Can you like a dynasty?

In the word of sports there are those dynasties that you either love, or you hate. There is on mutual ground with some teams.

And the thing is, each league has their own dynasty.

*Disclaimer* The only way you can be a real fan of one of these teams is: 1) if you have rooted for them for over 10 years 2) were born near the area 3) grew up near the city they play in or 4) were grandfathered into the team by your dad liking them for his youth and passing that too you*


MLB: The New York Yankees. By far the most popular team in American (perhaps even globally. I've never visited Zimbabwe, but I'm sure the Yankees media market machine has reached there)

It's evident that JustSON is not a Yankees friendly blog. So nothing really needs to be said about this team.

No points for The Dynasty Machine.


NBA: The Los Angeles Lakers. It seems like the Lakers are always in the championship. And it seems like most of the time they are bringing said championship trophy home. They are always good and they always have superstar players. Plus, it really helps them that they are in the second largest media market. And it helps that their stands are filled with movie stars. (I wonder why no one ever likes the Clippers? Tune in for a blog about this later in the month)

No points for The Dynasty Machine.


The Rock World: Journey. Just thought I would throw this one in here. Journey is awesome. If they were a sporting team I would probably buy season tickets.

Score one for The Dynasty Machine.


NFL: The Dallas Cowboys. This is perhaps one of the cockiest franchises as well as being one of the most annoying. They have an annoying owner, an annoying new billion dollar stadium, an annoying Jessica Simpson and basicaly Dallas is just an annoying team.

JustSON has just become an anti Dallas blog now too.

No points for The Dynasty Machine.


NHL: The Detroit Red Wings. Now I'm not much of a hockey dude. And so I don't dislike this team either way, but I did root against them in these Cup finals. The Wings have plenty of winning. Pass it around. Plus, I do hate Detroit as a city because that's where the Seahawks were ROBBED of a Superbowl. But that's off topic. Boo Detroit.

No points for The Dynasty Machine.


And then that brings us to the MLS. The newest of all these leagues with their first champion being crowned in 1996. The first champion of the new league was the D.C. United. And since then D.C has won a total of four championships. So they get the dynasty tag in this league.

The only problem I have with this is the fact that the chances of winning a championship in a league of 10 teams was much greater that winning it in a league of 15 or even 18 in two years. So I believe that this dynasty tag is still up for grabs. Over the next 1o years, the team that really esablishes themselves can have this crown for the MLS.

Tie for The Dynasty Machine (since there was no real team here)


Final score for liking of a dynasty across the professional leagues: 1-4-1

Now if only the Sounders FC could rise up to claim the MLS dynasty.

NBA Finals Game 4 Journal

5:56 - I want to make it clear that I am rooting for LA because I can't stand Orlando's fanbase. A large majority of them probably don't realize that their team is even in the Finals because they're too busy buying Mickey Ears at DisneyWorld.

And you know what? They use the theme song to CSI for introductions, and had a MC who had a checkered suit that only a guy who still lived with his mom would wear. And the pregame intros were rather quiet. Remember when Seattle was in the Finals and you couldn't here the PA Announcer before the game? Oh yeah but they don't have a team anymore. No I'm not bitter... not in the least.

6:00 - They just showed a montage of NBA Champions and I think the Spurs got shown for roughly .02 seconds. I'm so glad the league is sweeping them under the rug as if their championships never happened.

6:06 - Considering the Dallas Cowboys reputation with the the structure strength of their buildings, do you really want the 2010 All-Star Game being played at Texas Stadium.

6:10 - Game starts, and they talk about how Kobe Bryant looked tired in the last Finals game - even though he was pretty much their entire offense in the first half of that game. How can anyone be "tired" is this day and age with luxury hotels, mega-conditioning, and plush conditions all around. It's not like he had to get off his construction worker job for the day to play basketball.

6:13 - Dwight Howard -- looks like what some football players want to look like with their shoulder pads on -- without any such assistance.

6:15 - Lamar Odom checks into the game. I really enjoy watching this guy play, I'm so glad he could finish his Butterfinger in time for the game.

6:21 - Commercial break shows Adam Sandler in a movie called "Funny People" ... how ironic.

