Team USA announced, entire country forced to root for Kobe

Fairweather Lakers fans, diehard Lakers fans, and Americans alike, will now all be forced to root for Kobe Bryant in the upcoming 2008 Olympic games in Beijing. Whether you've booed him in the past (or at the beginning of the regular season if you are a Lakers fan), you will be forced to swallow any disdain and root for the man the media has dubbed, "greatest player in the league." So light a candle, play John Lennon's "Imagine," do whatever you have to do; it's time to unite the country and regain USA Basketball's spot at the top. In your face, Jorge Garbosa. (He just seemed like the appropriate Euro player to taunt. Not really sure why.)

Here, I'll start liking Kobe now by saying this: I am really glad he is on the team. We really do need him. We need all the help we can get, and Kobe was dominant in last summer's qualifying tournament.

Rounding out the 12-man are Lebron James, Dwayne Wade, Carmelo Anthony, Jason Kidd, Tayshaun Prince, Carlos Boozer, Chris Bosh, Dwight Howard, Chris Paul, Michael Redd, and Deron Williams.

I'm also very glad to have these NBA stars aboard--although I'm concerned with our lack of depth down low. Luckily, the international game doesn't present too many dominant big men. Although, they did run into Sofoklis "Baby Shaq" Schortsanitis a few summers ago in the 2006 FIBA World Championship, and had a tough time. As long as Howard and Boozer can stay out of foul trouble we should be victorious. Although, the whole "Russian judge" thing does exist in international competition, unfortunately, so expect a few questionable calls. (You'll forget all about Tim Donaghey.)

Yes, it's time to rally behind Team USA and root them on to the gold medal. I, for one, am both excited and nervous, knowing that if we can't win it this year...well...I'm not sure what else we need to do.

Hopefully, Kobe and Team USA won't run into the team from Ireland though. (Get it? Because he just lost to the "Celtics" in the NBA Finals.) The Irish don't even have a team in the Olympics this year, but I'd be nervous if they did. Especially, if their top 3 players were Devin Garnett, Saul Pierce, and Jay Allen. Obviously, this is completely unrealistic. "Garnett" and "Pierce" are names of English origin, and "Allen" is a Scottish name. None of them would be allowed on the team.

In closing, USA! USA! USA!

The Silver Bulls

Silver Bulls? Duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh. Silver Bulls?

No.

I'm talking about the real thing. I'm talking about actual silver. I'm not singing a Christmas song and replacing "bells" with "bulls." Sorry.

What about silver, you ask? Well, it's quite simple. It's awesome, and you can invest in it. I'm talking about MDC, or Monex Deposit Company. Their investment services are unmatched, to buy silver and other precious metals. And you can even have these precious metals delivered to your house, personally. You can also conveniently store them in safe storage or an independent bank. That's Shaggy Boombastic!

So silver is available in two different forms. What are they? Coin and ingot. Plain and simple. Ying and yang...kind of. If you want to invest in one of these forms, do it. Don't be scared. Do it, now. Ingots are generally silver ingots of pure bullion cast in a convenient size and shape. Coins have a currency value or they can also be defined as ingots.

Now is the absolute best time for investing in silver bullion. That means it's a good time to invest. I mean, the world demand exceeds annual production! And it's been this way since 1990...every year!

Silver bullion is low too, bro. Above ground stockpiles of it are getting smaller, and that shiny stuff might delete itself from the monitor that is the earth soon. They are approaching freakin' zero! That's not good for rich people. Also, Monex Precious Metals (MPM) is home to a staff that is so large, and so dedicated, that they decided to commit to you and help out with your precious metal investment needs. They are America's best dealer, with convenient market and competitive precious metals prices! Ahhh!!! Get on it now, mate!

The Bulls should draft Rose

The Chicago Bulls should draft Derrick Rose. Here is why. He kind of looks like a tiger, and tigers and bulls have never, in the history of the world, been put into the same ring (or court). But, I think if they ever teamed up, they would probably take over not only the NBA, but the world as well. I mean, think about it: Tigers and Bulls? Unstoppable.

Of course, Detroit may get mad, but hey, it's not like there are any baseball players that look like bulls. The Bulls got Derrick Rose fair and square. It was the ping pong balls. So in '08, go Team Tiger-Bull!

With the eleventh hour looming, Lakers deliver

The Los Angeles Lakers have survived...for now. In their potential eleventh hour (could the tie-in be any better?), they managed to beat the Boston Celtics to avoid elimination in Game 5. But now the series heads back to Boston and leaves LA still on the verge of elimination. And the Celtics had many missed opportunities to take the momentum and win Game 5. (Not to mention Paul Pierce had 38 points.) Will the Lakers change their fate and pull off the most miraculous comeback in NBA Finals history? Well, we at Eleventh Hour hope so. We have to pull for the hometown team...even if we are a little bit conflicted, considering the Celtics' color scheme is a close relative to ours--just a few shades down on the "Roy G. Biv" scale.

Despite the majority of mainstream media still writing the Lakers off after there less than dominating performance in Game 5, LA bloggers seem to be very optimistic about the Lakers' chances going into Game 6. Even "sports authority," Pink is the New Blog, is getting in on the conversation, showing exclusive pictures of celebrities courtside. As is Yahoo's sports blog, "Ball Don't Lie." And Cristela of the Mind of Mencia Blog is talking about how tough it is to be a Celtics fan in LA. Although, I'm not really sure who Cristela is, or why she writes for the Mind of Mencia Blog. Carlos Mencia doesn't even write his own blogs now? But I digress. Check out some of these interesting views in the blogosphere about the series:

http://pinkisthenewblog.com/home/la-lakers-win-game-5-of-the-nba-finals/

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/blog/ball_dont_lie/post/Photo-fun-Hollywood-stars-react-to-Lakers-heart?urn=nba,87829

http://menciablog.comedycentral.com/mencia_blog/2008/06/lakers-and-celt.html

And for you Celtics fans, CelticsBlog.com is tracking all things Finals, including criticism of KG, Celtics plane issues, and a raffle for Game 6 tickets.