Some Hate for the Los Angeles L-bows' Tactics

The Los Angeles Lakers need to be made an example of right now. Not to take away from Kobe's amazing ability, but the Lakers have been getting away with playing dirty for a long time in the playoffs. From Kwame Brown standing over an opponent like he just won the heavyweight title a few years ago to the dirty, cheap elbows being thrown in games one and two of the Lakers-Rockets series in this year's playoffs, the Lakers are indeed showing that they have no class even though Kobe Bryant seems to think like he is the only person in the NBA who has any. No one is buying it, Kobe, except for all of the yellow Kool-Aid drinkers out there.

There have always been a number of reasons to dislike the Lakers in my opinion: the media and the NBA's own referees have always doted on them, Kobe Bryant is arrogant, their fans are typically (but not always) obnoxiously cocky, Kobe Bryant is a narcissist, they are symbolic of that ever-prevalent "people from southern California are better than everyone else" myth, they are historically, to the chagrin of fans of other Western Conference teams, very good, and Kobe Bryant is full of himself. It is safe to say, after watching the first two games of the Lakers-Rockets series, that the Los Angeles Lakers are a dirty team as well.

Take Laker forward Sasha Vujacic's splitting open the head of Shane Battier in game one for example. Vujacic tipped a loose ball to Kobe Bryant and made sure to follow through and smack Battier right in the eye. Vujacic had already made contact with the ball before he decided to follow through. Battier, whose face was splattered with blood after being cut open, started protesting to the referees, bewildered that no foul had been called. Ron Artest, who is definitely loco, got in Kobe Bryant's face in the fourth quarter of game two because Kobe threw an elbow in the vicinity of Artest's neck while they were jockeying for position under the hoop. Artest's explanation for his actions was that he tried to talk to the referees about Kobe throwing the elbows and decided that he would talk to the culprit himself since the refs wouldn't do anything about it.

Crazy or not, Artest is not the only one in recent years to accuse Kobe of being dirty and express frustration toward the refs' looking the other way. Raja Bell took matters into his own hands, basically DDTing Kobe after a few frustrating games. Kobe got up, dusted himself off, and did his patented arrogant finger wagging. Then, in a post game press conference, he spoke in the most condescending manner regarding Raja Bell.

Derek Fisher, whom I thought to be a class act, decided to play dirty in game two as well and was assessed a flagrant 2 for intentionally trying to run through a Luis Scola screen.

There are some big problems with the way the NBA doesn't crack down on the Lakers. Kobe Bryant, after the game yesterday, said, "It's basketball!" Wrong! It is Phil Jackson, "get my players to take some sneaky cheapshots in order to get into the heads of the opposing team" basketball. That has always been Jackson's M.O. Sadly, it is not respectable. Kobe gets to play however he wants, and the NBA and its referees are eating out of his hand. They are afraid to hold Kobe Bryant accountable because he might point his majestic finger in their faces or wag it in disapproval.


Equally annoying to me is the way that the yellow Kool-Aid drinkers stand by everything that the Lakers do. They can do no wrong. It is funny to them the Battier got his face busted open. It is funny that Derek Fisher leveled Luis Scola ON PURPOSE. People who appreciate the game of basketball should view the game objectively when it comes to foul play. As a bandwagon Bulls fan in high school, I really started disliking them when they added Dennis Rodman to their roster. As a Broncos fan, I loathed Bill Romonowski. When are the Laker fans going to stop applauding stupidity and poor sportsmanship. I wouldn't feel happy about my team winning after conducting themselves in such a vicious manner.

My Thoughts on the State of the Broncos

So, after being enthusiastically thrilled to see Pat Bowlen finally cut Mike Shanahan loose, the last couple weeks have been a disappointment to me. The new 32-year-old head coach, Josh McDaniels, who hasn't done anything other than be an offensive coordinator under a coaching legend in New England, was interested in making a multiple-team trade, dealing Jay Cutler to Tampa Bay and receiving quarterback Matt Cassell. The Kansas City Chiefs ended up trading for Cassell, and the Broncos never made the trade. Situation over, right? Not by a long shot.

Jay Cutler, rightfully feeling a little snubbed by the brand new coach wanting to bring in his own guy (Cassell had a breakout season in 2008 with McDaniels as his offensive coordinator), said that he was upset about it. Then, Cutler went on to say that he understood how the NFL is a business, and the players are, basically, pieces of meat. It seemed like a fair reaction for a Pro Bowl quarterback to feel upset, and it appeared that Cutler had a good perspective about how players are tossed around in this league. Cutler has made things worse himself the past few weeks, and he can no longer blame the new head coach, in my opinion.

