October 2008 Archives

Lamar Odom insists he's happy for Andrew Bynum even though it's possible the 7-footer's lucrative contract extension could signify this season will be Odom's last with the Lakers.
With Kobe Bryant eligible to opt out of his contract and seek more money after the season, promising forward Trevor Ariza entering free agency and the club already projected to exceed the luxury-tax threshold, there's a chance the Lakers may decide they can't afford to resign Odom when his contract expires after the season.
"I'm not worried about that," Odom said. "I can't be. My contract is up next year, not this year. I get paid this year for playing basketball, so I can't complain. I'm in a good position."
Odom said during training camp he hopes to retire with the Lakers, perhaps even if it means turning down a more lucrative offer from another NBA team next summer. He said his agent, Jeff Schwartz, tried unsuccessfully to negotiate an extension for him during the offseason, but insisted he felt not even a twinge of jealousy or bitterness when the Lakers did for Bynum what they wouldn't do for him.
"I'm not that type of dude," Odom said. "When I came here today and saw him outside, I couldn't wait to congratulate him because he deserves it. Where we come from, it's a big deal. Some more kids are going to be able to go to college on the strength of Andrew."

Nomar Garciaparra, Jason Johnson and Mark Sweeney filed for free agency today.

The Dodgers have some managerial changes in their minor league system, first promoting John Valentin to Class AA Chattanooga after spending last season at Class A Inland Empire. Former major leaguer Damon Berryhill was hired to coach at rookie-level Ogden, and Carlos Subero takes over at Inland Empire.

Mike Easler's contract was not renewed, as the former hitting coach finished the season a rover and is not part of next season's minor league staff. John Moses returns to Class AAA Albuquerque as the hitting coach along with pitching coach Jim Slaton.

True to what GM Ned Colletti said the other day about emphasizing fundamentals, the Dodgers are re-aligning their efforts at their new complex in Glendale, Ariz. That's where former Class AA Jacksonville manager John Shoemaker will be headed along with senior hitting coach Lenny Harris in order to help the team's younger players.

Also coming over as a hitting coach for the rookie-level Glendale team is Leo Garcia, who spent the past nine seasons in the Giants coordinator and was most recently their Latin America coordinator. The talent that's been signed out of the Dominican Republic will now go through him.

Also hired were former Dodgers player Aaron Sele as a minor league pitching instructor and Rafael Chaves as the pitching coordinator to replace Marty Reed.

Mike Brumley takes over as field coordinator for P.J. Carey, who is now the senior advisor to player development.

Ex-Lakers guard Coby Karl attended Denver Nuggets' practice Thursday. According to the Rocky Mountain News, he has not decided whether he will go overseas or to the NBA Development League. Coby would like to sign a 10-day deal with the Nuggets in January. "I would be more than happy to," he told the paper.

Ex-Lakers guard Coby Karl attended Denver Nuggets' practice Thursday. According to the Rocky Mountain News, he has not decided whether he will go overseas or to the NBA Development League. Coby would like to sign a 10-day deal with the Nuggets in January. "I would be more than happy to," he told the paper.

Three Angels players filed for free agency Thursday, the first day players were allowed to do so.

Garret Anderson, Mark Teixeira and Jon Garland submitted the necessary paperwork and will become free agents. The Angels have 15 days of exclusive negotiating rights with all three, after which, Anderson, Teixeira and Garland may negotiate with other teams.

The Angels have said re-signing Teixiera would be their top priority this offseason. They will also try to re-sign Anderson despite buying out his contract on Tuesday for $3 million.

Juan Rivera, Darren Oliver and Francisco Rodriguez are eligible for free agency this offseason. They have until Nov. 13 to file.

Manny Ramirez, Joe Beimel, Casey Blake, Derek Lowe and Greg Maddux have filed for free agency on the first day they were eligible to do so.

There's a report I'm trying to confirm right now that the Lakers and franchise center Andrew Bynum have reached an agreement on a four-year contract extension worth $58 million. Bynum's agent David Lee did not immediately return voice messages and a Lakers spokesman said the team has nothing to announce at this time.

LAKERS 117, CLIPPERS 79
WHAT WENT RIGHT: The Lakers reasserted their dominance in the city rivalry thanks to a balanced offense, stifling defense and the ineptitude of a Clippers team that either needs more time to jell or just wasn't ready to play. Seven Lakers scored in double figures, led by Kobe Bryant's 16 points, as the Lakers shot 51.3 percent from the field and 10-for-19 from behind the arc. Especially notable in that was Trevor Ariza's two threes, giving him four on the season and offering more proof that all his offseason shooting work is paying off. Also, no Lakers player logged more than 33 minutes, a good formula for success in the second half of a back-to-back.
WHAT WENT WRONG: Hard to find much fault in a 38-point victory, but the Lakers weren't especially crisp in the first quarter. They turned the ball over six times in the first quarter and took some time to match the Clippers' energy, allowing their city rival to regain the lead after jumping out to a 16-7 advantage early. The Clippers had nine steals in the game, three by Baron Davis and three by Jason Hart.
QUOTE TO NOTE: "It's like Lance Armstrong in the Pyrenees letting his teammates pull him up the hill. Then he can sprint when he needs to carry it home." -- Kobe Bryant on the Lakers' depth reducing his workload this season.
UP NEXT: Lakers at Nuggets, Saturday in Denver.

