TARMAC McCARTHY

Anyway, "The Road" held me in such thrall that after finishing it I marched straight over to Borders in Terminal 4 at Sky Harbor and purchased another McCarthy novel, the better-known "No Country For Old Men", which is not to be confused with the 2008 Florida State football prospectus, "Nole Country For Old Men."

"The Road" is currently being filmed, by the way. Viggo Mortensen is going to play the father and Charlize Theron will play his wife, even though she only has one real scene, maybe two, in the novel.

Bermuda Triangle Offense

Nice line by Phil Jackson to Craig Sager between the 3rd and 4th quarters of Game 1 this evening. When Sager asked him about Kobe attempting just three shots and having two points at intermission, Jackson replied, "I thought he was still on vacation. It looked as if he were trying to execute the Bermuda Triangle Offense instead of our halfcourt triangle offense."

--How dispiriting for San Antonio. Duncan gets 30 and 18, the Spurs are up by 20 points midway through the 3rd quarter, Kobe has just two points at the half...and San Antonio still loses. If any team can overcome, emotionally, such a loss, it's the Spurs. Still, they gave away a game this evening.

--Excellent call by Doug Collins as the Lakers began their final offensive possession. Collins exhorted the Spurs to double-team Kobe and force someone else in the yellow unis to take the big shot. Duncan stepped out to help Bruce Bowen on the double-team at first, but when Kobe pulled back to midcourt Duncan was loathe to commit that much. And that is what cost San Antonio the game in the closing moments, because you knew the refs weren't going to call the Mamba for an offensive foul when he turned Bowen into his personal Bryon Russell on that final shot.

--Kenny Smith, talking about Kobe's transformation in the last few seasons, said it best. "For a few years now he's been the best talent. Now he's the best player."

--The Lakers, offensively, seem to score in shifts. Vlad Radmonovic scored all ten of his points in the first quarter--he never even attempted a shot in the final three quarters. Kobe scores 25 of his 27 after halftime.

--I read somewhere--maybe on this site--that having Pau Gasol allows Kobe to drive the lane on Duncan and makes him vulnerable because if he commits to Kobe then the Mamba can just lob it to Gasol a la Nash-to-Stoudemire. How many times did you see that play in the second half?

--He didn't have his usual dagger-plunging game, but Manu Ginobili had a Maravichian play in the first half when he bounce-passed a ball through Gasol's legs to himself, caught it, passed it, set up for a 3 in the opposite corner, and buried it. You have to love that.

--It didn't affect the outcome of the game, but how could any ref have called that ball out of bounds against the Spurs in the final minute? Duncan grabbed the rebound, held it in two hands, and then suddenly it flew out of bounds. How did the ref think that could have happened other than a Laker player having swiped at it? Yes, the refs screwed up in San Antonio's favor just moments later (that ball was either off Ginobili or a foul on Gasol; instead, the refs just gave the ball to the Spurs...someone should remind them this isn't 6th grade CYO), but that doesn't excuse the weak call.

--Is it really a good idea for Charles Barkley to be shouting out that he got to meet one of his all-time heroes, Phil Hellmuth (a World Series of Poker legend), in the same week that his name has been all over the news for his $400,000 gambling debt to the Wynn Casino? (Note to self: add Steve Wynn to the "All-Aptly Named Team" list).

--Kind of odd to see David Beckham sitting courtside, watching someone named Manu play, just a few hours after the team on which he himself became a superstar, Manchester United (a.k.a, "Man U."), won the Champions League final in a shootout over Chelsea in Moscow. The match began at 10:45 p.m. local time in Russia. After 90 minutes yielded a 1-1 tie, it then went into 30 minutes of extra time, a shootout that ended with the match still unresolved, and then finally a winner on the 7th round of penalty kicks. Considering what time the match at last ended, Man U's uniform colors, and the locale, I'd say "Red Dawn" was the appropriate headline.

-- Post-game, Sir Charles and The Jet were insisting that this was just a case of "a loss is a loss", but I disagree. I'm with Reggie Miller (a.k.a., "The Man After Whose Face All The Characters in Antz were modeled). You cannot just give away games in a 7-game series. San Antonio had the psychological edge over the Lakers, who played without passion or confidence through the first 30 minutes. And while it's cool that Kobe gets his teammates involved, he waited longer than was prudent to start invoking his will. The Spurs, for all the talk about age and jet lag and fatigue, had a 20-point lead and the best opportunity they'll likely have all series to steal a game at Staples Center. They blew it.

Hoo Done It

If you've been keeping up with the blog, you know that yesterday we found a great horned owl chick in my parents' yard. I shoo'ed it over to a shady area because it was 110 freaking degrees here yesterday, and then was assured by our wildlife man on the scene, Carl, that the mommy owl would come at night and feed it until it was old enough to fly.

Well, guess what? This morning when I awoke the little chick was gone. Vanished. There were no loose feathers on the ground, no appearances of a struggle. In short, no signs of owl play (I've been waiting all day to type that). Phone calls to Los Angeles detectives Bud White and Ed Exley, who did such fine work solving the Night Owl murders, were not returned.

The Mystery of the Missing Owl continues. Maybe he's on the lam(b)?

Lights

I feel like (more of) a stooge when I allow a commercial jingle to run through my head all day (that's just what they want to happen), but that Old Navy song "Last Thing On Your Mind" is definitely embedded in the old cranium now.

How I Melt Your Mother, season-finale

"Hey, Barney, look out for that--wait for it--BUS!"

Commenter Paul Westerberg (his alias), a Twin Cities native, noted that The Replacements "Here Comes A Regular" was playing as the show bowed out. Did anyone notice the song that was playing in the opening scene, though? It was (Nice Dream) off Radiohead's The Bends, my favorite album of theirs by 377 miles, even if the cool critics at Rolling Stone likely disagree because it's just too damn accessible and melodic.

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And now for my next great marketing idea: Misfortune Cookies. We'll make them black, and inside we'll scrawl ditties such as "Your best friend is sleeping with your wife" or "That mole on your back is cancer". This is can't-miss Spencer Gifts material, no?