Los Angeles has long been known as the city with the enticing bright lights of Hollywood and its star-studded population, so it’s only natural that we’d be famous for loving winners. This brings us to what’s going on in the City of Angels right now with the LA Lakers holding a commanding 2-0 series lead in this year’s NBA Finals – citywide euphoria and anticipation for another championship parade with streets full of happy Purple and Gold fans.

When it comes to winning traditions, few franchises in sports as a whole – let alone the NBA – have one as longstanding and proud as the Lakers. Their hated rival Boston Celtics are the only team with more titles (17 to LA’s current 14), but the Lakers have the most Finals appearances with 30 and most playoff wins. Given that reputation, there’s not only an expectation of championships, but an almost cocky belief that title 15 is a done deal. Get in your car and drive any part of LA County from the Valley to Long Beach and you’re guaranteed to find hundreds of car flags, jerseys, hats, crazed fans and more, all gearing up for a new banner at the Staples Center.

Trust me when I say this contagious Laker-mania isn’t only affecting common fans. Celebrity fans like Jack Nicholson and Snoop Dogg are just a few of the notable names who root for Kobe and company, and the huge block party has already gotten started. That’s what’s great about Los Angeles, there’s no shortage of places to celebrate, and Snoop’s locale of choice was the Playboy mansion. The Doggfather hit Hef’s spot to perform his catalog of classics and I’m willing to bet that everyone singing along is more than just a little bit happier thanks to the prospects of a new parade in Southern Cali.

Even out of town ballers who’ve already fallen victim to the Lakers this year are in town partying it up, as Houston Rockets forward Ron Artest made clear in a few new videos that hit the net. You know Tinsletown is the new basketball hotspot when even the guy who got up in Kobe’s face and told him he’d “f*&k him up” a few weeks ago is ready to join in on the fun.

Another thing about sports pride in LA (for the Lakers and Dodgers) is that it unites the whole city in ways that most wouldn’t imagine. Everyone from the rich types out in the hills to the diehard fans in all the different neighborhoods can be seen representing for their city and team together. Be honest, what other time would you expect to see a Beverly Hills doctor dancing and screaming alongside a rapper?

Speaking of rappers, this year’s playoff run has inspired quite a few Laker fans with mic skills to show their love and affiliation to the team. Rising signed artists like Watts rapper Jay Rock (Warner Bros Records) and Spider Loc (G Unit) have recorded new anthems praising the team. (Jay Rock Lakers Song | Spider Loc Lakers Song) Others like Carson’s Roccett (Young Jeezy’s CTE West) have filmed themselves enjoying games on YouTube. Internet sensation Twitter has also regularly had keywords like “Kobe, Lakers, Go Lakers!” and more featured as popular trending topics on the site, with thousands of people across the web tweeting about the team every day.

The fanfare has even reached other states, as evidenced by the recent “Kobe Bryant” song by one of today’s most popular rappers and Louisiana native Lil Wayne. The musical ode to Kobe and his skills has garnered hundreds of thousands of combined views since its release last week and has been an instant favorite on LA radio. However, anthems and parade dreams alone don’t bring home titles, as seen by last year, which had a great anthem, but resulted in a humiliating loss against Boston.

And of course this is all happening with the Lakers only halfway toward their goal, and it isn’t completely unprecedented to fathom a Miami basketball team coming back from a 2-0 Finals deficit (Dwyane Wade against the 2006 Mavs ring a bell?), but the people of Los Angeles feel that this team is destined to bring another winner to the city of the stars. If that ends up being the case, get ready for a celebration worthy of LA’s reputation.

- Will.

It’s the first week of June and that means it’s time for the NBA Finals. (Full Schedule) Despite the universal assumption that a Kobe V. LeBron battle of the titans was going to happen, and much to the chagrin of David Stern and the Nike puppet campaign, the King and his jesters court were ousted by a hero turned super villain (at least in Cleveland) – Dwight “Superman II” Howard and his Orlando Magic.

The Magic have lived up to their name this postseason, surprising everyone outside of Florida by continuously beating teams that they were supposed to lose to and showing they weren’t afraid of a little adversity. They dealt with losing hard-fought games at the buzzer (LeBron, Big Baby, Iguodala and Thaddeus Young all did it to them these playoffs) that would have shaken most teams into losing confidence. They handled a semi-controversy when Dwight called out Stan Van Gundy and they went into two of the most difficult road arenas in the NBA and won critical games (games 1 and 7 in Boston, game 1 in Cleveland to break the Cavs 8-game undefeated streak.) So far the Magic have overcome every challenge placed in front of them, leaving them with just one last adversary: the Los Angeles Lakers.

The Lakers have had their fare share of stumbles and troubles this postseason too. Just as vaunted a regular season team as LeBron’s, everyone expected LA to cruise to the finals and there was quite a commotion out West when they were taken to 7 games by the injury-ravaged Houston Rockets and pushed around by the Denver Nuggets. As one of the most talented rosters in the league and with last year’s MVP Kobe Bryant at the helm, they eventually took advantage of their experience and personnel to make all the right crunch-time plays and are looking to make up for last year’s 6-game embarrassment.