Josh Powell insists the matchup with the Clippers has no extra meaning to him even though it was the well-traveled big man's first regular season meeting with the team that unexpectedly cut him loose during the offseason.
"I'm keeping it cool," Powell said. "I'm not trying to get caught up in that."
A former undrafted free agent from North Carolina State, Powell averaged career highs of 5.5 points and 5.2 rebounds in 67 games with the Clippers a year ago. The blue-collar big man expected to return to the Clippers for a second year, but the club opted not to resign him, paving the way for him to come to the Lakers following Ronny Turiaf's offseason departure.

- Ned Colletti has spoken to Padres GM Kevin Towers as he has numerous GMs this offseason, but wouldn't say if it was about Jake Peavy, citing tampering rules. That said, the Dodgers will be in the market for a front-line starter like CC Sabathia. "You'd love to find somebody that's obviously one of the best pitchers in the league," Colletti said. "That's easier said than done. Trading for somebody like that will cost us multiple players, in our case, multiple big league players. Signing people like that is also costly in a different way."

- Blake DeWitt will be among those expected to come to Dodger Stadium in January to work on his infield versatility, as he could end up the starting third baseman or second baseman. Colletti said getting the left side of the infield sorted out was a top priority, as Casey Blake and Rafael Furcal are free agents.

- The Dodgers want arbitration-eligible closer Takashi Saito back next season, but aren't really sure what they have with his balky right elbow. "We'd love to have him back," Colletti said. "We also know what he's been through the last two-plus months of the season. We'll have to talk that through with Takashi and his agent. There's a possibility (he could return to full form). I truly don't know. I don't know if anybody knows. I don't know if he knows."

- The Dodgers training staff has been checking in on Andruw Jones. "He's working out, doing a lot of cardio work," Colletti said.

- Asked to name some minor leaguers who might have a major league impact next season, Colletti listed Tony Abreu, Chin-lung Hu and Ivan DeJesus Jr.

- The Dodgers earlier this week concluded their organizational meetings in Los Angeles that involved about 101 baseball operations employees, the first time under Colletti's reign that they've all met in the same location. Among the points of emphasis were reestablishing a Dodger way of playing baseball. "We need to get stronger, more fundamentally stronger as soon as they're drafted," Colletti said. "They're going to have to be tough-minded and passionate about playing and willing to sacrifice to be as good as they can be. It's become probably less of a standard in some cases. We're trying to raise the bar organizationally. When people watch our organization play, you won't need a uniform to know what team it is.

- One of the things Colletti did at the meeting was have the amateur scout that signed a minor league player meet with his managers, coaches, roving instructors so they could "have a candid conversation in what they knew." That way, they might be able to more easily get through to a kid. "The little things in the game have been put aside and put away," Colletti said. "It drives me crazy watching games and small intricacies of the game are overlooked. For years, you would look at this organization, and you were in for a tough three-game series. I don't think any team is saying it right now about us. I know teams for a long, long time held us to that excellence."

Diamond and co., been trying to get to the bottom of something... I'm finding these Jon Heyman-led pieces about Russell Martin really tiresome. Any chance you can find out what's up, get a response from someone in the organization? I feel like it's all a bunch of hooey from someone barely associated with the Dodgers, but you'd think given their supposed PR savvy someone would rebuff them instead of letting Martin's reputation dangle in the wind. Now Rob Neyer and others are commenting on it and making the Dodgers look stupid.
Thanks, Craig

I've gotten a couple questions on the Russell Martin issue, and he's someone Ned Colletti had interesting comments on today.

"We did talk about our catching situation to see if there was a way of improving it," Colletti said. "We did talk about Russell's versatility. I think it would benefit Russell to not play as often behind the plate as he did. Sometimes that's easier to be said from someone who's not making out the lineup card.

Asked if he was more open to having Martin play more third base or signing a stronger backup catcher, Colletti said, "The best scenario might be both."

Ned Colletti said he exchanged voicemails with Scott Boras four or five days ago, but hasn't yet been able to speak with him regarding Manny Ramirez. Boras, meanwhile, has taken his case for Ramirez getting a lengthy deal to the airwaves.

"We'll find a common time for both of us," Colletti said. "In the very near future, we'll be able to sit down and see what's going on. We'll convey our thoughts. We owe it to the player (named Manny Ramirez) and Scott to hear them out and them hear us out. I'd like to sit down with Scott prior to getting in anything as far as an offer goes.

"I can't put the rest of the major league club on hold for any one player."

