My pics from the Magic's victory over the LeBrons

The TNT Crew: EJ, Kenny, and Sir Charles

Courtside view from press seating

Standing on the court

Center Court

Everyone swarmed the TNT crew after the Magic's big win

Doug Collins and Marv Albert

SHAQ! Talking to the CEO of LeBron James Enterprises

TIM TEBOW!!!!

Ewing schooling Dwight Howard on low post moves

Superman shooting free throws

"Smile too much my ass!"

Dwight Howard & Rashard Lewis

LeBron with Craig Sager. King James DID NOT want to do this interview

You can see here, Craig Sager is a pretty big guy

The most action JJ Redick saw all night

TEBOW'S NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RING!!!

JESUS CHRIST

EJ talking to the Magic owner after the win

Everyone celebrating after the win. I joined them after taking this.

MAGIC WIN!!! CONFETTI RAINS!!!

Eldrick Tiger Woods

Reggie Miller with Marv Albert

Barkley with one of his crazy rabid fans

Ernie Johnson with Dwight Howard and the Eastern Conf Championship trophy

Dwight Howard DOMINATED with 40 points and 14 rebounds

Orlando Head Coach Stan Van Gundy

"HA HA HA, Oh Stan you're such a funny little man."

SUPERMAN PREVAILS!!! LEBRON WHO?!?!

The Orlando Magic are going to the NBA Finals!!! Dwight Howard lead the way with 40 points and 14 boards. He was an absolute MONSTER. Superman and Co really kicked ass. Pictures from the game to be posted soon!

See you in Orlando!

Facing elimination, King James couldn't wait to put up a triple double and help force a game 6 in Orlando. He finally got some help from Mo Williams who caught fire with 24 points. That's the first time Williams has went over 20 this series. Big win for the LeBrons BUT I still think Saturday night the Magic will close them out, no problem. In fact, the LeBrons will get their asses kicked all over the court and right back to Cleveland. Can u imagine being in a nice place like Orlando, losing in the playoffs, then having to return to Cleveland??? Have u ever been to Cleveland? Oh God, its awful. 2 days of sunshine per year. 2 days. Worst. Anyway, I'll be covering game 6 from Orlando. Full blog to come, including my interview with Sir Charles.

Interview with Jameer Nelson

When it comes to my blog, I give full access. I caught up with All-Star guard Jameer Nelson before Orlando's big game against Cleveland. Here's the highlights of my interview:

Me: With all the talk of Kobe vs LeBron, Kobe vs LeBron, when you guys are playing the Nuggets in the Finals maybe Kobe can play LeBron 1 on 1 at halftime. Whats your take on that?

JN: I mean... at the end of the day everyone has to lace them up and play the game. One thing is, I know that we're good enough to beat Cleveland. We're working towards that. One thing we have to do is block out all the media and all the expectations for the other teams that everybody else has.

Me: How are you looking as far as your recovery?

JN: Everything is good. I'm looking forward to getting back out there next season, preseason, coming back this summer and trying to get my workouts in. I'm really shooting for the preseason.

Me: Lakers or Nuggets?

JN: No prediction. I just predict that we will be in the Finals. No matter who it is, I know that we'll match up fine with them. We'll do a great job, and win the championship.

Me: Wow... Well thanks for talking to me and good luck tonight, and with your recovery.

JN: Thank you, I appreciate it.

(then we did that cool handshake thing)

WITNESS

Just like LeBron's Nike campaign says, we are all witnesses. Now I am one of them. This guy is unbelievable. I just watched him score 41 points and 44 points back to back. Not to mention he leads his team in rebounds, assists, and steals EVERY single game. Last night, he was sent to the line down 2 with almost no time on the clock. The crowd at Amway Arena was deafening to the point that I thought King James would miss at least one of them. Nope. He calmly sank them both to send the game to OT. In the final minute of OT he had a left-handed scoop shot that he made look easy, 2 more free throws, then hit an are-you-freaking-kidding-me 3 pointer as he was falling out of bounds. His 40 ft prayer as time expired barely missed! The best part was, everyone in the arena was shocked he didn't make it! Now that I am truly a witness I see there is no debate when it comes to Kobe v LeBron. Its LeBron James. We are just witnesses.

