Ted Green: observations on Lakers, Dodgers, BCS title game, Mark Sanchez
Some observations while rummaging through the toy box of life, today's sports news:
Lakers fans, you need to stop fixating, fretting, obsessing, worrying about the Celtics so much. Obviously, they're going to lose all the rest of their games and end up in the lottery.
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Trevor Ariza, specialist. Vladimir Radmanovic, specialist. Luke Walton, love the last name. Seems more obvious now that, good as they are, for the Lakers to be a real juggernaut approaching something like the Magic Johnson Showtime years, the hole in their lineup is at small forward. They need a real "3", a near All-Star level performer in the starting lineup, to make them true world beaters. Oh wait, they have one who could fill that role: Lamar Odom.
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In carefully and maybe even smartly avoiding the Scott Boras booby trap of bidding against themselves, the Dodgers had better hope simple human emotion doesn't intervene. Even if
$45 million is plenty o' jack for a soon-to-be 37-year-old hitting savant, if Manny gets mad and feels disrespected, even if his feeling is irrational, he could still say adios, amigos ... but he will need an offer from another team to bail on the Dodgers. That's the game of contract "chicken" they're playing right now.
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Prediction: Florida 38, Oklahoma 35. Suppositions: USC 24, Florida 17. USC 35, Oklahoma 24.
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The stay or go decision for Mark Sanchez is personal, but it shouldn't be about whether he's the 15th pick this year or the No. 1 overall in 2010. Those are life's little details. Knock wood, the NFL will be there for the personable, pro-ready Sanchez for a dozen years. College ... the friends, the experiences, that Saturday adrenaline rush, happens once in your lifetime and you can never go back and reclaim it. I say, enjoy the full USC experience, win a national title, the colder, business-driven NFL isn't going anywhere.
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On Wednesday, the Clippers e-mailed to say they had acquired Hassan Adams in a fringe-type trade with Denver. About two hours later, the Clips e-mailed a second time with the news they had waived Hassan Adams. I have no clue what's going in, but I believe this is known as the Hassan Chop.
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The hockey player who went Tyson on an opponent, biting him and breaking his skin, says he didn't chomp down. I believe him. It was purely acci-dental.
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I'm with the Boston College athletic director who abruptly fired his head football coach because he defied the school and interviewed for a job with the Jets. At least there's one person left who believes in the quaint, outdated notion that when you have three years left on your contract, you actually honor it.
-- Ted Green
Ted Green is a former sportswriter for the L.A. Times and senior sports producer for KTLA Prime News. He has never bitten anyone.
Umm, the 'hockey player' in question is in fact the Senators' Jarkko Ruutu. How tough would it have been to find out that info to include in your blog???
Posted by: Debra Miller | January 08, 2009 at 11:45 AM