Where Does Phil Jackson Rank?

Much to my chagrin, the Los Angeles Lakers are NBA champions. They won the title beating Orlando handily to take the series in 5 games. Actually, Orlando gift-wrapped this series and handed it to the Lakers as they should have won Game 2 and 4 and then decided to leave their game on the court when up by nine in Game 5. Blame it on playoff inexperience or something else, but the bottom line is Los Angeles hoists the trophy.
The win means Lakers coach Phil Jackson has now won 10 championships. Six with Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls and now four with the Lakers. It only asks the question if Phil Jackson is the greatest coach in the history of sports. One can't deny the amount of championships he has on his resume and the win-loss record he has compiled. He arguably might be the best we have ever seen. Who has been better?

I'm not a big Kobe Bryant fan and I never have been. As I've said many times, he may be number one on my list of most despised athletes. The guy is a great basketball player, but his negatives in my mind far outweigh his positives. It was suggested during last night's game that Kobe can be mentioned in the same breath as Michael Jordan. Are you kidding me????? You can have the Gretzky vs Lemieux argument if you want or the Orr vs Gretzky argument as to who the best player in the NHL has been. You can have the debate about who was the better quarterback--Joe Montana or Tom Brady, but there is no debate when it comes to Jordan and Bryant. Michael Jordan won six NBA titles...he was the main reason why the Bulls won those six titles. He didn't have to go out every night and score 35 points and basically ignore his teammates at key points of the game. As for Bryant, this is his 4th championship, but his 1st as the marquee player as his other three came with him on the heels of Shaquille O'Neal. Kobe is too individualistic while Jordan was a team guy. Jordan never pouted about player moves while Bryant is famous for it. Michael is "the man" and Kobe is still "the toddler". There simply is no argument as to who is the better player....at least not to me.
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After their one day in Saskatoon, the Riders were back on familiar soil Sunday as they continued training camp. Lance Frazier went down to injury which is too bad considering as I have stated earlier that he might be having the best camp of anyone so far. Highly touted rookie Jonathan St. Pierre is also having a tough camp as he first had a toe injury and now he has a knee problem. It will be interesting to see the depth chart Ken Miller and the coaches put together for Wednesday's game in Edmonton. Miller has stated he wants to see each quarterback play a quarter. Who will Durant, Bell, Jyles and Joseph have with them on the field?? Several guys have looked great in practice, but the coaches will tell you its what they do when the lights come on that matters.
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I didn't realize how unpopular Dany Heatley was until reading some stuff over the past couple of days. Many are saying Heatley comes with a price---and they are not talking about the big contract he has. He apparently isn't the best guy in the locker-room and he doesn't know what the word team-mate is. It will be interesting to see where he ends up and what Ottawa can get for him. Don't expect him to go anywhere before the draft though as he is owed a 4 million dollar payment July 1 and Ottawa will likely have to swallow that up.
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Many who follow the Pats were hoping Humboldt Broncos coach Dean Brockman would either become the coach or assistant coach of the hockey team. It will be neither. You know Curtis Hunt is once again behind the bench and now Greg Harder of the L-P says the team will announce later today that Shaun Sutter-son of Brian- is the assistant. If he's a Sutter, you know he knows the game.
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The College World Series is going on right now. It would sure be nice if one of the Canadian networks would pick up some of the games. I've had friends go to this event and they say it is great baseball. I would love to see some of it instead of oh poker, fishing, X games, etc. etc. etc.
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A three hour RAW tonight. Should be good times. Speaking of which, I think its next weekend when tickets go on sale for the shows here this summer. I used to have an in for ringside seats (and that was huge the night of the Torrie Wilson-Stacy Keibler swimsuit competition) but I don't anymore. Hopefully, the self-proclaimed Saskatchewan's sexiest blogger can get us good seats as he is in charge of getting us and what he calls his "good natured neanderthals" tickets. I missed seeing the neanderthals at UFC 99 on Saturday. I won't miss them when UFC 100 takes place.
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Have a good one!!! Thanks for reading!