Bench

The 131-character dispatch arrived mournfully within two hours of sunrise May 4, at 7:58 a.m. to be exact. "When u give Give GIVE and they take Take TAKE at wat point do u draw a line in the sand?" Kobe Bryant wrote on his Twitter feed, adding the hashtags "hurt beyond measure," "gave me no warning," and finally, "love?" Bryant's career with the Lakers has often been pushed aside by internal family matters, the recent court battle over his memorabilia the latest in a string of cheerless events.

The Dodgers gave center fielder Matt Kemp his first day off this season, benching him for Wednesday's game. Kemp is batting .185 overall and .053 with runners in scoring position, with 17 strikeouts in 54 at-bats. Manager Don Mattingly watched as Kemp took early batting practice for the second time in three days. Mattingly and Kemp each said the center fielder has no injury issues, with his surgically repaired shoulder or otherwise. "There's nothing wrong with me," Kemp said.

Your choices in San Francisco hotels are overwhelming. The prices can be too. So during our staff visit to the City by the Bay, we looked for reasonably priced hotels that had charm, location or both. We came back with 14 ideas on places to bed down. It's not a complete list, but it is eclectic, like the city itself. Mystic Hotel. This property, which opened in April, stands on a tunnel-adjacent block of Stockton Street that you'll never see on a picture postcard, yet it has style, as do the Burritt Tavern bar and restaurant downstairs.

The expectation of a playoff-clinching moment for the Ducks deteriorated Wednesday into something far less memorable. The Colorado Avalanche, trailing all other NHL teams in points, forced Ducks goaltender Jonas Hiller to the bench by scoring four goals off him in the first two periods, en route to a 4-1 victory at Honda Center. "They wanted it more than us, won every battle, worked harder," Ducks defenseman Sheldon Souray said. And as Ducks Coach Bruce Boudreau added: "When we stink, we stink.

Trial judges are, on the books, elected officials, and even the vast majority of those whose names never appear on a ballot are subject to election challenge every six years. Should voters not call them to account for their performance, as they do with any other politician, on election day? Should they not encourage opponents to challenge incumbent judges? Or are judges different from members of Congress or city councils? Judges are most definitely different. The last thing we want or need in California is trial judges who sit on the bench with one eye on justice and the other on how any particular ruling is going to play with the public.

A huge weight was lifted off the shoulders of a group of Chatsworth athletes when Bob Evans opened up his garage to them. The half a dozen veterans of a lifetime of muscle building found themselves without a place to work out two years ago when their friend Kevin Meskew was forced to close the fitness center where they all congregated twice each week. The power-lifters — most in their 60s and 70s — discovered that health clubs filled with young people doing aerobics and Pilates and taking spinning classes were wary of senior citizens coming in and hoisting 500-pound barbells over their heads.

And a baby shall lead them … Make that a Big Baby. Inexplicably, it was Big Baby and a Smurf leading the way for the Celtics in the fourth quarter against the Lakers in Game 4 of the NBA Finals. Big Baby, of course, was Glen Davis and the Smurf was backup point guard Nate Robinson, all of 5 feet 9, who combined for 30 points, 15 of those coming in the final quarter in the Celtics' 96-89 victory on Thursday night at TD Garden. That, quite clearly, was the matchup of Game 4. The Lakers bench vs. the Celtics bench.

As noted by The Times' Mike Bresnahan , the Lakers are "debating whether to bring Pau Gasol off the bench when he returns from knee tendinitis. " There's no question the team's forward/center and former All-Star has struggled to fit alongside Dwight Howard.  Gasol has admitted multiple times that he's more comfortable closer to the basket, but that's where the Lakers have Howard positioned. Gasol does need to play stretches at center.  That's where he'll flourish but coming off the bench doesn't achieve that.

Women come to Jackie Warner all the time and ask, "How do I get toned arms?" Warner, the author of the book "10 Pounds in 10 Days" and a fitness expert, has an answer: the bench tricep dip. What it does The exercise focuses on the triceps muscles at the back of the upper arm. How to do it All you need is a park or backyard bench. Facing away from the bench, place your arms behind you, hands on the bench, fingers facing forward. Place your feet close together and slightly in front of your knees.

With the potential tying run on second base and one out in the ninth inning Sunday, Mike Scioscia turned to his bench. The Angels' manager wanted a pinch-hitter for catcher Jeff Mathis , who was hitless in his first three at-bats, but the players at Scioscia's disposal might have seemed more like last resorts than enticing options. There was Cory Aldridge , who had one major league hit in 14 professional seasons; Bobby Wilson , who was batting .200 against right-handed pitchers; and Brandon Wood , whose season-long slump had only deepened amid a two-for-20 slide.

