the second half. Yeah I can just see Jason White coming out and rolling USC in the second half. Uh-huh, yeah sure Pete. And in other news I am going on a date with Rihanna and Beyoncé this week. The tough part is deciding which woman I am going to pick for the long run. Duh, it’s going to be Rihanna!


Halftime Show


Auburn coach Tommy Tuberville joins John Saunders, Craig James, and Aaron Taylor for the halftime show. Saunders asks Tuberville if they would have fared better against USC than Oklahoma. He says “I don’t know” and gives a diplomatic answer, and does not bash OU. Hey Tuberville if you want a share of the title you need to bash OU right now! God knows Urban Meyer would if he was in that situation haha!!!

Tuberville says he’s all for a Plus One System for a playoff. He wants to play the winner of this game. He has no interest in an 8 or 16 game playoff.

Carson Palmer now joins the crew. He says Pete Carroll is a “perfect fit for USC” and if he wanted could win a Super Bowl if he went to the NFL. John Saunders agrees. So John Saunders better not ever bitch about Pete Carroll now on the Sports Reporters.


One thing the Orange Bowl is known for is outrageously overproduced and long halftime shows. Unlike any of the other BCS bowls they act like they are the Super Bowl when it comes to the entertainment aspect of the game. The halfime show consists of Kelly Clarkson, Trace Adkins, and Ashlee Simpson.

Kelly Clarkson is up first. She looks amazingly thin and beautiful here, especially considering how much more weight she has gained since then. She is supposed to sing “Since You Been Gone” but her mike keeps going in and out in the beginning. She never lets it faze her though. Total pro. Pretty good performance I would say.

Like the Super Bowl, the Orange Bowl has a bunch of people on the field dancing. Some are in all red, some in all yellow. Ok?

Ok now it’s time for Trace Adkins. He’s surrounded by a bunch of women in cowboy hats, and tightly clad white tops and bottoms. Like Kelly Clarkson his mike is not working well either. He is also pro and gets through it. He is wearing jeans that are way too tight. I don’t know what he sang, and I don’t care frankly! Something about “songs about me.” Really who cares, its country!

Now for the final act Ashlee Simpson. How is she the final act?! Kelly Clarkson has always been a bigger star than her (no pun intended). Shouldn’t have she been the final act?

Simpson is wearing all black. Some sort of Goth thing I guess. Simpson sings “You Make Me Wanna La La.” Her mike works perfectly. So this will certainly be the best performance. Not quite. It is God Awful. And that is an understatement. By the time it was over fans were booing her. Jason White just took a big sigh of relief, because he no longer had the worst performance in the Orange Bowl. No that honor goes to Ashlee Simpson.

Craig James says this USC team can go down as one of the greatest teams of all time. Jason Taylor says OU needs to relax and play their game. Really?!?! Bob Stoops says they shouldn’t beat themselves over this, and Jason Taylor says they need to relax. It’s 38-10. Oklahoma should absolutely be beating themselves over this and not be relaxed at all. USC on the other hand could be relaxed. Pete Carroll could down a 12 pack of Busch Light and it would not matter!!!

Kofod (Here's the link for Part 2 http://kandkzone.blogspot.com/2010/06/retro-running-diary-on-2005-orange-bowl_21.html )

Retro Running Diary on the 2005 Orange Bowl Part 2

Second Half


3rd Quarter

14:52: Adrian Peterson busts a play for 8 yards and then fumbles the ball. This will surely be a rare occurrence that will never occur again, especially when he’s in the NFL!!!
14:30: ABC shows stats of the Half. USC 24 points off 4 Oklahoma turnovers. Ouch!!!

14:07: ABC just showed the USC Cheerleaders. Me like!

13:48: OU punts the ball to USC’s 15.

13:38: USC gained 15 yards on a pass to the fullback. Oklahoma I don’t think it is your night.

13:12: LenDale White goes for 14 yards. You know in both BCS Championship games (this one, and the Texas one the next year) he played much better than Reggie Bush did. Just saying.

12:04: ABC shows graphic of all the quarterbacks under Norm Chow. The list includes Jim McMahon, Steve Young, and Ty Detmer at BYU, Phillip Rivers at N.C. State, and Carson Palmer and Matt Leinart at USC. As Adam Sandler says in the Hanukkah Song “Not to Shabby!”

12:04: Lynn Swann asks with such a great resume why isn’t Norm Chow a head coach. It is now 2010 and he still isn’t a head coach.

11:55: Matt Leinart hits a bomb to Steve Smith to the 5. What a great game Smith had. You know of all those great USC guys on that team he really is the one who has had the best NFL career so far. He already has one more Pro Bowl than Matt Leinart, Reggie Bush, Dwayne Jarrett, and LenDale White combined. Who in the world would have ever predicted that?

10:43: On 3rd and Goal Matt Leinart hits a wide open (who else) Steve Smith for a touchdown. Leinart has a record 5 Orange Bowl passing touchdowns now. USC 45 Oklahoma 10.

10:41: Brad Nessler while reading a promo for the upcoming season of Bachelorette “25 men fight for just 1 woman. I think that used to happen in college.”

9:46: Jason White runs for a 13 yard gain on 3rd down. Clearly USC’s defense if starting to break down!

9:46: ABC shows a montage of Jason White’s lowlights from the Sugar Bowl game against LSU last year. Pretty sure every OU fan at this point would be trying to gouge their eyes out.

7:25: Jason White on 3rd down hits Will Peoples for about a 30 yard gain. Too bad OU was called for holding. At this point couldn’t the refs just let that go? I mean OU is down 35! A little break at least refs!

