Saturday, August 1, 2009

The Return of Lamar

The biggest news this week in Los Angeles sports came on Thursday, when after 31 days of long negotiations, Lamar Odom decided to re-sign with the world champion Los Angeles Lakers. Odom agreed to a four-year deal worth $33 million if the Lakers exercise their option on the fourth year. 

Off-season moves appear to be over for the Lakers, as they were successful in bringing back their top five scorers and top four rebounders from the squad that won it all just a month and a half ago. The only loss for the Lakers was Trevor Ariza, who signed with the Houston Rockets.

With Odom back I'll go ahead and guarantee that the Lakers will repeat.

The Dodgers have flopped so far on their seven game road trip, going just 2-4. They play their final game of the trip tomorrow in Atlanta.

The Blue Crew made some changes to their team, as they traded for reliever George Sherrill in attempt to bolster their bullpen that has struggled as of late. 

I think the Dodgers made a huge mistake in not trading for Toronto Blue Jays ace Roy Halladay. The Philadelphia Phillies traded for AL Cy Young Award winner Cliff Lee, the St. Louis Cardinals traded for All-Star slugger Matt Holliday, and the Dodgers respond by trading for a closer? I'm sorry but a closer is not going to win you a World Series. The Dodgers needed an ace for the playoffs, and Halladay was that guy. Even if it meant trading away prospects, the Dodgers should have pulled the trigger. I don't think the Dodgers can get to the World Series with the roster they have now. Philadelphia has a great offense which nows complements a great pitching staff, and for whatever reason the Dodgers cannot beat the Cardinals, so I'm going to say right now the Dodgers will not make the World Series.

This is why Los Angeles will always be a Laker town, because the Dodgers never do what they have to do to win. They are complacent with getting to the playoffs and then losing. When is Frank McCourt and the rest of the Dodger management going to realize that getting to the playoffs is not enough? The Dodgers haven't been to the World Series in 21 years, which is truly unacceptable. I guess this makes me appreciate Lakers owner Jerry Buss all the more, because he settles for nothing less than championships.

European League Soccer powerhouse FC Barcelona came to the Rose Bowl to take on the Los Angeles Galaxy in a friendly match in front of more than 90,000 people. Barcelona won 2-1, with the lone goal by the Galaxy coming from David Beckham. I find it pathetic that LA fans booed Beckham every time he touched the ball because they are angry he played in Europe for a season, yet they gave Manny Ramirez a standing ovation after he came back from a 50-game suspension for cheating. Shows the true colors of Los Angeles sports fans these days. 

20 days till ASU.

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