Kobe is a great player - no doubt. 82 points in one game is unbelievable BUT given a choice between Kobe or Shaq and the Coach I would have taken the latter. Shaq, despite his fitness problems and encroaching age, is still unique. Kobe is replaceable, like with a Dwayne Wade. Imagine if the Lakers had kept Shaq and Coach and gotten Dwayne. They might be playing the Clippers right now.

Amazingly my co-worker agreed. We also agreed that Elton Brand is still severely underrated yet a class act all around.

He asked about the Dodgers and we had the same assessment. We both had stopped following the team when the O'Malleys sold out. Pretty amazing consensus of opinion considering the guy is about ten years younger than myself.

On soccer we differed but in a good, friendly way. He likes Brazil in the World Cup; I'll be rooting for the U.S. and the Netherlands. How and why the U.S. is ranked #4 in the world is beyond me but whatever greenery the judges smoked, I want some.

He also explained to me the big brouhaha about the Mexican player Blanco who is one of my personal favorite players. He said it was about money but if a reader with clearer knowledge would pipe in I'd appreciate it. And if someone could tell me how to pronounce his first name "Cuahtemoc" I'd appreciate that as well.

Work is fun so far but there are shoes waiting to be dropped, like I'm supposed to learn what one of my co-workers does so she can go on vacation in two weeks. Damn tall order considering there is zero project tracking, meaning there's no documentation as to what's where.

And that's why we have Mylanta and Tums...