Deep thoughts, cheap shots & bon mots ...
Suggestion to Joe Lacob and Peter Guber: In your own VIP lounge and in the plush BMW Club, dim the lights and herd the folks out the door 10 minutes before the start of the third quarter. It’s a buzz-kill and a bad look when the second half starts with acres of empty seats near the court.
Free strategy tip for the Trail Blazers: If you want to fire up the Warriors and their fans, always switch off JaVale McGee to pick up any other Warrior roaming free in the paint. The resulting alley-oop dunk by McGee will blow the roof off Oracle.
The Cubs’ new World Series rings are impressive, believed to be the first championship rings that are larger than the team’s ballpark.
Some interesting features of the Cubbies’ rings: A pop-up hologram of Will Ferrell impersonating Harry Caray ... A misprint inscription of the team motto, “We never qui” ... Covered with real ivy ... Embedded in each ring is a tiny piece of the Giants’ soul ... Smells like a billy goat.
If golf ran baseball: “That’s a balk! The baserunner is awarded one base and his team is awarded 14 runs.”
If golf ran football: “Derek Carr just scored on a quarterback keeper, but a TV viewer just phoned the stadium switchboard and reported that Carr’s chin strap was unfastened. That’s a three-touchdown penalty.”
Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred wants the Cleveland Indians to “transition away from their Chief Wahoo logo.” I want Manfred to transition away from the fancy language and tell the Indians, “Dump your racist cartoon mascot, pronto.”
If Warriors-Trail Blazers gets to Game 5, Chance the Rapper’s concert at Oracle will get bumped. Far cry from the NBA’s old days. In the ’60s, the Lakers occasionally got bumped from the L.A. Sports Arena during the playoffs. They hosted one game in a small college gym, and another at the Shrine Auditorium. The court there was on the stage, and a player diving after a loose ball wound up in the orchestra pit.
At LAX, Marshawn Lynch allegedly slapped a cell phone out of the hands of an 18-yearold man trying to snap a photo of him. Here’s a handy tip for folks in that fan’s situation: If a big star tells you he/she is not interested in chatting or posing for your selfish-ie, back off. You are not at the zoo.