Behind a staggering performance from Lamar Odom, the Lakers brought the Nuggets to the brink of elimination with the former’s 103-94 victory in Game 5 of the Western Conference finals last night, a result at least one unidentified member of the losing side figures was influenced by Phil Jackson’s complaints about the officiating in Game 4. The Denver Post’s Dave Krieger while noting such conspiracy theories, is more fixated on Hollywood, or to be specific, his claim that “the Western Conference finals are now the template for the modern sports movie.”
The Lakers have played in the NBA Finals 29 times. The Nuggets never have. If you were trying to create an arrogant favorite and a plucky underdog, you couldn’t do much better.
How arrogant are the Lakers? Thanks for asking.
So arrogant that they feel free to change the lyrics of the national anthem.
Now, fans cheer different parts of the anthem for partisan reasons all over. In Baltimore, they cheer the “Oh” in “Oh, say” because of the Orioles. In Houston, they cheer the rockets’ red glare because of the Rockets. But in Los Angeles on Wednesday night, singer and actor Tyrese Gibson changed “our flag was still there” to “our Lakers were still there.”
I think we can all agree that’s just not right. Up the road, on the sound stages of Hollywood, such arrogance is guaranteed its comeuppance, but not until the last 10 minutes of the movie.
It would appear as though pissing on the flag is something of a new tradition at the Staples Center.
Ok…there were some stupid idiots at the game last night who cheered that asshole Gibson’s decision to change the National Anthem. These are the same idiots that chant “We want Tacos” no matter what the status of the game, as long as the Lakers keep the other team under 100 points. OK…some people are a joke.
But how exactly did the Lakers have anything to do with that? I would bet everything you have that you don’t live in Los Angeles. Probably haven’t even visited. I’m betting you make your assumptions based on what you see on TV like all the rest of the ill-informed out there. Maybe if you spent some time here you’d know it’s nothing like the image that’s put out in the media. All I have to do is look at the faces of the tourists who drop in here expecting to see Paris Hilton walking down the street with her Chihuahua as proof. But as long as the ignorant keep lapping it up Hollywood will keep promoting itself the same way while laughing all the way to the bank.
You have got to be frickin kidding me…. you’re acting like Tyrese and Flea performed the anthem with pro-al Qaeda tattoos on their faces…. you seriously need to lighten up and keep your basketball frustrations separate from your so-called patriotic accusations
No Big DeaL.. Are you guys serious.
Tyrese is an artist did you guys forget?
Tyrese I was at the game I thought the Anthem was amazing and when the crowd went nuts! I was right along with them.
We love you Tyrese I know you were born and raised here in LA and this Laker fever runs through your blood too.
This too shall pass.
This is ludacris. Slow news day or something? The words should not have been changed. I agree. However this is way out there. Have u no shame or better yet ethics? This piece is so childish u should do us all a favor and never write again.
how insane are you? move out of your mom’s basement guy.
Whoever wrote this article must not have heard that the Lakers have distanced themselves from Tyrese Gibson and that this wasn’t planned. In the end so what? It’s just a damn song, this kind of writing blurs the line between patriotism and fascism.
dear new visitors to CSTB,
please feel free to send similar comments to the Denver Post. In the meantime, in all seriousness, I take no offense whatsoever at Mr. Gibson’s form of improvisation — though I do find it curious that an alleged hardcore Laker fan would wear a t-shirt promoting his new movie rather than gold & purple. As for Flea….my objections are musical and aesthetic rather than political. Short of Lee Greenwood covering the Bad Brains, a cameo from Flea is the worst of all possible scenarios. Thank you.
Booth makes some interesting comments. It never ceases to amaze me how ignorant most East Coast types are about Los
Angeles, which is much more violent, scary, dangerous and alienating than anything east of the Mississippi (yes, I include New Jersey). I guess you can blame the tv producers who insist on doing that segment where they zoom in on the ‘celebrities’ like Andy Garcia and *cough* Dyan Cannon every single damn game to make it seem that there’s a celeb on every corner. The place where most regular folks grow up in LA is as far away from Hollywood as the Midwest but you’d never know that from the dumb stereotypes constantly propogated.
yes, except the “East Coast type” who assailed the Lakers for their arrogance is a writer for the Denver Post.
I
I wasn’t referring to the Denver writer, I was reponding to the first comment by Booth. Since I live on the East Coast I was giving my opinion based on what I’ve seen and heard out here; I’ve never been to Denver.