Other agents are working their way into Colletti's cell phone log. Colletti said he has spoken to the agents of Rafael Furcal, Casey Blake and also Nomar Garciaparra.

But one agent Colletti hasn't heard from is Juan Pierre's, who recently declared his client's preference to be traded.

"I haven't heard that from the agent," Colletti said. "I would need to know who our outfielders are before we're going to start moving any outfielders."

The rain-suspended Game 5 of of the World Series is planned to resume tonight in Philadelphia.

Two days after the Phillies and and Tampa Bay Rays were suspended after 5 1/2 innings because of rain with the score 2-2, the game was set to resume at 5:37 p.m. tonight (Fox Ch. 11), baseball spokesman Rich Levin said, as reported by the Associated Press.

Philadelphia leads the best-of-seven series, 3-1, and would win the its first title since 1980 with a victory.

If the Rays win, Game 6 would be Thursday night in St. Petersburg, Fla.

The game time temperature was forecast to be about 40 degrees -- with a wind chill about 10 degrees colder.

Lamar Odom's unselfishness may be his greatest attribute, but he made one pass Tuesday night he'd like to have back.
As Odom drove to the basket against the Blazers, he kicked it out to a wide-open Sasha Vujacic spotted up in the corner. Too bad Vujacic was still wearing his warmups and had just picked an inopportune moment to stand up on the bench.

Makes me wonder, which season-opening gaffe was more embarrassing? Odom's or Luke Walton scoring for the Rockets in last year's opener?

LAKERS 96, BLAZERS 76
WHAT WENT RIGHT: If the Lakers can maintain that level of defensive intensity, this team might just be pretty special. Yes, the Blazers were inept offensively and yes they missed some open shots, but the Lakers held them to four points in the first seven minutes and did not let star Brandon Roy make a shot until less than two minutes remained in the third quarter, long after the outcome was decided. Offensively, Pau Gasol was brilliant early (15 first-half points) and Kobe Bryant carried the team in the third quarter, especially after Portland made its lone mini-run coming out of halftime. Trevor Ariza's improved outside shooting was also a good omen.
WHAT WENT WRONG: Andrew Bynum has showed his youth a couple times this week, first in his "making it rain" video circulating the net and second in his early struggles against the Blazers. He allowed Greg Oden -- a rookie! -- to take him out of his game early as Oden's physical defense and impressive blocked shot had a hyped-up Bynum sniping with the referees and committing frustration fouls. Also notable Tuesday was that the Lakers stopped going to Gasol when he clearly had a hot hand. Whether Gasol stopped working as hard for the ball or the Lakers stopped looking for him, it's criminal that a guy as hot as he was in the first half finished the game with only 10 shots.
QUOTE TO NOTE: "They disrupted our whole offense and threw a big wrench into everything we were trying to do. You've got to give it to them. They proved a point tonight. The beat the crap out of us." -- Portland's Channing Frye on the Lakers' improved defense.
UP NEXT: Lakers at Clippers, tonight at Staples Center

If Andrew Bynum is worried he won't get the contract extension he's seeking, you'd never know it from this video of his 21st birthday party circulating the web.
The Lakers center is caught on film standing on the balcony of a Hollywood club Saturday night throwing a wad of dollar bills to the crowd below as Lil Wayne's "Got Money" blares in the background.
Asked before Tuesday's season opener against Portland whether he was concerned about Bynum's outlandish birthday behavior, Lakers coach Phil Jackson downplayed it as a "kid coming out of his teens and coming into adulthood." In fact, Jackson seemed apologetic for even having watched the clip, saying he stumbled onto it when a friend sent him the YouTube video of San Francisco 49ers coach Mike Singletary's well-chronicled postgame outburst.
"He said it was only $100," Jackson said. "All ones."
Bynum's agent David Lee is negotiating with the Lakers in hopes of landing a five-year contract extension for Bynum worth approximately $85 million. If the Lakers don't extend Bynum's contract by Friday, he will become a restricted free agent at the end of the season.

Kobe Bryant said he enjoyed filming his "Guitar Hero" spot with Alex Rodriguez, Michael Phelps and Tony Hawk, comparing his over-the-top mimicry of Tom Cruise's famous scene from "Risky Business" to time spent acting silly with his daughters.
"We just had different music on," Bryant said. "Usually it's High School Musical music or Hannah Montana. It's not "Old Time Rock and Roll," but it's still the same type of deal."
While Bryant's three famous co-stars conjured memories of Cruise by appearing in their skivvies, Bryant nixed the idea, preferring to don white basketball shorts instead.
"I can't trash talk and be the alpha dog around here if I'm in a commercials with chonies on," Bryant chuckled. "That's just not going on."

The Dodgers are expected to announce that Lenny Harris will rejoin the organization as a minor league instructor. Harris, the all-time major league leader in pinch hits and a former Dodgers player, was recently dismissed as the Nationals' hitting coach.