6:24 - A shot of Amway Arena, does that place have the smallest parking lot in the NBA. I count three mini-vans, whatever Tiger Woods drove in on and Dwight Howard's groupie-wagon. That's it. Where does everyone else park? The Popeye's parking lot?

6:28 - Dwight Howard's parking spot must be at the free throw line because that's where he's been at for the entire game.

6:29 - Some guy from Congo checks in for the Lakers, meanwhile Adam Morrison doesn't make the playoff roster.

6:31 - With the score 18-15 Magic, Trevor Ariza gets called for a technical. In the first quarter. For an emotional outburst. Pace yourself. You'll be re-arranged JJ Reddick's facial structure by the third.

6:33 - Courtney Cox's latest project... Cougar Town! Just what I want to watch, old 40-year women hit on young guys! I can do that by going to a Spokane bar, so why would I need to watch this on TV?!?!?! (By the way I got groped by a Cougar down in Tri-Cities during the Shock game. Long story. Very Akward. And Weird)

6:33 - Stan Van Gundy quotes Greg Popavich during the pregame talk in some footage shown to us by ESPN. I wonder if Stan will be sporting the serial killer beard by game six.

6:37 - Riddle me this. So if the Lakers win the NBA Championship, Luke Walton will officially have more championship rings than Lebron James. Wow.

6:39 - Here's some insight - Orlando complains a lot about the calls... as in every single one.

6:44 - End of first quarter and we have our first WNBA Commercial, and Phil Jackson calls the officiating bogus. All right! Three more quarters to go of this.

6:50 - J.J. Reddick is playing well ... and I just wrote that.

6:56 - 37-27 Rashard Lewis hits a three to give Orlando its biggest lead of the series (they would lead by as much as 12 in the game). That's what you get for leaving the best 3 point shooter on the X-box version of NBA Jam open. Seriously.

6:56 - Another reason I hate Orlando fans. Those handclapper noise makers. ITS CALLED YOUR HANDS! SLAP THEM TOGETHER!!! How lazy has America gotten?

7:03 - Kobe's pregame interview shown by ESPN ends with Jeff Van Gundy saying that he sounds like a coach. Good god, if that happened not only would I be glued to my tv set for every single game but I think we would see the first ever occurance of the coach electing himself to take the technical foul free throw shot.

7:10 - HALFTIME

7:22 49-37 Magic, just for reference

7:47 - 51-44 Magic, the Lakers have definitely picked it up and Trevor Ariza can't miss.

7:55 - 55-54 LA's first lead.

7:59 - Adam Morrison sighting! He's in a bible salesman suit awkwardly high fiving Trevor Ariza, who doesn't actually know his name and wonders why Morrison is trying to get him to buy five copies of the Scientology Fundamentals.

8:02 - Chris Tucker has gotten fat. AND GEEZUZ! IS THAT TIGER WOOD'S WIFE? Holy hotness. I guess that is what you get when you're the best golfer on the planet. Ever.

8:05 - Magic commit their 15th turnover. Hey it's like the late 90s Seattle Seahawks!

8:07 - Things get physical, Howard grabs Kobe from behind, tempers flare, words are spoken and it's at this point that I realized that the refs need to let these guys play and stop freaking out every time there's any sort of contact. Howard and Kobe were members of the USA Gold Medal team. They're friends. They're playing for an NBA Championship so things are going to get chippy but at the end of the day, they're still going to be friends. So don't get your panties all in a twist when these hyper-competitive guys start speaking words to one another.

8:18 - Derek Fisher is still in the league?

8:20 - I love the random Kobe "I'm MAD!" cuts that ESPN does at random moments of the game.

8:37 - Jameer Nelson makes his first good play of the game with four minutes to go in the entire game. A pass to Howard for the dunk. Boy, I'm sure the Magic are glad he's finally coming around eh? Facing a possible 3-1 deficit and Nelson can pass now? Wowee!

8:49 - Three pointer, three pointer, three pointer...

8:50 - Dwight Howard misses both free throws. Yowza. This will come back to bite the Magic. That would have iced the game and instead it's 87-84 with 10.8 seconds to go. Orlando leads

8:53 - Derek Fisher is in fact, still in the league. Despite being 0-5 in the game from behind the three point line, he his a three-pointer with four seconds to go.

