I Take It Back...I Do Have Something To Root For

I had said last week that there was nothing redeeming about the NBA Finals and that I couldn't figure out who to root for. Well, that's not entirely true anymore. While I'm loathe to support Boston in any way, shape or form, I think I might well be pulling for them to go up 3-0 tonight. Why? Glad you asked.

(All of you: We didn't.)

(Shut up.)

I heard Phil Jackson criticizing the lopsided officiating in Game 2, in which the Lakers were out-freethrown, 38-10. Sure, that's ridiculous. It's utter nonsense and Phil absolutely has a point. But it also makes him a fricking hypocrite. Wait until we see the foul-calling in L.A. and then we'll see if things have balanced out or not. I'm fairly sure the Lakers in L.A. will get their fair share of favorable calls over the visitors from Boston.

Also, seeing Kobe lose has become sort of important to me. While I'm not in favor of hearing Boston fans crow some more, I can take solace in the fact that the 18-1 choke artists will never be erased from history. So I'm cool with Boston for now. And if I had to rank Boston teams in order based upon the obnoxiousness of their fans, I think the Celts fans would rank far behind Sox and Pats fans.

And seeing Kobe pout and make stupid press conference comments as he licks his lips (have you ever noticed how much he does that? He must think he tastes delicious...) just makes me want to see him lose more... and in a painful, embarrassing way. If the Lakers lose in seven games, well, that's nothing to be ashamed of. If they go down 3-0 and essentially fold to a team that until recently couldn't beat a rec-league team unless it was in Boston, well, that would be appropriately humiliating.

Also, as mentioned, Phil Jackson is a smug bitch. Yes, yes, I know, he's a great coach. Whatever you want to tell yourself. I still contend that Phil Jackson is a very good coach who also has had absolutely phenomenal circumstances. He has coached Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant -- all in their primes. That's kind of ridonkulous. And when he didn't havae a combination of those guys, he has won precisely zippo. So there's always that. And hearing him whine like the soft, California fruitcake he's become is all the more reason to dislike him.

I also think it would be fun for ABC and ESPN's cream dream of a series to completely fizzle like a ten-year-old roman candle. Whoops, no big-time series for you, corporate swine! That's what you get for the asinine scheduling. Have fun starting those games at 9:30 at night when it's a 3-0 series! I bet a lot of viewers will be scrambling to watch that crap!

And who will want to watch all the NBA coverage on ESPN? You know, where Stuart Scott says such hot, mid-90s jingoisms as "he's the TRUTH" and "he's got his PHD -- playa hata degree!" Solid, Stu, solid.

So yeah, go KG! Go Ray-Ray! Go Paul! You're just like Willis Reed!