Sports Notes - Lakers Die-Nasty - Cambodian National Football League - April 2005

James Loving - National Radio Text Service

Kobe Bryant & Lakers Out Of Playoffs - Cambodia National Football League Begins After Two Year Absence - Cambodian Rugby

Wednesday April 20, 2005

KOBE'S LAKERS DIE-NASTY… AGAIN

You can call it ... The devil gets its due, the bloom is off the rose, call it what you want but… Kobe Bryant and the Lakers are out of the NBA playoffs. Let us bow our heads and pray.

With all of the turmoil the Los Angeles Lakers have gone through it all came down to crash and burn as the Lakers finished out of the playoffs for the first time since 1994.

This Lakers squad is Kobe Bryant's team that was left with scraps after the departure of Shaquille O'Neal and coach Phil Jackson. The team was further chewed up and spit out when a several veteran players departed though trades or free agency.

The tattered player remains and the acquired talent were left to deal with the strategy of being a supporting cast to Bryant in hopes of being a playoff team. He was to be their Michael Jordan.

When O'Neal departed complaining of how Bryant was not his favorite buddy while noting that they could not play together some LA fans welcomed his departure thinking Bryant was the real reason for the Lakers success and future.

How wrong they were, as the Lakers never gelled as a team. Jackson's replacement and former Houston Rockets coach Rudy Tomjonovich couldn't take it anymore and resigned earlier this year. The stress was too much for him.

The fragmented Lakers squad is finishing the season with a losing record and will finish the season trailing the lowly thought of cross-town rival Los Angeles Clippers in the standings for the first time since 1993. What caused the premiers team in the league to unravel?

Much of the fault lies with the decision makers from Lakers owner Jerry Buss to the players themselves that didn't get along. This season's group doesn't appear to have bonded as well.

O'Neal has done more for his Miami Heat team with them leading the east most of the season and playoff bound as the top team in the east.

At this juncture Bryant will have to spend this NBA playoffs licking his wounds looking back over losing a strong team and not being able to carry the new one as hoped.

He will also have to mentally deal with his tarnished image due to his rape trial that has gone on for over a year. He will also have to deal with the millions of dollars lost from endorsement money from sponsors that have dropped him since the rape allegations.

The Lakers have failed miserably in their mishandling of the Bryant, O'Neal affair that went on for years. They handled it like bad parents whose children wind up in jail and the parents can't figure out why.

O'Neal once made a statement after the Lakers won an NBA championship that NOBODY WAS GOING TO TEAR THE FRANCHISE DOWN. No one had to... they did it to themselves. In this case the devil gets its due.

CAMBODIAN FOOTBALL LEAGUE RETURNS

After a three-year absence the Cambodian Football League formerly known as the Cambodian Premiere League returns April 23rd. The official Opening Ceremonies will take place Aril 30th at Olympic Stadium in Phnom Penh where most of the games will be played.

According to Tola May the Cambodian Football Association's Director of Coaching and Youth Development, Prince Norodom Ranariddh will be on hand at the opening ceremonies to officially kick off the league.

Twenty of the games will be played at the Cambodian Football Associations Football Center Field.

Ten teams will compete with each playing an 18 game season over a five and a half month period with the playoffs scheduled in October.

The top four teams will qualify for the playoffs.

Five of the teams will represent the provinces of Siem Reap, Koh Kong, Kampot, Kandal and Svay Reng. The remaining teams are Samart, Naga, Khemera, the Army and Navy.

GO FIGURE - NEW CAMBODIA STADIUM?

After years of renovation and expense the Cambodian Daily reported that the Olympic Stadium in Phnom Penh, Cambodia might be replaced with a new facility in a remote location.

CAMBODIAN NATIONAL TEAM RUGBY

The Cambodian National Rugby team is scheduled to play a test match against Macao in Phnom Penh April 23rd. The venue is yet to be decided.

The team is also scheduled to play the Laos National team in Vientiane, Laos May 19th.

The squad consists of 40 players 30 Cambodians and 10 foreigners. Twenty-two players are selected to compete in the games.

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