Currently, the top three all-time pinch hitters are in the organization, with Mark Sweeney in second and coach Manny Mota in third. That is, until Sweeney becomes a free agent this winter.

I just got my free taco thanks to Jason Bartlett. Did you?

In keeping with the trend of firing a coach to begin a bye week, the Chargers terminated defensive coordinator Ted Cottrell on Tuesday and replaced him with Ron Rivera.

Cottrell's defense, minus Pro Bowl linebacker Shawne Merriman, has struggled to get off the field and keep teams off the scoreboard and slumped toward the bottom in most major statistical categories during the team's disappointing 3-5 start.

Rivera, the team's inside linebackers coach the past two seasons under Cottrell, was previously the defensive coordinator of the 2006 Chicago Bears team that played the Indianapolis Colts in the Super Bowl.

Rivera's '06 Bears finished fifth in overall defense, third in scoring defense and led the NFL with 44 takeaways on their way to appearing in Super Bowl XLI.

The Chargers under Contrell, rank 32nd (last) in total points allowed (224), tied for 31st in points allowed per game (28.0), 28th in yards per game allowed (371.6), last in first downs per game allowed (22.6) and 27th in opponent's time of possession 32 minutes, 19 seconds.

The Rams, Raiders and 49ers also made coaching moves to start the bye week. In those cases, the teams fired their head coach.

The Angels exercised team options on Vladimir Guerrero ($15 million) and John Lackey ($10 million) and declined the team option on Garret Anderson.

That doesn't mean the Angels won't try to renegotiate with Anderson, the longest-tenured player on the roster, for a smaller contract.

Also, Guerrero underwent successful surgery on the medial meniscus in his left knee on Oct. 10 in Colorado. He's expected to be healthy by spring training, the team said.

Catcher Mike Napoli will undergo arthroscopic surgery on his right shoulder on Friday.

Gary Matthews Jr. will have surgery on his right patellar tendon in his left knee today.

With rain still falling in Philadelphia, the suspended Game 5 of the World Series is now tentatively scheduled for Wednesday at 5:37 p.m.

Monday's Game 5, played in increasingly heavy rain, was suspended following a 30-minute delay with the Phillies and Rays tied 2-2 after 5 1/2 innings. It was the first time a World Series game that began wasn't played to completion on the same day.

Philadelphia leads the best-of-seven Series 3-1 and is hoping to close out its second title, its first since 1980.

There has never been a rain-shortened game in Series history, and this was the first suspension.

"While obviously we want to finish Game 5 as soon as possible, the forecast for today does not allow for us to continue the game this evening," commissioner Bud Selig said. "We are closely monitoring tomorrow's forecast and will continue to monitor the weather on an hourly basis. We will advise fans as soon as we are able to make any final decisions with respect to tomorrow's schedule."

The forecast for Wednesday called for clearing skies by the early afternoon, with temperatures in the upper 30s by night.

Tuesday was supposed to be a travel day, if necessary. Instead, the teams will stay in the area and then head back to Tropicana Field if the Rays win.

The delay, however, forced the Rays to find a hotel in Wilmington, Del., about 25 miles away.

-- ASSOCIATED PRESS

As of 9:30 a.m. Tuesday, no decision has been made on when to resume Game 5 of the World Series.

The game was suspended by rain in the sixth inning Monday night. The game betwen the Philadelphia Phillies and Tampa Bay Rays is tied 2-2. Philadelphia leads the best-of-seven series 3 games to 1.

Commissioner Bud Selig said the game would be completed, but could not determine the exact date -- "Tuesday, Wednesday or Thanksgiving."

Rain is forecast for Philadelphia throughout Tuesday.

Torii Hunter was recognized Saturday for making a $500,000 donation toward a baseball, softball and little league complex in his hometown of Pine Bluff, Ark.

A 1993 graduate of Pine Bluff High School, Hunter was honored at halftime of Arkansas-Pine Bluff's win over Lincoln University, according to the Pine Bluff Commercial.

Earlier in the week, Hunter was inducted into the Arkansas Black Hall of Fame, the newspaper reported.

This isn't the first time Hunter has made a sizeable donation toward a baseball facility. In September, Hunter attended the groundbreaking of Torii Hunter Field in Placentia.

The Lakers gave themselves additional roster flexibility by cutting guard Coby Karl Monday, leaving them with 14 players on their roster entering Tuesday's season opener against Portland. Teams are allowed to carry up to 15 players on their roster.
Karl, a second-year guard, appeared in 17 games last season, averaging 1.8 points and 0.8 rebounds in 4.2 minutes. He struggled this preseason shooting from the perimeter, which had been considered the former Boise State star's greatest strength.

The Press-Enterprise and PE.com will post its Los Angeles Clippers preview package Tuesday morning.

As he puts together his preseason pacakge, here are staff writer Jim Alexander's Clippers story lines for 2008:

Consolidation Of Power
This is now Mike Dunleavy's show, after the coach added GM duties to his portfolio when Elgin Baylor was let go. Dunleavy tried this in Milwaukee from 1992-93 through '95-96 and it didn't work; he says now the difference was that he didn't have the front office help with the Bucks that he'll have here.

