What changed?

The development of players’ unions, that’s what. Unions are responsible for unimaginable salary levels, in all major sports, in particular the NFL. Unions are responsible for safer equipment, for health and pension benefits, for free agency rights, and for shared endorsement fees.

Without unions, and without collective bargaining rights, NFL players would still be poorly paid employees, tied to the teams that drafted them for many years, with equipment far inferior to what is used today that is designed to prevent serious injury, with no pensions, no lifetime health care, no ongoing endorsement monies (except for the very few greatest names) no first class travel, no grievance procedures, no bargaining power.

The Super Bowl will be played in a few hours in Indiana, home of a miserable right-wing zealot governor who as part of the republican wave of busting union rights in state after state across the country, just orchestrated his passage through the gop controlled Indiana state legislature of the end to union rights and collective bargaining in Indiana.

Citizens of Indiana no longer have the rights to fight for the types of benefits that NFL players enjoy – the rights to bargain for livable wages, health benefits, pensions, safe working conditions – that NFL players now enjoy BECAUSE of unions and collective bargaining.

Collective bargaining and union rights averted an NFL lockout a scant few months ago. How quickly the players forget.

Where is the NFL Players’ Association. Silent. Mute. Apparently castrated.

The Players’ UNION should have organized a boycott and REFUSED to play the super bowl in Indiana.

The Lakers out-shot the Clippers overall, thanks primarily to Clippers’ bench players Randy Foye, Ryan Gomes, and ex-Laker Brain Cook shooting a combined 2 for 16. The Clippers, however, out rebounded the Lakers, shot better from behind the arc, generally played a more tenacious defense, and out-hustled the Lakers for the entire game, save for part of the third-quarter, when the Kobe-Bryant-led Lakers went on an eight minute rampage and briefly narrowed what was a double digit lead for almost the entire game.

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And in the end, Kobe’s fourth consecutive 40-point game was not nearly enough, as Chris Paul showed the Lakers why they were correct in being his primary pursuer, putting in 33, but more importantly, being the team leader that the Clippers have not had since, well, … ever. Not Blake Griffin last year, not Baron Davis, not Elton Brand, Ken Norman, Ron Harper, Gary Grant, or Randy Smith. But it is more than Paul, as the Clippers are now a team full of talented, experienced players, whose aim it is to win Los Angeles, win the Pacific Division, and make a mark in the playoffs. The additions of Chauncey Billups, Caron Butler, and Reggie Evans give the Clippers a nine-deep group that can complete with anyone in the NBA. The return of Eric Bledsoe will make them even deeper.

Great drafting gave them Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan, and the excellent talent that they sent to New Orleans in order to acquire Paul. The future is now.

As to the Lakers, besides the grit and disdain for pain continually displayed by Kobe, the best thing that came out of last night’s game was the play of Darius Morris, in his new role backing up Derek Fisher while Steve Blake is out. Morris made some mistakes, but showed he has NBA point guard talent, and that he should be a competent bridge until Blake’s return.

Something else to consider regarding the Lakers’ second half play. It’s no secret that the Lakers are, as a group, far from being spring chickens. Add to that the effects of the lockout and lack of training time, and the further fact that no NBA team has already played more games than the Lakers. When they made their third quarter run to get within a couple of points, that was it. There was nothing there there, thereafter, and the lead quickly reverted to double digits. Are the Lakers already fatigued, as LA Times blogger Mark Medina has speculated?

Or, is it coaching? Remember, that’s Mike Brown, not Phil Jackson on the bench. Brown seems to still be using different combinations each game, and some of his personnel moves, and the manner in which he is using his personnel, are questionable (Remember our earlier posts on the second coming of Del Harris. Or of Randy Pfund).

For example, in the fourth quarter, announcers Bill McDonald and Stu Lantz were talking about getting scoring from someone besides Kobe, and then Jason Kapono entered the game, just for that purpose. For the four and a half minutes that Kapono played in the fourth quarter, he was never once set up for a single shot, and almost never even touched the ball.

Tomorrow, Lamar Odom returns to Staples, as the Lakers play Dallas, and then they go to visit the reeling Miami Heat. Think they’re tired now?

