Musings of a (Formerly) Displaced Chinese RooBoy

Having spent 3+ years in L.A. and not attending a Lakers game, I figured it was time to go. And what better opposing team to see than the Bulls (I followed them since the 1990s). Chicago was in town for a double header versus the Clippers and Lakers this past weekend. I picked the Lakers game to see both Kobe (the MJ apparent) and Bulls. Staples Center is a nice, modern facility with decently priced food (I had $8.50 pasta, and expected higher prices). Parking was a hassle as the LA Motor Show was on next door at the Convention Center, and the American Music Awards was at the Nokia Theater. Celebs Note: Mel Gibson and Ellen Pompeo (from that chicks show - Gray's Anatomy) were courtside at the game. Lakers championships banners (and retired jerseys) About to tip-off Outside Staples Center before the game

Carlton , long the giant of the AFL with 16 premierships (aka "world championships") but having anchored the competition from the bottom in recent years, scored a MAJOR coup today by finalizing the trade for Chris Judd - the best midfielder in the competition. This is the player who captained West Coast to a premiership, with multiple All-Australian honors as well as winning the Brownlow and Norm Smith medals - all at the ripe old age of 24. Imagine: Judd & Stevens & Gibbs & Murphy & Walker & Scotland & Kruezer & Waite & Fev in season 2008. The sleeping giant has awaken...watch out!

The great Greek, Kouta, retired from footy today. He was the last player from our '95 premiership team - this is a sad day for Carlton. Kouta single-handedly won the '99 preliminary final against Essendon who was the odds-on favorite. There's a good article in the Herald Sun .

The Bulls swept the defending champion Miami out in round 1. Now they move to round 2 against Big Ben's former team. This brings up some good memories of the Bulls-Pistons rivalry from the early 90s! I found some intro vids on YouTube. Which ones are better - the classics from the MJ era, or the modern stuff? 1. '92 Finals vs Portland at the old Chicago Stadium - noticed how the crowd goes nuts when MJ is introduced? 2. '98 Finals vs Utah at the United Center (with Ray Clay as the announcer): Watching this still gives me the chills - crowd goes nuts again over MJ. 3. 2006 Intro Animation: 4. 2007 Playoff against Miami: Cool vid...loved how the Miami bus was smashed! 5. 2007 Regular Season game versus Washington: Man I'd love to be at the game. The new announcer doesn't muster the same level of energy though.

Stumbled across this article where Federer and Nadal played on a half-grass, half-clay court. WTF is going on?!?

Just found out the Bluebaggers staged one of the best comebacks of all time against the hated Bombers. The young guys in the team showed spirit to come back from 48 points down. With all the young talent already at the club, I think we're just a few players away (CHF/CHB) from returning to the finals. Our new midfield looks good with Walker, Murphy and Gibbs sure to improve. Bentick has a chance to become the new Ratten as the in-and-under, hard ball winner. We also have Stevens and Scotland manning the middle. With Bradley and Ratten coaching the midfield, we could have the best midfield in the AFL. Go Blues!

Here's the footage of the race between an active 67 y.o. Bavetta and an overweight 43 y.o. Sir Charles from All-Star weekend in Vegas. Frickin' hilarious!

David Beckham announced he will be joining the LA Galaxy in the MLS later this year, at $250M over 5 years. He says he's doing it to increase the popularity of the sport in the US , but it reeks of a last minute pay day before his popularity fades, given he was riding the bench at Real Madrid. Then again, Becks and Posh will fit right in with the L.A. paparazzi who will have new targets to follow. BTW, 1,000 season tickets were sold yesterday by the Galaxy.

FARK! The Socceroos are done for this World Cup. The Italians flopped to get the penalty kick just before the end of regulation. Worse still, Guus will be leaving to coach the Russians.

Its Win-Or-Go-Home for the Aussies at the World Cup...match starts in 1 hr. We're through to the round of 16 as long as we don't lose to Croatia.

With the FIFA World Cup in full swing, we've been going to lunch venues with big screens showing the games...interest in the NBA Finals seems to be quite low. Its actually too bad because the Mavs are a fun team to watch, and D-Wade is doing his best MJ impersonation.

The scoreboard says it all. AUS 3 JPN 1. UNBELIEVABLE! Bring on Brazil!

NBA Playoffs kicked off last weekend. I ended the weekend "NBAed out"...8 games in 2 days was too much even for a basketball junkie like me. The Baby Bulls were bullied by Shaq in game 1 - that's too bad because I still have a soft spot for them from the MJ era.

Over the weekend, Australia unbeliverably lost the deciding match of the 1-day series vs S. Africa after batting first and setting a world record for runs scored. In reply, S. Africa brutalized the Aussie bowlers (Mick Lewis setting a new world record for runs conceded, about 113) to win. Like I said, our bowling is paper-thin and the prospects are bleak when Warney and Pigeon retire.

The Australian squad for the tour of South Africa was announced yesterday and Brad Hodge was LEFT OUT with an average of 50+ and after scoring a double century 2 tests ago. I've always suspected the ACB to be pro-NSW and anti-VIC (how many frickin' players from NSW have been on the Aussie squad?!?) and this simply reinforce my believe. What a joke.

So the Aussies won the 3rd and final ODI at the Gabba to win the annual triangular series. Not very impressive because they were on the brink of losing game 2 before Punter and "Dreadlocks" Symonds launched the rescue mission. Aussies are old with no depth in the bowling department. They have some serious soul searching to do to get ready for next year's Ashes series and the World Cup.

Woohoo! The Socceroos will be going to the World Cup after beating Uruguay last night. Its been 8 years since I went to the World Cup Qualifier vs. Iran at the MCG, when the aussies blew a 2-0 half-time lead to miss qualification. So much for Uruguay's trash-talking before Game 2!

One advantage of working in a small town like Sacramento is the lack of decent hotels, so visiting NBA teams only have 2 choices - Hyatt or Sheraton. I bumped into some Pistons and Nuggets players this week...they are frickin' tall when you stand next to them in the elevator haha. I heard that Sheraton is preferred by the ballers over Hyatt because Sheraton has California King beds. Still, I'd imagine they have to sleep diagonally with the legs left hanging over the bed. I also saw the Governator himself this week in the Hyatt lobby as I was waiting in line to check-in.