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Phil Jackson never liked to compare Kobe Bryant to Michael Jordan. Believe me, I tried everything. Sometimes I'd ask him after random Lakers practices or before games against Charlotte, the team Jordan owned. Or after games in Chicago, where nostalgia hopefully would add to the mix. There would be a little nugget here, a tiny nibble there, but nothing that mattered. It's coming out now, though, in Jackson's 339-page memoir co-written with Hugh Delehanty and available Tuesday: "Eleven Rings: The Soul of Success.

Re "The voice of L.A.," Opinion, May 14 Part of what makes Vin Scully special is that he is not ubiquitous. His style, often imitated, is still truly unique among sports announcers, and I for one appreciate him all the more for that. In Los Angeles, we've been blessed by having some of the best announcers for our sports teams. Dick Enberg, who called Rams games, was no slouch; I still miss hearing him. Chick Hearn was unparalleled as a basketball announcer, and Al Michaels certainly rates on a national level for whatever sport he voices.

“Downton Abbey" is going to look quite different when it returns for a fourth season. On Friday Siobhan Finneran -- better known to fans as O'Brien, Lady Grantham's constantly scheming, severely coiffed maid -- confirmed that she is leaving the beloved costume drama. Finneran follows co-stars Dan Stevens and Jessica Brown Findlay out the door, though it seems likely her character will do so under less tragic circumstances than theirs: In the Season 3 finale, O'Brien was jockeying hard for a new job that would allow her to see more of the world.

When I think of our local baseball teams and their supporters, I envision my wife in a bathing suit. Or trying to get into one. Every year when spring arrives, I hear about her summer plans and how good she's going to look in a new bathing suit. About the same time I hear from Angels and Dodgers fans overwhelmed with optimism. No matter what I write here next, I'm not going to win. That is if the truth matters. But I've also noticed over the years that any attempt at humor when it comes to the local baseball teams or bathing suits isn't going to go over well.

Keegan Bradley had no thoughts about a course record, or the possibility of a 59, after consecutive bogeys in the middle of his opening round in the Byron Nelson Championship at Irving, Texas. Until his 136-yard wedge shot on his final hole Thursday. "It was going right at it. [A 59] crossed my mind for a second, and it would be unbelievable if I buried this," Bradley said. "But I had three feet to shoot 60. I was actually very nervous, uncomfortable over it and thank God I made it. " Bradley shot 10-under-par 60, completed by that short birdie at the 428-yard ninth hole, to break the TPC Four Seasons course record and match the best round ever at the Nelson.

UCLA and Steve Alford. A basketball program of unmatched pedigree led by a former prodigy who became a national champion and Olympic gold medalist before making a steady climb up the coaching ladder. On paper, a harmonic convergence. How they came together, a choreography of those themes, would make for a dazzling introduction, which UCLA held at center court in historic Pauley Pavilion last month. The aura of John Wooden, his contributions to sports and society - and those 10 national titles - was thick.

He had just made the final out in a city where his name is booed, his jersey is reviled, and his team had been swept. His power had disappeared, his swing was spotty, and his season was a wreck. Matt Kemp would have been excused for quickly disappearing through the dugout at San Francisco's AT&T Park on Sunday night and forgetting all about an earlier promise to third base coach Tim Wallach. “But that was the neat deal about it,” Wallach said. “He was standing there waiting for me.” PHOTOS: Greatest moments in Dodger Stadium history Kemp was waiting to cross the diamond to sign an autograph for a terminally ill Dodgers fan, waiting to summon the passion necessary to pass along the hope that he now found so precious.

I've been to Disneyland hundreds of times over the last two decades and have been writing the Funland theme park blog for about four years now. As a result, people are always asking me how to do everything at Disneyland in a single day. The short answer is you probably can't. It can be a struggle for even hard-core fans with military assault-like strategies. The longer answer is there's lots of ways to maximize your time in the park and get on the most rides possible. PHOTOS: How to do Disneyland in a day So in honor of Disneyland's 24-hour Leap Day celebration , here are my seven tips for tackling Disneyland in a day: Tip 1: If you're trying to get the most out of your day at Disneyland , I always recommend arriving just before the park opens in the morning, staying until the park closes at night and taking a long break in the heat of the afternoon at your hotel pool or cocktail bar. It may sound like a long day, but you'll get more done in the first two hours and the last two hours of your day than if you spent 15 hours straight at the park.

Having allowed fans to decide how much its latest album is worth, Radiohead is now allowing them to shape how its new single, "Nude," will sound. The British band, which let fans name their price for downloading "In Rainbows" last fall, is posting five component tracks, or "stems," from the single for purchase on iTunes. That will let them remix the stems, add beats, instruments or audio effects of their choosing. Fans then upload finished remixes to www.radioheadremix.com, where other Radiohead fans can listen and vote for a favorite.