Bobby Knoop 1965 Topps Baseball Card

The .230-hitting Knoop was a magician with the glove. His range both up the middle and into the hole were remarkable, but his true gift was his ability to snatch a batted ball while off balance or diving, and make one amazing accurate throw after another, as he was falling to the ground. He did this routinely through his five-plus seasons with the Angels. When Tebow rolls to his left, as defenders

are pursuing him, and as he fires accurate passes while running for his life, sometimes while falling to the ground, I see the exact image of Bobby Knoop from 50 years ago. For Knoop the throws were actually more difficult, as he so often made them diving into the hole to his left, and throwing right handed. Tebow makes this play running the natural way for a lefty, to his left. He may have done it but I have yet to see him do it running to his right.

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One final note: It is interesting that if you polled most baseball fans as to their pick of the best defensive second baseman in recent memory, most would likely choose Roberto Alomar. Knoop was traded by the Angels to Chicago for Roberto’s father, second baseman Sandy Alomar, Sr.

In the East, the Patriots possess the Conference’s best offense, best passing attack, best coach, and a defense that missed giving up the most yards per game of any NFL team by exactly 1/2 yard per game. The Pats ended up breezing to the East title when the the Big Mouth Bag of Shit’s Jets proved to be pretenders. Their spunky little sex offender quarterback Mark Sanchez showed his talent for throwing just enough interceptions to lose the final wild card spot to, get ready, CINCINNATI.

Speaking of Cincinnati, the North gave us both AFC Wild Cards, with Pittsburgh limping in with Big Ben hurting and Rashard Mendenhall gone till sometime after the start of next season, with a torn ACL. Division champ Baltimore has no major injuries but many nagging aches, pains, sprains, and concussions, but their biggest worry is basing their success on the play of the erratic Joe Flacco.

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In the South, injuries have destroyed a strong Texans team, and entering the playoffs with no experience at QB, a questionable Andre Johnson, and without Mario Williams who has of course watched most of the season from IR, they still should beat the neophyte Bengals. Then we have the Pathetic AFC West, where the over-the-hill Tim Tebow leads his Broncos into the playoffs. After three straight horrible performances, theHoundDawg thinks Tebow’s career is over and done. His fourth quarter magic, helped out by a few of those 59-yard field goals, is now an artifact of history.

The Steelers should win this one without much problem.

The cry-baby trojan has-been played a typical Carson Palmer game as the Raiders lost the West title on the final day, racking up all sorts of yards, but never making the big play when his team needed him to come through, and of course, throwing a key interception at just the right time – for the opponent.

And finally, as the Chargers begin the task of packing up their belongings and marching north to their new home (just what we needed), it’s official, Norv Turner will be joining the rest of the team in their new home. Just what LA sports needs, another owner STUPID and IDIOTIC enough to keep a Norv Turner as coach.

The Chargers may be coming, but we still won’t have an NFL team; at least not a representative one.

Many years ago in the 1960s when I saw an AFL football game in the original Anaheim Stadium, before it was first rebuilt into a multi-purpose stadium to house the Rams as well as the Angels, and then re-re-built to again become a baseball-only stadium, I became acutely aware of the fact that there were no good seats in a baseball stadium being used for football. How fans attending the Fight Hunger Bowl, or for that matter, fans of the California Golden Bears who have used the facility as their temporary home, are able to actually see the action, is a mystery. Unless with 21st century technology, instantly walls can now be moved, seat angles adjusted, and a series of mirror installed, that is.

I am, of course, writing all this to avoid talking about the game itself.

As I’ve written before, the very idea of a 6-6 team on a six game losing streak meeting a 6-7 team in a bowl game is obscene, and the game bore this out. Details need not be cited. The sooner the game fades into memory, the better.

What I will say about UCLA , is that the sooner the last vestiges of the Rick Neuheisel era also fade away, the better. While I have absolutely no faith in Mr. Dan Guerrero to choose a capable football coach or Mr. Jim L. Mora to be a capable football coach, at least there is a shot at it. There was no shot at seeing a well-coached game today. Or a well played game. Or a game worth spending three-plus hours watching on a Saturday afternoon.