7:10: Jason White eats grass again. He watches the scoreboard replay to see just how bad it was.

6:25: Reggie Bush breaks free. If it wasn’t for a shoe string tackle by Rodney Poole, Bush would have been gone. 33 yard gain by Bush.

6:07: Bush has a shit grin smile now like Pete Carroll had at halftime which just screams “I’m on top of the world, you’ll never catch me bitches!!!”

5:38: ABC has a computerized graphic of Reggie Bush video game style. They describe his play as ankle breaking and show Reggie Bush literally breaking off the ankle of a player’s leg with his hands. Why?!?!

5:17: Brad Nessler says with apologies to Auburn there is no doubt USC is the best team in the country.

4:54: On fourth and inches from OU’s 28 USC goes for it rather than kick a field goal. LenDale White gets 4 yards and a first down. Suddenly I don’t feel so bad for the way Stanford and Coach Jim Harbaugh ran it up on USC and Pete Carroll last season. You know what? Actually I never felt bad about that.

4:07: Todd Harris interviews Reggie Bush’s parents, Lamar Griffin and Denise Griffin. Denise says she is proud of our and the family is enjoying themselves in Miami (I bet they were!). Somehow Harris neglected to ask how they were traveling game to game when they were as poor as dirt while Reggie Bush was in high school. Actually everyone neglected to ask that.

4:01: USC kicks a 42 yard field goal. USC 48 Oklahoma 10.

3:43: ABC shows graphic of running back comparison between Bush and Peterson. Bush 6 carries for 75 yards. Peterson 20 carries for 65 yards. Just shows you it wasn’t ALL Jason White’s fault.

3:30: Oklahoma is now running a no huddle hurry up offense. Way to wait until you’re down 48-10 to run that offense Big Bob.

1:09: OU doesn’t convert on a 4th and 5 play from midfield. At this point what else can I say?!?!

0:00: USC comes up short on 3rd down.



End of 3rd Quarter USC 48 Oklahoma 10.

4th Quarter

15:00: Remember when I said earlier that Mickey Mouse had a big announcement to make? Well here it is! Every fan in the stadium who bought a ticket to the game got a free ticket to Disneyland or Disney World to celebrate Disneyland’s 50th anniversary. I’m sure plenty of USC fans would enjoy that in Disneyland, especially the Bush parents. I’m sure every single Oklahoma fan could have cared less. A Disney ticket is not going to drown their sorrows.


14:27: Another ABC graphic. Oklahoma’s 1st Possession: 92 yds, TD. Oklahoma’s last 8 possessions: 167 yds, FG.

13:18: ABC shows highlights of Lofa Tatupu and his game on the night. He really was all over the ball. At this point he has 12 tackles.

12:45: Jason White throws an INT to Matt Grootegoed. I think it’s time to let White sit for the rest of the game. Let the backup gets some snaps in a BCS National Championship Game.

12:33: LenDale White busts through another gaping hole, this time for about 40 yards to OU’s 17. It’s USC’s 18th play of 10+ yards.

11:21: Bob Griese on the USC football program: “USC does it right. They are well behaved and disciplined…First class all the way.”

9:46: USC goes for it from 4th and 1 from the 8. LenDale White takes it in for a TD. Really Pete Carroll you couldn’t just kick a FG their? USC 55 Oklahoma 10. USC gets two unsportsmanlike penalties for celebrating after the TD. One is from LenDale. Like Griese said USC is “first class all the way.”

8:30: Another celebrity sighting on the sideline…former USC QB Rodney Peete…ooooooohhh haha!!

7:18: OU punts the ball to USC’s 1. Pressure is on USC now haha.

7:18: ABC goes to a commercial break showing Reggie Bush carefully holding the crystal ball trophy. Nothing says irony more than that.

6:34: Leinart fumbles the ball in the end zone for a safety. Upset he spikes the ball to the ground in disgust resulting in a penalty. Meanwhile Pete Carroll pretends to be upset and yells at someone. USC 55 Oklahoma 12.

6:08: I feel bad for Brad Nessler. He gets stuck calling this stinker of a National Championship Game. He also called the 2001 Oklahoma 13-2 win over Florida State National Title Game (why am I reminding myself of this game?!?!). Meanwhile Keith Jackson, who in the 2000’s was well past his prime as an announcer and could barely see a thing, got to call the 199 Fiesta Bowl National Championship game that Tennessee beat FSU 23-16 in what was a pretty good game, the 2003 Fiesta Bowl classic between Ohio State and Miami, and the 2006 Rose Bowl Texas vs. USC greatest college football game of all time (sorry it was better than Boise State vs. OU). Some guys just don’t get all the breaks. But hey at least Nessler gets to be the voice of EA Sports NCAA Football Series. So he’s got that going for him.

3:59: Jason White throws a TD pass to Travis Wilson. The monkey is finally off Jason White’s back he has thrown a TD pass in a BCS National Championship game lol!!! USC 55 Oklahoma 19.

3:59: Bob Griese: “No question in my mind USC is the best team in the nation.”

3:59: Oklahoma kicker kicks it out of bounds trying to avoid Reggie Bush. Really?!?!

3:59: ABC shows a comment Oklahoma DT Larry Birdine said about Matt Leinart prior to the game. “Matt Leinart, he’s the Heisman Trophy Winner but he hasn’t been driving them- or he hasn’t been winning games. Up till the last 4 or 5 games, Reggie Bush has been their difference-maker.” He would go on to say Leinart was overrated. Well first off all great grammar by Birdine. And second of all how did that turn out for Birdine and OU’s defense?!?!

