Waiting Game Is Heavy in Fan Participation

To the drumbeat of bored fingers rapping impatiently on the tabletop, we roll out the new pastime of the Southern California sports fan.

Waiting.

We are waiting for the NFL to do something, anything, in the farcical Coliseum-Rose Bowl-Anaheim-your-name-here stadium tease.

We are waiting for the Kings and the Ducks to play a game somewhere, anywhere, even a pickup game of roller hockey in the Staples Center parking lot would suffice.

We are waiting for the Lakers to hire a coach, any coach, which first means waiting for Jerry Buss to get back from vacation and then getting back to Phil Jackson, who may or may not want to answer his call waiting.

We are waiting for the Angels to hit the stinking baseball.

We are waiting for the bottom to fall out on the Dodgers ... Whoops! Wait’s over!

In the meantime, we, along with the rest of the country, are waiting for the next set of NBA playoff games. How long has it been?

Let’s see, if memory serves, Phoenix and San Antonio last played on Tuesday, giving all of Arizona -- and the bored-yet-with-deadlines-to-meet national media -- four days to melt down over the Suns going down 0-2 in a series headed back to San Antonio for Game 3, which will finally be played today (ESPN, 6 p.m.).

Working on the same once-every-five-days rotation as most major-league pitching staffs, the NBA will next pair Detroit and Miami in a playoff game on Sunday (TNT, 5 p.m.). That would be Game 3, coming four days after Game 2 and a full week after Game 1.

All this idle time is no good for anyone -- not the fans, not the media, not the teams and certainly not the NBA, which thought this was the way to schedule the tournament, spreading out the games for maximum weekend-audience potential, but that only worked back in the days when the Lakers made the tournament.

So far, the league’s wake-us-when-they-tip-off-again playoff schedule has failed to excite the fans. Playoff ratings are down for both ABC and TNT, and ESPN’s are just holding steady.

Worse, there is so little real basketball going on that whenever it does happen, every detail gets over-analyzed and beaten to a pulp because what else are we supposed to talk about between Games 2 and 3?

Take, for instance, Miami guard Dwyane Wade. He had a bad performance in Game 1 and his team lost. Immediate media reaction: What’s happened to Wade?!? Is the magic gone!?! Is the sophomore jinx kicking in?!? Is he overrated?!? Is the sky falling?!?

Settle down, people. Given enough time between games, Wade did what you might expect. He watched some game film. He made a couple of adjustments. He came out for Game 2 on Wednesday and scored 40 points and his team won to even the series.

Immediate media reaction: The kid is back! It’s a miracle! Did you hear about Shaq calling him at 3:45 in the morning?!? Oh, that Shaq! Mentoring another youngster in his time of need! What a shining example of the human species! If only Kobe had listened to the big guy!

This is the NBA in 2005. It didn’t used to be this way. Once upon time, it was: Jerry West had an off night, he worked hard in practice the next day, he played a lot better the next night.

As Magic Johnson tried to explain on TNT’s postgame show Wednesday night, “[Wade] recognized how the defense was playing him and everything [Wednesday] was going to the basket. Everything in Game 1 was more shooting the jump shot, fading away with a hand in his face.”

Added Kenny Smith: “Great players have short memories. And on the court, if you have a long memory, you’re not going to be a great player. You have to forget about things, forget about a game. You watch what happened, but you forget about it. And Dwyane Wade had a short memory. On each possession, he played the game like he had a short memory.”

NBA fans, however, need to have long memories. Without them, where would these fans be this weekend? Watching the NFL Network, probably.

Also available for viewing this weekend:

TODAY

* Chivas USA vs. Galaxy

(FSNW, 7 p.m.)

Soccer fans are still buzzing about Liverpool’s mind-blowing shootout victory over AC Milan in Wednesday’s European Champions League final. Milan leads, 3-0, at halftime and Liverpool looks as if it could play all week without finding the net. Then, in an incredible blur, there are three Liverpool goals out of nowhere in six minutes, followed by two amazing saves by Liverpool goalkeeper Jerzy Dudek in overtime, followed by two more saves by Dudek in the penalty shootout. It was a soccer miracle, nothing less.

What does this have to do with Round Two of the Chivas-Galaxy city rivalry? Just this: If Liverpool can pull off that kind of stunner against Milan, even Chivas (1-7-1) can entertain the wildest of dreams. Like possibly even scoring against the Galaxy.

SUNDAY

* Chicago Burn at Avengers

(Channel 4, 12:30 p.m.)

Chicago vs. Los Angeles in a pro football playoff game? Hmm. Twenty years ago, that meant the Rams at the Bears, and Dieter Brock throwing wiffle balls into the Soldier Field wind, and the Rams losing, 24-0, while John Madden mused about one particularly awful Brock pass, “That’s either a pass to Duckworth or a duck to Passworth.” Of note: The Avengers, much like the Rams of that era, have tormented their fans in the postseason, 0-3 in three playoff appearances.

* Indianapolis 500

(Channel 7, 9 a.m.)

This year, the 500 refers to how many camera shots of Danica Patrick ABC will feature during the race. “We’ll cover her very, very closely,” ABC senior producer Bob Toms said during a promotional conference call this week. Toms also said, “The sporting public are certainly aware of her and I think it’s going to grab a heck of a lot of attention. The better she finishes, people will take note.” Or so ABC hopes. Last year’s Indy 500 produced its lowest TV rating ever, 4.1.