L.A.: Pissed on!

Anyone who hates the Lakers gets 5s from me.

Michael - Great job. 5's - From a Laker fan, too. But if I wore one, I would take my hat off to Larry Brown and his superb team, the true NBA Champions of 2004, the Detroit Pistons. This was no fluke and I honestly think in retrospect they would have been 50-50 to beat the Lakers EVEN if Karl Malone had been able to play. It probably would have been a longer series if he had played. But anyway, "if's", "and's" and "but's" don't mean a damn thing. They don't play the game on paper, they play it on hardwood floors. You put the best team you can on that hardwood floor at game time and that's what counts. The Pistons played the game as it was meant to be played, as a team, and they played their butts off, 48 minutes a game, for all 5 games (they forgot to play the 49th through 53rd minutes in the overtime loss, but they responded magniticently after that loss). Larry Brown is a superb coach and beyond that a true gentleman and if my team has to lose at least I am glad that it was to a team coached by such a fine, decent, classy person. I salute the Detroit Pistons and their Organization, especially GM Joe Dumars, for putting together a fine team, and I salute their fans for their fantastic enthusiasm and support for their wonderful team and for their common sense and restraint in the celebration of their magnificent victory over our "Evil Empire" here in Los Angeles. There, that didn't hurt a bit...NOW, the Lakers...no, I'm not going to trash the whole team. I hope Jerry Buss is smart enough to realize Phil Jackson is the best coach around as far as handling a team with Superstar players. That's a distinction that needs to be made. Handling those huge egos in a way that still allows a "super-talent" to do things outside the system when the occasion calls for it is a very tricky balancing act. He has managed to win a lot of championships with teams and players that, however talented they were, NO ONE else was able to win even ONE with. This team just had too many other things going on. In retrospect it was quite an achievement to get through the Western Conference and make the finals. Hope they can keep the nucleus of this team together (the only player who absolutely must be "shedded" here is Gary "Pout-on" - Jerry B. & Mitch, it's time to take off "The Glove", it's worn out and does not match with the rest of your outfit, anyway. Send "The Glove" out for special cleaning and then "forget" to claim it. Then they need to somehow pick up a decent power-forward who has fewer years between when he was in High School than when he will be eligible for Social Security benefits. Malone was a great player, still a very, very good one, and if healthy could still do a good job, but even if he comes back he may not last through a full season & the play-offs at his age. Grant is in the same category age-wise and would only be good for a few minutes a game off the bench even if he could come back. Medvedenko is improving but is still not very good at defense and may not ever be. I think using Derek Fisher and Kareen Rush would work at the other guard spot opposite Bryant (if he returns). Personally, I'd start Fish and bring in Rush off the bench because Fish provides a lot of stability and defense every night and Rush can provide some quick scoring punch in the reserve unit. OK...end of basketball season for now...that's all...

As a die-hard Pacers fan -- and I have a lot of respect for how hard Detroit played that series too -- I'd like to see Reggie become an assistant coach and the Pacers get a couple of dependable outside shooters so they can force the other team's defense to spread out. And you're right, Phil Jackson is a good coach (as is Larry Brown), but when he wins SO MANY championships, one begins to wonder if the NBA is giving other teams a fair chance. The Pistons' win this year, and the Spurs' win last year, should lay some of those doubts to rest, though. I think we all agree the Pistons earned their newest championship rings. -- MM

Michael - No question about that. Although I disagreed with some of the foul calls in the series the real reason the Lakers picked up more fouls against them is because the were getting to all the loose balls and rebounds AFTER a Detroit had already gotten there. Yeah, that's a bit over-simplified, but really, the Pistons were SO much quicker than L.A. throughout the entire series. It was disappointing to watch as it seems Detroit came up with almost every loose ball and continually got 2nd, 3rd, sometimes 4th chances from Offensive Rebounds. Pat Riley's "No Rebounds, No Rings" was definitely in play in this series. So no whining from this quarter about the outcome...

Three 5 from a fellow Pacers fan and Laker hater.

Thank you Pistons! And did you notice: This time, Detroit didn't riot. LA did for all three titles. And I wonder, did I see what I wanted to see, or was it sweat dripping into his eyes -- or did Kobe cry again, like he did last year when the Spurs embarrassed them? And as for the refs, all I can say is, he who lives by the sword dies by the sword. So that makes Shaquille O'Neal the world's biggest baby.

Michael P. -- There were no riots in San Antonio last year, either. A year later, we still wear that as a badge of pride :) -- MM

Hey "M" guys (Michael M & Michael P), you MUST know we are world famous for riots here is Los Angeles! We have our reputation to uphold. Just kidding, of course. Few things distress me as much as seeing morons burn, loot and destroy the city I've lived in for the past 45 years.

To change the subject, when I went to the websites about the original Bristol Stomp, I learned a few things I didn't previously know. First, the original came out in 1961, not 1957 as I had thought. It sounds so '50s, I was somewhat surprised. Also, the Bristol in the song is not the one that straddles the Virginia/Tennessee border (Adagio, you would know where I'm talking about). Instead, it is Bristol, Texas, a suburb of Dallas. -- MM