OVERTIME -Time for me to get my antacid pills

9:00 - Last Finals to have two overtime games? Boston vs. LA in 1984. That says something about where the NBA is right now as a league. So entertaining.

9:04 - Pau Gasol has the best "WHAAAAT?!?!" face. He must react wonderfully when his girlfriend tells him that she's pregnant or has 15 aliases.

9:06 - Second WNBA ad... and it's funny that they show them playing in packed Arenas.

9:09 - DEREK FISHER FOR THREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! ... and did anyone notice Jameer Nelson get hit by Kobe Bryant's elbow of fury when he passed it out to Fisher? Me neither.

(Is this 2002 all over again with Fisher hitting big threes for the Lakeshow? Should I be listening to 98 degrees and Outkast? Can I get a copy of "The Spy Who Shagged Me"?

9:12 - 96-91 Pau Gasol breakaway dunk and he proceeds to akwardly chest bump everyone on the floor, even Adam Morrison, who drops the bibles he's selling. Game is over... now they just need to run out the clock.

9:14 - Gasol gets another bucket but is hard fouled by Pietrus. A very cheap shot by him because the only reason Gasol went for the bucket was because the Magic were still defending hard even though there was like three seconds left. They got chippy afterward, I'm pretty sure Gasol called Pietrus a "Mother Goose" or something like that.

99-91 Lakers win.

And Derek Fisher has that "I'm dating your hot ex-girlfriend" grin going on.

Reasons why you're still single... you're a Orlando Magic fan

If you're celebrating the fact that the Orlando Magic are back in the NBA Finals after winning the third game... don't. They're still down 2-1, they still had to shoot a disgusting 62 percent from the field and they still eeked out a victory over the Lakers. If Los Angeles makes their free throws, its a much different game.

And don't even talk to me about respecting the Magic when their own fans don't show up all regular season, making Amway Arena quieter than a church and then suddenly when they're in the playoffs and the Finals, the place becomes a "madhouse."

You're way too busy front-running to be having a girlfriend.

Epic Photo: LA Laker fans

David Arquette ... how the hell did you get Courtney Cox?

Has anyone noticed how Kobe Bryants muppet sounds and looks nothing like him?

I love Kobe Bryant right now.

Not only does the Game 1 victory by the Lakers allow me to leave work tomorrow thanks to a victory by a shrewd bet, but have you seen the Lebron-Kobe muppet commercials? Amazingly funny even though the Kobe muppet looks more like Tim Meadows.

But, like every rational NBA fan, I realize there's some baggage that comes with the black mamba, that's why I've decided to translate some of the NBA Finals post-Game 1 quotes for your reading pleasure.

Here's what they really meant...

"I just want it so bad, that's all," Bryant said. "I just want it really bad."

(I just want a bus to hit Shaq. That's all I'm asking.)

"This is a resilient team," he said. "They've been through a lot of adverse situations before. This is nothing new to them. We've got to forget about this and move on."

(Thanks for playing Orlando, if you even think about making this a series I will Kill Bill your a** so quickly, you'll all look like Hedo Turkoglu)

"We've never had a shooting night this bad," Howard said. "We've just got to come out and play a lot harder than we did tonight."

(And I've not got to go work on my lats and shoulder muscles. See you all in the gym!)

"He was great. He was tremendous," said Van Gundy, who felt his team did a poor job defending the Lakers' pick and roll. "We were giving him too much space on his pull-up jumpers and he did a good job of attacking us. I know this: We are a lot better than we showed."

(Good god, how the hell do we stop Kobe Bryant? Where are Tonya Harding's bodyguards when you need them?)

"We've just got to keep our foot on the gas and keep our head down and just keep on working," Bryant said.

(I'm going to rip Dwight Howard's face off and wear it a la Hannibal from "Silience of the Lambs" - hellloooo Claurice....)

... On second thought, I don't like Kobe Bryant

WWE wins their fight against the NBA... sorta

This is why people that watch the WWE don't have hot girlfriends. Serious.

Vince McMahon got his takedown of Denver Nuggets owner Stan Kroenke on the WWE television show Monday night.