Which leads us to this showdown; seven possible games, two teams with two superstars and two coaches looking to break stereotypes and records, pushing to either create or cement their legacies. Make no mistake, just because it’s not 23 against 24 doesn’t mean there isn’t a whole lot on the line.

Phil Jackson can break his 9-championship tie with Red Auerbach and set a new coaching standard for titles. Kobe can finally start to get the giant “can’t win without Shaq” monkey off his back and prove he’s an actual champion level leader, while Van Gundy and Dwight can go a long way toward silencing all their own critics with yet another huge upset.

And that upset is far from impossible. As much as the Lakers have been tested so far, they might face their biggest challenge with Orlando, who not only boasts a ferocious interior presence in Howard, but gives LA some of the same match up nightmares that faced Cleveland and Boston. Word even has it that All-Star point guard Jameer Nelson will play. Who’s going to guard Lewis and Turkoglu? Gasol is too slow and Ariza can only stick to one of them. Walton? Please. If Odom is on his game (a huge if) then LA has a much better chance, but either way it’ll be tough. Especially when Dwight is dominating inside, which will create space for the endless supply of 3-point shooters on the Magic.

Of course that’s only if Orlando keeps hitting its threes, which so far they have been able to do with consistency. It’s hard to see Lewis, Turkoglu, Pietrus and Alston suddenly losing their touch, especially with all the confidence they’ve gained so far. They’re shooting a respectable 37% outside the arc so far as a team (down only one percent from their regular season stats) and Lewis and Pietrus are each shooting at or above 39%. Spacing the floor against a Lakers defense already prone to breakdowns could do wonders for the Magic.

On the flipside, Howard will face his most difficult frontcourt opponents yet as he’ll see something he hasn’t seen so far these playoffs – young, tall and athletic guys capable of staying in front of him and dishing out some hard hits. Bynum, although largely invisible thus far, has a chance to bother Howard and will definitely give out fouls. Odom and Gasol are nowhere near as strong, but their size and relative quickness shouldn’t be underestimated. The pressure will be on Howard to keep hitting his free throws and prove his worth as a go-to bigman.

Speaking of dominant centers, who do you think Shaq is going for? You know he doesn’t want Kobe to win a ring and tie his total, but I can’t imagine he wants the “Master of Panic” and Dwight to get the last laugh and do what he couldn’t in Orlando and win a ring. Anyone down to ask him?

For the Lakers, their keys to victory obviously involve great production from Kobe, but if they want to win their 15th championship they’ll need a lot more from everyone else. Here’s a nifty position by position breakdown of each team’s roster. Their struggles against Denver quickly changed when Odom decided to actually show up and Gasol’s extra touches and fouls blocks in the paint showed a side of them rarely seen. Whether Lakers fans want to admit it or not, their team is notoriously known for being soft, specifically Gasol, so if they want to beat Orlando they’ll need the Pau that doesn’t inspire these Kotex parodies.

In all seriousness though, one of the biggest keys to how the series will swing revolves around how Orlando defends Kobe. Pietrus is their best perimeter defender and in spite of LeBron’s amazing numbers, Pietrus did a great job on him in each game. If Pietrus can stay in front of Kobe and lure him into going solo into Howard and the Marcin Gortat/Tony Battie combo, then they have a good shot. The Magic swept the season series with the Lakers even though Kobe had a 41-point game and a 28-point, 13-rebound, 11-assist effort against them, so there’s a chance Orlando can use the same winning formula that Boston perfected last year.

Whether he admits it or not, this year is a monumental one for Kobe’s legacy. If he loses, he undoubtedly will take a big hit in the “greatest players” debate, and if he wins he moves toward joining the NBA’s all-time upper echelon. That’s a lot of pressure and physical play for anyone to handle, even Kobe, and his 13 years of wear and tear may play a factor.

Given the multiple matchup problems Orlando creates with their 3-point shooting and Dwight’s emergence as a true superstar, this series can and most likely will go at least six games. The Lakers are the favorite and should win it all if they play to their potential, but that’s apparently easier said then done for them, so don’t be stunned if the Magic are the first to four wins. It would only seem fitting if the team that plays not too far from Disney World could start their own NBA version of the popular slogan and bring a title home with them.

- Will.

The San Francisco 49ers fired head coach Mike Nolan after reports surfaced that the team planned to drop the ax on him after this Sunday’s game. Former Chicago Bears linebacker and current Niners linebackers coach Mike Singletary is taking over the head coaching duties for the remainder of the season.

The 49ers are 2-5 this season and have the 23rd ranked offense and defense. With J.T. O’Sullivan at quarterback and a defense that’s giving up 28 points a game, it’s hard to say a coaching change is gonna make the difference in San Fran. One thing’s for sure. Regardless of how this season turns out, the 49ers fans are poppin’ bottles over the news of Mike Nolan’s firing.

