Well the Lakers sure ended strong, eh? … The Celtics clearly deserved the NBA title. They accomplished what seemed pretty difficult – meshing three star players together in a year, with no time for adjusting. … Boston crowds chant some pretty insightful things, though it was pretty lame when they chanted “Overrated” at LeBron James. Didn’t Washington lay claim to that absurd chant?. … But in Game 6 of the Finals, the fans yelled “You’re not Jordan” to Kobe Bryant. It’s a jab, yes, but it’s clever enough to be funny. … Wrote T.J. Simers of the Lakers “ … maybe there are better days ahead if Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom ever track down the Wizard of Oz and acquire some courage and heart.”

Someone asked what Cedar Fair would do with the rides left at Geauga Lake? Well, for one they could have told the truth last year in July or August and allowed folks to visit the park one more time. They’re allowed to shut down the park if it’s not profitable; my argument is not coming clean. They also missed a golden chance for a “one last chance” marketing strategy. That’s the first thing. Second … I do believe they own a park in Sandusky, so could not some of the rides be moved out there? Beats auctioning a historic wonder – The Big Dipper – for $5,000. Sheesh. Enjoyed a couple of your comments here. As in: “The way the closing was announced only after the end of the season sure makes me less likely to visit Cedar Point, Cedar Fair's other north Ohio park. As in, will not.” And another simply said: “I hope Cedar Point fails.” There were others pro Cedar Fair, of course. I just liked those.

Finally, talked to Joe Congemi, a surgeon and sports medicine expert and trainer who works at Akron Children’s. We talked about travel, airports and security, but we also talked about Tiger Woods. I plan to write more about Woods in the coming days (perhaps Friday, if not then Sunday for sure). Evidently he took a big chance when he played with a damaged ACL and two stress fractures in his left knee and leg. Here’s some of what Congemi said …

On simply playing in the U.S. Open: “You couldn’t design a worse post-operative rehab than Tiger went through.”

More on the risk: “We talk about risk-benefit ratios all the time. The risk if I play vs. if I don’t. He’s a professional athlete. It’s the U.S. Open. He knows there’s a good chance to win. It’s a course he knows well. They got him ready to play, but he really took some risks with the future of his career. A significant amount of risks.”

On Woods and the U.S. Open: "He does incredible things when he goes out there. We know that. But the biggest concern is potential degenerative arthritis, which could lead to knee replacement, that kind of potential severe price. He’s made so many good decisions, and he’s surrounded by so many good people. Looking from the outside I’m surprised that somebody couldn’t have talked to him about the risk significance of his actions. We talk with our people and we have to see the future. There are 30-to-50 active years ahead. He has a family. You just couldn’t’ have designed a worse weekend for him.”

Last word: “What makes him the greatest of alltime is his incredible competitive drive. But you have to look down the road into the future. This risk could carry a severe price down the line.”

The Lakers think that effort last night gives them claim to winning two more in Boston? Please. If that’s true, I can lay real claim to Adriana Lima, who spurned all of us dumpy dopey mid-range males for Marko Jaric (see the post). Mentioning her is really an excuse so I can post one more photo of her. Be honest, it’s better than starting with a photo of Sasha Vujacic isn’t it? As for Vujacic, can someone please just send him to work on swingsets or something? The Indians are now 5 ½ games out. Never has a 33-37 record looked so good.

Sunday was Father’s Day – if you haven’t bought the handkerchiefs or pruning shears yet it’s just too late. Wouldn’t you like to talk to the guy who invented handkerchiefs? Take them out, blow your nose into them and then stuff it back in your pocket, snots and all. Now there’s a great idea! At any rate, we digress. For Father’s Day, my daughters allowed me to take them to Cedar Point. Which makes sense if you think about it this way: Why not do the things that most make you a Dad on Father’s Day? When they were younger, we’d go to Family Day at the indoor pool nearby. Now it’s Cedar Point. When they get older we’ll go to the bank. Same principle, different thrills. Of course they drag me on all the rides, including Dragster and Millennium and Maverick. We avoid the turnpike cars and Cedar Downs. Too tame. It’s fabulous fun – and after some of the rides my brain is really not banging too badly against my skull so it is possible to walk to the next ride. Sometimes.

Growing up I used to think two things about Cedar Point. First was that the causeway was about 19 miles long. It’s just a tiny bit less.

I also thought was that Cedar Point was the gold standard for parks. Yes there was Euclid Beach and Geauga Lake (Yes, I’m THAT old), but they weren’t Cedar Point. Now I wonder, even though some of the brain-mashing rides are fabulous. First reason is the way Cedar Fair, the parent company of Cedar Point (Are all the kids of the executives in that company named Cedar?), shut down Geauga Lake. This action was nearly unconscionable. Not just because they did it so soon after buying it, but because of the way they did it. No announcement, no advance notice, no way for anyone to make a final visit with Adriana Lima. It also was interesting that when rumors were circulating that Geauga Lake may be closing that Cedar Fair released statements it would not comment on rumors. Then they did just what the rumors said they would – they closed it and almost immediately started dismantling the rides many of us grew up with. Which made me wonder: When did Cedar Fair become a working member of the NFL? Guess it’s good to know professional sports teams are not the only folks who play with the truth and lie.