Beered up but suddenly benign, disappointed Kings fans poured out of Staples Center on Wednesday night. "Why couldn't we win it here?" rang out across L.A. Live after the Kings' loss. "We're still up 3-1," assured Dan Sine. "We have to win one, they have to win three," mathematician Debbie Eskenazi explained. And so it goes, this improbable season is frozen for at least a few more days. "I'm not worried, I'm disappointed," said Tommy Nast, summing up the feelings of most fans as they spilled out of Staples Center, still a little shell-shocked.

UCLA and Steve Alford. A basketball program of unmatched pedigree led by a former prodigy who became a national champion and Olympic gold medalist before making a steady climb up the coaching ladder. On paper, a harmonic convergence. How they came together, a choreography of those themes, would make for a dazzling introduction, which UCLA held at center court in historic Pauley Pavilion last month. The aura of John Wooden, his contributions to sports and society - and those 10 national titles - was thick.

Obviously the owners of the Angels and Dodgers have never heard of team chemistry. Arte Moreno and the Guggenheim Guy thought they could build better teams just by adding more expensive elements. Here's a lesson from Chemistry 101: You won't improve water (H2O) by replacing the O (oxygen) with Au (gold). H2Au won't work: Just ask Torii Hunter, the professor of Team Chemistry 101. Steve Stanage Corona :: I hope Angels management, and fans, can look between the lines of T.J. Simers' smarmy Josh Hamilton piece and realize that what they have in Hamilton is nothing compared to what they had in Torii Hunter.

David Beckham is retiring. ... Again. Only this time, after a couple of false starts with the Galaxy over the last three years, the former captain of England's national team says he's really, truly hanging up his boots for good, drawing to a close a playing career both eventful and spectacular. "Now is the right time to finish," Beckham said Thursday. "Nothing will ever completely replace playing the game I love. However, I feel like I'm starting a new adventure, and I'm genuinely excited about what lies ahead.

NBA owners voted Wednesday to reject the Sacramento Kings' proposed move to Seattle, the latest in a long line of cities that have tried to land the franchise. The 22-8 vote in Dallas followed a recommendation made last month by the NBA's relocation committee and may have finally brought an end to an emotional saga that has dragged on for nearly three years. A group led by investor Chris Hansen had a deal to buy the team. Hansen hoped to move the franchise to Seattle and rename it the SuperSonics.

We had a great development in sports over the weekend. Tiger Woods and Sergio Garcia did for golf what Tonya Harding and Nancy Kerrigan once did for figure skating. Images can change so fast. The PGA Tour is no longer merely a parade of boring thirtysomethings with vanilla personalities in logo shirts, smiling a lot while hitting little white balls over perfectly manicured landscapes. Now, we have Tiger in the red corner and Sergio in the blue. Bob Arum has to be goose-bumpy.

CHICAGO - All the pieces seemed to fall into - and, in one case, out of - place this season for the Angels to have their most regular lineup in years. The infield was set. The trade of Kendrys Morales to Seattle assured that Peter Bourjos , a favorite of General Manager Jerry Dipoto , would start in center field and slugger Mark Trumbo would have a spot. And the March trade of outfielder Vernon Wells to the Yankees removed any temptation for Manager Mike Scioscia to tinker with the lineup by playing Wells too much.

Christy Brink had every intention of going to work Tuesday, though she had warned her boss she'd be a little late because she had some "personal business" to attend to on the way in. But with second-round Anaheim Angels playoff tickets going on sale at 9 a.m. and the playoff opener on television at 5 p.m., Brink decided to call in from the Edison International Field ticket line to say that her personal business was taking a little longer than she'd...

It was a chilling moment, in the dawn of a new age. It was midway through the second period of the Kings' Saturday night mega-win at the GW (Gretzky Wayne) Forum. Responding to a note flashed on the message board, the frenzied, frothing Forum fans broke into a chant. "Luck-y butt! Luck-y butt!" Not Shakespeare, perhaps, but any chant is a welcome replacement for America's most shopworn chant, the one referring to the opposing team or star player inhaling by creating a vacuum with its (or his)

The Dodgers - and their world-record payroll - have sunk to the bottom of the National League West. The Angels - and their collection of superstar hitters - are flailing in the depths of the American League West. We thought we would be talking about the Dodgers and Angels meeting in a Freeway Series in October, not about whether the Dodgers and Angels would fire their managers before the Freeway Series at the end of May. Josh Hamilton is fighting to keep his batting average above the Mendoza Line.

Everyone knew the day was coming and now it's a reality. After 75 years of horse racing, Betfair Hollywood Park will end its operations following the final race of its autumn meeting Dec. 22. The words "sad day" were repeated often Thursday afternoon at the Inglewood track, where owners, trainers, jockeys and fans reacted somberly to the news. The official announcement came in a letter from track President Jack Liebau sent to the California Horse Racing Board on Wednesday informing them that Hollywood Park Land Co. would not be requesting any 2014 racing dates.