yeah, yeah... next question please

the question appearing asked: "is a ring victory equal to a political ring victory?"

the answer:
"It really depends on how fast the euphoria will wear off and how smart and quick Darlene is to capitalize on Manny's weak points during the final one month leading to the election.

"Consider the timeline: four weeks to go before May 14. Give Pacquiao and the country time to celebrate, say, which is enough for the whole week between April 16 to 20. The whole shebang, let Manny celebrate: television guestings, radio, pictures splattered, media exposure. Hook, line and sinker.

"If I were Darlene, on the other hand, I'd go low-profile campaign in South Cotobato. Be more personal with the people. No glitz, no glamor, just blue-collar campaign. Address what needs to be done, the specifics. Be smart about everything. Darlene is facing a celebrity; she can't win by acting like one.

"Actually, she's not going to win. But the objective is to keep the scorecards close, so to speak. Lose with pride.

"With that in mind, Darlene mustn't lose, changing her strategy, changing who she really is--which is basically she's not a celebrity. One thing to lose the elections, but to lose your soul--or what's left of it--at the same time is despicable.

"The key to Darlene's campaign is 'never attack Pacquiao'. Attack and she antagonizes her own citizenry. Then, political career of the Antonino-Custodio's--or either family--will cease to exist forevermore.

"I mentioned earlier, she needs to campaign the entire exact opposite Manny does it. Why? Eventually, Manny--with all the commitments he needs to attend to--will lose the trust of some of his constituents. The people of South Cotobato will realize Pacquiao wasn't the better choice after all. The exact opposite was.

"The question is if they do realize this 'will the people of South Cotobato finally then vote for Pacquiao's opponent to serve as their congressman?'

"The answer? Still, a big a fat 'no'."

Homer says, "Dope!!"

Be an athlete or a musician?

Besides being persecuted, athletes who are found using performance-enhancing drugs are banned from playing, stripped of their medals, and their records stricken out of annals and books.

The question? When are we going to see the day when musicians using performance-enhancing drugs are banned from playing, stripped of their Grammys, and their records stricken out of the album shelves?

Exhibits No. 1 to 3: Tour de France champion Floyd Landis, home-run wrecking ball Barry Bonds and world champion sprinter Justin Gatlin are under the microscope of their own sports, and are a smoking gun short of being banished from greatness.

Exhibit Nos. 4 to 6: How about stripping Metallica, Ozzy and Slayer of their Grammy awards? Heck, why not take out "the sex, drugs and rock 'n roll" metal category at the Grammys altogether?

The answer? Never.

I'm sorry, dude...

"I hope it's not a joke. But I just as hope it isn't true."

--a reply to a friend after he asked me if the death of Emilio "Jun" Bernardino was real.

sick

I said we start talking MVP when Kobe gets to 50 between games less than 24 hours.

I guess we better start now.

How one man can adjust his game by turning 180 degrees from looking for his teammates to looking for his shot within the course of one season is enough to get my vote.

Fine. Nash and Nowitzki's teams have far better records but that's because they have a full complement of a team. They have healthy teammates. How about the Mavs or the Suns starters missing a total of, say, 100 or more games because of injury? (That's what makes Nash's case for MVP last year compelling; the Suns continued to win even without Amare.)

That's what I'm talking about. If Lamar, Luke and Kwame didn't miss as many games as they did, the Lakers would probably have won 10 games more than where they are already now.
And Kobe wouldn't have changed his game, maintaining a playmaker mindset more than anything else.

But all three were nursing injuries for long stretches during the very crucial stage in the tournament--the second half of the season. With utmost respect for Smush, the scoring options for the Lakers were limited without 3/5 of the regular starting unit.

So what's Bryant go to do? Would you rather see Radmanovic score than me?

Kobe is much-maligned for his compunction to score, but that bothers me.

A guy who probably gets five straight games dishing out 15 assists or plays the same number of games pulling down 20 rebounds, he probably gets more props.

People who look at stats are cruel to scorers; the guy who assists is unselfish, the guy who rebounds works hard. Even the guy who takes a charge is called somebody "who makes the ultimate sacrifice".

And what do scorers get for scoring too much? Ballhog. Selfish.

Lest, you forget, scoring is the essence of basketball, the essence of sport. If basketball was golf, Kobe would be in the same breath as Tiger. If hoops were tennis, Kobe would be Federer.

That's why this streak is significant: Kobe isn't just a normal scorer. Kobe isn't the one-hit, one-81-game wonder. The streak proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that Kobe is the most unstoppable scorer in the NBA.

Streak signifies consistency. Change in style from playmaker to high scorer means versatility. Degree of difficulty of shots means mental focus. Lakers in a mild winning streak and still in a position to lock a playoff berth means effectivity.

No single opponent has stopped him. Phil Jackson isn't complaining. His teammates are willing to ride him.

Whether they'll make Kobe assume playmaking skills again, I don't know. But the Lakers' stretch of playing sub-.500 teams is the perfect time to unleash Kobe as a scorer. (The perfect time besides the other variables like "the diry player" issue, the hitherto suspension, the back-to-back thrashing against Dallas and Denver...)

Against contenders, Kobe's shoot-first, shoot-second mentality will not work definitely. Kobe and Phil Jackson won't risk that; they'll play a more team-centered game than a Bryant-centered one.

Unless Kobe falls in a zone (like the 62 in three quarters in Dallas gig in 2005), Bryant will be more of a facilitator against the likes of the Spurs or the Suns which, as proven early this season and during the Phoenix series last year, is just as effective.

Now, how can you not vote Kobe the MVP?