Goldman Deflections

Goldman Sachs is rarely mentioned at Yard staff meetings. Actually, Yard staff meetings are quite rare and Goldman Sachs permeating our sports based mitochondria would be rarer. We did take notice when Barack and the kids filed a massive indictment this past weekend against the company that he has befriended since his election. Goldman and Barack are strange bedfellows. Obama is trying to re-allocate wealth so unhealthy, unemployed people can enjoy the same benefits as the employed people who watch what they eat. Goldman Sachs is trying to re-allocate wealth to people employed by Goldman Sachs.

Goldman is not building railroads, creating jobs or fighting in Iraq. They are playing high stakes poker with sophisticated investors to identify derivative sources of new wealth that Goldman can charge fees for creating. Goldman made sure that their best customers profited when regular American people defaulted on their mortgages. Regardless if it was ethical or if these actions constitute fraud, Goldman created ways for their clients to profit from the collapse of the mortgage industry which lead Barack to write checks our grandchildren will never be able to cash. They gave home court odds to the wealthy few while the huddled masses will never again breathe free. In Las Vegas, we get what they are doing and we pay as we go. On Wall Street, are we happy that venerable Goldman Sachs created wealth for a few by betting against the American dream?

Barry’s approval ratings are plummeting and Goldman is a strategic deflection. There are mid-term elections and a hostile electorate. Barry needs a diversion because his policies are not the ones he demonized to get elected. He put GS Executive Henry Paulson in charge while John Paulson (not related) profited from his measures. Goldman Sachs alumni Gary Gensler and Time Geithner work in the Obama administration as well. Obama needs the dearly deflected. Goldman will play that role warmed in the $23 billion Barry covered them with during the depression that apparently hit the Hamptons harder than elsewhere. No one at Goldman is ever going to jail. Obama is just trying to get healthcare off the front page of our newspapers and our mindset.

This past Sunday in Los Angeles was golden regardless of the value of the yen, the pound or another complicated Goldman Sachs derivative. The Lakers will struggle towards the finish line this season. The Dodgers may not get that close and there may be an NFL Franchise before either team wins another championship. On the Sabbath, the Lakers flipped the switch and the Dodgers stole one from the City by the Bay.

The Lakers will emerge in the West but it is not going to be pretty. Kobe has played more games in the past two years than the average NBA player does in a lifetime. Kobe is a 30 years old but his body has already played in as many games as Jordan had by his 36th birthday. Since 2008, Kobe has played in back to back NBA Finals with the Olympics sandwiched in between. He has played almost another season without an off-season in the past two years. He is not hitting his jump shots and this could be Lebron’s year. Kobe can flip the switch like no one else but James is a beast in his prime.

Ron Ron Artest did what he was brought in to do in Game 1, shut down the scorer on the wing that Kobe usually has to cover. Phil got in Thunder superstar Kevin Durant’s head all week in the papers. Then Artest worked his mid-section all game. Ron with his yellow follicles had a hand on Durant from the time he stepped on the hardwood. Artest inhaled Durant into a 7 for 24, 4 turnover game. Phil dug a trench all week across Durant’s psyche and let psycho Ron go golden hair on the kid. Durant looked like he was playing March Madness, not the April Mayhem that is the NBA playoffs. Durant got his 31 in Game 2 but he still missed 14 of 26 shots and turned the ball over eight times.

While the Lakers struggled to put away The Thunder, the Dodgers broke into the Giant’s psyche and stole a piece of September from them. April games are not as relevant but this one sure felt good. The Giant’s pitching staff is going to be backing down Yard fluff feathers in 2010. That is a core group of great pitchers that rivals the Smoltz, Glavine, Maddux Brave teams. Lincecum shut out the Blue Crew in the Saturday sun 9-0. On Sunday, Clayton Kershaw pitched his best game of the new season but left trailing 1-0. The Dodgers had not scored all weekend and that is never fun. Barry Zito had pitched a gem for 8 innings when he was pulled after walking the Russell Martin with one out in the 8th. Joe Torre called Manny Ram who had not played since the 4th inning Friday night to pinch hit. Manny watched the first two pitches, fouled off the third and put the 4th into the left field pavilion. It was worth a few million of the $25 million he is getting this year.

Jamie McCourt has demanded $988,000 per month in support from Frank McCourt. With that salary, Jamie would be the third highest paid Dodger after Manny Ramirez and Hiroki Kuroda. Frank already tried to release Jamie and offered her salary arbitration but Jamie’s demands are limiting the Dodgers ability to sign the #1 starting pitcher that they desperately need. The McCourt’s were interlopers we all despised who worked hard to become owners we just did not like who have morphed into a reality show no one wants to watch. We would welcome back Fox at this point but neither McCourt mutton head deserves ownership of our city’s Dodgers.

We guess no one ever told Ben Roethlisberger that nothing good ever happens after midnight in the women’s restroom with a drunken coed even if no charges are filed.

"Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former."Albert Einstein