Pre Finals Preparations, MVPuppets Edition

I have loved the Most Valuable Puppet commercials. Some of the moments in those commercials are among my favorite Playoff moments. Here are a few:

Lil Dex to LeBron: You've got over 20 triple doubles, can I have one?

LeBron to Kobe (after answering the phone call from Mrs. Lewis): She said...YOU AIN'T GOT NO DEFENSE.

Kobe to LeBron (while he is parading around throwing chalk in the air): Why do we live together?

Lil Dex to Kobe: Kobe, Why you shave your 'fro? Are you more aerodynamic now?

Kobe to LeBron (on the phone long distance to each other right after Game 6, LeBron is in Orlando and Kobe in the apartment): Mrs. Lewis said you can share a room with Lil Dex until you get your own place.

My only hope now is that we don't get bombarded with Puppet commercials featuring only Kobe. The success was in the Puppet Roommate Chemistry. (If only Dwight Howard had signed with Nike) Turkoglu would be an awesome new roommate for Puppet Kobe. It might turn out a little like this show (though Kobe would have to grow out his 'fro again). They could cut to scenes of LeBron having dinner with Mrs. Lewis and Lil Dex, LeBron not being able to sleep at night because Hedo and Kobe and playing one-on-one. This could be really great.

Playoff Musings, Masterpiece Theater Edition

Sometimes it seems like plot lines for movies just get recycled over and over. So much so at times that the movie can't even hold our interest until the end because it becomes so predictable. Add a little bit of bad acting and you probably don't even finish watching it. That is usually the NBA Playoffs in a nutshell. The same tired story of the powerhouses free-throwing their way through the playoffs with little exception of unsuspected drama or conflict. And when there is conflict, it usually only makes things worse, i.e. the Phoenix Suspensions.

This year, beyond the Kobe Vs. LeBron bologna (the guys have only played head to head 11 times in 6 years, and both players have scored over 30 in the same game TWICE, so I don't know how they are even thinking bout comparing them to Bird and Magic when they played each other 36 times and 17 of them were in the Finals not to mention the 1979 NCAA Championship) there is quite the intriguing Conference Finals going on. And not only does the drama of each game hold you until the final buzzer, the cast of characters is as diverse as it is unsuspected.

Who would have thought Ariza would steal two inbounds passes in almost identical fashion to ice close games in the closing seconds? Who would have thought Turkoglu would be knocking down serial killer 3 pointers in Cleveland with LeBron on his jock? Who would have thought that Orlando could have been going home up 2-0 and Denver as well? The average margin of victory so far; 4.6 points (and thats after some end of game fouling that gave the Lakers a 6 point win which should have only been 2 or 3).

So not only is this playoff theater unsuspected, but it is surprisingly good. I'll put the conspiracy theories aside and just enjoy the fact that we have a competitive playoffs because it just doesn't happen that often.

Speaking of surprisingly good, this guy surprised the heck out of me. You might recognize him from this. (I always thought the BS Report intro sound bites were some impersonation of George W)

I have one final question; how come nobody is ever able to get Jordan to weigh in on comparisons to his career, the current landscape of players in the league or even the Playoffs?