There is a reason why the Los Angeles Clippers will never be as liked or accomplish as much as their rival older brother Los Angeles Lakers have. It can be summed up in two words: Donald Sterling.

It isn’t because of their poor play or lack of talent in past years, though both have been clearly evident. Instead, it’s because of their owner and the bad karma that can get deep into the organization. Not everyone believes in karma but when dealing with such a man as Sterling, karma rears its ugly head over and over.

Being the leader of both the Clippers and Players Association, Chris Paul needs to step up and do something about his teams owner Donald Sterling. By Verse Photography (Flickr: 20131118 ClippersvGrizzles41) [CC-BY-SA-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

We all know that he has been accused of being openly racist in the past. For example, in 2006 he was sued by the US Department of Justice over housing discrimination for refusing to rent apartments to blacks and families with children. It took him three years to pay a settlement to end the lawsuit. 

Next we heard that former general manager Elgin Baylor sued Sterling by accusing him for firing him “on the basis of age and race.”   Sterling has had a history of being openly racist but his recent comment once again prove that the NBA needs to take a harder stance on racism and deal with it in a manner that is appropriate and shows that this kind of behavior will not be tolerated at any level.

Last week, TMZ found audio footage of Sterling talking to his girlfriend and telling her that he didn’t want her to bring African Americans to his game anymore.

Per TMZ, Sterling allegedly said, “You can sleep with [black people]. You can bring them in, you can do whatever you want. The little I ask you is not to promote it on that…and not to bring them to my games.”

The girlfriend had posted a picture of herself and Magic Johnson on her Instagram account which has now been deleted. The ironic and ridiculous part about all this is that the Clippers three most essential pieces to their team’s success are African American in Chris Paul, Blake Griffin and coach Doc Rivers.

The NBA should not allow this man to own a NBA franchise any longer. New commissioner Adam Silver has a Goodell-and-Vick-like opportunity to step up and take action early in his regime. He has a chance to do something that his predecessor David Stern failed to do on many occasions.

Simply letting Sterling go this long without punishment shows some sort of weakness within the NBA front office. Donald Sterling is a disgrace of a human being, a disgrace to the NBA and a disgrace to all of his African American employees. If I were any of the Clippers players or coaches, I would seriously consider boycotting the rest of the season until Sterling stepped down as owner. Drastic times call for drastic measures and with star player Chris Paul heading the Players Association, and Kevin Johnson involved, this situation is far from over.

Much has been made recently about the Clippers decision to cover up the Lakers championship banners and retired jerseys during Clipper home games and I don’t understand why. When the Clippers have a home game they deserve to be able to make it their own arena and just because they share the stadium with the Lakers doesn’t mean that they need to keep Laker stuff all around.

Covering up the purple and gold is a ploy by an organization that finally is looking to step out from under the huge shadow of their big brother. The Clippers may have covered the banners up but everyone still knows what is behind the cover. As a NBA fan, I wish the Clippers luck this season as they try and become a powerhouse NBA team.

Staples Center is home to both the Clippers and Lakers but is more known because of the purple and gold. By Prayitno from Los Angeles, USA, via Wikimedia Commons

I find it extremely comical that now that the Clippers are relevant, the “fans” have started to come out of their shell and support the team. Before the “basketball reasons” incident from a few years ago, you could walk down the street in Los Angeles and not see a single Clippers anything, no billboards, no merchandise being worn, nothing. Although I will admit that the Clippers have become the most exciting team in Los Angeles, they will never be the city’s favorite. Since the Lakers moved to LA, they have built such a strong fan base that their dominance will never be broken — no matter how good the Clippers become. Even though the Clippers are now a title contender, based off their history they are still a borderline NBA franchise until they prove otherwise. One division title in the 43 years the organization has been around is not a great track record. Many people would disagree with my take on who runs Los Angeles, but until they win anything, I stand by my statement. If they do end up winning anything I will be the first to take it back.

After winning a team-record 56 games last season, the Clippers seemed to finally be able to break through and make a run at an NBA title but ended up being bounced in the first round and ended up having only two more playoff wins than a depleted Lakers team without Kobe Bryant. People might look at that statistic as irrelevant but to me that says a lot about the two teams that share Staples.

This season looks to be different with the addition of Doc Rivers and some new players and time will tell. When the Lakers and Clippers are talked about, many people use the words “bragging rights” pertaining to the regular season wins. For me though, the Clippers can have all the regular season wins against the Lakers they want because at the end of the day championships are what matter most. Last time I checked the tally was 16-0 in favor of the purple and gold. If the Clippers ever want to be associated with the Lakers as a great franchise, they will have to do more than cover up the Laker championship banners in the building and start adding some of their own. Fans and analysts can talk all they want about Los Angeles being a Clipper town now and they aren’t wrong about them being the better team, but Los Angeles is and always will be a Laker town.