Collision Waiting To Happen?
Baron Davis flourished under Don Nelson's more casual style with the Warriors. Dunleavy played for and coached under Nelson but is as defense-minded and controlling as Nelson is laissez-faire and offense-oriented. Will point guard and coach clash? Or is a better question how soon they'll bump heads?

New Players, Old Expectations
A roster with as many as 10 new players comes up against the heritage of a franchise bedeviled by bad luck, bad injuries, bad drafts, bad play and that baaaaad team located right down the Staples Center hallway. Can Davis, Camby, Davis, etc., finally change this team's direction long-term?

For those who missed it in the print edition, here's the Finishing Five that went with today's column on the Lakers' second unit.

Today's theme: Costume suggestions for Halloween:

REFEREE'S SHIRT, only with horizontal stripes and a five-digit number on the back. (Tim Donaghy)

JETS JERSEY, Lions cap and a Packers playbook under your arm. (Brett Favre)

T-SHIRT, board shorts and flip-flops. (A Moreno Valley resident, since Tim McCarver swears MoVal is near Laguna.)

RIMLESS GLASSES, lipstick, $1,000 high heels and a Sean Avery jersey. (Gov. Sarah Palin, America's most notable hockey mom/agitator.)

DREADLOCKS WIG and a baseball jersey with a giant question mark on it. (Manny Ramirez. Works best if your buddy is wearing a Dodger cap and has his pockets turned out, i.e., Frank McCourt.)

Worth noting: The play-by-play guy on ESPN's telecast of the Lakers and Oklahoma City tonight is Kevin Calabro ... the same Kevin Calabro who was the play-by-play voice of the former Seattle SuperSonics, who are now the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Lakers people had complained, quietly, about playing in arenas this pre-season where they weren't packing the place. That's obviously not the case tonight, in the brand new $150 million Citizens Business Bank Arena. With a listed capacity of around 10,800, the place is close to full as we approach game time, with some empty seats in the lower bowl but people still coming in.

(And yes, Kobe Bryant and Sasha Vujacic are both scheduled to play, and Kobe just got a thunderous ovation when introduced with the starting lineup.

It is, of course, the first event in this building, but everything seems to be working and there are no visible bugs to be ironed out. Except for one -- the home team locker room used by the Lakers is smaller than some high school dressing rooms I've seen. (The trainer's room, evidently, was across the hall.)

UPDATE, late in the first half: There are some issues with the overhead scoreboard, which ideally is supposed to provide individual scoring and fouls. It isn't, and the teams are listed as GUEST and HOME instead of by the team name. (But the advertising panels all seem to be working just fine.)

One other tidbit to pass along: The day Kobe filmed this commercial happened to be same day that Phil Jackson decided to hold a practice that ran for almost four hours. Kobe was supposed to be at the shoot by 1pm and didn't make it until about 3:30 pm, but looks like it turned out pretty well nonetheless.

Manny Ramirez finished as a runner-up to Albert Pujols in the players' choice of Player of the Year.

Pau Gasol isn't afraid to admit it: He and his brother are big fans of Disney's High School Musical series.

That's why when Gasol and younger brother Marc were offered the chance to dub parts of the latest addition to the series into Spanish, they jumped at the chance to lend their voices to a scene where the East High Wildcats play a big basketball game.

"We were just small characters, but it was a lot of fun," Pau said. "It was great to participate in such a big production."

Tragically, neither of the two bearded brothers break out into song during the film -- and what a loss that is to the YouTube community -- but here's a pretty hilarious Spanish video that shows both Pau and Marc laying down voiceovers in studio.

No Kobe, not much offense, but plenty of entertainment value in the final three minutes. How about a Coby Karl flying two-handed dunk and a flurry of offense from Sun Yue, both of which had Kobe leaping from his seat on the baseline as if his knee wasn't bothering him at all.

Kobe Bryant said that he will sit out tonight's preseason matchup with Charlotte as a result of increased swelling in the back of his hyperextended right knee. Bryant wasn't especially concerned about the knee, saying he still may play in Friday's preseason finale in Ontario if the swelling subsides in time.
"I feel fine," Bryant said. "It's a little puffy in the back, so I just want to get it out instead of playing on it tonight, having the swelling be there and having to manage it. That's stuff you do in the regular season. In the preseason, I just want to knock it out and get it over with."

Looking to add defensive depth, the Ducks have signed veteran defenseman Bret Hedican to a one-year $835,000 contract.

Hedican, 38, had a career-best plus 18 rating with Carolina last season. He played six of his 15 prior seasons with the Hurricanes, winning a Stanley Cup with the team in 2006.

"He's a proven winner and a class act, we're pleased to add him to our roster," said Ducks GM Brian Burke.

