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 Ryan Smyth to KingsJuly 3rd, 2009, 9:22 pm by Mark Whicker, ocregister.comThe Kings loaded up on defensemen so they could make a trade for a forward, and they completed it Friday night, getting Ryan Smyth from Colorado. The price was Tom Preissing and Kyle Quincey. That still leaves the Kings with Drew Doughty, Jack Johnson and Rob Scuderi on the back line among others. Smyth turns 33 this season but remains one of the best net-crowders in the business. He’s also a longtime nemesis of the Ducks. Manny says it’s “show time”July 3rd, 2009, 3:59 pm by Mark Whicker, ocregister.comManny Ramirez got the cross-examinations out of the way early Friday before his comeback game in San Diego, saying again that he didn’t want to talk about steroids and that he was “going forward.” He did admit to some anxiety and embarrassment before the game against the Padres, but said his previous apology to the fans would suffice. “Only one man in the world didn’t make a mistake and they killed him,” Ramirez said. “I told the fans I was sorry. I felt bad for my teammates because I wanted to be there every day for them. But they’ve been very professional.” The Dodgers were 29-21 with Ramirez out and increased their National League West lead by a half-game. Manager Joe Torre said that Ramirez seemed “uncomfortable” with the scene but said he felt Ramirez’ apologies and the fact that he didn’t deny that he used a performance-enhancing drug was good enough for him. Irritated when a reporter asked if the non-denial was sufficient, Torre said, “He apologized. That means he thinks he made a mistake. Have you ever apologized for something? Did you do something wrong?” When the reporter said that he had sometimes done that, Torre said, “So you apologized and you didn’t do anything wrong. You’re unique.” Torre said Ramirez will play every day “until there’s a reason he shouldn’t” and is batting third tonight. Asked if he was nervous, Ramirez said yes. “But that’s good,” he said. “It might take a little time but I will catch up. I’m one of the best players who ever put on a uniform. It will be OK. Bring it on.” Now it’s Turkoglu to Toronto, we thinkJuly 3rd, 2009, 12:43 pm by Mark Whicker, ocregister.comESPN continued a day-long argument with itself by reporting that Hedo Turkoglu is signing with the Toronto Raptors, after originally saying he was going to Portland. The Lakers will vote for Toronto, if this argument continues into the weekend. Phil’s coming backJuly 3rd, 2009, 11:06 am by Mark Whicker, ocregister.comESPN is reporting that Phil Jackson is 99.9 percent certain to come back as Lakers’ coach next year, as expected. Considering what he’s getting paid and who he’s coaching, this was a fairly easy call. As long as Jackson doesn’t need a walker to get onto the court, he’ll be around as long as Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol are. Buzzing about MannyJuly 3rd, 2009, 10:13 am by Mark Whicker, ocregister.com
A nasty swarm of bees apparently got the date confused. It settled inside a ball girl’s jacket Thursday night and wouldn’t leave, and the Padres-Houston game was delayed for 52 minutes. One stadium official estimated there were two thousand bees involved. It was the first time this year that the drones in the stadium weren’t wearing San Diego uniforms. Maybe they’ll be back in left-field tonight, attracted by the aroma of female fertility drugs. Why do we quote athletes?July 3rd, 2009, 10:06 am by Mark Whicker, ocregister.comWell, because some of them are very insightful, and it’s always good to get the viewpoint from field level instead of from ESPN highlights, or some geek’s cubicle, or from the press box. But then there are too many like Ben Gordon, who left the Bulls to sign with the Pistons for five years, $55M. “I really didn’t do it for the money, I wanted to win a championship,” Gordon said. Either he thinks we’re all idiots or he speaks on auto-pilot. The Bulls were better than Detroit last year and still are. This reminded me of Brett Tomko at Dodger Stadium a few years ago, when he actually said, “Except for those two innings I felt I pitched pretty well.” Why do we even bother? Artest makes the Lakers better, more interestingJuly 3rd, 2009, 12:22 am by Mark Whicker, ocregister.com