Los Angeles sports fans, eat your hearts out.

You already had 4 courses. And the dessert is going to be pretty sweet, too.

Already in 2012, Los Angeles has seen its share of stars. The 2012 baseball season featured arguablly the best player in baseball, Albert Pujols joining the ranks of stars in Los Angeles. OK, he didn’t quite make it to Los Angeles, but Orange County isn’t bad.

Mike Trout became the best player in baseball last season at the age of 20. By Keith Allison from Owings Mills, USA (Mike Trout Uploaded by Muboshgu) [CC-BY-SA-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Across town, the Dodgers did nothing if not raise their star profile. It started with Magic Johnson and the Guggenheim group buying the team for over $2 billion. Matt Kemp was already a star. So was Clayton Kershaw. The Dodgers traded for Adrian Gonzalez, Hanley Ramirez, Josh Beckett, and Carl Crawford, all of whom have been in the top two or three at their position at some point in their careers.

The Lakers have always been star-driven. Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol have been stars for years. Metta World Peace thinks he’s one, although I’d argue against it. In the offseason, the team acquired Dwight Howard and Steve Nash, both of whom are definitely stars.

The Lakers’ Staples Center roommates, the Clippers, are also beginning to gel with their own superstars, Chris Paul and Blake Griffin, leading the way.

At the Home Depot Center, the Galaxy had stars this year. In David Beckham’s last season. Robbie Keane and Landon Donovan are among the world’s best players and, alongside Beckham, led a star-driven team to its second straight MLS Cup.

The team with the fewest stars is the only team other than the Galaxy to win a championship this year. The Los Angeles Kings, led by Dustin Brown, Anze Kopitar, and Jonathan Quick won the Stanley Cup for the first time.

Zack Greinke had Los Angeles baseball fans abuzz this week, but he doesn’t get close to cracking the top-10 sports stars in Los Angeles. By Keith Allison on Flickr (Originally posted to Flickr as “Zack Greinke”) [CC-BY-SA-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

If the Western Divisions of the National and American League end up the way they look on-paper now, a freeway World Series in southern California is a distinct possibility. I don’t want to digress into a different topic, but if things went like they “should” go based on preseason predictions, the Lakers wouldn’t be struggling so much.

Struggling or not, the Lakers have remained relevant with stars. However they do in 2013, both the Angels and Dodgers have positioned themselves to be relevant all season. As I’ve said before, when it comes to Los Angeles, sometimes it’s more important to be relevant, than good. And fans in southern California don’t complain when their teams are both.

Owen’s List of Star Power in Los Angeles sports in 2012

1) Kobe Bryant

2) Albert Pujols

3) Matt Kemp

4) Mike Trout

5) Blake Griffin

6) Chris Paul

7) David Beckham

8) Clayton Kershaw

9) Josh Hamilton

10) Dwight Howard

Honorable Mention — Steve Nash, Adrian Gonzalez, Landon Donovan, Pau Gasol, Jared Weaver, Hanley Ramirez, Robbie Keane, Jonathan Quick, Anze Kopitar, Dustin Brown, Serena Williams, Zach Greinke, Andre Ethier.

Did I miss someone? Do you not agree with my top-10? Post below and tell us what you think.

Pau

What if El Loco had made his tournament larger or had been reminded of some other great commercials.

With the tournament going on, I’m not going to play an “NIT” here, but I will talk about a few of the “bubble” commercials/music videos that didn’t make it. Bare with me here. Things might get a little ugly. Hope you get some laughs out of it. Be sure to cast your vote for your favorite in Loco’s tournament too!

SportsCenter Commercials

My earliest memories of SportsCenter commercials are from middle school and early high school. I loved sports and would have watched the show anyway, but in the mid-90’s, ESPN started to advertise their flagship show more and more. Along with “hip” broadcasters like Dan Patrick and Keith Olberman (later Kenny Mayne, Stuart Scott, etc…), SportsCenter was all I watched before school and before I went to bed. A bowl of cereal and SportsCenter was how I started and ended my day. Below are a few of my favorite SportsCenter commercials. I love them all, but here are a few.

In the League there’s something brewing, you can see it in Patrick Ewing.

When it’s an extra step he’s taking – it’s a rule he is breaking…

You have to pause it on the Scrabble board. The words are amazing. Shaq is top-5 greatest entertainers of all time.

Pot head. He’s not funny but I have to dig at the Giants where I can.