...with all that said the Magic won both games and are up 3-1!!!!! Kobe v LeBron will have to wait. In fact... while the Nuggets and Magic play each other in the Finals, maybe Kobe can play LeBron 1 on 1 at halftime. (BAM! Feel that Kobe?! Right in the gut!) Without further ado, here are the highlights from games 3 and 4. Once again I was there with full access:

Part I

Notables I saw there include: Shaquille, Tiger Woods, Michael Wilbon, Jon Barry, Kenny Smith, Barkley, Reggie Miller, Ray Lewis, Vince Carter, Carlos Boozer, Usher, Chris Brown, Lil Bow Wow, Chris Tucker, Doug Collins, Marv Albert, and Craig Sager's pink suit.

JJ Redick admitting he has "the shortest arms in the league, like a T-Rex." and also noticing he has braces.

LeBron dropping an N-bomb in front of lots and lots of media and everyone pretending like they didn't hear it... even though they did.

Charles Barkley is 6 feet 5 inches tall, and 6 feet 5 inches wide.

Craig Sager gets told, "hey I like your suit" so many times a night that it wouldn't surprise me to see him walk onto the court drunk and completely naked as he slurred, "ya like my f*cking suit now?!"

The refs try to help out LeBron every chance they get. LeBron doesn't need their help at all.

The Magic have great camaraderie and are always joking with each other in the locker room.

The Cavs just sit around and give angry stares at LeBron as he gives interviews in the locker room.

The Magic live and die by the 3.

The Cavs live and die by whether or not the Magic are living or dying by the 3.

I watched Dwight Howard acquire 11 fouls and 2 technicals. It should have been 2 fouls and 0 technicals.

LeBron is clutch.

The refs are sh!t.

Part II coming soon!

PLAYOFF FEVER

Who said the NBA was dead?! People though Kobe and LeBron would walk to the title. Well Orlando is up 2-1 to the LeBrons. Denver's not laying down either down 2-1 to the Lakers with game 4 at home. These playoffs have been faaaaaaaaantastic. From Celtics/Bulls to LeBron's shot at the buzzer, the NBA is on fire. Including last night's star studded game in Orlando. I was there along with Tiger Woods, Dwayne Wade, Usher, Chris Tucker, Charles Barkley, etc. After game 4 in Orlando Tuesday night I will give a FULL report on both games 3 and 4.

KING JAMES

UNBELE!!! ABSOLUTELY AMAZING! RIDICULOUS! JUST STUPID! Words can't describe what LeBron did tonight. Down 2 points with 1.o seconds on the clock, King James hit the biggest fade-away 3 pointer to win the game. I thought there was no way the Cavs could get a good shot off. They didn't. It was a catch, jump, shoot, fade-away from way behind the arc that hit back rim then went right through the net. Absolutely amazing. You are King James and we are not worthy. You are the best player in the league. You can't be stopped. You are the MVP and there's nothing anyone can do about it. I can't wait for Sunday in Orlando. I will be there press pass and all to cover the game. He is great. We are all witnesses.

TOUGH LOSS KOBE!

Denver comes through HUUUUUGE in Game 2 to steal one on the road! Now they're heading back to Denver where, they have a great home court advantage with the series tied 1-1. Biggest best victory! Carmelo had another huge game putting up 34 and the Nuggets played fantastic defense all game long. The refs were pretty bad most of the game but then in the 4th they put their whistles away and let 'em play. Including when Kenyon Martin elbowed Pau Gasol into the front row as he screamed, "take that you damn Spanaird!" The Denver Nuggets are a force to be reckoned with. They really played their asses off tonight and if they keep it up they'll be heading back to LA up 3-1. Hey Coach Karl, when your best player (Melo) makes 3 straight shots and you go up 8 points in the 4th quarter, you DO NOT sit him on the bench and allow LA to make a run! UNDERSTAND?! You don't pull someone when they're on FIRE! GOT IT! As a coach you never wanna do anything that makes the other coach go, "whew! good thing their coach is a moron, I would have left Melo in all game." Other than that, pheeeeenomenal win on the road. A big step towards NOT KOBE winning a title!

MAGIC SHOCK CAVS!!!