But there’s precedent for this. The Chicago Bulls welcomed Dennis Rodman into the kingdom and figured that Michael Jordan’s outsized presence and influence would keep him in line. And it worked, spectacularly. Kobe Bryant knows Artest well and knows how to curb him, to the extent he has to. Artest stirred up no visible waves in Houston. Presumably, as he joins the reigning NBA champs, he’ll fall in line. If he does, he’s a more reliable 3-point bomber than Ariza and a more muscular defender, although Ariza is clearly younger and more explosive. Ariza will get more minutes in Houston, but if Yao Ming really can’t play next year, it’s like going to Siberia. Artest is the Lakers’ answer to Shaquille O’Neal going to Cleveland and Vince Carter going to Orlando. It keeps them not only ahead of the game, but in the middle of the league-wide conversation. For the Lakers, both issues are important. Wild card feverJune 28th, 2009, 10:05 pm by Mark Whicker, ocregister.comThey don’t start printing the wild card standings in the paper until after the All-Star break, but that scramble is happening now. The Yankees have a 2-game lead over Tampa Bay for the American League wild card, with Texas 2 1/2 back, then Toronto 3 back, Seattle 4 and Minnesota 5. There but for the grace of interleague play go the Angels, who are a game and a half ahead of Texas in the AL West standings, after they feasted on the carcass of the Arizona franchise over the weekend. The N.L. wild card is more interesting, because San Francisco leads Colorado by a half-game. St. Louis and Milwaukee are tied for the N.L. Central lead, so one of them is a half-game back, too. Do you really want to play the Giants in a 3 of 5 Division Series, with Tim Lincecum and Matt Cain pitching? And then maybe Randy Johnson following? The Giants are flawed in several areas, but if they can get into October, they might not leave until November. Pronger put the Ducks over the topJune 26th, 2009, 6:27 pm by Mark Whicker, ocregister.com
 pronger Chris Pronger’s career wouldn’t have been conplete without at least one season playing for the traditonally nasty Philadelphia Flyers. But the Flyers, competitive as they’ve been, haven’t won a Stanley Cup since 1976. Pronger can help with that, too. The last and widest line of defense is now a Flyer thanks to a deal that brought the Ducks their former winger, Joffrey Lupul, and young defenseman Luca Sbisa. The Ducks also get an extra first-round pick from the Flyers. Pronger didn’t have his best regular season for the Ducks but did have a stellar playoff, running the power play, poking away the puck and occasionally bringing down the hammer. The Ducks will miss his presence more than what he actually brings. He makes everyone on his team walk a little taller. What Pronger did for the Ducks, and what Brian Burke did by bringing him here in July of 2006, should never be forgotten. From the moment they made that trade with Edmonton, they thought they should win the Stanley Cup. Eleven months later they did. Without him it’s hard to imagine them doing so. The Ducks could play Pronger and Scott Niedermayer together almost every minute of a playoff game, and sometimes together, as in the Ottawa series when they defused Daniel Alfredsson, etc. The night they won, Niedermayer handed the Cup over to his brother Rob, and then Pronger grabbed it quickly. Some of us laughed and said it was typical Pronger, but more of his fingerprints were on that Cup than anyone else’s. He was the final degree added to a 211-degree pot. Because of that Pronger will always be remembered as one of the pivotal people in franchise history. Manny’s alleged connectionJune 25th, 2009, 12:20 pm by Mark Whicker, ocregister.comReports indicate that the feds think they know who gave Manny Ramirez the drugs that knocked him out of 50 games and cost him $7.7 million. And there was that pesky morning sickness, too. ADVERTISEMENT
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They’re expecting a major influx of Dodger fans in San Diego tonight for the return of Manny Ramirez.
The Lakers are a lot like TNT. They know Drama. In fact, they love Drama. How else to explain their preference for the sulphurous Ron Artest over the low-maintenance Trevor Ariza?