Why is it that we teach our kids to tell the truth and be upright, then we turn a blind eye to adults not telling the truth and not being upright? Makes no sense. How can these people live with themselves knowing they misled people and did not come clean? I figure there’s no mirrors in their homes.

Now, Cedar Fair may quibble and say that Geauga Lake is not closed, that it’s still a fabulous water park where Adriana Lima can swim. Two counters: I own stock in Cedar Fair so I can say whatever I want. Second, a water park? That’s sure what Geauga Lake was all about for its existence. This would be like tearing down Blossom and putting up a motorcycle shop there and calling it Blossom. It was unconscionable for Cedar Fair to close the park the way they did in the first place, to toy with people’s hearts and memories the way they did. Please don’t try to sell us that it’s still Geauga Lake as a water park (a fine water park at that).

So Cedar Fair, we all put our thumb on the end of our nose and wiggle our fingers across the Causeway. And maybe even from Adriana Lima.

Then there is the way Cedar Point is run. Now, let me be fair and say the rides are fabulous. Maverick is a hoot (that’s a technical roller coaster term). Millenium is fabulous. And Dragster is the rush of all-time (roller coaster wise) – one must always yell “GO CAR GO” at the top of his or her lungs at the top to ensure the car does indeed make it over the top. Raptor is more than underrated. And for us folks who remember Harrison’s presidency, Blue Streak is always fun. There’s other great rides as well, like the Antique Cars. But there’s something missing that takes the park from top of the line, state of the art, gold standard, to the level of the very good.

Take the food, please. There’s enough sugar and breading at that park to clog arteries for generations. Is it too much to ask for something a tiny bit healthy? Then take the nickel and diming. Cedar Point forces everyone to leave items in a locker prior to riding some rides. Then they charge for the lockers — $1 for small, $2 for large. After you’ve already paid $42 or so to get in (that’s more than 10 gallons of gas!!!) Gimme a break here. At Disney World, lockers are provided free when needed. At Universal, they are free for 90 minutes or two hours or so. A dollar for a locker sounds like Cedar Fair runs airlines on the side. They also have this indoor roller coaster called Disaster Transport. Apparently there are 3-D effects on the ride or on the way into the ride, because someone was selling 3-D glasses one time we got on. Operative word there – selling. That’s right, they’ve built a ride with some 3-D effects, then they make you buy the stinking glasses to see the effects they’ve built. I wish I could tell you where the effects are, but I can’t. In a stand of principle and fiscal sanity, we declined to purchase the glasses. Adriana Lima would be proud. What’s next, $1.50 for ice in drinks?

Lines at Cedar Point can be long. Balzac wrote novels waiting for Millenium. What does Cedar Point do? It plays music. This helps. A little, but not a lot. The park also has winding lines that go in and out of the sun, with a silly canvas cover over your head. The cover helps, but that’s all there is. Disney entertains folks in line with videos, games, pre-ride stuff. The wait is just as long, but doesn’t seem that way because you’re not winding back and forth about 37 times – sometimes under blistering hot sun. Cedar Point does have fans that blow cool air and mist on folks, which is nice. But it would be nicer if someone might actually dust these fans once every 38 months. They do cool you for the five feet you are within range, but they get a little gross. Oh, there’s also the Maverick line, which goes in this semi-open structure meant to look like an old West type building. When it’s 90-some degrees that building gets rather tepid, shall we say. Air conditioning in that place might have been nice, but in light of global warming we’ll assume Cedar Fair was being climate-responsible. But would it have been too tough to hang a few ceiling fans to at least move some air? There are lights all over … and last I checked dopes like me can even hang a ceiling fan in a bedroom, so one would imagine geniuses who come up with the rides could hang a few fans.

These may be little things, and obviously Cedar Point is a strong enough park to pack them in without these things. But little things make the difference between five-star and four-star. The food issue could be solved easily – and it might actually make the park more attractive to people like Adriana Lima. The other stuff, well it seems like a matter of want-to. As in, if Cedar Fair wanted to be good to the longtime customers, it would not have been so rude and thoughtless about the way it shut down Geauga Lake. And if Cedar Fair wanted to make sure its customers had a more pleasant experience waiting in the lines, it could do something more. And if Cedar Fair wanted to have a clean environment, it would clean the fans and clean the gum off the posts that idiots feel is necessary to leave there. And if Cedar Fair wanted a pleasant environment, it could do something about making sure its employees were all friendly and didn’t act like they were bored out of their minds. In fact, if Cedar Fair wanted its customers to leave with a cholesterol count below 300, it could do something about the food.

Make no mistake, we’ll be back this summer. Several times. We’ll even take Adriana Lima if she’ll go. None of this stopped us from buying our passes, and my daughters make good use of those passes. So we’ll be back. It’s just that the image of the “gold standard” park has taken a hit, and it could be because as one advances in years one gains wisdom but also gets more picky.