Amazing victory for the Magic on the road. Dwight Howard played like the Superman that he is with 30 points (almost ALL dunks) and 13 boards. Rashard Lewis and Turkoglu came through in the clutch with some amazing shooting in the 4th quarter. The Magic really were getting their asses kicked all game. Down 15 at halftime and still trailing in the 4th, they kept their heads and pulled off a shocking upset on the road. LeBron had 49 points on 20-30 from the field and was completely UNSTOPPABLE! He has officially entered the JORDAN ZONE. This is a zone where there's not a person on the planet who could stop you and you can do whatever the hell you want. 49 points!!! He wasn't even hogging the ball or anything, it was completely in the flow of the game! Now on defense the refs let him get away with absolute murder. The refs also gave Dwight Howard 4 terrible fouls and let King James rape and pillage at will. But in the end it didn't matter. The Magic and their little coach and big time shooting prevailed. Unbele win Orlando.

CHOKES!!!

Well the Denver Nuggets couldn't wait to choke away game 1 last night in LA. They lead pretty much the whole game and then let it slip away. Here's how it happened, Carmelo Anthony was on FIRE with 30 points on 11-15 from the field and 4-4 from 3pt range with 8 minutes to go in the 3rd quarter!!! He was on pace for 60 points! Then his teammates decided to stop passing him the ball and hoist up fadeaway jumpers. Kenyon Martin, Chris "Bird Man" Andersen, and Anthony "why am I in the game?" Carter kept chucking and chucking. It was painful to watch. Then just to make sure Carmelo didn't score, his coach George Karl decided to rest him at the end of the 3rd quarter and the start of the 4th. After entering the game in the 4th he continued to light it up with 9 clutch points, finishing with 39 points for the game. When your best player is en fuego, YOU GIVE HIM THE DAMN BALL!!! You don't sit him. You don't clang fall-away difficult shots off the back rim. He was unstoppable, LA had no answer for him, and Denver stopped giving him the ball. Then Anthony Carter came in the game and missed a couple shots (badly) and threw an inbounds pass right to the Lakers which ended the game in true choke fashion. Kobe finished with 40 points. He couldn't wait to. The Lakers are up 1-0 and now have a 79% chance of advancing to the finals. Dammit.

NBA Conference Finals Preview!!!

Only 4 teams left!!! I'll bet half of you can't even name them. Go ahead... try, I'll wait... you wastes. Its Denver, LA, Orlando, and the LeBrons. Guess who I want to win?! NOT Kobe. Thats all that matters. Thats all I care about. I don't care who wins, just as long as its not him. The great thing is I don't think the Lakers will beat Denver. Denver is young, athletic, can score, and is very pissed off. All the time. They're big pissed off tattooed individuals and they can't be stopped. Chauncey Billups at the point will provide the leadership and scoring. Melo will chip in for 25 a night, and K-Mart and the rest will send Kobe & Co packing. I guarantee at least 3 flagrant fouls, 2 of which will be throwing Kobe to the floor. How great is it that he has to play in Denver, where the fans HATE him. Its not his fault he was accused of rape... oh wait it is. You can read all about it here in the police report. Please read it; it is quite amazing. He throws Shaq under the bus and everything.

http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/0924041kobea1.html

As for the Eastern Conference, the Magic are gonna get their asses kicked up and down the court by the LeBrons. End of story.

Two game 7 snoozers

To the surprise of absolutely no one, the Lakers close out the Rockets in 7 games to advance to the Western Conference Finals where the Denver Nuggets await. To the surprise of probably a lot of people, the Magic took down Boston in game 7 at the Garden to advance in the East where the Cleveland LeBron's await. The Lakers are so much better than the Rockets, they should be ashamed they let the series go 7 games, especially with T-Mac and Yao out with injuries and the refs giving the Lakers almost every call. But they were the better team, so was Orlando. Although you gotta give Boston credit, they played their asses off this postseason. Without Garnett they could have just folded but they gave it ALL they had, but in the end they just didn't have enough left in the tank. A conference finals preview to come!