Blake Griffin. Love him. K-Love gets to show his skills too. It’s really fun to do this to people by the way. Shout out to Jeff Laing and Nate Brown.

Grant Hill used to be able to dunk so good. Also he’s a piano player… Apparently a good one.

This would be funnier if it was Will Ferrell and not really Robert Goulet.

Keyshawn and Kobe. Awesome.

And, finally, Manny being Manny.

Tracy Morgan commercials for Video Games

This guy reinvents funny. The “Every day I do” line is one that can be used in so many connotations. The Warren Sapp one is the best, but Tracy Morgan is a hurricane of hilarity. Love it.

Hahahaha EVERY DAY I DO.

Two freakazoids. Ben Wallace and Tracy Morgan have more in common than is probably healthy….

Manning Commercials

The Manning brothers are all-time greats, when it comes to commercials. Especially Payton. Have a look.

Take a hike!

Loving the ‘stache!

And the brothers acting like… brothers.

All of these videos are funny and should have been considered. Most of Loco’s are probably funnier, but some of these should have had a shot. Much like bubble teams who didn’t get into the tournament, these “players” deserved a shot. Hope you enjoyed looking at them as much as I liked finding them.

OM

If you’re a fan of D-How, I am truly sorry. The guy played the most uninspired game I have ever seen. He looked more like Tweedle Dee or Tweedle Dum than he did superman, with one bead of sweat glimmering from his reddened cheeks, as he smiled all evening at the half-clad body of Rihanna.

No I am not arguing in favor of Bieber fever to the Magic for D-How to Hollywood. The fever needs to stick to swooning fifteen year old girls with hip thrusts.  While D-How needs to go back to playing basketball with more drive than a uni-cycle. Dwight were you not the first overall pick in 2004, the guy who was supposed to help us forget about our generations great centers– Olajuwan, Ewing, Robinson, Mutumbo, and Shaq?

Yesterday you were far too much of the Afro-American Shawn Bradley. Pathetic.

Which is why Daytona– a “man” compared to the NBA’s “teenager”, shined yesterday. The tenth anniversary of the late great Dale Earnhardt’s death–Nascar’s MJ or Magic–touched me deep, as I reminisced on moments watching the great circle the track, while I hung with my ol’ man.  Those memories felt like yesterday–the flamed grill stinging the eyes with those dancing orange flames, while a beautifully seasoned tri-tip drips juicy fat onto oak wood.  Dad gurgling a Coors, with hash curling from his calloused cracked hands, while my uncles spit slurs at the fine Betty walking toward the beach in a poke-o-dot bikini. When the race began, everyone shuttup and watched. Something about the humming motors, thousands upon thousands of fans, and the various colored flags waving in the smooth wind of Daytona courted their boyhood (courting mine now) with memories of  wood race cars in Boy Scouts, skate boards, and bmx.

The glory of  yesterday reflected from a boy…literally. The victor of the 53rd Daytona 500, was  twenty year old rookie Trevor Bayne. He drove the famed Wood Bros. #21 car, leading them to their first large scale victory in ten years. As always the race was a cautiously safe ride for the first 175 laps, with your classic two by two mini races, and an occasional burst into the breakaway flat.  But it was far from boring. Jonathan Washer, from examiner.com, reported the race as ” [a] race [that] was filled with cautions and caution laps, there were too many two by two racing which made it seem boring for a 500 mile (200 lap) race.” Washer began the treatise as a lover of Nascar, which is why his opinion surprised me.

Or maybe it didn’t. The decline in Nascar’s attendance is not because the sport has become boring or awash with drivers that are “too safe”.  The decline is a derivative of pop cultures desire for athleticism–a highly relative term–considering most of us would not have the strength nor the fortitude to control the wile and torque of a car speeding around a track at 170-190 mph. Our cultures inability to see the competitive nature of Nascar is rooted in our entertainment world–the fact that we are now more of a fashion/hip hop culture that wants to see freakish, circus like movements in the air. We only want the wrecks or the dunks, not the patience of a skilled driver, taking small move after small move till the paramount of the 190th lap. A lap when no holds bar, and it becomes a dog eat dog experience on the race track.  My father’s generation looked at the resiliency of an individual, and judged them by their ability to withstand a sporting obstacle and win, win, win, on the biggest stages. We=beauty. My father=heart.

“The cool”=shoe shiner to my father as well. It did not matter what smile or swagger you had during his era, because it was more about the heart of each competitor. Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, Mickey Mantle, Jerry West, Joe Joe D, The Big O, and Earnhardt Sr., were not a popular face in and of themselves, they were particles of popularity within the greater face of the sport itself. Basketball, Football, Baseball, Nascar, etc, made them who they were, not the opposite.

