Spring Loaded

Vacations are supposed to clear your head and sharpen your focus, ultimately giving you all the answers you were looking for. For me, the time away from sports has just left me with more questions, such as:

-- Did the Lakers really trade Scottie Pippen for Dennis Rodman?

If Trevor Ariza grows as much in the next few seasons – and we’re not talking height here – as he did this past season, he has a chance to become a Pippen-like player. Remember, Ariza is only 24, leaving plenty of time for development.

Ron Artest, on the other hand, could just as easily regress. Every time you think he has put the ugly days behind him, doused the trigger fuse that exploded so memorably in the seats at Auburn Hills, he snaps again and gets himself ejected at a crucial moment in a crucial game as he did against the Lakers in this year’s playoffs.

-- How long until word leaks out of a Laker practice that Artest got back into Kobe’s face?

-- Will I be furiously trying to de-Google this blog a year from now when Artest is standing arm in arm with Kobe atop the lead bus in next year’s victory parade.

Much higher rollers than I have gone broke betting against Jerry Buss, with or without a full house in their hands. The guy is only working on his third dynasty, three more than 99 percent of sports owners ever see. He was criticized almost 30 years ago for giving a two-year veteran named Magic Johnson a 25-year, $25-million contract, unheard of at the time, questioned for getting rid of his center, Vlade Divac, before he had secured the desired replacement, Shaquille O’Neal, and then blasted for trading Shaq for a trio that included Lamar Odom, best known then for his disappearing act.

-- Now that we’ve seen the Staples Center hardwood floor on the Coliseum grass surrounded by 80,000 to 90,000 fans, how long until the Lakers stage a game there?

-- Can we all chill out on the LeBron James criticism?

So the guy didn’t shake hands with Orlando Magic or face the media after losing in the conference finals? Big deal. He’s competitive.

Maybe he ought to get a prescription for a female fertility drug. That might bring back the cheers.

-- How long before Shaq balks at playing second fiddle to LeBron? And you thought the Shaq-Kobe feud was nasty.

-- Has Blake Griffin asked to be traded yet?

-- Has T.O. asked to be traded yet?

-- Aren’t we overdue for an Al Davis threat to leave town?

-- Could we do away with the baseball All-Star Game and just stage the Home Run Derby?

-- Could we do away with the NFL Pro Bowl?

You think a lot of players asked out when the game was in Hawaii. Wait until you see how many come up with pulled hamstrings now that it has been moved back to the mainland.

-- Are you allowed to buy a ticket to an MMA event without showing your tattoo?

-- What turns the paying customers off more, a boxing match without Manny Pacquiao or a golf tournament without Tiger?

-- Oscar, care to reconsider your retirement decision?

-- Isn’t it sad that people got more excited over Mike Tyson’s punch in The Hangover than any punch thrown by a heavyweight in recent years?

-- Is Tiger golf’s best ever? He may keep pace with good friend Roger Federer by winning his 15th grand slam event, but until he matches Jack Nicklaus’ 18, Tiger is only No. 2 on the links.

-- Anybody notice that David Beckham has returned to these shores? Will anybody care when he leaves again?

-- Is it a bad sign for the Minnesota Vikings if Brett Favre uses his left hand to sign a contract with them?

Questions, questions, questions.