Hedican has already joined the Ducks in Ottawa as they prepare for Friday's contest there against the Senators.

"I looked at this team before the season started and thought, I'd love to play for that team," said Hedican, an unrestricted free agent. "The season started and I kept trying to pursue it because I thought this would be a great fit."

----- Graig Woodburn --

Video: Check out exclusive video of the fun

Kobe Bryant kept it real after practice Wednesday, clowning and cajoling, challenging and, eventually, cheering his Lakers teammate as Sasha Vujacic attempted one 50-foot hook shot after another.

Vujacic (aka "The Machine") swished his 36th -- THIRTY-SIXTH!!! -- attempt. That's pro-athlete competitiveness right there. And most certainly, a sore right shoulder.

-- Mirjam Swanson
-- mswanson@PE.com

Highlights of today's media session in London, disseminated by the San Diego PR staff:

Head Coach Norv Turner

"We got a little bit of weather today; a little wind, a little colder. Our guys, being from San Diego , were acting like we were in a snow storm early. I thought we had another good practice. I think our guys each day have adjusted a little bit more - their bodies and their minds - to the time change and we've had good energy."

Expect another adjustment will be necessary tomorrow when you move into the city?

"No. I think we've made good progress in terms of those things and now we've really gotten into our normal routine, normal schedule in terms meetings and practice. Tomorrow will be a normal practice like we would do on a Friday morning. We get done with practice about 12:45. In the afternoon, we go downtown and we're into our normal road-game mentality."

Is the weather a concern?

"The biggest thing ... as long as it's not outrageous in terms of the rain ... I don't think it affects the game that much now in terms of the way guys play. People think it affects the passing game, but my experience is it has as much affect on defensive backs trying to get their footing. I haven't seen Wembley (the field). The field out here has been outstanding. It's a little looser than what we're used to, but our guys adjusted to it really quickly. They're awfully good athletes, so they handle it pretty well."

You're 3-4, but you're still only one game back in the division. Does that make you feel like the season is savable at this point?

>> Continue reading: Today in London: Chargers

A classic moment from the bench during the second half of Tuesday's Lakers-Bobcats preseason game as Kobe Bryant gives Sasha Vujacic a hard time about his flowing long locks.

David Beckham (Photo: The Associated Press)

For those who care, the LA Galaxy will end its season Sunday, at the Home Depot Center against FC Dallas. It will be another non-playoff season, its third straight since winning the 2005 MLS Cup. More to the point, the organization run by Anschutz Entertainment Group will once again have squandered the potential that existed when David Beckham first agreed to bring his game and mega-celebrity to Los Angeles.

Two years in, the Beckham experiment pretty well looks like a flop. After an initial bump, Beckham's presence hasn't appreciably raised the profile of soccer in the United States or Southern California.

And the results make it clear that it's done little toward the team's success. In fact, the organization's emphasis toward growing the brand -- changing the colors and uniform style, scheduling exhibition tours overseas, etc. -- seems to have come at the expense of creating a competitive entity on the field, a team that Galaxy fans would be happy to spend their hard-earned dollars on.

Since Beckham arrived last July, the Galaxy is 14-22-11 in MLS play. True, a good number of those games have taken place with Beckham or Landon Donovan absent because of national team commitments, but that's something every MLS team faces.

And now, it seems, Beckham may have one foot out the door.

>> Continue reading: What next for Beckham, Galaxy?

For those who still think of Kobe Bryant as the aloof, detached superstar he was portrayed to be earlier in his career, here's a video shot by The Press-Enterprise's Mirjam Swanson from Wednesday's practice that may change your mind.
Bryant was leaning against a wall talking to a few reporters after practice when Sasha Vujacic concluded his shooting drill by firing up a 50-foot hook shot that glanced off the rim. Bryant scoffed that the shot wasn't even close, practically a direct challenge to a perfectionist like Vujacic who does extra shooting daily after every practice.
For what felt like an eternity, Vujacic fired up shot after shot from the same spot on the floor, with Bryant egging him on after each errant attempt. A sample of Bryant's ribbing: "That camera is going to run out of film" in reference to Swanson, "This is like watching 'Titanic -- the uncut version," and my personal favorite, "The first assist of his career" when Vujacic's shot lands in the arms of his rebounder in the lane.
Finally, on the 36th attempt, Vujacic swishes the shot, raises his arms above his head and practically jumps into Bryant's arms before leaving the gym. "See, this is what I gotta deal with every day," Bryant says, a wide smile on his face.

The Lakers waived second-round pick Joe Crawford and undrafted free agent C.J. Giles on Wednesday, trimming their roster to the regular-season maximum of 15 with less than a week remaining before the opener.
Second-year guard Coby Karl remains on the roster, but he can't get too comfortable yet because Jackson said another cut could be forthcoming.
The Lakers began the season with less than 15 players a year ago, giving them the flexibility to acquire center D.J. Mbenga and forward Ira Newble at midseason after Andrew Bynum and Trevor Ariza suffered injuries. On the other hand, Karl already knows the Lakers' system and could have short term value in case Sasha Vujacic's left ankle isn't ready by the start of the regular season.

