Monday, May 12

Tossing a little batting practice while wondering, if this column sucks can I blame the officials for the large free throw disparity? It worked for the Lakers this weekend.

Saturday night had an 80s feel to it, the social gathering I attended had an 80s theme, but the Kings and Mavericks combined for 278 points. Holy Bernard King! At one point I counted seven consecutive possessions where the shot clock didn’t go below 17. I thought Hank Gathers had been resurrected to play. Both teams combined for 218 field goal attempts an average of one every 15 seconds. Dallas also set an NBA record with 42 3-point attempts. They say the NFL is a copycat league, let’s hope the NBA sees the success of these teams and copies their exciting style of play. The Pat Riley style of slow it down and foul as often as you can owes fans this new era.

If Antoine Walker were the same height as Billy Hoyle, of White Men Can’t Jump fame, who would a dunk contest?

Pop quiz can you name five non-European hockey players still alive in the NHL playoffs?

The Jacobs family may be right , you don’t need to spend lots of dollars to win a Stanley Cup. But you do need to have a front office that actually knows what they are doing, and can judge talent.

Remember when there was a push to make Manny Ramirez a full time DH? Did anybody else see that ball Jeremy Giambi dropped in left field last night? In 155 games as the Red Sox left fielder Manny has made five errors, all of them in 2002. In that time has also accumulated nine outfield assists. In 152 games last year Trot Nixon made five errors as well, and threw out seven runners.

Isn’t it ironic that Danny Ainge is against the Celtics current system of heaving three’s at any given opportunity. Without the three-point line and the subsequent green light he had, Ainge would have stayed in baseball.

Tony Parker, you have exactly two games left to prove to San Antonio management that Jason Kidd is not the answer.

Seriously, does anyone think the Lakers will lose?

Nothing may be more exciting than a 0-0 overtime playoff hockey game, but if the Neutral Zone trap is involved I would rather it be settled by shootout.

Jimy Williams was considered a redneck Grady Little is a Southerner through and through, will the Sox next Manager be Cletus the Slack-Jawed yokel?

Where does Mel Kiper Jr. go the other 51 weekends of the year?

If BC moves to the ACC fans will have to show up at kickoff for football games. Their beloved Eagles will likely be 14 points down, and already out of the game if they show up at their customary time.

Give us your tired, poor and huddled masses: There are eight international born players in the Mavericks/Kings series all of whom are contributing mightily to their teams.

Would anybody be opposed to adding a 10-point shot during the NBA Finals for the Eastern Conference, just to bridge the gap slightly.

The Red Sox bullpen is 22-12 this season. In the grand scheme of things that really isn’t that bad.

“If you build it they will come” Cincinnati built the “Great American Ballpark” but the people still wont come. Less than 25,000 fans attended yesterday’s Reds game in a ballpark that can hold more than 42,000.

Given Danny Ainge’s baseball background, can the Red Sox hire him if this whole Celtics thing doesn’t work out?

And finally even though Mother’s day is a day to shower the matriarch of your family with praise, I can’t let this fester any longer. Mom, damn you for throwing away my Danny Ainge replica jersey as a child, I told you I would wear it again sometime.

Sports quote of the weekend “Mark McGwire isn’t a Hall of Famer all he could do was hit Home Runs.”