I heard part of today’s game as broadcast over the radio airwaves by Mr. Chris Roberts, the longtime UCLA radio voice who is as capable of accurately and entertainingly broadcasting a sporting event as I am of replicating the Mona Lisa, and I have to admit I uttered a brief chuckle as I heard him refer to the game as not the “Fight Hunger Bowl”, but rather as the “Hunger Bowl”. That summed up not just his abilities, but the entire game itself.

After demolishing Utah, consistent play from Kobe and Pau Gasol and the Lakers new-found depth contributed to an easy win against New York. While it was expected that if Kobe, torn ligament or not, were on the court, he would score, and that Pau would be scoring and rebounding, it was not certain at all those early game benchwarmers would get their shots, but they have. Major contributions from Matt Barnes and Jason Kapono, and greatly improved play (over last year) from Steve Blake, have been major elements of the Lakers early season turnaround.

Mike Brown has shown flexibility and good sense in trying different combinations, and while the jury is a long way from being out whether or not he is the second coming of Del Harris, he IS showing he’s no Randy Pfund.

Now appearing in two games each, Kapono has show the reason for his signing, averaging seven points on 15-min./game while so far at least, hitting 60% from behind the arc, and given similar minutes, Barnes has contributed tenacious defense, timely shooting, and some added leadership to both the second unit and while on the court with the starters.

The Knicks on the other hand, are a mess. They play like five separate one-man teams, and the talent of Anthony, Stoudemire and Chandler is unharnessed and wasted. Knick guard play has been abhorrent, with Toney Douglas masquerading as a starting point guard, and the over-the-hill Mike Bibby backing him up. Baron Davis waits in the wings, but with his serious back injury, the four week guess on his return may be unrealistic and who knows how well he will be able to play with what figures to be lingering pain. The names Landry Fields and Bill Walker do not conjure up images of consistent, productive two guards. Likewise up front, the names Josh Harrelson, Renaldo Balkman, and Jerome Jordan demonstrate the total lack of depth and experience in the second unit. The Knicks get to play Sacramento next, and based on the Lakers play in Capital City, the Knicks are in for another tough evening.

After today off, the Lakers play Denver twice in three days. I predicted a spilt and can see no reason to change that now.

On paper, the Utah Jazz appear to be a similar team to Sacramento, maybe not quite as talented but certainly more experienced, on the the court, that is. What they lack is the biggest asset the team had for the preceding two decades, the coaching of Jerry Sloan. Sloan retired during last season, turning over the reins to Ty Corbin, and his ability to coach at the NBA level is yet to be determined. The 8-20 record he led them to after taking over last season is not, however, encouraging.

What can be expected tonight is the Jazz’ mountainous front court attempting to manhandle the Lakers finesse guys. In Derrick Favors, Al Jefferson, and Enes Kanter, the Jazz can throw three 6-10″ or 6″11″, 260-290 pounders out there. Meta Tag Piece Thingy will earn his stripes tonight, helping out Gasol and the much lighter McRoberts and Murphy. This is the kind of game that a Lakers team with Andrew Bynum and Darrick Caracter should win easily, but the lack of match-ups size-wise could be a killer tonight.

The Lakers are favored by 5-1/2 but it is really anyone’s game given no Bynum and the Lakers’ overall play so far. But, add in the coaching equalizer element, and I’ll say the Lakers beat the spread tonight, though Gasol, McRoberts, and a few others will need tomorrow’s off day to ice their bruises.

Power Balance Pavillion, Sacramento. Definitely NOT the Honda Center

There will actually be some new faces in Kings uniforms there tonight. Unfortunately, the uniforms that figure to see playing time will be worn by NBA re-treads, like undersized power forward-center Chuck Hayes, Cleveland reject J.J. Hickson, journeyman Travis Outlaw, and journeyman swingman John Salmons who is on his second tour of duty with Sacramento.

The Kings also have a very interesting group of rookies, who, unfortunately, do not figure to yet see much playing time. Legendary scorer Jimmer Fredette is the centerpiece of this group, which also includes two-time Pac-10 Tournament MVP Isaiah Thomas, and Tyler Honeycutt, the former Bruin star who left school after his sophomore year.