Dodgers owner Frank McCourt in an interview with KSPN-AM (710) and discussed the possibility of re-signing Manny Ramirez, saying he was "hopeful," but also addressed comments that Ramirez and agent Scott Boras has made.

Regarding Boras' claims that Ramirez "pays for himself" because of the added attendance and concessions sales:

"You'd have to sell a lot of wigs to try to pay those salaries, but that's not the point," McCourt said. "He helped us win. That's our goal. When you try to take it and parse it and say a player's paying for himself, it doesn't make a lot of sense."

McCourt also took notice of comments Ramirez has made, talking about going to the highest bidder and joking that his salary should rise along with gas prices:

"We're definitely interested in bringing the player back," McCourt said. "I hope I've made that as clear as I possibly can, but I'm also aware of comments the player has made. He's entitled to go where he wants. And I was there guys, I saw how our fans embraced Manny. Personally, he played great, he seemed very happy to me."

Breathe easy, Lakers fans. Kobe Bryant's OK.
Bryant said he'll definitely be ready for the season opener next Tuesday night against Portland despite hyperextending his right knee in the second quarter of Tuesday's preseason victory over Charlotte. In fact, the Lakers star said the soreness in his knee is so minor that he may even play as soon as Thursday's second-to-last preseason game in Anaheim.
"It feels OK," Bryant said. "It's sore, but it's all right."

The Lakers cut their roster down to 15 players Wednesday when they said c-ya to guard Joe Crawford and forward CJ Giles.

Crawford, a guard who had 76 starts over four seasons at Kentucky, was the 58th overall pick of the 2008 draft.

The 6-foot-11 Giles, played four exhibitions with the Lakers, averaging 2.0 points and 2.5 rebounds in 7.2 minutes. He played collegiately at Kansas and Oregon State.

The current roster (with uniform number and height listed):

Guards
2 Derek Fisher 6-1
5 Jordan Farmar 6-2
9 Sun Yue 6-9
11 Coby Karl 6-5
18 Sasha Vujacic 6-7
24 Kobe Bryant 6-6
Forwards
3 Trevor Ariza 6-8
4 Luke Walton 6-8
7 Lamar Odom 6-10
10 Vladimir Radmanovic 6-10
21 Josh Powell 6-9
Centers
16 Pau Gasol 7-0
17 Andrew Bynum 7-0
28 Didier (D.J.) Ilunga-Mbenga 7-0
31 Chris Mihm 7-0

Curt Schilling criticized Manny Ramirez once again in his blog, 38 Pitches. The post has since been removed, but due to the wonders of RSS (subscribe to our blog here), Google Reader preserves it.

It's a long ramble, but I've copied and pasted below:

Just to be clear..

No one wants to hear less about the ending of the season and the whys than fans that love the Sox. While I am officially no longer a member of this organization I have read and keep reading the "What if" stories as they relate to Manny and the team and the playoffs.

Enough has been said by anyone, and everyone, involved that it makes peoples ears bleed but it still appears a huge important piece to the puzzle is being missed.

First off anyone saying

Jason Bay is a nice player, but he's not Manny.

is just not a very smart baseball person. Putting up the numbers he did in Pittsburgh has been vastly downplayed in my opinion. Yes his last year was less than stellar but in the Major Leagues that happens. Bottom line is this guy is a 30/100 above average on base guy who plays his ass off in the field and runs the bases hard and right. Is he Manny? Hell no, who is? Who has ever been? But he's far more than a 'nice player'. Nice players are guys that play 140 games, hit 275 and drive in some runs, and are good guys. This guy is a very good, very good player. Not only that but he proved the October limelight is not something that will make him wilt. Oh and he had a hell of a nice run the last few months in a market that couldn't be more opposite than Pittsburgh.

That's beside the initial point though. People are going to say, and have been saying, what if Manny had stayed? What if Manny had done what he did in LA, in Boston? If TJ Siemers can crawl out of Manny's butt long enough he'd objectively look at what happened and know he's at the front of the 'I'm going to look like an ass at some point' line and wake up. I've made enough horses ass comments to know to at least be aware now, when I am headed down that path....

It was NEVER a question of Manny's ability, ever. Hell I am not sure anyone had more run ins with him, as a teammate, than I did, but I'll never say anything other than this guy studied and practiced the art of hitting, and executed, as well as anyone I've ever seen.

No, that wasn't the issue, and no one argues that. What was the issue, and this is my opinion only, became very clear to anyone in or around the team at this point. The issue was not whether he would play 'hard' every day. He ALWAYS hit, but the game is so much more than swinging the bat it's laughable. No, the issue was whether he would actually PLAY. I don't mean play hard, play tough, play lazy, no, PLAY.

