The Chuckster at his best
On Monday I wrote of the Charles Barkley-Laker fast. Should we guess the Laker win on Sunday night will now force the Chuckster to locate another motivating factor to lose weight? Seriously I thought it was funny, over the years Sir Charles has made a number of interesting if not controversial proclamations. Remember the comment he made regarding Yao Ming? *“Barkley proclaimed on TNT's Inside the NBA show (2002) that if Yao managed to score 19 points in a game this season, he would kiss the posterior of fellow analyst Kenny Smith.” Many including Sir Charles questioned Yao Ming’s NBA talent. *Desert News Nov 22, 2002”

NBA TV
I confess I view NBA TV far more than the other pro sports networks. I’m unsure if we can state they are best, we can say they were the first pro sports network to begin telecasts. NBA TV went live in March 1999, the NFL Network followed in Nov 2003. The NHL Network ((Oct 2007) and MLB Network (Jan 2009) were to follow later. Turner Broadcasting System operates NBA TV which allows personalities such as Ernie Johnson, Kenny “the Jet” Smith and Charles Barkley to appear on NBA TV and TNT telecast. NBA TV is available on most cable systems in the U.S. plus DirecTV and Dish Network. The network is distributed to a number of broadcast systems throughout the world so Dennis Scott, Steve Smith and Brent Barry have a large following.

“Hey, we’re over here”!
The above headline is likely to have become the Grizzlies theme. I would suggest this team might be a mirror image of the Spurs. No, they don’t play the same style of basketball it’s just the fact they are not flashy yet manage to win. Zach Randolph, Marc Gasol and Mike Conley are the “bricks” of this competitive team. We can state with conviction (minus injuries) they are 50 win club annually but that’s the problem. With a collection of talented athletes they never ever climb to the top of the mountain. Lionel Hollins was forced out yet they still continued to win. Memphis fans are seriously waiting on this team to effectively compete for an NBA Championship.

I‘m the dummy
Much as I hate to admit it I’m the dummy, an ESPN program broadcasts a stupid report and I fall for it. The latest The SportsNation crew and “Do Kobe Bryant’s teammates hate him?” I can offer no proof to the contrary maybe they do hate Kobe. I would submit for consideration the following. Jodie Meeks and Jordan Farmar left the Lakers signing with the Pistons and Clippers respectively. Jordan Hill, Xavier Henry and Wesley Johnson chose to resign with the Lakers although they too had the opportunity to go elsewhere. If they hate Kobe at the level the ESPN crew claims don’t you think they might try and find another team Meeks and Farmar did?

“Sit down Norm”
Back in the day of Mizzou Coach Norm Stewart games in Lawrence Kansas fans would chant; “Sit down Norm’! This was a reference to Stewart standing and coaching from the sidelines. This is not a history lesson on Stewart rather it reflects comments I’ve heard regarding Kobe Bryant. More than one person has informed me Kobe needs to sit down (retire).

Funny thing, I’ve never heard them make that statement regarding Kevin Garnett. Garnett suffered through his worst season (6.5 ppg) as a member of the Nets. How about Ray Allen (9.6 ppg) late of the Heat, he’s supposed to be working on several deals including reuniting again with LeBron. There are probably several players I’ve omitted, it’s unnecessary to list all of them. The point fans (Kobe haters I believe) are pointing fingers at him while overlooking Garnett, Allen and others.

“The Invisible Man”
Although I claim to be a movie buff I have no idea how many different versions of The “Invisible Man” have been released. Research indicated the original movie was released in 1933. There is real-“Invisible Man“, no movie magic------his name is Elgin Baylor. Baylor 1959 NBA Rookie of the Year also he would eclipse 20,000 points. He was an 11X All-Star and Naismith Hall of Fame honoree. Those are but a few of the honors accorded this former Laker power forward.

Baylor played for the Lakers from 1958-1971. In fact Baylor actually played for the Minneapolis Lakers before heading west when the team moved in 1960. His jersey number 22 has long been retired however Laker management has ignored him for reasons unknown. Change will occur, on November 16 the Lakers will honor Baylor at half-time and fans will receive a replica jersey 22. This might be a first step to honor the legendary Laker power forward. .