Which is why Nascar was where it was at yesterday. The NBA paled in comparison to a sport that still offers a freckle face twenty year old Bayne the opportunity to win on the biggest stage. A pile up on lap twenty nine, involving big names like Brian Vickers, Waltrip, Mark Martin, and Jeff Gordan, not only opened the field for youngsters like Bayne, but proved to the sporting world just how hard these guys compete. They literally risk their lives for the love of a sport, which should hit home for the people who choose to judge life by its quality not by its quantity.

Go ahead, you can have Bieber fever, and I will gladly remain steadfast in Nascar.  And when you leave, do you mind dumping Dwight “Tweedle Dee” Howard into the dumpsters out back? Thanks.

–Luke Johnson

The NBA All-star weekend festivities have officially jumped the shark. Not to mention, NBA All-star voting is an absolute comedy, reminiscent of a 3rd grade class presidential election or who gets picked first for dodge ball on the playground (which of course we all know is based solely on who traded what to who at the lunch table).

Who honestly even cares about a system where a perpetually injured Yao Ming is the Western Conference’s starting center? What is “earned” in this process is solely due to the size of your fan-base, be it cult following or entire foreign country. It has nothing to do with pertinent numbers, winning or current relevance. I’m half-surprised Allen Iverson hasn’t recieved a couple million votes this season.

With this bitter diatribe as well as the slanted-eye of Laker-fansmanship aside, I offer my case for Blake Griffin getting an all-star nod over the seemingly undeserved and “popular” pick, Lamar Odom.

Griffin’s 47 points and 14 rebounds a week ago was his twenty-seventh consecutive double-double. Odom doesn’t even have twenty double-doubles on the season, let alone consecutive. 47 points is the league-wide game-high so far for the season and is also something Lamar has never accomplished in his entire NBA career. 47 and the top performance on the season, not bad for a rookie.

Griffin has averaged 22.8 points, 12.9 rebounds and 3.5 assists on the season, and 27.2 points, 14.1 rebounds and 4.3 assists in the past month. Odom has averaged 15.6 points, 9.6 rebounds and 2.9 assists on the season, and 15.1 points, 9.0 rebounds and 2.3 assists in the past month. Not only are Griffin’s numbers substantially better overall in every facet and in any time-frame, he has also improved the past month as Odom has slightly regressed.

Griffin also out-played Odom in their most recent match-up, a Clipper win, in which Odom lost his head with the outcome of the game already decided, when he tossed Griffin to the floor while positioning for the rebound of an insignificant free-throw. Sore losers don’t make good all-stars.

Also scoring points for Griffin is the fact that Lamar comes across as lazy and careless while Griffin is anything but. It seems that with Lamar, there is a particular amount of wasted talent and overall lack of his will, or lack thereof, on the outcome. Wasted talents don’t make good all-stars either.

Odom is part of a two-time champion and helped win gold at the World Championships for his country this past summer. While these feats are highly commendable, they are team triumphs. Let us not reward reasonable players on winning teams simply because they deserve a “life-time achievement” award. Can anybody say Eric Crouch for Heisman?

While you can’t deny Odom’s versatility, the overall malleability of Griffin’s game is something the league hasn’t seen in decades. People are struggling to compare Blake to any power forward of years past. Some have even made the notion that he is only most comparable with Lebron James, due to how extraordinary and ridiculous his overall talent is. The basic fact of the matter becomes: Griffin can only be compared to Griffin, and while Odom is known league-wide as a different breed of player, the way Griffin breaks the mold puts Odom to shame in that regard.

If I may make an analogy in “freak,” Odom is to Randall Cunningham as Griffin is to Michael Vick. Everyone was amazed at how Cunningham broke the mold when he came into the league, one of the first true pass/run threats of the modern era – but when Vick took the league by storm, he took the pass/run quarterback dynamic to a whole new level that Cunningham could never even hope to equal on even his best day. Such is the same with Odom and Griffin.

As I consider all factors, I keep coming back to one important point that must be considered. Lamar’s idea of a meaningful off-day is strolling Rodeo Drive with his wife and having a production meeting for his upcoming “reality” TV show. Griffin’s idea of a productive day is being in the midst of his fifth hour of training and practicing, without his team, on an off-day.

While Griffin’s right hand is stuffed through the rim after an insane dunk, Odom’s right hand, which is non-existent on the hardwood, is stuffed in a bag of candy that has been laid out on the back seat of his limo.

On the subject of stuffing, before we stuff the entire all-star process altogether – make sure to stuff the ballot box with Griffin.

-Andrew Stevens