He had in the past taken days off. Hell most guys do. He certainly had his own way of doing it and it was never ever with thought to anyone but himself but for the most part I always took it with the "Manny knows his body better than anyone". We all knew there were times it was just 'He didn't feel like playing today" and by 'playing' that meant anything. Pinch hitting, pinch running, anything. His days off for the most part were totally off. That's not common, not at all. You played that day, or series of days, with a 24 man roster, that was never a thing you doubted or that came unexpected after awhile. As a pitcher that is and always will be a factor in being a leader in the clubhouse. A starting pitcher has very little idea what these guys do to their bodies every day. But what I do know is I played 23 years of professional baseball and have played with guys that ran the spectrum. The guy who said "I'm good" while trying to catch with a broken collarbone, and the guy who literally HAD to feel 100% to take BP. So for a pitcher to question a position player, well in certain contexts that just didn't happen, but you also knew your teammates and you got to see 'behind the curtain' when that 'hurt' guy took 5 days off and spent less than 10 minutes in the training room. A direct opposite to the guy who took one day off, made sure the manager knew he could Pinch Hit if needed, and spent the game running back and forth from the bench to the training room getting interval treatment as he could.

No, by saying PLAY I mean exactly that. The issue got to the point where everyone finally took him at his word, there was no choice. A guy refusing to get on a team plane, having to be literally coaxed on, by people with pride and people that love the game, because meeting the obligations of a 20 million dollar contract were not even close to enough to get him going???? If he did not get traded he was going to need "time off" to rest his injured knee, and it got to the point where he made it clear time off could mean the rest of the season. Few guys will admit to it and that's cool, I get that, but no one, if in the right situation, would ever deny that was anything but true.

So it's not 'what could have been', we knew what was to be, and what was to be was that if he did not get a contract extension he was going to take a seat, and in taking that seat he didn't give a rats ass what anyone thought, including the 24 guys that wore the same uniform. So the 'what could have been' in the post season is not the question. The question is would there have been a post season if he had stayed, and that's a question, and a gamble, that I think everyone felt they knew the answer too and in the end a gamble no one was willing to take, and rightly so.

People continue to try and assign logic to the thoughts and decisions made when we all knew so many illogical things were said and done that logic was far from a factor in 99% of the things happening at the end. I don't think Scott Boras told many to 'tank it', Manny's a grown man and any decisions or actions he made are all on him.

It is demeaning and disrespectful to the guys that did respect their teammates, the game and the fans by busting their asses through broken down hips, sore arms, strained abs and whatever, to grind it out for each other and the fans, their love of the game and anything else you can think of, the organization, to hear people question the hows and whys of this whole thing. That was why I said 'he flipped you all off' because if you heard ANYTHING he said after he left, he did.

Ya, remember this guy was at the forefront of bringing the first world championship to Boston in 2004 (but please also throw a cheer or three Foulkies way, that guy was the man in October of 04), remember this guy, along with David, made the most fearsome middle of the order of our lifetimes, remember when he was at the plate you better not THINK of not being able to watch what he might do. This guy, when he hit, changed games BEFORE he came to the plate.

But the thing that killed me in the end was this; he never gave a rats ass about any of us that suited up with him, not one iota. He was, and he said repeatedly, about going to the highest bidder and getting as much money as he possibly could, period. If that meant pissing on us in the interim, so be it.

Hey! That's cool, that's 100% your prerogative. But please don't crap all over the guy, or guys that spent years as your 'teammates' covering your ass by saying "Aww that's just Manny being Manny" and the hundreds of thousands of other things we needed to say to stop the stories from being more than they could. Please don't piss all over the Manager and GM who pretty much swallowed every ounce of pride they possessed because they knew that it was 'win above all else' here to the fans and owners. Manny had a cult following because Manny could hit and act goofy, period. Hey that's cool, that's what some fans love an that's fine, but that's it.

Manny left because Manny wanted to get Manny the largest possible contract Manny could. That happens and that's fine. But the Sox got a player that's going to help them get back to October next year out of a situation they could have been left with a player not playing, and a patch work of guys filling in for the rest of the year.

That doesn't mean, to me anyway, that the question should be "How much farther would we have gotten" but rather "Would we have gotten there?"

Why on earth would ANY situation be as good as it's ever been? Why would things be so fun and nice and happy and exciting AFTER you lose a first ballot HALL OF FAME PLAYER? Is the rest of the baseball world that much smarter than a guy widely recognized as one of, if not the, best GMs in the game? Is a guy widely recognized as one of the best managers, and on top of that best human beings, in the game that dumb? Couldn't it be that the opposite is true?

Don't ask how far they could have gone. Let it be what it is. That team went from 7 runs down and 7 outs to the end of a season that had more turmoil and injuries than the Dallas Cowboys, to tying run on base in the 8th inning of game 7. One game from the World Series.

Is that good enough? Ask the players, they'll all tell you hell no because it's now different here. They now, and rightly so, expect to win the World Series every year.