Sort of.

During the World Wrestling Entertainment's "Monday Night Raw" show, McMahon shoved a mock Kroenke to the mat and the faux Kroenke fell out of the ring at the Staples Center. The wrestling card was switched from the Pepsi Center last week to Los Angeles because of Game 4 of the Lakers-Nuggets series being played in Denver. Originally, the date was held by the WWE.

And the following match... errr skit... just shows you what kind of intelligent storyline that an astute and classy organization such as the WWE can provide.

The imitation Kroenke then announced that he is "the owner of the soon-to-be NBA champion Denver Nuggets. And I cannot stand the WWE or its fans, for that matter."

"Do you think that I care that I screwed thousands of WWE fans? I do not. I have much more important things to do with my team than worry about you people."

McMahon then entered the fray, ambling into the ring and telling the pretend Kroenke, "None of this had to happen. All you had to do was pick up the phone, say `I didn't think my team would make the playoffs, I screwed up."

Seconds later, McMahon shoved "Kroenke" after warning him, "When you push the WWE universe, they push back."

The finale featured five-man tag teams wearing Nuggets and Lakers jerseys. The Lakers won, eliciting loud cheers from the Staples Center crowd.

Meanwhile, back in the real world where fans actually have jobs... the Nuggets beat the Lakers in Game 4. Now that Staples Center crowd might witness their team get eliminated, but hey, at least they got to see one heck of a wrassling match too.

Epic Photo: Kobe Bryant being blocked

The Western Conference Finals is tied 2-2 and we could be looking at an NBA Finals that may not have Kobe and Lebron, heck it may not have either.

Are you hoping for a Cavs-Lakers Finals or something different?

JustSON the Numbers: NBA Playoffs Game 7

Since this Sunday will feature two separate game 7's in the NBA Playoffs I thought I would focus this edition of JustSON the Numbers on the history of game 7 in the NBA.

When the Houston Rockets and Los Angeles Lakers tip off at 3:30 pm eastern time on Sunday May, 17th in Los Angeles on ABC it will mark the 103rd game 7 in NBA Playoff history.

The Boston Celtics and Orlando Magic follow up that game at 8:00 pm eastern time on TNT in Boston marking the 104th game 7 in history. In this seasons playoffs there have been two game 7's that both took place in the first round and both ended with the road team losing. Boston defeated the Chicago Bulls and the Atlanta Hawks defeated the Miami Heat.

Unfortunately for both Houston and Orlando history is not on there side. In the previous 102 games the home team holds a big advantage with 82 wins and only 20 losses. The lone bright spot for Houston is that the last 3 road teams to win a game 7 have been from the Western Conference and 2 of the last 3 have taken place in the Conference Semifinals, which happens to be this round of the playoffs.

Houston has won 2 road game 7's in the past, once in 1981 against the San Antonio Spurs (who were the last team to win a road game 7) and then again in 1995 against the Phoenix Suns. Houston is also playing the Lakers who have just once been on the losing end of a game 7 that they hosted and that was back in 1969 against Boston. Los Angeles does carry a 13-8 record in game 7's all-time, while Houston has a 5-3 record in the deciding game.

The Magic will be facing the Celtics who have a 20-5 all-time record in game 7's. A ray of hope for Orlando is the fact that Boston has lost 3 times at home in a game 7, in 1973 against the New York Knicks, again in 1982 versus the Philadelphia 76ers and most recently in 2005 while hosting the Indiana Pacers. Since the Magic have only been in the league since the start of the 1989 season they haven't had much experience in game 7's going only 1-1 in the deciding games.

The numbers don't lie, it will be a big task for either the Rockets or the Magic to pull off road victories on Sunday. It seems like we will be one step closer to seeing a repeat of last years NBA Finals when the Celtics beat the Lakers, but that is why they play the games. Maybe the Rockets will beat Kobe Bryant and the Lakers (Kobe has disappeared in game 7's before, Phoenix anyone?) and perhaps Dwight Howard and the Magic can pull off the upset in Boston.

I guess myself and everyone else will have to tune in on Sunday to see if the two road teams can do the unlikely.

If anyone has any requests for this column let us know. I don't discriminate, no matter the sport or the stat.