The folks at Fire Nolan haven’t posted since January, and I guess it doesn’t matter now since they’ve gotten their wish, but I’ve always wondered what do you do after the person that inspires fire__.com gets fired? Do these guys have a checklist of people they wanna get fired and move on to the next name on the list?

I wanna see somebody start a fire so and so .com site about a regular person. A person like a coworker or a bank teller with a shitty attitude. My money’s on Trev Alberts starting FireNorby.com.

The Baltimore Ravens are second in the AFC North with a 3-3 record, but this weekend they’ll be partying like they’re the undefeated Tennessee Titans. Ravens linebacker Terrell Suggs and Team Sizzle Worldwide are throwing “The most luxurious party experience to ever hit Baltimore” and they have a website which means their claim has to be true.

I could kinda understand throwing a three-day party with white tigers if the Ravens had a bye week, but they play the Oakland Raiders on Sunday Oct. 26. Even NBA party hound Kwame Brown thinks Suggs is using bad timing. If the Raiders win on Sunday there’s no doubt in my mind that the party is the reason why.

The kid could’ve done a better job, and after watching the video I have one question. Who will be the recipient of the hate-filled emails from racists? Mark Cuban? Syracuse University? YouTube?

Rich guy and All-Star businessman Donald Trump is taking his interest in Affliction and the MMA to television. He hopes. Trump partnered with Affliction in June and it looks like he’s finally trying to use his influence to help out the company.

A contingent of officials from fight promotions M-1 Global and Affliction Entertainment, complete with Donald Trump as a front man, announced plans Thursday to move forward with their new mixed martial arts reality television show, Fighting Fedor.

The show will be filmed in St. Petersburg, Russia, at the Red Devil fight gym with a crew of fighters recruited from all over the globe. According to M-1 Global vice president Jerry Millen, the show could begin filming as early as April.

It looks like The Donald and co. have everything in order. Except for a television partner. There are plans to distribute Fighting Fedor in various international markets, and the hope is that Trump’s TV connections will land a good deal. This show will happen because Donald Trump’s involved.

Here’s the Fighting Fedor press conference:

A couple of days ago I posted some pictures of Serena Williams and Common surfing in Hawaii and now here’s the video.

It’s the same shots you’ve seen except you get the added benefit of seeing Serena fall off of her board and struggle past some slippery rocks. Whoever was on the camera spends the last minute of the video focused on Serena’s booty. I’m not mad at that.

Bobby Bowden was pissed off about the holding calls going against Florida State in the first half, and had to let the referee know it before being interviewed by Erin Andrews.

We all know what’s going on here. Bobby was showin’ out because EA was in the house. He wanted to prove to the young lass that he’s still got it, in case, you know, she was wondering.

And apparently N.C. State didn’t pray enough, if at all, during halftime. Coach Bowden’s halftime mass helped FSU rally from a 10-6 halftime deficit to a 26-17 victory. Praise FreeShoes.

Sox and Dawgs provides this video of an $8 million bounced first pitch by Curt Schilling. I’ll give Schill a little slack since he had surgery, but his toss seemed like an omen after B.J. Upton took Dice-K deep for a two-run shot in the first inning.

I know the Boston Red Sox have given us incredible comebacks in playoffs past, but at 7-0, I had written the Nation off. I was only watching the game to see how many runs Tampa Bay would score en route to clinching their first trip to the World Series. Then it happened.

The Boston Red Sox came up with the clutch hits and big home runs we’ve become accustomed to from them and pulled off the greatest postseason comeback since 1929. Strangely, the same year as the great stock market crash.

Dustin Pedroia got things started with a single in the seventh to score Jed Lowrie, a run that at time seemed like it would serve no purpose other than preventing the Sox from being shutout in their final game of the season. It ended up being the snowball that started the avalanche.

From there on it was just like old times. David Ortiz found his stroke and jacked a three-run shot to pull Boston within three at 7-4. Johnathan Papelbon pitched a scoreless eighth after giving up two runs in the seventh, and J.D. Drew clutched up with a two-run homer in the eighth and the game winning single in the ninth. The J.D. Drew clutching up is new, but the Sox pulling off miracles isn’t. It’s hard to believe that this team was considered the Chicago Cubs of the American League earlier this decade.

Does this win get the Red Sox rolling to the World Series? Probably. The Tampa Bay Rays are a young team, and a loss like this could ruin them for the rest of the series. Luckily for T.B., James Shields is locked for Game 6 which gives them their best chance of winning. If Boston forces a Game 7, get ready for a Red Sox-Phillies World Series.

I’m an Eagles fan and a McNabb guy, and I know the video is from the offseason, but I don’t wanna see the QB of my squad looking like the Nutty Quarterback.. Whooa my lip! Donovan’s listed at 6′2″-240, but he looks 5′10″-280 in the video. Somebody get Andy Reid a copy of this video so he’ll consider adding the quarterback sneak to his playbook.