The team wanted to have a sit-down with Cutler right away to try to bury the hatchet, but Cutler postponed it, showing that he wanted to mope some more. Cutler also put his house on the market, making it clear that he intends to be living somewhere other than Denver in the near future. Cutler has skipped the first team meeting as well as a workout. He is now demanding a trade. These actions communicate that Cutler refuses to reconcile with his team and new head coach, and it also shows that he truly does not understand the way that the "business" side of the NFL works.

Many people in Denver and across Bronco Country are probably saying that they saw this coming when Shanahan was fired. Hindsight is 20/20, and no one could have seen this coming. I have heard about coaches and their quarterbacks not getting along--ever hear of John Elway and Dan Reeves? However, Josh McDaniels is like the quarterback in this situation; his confidence, worship, or praise that he throws at his individual players are his proverbial passes. Jay Cutler is the disgruntled, arrogant wide receiver who is not happy with how often he is getting the ball and is now throwing a hissy fit, demanding a trade. This is not typical behavior from a quarterback.

In Cutler's defense, I think he got a bad deal with the Bronco's brand new coach coming in and, more or less, communicating that he would rather have Cassell, a potential one-hit-wonder, over Cutler, whose skills seem to be improving each year. It definitely shows a lack of respect when a new boss comes into any workplace and shows little sensitivity to the people who have established themselves as an ever-important cog in the wheel. I heard somebody try to spin McDaniels' desire to acquire Cassell as the new coach's way of saying, "There is nobody who is untradeable on this team." It is a potential technique to motivate the players. However, Josh McDaniels, this totally backfired on you, didn't it. That stunt might work if you are Bill Parcells, Bill Belichick, or Bill Cowher. In case you haven't checked, your name isn't Bill, and you haven't won a single game as a head coach. Celebrity football players like Jay Cutler aren't going to respect a 32-year-old rookie head coach coming in and trying to shake things up in such a manner.

Additionally, I think the trade would have been awful. I would much rather have Jay Cutler and his skill set over Matt Cassell's. To me, this just looks like another case of some guy getting a new job and trying to take his own guys with him. Conveniently, McDaniels thought that he could get Cassell since he was just a temp for the injured Tom Brady. No offense to Matt Cassell, but time is the best assessor of super-stardom. McDaniels should have considered these points before he did what he did. He should have also known that Cutler, who can't even take Philip Rivers talking trash about him, would consider this as a personal affront and as a slap in the face. They should have either pulled the trigger on the trade, or they should have never mentioned it. Now, McDaniels and the Denver Bronco organization can do nothing but claim that they wanted Jay Cutler all along because their is no longer anyone else available who comes close to Cutler as far as talent is concerned.

But talent will only get you so far. Cutler is missing a couple of things. Killer instinct is one, and the other, as evidenced by Cutler's childish reaction, is maturity. When I look at all of the good quarterbacks in the NFL, there is always a level of maturity and an understanding that being mature is a prerequisite to leading an NFL team as its quarterback. They have to be able to handle adversity. When things go wrong, the quarterback is the first person to be blamed. The quarterback is often heavily scrutinized. What does the current situation reveal about Cutler's ability to be scrutinized and handle adversity? He thinks no one has a right to criticize him, and he obviously cannot bounce back from difficulty or unfortunate circumstances. It seems like someone with maturity would be pretty motivated to go out and show his new boss that he was wrong about him, not mope around, throw a pity party, and blame it on no one wanting him as Jay Cutler has done.

Cutler thinks being lauded by people in the media for his rocket arm and one Pro Bowl season should make him immune to facing any scrutiny. Here are some reasons why Cutler deserves every bit of scrutiny that he faces. First, as I mentioned before, Cutler does not have the killer instinct. All Denver needed to do last season was win one of their last three games to clinch the division. Instead, they lost the last three games, finished 8-8, and missed the playoffs. People are quick to defend Cutler by saying that the defense was to blame. There is a lot of truth to that; however, a quarterback who doesn't deserve to be scrutinized would have the drive and killer instinct to put at least one of those three teams away (especially Buffalo--come on!). Next, Cutler does have a good arm and some great scrambling tendencies. He is fun to watch and he did deserve to be in the Pro Bowl. He was still inconsistent this past season, and he did throw the ball an inordinant amount of times due to all of the injuries in the backfield. Finally, Jay Cutler's record as the starting quarterback for the Denver Broncos is a losing one. The ego should go out the door right there.

Jay Cutler needs to grow up. His present attitude shows that he certainly lacks the ability to bounce back from adverse situations. Just because he was christened the franchise quarterback doesn't give him a free pass from all of the challenges that NFL quarterbacks face. I am no Denver Broncos Kool Aid drinker; I am highly critical of players, coaches, and attitudes that are bad for the team. If Cutler would have the maturity to bounce back from this and move on, I would be more than happy. Like I said, he is the best man for the job. The problem is that he needs to start acting like a man, not mimicking the cool kid in junior high who gets an attitude because someone else is getting more attention than him.