3:59: John David Booty is in the game for USC at QB!!! One of the greatest QB names of all time!

1:42: Carroll gets doused with Gatorade. Reggie Bush dashes by him as it happens nearly getting hit too. Oh the irony!

0:52: USC is getting the BCS Championship hats. Wouldn’t it be funny if the BCS asked that all the former players now give back those hats and t-shirts they got from that night in the Orange Bowl?!?!

0:00: Game is finally over. USC 55 Oklahoma 19.

ABC Postgame Coverage

John Saunders admits that he, Craig James, and Aaron Taylor had all picked Oklahoma. So those three, Trev Alberts, Mark May, and Kirk Herbstreit all picked Oklahoma. The only ESPN/ABC guy who got it right was Lee Corso. Yoooo!!

Aaron Taylor says he’s nearly speechless, because he never thought Oklahoma would get dominated like that.

Lynn Swann is ready to present the trophies on stage.

Pete Carroll is presented the Orange Bowl trophy with a bunch of oranges. This is one trophy USC won’t have to give back.

Now Carroll gets the crystal ball. That one will stay with USC forever hahahaha!!!

Carroll talks about the “class” USC has. Yes I agree. What class USC exhibited during the Pete Carroll era!

You know I will say this. At least Carroll enjoyed the celebration. In this past season’s celebration grouch Nick Saban looked like he was constipated the whole time.

Swann asks Matt Leinart if he has one more year as USC fans go nuts chanting “one more year!”.

Matt Leinart “to do a 3 peat I don’t think that’s ever been done before.”

Swann interviews Reggie Bush. Bush is holding the crystal ball like it’s a football. No one will get that from him! If he finishes the interview doing the Heisman pose with the crystal ball. Oh the class of Reggie Bush and USC!

Swann says that coaches like Pete Carroll have raised the bar for how future collegiate athletes will handle their business in college. Oh the irony and unintentional comedy in that statement hearing it now.

Todd Harris interviews Bob Stoops (someone got the short straw in who interviews who after the game). Bob Stoops says he will look at the game film. He says turnovers cost them. USC scored 31 points on 5 Oklahoma turnovers so I would say that was an accurate statement.

All the ABC guys finish the program talking about how USC is primed for a dynasty under Pete Carroll. While USC would win a few more Rose Bowls, who knew this would be the last national title (well at least AP) for USC under Carroll.

My Thoughts
Alright as for the actual game itself. At the time it happened, and in these years afterwards I put pretty much all the blame on Jason White. Looking back on it now I can see it wasn’t all his fault. While I would still put the majority of the fault on his shoulders, he certainly was not alone. On both sides of the ball the offensive and defensive lines of USC dominated Oklahoma’s lines all night. USC’s offensive line gave Matt Leinart all day to throw. And they gave LenDale White and Reggie Bush gapping holes to run through. On the defensive side the USC D-Line never allowed Adrian Peterson to get going, and put constant pressure on Jason White all night.

Also the Oklahoma skill position players kept slipping during the 1st half. Why exactly this happened I don’t know, but it was a huge factor in the first half, and it even caused one of the INT’s Jason White threw. Like Stoops said you can’t turn the ball over 5 times and expect to win. And the Mark Bradley fumble on the USC punt, when the game was tied 7-7 in the second quarter was a huge momentum swing. Overall, USC had more speed than Oklahoma. And while I was critical of Bob Stoops in this retro diary, and I do think Carroll outcoached him on this night, I think even if Stoops coached a good game OU probably would have lost.

In the end though I still put the majority of the blame on Jason White. He’s your Heisman stud, and he delivered another dud in a BCS Championship Game. It did then, and always will be part of his legacy. And even a diehard OU fan would understand that.

Now to present day 2010. And how the NCAA sanctions on USC and Reggie Bush forever change how this 2005 Orange Bowl will be looked at. After these sanctions I will forever call the 2005 Orange Bowl
"The Game that Happened, but didn't, but did." It happened, because the game was actually played on January 4, 2005. We have video proof, photos, and written accounts of the game to back this up. But it didn’t happen according to the BCS and NCAA. Reggie Bush was an ineligible player so the NCAA said that win would be vacant as well as other games, and probably his Heisman from the 2005 season. The BCS has agreed and is in the process of taking away that BCS/Coaches Championship that USC won in the 2005 Orange Bowl. Those USC players so wanted to get the Crystal Ball they could not get a year before. When they won it all the players and fans probably thought "and they can never take this away from us." Well not quite. Now the BCS is taking it away for good. And finally the “bud did” part is the fact that the AP is not going to have a revote and will let USC keep that AP National Championship. So USC did win a National Championship that night, and Pete Carroll and those Trojan players did win back to back championships. I agree with this decision. Unlike the AP revote for Brian Cushing’s Rookie of the Year Award in the NFL, this happened 5 years ago. Memories can be forgetful, and the fact is not all voters are still around.

This still will not take away the pain Utah players, coaches, and fans will have that they thought they were the best.

They have to stick with their Fiesta Bowl trophy. Same for Auburn. They have to stick with their Sugar Bowl trophy.

And Oklahoma can only wonder “what if” they played Auburn instead of USC. So 5 years later there is still controversy about who should be the champion that year. Welcome to College Football. Where undecided championships, and champions are as a big of a tradition as the Rose Bowl, Howard’s Rock, and Rudy.

