Home is where the wins are.

Taking a play from the Obama administration playbook, diversion is sometimes better than analysis. It is also in the BP playbook but apparently subterfuge is the “go to” strategy until the small people do the math. Initially, BP wanted us to believe that they built a billion dollar platform, that cost $500,000 a day to operate and was only leaking 1,000 barrels a day after the accident. Obama wanted to believe them and the small people did, too. Oops, BP’s scientists, chief engineers, and petrochemical dudes were off by 59,000 barrels a day. Calculating the impact of the disaster is never best done by the responsible party, just ask Elin Woods. Given who was providing the data, it is not surprise that BP’s initial estimates were off by 98.4%. I wonder who at BP keeps their job if they were off by that much when determining where to drill for more profits!

Diversion is what the Yard does best. The oil disaster is biblical and we will be feeling the impact for the rest of our lives and most likely the lives of our children. Regardless of Obama’s pledges, the Gulf will never be the same. But hey, the Lakers have a historic game 7 with the Celtics tonight and Manny is returning to Fenway this weekend. The oil is not going to stop but these games will be played.

The Lakers have never beaten the Celtics in a game 7, ever. They have faced each other 4 times and the Lakers have come up short each time. Three of the four previous were played in Boston and no visiting team has won game 7 since the Washington Bullets in 1978. The Celtics will not win tonight but it is not going to be like Tuesday night’s romp. The Yard is not convinced that Kendrick Perkin is not going to play. Paul Pierce pulled that charade in Game One of 2008 when he needed to be helped off the court only to return to the roar of the crowd. He showed no ill effects and played the rest of that victorious series. Willis Reed limped out in Game 7 against Jerry and Wilt and led the Knicks to their last NBA title. Kendrick Perkins might try the same tonight and that is right out the Celtics play book.

The home court advantage is not just about having your fans yelling “Beat LA” or acting like buffoons as they do in Boston. It is not about Jack, Dyan, Denzel and Charlie mugging for the cameras as they do in LA. It is about sleeping in your own bed, spending time with your family and enjoying the routine of your life with a game at the end of the day. It is not about idle time in hotel rooms, restaurant meals, and turn down service which the road team must grind through for several days at a time.

Kobe is a polarizing force who is either loved or hated but everyone has an opinion. He has dominated at times but leads the finals in turnovers. He cannot do that tonight. He has played great defense, he has been a team player, but at times he has tried to do too much and thrown the ball away. Ron Artest and Odom need to show up and they will. The Laker bench has played well and they will need all of their 27 points tonight. Lakers please win so we no longer have to hear from crusty Bill Russell about winning in LA with the Jack Kent Cooke’s balloons waiting to fall from the Forum ceiling.

Manny has not been Manny so much this year. He is not talking to the press or hitting prodigious home runs. He is playing the same adventurous left field and he is making $25 million albeit $20 million is deferred. He is returning to Fenway for the first time and Boston fans are always so gracious. We are confident that there will be an outpouring of love and maybe even a faux Mannywood on top of the Green Monster.

The Yard likes the Red Sox in the American League. Mostly because we hate the billion dollar corporation that is the Yankees. It is going to be ugly for Manny and he is going to have a rough series. The Dodgers have been playing well but the Lakers will fare batter this week.

Finally, we are traditionalists and this whole shake up in college athletics this week is unsettling. We get why Colorado wants to come to the Pac-10 and maybe Utah as well. Let’s see, travel to Phoenix, Los Angeles and Seattle or go to Lubbock, Manhattan and College Station-check! We do not understand how there is a Big 12 with ten teams and a Big Ten with 12 teams. The Pac-10 is going to be called what? And with the conference’s five natural rivals who is Colorado’s? Ricky Neuhiesel gets to visit the last two places he works so it is nostalgic for Slick Rick.

USC is thrilled with these developments because they are out of the news for a bit. It could be our bias but USC AD Mike Garret’s response that the NCAA brought the hammer down because they were envious and they all want to be Trojans did not sound very contrite. He also declared that this gives USC a reason to dominate again when the veil is lifted. Mike, we do not think you are going to be around much longer so STFU! I would suggest a little more humility prior to appealing this decision.

BTW: Trojan faithful, the hammer is going to stay down. Take it and get on with it and thanks for the memories. Bruin faithful, two losses to USC got wiped out in that ruling. Unfortunately, not that ugly one last year when Pete the Cheat knew he would not be around to play us again.

Mayor: What do you mean, "biblical"?
Dr. Raymond Stantz: What he means is Old Testament, Mr. Mayor, real wrath-of-God type stuff. Fire and brimstone coming down from the sky! Rivers and seas boiling!
Dr. Egon Spengler: Forty years of darkness! Earthquakes, volcanoes...
Winston Zeddmore: The dead rising from the grave!
Dr. Peter Venkman: Human sacrifice. Dogs and cats living together. Mass hysteria!