Update on Walker

Hi everyone,

Here is the lastest as of 11:30pm yesterday, June 17, 2008. Javon Walker was released from the hospital in Las Vegas sometime late yesterday afternoon. He returned to California, no details on exactly where in California. He will be checking into a hospital there for further treatment.

As stated 2 days ago, he has sustained some pretty severe injuries. What the police are saying is he was attacked by more than 1 person after attending parties at various nightclubs on the Las Vegas strip. He was robbed of jewelery and over $3,000 cash. They are in the process of trying to identify those who did this.

Again, I say, as do the police, it was not connected to the Denver incident. It was a matter of people seeing an oportunity to victimize someone flashing expensive jewelery. You have to be aware of who you are and where you go. You may not agree with me, but that is my opinion.

On other notes...CONGRATULATIONS to the Boston Celtics. They clearly wanted that game so badly that they took it from the Lakers. I do not say the Lakers lost the game. Instead, I say the Celtics won that games. The clearly played like a team on a mission before the home crowd. I am not upset that the Lakers did not win, but I hope the can see how good they are and where they need to turn it up a notch.

I only hope that Kobe does not get down so much that he ask to be traded. He found that his team does have heart. They played hard and fought all the to the finals. They now know what it feels like to play in the finals. They now know what they must do to win the championship. I think if the Laker management can keep Kobe happy and talk "D Fish" into returning for one more season, they will start the season at full strength. By that I mean they will have Andrew Bynum back on the floor and we can see what they can do with him in the mix. He does make a difference.

Similarites. The last time the Lakers were in the finals it was against the Pistons, I think. They played without their true starting 5 (Karl Malone was injured and the doctor would not release him to play). Had Malone been allowed to play, the Lakers would have had a better chance at winning and I think they would have won. The 2008 finals. The Lakers were without what was suppose to be their true starting 5 (Andrew Bynum was injured and could not play). Had Bynum been able to play, the 2008 finals would have had a huge difference. Bynum would have brought a more physical game to the Celtics. They would have had to play the Lakers differently. They European players on the Lakers play basketball the way it was played 20 and 30 years ago. It was a much nicer game back then. Not as rough as today's game. Rule changes have allowed for allot of things the were not allowed back then. Back then (and in Europe today) basketball was a non-contact sport. It is a full contact sport, today. I hope Kobe takes it upon himself to help teach the Lakers European player how to be more physical and not be afraid to bang with players bigger than themselves. Several times, in last nights game, as the ABC announcers (and Dwayne Wade gave the championship to the Celtics at halftime and at the start of the 3rd quarter, because they were up 28 points) I saw Kobe motioning to his teammates Sasha Vujacic and Pau Gasol to move up on the man and not give him so much room on defense. Had they done that, it would have changed the game. The Lakers proved, in each of the games against the Celtics, that they could come back from being down by 20 or more points in a matter on a few minutes. So, that is why I never gave up on them. They just had players who were so overwhelmed by the moment that they seemed to not trust that they could play a harder game, last night.

Lakers, keep your heads up. You were fantastic this season. You proved why you were the best in the west.

Celtics, congrats to a great championship.

Golf. Tiger Woods has to have surgery, again. The doctor has to repair a stress fracture in his left knee. He fractured it a couple of weeks before the U.S. Open, which means he was played 91 holes on that fractured knee. This brings an end to his 2008 season. Some are saying he will retire. I hope not. I do not think he will. He is saying, on his website, http://www.tigerwoods.com/, that he will need extra time to rehab a double fracture on his left tibia, as well. That tells me he is planning to return to golf. He is, truly, the best to play that game, but his injuries also show how tough it is to do what Jack Nicklaus and other have done in the game, which makes what Tiger has done and is doing all the more great. Even Jack Nicklaus says Tiger is going to surpass him in total Major wins. If any one can eclipse them, Tiger can.

Until next time, you don't have to agree with me, but I am right.

Raiderman, later!