Kofod

Here is the link to Part 1 ( http://kandkzone.blogspot.com/2010/06/retro-running-diary-on-2005-orange-bowl.html )

Crazy NBA Interviews

When Ron Artest went into his rant with ABC's Doris Burke after the Lakers won Game 7 I immediately thought of the rant Kevin Garnett went into with ABC's Michele Tafoya after winning the title in Game 6 of the 2007 NBA Finals. So I ask who had the crazier postgame interview after winning a NBA Championship.

Kevin Garnett in 2008?



Or Ron Artest in 2010?



Kofod

Music Video of the Week June 19th

Call me an old timer here. Last week I was watching PBS, yes PBS I know, and a concert for Paul McCartney from Citi Field was one. It was one great hour of television. Laugh at me if you want, I don't care. So I thought for music video of the week I would choose one of the songs he played from that concert. The song is "I Saw Her Standing There" with a little help from Billy Joel. It's not the greatest audio quality, but it's the best I could do.

Kofod

Alvin Greene South Carolina Democratic Senate Candidate

The KandKZone is all about sports and entertainment. That's our motto. One thing neither Kase nor I have ever delved in is politics. Too messy. And you don't want to offend anyone. But this political story is so good, and so funny I think any democrat, republican, independent, or whatever that is faaaaar away from South Carolina will enjoy it.

On Tuesday Alvin Greene won the Senate Democratic Primary for the State of the South Carolina. No big deal right? Wrong! Greene is a 32 year old unemployed veteran who lives at home with his parents. He did not raise any money, never started a website, had no signs made, and we are not sure if he even has his own car. Oh, and in November he was arrested and charged with showing obsence internet photos to a University of South Carolina student, then talking about going to her room at a university dorm. He is charged with disseminating, procuring or promoting obscenity, Greene could face up to five years in prison. He has yet to enter a plea or be indicted. And one last thing. Greene has a court ordered public defender as a lawyer for this case. Yet, somehow Greene paid the $10,400 fee to be able to run for Senate in South Carolina. Democrats think he was a puppet for the Republican party so the Democrats will not get the seat in the senate. Either way both Democrats and Republicans in South Carolina are appalled by this man. And it's not just the charges against him, and his background. The man is dumb as rocks. I implore you to take about 16 minutes out of your day and watch these two interviews he did. You will either be laughing, or stunned by just how dumb this man is. I was laughing.

The first is an interview he did with MSNBC's Keith Olbermann



The second interview is with The Big Picture



Enjoy! And be glad you don't live in South Carolina! Though I guess New York politics is not much better haha!

Kofod

World Cup Group Preview

Imagine 32 beautiful girls (sexy guys for you ladies) standing in front of you. Some are better looking than others, but each has a outstanding qualities. Now you can chose one and only one. That is what picking a World Cup Winner is like. It is similiar to selecting an NCAA bracket, but more difficult because these teams don't play together as much and chemistry can be a huge factor (possibly England). Also you could have the best player in the World, but if no one else steps up then it won't matter (possibly Argentina). Chosing a winner is like throwing 32 darts at a dartboard, but some are weighted. That is why I will just do the groups for now.

Group A: South Africa, Uruguay, Mexico and France.

The home country is going home early for the first time in history. I would love to see the South Africans and their star Steven Pienaar or the Uruguayans (or whatever they are called) advance past the dirty, cheating French and the plain dirty Mexicans (shout out to Raul Gonzalez wherever he is). In reality however, Mexico and France will advance. Mexico has Giovanni Dos Santos and of course Blanco, who is practically a deity South of the Border although he is 37. The French will also advance and it's not just because they like underage girls. I'm sure in France hooking up with underage prostitutes makes Franck Ribery a star, but he also happens to be a hell of a player. The guy is about 80 percent of the player Zinide Zidane, which is just enough to help them advance. Also watch the dirty, cheater himself Thierry Henry and Nicolas Analka, who may be their best player.

Group B: Argentina, Nigeria, Korea Republic, Greece.

While it is tough to discount Nigeria it will be Argentina and Greece that come out of Group B. For Argentina it is one word Messi. He is currently the best player in the world (in my opinion and in the opinion of many others). Argentina also has forward Carlos Tevez, who is very solid and will have a nice coming out party in this world cup if the team can win. Greece will be the other team out of this group. Greece is a slow-tempo boring defensive team, but there style can be tough to match up against because most of the best players in the world like to get out and run and Greece goes for possession and defense.

Group C: England, USA, Algeria, Slovenia.

England v. USA will be the biggest game in US soccer history or damn near close to it. Some pro's for the US squad is the fact that they are young and athletic and have Jozy Altidore. His big body could cause problems for the English. Landon Donovan played out of his mind in his short stint with Everton. If he can continue that look out. Plus the Americans have a top five goalie in Tim Howard.

Sadly though, the Three lions (that's the nickname for the English) will win. The USA's defensive squad is all banged up and Ashley Cole, England's excellent defender, will be following around Altidore and Donovan. Not to mention the fact that Wayne Rooney, Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard are all in contract years with their club teams. Big World Cup goals translates into big dollars.

England should and will win the group and I have the US coming in second, but do NOT overlook Algeria and especially Slovenia. They are both tough hard-nosed teams, but Slovenia is coming off a huge qualifying win over Russia in which Zlatko Dedic scored the biggest goal in Slovenia's history. The match between Slovenia and the US will be crucial. If the USA can't pull out a win they will be headed home early.

Group D: Germany, Australia, Serbia and Ghana.

