Today, hard at work yet again, I was able IM with Moodsquad today about the state of the Lakers.  Just two weeks ago, he wanted Kobe traded as quickly as possible and was sure he was done as a player.  He was about to become the next Penny Hardaway; several great years, then to sink into obscurity and role player status.  He may have been a little hasty; the silent killer of the game last night and savior turned out to be Mr. Bryant, defendant.  After the Bucks had convinced themselves that they were about to beat the unbeatable foe, Kobe stuck a dagger in their heart and twisted it a couple times for good measure.  I can't imagine how the Bucks felt after this loss; they lead almost the entire game and then blew it in the last couple of minutes.  I guess what I'm trying to say is I think everybody has reported the news of Kobe's death prematurely.  Besides a lack of first step speed and conditioning, he seems to be the same player that's won 3 championships in the last 4 years.

Moodsquad brought up an interesting fact.  Of the head coaches in basketball, only 2 of them have ever won a championship!  Can you believe that?  Only Popovich of the Spurs and the Zen master Phil Jackson have won it all.  I know basketball is full of dynasties, and that Phil has been the coach of 9 of the last 13 championships, but that's a bad situation for the league to be in.  What are these coaches supposed to say?  Ummm...maybe this year it'll be different?  At least we're consistent...we always lose the big one?  I know the story is always about how the Yankees dominate the sport of baseball, but they haven't won a championship in 3 years.  There have been a whole bunch of teams in the last 14 years that have won the World Series.  This could be the reason that basketball has been losing ratings lately...you really DO know who's going to win it every year.  Hopefully the influx of the new guys, Carmelo Anthony and LeBron James can help it because despite all the rape charges, drug charges, egos and gangster references, I really do love this game!

The Matrix finale has been released today and I can honestly say I really don't care.  I mean, I will see it.  In fact, I've already made plans to see it this weekend, but it could have been Brother Bear for all I care.  The last movie was such sound and fury signifiying nothing that I can hardly work up the energy to care about the conclusion.  It's usually the case that sequels are inferior to the originals; usually the movie makers take the easy way out and make the exact same movie over again with more explosions.  I guess I really shouldn't have expected more out of the Matrix, but the first one was such a breath of fresh air and such fun that I expected they might be able to continue the ride.  Oh well, at least Return of the King is coming out; that's one series of movies I have yet to be disappointed in.  Lord of the Rings has been much more entertaining than the actual books they're based on.  Maybe for you Tolkein purists it's not as good, but I am very happy to do with less about detailed descriptions of their dinners and goofy songs as long as it's a compelling story.  So far, I'm compelled.  Compelled to spend 9.50 and sit through a 3 hour movie to see what happens.  That's about as compelling as it gets.

Only one other incident caught my attention today.  I was listening to Dennis Prager, my favorite radio talk show host, and he was once again bashing television.  He specifically brought up that popular show, 8 Simple Rules for Dating my Teenage Daughter(Good god, is there a more unweildy, stupid title out there?) and he was disappointed in how they resolved the death of the star, Jack Tripper...I mean, John Ritter.  He says that his death was incorporated into the show and that the family managed to get over the loss in 22 minutes.  Dennis was not happy about how they dealt with a complex and powerful issue in the span of an episode and thinks it's not good for society to see and think that's how it works.  Personally, I think he's putting far too much into the influence of the show.  I'm never a fan of comedies trying to have a "very special episode" and deal with serious issues because that's not what we watch a comedy for.  We watch it simply for escapism; we want to laugh and forget about all the terrible things going on in the world and maybe even our lives.  It reminds me of that old 40's movie, Sullivan's Travels; a rather moving story about an idealistic Hollywood director that's famous for making comedies but wants to move and influence people.  He decides to do a movie about the pain and suffering going on during the depression and be taken seriously as an artist.  He finally decides at the end that people suffering don't want to see more of it; they just want a little bit of levity in an all too serious world.  I can understand how you might think the simplification of death in a comedy can bring false expectations to society, but why stop there?  Why not the simplification of romance movies where people find their perfect mates and live happily ever after?  Or how about the fact that the good guys usually win in t.v. shows and movies without ever having to compromise their morals?  Aren't these just as ridiculous as what was done in 8 Rules?  I like to think that people have a brain and can separate reality from fiction, and for those who can't, they've got bigger problems than a t.v. show.  Besides, that problem is hardly new; Cervantes wrote a whole epic about a guy who had problems with accepting reality, Don Quixote.  Sure, maybe much of televsion programming is inferior in quality and coarse in nature, but they explore the exact same concepts as Shakespeare or Moliere.  Nobody worrys when a person reads Romeo and Juliet that they will get dangerous ideas on love and death.  Why is that?  Probably because if you're going out of your way to read it, you probably have a brain.  It sounds to me like prejudice, really.  It's an assumption that people who watch t.v. are morally and intellectually inferior to those who appreciate the classics and the arts.  I don't know about you, but I understand Hitler was a very cultured guy with a very deep appreciation for art.