See ya in line at the Dragster. But before you go I suggest going to Walgreen’s and getting a water bottle that also has a mister on it. Helps keep ya cool on those 92-degree days as you wind up and down and up and down and up and down and up and down with absolutely nothing else to do.

It’s time to give the Celtics their due. Big limb there, eh? Next week: The Arctic is cold! To be honest, I did not think the Celtics were that good. I thought whoever won the West would win the title. Clearly that is not going to happen. The Game 4 comeback by Boston was probably worth two wins. No team can recover emotionally from giving (choking?) away a 24-point lead in the NBA Finals.

The Lakers have proven that a team that does not play defense cannot win, and the Celtics have proven that a team that does play defense does win. Don’t you love these guys who play defense by dancing around, waving their arms, letting their hair fly, acting like just because they’re moving like jitterbugs they’re effective. I refer, of course, to Sasha Vujacic, who did all that to Ray Allen late in the game. Allen’s response was to roll his eyes, back out to the top of the circle, tell his teammates not to even bother setting a pick and then beat Vujacic clean to the basket.

Vujacic is the same guy who made a meaningless three in the series-clinching win over the Spurs. Game was over, all he had to do was dribble out the clock and he put up and made a three that did not nothing but pad his stats. Enough said.

In this Finals game, Allen was by Vujacic before he got to the foul line. It was one of the greatest displays of absurd defense seen in decades. Then, to top it off, Allen drove down the middle of the lane and no Laker even went to stop him. Isn’t Pau Gasol 7-feet tall? Could he not have tried something? Yes, the Lakers were told to stay with their man, but at that point things were a bit desperate. The only thing on the line was, well, the NBA title. So try something.

Nope, instead Gasol and Vujacic combined to give Allen a wide-open left-handed layup that sealed the win. While some Celtics have really shown their mettle – Paul Pierce may be carving a Hall of Fame spot for himself – some Lakers have shown their flaws. Specifically Gasol, who has carried the “soft” label for some time and is earning it in this series. Gasol is a nice player who made the Lakers as good as they are, but in a series like this with the physical players the Celtics have, he’s outmatched. Ben Wallace would shut him down.

The Finals are an amazing experience. In Los Angeles, much is written about the fact Kobe Bryant really has not become a better teammate. And that the role players so vaunted as the playoffs went on now are not good enough. Heck, even zen-master Phil Jackson is being questioned. That’s what happens when a team struggles in a series, especially the last series.

As for Pierce, I remain skeptical about the antics that went on with his Game 1 knee injury, though it seems clear now that Pierce thought he was hurt, which is what led to the wheelchair and forklift and chair ride up and down the steps. But since, Pierce has played fabulously. He’s directed his team, led his team and in Game 4 he defended Kobe Bryant. I hereby remove any doubt about the guy and simply say that he has been great during this playoff run.

Finally, let’s state this one more time: There’s only one team that took the Celtics to the limit in the playoffs. That’s the Cavs, who took them to the final minute of Game 7. And that says something about how close this team was to winning. They didn’t do it, but they sure deserve more credit than they’re getting.

Lakers fans got pretty mad at Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling for this look at Kobe Bryant from the expensive seats.

Have to love T.J. Simers, a writer with the Los Angeles Times who cuts nobody any quarter. Well, like a lot … not love. California is one of those states that legalizes same-you-know-what-marriage. So … have to really, really, really like the writing of T.J. Simers. Don’t have to love him. At any rate, Jim McMahon once blew his nose on Simers’ shoulder, which is a claim to some kind of fame. He had some funny stuff to say here about David Stern’s response to Tim Donaghy. And a funny e-mail about Gasol. And some not so funny stuff about Phil Jackson. He also had took on Schilling’s blogging here.

Is there anything more boring on television than golf? “Looks like he’s got a three-iron Jim.” “I thought he’d use the four.” Imagine that, the three instead of the four. I love when they describe rounds as good “ball striking rounds.” All this time I thought they were hitting pandas? And God knows that the first cut sure can be difficult.

Dadgum it, Adriana Lima chose Marko Jaric. What’s Jaric got that a dumpy Irish sportswriter doesn’t have, other than a million or two dollars, I ask indignantly.

Replay coming to baseball? BIG mistake. Seen the NFL’s oh-so-efficient system lately?

Think folks in New York aren’t convinced that eventually C.C. Sabathia will pitch there? Guess again.

The endless debate in this frail mind right now is about Sirius Radio. Received it for a gift and just can’t decide if using something three times a week in the car is worth the $13 per month. I welcome your thoughts, he wrote in a clever attempt to see if there are more than seven people actually reading this driv … err … blog. And, NO jokes about being cheap.

I keep going back to the Cavs as I watch the Celtics, and I ask a simple question: Will someone please recognize that Mike Brown is not crazy when he says a team can win a title focusing on defense?