You should never ever, ever count out the Germans whether they look old and slow or they have minimal star power, because that is when they will beat the hell out of you and steal a win. With Michael Ballack look for Lucas Podolski and the German's career leading goal scorer and Ryan Schupp's favorite player Miroslav Klose to come up big. I'm not sure who will be the other team to come out of the group, but Serbia has Nemanja Vidic on D. He is a beast on the pitch. I picked him up on my World Cup fantasy team and the Manchester U fans have a chant for him that goes something like this. Nemanja.... Nemanja....He's from Serbiaaa and he'll fucking murder ya. It's awesome to say the least. With that said look for Ghana to pull some home continent heroics.

Group E: Netherlands, Denmark, Japan and Cameroon.

The Dutch are favorites to win the whole damn tournament in some peoples mind and I definitely think they will advance past the group. There skill up front is amazing. With Arjen Robben (who is a bit beat up with a hamstring injury, but should be fine if the Netherlands can get out of the group) Wesley Sneijder, Robin Van Paarse and Rafael Van der Vaart, and Nicolas Bendtner the Dutch team is stacked. They all play for major English clubs, but the issue once again is chemistry. The Dutch team often bicker worse than Spencer and Heidi Pratt (who are soon to be divorced and hopefully Spencer drowns).

The key match will be Cameroon and Denmark on June 19th. The winner will advance along with the Dutch. I have my odds on Cameroon and Samuel Eto'o. Anyone who has ever played a FIFA game knows that Eto'o is a gifted goal scorer.

Group F: Italy, Paraguay, New Zealand and Slovokia.

This has to be the weakest group in the tournament. The experienced (AKA old ass) Italian team will find a way to advance, but it likely won't be pretty. The goal keeper Gianluigi Buffon will play a clutch role in the Italians winning the group. If he plays anything like he did in 2006 they will be fine.

I have no idea, who will win between the other three, but New Zealand is called the All Whites and while that's allwhite with me it may not be with many of the African fans. Plus they can't handle the conditions. I'm gonna just guess and chose Paraguay.

Group G: Brazil, Korea DPR, Cote d'Ivoire, and Portugal.

Group G is stacked like Lucy Pinder. I'm taking Brazil, but stranger things have happened. The Brazilians won't be play their typical Joga Bonito (play beautiful) this year or at least not as much. They kept Ronaldinho off the team for a stronger defensive mid-field but with names like Kaka (who is the opposite of doo doo), Maicion, Dani Alves, and Luis Fabiano still expect the Brazilians to score a ton of goals.

Korea DPR (AKA North Korea) has a player named Jong-Tae Se. He has promised a goal a game. I don't see it happening. Cote d'Ivoire (AKA the Ivory Coast) could make a run, but it all rests on the arm of Didier Drogba, who led the English Premier league in goals this season. Portugal has the fabulous Cristiano Ronaldo, Deco and Simao. Second place in this league will be better than half the teams in the tourney. At gun-point I'm going with Portugal. I would take Ivory Coast, but defenders will try to hammer Drogba's broken wing.

Group H: Spain, Switzerland, Honduras, and Chile.

Espania is so loaded with talent it is almost unreal. Xavi, Fernando Torres (on of my favorite players), David Villa, Xabi Alonso, Cesc Fàbregas, Pique, Carles Puyol, and the list goes on and on. This team should win it all or at least make the final. I think they will choke at some point. I mean the US beat them, but they will win the group.

As for a number 2 (who...does...number 2 work....for) I will take the winner of the Swiss v. Chile game, which will be Chile. Which will make non-Italian Snooki from the Jersey Shore very happy. Matias Fernandez, Alexis Sanchez and Humberto Suazo will help the Chileans advance.

Early Finals pick: Brazil v. Netherlands.

A Winning Goal in the Stanley Cup Finals...Who Knew?

So Buffalo native Patrick Kane scored the game winning goal last night in overtime of Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Finals. Well it wasn't so clear at first. The refs did not signal a goal, nor did the light go on. So this left both the CBC and NBC announcers confused at first.

I watched the CBC broadcast last night. Announcer Jim Hughson (who is famously the voice of the NHL Video Game series for EA Sports) was not sure it was in.



The same was true for NBC announcer Mike "Doc" Emrick. Goal happens at about the 0:48 mark of this video.



Such a strange way to end a game! But it was the best Stanley Cup series I ever saw. And last night's NBC broadcast was the highest rated Stanley Cup Finals game in 36 years in the U.S. since the stat was kept. In fact Game 2 was the second highest. So it was a great year for hockey in both the United States (high ratings, bronze medal in Olympics), and Canada (gold medal in Olympics).

Kofod

Running Diary of Stephen Strasburg's Pitching Debut and Game 3 of the 2010 NBA Finals

This is my running diary of what I was thinking as I watched Stephen Strasburg’s opening debut against the Pirates, and Game 3 of the 2010 NBA Finals.

 

6:35: Put the TV on MLB Network. Crowd is packed; all the cameras are on Strasburg. Bob Costas is doing the game so you know it’s big. Haven’t been this excited to see a baseball game since the Red Sox/Yankees 2004 ALCS.

6:38: Prediction for Strasburg. 6 1/3 innings pitched, 5 hits, 1 ER, 6 K’s.

6:46: Nick Swisher is doing a tutorial on how to hit a baseball with Harold Reynolds using a tee ball stand. I feel like this is a video for a 10 year old little leaguer. Does not belong on a pregame show for a game like this. Do better MLB Network!

