My town of Los Angeles is not short on craziness today. Following are the three stories that have everyone’s attention. All three events - critical playoff wins by the Clippers and Lakers and an immigrant boycott - have made LA-LA land just that.
First the Clippers move to within a game of winning their first playoff series since -- well since basketball was invented in Springfield, Mass. These guys are for real and have been all season. They take a 3-1 lead over the Denver Nuggets with their win today.
“The Clippers ended a 13-year road playoff drought and moved within one victory of the franchise's first series win in 30 years by beating the Denver Nuggets 100-86 Saturday night.”
Miracle number two. Kobe Bryant takes 14 shots – two fewer than Lamar Odom and about 30 fewer than he averaged this season. Fortunately for the Lakers, one of those shots came as time ran out in regulation and one came to close out overtime as the Lakers took an improbable victory from the higher seeded Phoenix Suns. It was a crazy game with Bryant spending a fair amount of time on the bench in foul trouble. For the third game of the series the high scoring Suns were held
below 100 points. Hmmm…..who knew that passing, team chemistry and defense could win playoff games? Is it a new era? Bryant’s leadership, previously non-existent, may be the difference.
“The Los Angeles Lakers may no longer be a one-man team, but they know where to go with the ball when the game is on the line.”
Photo from Lucy Nicholson – Reuters
And number three, and not sports related but a big topic here in LA. From the New York Times
“In Los Angeles, the police prepared for hundreds of thousands of people to attend demonstrations, while smaller rallies were expected in other West Coast cities. Some advocates in Los Angeles have pressed for a full boycott, while other leaders there, including Cardinal Roger M. Mahony, the archbishop of Los Angeles, have urged a milder approach.
Jesse Diaz, a rally organizer in Los Angeles, has called on people to avoid buying or selling products, and to skip work or school. He dismisses any division over the question as ‘wishy-washy.’In an earlier march, Mr. Diaz said, the crowd went ‘crazy’ when he announced plans for the boycott. ‘You could just tell these folks were ready to boycott,’ he said.”
And from the Los Angeles Times
“Authorities are preparing for hundreds of thousands to march down one of L.A.'s most storied streets, following a route between MacArthur Park and the Miracle Mile that's a microcosm of the city's ethnic and economic diversity.”
Read more coverage on the battle over immigration.
Does anyone even know or care that the Anaheim Angels lost on a wild pitch in the ninth inning or know that the Anaheim Mighty Ducks trail Calgary in the 2006 Stanley Cup playoffs?
Where did this team (the Lakers) come from? Who is this number 8 that has hogged the ball all season and is now preaching the gospel of the assist? What caused this radical change of heart and playing style in Bryant? Is Kobe a leader?
