You Can't Spell TOOOAST Without S.A.

Stick a fork in the Spurs. And put a cork in it if you're one of those ninnies who is crying that the officials decided last night's game between the Smoldering Remains of the Spurs and the Lakers.

"A foul is a foul is a foul! You have to call that!!"

It is not the job of the officials to bail a team out for lack of execution on the last play of a game. Granted, Fisher made contact with Barry, but Barry helped the contact by leaning in a little as he tried to dribble around Fisher to get a shot off. When the eventual last second heave missed, none of the Spurs ran up to the ref to complain, nor did Coach Popovich sprint on to the floor to scream at the refs. Hell, even Barry gave only a half-hearted attempt to look like he got robbed of an opportunity to tie the game at the line. They all knew the truth: Barry was not going to get that call, especially when he tried more to avoid contact than actually invite it and go up to draw the foul. You could even see the look on Ginobili's face as the horn went off, he turned to Barry with a "what was that?" expression.

Before that final play, the Lakers actually had WAAAYYY more right to gripe about the officiating than the Spurs. In the last minute of the game, the Spurs were on the charity end of two huge gaffes:

1. When Lamar Odom blocked Parker's shot, it was still below the rim and had not yet hit the backboard and should not have been called a goaltend. There's 2 free points for the Spurs.

2. Fisher's jumper against the shot clock grazed the rim, then bounced off the embalmed knee of Robert Horry with 5 seconds left. It should've been Lakers ball with a new shot clock and the Spurs would've been forced to foul to send the Lakers to the line. This likely would've made the last seconds meaningless.

Blown calls actually gifted the Spurs the opportunity to even attempt a game-tying or winning shot at the end of the game. And these were just in the last minute. Somehow, in over 41 minutes of game time, and after taking 29 shots in the game against noted hack physical defender Bruce Bowen, Kobe Bryant had taken ZERO free throws. None. That is impossible.

So, while the Spurs fans who are hanging by their fingernails on the edge of the cliff as their team is about to fall in to the "End of Our Championship Window" abyss, it's time to realize that the Spurs are being beaten by a better, younger, more athletic team. The Lakers even gave San Antonio numerous opportunities to take the lead in the game, and the Spurs just couldn't get it done.

That is what lost the game for them.

And although I'm not a San Antonio fan, I must say that the way Popovich, Barry and the rest of the Spurs players handled the questions about "FoulGate" was extremely classy and impressive.