6:52: My dad will be at the Nationals at Indians game on Sunday where Strasburg is expected to make his next start. The ticket he has for that game is $50. He said if someone offers him $400 for it he’ll take it, and go to a bar and watch the game. Can’t say I blame him.

6:54: Bob Costas, John Smoltz, and Jim Kaat are going to call the game. 3 guys who know baseball. Should be a good broadcast.

6:59: Bob Costas talking about Strasburg and then black…DirectTV says game is a blackout. Why?! Because we get Fox Sports Pittsburgh broadcast. So I go from Bob Costas to some Pirates TV announcers I never heard off. What a letdown!! Thanks a lot DirecTV.

7:00: My dad knows who the Pirates Color Analyst is…it’s Tim Neverett a former player. My dad says watch he has a terrible lisp. He’s absolutely right. He whistles his S’s. Just awful. Thanks goodness the Fox Sports Pittsburgh broadcast is in HD at least!

7:05: Strasburg warming up at the mound! Almost time!

7:06: First pitch. Ball outside. Second pitch ball. Neither close. Fans still booing. Third pitch line drive to the shortstop. Out.

7:07: Crowd is still standing. Flashbulbs off cameras.

7:08: Groundout to first for second out. One thing I like about Strasburg. He takes very little time in between pitches. Gets the ball from the catcher and almost immediately throws it back.

7:09: K to end the inning. He can throw the heat, but he has a nasty curve too. Crowd is jumping. With Strasburg, Bryce Harper, Ovechkin, McNabb, and soon to be John Wall there seems to be a revival for sports in D.C. Good for them.

7:12: Pirates pitching, Nationals now hitting. Who cares get me Strasburg again.

7:14: Ryan Zimmerman hits a HR for the Nationals. Crowd not nearly going as crazy as they did for Strasburg’s 1st inning strikeout. 1-0 Nationals.

7:15: Commercial for Pirates. PNC Park on September 5th will have a statue of Bill Mazeroski unveiled outside the Pirates PNC Park. He hit the game winning Game 7 World Series Home Run over the Yankees.  Narrator says the statue represents the “Greatest Sports Moment” in Pittsburgh history. Not sure it is. Greatest Pirates moment yes! But isn’t the Immaculate Reception, Super Bowl IX, Super Bowl X, Super Bowl XIII, and Ben Roethlisberger’s bathroom stall incident (haha) all bigger moments. I think of Pittsburgh as more of a Steelers town than a Pirates town.

7:19: Strasburg fell behind 3-0. Then threw 3 straight strikeouts, including a 99 mph fastball for a strike 3, with the Pirates batter swinging like a fool. Damn he’s good.

7:21: Strasburg throws 100 mph for strike 2. Crowd goes wild. Then throws nasty slurve for strike 3. 3 straight K’s. Crowd is delirious.

7:22: Base hit by Andy LaRoche. Strasburg is human.

7:25: Strike 3 looking. 4 K’s in two innings for Strasburg. Unreal.

7:28: Ivan “Pudge” Rodriquez gets a double for the Nationals. Had no idea he was still playing. Had no idea he was still alive haha.

7:37: Strasburg K’s the guy looking to start the 3rd. 5 K’s. My 6 K prediction is looking way too low right now.

7:38: Another K. 6 strikeouts in 2 2/3 innings. Unreal.

7:39: Ground out to 3rd to end the inning. During that entire top of the 3rd the Pirates GM was on to talk about their draft. Didn’t listen to anything he said. Couldn’t Fox Sports Net Pittsburgh have him talk when the Pirates are pitching? Bob Costas where are you!?!? Thanks again DirecTV!!!

7:52: Base hit by the Pirates to start the 4th. Fox Sports Pittsburgh’s cameras show crowd shots of tons of fans in Strasburg #37 shirts. Pirates color analyst Tim Neverett with his lisp thinks the Nationals might have had a giveaway previously to give away shirts. No way!!! Every one of those shirts was paid for I guarantee it! Nationals will profit on Strasburg. What a dumb thought! Where is Bob Costas?!?!?!

7:54: Another base hit. 2 men on now. Wow. Strasburg in his first ever MLB jam.

7:57: Broken bat double play. Two men out, man on 3rd.

7:58: Delwyn Young hits a 2 run HR!!! Holy cow. Pirates up 2-1. We got a game folks!!!

7:59: Pop out to end the top of the 4th. Through 4 innings Strasburg has allowed 2 ER’s, 4 hits, and has 6 K’s.

8:06: Pudge Rodriquez hits a base hit. Man on 1st and 3rd for Nationals with one out. Rodriquez is hitting .331 for the season. Someone test him for steroids!!!

8:07: Pop out to Lastings Milltedge. Throws out the guy at home. Pirates 2 Nationals 1 after 4 innings.

8:10: K to start the inning. 7 strikeouts for Strasburg.

8:11: Did you know you can vote up to 25 times a day for your favorite Pirate to go to the All Star Game? Well according to Fox Sports Pittsburgh you can. Is there ONE Pirates fan out there that is doing that?!?!!?

8:15: Strasburg strikes out the Pirates pitcher to end the inning looking. 8 strikeouts for Strasburg through 5 innings.

8:26: Strasburg strikes out the first two batters to start the 6th inning. 10 K’s. This guy is already a CY Young candidate hahaha!!!

8:28: Strasburg strikes out the side! 11 K’s in 6 innings! I don’t care if this is the Pirates this is still very impressive!

