April 7, 2001
				Lakers or Jazz? Bo Kimble It really is a toss up. I hate both of them. I was watching that Lakers/Jazz game the other night, and was pulling for the Jazz cuz the Lakers are in the same division as Sac. And I almost felt sick to my stomach. Rooting for the Jazz? Damn, and of course they lost which made me hate them worse, so then I pretended like I was routing for the Lakers, and when a condecending 'go Shaq' came out of my mouth, my buddy almost rolled on the floor laughing. It's so unnatural to route for these teams.
	While as a hoops fan I have much respect for John Stockton, but when I watch him, especially against Sac, I just want to come thru the screen and punch the little, whiney punk. Is that bad? Plus, If I ever saw Kobe on the street, I might pick a fight with that cocky SOB as well. Is that bad? The funny thing is I don't mind Shaq that much, but I hate Kobe and Phil Jackson. Jackson has to be the most arrogant person in the league. Even when I was watching last nights game, I was reading SI, and there was an article about the Western Conference and it named 6 or 7 teams that could win it. And of course the one quote from Jackson was that he doubted Sacramento could win it going from eight place last year. Screw both of them. I hope they both lose in the first round, that will be almost as good as if Sac advances.
	Lakers or Jazz? Part Deux Bonsy I think I have to hate the Lakers more. Largely because they really are the center of media attention. Every little side comment from Shaq, Kobe, or Uncle Phil is major news and overshadows other team's accomplishments. I expect there are 20 other teams where two players don't get along and where the Coach has made comments about one of his stars. I'll bet it happens a lot. But none of that is deserving of a months worth of headlines. The Jazz are pathetic to some degree. They choked against the Bulls in those finals. Karl Malone is the dirtiest player ever to play the game, his judo-kick at Vlade was outrageous, and he's been doing that little move for years. But I kind of sympathize with the Jazz being from a smaller market area and I like to see them succeed to some degree, only to show that market size means squat. Two quotes from last nights game that I like. They express an attitude we like to see. 1) Not letting the officials get in their heads. "We really held the court," Webber said. "We didn't let the officiating get to us. Seems like every time we play here, we come up with some crazy circumstance. We're just glad we played well and beat a good team at home." 2) Understanding the psychology of "come backs" and how the opponent reacts to it. "We've really fell back early a few times and we've been able to come back and we don't do it in trying to get it all back at once," Christie said. "We know that we're going to get two here and three there and once you get within eight and 10 points on the other team, they get a little tight."
	Two Funny Stories
	kcl As usual, I was watching the TNT backhaul feed on C-band satellite last night. During one of the commercials in the second half after the Kings had pulled even with the Jazz, the play-by-play announcer says to the color guy (sorry, I don't remember either of their names right now), "You know, I'm really surprised by this. I would have bet money that this game was over." At which point the color guy says, "You would have bet? Ok, do you want to bet now?" The PBP guy thinks a bit and starts to say something, but then they cut off the sound. (They're not supposed to let things like that go out over the air, but they sometimes forget. You should hear the golf announcers. They bet on everything.) I was kinda bummed that I didn't get to hear who was betting on whom, but I thought it was funny that the one fellow was surprised the Kings had come back. He must not have been paying much attention over the last few weeks, huh?
	Hallama Funny story. Last night my wife and I got some free tix to the River Cats game (great seats, behind home plate!). Anyway, the guy who gave us the tix tells us to go up to the "Solon Club" because they have a full bar and good food. When we get up there, they have the Kings game on. A large group of people were watching, yelling, screaming as the Kings were trying to hold off the Jazz in the last few minutes. A guy for the River Cats had just hit a three run dong, but no one even looked up from the tv. When the Kings won the whole group of people watching the game let out a huge cheer, loud enough so that most of the stadium probably heard. A few minutes later, the PA announced that the Kings beat Utah and the whole River Cat crowd went crazy. It was a good day.
	A view of the Jazz Game pistonJW It's kind of nervous for me but I would like to share my experience while watching this game. During the 1st quarter and the beginning of the 2nd quarter I bawled all over my place that even my mother has to come to restrain me, telling me to cool down. I still feel so angry back then but decided just to shut my mouth up and watch this game. After a while I found out the Kings' fast pace has beginning to make something happened on the Jazz squad and I sensed that this game was not over yet. At the last moment of the 1st half when the Kings are making the run I'm not very surprised, knowing that they are capable of doing this. At the 3rd quarter I feel more loose and even had a smile on my face because knowing that the Kings has forced the Jazz to play "their game", I even feel bad seeing that the Kings only lead by 5 at the end of 3rd. During the 4th quarter even the Jazz are making their run but I just learn from the beginning of this game to always have faith of these Kings and keep relaxed. So what I got from this game was after all maybe Adelman was all right. He always stay calm and quiet on the coach front during the game no matter how the game goes. Maybe we Kings fans just need to sit back, relax and enjoy the ballgame. Well, at least tonight.