May 12, 2012

Awful. Dreadful. Pathetic.

That's us, losing yet again Thursday, when the A's and Bartolo Colon got throttled in Oakland by the Tigers. It was over early, so at least it wasn't a slow death but rather a baseball bat to the head, which is swift and has more finality.

We will, mark our words, break out of this eventually. Whether it happens before the Major League Baseball All-Star break, however, is something else entirely.

One thing before getting to our losing play for Saturday...

Word leaked Thursday that Denver Nuggets forward Chris 'Birdman' Anderson is the target of a Douglas County (Co.) sheriff's department task force investigation into allegations of criminal activity against children via the Internet.

While authorities have been investigating Anderson since February, he has not been charged or arrested and according to the AP nothing is imminent.

The investigation stems from a relationship Anderson allegedly began online with a woman in California.

Anderson allegedly received numerous letters, as well as lewd pictures from the woman, who represented herself as 21-years old.  His home about 40 miles south of Denver has been searched.

Anderson's lawyer, M. Colin Bresee, who should be disbarred for using an initial for his first name, released a statement, saying his client is the subject of an extortion attempt by the woman and her mother.

According to the statement, the woman visited Anderson in Colorado, providing him -- of course --with identification to prove her age, (because, really, who doesn't ID their dates). When Anderson decided not to pursue the relationship long term, there were demands placed on him, including financial compensation, Bresee said.

Bresee's statement contains portions of an email the woman's mother allegedly sent Anderson: "(I) want him to pay for everything of her Amazon wish list, 5k for her bedding stuff and her victoria secret (sic) wish list."

Who knows who's telling the truth. If Anderson's lawyer is to be believed, the mother and daughter are a trashier -- but less famous -- version of Sarah and Bristol Palin.

The authorities, however, usually don't investigate someone for three months if they don't have a reason to do so.

All of which means Anderson has two choices, neither of which seems very good.

One, he knowingly engaged in an online relationship with a minor, a felony. We checked with The Playhouse's legal department and that seems like kind of big deal.

His second choice is less felonious but nonetheless embarrassing for a professional basketball player who has made over $19 million during his career: So desperate was he to score some tail, he descended into some weird nether world on the Internet that apparently caters to high-net worth men and the women who try to rip them off.

For his sake, let's hope it's the latter. And then for every one's sake, let's hope we get to meet mom and daughter -- because those sound like some classy honeys.


Super Play of the Day (for those still interested)

Lakers -5.5