8:33: Adam Dunn crushes a 2 run homerun in the second deck of the right field outfield. 3-2 Nationals. I’m pumped, I want a win for Strasburg!

8:35: Josh Willingham hits a solo homerun. 4-2 Nationals. The way Strasburg is pitching that should be enough. Unless the bullpen blows it.

8:49: 12th Strikeout for Strasburg. 5 K’s in a row. For many pitchers this would be a performance for an ages. For Stephen Strasburg it’s his first start!!!

8:50: 3 strikes in a row for the second out! 13 K’s now. This is amazing!!! The NBA game has a lot to live up to now!!!

8:51: Another 3 strikes in a row! 14 K’s. My dad said it best. “He’s so good for baseball!” Yes this can only help the sport raise it’s popularity. I hope he comes out for the top of the 8th. He hasn’t even thrown 100 pitches yet!!

8:54: Strasburg is being pitched hit for. His night is over. Stats for the night for him is 7 innings pitched, 4 hits, 2 earned runs, and 14 strikeouts. He lived up to the hype and then some. Hopefully the Nats don’t blow this game.

8:58: NBA Finals intros going on right now on ABC. Alright NBA Finals Game 3 let’s go!!! What a great night for sports!

9:01: ABC has had the same stupid montage opening for every NBA Finals game for the past 5 years. It’s so lazy. Man I miss the days of the NBA on NBC…The music was so good, the coverage, everything. Though Breen, Van Gundy, and Jackson are great announcers for ABC.

9:02: KG will play very well tonight. That’s my prediction. I’m saying it right now!

9:06: ABC shows Doc Rivers pregame speech. Phil Jackson is a better coach, but I love when Doc Rivers speaks. I would run through a wall for that guy!

9:07: Awesome move by KG for the first basket!!! Great start to my prediction.

9:08: Oooooohhhhhh!!!!!! Alley oop to Garnett! Heeeeeeee’sssss baaaacckkk!

9:08: Another alley oop to Garnett!!! This could get ugly real fast!!!!

9:11: Nationals got through the top of the 8th allowing no runs. Still 4-2.

9:12: Rondo has his A game tonight!!! 12-5 Celtics. Kobe may need to bring out his selfish shoot everytime game out tonight!

9:16: Ray Allen or Reggie Miller who’s the better all time player? I say Allen, but it’s real close.

9:19: Love the Kobe Sucks chant as Kobe shoots free throws at the line. And Bill Simmons didn’t even tell them to say that!

9:22: 2 fouls on Rondo. This will be a good game. Awful call on Rondo’s 2nd foul. Fisher playing great D on Allen so far too.

9:23: Garnett 4 for 4. No surprise to me lol!

9:23: Garnett is going strong to the basket. 5 for 5.

9:25: Nationals get the win 5-2. Good for Strasburg, good for the Nationals, good for the fans, good for the city of Washington D.C. Baseball is alive and well in Washington D.C.!!!

9:29: Ray Allen 0-5 so far tonight. So if he stinks tonight does that mean he will have another epic performance in Game 4?

9:33: In the offseason Rajon Rondo should practice shooting 1,000 free throws every day. He just badly bricked two. A guard needs to make free throws on a more consistent basis than what he does.

9:35: Dumb foul by Rasheed Wallace at the end of the 1st quarter.

9:37: Alright Paul Pierce I think it’s about time for you to step up.

9:40: That NBA Finals commercial just came on. My dad on seeing Dr. J; “Is he dead?” Me “No.” My dad “Are you sure?” Me “Yes.” Safe to say my dad was never a Sixers or Dr. J fan.

9:43: Lakers 31-17. It’s not a good sign when Shannon Brown is making wide open shots.

9:45: Doc Rivers “We need to get stops.” Nate Robinson “Yeah” nodding his head and looking at everybody. No one responds to him. Know your place Nate.

9:52: Garnett 6 of 8 from the field. LA up 37-26. When will Paul Pierce join the party?

9:57: My dad loves Rondo’s green shoes. Some “Celtic Magic” he says. Yeah my dad has always been a Celtic fan. He knows Bob Cousy and Larry Bird are still alive haha.

9:59: LA is up 41-31 and Kobe really hasn’t done a whole lot yet. Great sign for the Lakers.

10:01: Kobe is 2 of 8 from the field and 0 of 3 from 3. 6 of 6 from the foul line. So he is getting to the line, but he can’t buy a bucket right now.

10:03: Jeff Van Gundy “Your best player shouldn’t be your best liked” talking about Kobe. I couldn’t agree more with him. Kobe and Jordan are winners, yet there teammates hated them. Dwight Howard is a goofball on the court, and has underachieved. And you know what. LeBron is similarly a well liked guy. What has he won so far?

10:06: Lakers up 46-35 after a great hustle play by Kobe. Boston needs to keep this lead 10-12 by halftime. Can’t let the lead get out of hand.

10:09: Kobe is in the game now. Beautiful layup he just made.

10:09: Garnett is keeping Boston in this game.

10:13: Doris Burke looks like she needs a 72 hour nap. Baggy eyes and a very tired look to her all the time.

10:14: LA up 52-40 at half. Boston is still in this game.

10:19: If TNT’s NBA studio crew of Ernie Johnson, Kenny Smith, and Charles Barkley is the porterhouse steak of TV sports studio crews the ABC NBA studio crew of Stuart Scott, Jon Berry, Michael Wilbon, and Magic Johnson are the rotten bologna of TV sports studio crews. Stuart Scott tries to be too cool with the “what’s up y’all” line he always has. He should stick to SportsCenter. Michael Wilbon is much better on PTI than on this show. Much more lively with PTI. Jon Berry says nothing relevant. And Magic Johnson is a much better personality than he is a studio guy. Sorry to say that but it’s true.