The expectation of a playoff-clinching moment for the Ducks deteriorated Wednesday into something far less memorable. The Colorado Avalanche, trailing all other NHL teams in points, forced Ducks goaltender Jonas Hiller to the bench by scoring four goals off him in the first two periods, en route to a 4-1 victory at Honda Center. “They wanted it more than us, won every battle, worked harder,” Ducks defenseman Sheldon Souray said. BOX SCORE: Colorado 4, Ducks 1 And as Ducks Coach Bruce Boudreau added: “When we stink, we stink.” Hiller had won eight of his last nine decisions at home, with a 1.88 goals-against average since March 1 before Wednesday's head-scratching performances.

When Pau Gasol initially went down with a foot injury, Earl Clark gave the Lakers a burst with his athleticism and energy. As teams became increasingly cognizant of Clark's ability to affect the game, defenses began to plan against him. Playing major minutes night after night -- after three years of limited opportunity -- hit Clark like a wall. With Gasol's return, the young forward was moved back to the bench. Over the last six games, Clark has scored just 16 points. On Tuesday night in a must-win game against the Dallas Mavericks, he exploded for 17 points, 12 rebounds and a career-high five blocks.

Kevin Ware collapsed in front of Louisville's bench on Sunday after gruesomely breaking his leg in the first half against Duke. Next Saturday in Atlanta, if all goes well, he'll be back on the bench for Louisville's NCAA national semifinal game against Wichita State. Ware had surgery Sunday night to repair the fracture and is reportedly resting comfortably at an Indianapolis hospital. “As long as nothing happens infection-wise, we expect him to come home tomorrow to Louisville,” Coach Rick Pitino said Monday on a national conference call with the three other Final Four coaches.

Few Lakers fans knew Earl Clark's name at the start of the season. When injuries hit the team's big men, Clark found himself in the starting lineup. Now Pau Gasol's return from a 20-game absence means a return to the bench for Clark, who has averaged 9.5 points and 7.3 rebounds as a starter. "I'm going to be fine, man," the easy-going Clark said Friday. "I think I did my job well. Pau, he's a Hall of Famer. He makes a lot of money. The guy's a two-time champion and I don't know how many All-Star games [four]

The Clippers' reserves had been holding back lately. One of the most productive benches in the NBA had combined to average only 25.3 points in the three games prior to the Clippers' 101-72 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers on Wednesday night at Staples Center, being outscored by their counterparts in each game. They were back to their more prolific ways against the 76ers, outscoring them 42-25 largely on the strength of 12 points from reserve Jamal Crawford and 10 from Ryan Hollins . That wasn't the case a night earlier, when the margin was 62-38 in favor of the Sacramento Kings' reserves during the Clippers' 116-101 loss on Tuesday.

Goaltender Zach Sikich's NHL career lasted only a few minutes. But he will have great stories to tell his son and newborn daughter about the small role he played Tuesday as the Ducks rallied for a 2-1 victory over the Wild at St. Paul, Minn. It was the Ducks' fourth straight win and eighth straight game with a point (6-0-2). Scheduled starter Viktor Fasth sustained an upper-body injury during the morning skate, thrusting Jonas Hiller into a starting role and leaving the Ducks scrambling for a backup.

When it came to the heavy lifting Thursday, it was the bench press of Boston that decided Game 4. That was excellent game management by Doc Rivers, leaving the bench in just long enough in the fourth quarter to take control down the stretch, but not so long as to ice the starters on the sideline. There's a fine line you have to walk as a coach to make sure all the egos are massaged. In this case, everybody got in, everybody played a role, and nobody could go home thinking, "The coach doesn't believe in me."

The Lakers front office keeps hitting a pretty good percentage at the plate. First, they drastically upgrade the team's point guard spot by acquiring veteran elite guard Steve Nash. Then, they significantly bolster their bench by securing veteran forward Antawn Jamison without spending a significant amount of money (veteran's minimum). It remains to be seen whether the Lakers will follow that up by acquiring Dwight Howard. But considering the constant criticism it faced in the past season, sometimes in this corner of the blogosphere, the Lakers' brass in Mitch Kupchak, Jim Buss and Jerry Buss deserve loads of credit for a pretty productive offseason.

PEORIA, Ariz. - Skip Schumaker and Jerry Hairston Jr. each carried a pair of fielders' gloves to the backfields at Camelback Ranch on Saturday, just as they have done every morning during spring training. "That's part of being a bench player," says Schumaker, who has played five positions in the majors, even pitching an inning. "That's why you take a couple of gloves out there in practice and work at every position. Because you don't know where you're going to be. " That may not be an issue should Carl Crawford's comeback from reconstructive elbow surgery remain stalled.