By Michael Elliott
Paragraph Parade- Happy today all! Let’s have some fun with this column. 🙂 It is so very pleasurable to write and opine about various subjects so I thought we would do so in paragraphs. It is a gorgeous morning outside my window as the sun is just now yawning and stretching and beginning to beam over our area to bestow another fantastic day upon our beloved Central Coast. S-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o, “we’re off to see the wizard…”
Kobe delivered. He went out in style. Dropped sixty on the listless Utah Jazz in the final game of his illustrious career. Twenty minutes before the game the Jazz learned that they had missed the playoffs. Showing no mercy, as was Bryant’s modus operandi throughout his career, Kobe showed a flair for the dramatic at the end of the game as he rained two huge threes to erase the Laker deficit and sank two free throws with four seconds left to seal the 101-96 victory. One of the fiercest competitors to ever suit up has now left the building. On his terms.
I rarely, if at all, watch National Hockey League regular season games. Ain’t my thing. But I must say that playoff hockey is the “sh*t” y’all! (That word is shot, by the way). Whenever those hockey dudes start a rush towards the opposition and bust that puck past the goalie and into the net and the siren goes off it is quite a scene! Tune in as the NHL playoffs progress and catch some of that action. Speaking of, it’s quite a rush.
It was great to see Rafael Nadal win his first significant tennis tournament in quite some time as he captured the Monte Carlo Masters title. Rafa has been an afterthought in recent years on the tennis scene, reason being twofold: injuries and utter dominance by Novak Djokovic. Nadal is a clay court specialist so he was quite at home in Monte Carlo. Hope here is that Nadal, the most-crowned champion at the red-clay French Open, is rounding into form as that ATP event is just around the corner. Djokovic needs some competition. “Adelante. No te detengas Rafa!” (I have no idea what I just said.)
The Major League Baseball season is in its infancy but some story lines are already starting to emerge. The San Francisco Giants versus the Los Angeles Dodgers is going to be a real knock-down, drag-out affair! They have already met seven times and SF leads 4-3. Staying in the National League, the Chicago Cubs are showing that all of the preseason hype was not for naught. But their road to capturing the league crown will be severely tested by the Washington Nationals. New Nats manager Dusty Baker is just the right skipper to meld together the talents and diverse personalities of a team on the brink of breaking out.
You can flip a coin over in the American League! The ballyhooed Blue Jays from Toronto are under-performing, manager Robin Ventura (Arroyo Grande resident) has his Chicago White Sox over-performing, the Los Angeles Angels are languishing and the heralded Houston Astros are in last place in their division. It’s a pick ‘em.
Let’s round this column out with roundball speak. The National Basketball Association playoffs are underway. One word: Warriors. Two words: Spurs, Thunder. Okay, Golden State has already been anointed the title. I get it. Most regular season victories in the history of the game. Super Steph Curry. Love his game…and him! But it says here that there is a crack in their facade. The modus vivendi of the rest of the league is compelling. And it is believed that the tested, trusted San Antonio Spurs and the two-headed (Kevin Durant & Russell Westbrook) ball-beast Oklahoma City Thunder have chances against Golden State. Not saying the champs will be dethroned, just stating the possibility. Happy Day all!
Michael Elliott can be reached at .