10:35: Ray Allen bricks another shot. In Game 4 he will score over 30 points. I am saying it now.

10:36: Would it be too much to ask that Boston have ONE game where Rondo, Allen, Pierce, and Garnett all have good games?

10:37: Pierce with a 3. He’s alive! LA up 54-45.

10:40: Garnett goes to the basket hard and gets fouled.

10:41: Garnett makes both free throws. Lead cut to 56-49.

10:43: I will say the refs are much better tonight so far. Not nearly as ticky-tacky as the refs were in the first two games.

10:45: The new Kobe Nike  commercial is just stupid. I don’t get what it means at all!!!

10:53: Boston hanging around. 60-53 LA.

10:57: Nicholas Cage with another crappy movie coming out. The Sorcerer’s Apprentice preview just came out on a commercial. This will be one of the 5 worst movies Disney has ever made easily.

10:59: Kobe’s got the points, but he really isn’t playing that good tonight. He just missed another shot.

11:00: Tony Allen is a great presence off the bench. LA up only 5 now.

11:01: And just like that Kobe makes a 3.

11:02: Tony Allen off the fast break. Huuuuugeeee 3rd quarter for him!!!

11:03: Lakers 67 Celtics 61 after three quarters. Who will be the star to step up in the 4th quarter? My prediction?!?! It will be Rajon Rondo, with a little Kevin Garnett, and Big Baby sprinkled in. Boston comes back from 17 to win an epic game. I hope I’m right.

11:05: These Grown Ups NBA Finals commercials are awful. Chris Rock, David Spade, Kevin James, and Adam Sandler have no chemistry in these commercials. And why is Sandler wearing a green t-shirt underneath his New York Knicks Willis Reed jersey?!?! That does not match at all!!! Wouldn’t a stylist in the commercial shoot have told him this?

11:08: Big Baby!!! Lead cut to 4!

11:09: Boston crowd is so much better than a LA crowd. Yelling bullshit after bad call on Rasheed. Boston crowd is alive right now in the 4th quarter.

11:12: Great layup by Rondo!!!! One point game!!!! 68-67 LA…Kobe can’t buy a shot right now!!!!!!!!

11:16: Another brick by Kobe!!!! I’m loving this!!!!! Tony Allen playing great D on Kobe!!!

11:18: Another shot by Kobe, another miss. What more can you say?!?!!?

11:19: KG with another bucket!!! One point game!

11:20: Green Shoes Rondo with a nice pass to Big Baby who gets fouled. Big Baby needs to make both these free throws.

11:21: Big Baby misses the first, makes the second. Ok, but two would have been better.

11:21: Bynum misses an easy put back layup. Uh-oh LA!!!

11:22: LA 74-70 5:40 to go…..We’re in for a very good finish.

11:23: How many takes do you think it took to do that Charles Barkley $2 Taco Bell meal commercial? I say no way it was over 3. Very little acting there. Yet Barkley still kills it! “Terrible!”

11:26: Big Baby with the basket and the foul!!! I said the Ticket Stub would be a sprinkle in the 4th quarter. I was wrong; he’s been the main desert! And he made the foul shot!

11:28: Ron Artest is in the NBA Finals! Good hustle play by him to knock the ball off of Ticket Stub. And another big shot by Derek Fisher.

11:29: Pierce for 3!!! LA 78-76

11:30: Kobe and Ray Allen will make one great house with all the bricks they’ve had tonight!

11:30: KG!!! LA 80-78

11:31: Every time Boston cuts it to a one possession game someone from LA comes back to make it two possessions again. This time it was Gasol. LA 82-78. If Boston could just tie it.

11:35: KG cuts it to two. Can Boston get a stop?!?!

11:35: Kobe finally makes a shot when it counts. That’s why he’s Kobe. Clutch when it matters.

11:36: Charles Barkley “Momma pick up the phone!”

11:37: Ball def. went off of Garnett’s hand. DAMMITT!!!

11:39: How the hell is that a jump ball?!?! Ball went off Odom!!! Get Boston the ball refs!!!

11:41: Allen couldn’t make the 3. 0-13 from the field, 0-8 from 3. Unbelievalbe. Then Fisher makes the bucket and the foul. MVP for LA is Derek Fisher.

11:42: LA 87-80 with 48 seconds left. Looks like LA will win. Damn!

11:44: Paul Pierce with a basket and foul.

11:45: Another review coming in the last two minutes…When did the NBA become the NFL?!?! I like that they do this though. You see this MLB?!?!?!

11:47: Good call on Garnett. Dumb foul by KG!!! Completely unnecessary!

11:48: 89-82 LA. Game over!

11:50: Final Lakers 91 Celtics 84.

11:51: I know Fisher has been through a lot, and that’s why he’s emotional…but it’s only Game 3 of the Finals Fisher. Still a few games left.

11:53: Boston needs all four of the Big 4 to show up in Game 4. Four for four in four would be the motto I would say.

11:55: So here are the two stats that kill Boston. Phil Jackson is 47-0 all time in series when winning Game 1 of a series, and the team that wins Game 3 of the NBA Finals in the 2-3-2 format when the series is tied 1-1 is 10-0 all time in the series. But you know what? No baseball team ever came back from 3-0 down in a series. Then came the 2004 Boston Red Sox. So I still have faith in the Celtics.

Kofod