Others who do figure to get most of the playing time are last year’s major disappointment, center DeMarcus Cousins, who specialized in turnovers, while making 43% of those two-inch shots from over the rim, and the prior year’s top rookie, Tyreke Evans, who was a major bust as a soph, but who did fight injuries most of the season.

The Lakers figure to easily beat the 3-point betting line on the game.

I’d sure like to see some playing time for the guys who did not get off the bench yesterday, despite off-season talk of their importance to the team, Jason Kapono and Matt Barnes. Maybe even some time for Luke Walton would be possible.

This is the kind of game the Lakers easily won even under Del Harris. A loss would be reminiscent of the Randy Pfund era. Mike Brown, it’s up to you.

Dirk Nowitzki, Kobe Bryant, Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, Ray Allen, Tim Duncan, Dwyane Wade, Shaquille O’Neal, David Robinson, and Hakeem Olajuwon?

Answer: NONE are point guards.

All of the fellows were THE stars on the NBA Championship teams over the past 18 season, and none of them were or are point guards. Going back before that, we can add the name Michael Jordan, and he also, was no a point guard. I have omitted THE star(s) from the 2003-2004 season, when the Detroit Pistons, featuring an ensemble group of “star” players including a point guard, Chauncey Billups, won the title.

What is evident from this, as that while pundits love to proclaim that the NBA is a point guard league, and winning teams MUST have THE best point guard in creation if they are to have a chance to win a title, they are clearly wrong. The idea of giving up a team of talent, such as the likes of Lamar Odom AND Pau Gasol, or even Chris Kaman and Eric Gordon and another good player and a number one draft choice, is patently absurd, as the path to a title involves much more than that one guy passing the ball. If it were so, would not the Clippers – with not just Chris Paul but also with Chauncey Billups, Mo Williams, and Eric Bledsoe – be the heavy favorite to win it all this season?

Last year, Dallas won the title in large part despite the barely adequate play of then 37-year-old Jason Kidd. The two years before last, the title was won by the Lakers with the energetic and clutch, but inconsistent Derek Fisher, whose defense leaves much to be desired and who would have been rated the fifth most important of the five starters on those teams. The year before that, the Celtics won, with their three-star triumvirate of Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, Ray Allen. Second year point guard Rajon Rondo was universally considered the weak link in their starting five. San Antonio won the title two of the preceding three years, and their star was clearly Tim Duncan, and in the intervening year, the Heat won with shooting guard Dwyane Wade and that big guy O’Neal leading the way. Need I go on?

This is not to say that point guards are not important, but didn’t the Bulls several years ago prove that with the right guys at other spots, anybody could play the point for a championship team?

So, more power to the Clippers with their slew of point guards, including the oh-so coveted Mr. Paul, but as the season begins, the overpowering favorite to win it all is Miami, who, when last I looked, have a starting five where the point guard ranks right near the bottom in importance, experience, and most importantly, reliance.

LA Clippers Blake Griffin with Warriiors' Monta Ellis

The Warriors are not the Lakers, the Bulls, or the Heat, but should be a decent, .500-ish team, on the cusp of playoff contention, and were the perfect opponent for the Clippers’ opener: A guard-oriented team with a star power forward and lots of young, enthusiastic players, out to prove they have the talent for the NBA. And Kwame Brown.

Chauney Billups has made a quick and successful transition to the two guard spot next to Paul, and Mo Williams did not stink coming off the bench. So three point guards might work, at least until Eric Bledsoe recovers from his injury and makes it a gang of four.

The one stat from tonight’s game that really stands out is DeAndre Jordan’s 33% free throw shooting. A lifetime 41 percenter, this could portend dangerous times in key game situations. Even Shaquille O’Neal’s worst ever percentage was 42%. Conversely, maybe the best stat of the game was Jordan’s eight blocked shots. Jordan is starting his fourth season, and the Clippers, sans Chris Kaman, are relying on him as the only true center on the team, and they need all-around motivated play from him, EVERY game.