Amazon's new revolutionary way to read books blows chunks. How do we know? Because we ignored this week's Newsweek cover story puff piece on the Kindle, and paid attention to the web. Type "kindle sucks" into Google and see what you get. It's not pretty. "The Kindle sucks goat ball sack", says one Twitterer named Dean. Cory from BoingBoing warns of the Awful crap that will soon doom the device and wonders why "Amazon,... more ›

Certain things are just undebatable. Pete Rose was the greatest hitter in baseball, Michael Jordan was the greatest basketball player of all, LAist is the greatest blog about LA, and GG Allin was the most punk rock punk rocker who ever took the stage. He cut himself with beer cans, he shat on the stage and rubbed it on himself, he accepted gay oral favors as he sang, and he kicked fans in the... more ›

Harry Potter is a touchy subject these days. The books have been around for so long, that kids who once loved Harry Potter are growing increasingly embarassed by that fact and now distance themselves from the teen magician. Still older kids -- like, say, ADULTS -- have followed every book with a frenzy and will no doubt join in this week's madness as Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows hits stores all over LA. Then there's the whole drama over leaked pages, the perfectly timed movie premiere of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, the will Harry die/won't Harry die debates raging on message boards and so on. There's even a crazy woman who has incoroprated the new book into her wedding plans! Ugh - it's all a bit nuts. more ›

Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan, Jack Nicholson, Leonardo DiCaprio and over 16,000 others watched Floyd Mayweather land 207 punches on East LA's own Oscar De La Hoya, earning a controversial split decision from the judges at the MGM in Las Vegas. more ›

Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist David Halberstam died yesterday in a car crash in Menlo Park, CA. He was 73. Halberstam’s work as a journalist ranges wide and delves deep. He covered the Korean War, the Vietnam War and civil rights but he was also fascinated with the humanity and spectacle of sports. He did not simply document the history he lived through – he explained complex societal constructs and cultural shifts in a way that anyone could easily understand. He was one of the only journalists who questioned the Vietnam War early on and it was this same questioning – throughout his life and his work – that allowed him to uncover facts that other journalists side-stepped. more ›

Tigers 9, Angels 5 - Mike Maroth threw 105 pitches over just 4 and 2/3 innings, giving up seven hits, five walks, and three runs (two earned). He left the game with the bases loaded. Yet the only reason he didn't earn the win is that he didn't pitch the minimum five innings required of starters. Despite his ugly stats, Detroit still won thanks to a barrage of seven runs in the first two innings.... more ›

Though the two teams were neck and neck most of the night, the Lakers ended up falling to the Denver Nuggets 111-105 Tuesday night. The game was especially important since both teams are jockeying for sixth place in the Western conference. This loss leaves the Lakers at 39-35 W-L and the Nuggets at 37-36 W-L. The game was fast and competitive all night and with the league’s two top scorers – Kobe Bryant and... more ›

Lakers 111, Hornets 105 - Kobe continued to flaunt has superiority in the face of March Madness, talking before the game about how honored he was to be discussed in the same "bracket" as Wilt Chamberlain, Michael Jordan, and Elgin Baylor. After the game, he moved from the final four to the championship. While Michael and Elgin scored 50+ points in three straight games, Kobe has now done it in four (65, 50, 60, 50).... more ›

Kobe has been amazing. The only guy who has scored 50+points in more consecutive games than Kobe is Wilt Chamberlain. It’s heady company, basically the answer to every NBA scoring trivia question is Wilt Chamberlain. Wilt did a lot of things that were amazing. more ›

Lakers 121, Grizzlies 119 - It's March Madness, but the most impressive hoops action keeps coming from a guy who never played a minute of college ball. Kobe had 60 points against Memphis, but it wasn't just his one game point total that generated buzz. This is the third game in a row he has scored at least 50, a feat only matched by Wilt Chamberlain, Michael Jordan, Elgin Baylor. Chamberlain actually did it seven... more ›

Clippers 104, Bucks 103 - The roller coaster continues for Los Angeles. They watched a 22 point third quarter lead crumble away in the fourth. With less than a minute to play, Milwaukee held a three point edge. Then the Clippers got a basket from Corey Maggette with 45 seconds and another by Jason Hart with only three ticks left. The win pushed LA back into sole possession of the eighth seed in the Western... more ›

For a little perspective on what lies ahead for the next 30 days for this season’s Lakers, let’s drift back in time to 1988, the year when Jerry Falwell and Larry Flynt were battling each other in court, Nirvana was formed and Paula Abdul was forever our girl. In the NBA, a young Michael Jordan was scoring 35 points a game and dragging his Chicago Bulls teammates close to the top of the league. So... more ›

In 1985 Prince played there and they bathed the place in purple lights. Nirvana played there with the Butthole Surfers and someone threw a shoe at Kurt that almost hit him. Eminem played there with Mix Master Mike opening as snowboarders had an indoor exhibition. more ›

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Mark Heisler of the Times writes that the team's change in focus from Derek Anderson to McKie was at the request of Phil Jackson. If true, that tells you who is really calling the shots for the Lakers for these days. more ›

So, when Lamar Odom was traded to the Lakers a year ago, we all thought it might work out. Kobe, after all is like Michael Jordan. Odom could be like Pippen. And poof! You have the old Chicago Bulls. more ›

Hiring Phil Jackson would be a no-brainer for the Lakers. For one, Jerry Buss would save face after being perceived as the man who ran Shaq out of town. Secondly, Jackson is one of the few coaches with the clout to exert some control over Bryant. And third, from a schematic standpoint, Jackson might the only coach in the NBA who could figure out how to make Lamar Odom the Scottie Pippen to Kobe Bryant's Michael Jordan. more ›