Tonight I watched a basketball team play 5 on 2 in the playoffs of a rec league. The team with 5 agreed to play and to not accept the forfeit. I guess they figured; why not? By the middle of the first half the team with 5 was so embarrassed to be down two points that they pretty much had already lost. In the end the team with 2 people (TWO FRICKEN PEOPLE!!!) won the game by about 20. (TWO FRICKEN PEOPLE!!! ON INBOUND PLAYS YOU ONLY HAVE TO GUARD ONE PERSON!!! 5 COVERING ONE!!! IDIOTS! MORONS! SCHMUCKS!!! YOU'RE THE WORST!!!) Anyway, it was quite sad, but its their fault. When a team with 2 challenges you, you do two things: A. You don't let 2 on 5 beat you & B. You take the forfeit!!! Playing 5 on 2 is like arm wrestling a girl!!! You have nothing to gain and EVERYTHING to lose!

In this same rec league, the Titans had an EEEEENORMOUS clutch (I can't emphasize clutch enough) victory to advance to play the Sharks (the team that won with 2.) Congratulations to all of us. Gentlemen we are no longer the Clowns, now we can truly be called TITANS.

As most of you know, I'm a complete degenerate gambler. I fly to Las Vegas every 4 months or so and gamble enough to where they comp my whole trip. I haven't had to pay for anything in Vegas for over 3 years. I get more excited winning $50 than I do earning $10,000 at my job (well, when I had a job.) All of you can be like me and never work another day in your life by betting, no wait... investing your money on these two sure things:

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers to win less than 6.5 games

The Clemson Tigers to not win the ACC

This isn't even gambling, its something I like to call FREE MONEY. Join the movement.

Speaking of gambling, here's my picks for today's Preakness Stakes at Pimlico:

Friesian Fire #5 horse to win at 6-1 odds
Trifecta: 5, 1, 13

Place your bets!

Game 6 Orlando/Boston

I was at Celtics/Magic in person with a press pass, in the locker rooms, etc. Here are the highlights:

Walking into the arena, seeing a very scrawny old man in a funny looking yellow suit right out of Dumb and Dumber... then realizing its Dick Bavetta.
Not knowing where members of the media are supposed to go, then following a 400lb fat man right to the media entrance and media buffet. (reporters; so much lard)
Seeing how massive Dwight Howard is in person.
Seeing how Patrick Ewing is much bigger than Dwight Howard.
Watching Big Baby Davis shoot jumpers for over an hour before tip off along with many of his teammates.
Watching only 3 guys on the Magic even warm up at all.
Gawking after the starting lineups were announced, when the Magic gave Nick Anderson the mic and had him scream "LETS GET HYPE ORLANDO, CMOOOOON!" The same Nick Anderson who choked away their championship dreams in the 90's when he clanged 4 straight free throws and then had to see a sports psychologist... lets get hype orlando.
Staring in amazement as Perkins gets the ball, travels BAD and lays it in as the whistle blows, all assume travel but instead, AND 1! Dick Bavetta.
Standing next to Rondo in the locker room and realizing he IS ONLY 6'1 170lbs, then watching him grab 16 rebounds among giants.
Joking with a guy on the court before the game about how he didnt want the free Magic shirt that was provided, then having him ask me if I know who he is, me saying no, then him promptly telling me he OWNS the Celtics and flashed me his championship ring, WHOOPS!
Having me tell this same ass-clown after the game in the locker room, "tough loss buddy."
Kevin Garnett is 6 feet 15 inches tall.
Seeing Vince Carter front row in the RAYS hat, then asking him if he's a fan and him saying, "oh yeah."
Seeing Vince Carter front row and watching ALL the groupies/hookers make advances toward him.
Watching Dwight Howard get fouled almost every single play.
Watching Dwight Howard miss almost every single free throw.
The Celtics play GREAT defense despite being smaller at every position.
Brian Scalabrine is a big, fat, pasty white boy who the Magic don't bother to cover and he makes them pay!
JJ Redick, who is pushing 6ft 5, finishes 0-7 with 2 points despite having a pair of twin blondes roaming the locker room with passes that say REDICK on them.
Stan Van Gundy is 5ft 4 250lbs of pure whiny bickering.
And finally, after the game most guys shower and wear towels around the locker room... not Kenrick Perkins. Couldn't wait to be naked. WOOOOORST.