Los Angeles is beyond a doubt a pro basketball town. In St. Louis, almost everyone (guys and girls) are Cardinals fans and can at least talk at some length about the sport, the team and their favorite players.
For Los Angeles, that's the Lakers. Though there is this incredible basketball player that everyone is excited about and he's not a Laker. That would be Blake Griffin, of the LA Clippers.
The big talk of the week was the Slam Dunk Contest, which Blake Griffin would be competing in. I was unable to watch much of the contest but this year the contestants did not disappoint. It is amazing the talent that these players have.
Blake Griffin won, with his final dunk involving him leaping over a car and slamming the ball into the net. I'm still baffled and I've watched it over and over again (thanks sportscenter!). See the video here, courtesy of ESPN.com.
The NBA All Star game is tonight. The Lakers have Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol starting for the West, and the Clippers have Blake Griffin. Nice representation for the LA area. Should be an interesting game to watch (at least, WAY more interesting than that joke of a game called the NFL Pro Bowl). Will have some post-game comments after the game tonight.
In other sports news, the Rams released O.J. Atogwe in a somewhat odd move at a first glance. Otogwe was due a 8 million dollar roster bonus on Monday. Ah-ha! In an effort to not have to pay that bonus, the Rams opted to drop him, in the hopes that they will be able to re-sign him before the season (which is highly likely). I hope they do re-sign him. The Rams have enough issues that need to be addressed (mainly on offense - wide receiver needed for Bradford ASAP!), replacing Otogwe does not need to be one of them.
In hockey news, the St. Louis Blues made some bold moves on Friday in order to try and help salvage a lackluster season. They traded defensemen Erik Johnson, Eric Brewer and forward Jay McClement, and in return picked up forward Chris Stewart and defensemen Kevin Shattenkirk (is that his real name, or his Star Trek name?).
As Johnson was the Blues #1 pick in 2006, this move has some scratching their heads. However, Johnson has been a bit of a disappointment. He was not the consistent player the Blues had hoped for.
If there was any worry about how this trade may impact the team, the Blues came out last night and in stunning fashion killed the Ducks in a 9-3 win. New forward Chris Stewart scored 2 Power Play goals, and Shattenkirk looked sharp and earned his first assist on a Power Play.
Erik who? Though it's early, it appears that this move was an excellent choice by the Blues. They need to put themselves in the position to win more games and if Johnson wasn't fitting the bill, time to get some new blood on the team. Hope this means good things for the Blues in the future. They are dead last in their division right now, so it would take a lot of things to happen for them to hope to make the playoffs.
And now, to prepare for the NBA All Star Game. Go West!
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