John’s Blog - Coast To Coast

Well, I’m going to try. If I were to list the five channels I watch the most at home, it would definitely be amongst them. For those interested, the other channels that I happen to like to spend my time on would include Fox News Channel, ESPN News, CMT & GAC.

Basically, I’m boycotting the Golf Channel for the next two weeks for their knee jerk reaction today to commentator Kelly Tilghman’s comments about Tiger Woods which very obviously were made in jest and jokingly. Woods and Tilghman have been friends for a very long time, and anyone with some common sense would have researched this before going off and assuming she’s a racist. The articles and slanderous stuff I’ve seen directed at Tillman have been very appalling.

As you may know by now, the Golf Channel’s “knee jerk reaction” which I speak of here is their two week suspension of Tilghman effective today… so, until January 23rd, The Golf Channel WILL NOT be seen in my home! Yes, that means I won’t even be watching the Natalie Gulbis Show. Sorry, Nat!

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… just in case you missed it or were told otherwise. And Fuzzy Zoeller is still a good friend of Tiger’s as well.

Another day, another instance of the sports media being overly sensitive and not doing their research before going off on someone. This past weekend, the PGA Tour held it’s first event of the season (the Mercedes-Benz Championship) in Hawaii. During the third round coverage of the tournament the Golf Channel’s Kelly Tilghman and Nick Faldo were talking about Tiger Woods (who was not present at the event) and the chances of someone beating him. I was watching coverage of the tournament and listening to the bantor when Kelly jokingly said that the only way to test him would be to “lynch him in a back alley.” Clearly, no harm was intended, but someone went off and ran a story on the non-story, causing a media uproar.

The media circus around the non-story grew to such a level that Tiger’s agent Mark Steinberg had to issue a statement today. Steinberg stated “this story is a non-issue. Tiger and Kelly are friends and Tiger has a great deal of respect for Kelly. Regardless of the choice of words used we know unequivocally that there was no ill-intent in her comments. This story is a non-issue in our eyes. Case closed.”

It’s interesting that a golfer like Rory Sabbatini can berate a fan with an expletive-filled tirade and not even get a fine out of it (he actually got the fan ejected), yet a non-story like this can garner headlines. One can only hope that the people covering the golf world in the future would be more focused on those who are actually doing wrong (and continuing to set a bad example) like Sabbatini and doing something about it, and less focused on the politcal correctness of an innocent comment by one of the tour’s most-liked and qualified commentators.

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After the Los Angeles Lakers started this season 9-8, most observers thought that once again, they would be a fringe playoff team again at best.  Since that sluggish start though, the Lakers now have won 13 of their past 16 games, the most recent being a 117-101 win over the Memphis Grizzlies last night in the first of a short two game road trip.  Derek Fisher was almost perfect from the field, making 10 of 11 shots including all five of his three-point attempts, while scoring 26 points.  Kobe Bryant added 25 points for the Lakers.

In the past few years, the Lakers have been basically all about Kobe.  The modus operandi of opponents has basically been if you shut down Kobe, you’ll beat the Lakers.  Such is no longer the case.  Over the past three years, Kobe was averaging about 41 minutes of playing time a game, while averaging a tick under 32 points a game.  This year, the Lakers have been playing so well, that Kobe has gotten a lot more rest, particularly in the fourth quarter of games.  In fact, he’s only playing about 36 1/2 minutes a game, scoring 26.7 points a game - his lowest levels since the 2003-04 season.  As a direct result of not having to shoulder so much of the offensive burden, Kobe has been able to focus more on defense.  His 2.1 steals per game and 6.0 rebounds per game are his highest marks since the 2002-03 season. 

So, who has taken up the slack?  Fisher has been a steadying force with his experience, calm demeaner and leadership, scoring 12.8 points per game and hitting on nearly 45% of his 3-point shots.  Lamar Odom has been healthy for most of the year and has been very productive when commissioner Stern has not doled out cheap one-game suspensions to him, scoring nearly 14 points a game to go with 9.3 rebounds.  The big surprise continues to be the growth of center Andrew Bynum.  The 20 year-old is scoring 12.8 points per game and is grabbing a team high 10.0 rebounds per contest.  His 62.2% field goal percentage leads the team.

With a 22-11 record, this Laker team is looking very strong.  The Lakers are currently only 1 1/2 games behind the Phoenix Suns for the division lead - a team the Lakers have beaten in both of their contests so far this season.  Unlike last year’s team, which started strong and folded late, this Laker team has a lot of depth.  Luke Walton and Jordan Farmer also continue to grow and play prominent roles for them, while Vladimir Radmanovic adds a potent weapon off the bench from the outside.  Don’t be surprised if this Laker team actually makes a serious run at the division title and challenges the San Antonio Spurs for the Western Conference championship… Yes, folks… the Lake Show is BACK!!!

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